There was a sliding doors moment more than a decade ago which might have impacted the career of Dan Menzel.
The moment occurred in 2009 not long before that year’s National Draft.
Menzel, the Adelaide native, was pondering life in Brisbane as the Lions showed serious interest in taking him with their first pick.
However, the Lions’ recruitment of Brendan Fevola put a dent in those plans as they gave up pick 12 and Lachie Henderson in exchange for the Carlton forward and pick 27.
“An interesting one, the Brisbane Lions were really keen on me,” Menzel said on SEN’s Sportsday SA.
“They had visited my house multiple times, which isn’t that common for clubs to do. They might meet you in their city or in Melbourne when you’re doing a draft camp or something.
“They had pick 12 and their recruiter had said to me that, ‘we’re really keen to take you, we really want you’.
“About a week or two before the draft happened, Brendan Fevola got traded from Carlton to Brisbane. It was pick 12 that Brisbane gave up to go to Carlton.
“They were on the phone the next day and said, ‘Look, we are not going to get you, we’ve got pick 27 and we think you’ll be gone by then, so all the best for your career and we won’t see you again’.
“It is absolutely a sliding doors moment. That’s how it worked out.
“I went at pick 17 to Geelong and if that Brendan Fevola trade didn’t happen then I might have been a Brisbane Lion.”
Of course, Menzel would go to the Cats where he played 73 games across nine injury-riddled seasons before spending one year with Sydney.
The sublimely talented Menzel recovered from four knee reconstructions over the course of his career, kicking 143 goals in 80 games for both clubs.