If anyone can truly appreciate the vast vicissitudes of an AFL career, it’s Sam Draper
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it → appreciate → career
Twelve months ago, Draper was preparing to leave Essendon and enter the trade period as an unrestricted free agent, after another injury-plagued year at the Hangar including a devastating Achilles rupture in mid-April that ended his season.
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that → prepare → season
That time, he says now, turned into “the darkest moments of my life”.
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he → say → life
Despite spending nine years as a Bomber, the ruckman had only played 78 games including one final after a slew of injuries including an ACL tear.
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ruckman → spend → tear
On Saturday, the 27-year-old will play in his first grand final in his first season with the Lions – a reality Draper himself can’t quite believe.
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Draper → play → Lions
“When I got injured last year, I was in a really bad way to be honest,” he said amid the chaos of Brisbane’s thrilling preliminary final win, surrounded by family and with long-term partner, Izzy, beside him.
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he → injure → him
“Having those guys there, that got me through it.”
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that → have → it
Not only did she support Draper through those arduous months of rehab, but she kept things light with satirical memes about him that also entertained her Instagram followers.
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that → support → followers
Last Saturday, Burgess wore a custom-designed a black T-Shirt she had designed with a photoshopped version of herself in a Lions guernsey taking a “speccy” on Draper’s shoulders.
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she → wear → shoulders
When Kayo Sports commentators asked Burgess what it was like to watch Draper head into a grand final, she said: “I don’t know because I can’t swear on here.
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I → ask → final
“It’s good, it’s crazy, I feel like it’s the shirts,” she said gesturing at Draper’s face plastered on the T-shirt.
“I’ll have to design a new shirt [for the grand final].
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I → ’ → final
It’s the main thing.”
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It → ’ → ?
Burgess, who is a nurse, has made several T-shirts during the season with various photoshopped versions of herself and Draper.
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who → make → herself
The best one undoubtedly came for the ruckman’s 100th game, when Burgess photoshopped herself cradling her 205-centimetre tall partner her arms like a baby.
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Burgess → come → baby
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Burgess’ comedic creativity is not limited to fashion.
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creativity → limit → fashion
She also vlogged his rehab from the Achilles injury and regularly posts AI-generated images of the pair, including an image of Draper in a full splits that would rival Simmons Biles in the Olympics – a post that has more than half a million views on TikTok.
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that → vlogge → TikTok
“Izzy has a lot of fun with ChatGPT at home,” Draper laughed.
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Draper → have → home
“She’ll go quiet on the couch, and I’ll just get tagged in something on Instagram, and then she’s AI-ed me
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she → go → Instagram
and her doing something crazy
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her → do → something
people seem to enjoy it.
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people → seem → it
“She’s been doing a different T-shirt for every finals game, and she’s starting to get her own fans and followers now, and people stopping her for photos, so it’s quite funny, really.
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it → do → photos
“But I love it.
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I → love → it
She’s she just yeah, being herself, really, just being a bit of an idiot and having fun with it.
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She → have → it
I’m just so glad she
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I → ’m → ?
It’s a sense of humour Draper clearly appreciates and shares.
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Draper → ’ → humour
The ruckman, who was a soccer player at school, and is known for his goal celebrations and cheeky antics on the field.
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who → know → field
There was that infamous 2024 game between the Bombers and Crows, where Draper reenacted the umpire’s non-call by mimicking himself diving on an imaginary ball.
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himself → be → ball
Teammate Hugh McCluggage heralded Draper’s arrival at the Lions, noting the mulleted ruckman would become “a cult hero for us”.
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ruckman → herald → us
Fellow Lion Cam Rayner said while Draper was witty, he was also “very level-headed” even though “doesn’t look like that from the outside”.
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he → say → outside
When Draper arrived at Brisbane alongside fellow free agent Oscar Allan, he had not run in months.
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he → arrive → months
Despite a stress reaction scare in his foot early in the season Draper has had a fantastic year under the Lions fitness program, playing a career-high 25 games.
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Draper → have → games
Saturday will be Brisbane’s fourth consecutive grand final and Draper said he’s drawing on advice from experienced teammates like Charlie Cameron who told him “enjoy and embrace the weekend”.
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who → say → weekend
“I’ve said many times, I knew before the season started that I’d made the right call.
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I → say → call
Fast forward to the end of the season, we’re in grand final week, so it is pretty surreal,” Draper said.
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Draper → ’re → week
“I’m a big believer on everything happens for a reason, and yeah, it’s not what happens to you; it’s how you react to it.
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you → ’m → it
So I live by that.”
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I → live → that
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We → see → saga
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players → allow → punishment
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players → return → club
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acts → keep → country
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