The story of Tom Boyd's football career can only be described as a tale of sadness and pondering of what could've been. A former number one draft pick and a premiership player (We'll get there), Boyd announced his retirement from the game at just the age of 23. Usually at 23, footballers begin to thrive on the big stage and for Tom, he should've began to flourish as a key forward, if he hadn't already.
However, there is a dark side to playing professional football. It involves injuries, which he has had more than his share – both physically and mentally. It involves being heavily scrutinised for his big money transfer from GWS to the Western Bulldogs at the end of the 2014 season – the move itself and the performances that came along with it afterwards and pretty much everything else that came along with it.
Boyd was the consensus number one draft pick in 2013 – a draft that boasted future stars such as Marcus Bontempelli, Patrick Cripps and Josh Kelly. But it was Boyd's height, ability to monster defenders at under-18 level and his nous to kick a goal that made things all the more tantalising for recruiters and with the first of their top two picks, the Giants took him.
Even before he was drafted, he quoted this from AFL 360 back in 2013 – five months before the draft:
“No doubt you have to be devoted...But I suppose over the last year I've realised football used to be a bit of an escape from school, but now I've found school is a bit of an escape from footy and all the talk that surrounds it... You just get to school and can kind of knuckle down.”
I don't know how many people saw that interview back in 2013 could've predicted Boyd to walk away from the game six years later. But if you were a recruiter, that would've had to raised a few red flags. Nonetheless, he was the number one pick, and as it often is the case, it brings a sense of expectation and the number of eyes that would watch down on you and look at everything you do would have been replayed on his mind time and time again.
He only spent one season at Greater Western Sydney, playing nine games for a return for eight goals. Most of these games came towards the tail-end of the 2014 season, playing the last six games of the season. His debut came in round five against Adelaide. It was a forgettable day for not just him, but for the young Giants, losing by 65 points. Boyd was towelled up and reduced to just five disposals.
Not many first-year players move clubs, but in the case of Boyd, it was under extreme circumstances. In 2014, the Western Bulldogs were having a tumultuous off-season in their own right. Then-captain Ryan Griffen was set on walking out of the club, coach Brendan McCartney was then sacked and they lost multiple players. They needed to make a bold play, and for memory, there were a number of plays that fell flat because of the lack of the success that was happening down Footscray way.
This is where Griffen's exit turned from negative into a positive. The Bulldogs then threw a massive play at Boyd and if this didn't happen – if this whole thing didn't happen: Griffen's exit, McCartney's sacking and Boyd's recruitment, the Bulldogs would not have won the 2016 premiership. The offered Boyd a seven-year deal worth seven million dollars. Which for someone who had only played nine AFL games and was only 19 at the time, was beyond insane.
People laughed, scoffed and ridiculed this notion. No doubt the massive contract and the reaction would've been thrashed about in Boyd's head. Regardless the deal was done – Boyd was dealt to the Bulldogs in exchange for Griffen and the Bulldogs' first-round pick (pick six). When we look back on it, the Bulldogs won out this deal. Griffen struggled with injury for the most part of his time at the Giants and pick six was tall defender Caleb Marchbank, who only played seven games for GWS before being traded to Carlton at the end of 2016.
His 2015 – his first year as a Bulldog – was what you'd probably expect from a teenage key forward, full of up and down moments. I was there for his first game in the red, white and blue. Round one against eventual Grand Finalists West Coast at Docklands. He took a strong contested mark against Jeremy McGovern – who had been killing us that game – and went back to kick a goal to put the Bulldogs ahead by a point 10 minutes into the final quarter. The Dogs went on to win by 10 points that night.
He played 14 games and kicked 16 goals in return. This included a big night against Brisbane at Docklands in round 12. I was also at this game, he kicked a career-best four goals from 12 disposals and six marks (four of those contested) as the Dogs beat the Lions by 72 points. He also kicked three goals against the reigning premiers and the side that went on to win their third flag in a row in the Hawthorn Hawks in round three.
Everyone will remember his 2016 campaign though. It started out pretty rocky – he played the first four games for the Dogs and then wasn't sighted until round 17. Injuries played their part, but their was also the incident involving team mate Zaine Cordy, which saw both men suspended after a drunken blue. Supposedly, you can argue that this might have been where his mental health issues began surfacing. It has been alleged time and time again that Boyd had been teased about his inability to impact on games since coming to the Bulldogs.
The incident with Cordy was seemingly the turning point to Boyd's season – that happened at the tail-end of June. He returned to the senior team mid-July for the round 17 clash with the Gold Coast and never lost his spot in the side from then on out. He continued to show patches of good form up until the finals – his three goals against Geelong at Kardinia Park was another highlight. But one thing that slowly was being noticed, was that he was playing back-up ruckman to Jordan Roughead.
At the time, I thought it didn't make any sense, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. His performance in the Preliminary Final against GWS must not be underestimated. Roughead was taken out of commission early in the piece when he copped a football in the eye. Leaving Boyd to battle Shane Mumford in the ruck for the majority of the game. Let it be known that Mumford at the time, was a damn good ruckman, Boyd finished with 21 hitouts for the game, and whilst Mumford had 25 more than him, it was a bloody brave effort and it helped the Dogs get to the Grand Final – the first one in over 50 years.
In the lead up to this, who was to guess what sort of influence this young man was going to have in the 2016 Grand Final? The Bulldogs' 2016 Grand Final victory was a fairytale in itself, but it was the performance of Tom Boyd – criticised and scrutinised for so long for struggling to live up to his big-money contract – that had so many people talking at the aftermath of the Grand Final. You couldn't have scripted his game any better – there wasn't much he could do wrong. After dropping a chest mark in the opening minute of the game, he nearly clunked everything in sight. He kicked three important goals. Two of them coming in the second term – one was from a tight angle on the pocket, the other was a shot from 25 metres out directly in front. But those two were nothing compared to his third and final goal in the last quarter with the game in the balance.
Dale Morris had just run down Lance Franklin near the edge of the centre square with the ball knocked loose, it fell to the feet of Boyd who took the opportunity and seized the maximum reward – a 60 metre pearler of a kick which bounced at the top of the goal square and bounced through – sealing what had been a perfect day for Tom Boyd and completed a dream come true for Western Bulldogs fans around the nation.
You seriously could've argued Boyd's claims to being a Norm Smith Medal winner – three goals, 14 disposals, eight marks (six contested) and four inside 50s. He was as influential as anyone on that day.
Just as you thought that he had turned a corner, he had his injury problems – both physical and mental. 2017 will be remembered when he took time away from the game dealing with mental health issues. We are about nearly two years past since he openly spoke about his battle with mental health and it has progressed to the part where he is walking away from the game.
Mental health is as serious as it gets. I have had my own issues over the past 12 months, but I know others who have had it much worse. It's important for people to speak out to their loved ones. I can't stress that enough, and I can't stress out how much I respect Tom Boyd for speaking out of his problems and help set the path for other footballers to do the same. It's sad to see someone so young and full of promise walk away from the game, but I have no doubt he walks away feeling much better about himself - he owes no one a damn thing.
When you read on his career, one may argue that 61 games and 50 goals for a number one draft pick would be considered a bust – but as his former Bulldog team mate Jarrad Grant tweeted the other day: “Tom Boyd didn't pick himself at pick 1, he didn't offer himself over 1 million a year” He couldn't have been any more spot on. But if you ask me, he is worth every cent and then some. He played a massive role to get the Western Bulldogs somewhere that I didn't think we'd get to see in our lifetime.
He got them to the promised land. All The Best In Retirement Tom!!!