Heading into Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, Toby Greene was the talk of the town.
By the end of it, Greene and his Giants were left wondering what might have been.
Greene came into the game as its villain of choice, fresh off a week’s suspension that had followed two games’ worth of eye-raking controversy.
But he was also the player with the potential to turn the game on its head – with his magical match-winning performance against the Lions an indicator of his big game credentials.
Not this time.
Greene’s first touch was a handball in traffic, so quick in an area so congested even the Tigers faithful couldn’t spot him.
But from there, every time the star Giant touched the ball, it was met with a chorus of boos.
The large Richmond contingent didn’t have to preserve their voices too much though – Greene had just four touches in the opening term, including kicking a behind as he was well-held by a combination of Nick Vlastuin and Liam Baker.
Indeed, his most prolific moment on the broadcast came as the cameras honed in on his hands roaming near Baker’s face.
For his third consecutive final, Greene was under scrutiny for a moment off the ball.
But unlike that semi-final against Brisbane, when every possession turned to gold, this time, there was no counterpoint of footballing brilliance.
In the second quarter, Greene moved into the midfield and racked up seven disposals for the term but was unable to influence the contest as the Tigers took the game by the scruff of the neck.
At one point in the third quarter, Greene took a mark at half-forward but, so caught up in their own reverie, the Richmond faithful hardly noticed, with only a small segment of the crowd clocking on in time to boo the star Giant.
Early in the fourth quarter, having had his third attempt at goal smothered away, a defeated-looking Greene stood with his hands on his head.
A matter of seconds later, Richmond’s Dion Prestia baulked around him with ease.
It just about summed up Greene’s, and the Giants’, day.
While Greene ended the game with respectable numbers – 21 disposals – you would be hard-pressed to say he’d had an impact on the game.
And he, and his Giants, would leave their maiden grand final empty-handed.