Injured Bulldogs forward Josh Bruce has opened up on the “sadness” and “jealousy” he felt after watching his teammates make their way into the 2021 AFL Grand Final.
Bruce arguably hit career-best form this year playing as a focal point in the Dogs forward line with Aaron Naughton. He kicked 48 goals from 20 matches - including a bag of 10 against the Roos - in his best return since notching 50 goals with St. Kilda in 2015.
Bruce has been much maligned during his career at the Giants, Saints and early on at the kennel before his return to form in 2021. His resurgence as an AFL player is partly why this cruel twist is hard to stomach.
“It obviously is extremely difficult at times, the two hours on gameday are the hardest and then the hour afterwards,” Bruce told Whateley on SEN.
“Especially after the victories we’ve been having, it’s really tough not to be there and feel that in person.
“It’s only natural to feel a tinge of sadness and a tinge of jealousy, there were games where I burst into tears.
“After the Brisbane game, I just burst into tears at the final siren, I couldn’t hold it back. I just felt such a longing to be there and to be involved in finals like that.
“I thought that this year was going to be the year for me, everything seemed to be lining up perfectly and to have it ripped away at the last minute has been bloody tough to deal with.
“I still have moments nearly every single day but it’s getting slightly easier and I’ve moved on to wishing the team to have as much success as we can. Fingers crossed we can get back in next year and I can have another tilt at it.”
Bruce moved to clear up his position surrounding premiership medallions after he unwillingly became the epicentre of the debate around whether the whole winning list should receive one.
“I did get sucked in a little bit and it was tongue in cheek with the way that I was saying it but probably tradition has to stand,” Bruce said.
“There’s hard-luck stories and there have been hard luck stories for the last however long so I think that the 22 or 23 guys that run out there are the ones that do really win it.
“It’s funny, if I did actually get presented with a medal now I’d almost feel like I didn’t deserve it.”
Bruce had his best season in Dogs colours to date, kicking 34 more goals and taking 53 more marks in 2021 compared to 2020 from just three more games.