Goldy’s golden effort

Pakenham favourite son Tyson Goldsack has been rookie listed by Port Adelaide. Picture: Russell Bennett

By Nick Creely

After rupturing his ACL in March of this year, the likelihood of Tyson Goldsack pulling on the Collingwood jumper this season was slim.

No one wants to be trapped in the rehab room of a sporting club – it’s seen as the darkest, loneliest place to be as an athlete.

Not only did the Pakenham favourite soon defy the odds as he has in his 164-game AFL career to date and get back for the qualifying final against West Coast, he has been a driving force in the Pies’ sterling run towards the 2018 premiership.

As team orientated and brave as a footballer can be, Goldsack will now run out in front of what could be 100,000 fans at the MCG on Saturday against the Eagles, aiming for his second premiership in the famous black and white jumper.

It is likely, that when the siren sounds at 2.30pm as the country sits in anticipation, Goldsack will venture down deep in defence and take one of the Eagles’ twin towers, Jack Darling or Josh Kennedy, and look to stamp his authority with his usual fearlessness and team orientated attitude.

The 31-year-old Collingwood veteran – who grew up in Pakenham and played his entire junior career with the Lions – is just one of three current Magpies who were involved in the famous 2010 premiership against St Kilda – and just like this year, had to overcome the odds to play in a grand final.

After not being selected in the initial drawn grand final eight years ago, Goldsack, at a function earlier this season at Kooweerup, described the emotional rollercoaster of football while recovering from his ACL.

“You can imagine that you work quite hard to get drafted, and then work really hard to get your first game, and then obviously you want to play finals and ultimately play in a grand final and win it – they’re the stages,” he said.

“To get to the grand final and go really well, and have that taken away, it’s fair to say it was the worst week of my footy career to date.”

He eventually made way for Leon Davis in the replay in a stunning recall, snaring the first goal of the game to kick start a barnstorming team performance that ultimately resulted in a 56-point win.

This time around, with his club riding a rollercoaster full of momentum as they look to once again reach the promised land, Tyson’s mother Wendy told the Gazette of the emotion her and his father Peter are feeling ahead of the grand final on Saturday, praising their son for his resilience and attitude through plenty of adversity.

“It’s been a very emotional time – in the second quarter (on Friday night against Richmond) I got quite emotional at the game, it was just awesome,” she said.

“We’re extremely proud, and very happy for him.”

After what is usually a 12-month injury that involves intensive rehab, Goldsack made it back in just seven months, a testament to his character, resilience and desperation to ensure he leaves no stone unturned in his AFL journey.

Maybe he sensed what the Pies were capable of in 2018 under club legend Nathan Buckley, and similar to 2010, simply did everything he could to be part of history.

“When he did it (the knee injury), he said it was a season-ending injury, and I said to him ‘maybe you’ll get back and play and this year’,” Wendy said.

“And he was always at the club, every day working hard – he managed to get a Europe holiday in the middle of the year, and it gave him a bit of a breather, so he went away.

“It was a mental therapy for him, and something he definitely needed – he’s managed to come back, and now for the rest of the year.

“His back injury did put him back a little bit, and he wasn’t sure how many VFL games he needed, and he was running out of time – thankfully, they made finals, and here we are.

“We couldn’t be prouder.”

Wendy said the family will be getting right behind Tyson in a “full-on week” that will include open training sessions, the annual parade, the grand final and the family day the next day.

She admitted she is pinching herself at seeing what her son has achieved, considering he grew up merely helping as a scoreboard attendant, boundary umpire and occasional water boy for the seniors down at Pakenham, not fazed by whether he would ever make it to the big time, but keen to get involved with his local community.

“It’s very significant – you always hear the stories of the AFL players who dreamt of playing AFL, but Tyson never thought he would,” she said.

“He always played above his age, all his mates went up, so he went up – he wore a helmet when he was playing, he was so little.

“He then shot up, and all of a sudden, people looked at him – Peter was coaching him, and all of a sudden was being talked about in the ruck.”

It was then that the lion-hearted defender made his way to the Gippsland Power despite his early reluctance, where he ultimately impressed so much that he was selected with pick 63 of the 2006 draft by the Pies.

“We didn’t really know about the TAC Cup avenue, and didn’t really watch the AFL or go to any games – we were a very local footy type of family,” she said.

“All of a sudden, he got drafted.”