Western Bulldogs forward Josh Bruce says he was prepared to miss the birth of his second child to play in the AFL elimination final against St Kilda.
After nine seasons and 129 games without a finals appearance to his name, you can understand why.
Fortunately it didn’t come to that for the 28-year-old and wife Pip, who had an induced birth on Saturday.
It gave the Dogs’ spearhead time to serve a mandatory quarantine period before returning to training on Wednesday in preparation for Saturday night’s knockout clash at the Gabba.
“It was just a matter of timing to get the bubba out,” Bruce said, announcing the couple had named their son August William.
“I had the conversation with my wife before we came here that if it did come down to finals footy or being there, I’d pick finals footy.
“Second time around, but luckily it didn’t come down to that and I was able to get the best of both worlds.
“She knows I’ve been in the game for such a long time and put so much effort in, so she was accepting, begrudgingly.”
There were a few nervous moments during round 18 as the Bulldogs waited on results to learn whether they would have to travel to Perth, potentially fly to Adelaide, or remain in Queensland for their elimination final.
It came down to the last match of the home-and-away season, when Port Adelaide’s win over Collingwood delivered a showdown with St Kilda.
“That was the biggest stress for us,” Bruce said.
“We would’ve had to go to Perth a week early and quarantine in a hotel before you play.
“That would’ve been really tough not being there at all, but I’m grateful that it all came smoothly and they’re all happy and healthy and going well.”
Bruce expects some friendly banter leading into his second meeting with his former St Kilda teammates.
“We had the game (in round two) and that got any of the nerves or anxiety away from actually playing them,” Bruce said.
“Now I’m just really looking forward to hopefully beating them.
“I’ve been in the game for nine seasons and I’m very excited to be playing finals because I’m normally on holidays at this time of year and watching very enviously.”