26/09/2009 11:48 PM
Dual Premiership winner Paul Chapman received two medals on Saturday afternoon, but is adamant the one that means more is the premiership medallion he won with his team-mates over the Norm Smith Medal he was given for best-on-ground.
Such was the evenness of the contest, which Geelong won by 12 points over St Kilda, that any one of five players could have been given the honour for best-on-ground. In the end it was Chapman, who kicked the decisive goal which gave the Cats a six-point lead deep in time-on, who won on a count-back from St Kilda's Jason Gram.
But for Chapman it was the achievement of a second premiership which meant a great deal more as well as the history he had created with his 21 team-mates.
"The Norm Smith is great, but you don't catch up with blokes who have worn other Norm Smiths, you catch up with other premiership players. It’s something you will have forever," he said.
"I was lucky enough to kick the goal which gave me the Norm Smith, but in the end, it's not about the Norm Smith it's about what we wanted to achieve and this medal."
Coach Mark Thompson revealed after the match that Chapman tore his hamstring in the second quarter of the match, but after receiving treatment was able to come back to play for the remainder of the game.
"Against Adelaide, he kicked six goals with a torn hamstring and today he's won the Norm Smith Medal when he's done a hamstring before half time," Thompson marvelled.
Chapman said he first felt the injury just before quarter time and then aggravated in early in the second quarter. He felt it was worth the risk returning to the field.
"It happened right on the quarter-time siren, I got a cork in it and felt it spasm up a little bit. Early on in the second quarter I went for a tackle and felt it go a little bit. I came off and though, it’s a Grand Final, I've got nothing to lose. We just strapped it up and went out there and got played to play deep," he said.
Chapman, who has built a reputation for being in the right place at the right time, said there was an element of fortune in the decisive goal. Gary Ablett had kicked the ball long to the goalsquare and the ball fell to Travis Varcoe who handpassed it out to Chapman. He looped a high left foot snap just inside the goalpost and all but secured Geelong its eighth premiership.
"I was hoping that Gaz would kick it first, but it dropped short. It ended up on the ground, and I was there and got a handpass, and I was lucky enough to put it through and put us a goal in front," he said.
"I was willing for the siren to go after that, it took a little while. To do my little bit in what was a great game, and we're a great team. Just to do my bit to help is more than enough. Two out of three years is great, I'm pretty happy. But I'm looking forward to bigger things as well."
Chapman praised the entire football club after the win, saying it was what it deserved for its past three years of excellence and was a testament to the character of the team.
"We've got good people in our footy club. No-one likes losing. As Bomber said before, we've got a lot of good players here, but we demand a lot from each other. Blokes respond, we’ve got good people who respond, and we just really challenge each other and get the best out of each other. We did that again today. We've got the biscuits," he said.
Norm Smith Medal Voting:
9 Paul Chapman, Geelong (3, 3, 3)
9 Jason Gram, St Kilda (3, 2, 2, 1, 1)
3 Harry Taylor, Geelong (3)
2 Max Rooke, Geelong (2)
2 Gary Ablett, Geelong (1, 1)
2 Jimmy Bartel, Geelong (2)
2 Darren Milburn, Geelong (2)
1 Joel Corey, Geelong (1)