Football can be glorious and unfair, inspiring and spiteful, a joy and a punishment.
But seldom have two players felt the extremes of these emotions in such a twinkling as did Melbourne's Russell Robertson and the Swans' Stuart Maxfield at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday. Robertson is an occasionally spectacular spare-parts forward whose role in the Demons' victory will be long remembered and deservedly celebrated. He kicked four goals in the final quarter, three of those as the Demons clawed their way back from a 10-point deficit to reclaim the lead in the dying moments. The third of Robertson's goals came from a soaring mark near the goal square and provided the game's exclamation mark. However it was Maxfield's unfortunate role in the lead-up to that moment of glory that the Swans have to endure.