'role Model' Harvey Motivates Veteran Crawford To Extend His Playing Career
The Age
Monday September 22, 2008
HAWTHORN champ Shane Crawford has hinted that his final on-field meeting with Robert Harvey may tempt him to play on next season as he prepares for his first grand final in 305 games.
Crawford, drafted just two months after the Hawks' last grand final appearance in 1991, claims the AFL record for playing the most games before winning a flag if his team breaks their 17-year premiership drought. The previous record was set when Paul Williams played his 294th game when Sydney won in 2005.The 34-year-old admitted he was "running away from the ball" in the last quarter of Hawthorn's 54-point preliminary final win over St Kilda on Saturday night to ensure he was not injured. But he said later the knee soreness that restricted him to just 13 games this season, was treatable and would not stop him from playing into a 17th season."I wanted to play in the last game for Robert Harvey, who's been a role model for me right until the end," said Crawford."He's a player I've admired on and off the field because of the way he goes about it. I was a bit selfish hoping we'd win, but if at worst we weren't able to get across the line, I thought it would be nice for Robert to at least have one last chance of fulfilling his dream. He came up and said good luck and that just shows you what a quality guy he is. He gives great hope to the older on-ballers who play very similar to him, that you can stay involved in the game for a long time." -- STEVE BUTLER
© 2008 The Age
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