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AN EMOTIONAL Dayne Beams went to Collingwood's coaches and ruled himself out of Saturday's Grand Final against Geelong, owing to groin soreness.
Beams, 21, was the sole exclusion from the Magpies' team which beat Hawthorn last weekend, with first-year forward Alex Fasolo named as his replacement.
Coach Mick Malthouse said Beams had replicated the selfless feat of now-retired defender Simon Prestigiacomo, who also declared himself unfit for the drawn 2010 grand final because of groin soreness.
"Dayne Beams has done a Simon Prestigiacomo, for a start, and he needs to be congratulated, absolutely congratulated," he told One HD's The Game Plan.
"He was in tears telling me he didn't think he could get through a match.
"That's number one and I think that's a real rub off from Simon Prestigiacomo.
"That great number 35 is now going to be worn in a grand final and I think no one would be more pleased than Simon over that."
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Beams had a quiet game against the Hawks and managed just two touches to three-quarter time, when he was subbed out for Alan Didak.
In contrast, Malthouse said telling Fasolo he was playing was "one of the great moments in football", and that he believed he was a "big stage player".
He also said the 19-year-old had been close to playing in the Pies' other two finals after picking up a solid lesson in round 24 in the team's 96-point loss to the Cats.
"He's a lovely lad, a really genuinely lovely lad and he loves his footy, and he did not leave me … I reckon if I said to him that's how a tagger should play, he has tagged me all week," he said.
"He just wanders in and out my vision, and I reckon I've seen more of Alex than I've seen any other week.
"I said to him finally on Wednesday, 'Is there any reason why you keep drifting in and out of my sight?', and he said, 'No, none at all'.
Details of Friday's open training and the Grand Final parade
"I went in to do some weights and sure enough, who's doing weights next to me?
"In the end I called him over and said, 'Listen son, all the best, you're getting a game'. It was like Luna Park. It was outstanding.
"I know he can produce; he's just a wonderful kid and he's got a wonderful career in front of him but his emotion and his delight … I would have liked to have told him three or four times and come away extremely happy."
Darren Jolly and Ben Reid were named in the line up despite their struggles with groin and thigh soreness last Friday night.
Malthouse said both would complete a normal training session on Friday morning and needed to gain the "final tick" like every other player from the doctors, but had presented well after the Pies' mid-week session.
"We gave it to them on Wednesday. I think in these sorts of finals games, I don't know if you can actually wait until the last training session," he said.
"I don't think it does the right thing by the young bloke who might replace him. I'd rather know full well where we sit mid-week, and then prepare blokes like Cameron Wood, who's been training the house down, Ben Sinclair and Tyson Goldsack.
"We don't want to play emotional games with them, we went for it on Wednesday, both boys came through with flying colours, both were very eager and both pulled up well."
