Clubs can be cagey about why a player misses a game, and Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett will be somewhat embarrassed about the reason he was forced to bypass his club's practice match against Collingwood.
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On Friday, it was supposed to be a corked calf. And maybe it was, at least initially. But after going down by 14 points to the Pies' in the Suns' final practice match of the season, coach Guy McKenna revealed the rather more unusual reason for Ablett's absence on the day.
"He was going to play, but an unforeseen accident at home didn't allow him to do that," he said.
Pressed, he continued: "Geoff Walsh once said the bakers bake the bread, plumbers plumb, footballers play football and footballers shouldn't cook at home."
So he cut himself?
"Burnt himself. It's on the top of his hand, it's not underneath his hand so it's not going to affect him … Given what I've seen of Gary I've got to back his intuition and judgment. Probably [he'll] be ok for round one, so not a major concern."
And, with that settled, McKenna put up his hand for an Ernie award. "I thought I saw (Ablett's partner) Jordan in the crowd, so I'll have to speak to her. ‘Come on, let Gary play football, no cooking please'. No impressing your girlfriend or anything like that…"
