Missing the Grand Final in 2005 and 2006 was Robert Shirley’s biggest regret in football.
The specialist tagger, responsible for shutting down players like Chris Judd and Gary Ablett Jnr, played every game in both seasons.
But each year, the Club was sent packing by West Coast who would go on to face Sydney in back-to-back Grand Finals.
“I do still think about it… it’s the biggest regret I have in football, not having played in a Grand Final,” Shirley told AFC Media.
“In those two years, not to go on and win it when we definitely had the side to do it…
“Things just didn’t go our way, and we lost momentum. Sometimes that’s what it takes to make a Grand Final and win it.”
Shirley now lives in Cummins on the Eyre Peninsula with his wife and two children - 11-year-old Annabel and 8-year-old Tom.
Both kids are mad about footy, but Shirley conceded his daughter doesn’t barrack for the Crows.
“My daughter goes for Crows in the AFLW, but is a Melbourne supporter for AFL because of Max Gawn,” Shirley said.
“She’s fairly tall and a ruck as well.
“Tom and I are definitely Crows supporters. Hopefully they turn it around this week.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW:
- Rhett Biglands
- Ian Perrie
- Scott Stevens
With his professional days long-gone, Shirley has forged a career in selling farming machinery on the Eyre Peninsula for Ramsey Bros.
“I meet the farmers, talk football and machinery… everything that goes with being a salesman,” he said.
“I was chatting to a friend of mine, who happens to be a director, about something unrelated and he said why not come to Cummins and try machinery sales.
“It was a steep learning curve, learning as much as I could as fast as I could.
“I was more focussed on getting in touch with as many people as I could… playing footy helped with that.”
Shirley racked up seasons for the Cummins Ramblers in the Great Flinders Football League and has only just retired this year.
But it wasn’t the SA native’s first football side after leaving Adelaide - Shirley played two seasons in Canberra for the Ainslie Football Club.
In a playing/assistant coach role, he bagged himself two flags.
“We wanted a change and it was good for the family to see something different,” he said, regarding the move to Canberra.
“The Canberra league was quite strong before it entered the North East Australian Football League.
“It was definitely cold, but a great experience with plenty of good people.”
One more season in Adelaide beckoned and in 2012 the then 31-year-old returned to play for Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL.
But does he ever miss playing top level football with the Crows?
“Yes and no,” Shirley said.
“You miss the adrenaline rush of the first siren, and that do or die competition.
“But at the same time, I’m very comfortable with my life and family at the moment, as well as my job in the Eyre Peninsula.”
