The Collingwood Football Club will pay tribute to recently retired greats Tarkyn Lockyer and Simon Prestigiacomo, with the pair to complete a lap of honour prior to Sunday’s game against Essendon at the MCG.
Collingwood supporters are urged to be at the ground by 1:45pm to ensure they are there to acknowledge the outstanding careers of Lockyer and Prestigiacomo.
Prestigiacomo enjoyed a fine 233-game career that spanned 15 seasons at Collingwood after he was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 1995 Draft.
He twice finished in the top-five in the club’s best-and-fairest (3rd - 2000, 4th - 2005), and became renowned as one of the most reliable and disciplined key defenders in the league.
After being named in the 22 for the first grand final against St Kilda in 2010, Prestigiacomo memorably and selflessly pulled himself out of the side due to an injury sustained on the eve of the game.
Lockyer, originally recruited from WAFL club East Fremantle, will go down as one of the game’s great success stories of the rookie-list system. He came onto the Magpies’ rookie list in 1997 and was elevated onto the senior list one year later before making his debut in round eight, 1999. The 30-year-old played 227 games for the Magpies, and finished top five in the best-and-fairest four times (2000 - 2nd, 2001 - 5th, 2002 - 4th, 2007 - 3rd).
He was able to admirably overcome having large parts of 2003 and 2004 ruined by serious knee and foot injuries, and went onto play a remarkable 136 consecutive games from round 10, 2004, through to round four, 2010.
Lockyer was an emergency for the club’s grand finals of 2010.
Presticiacomo and Lockyer announced their retirements at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Both are now working for the club they gave so much to as players, with Lockyer the VFL coach and Prestigiacomo the merchandise operations manager.
CLICK HERE to visit the club’s Official Match Day Program and read what Prestigiacomo and Lockyer had to say about being asked to do a lap of honour.
