Sidelined by finger surgery just days before the mid-season draft, Marlion Pickett looked set to miss out on the AFL again.
Four improbable months later, the Richmond recruit is the sensation of the AFL grand final.
The 27-year-old father of four, having turned his life around after doing jail time as a teenager, will make his AFL debut in Saturday’s grand final against GWS.
He will be only the sixth player in AFL history to debut in the premiership decider.
The last was Keith Batchelor for Geelong in 1952 – as Neil Balme noted, the year that the Tigers’ football manager was born.
Pickett is the cousin of former North Melbourne and Port Adelaide player Byron Pickett – the Norm Smith medallist as best afield in the 2004 grand final.
His four children, aged two to nine, proved to be Pickett’s motivation to put his life in order.
But despite showing plenty of potential at WAFL side South Fremantle, Pickett could not convince an AFL team he was worth the risk.
Despite the finger injury, which sidelined him until August, Richmond finally took the punt.
Pickett and the Tigers used the injury layoff wisely, giving him the equivalent of a pre-season where he could boost his fitness.
He first raised eyebrows at Punt Rd with a strong performance in their VFL qualifying win over Essendon, where the Tigers roared back from 40 points down in the last quarter.
Pickett was best afield in last Sunday’s VFL grand final win over Williamstown and he effectively forced Richmond to pull the trigger.
“Hopefully, eventually, as the game goes on, I will get a touch,” Pickett said at Friday’s grand-final parade.
“But if not, I will be happy to put the pressure on, tackles.
“If I’m not getting the ball, I can tackle and keep the pressure up, do my team role.”