Sometimes even the purest of moments can be hijacked by the fast-paced world we live in.
The news cycle is as fast as it is greedy. It needs to be fed. And so, shortly after we celebrate something magical, we can find ourselves tangled in the branches of the lesser subplots that follow.
The problem is, the simplicity and the meaning of the moment is often lost.
When Luke Beveridge called injured Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy up to the premiership dais on Saturday to give him his medal, many people proclaimed it was one of the most touching, generous and selfless acts they had seen.
Just for the moment, that was the universal, prevailing view.
Over the last few days, twitter has come alive to push the story beyond its scope.
But then again, twitter can do that. It often resembles a pub, late on a Saturday night. Plenty of noise, plenty of spirited discussions. Lots and lots of opinions.
However, sometimes not a lot of them make sense.
Some on social media have suggested Bob Murphy is selfish for taking the medal and lifting the Cup ahead of the coach. Some have said the whole gesture was totally unnecessary, as Murphy is not the first hard luck story to be told on grand final day and won’t be the last. Some have encouraged the AFL to reject the Bulldogs’ request to strike another medal for Beveridge.
This was manifested by the media, who scattered polls across their outlets asking the average punter if they think the coach should receive another medal from the AFL.
Yet in the end, surely the true meaning of this act lies in the moment it happened.
Here was a man who had just coached a young team to a drought-breaking premiership. A coach who accomplished this year what so many had failed to do before him. He stood there with his medal around his neck and the opportunity to lift the Premiership Cup, a moment that would be etched in the history books of the game forever.
But in that very moment, Luke Beveridge was not thinking of himself or what he had just achieved.
He thought of his injured captain who has spent most of his adult life at the club, who has given so much of himself to his teammates throughout his career and even this year knowing he couldn’t play.
Today’s game is a calculated, measured and often over analysed game of tactics.
It’s so often demanding and unsentimental. It’s a brutal, big business.
However on the biggest stage, in his moment, Beveridge showed there was still room for the game’s heart to reign supreme.
This man preaches selflessness to his players. It’s not hard to see why his team follows him.
The twittersphere may well maintain the rage in a fit of dizzy over-analysis, but the reality is this was a moment to remember.
A moment of pure joy, when Luke Beveridge presented a gift to Bob Murphy to say thank you.
That was the moment. What happens next, really doesn’t matter.
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