Max Holmes has revealed he never put his own hand up to return from injury for Geelong’s dominant victory over Carlton in Friday night’s AFL elimination final, leaving it entirely up to coach Chris Scott.
The 24-year-old suffered a broken ankle and syndesmosis injury in June, with an immediate operation keeping his season alive — just.
Holmes was initially told after the surgery that he could only “maybe” get back in time for a possible grand final appearance.
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“And then our physio Jarrad King said ‘nah, screw that, we’ll play the first final’,” Holmes told Channel 7 after the win over the Blues.
“Me and him just basically got to work. It was pretty cut-throat.
“I said to Scotty the other day ‘I’m not saying yes — you’ve got to bring me in. If you’re happy with how I trained the other day you can bring me in’. I was just stoked to be out here.”
The speedster finished with 60 per cent game time to his name, but made an impact with his one goal, one goal assist and three clearances from his 16 disposals.
“It was a tough little part there, rehab’s no fun,” Holmes said.
“It was a tough ask to get here and I’m glad that Scotty allowed me to and got me back in. Just stoked to be back out with the boys, great win.”
Holmes did have one scare when a poking kick left him worse for wear.
“It’ll be sore as buggery for a couple of times — that’s the medical term (laughs) — and then after that you actually come back with greater movement through it,” Dale Thomas assessed on Channel 7 after his own experience with ankle and syndesmosis injuries late in his career.
“As long as it doesn’t swell up too bad and hasn’t ripped, it can be a real positive.”
Holmes missed the 2022 grand final victory through a hamstring injury suffered in the preliminary final a week earlier.
He was in the team for last year’s defeat to Brisbane.
But he noted this finals campaign was a different experience after finishing fifth on the ladder.
“I haven’t played an elimination final, we’ve played qualifying finals since I’ve been here,” Holmes said.
“It’s a nerve-wracking game, really, but I guess it speaks to the footy club that we didn’t really treat it like an elimination final.
“We didn’t really consider losing at all. Really exciting to be part of it and I’m excited to see where it can go.”
Veteran teammate Tom Stewart put the win down to “fundamentals”.
“They actually jumped us early but we came together back together and regrouped at quarter-time and said ‘the game doesn’t look that bad’,” he said.
“They probably capitalised going inside 50 and we couldn’t take most of our chances. Once we started to gain a bit more territory and keep the ball in our front half I think we gave the forwards plenty of chances.”
