When Nick Scully's wife died from breast cancer in 2015, he and his children began to emerge from the fog of grief. Then a package arrived in the mail for his son.
Inside was a St Mary's Greensborough football jersey with the family surname emblazoned across the back, along with a note that read: “Thinking of you after the loss of your mum.”
A Gesture from Left Field
The support around the family when his wife was sick, and when she died, was fantastic, Scully said. But it is the gestures that come out of left field that really move you.
His son had only played two seasons with that football club, five years earlier. Scully said he did not know how they even got their new address, but they took the time to send the care package.
An Extraordinary Act of Care
Scully described it as an extraordinary gesture of care from a male-dominated institution. He noted that footy clubs, and the AFL specifically, have a lot to answer for in terms of sexism, and he has been disappointed by their behaviours more than once.
His wife was a pragmatist and told them all to get on with it, and to some extent they have. They have grieved in their way, and today the kids and he are doing really well. But that lovely act of generosity has stayed with him.
“No football club gets everything right but clearly St Mary’s are trying,” he said.
