Billy Picken may have come from the tiny township of Macarthur, but the boy from the bush became one of the biggest names at one of the biggest clubs in the land.

Picken was a star for Collingwood, but it was his stellar performances in finals that stood him apart as a Magpies legend. 

Despite this individual brilliance, he was never to taste the ultimate team success, playing in losing grand finals in 1977,79,80 and 81, as well as the famous 1977 drawn grand final.

Picken shares his thoughts on his grand final experiences and on watching his son Liam become a star in his own right, helping the Western Bulldogs break one of football’s longest droughts.

Playing in the 1977 drawn grand final against North Melbourne.

“It’s every footballer’s dream to play in a grand final, especially at the highest level.

When you are playing in front of 100,000 people all you see is just a sea of faces and because you are so focused on the playing the game, all you hear all day is this dull roar. 

The draw was a really unusual feeling, everyone was really flat and didn’t know what to do.

Before the game I suppose you prepare yourself to either win or lose, not to draw.

So when it finished as a draw, it was something no one had factored into their thinking. Playing in that game you did know the enormity of what was happening, you knew how big the prize was at the end and what was riding on the result.

I actually kicked the ball to down to Twiggy Dunne which he marked and then kicked the goal to make it a draw.

Twiggy was probably the perfect bloke for that situation, not much fazed him, he was pretty cool, calm and collected.

From memory, he went back and kicked a flat punt and it went through.

Every player on the ground had given their all and then we all had to think about recovering and coming back the next week.

It was a test of character and endurance.”

Phil Carman missing the drawn grand final and replay through suspension.

“Phil was a very good player and looking back we probably did miss him, but at the time as a player, I didn’t think about it too much.

It was just a case of one solider going out and another one coming in.

There are a lot of hard luck stories in football when finals come around.

Look at young Taylor Mckenry at Koroit this year, he just got injured at the wrong time and it cost him a grand final.”

On losing four AFL/VFL grand finals. 

“It’s a terrible feeling, terrible. It certainly doesn’t get any easier, losing a grand final is not a lot of fun.

You dream of getting the chance to play in a grand final and it is crushing when you lose them. But you have to move on.” 

The secret to his ability to play well in finals.

“I’d have to say luck has a fair bit to do with it.

I was always lucky enough that I was fit and ready to go at finals times.

If you aren’t carrying injuries then that is a huge advantage.

The bye at the start of the finals is super for the players, the season is a marathon, so to have that week’s break is huge.

Coaches have played injured players forever and most of the time it doesn’t work.

Look at Richmond, Dustin Martin is a brilliant player but you could tell straight away he wasn’t right against Collingwood, you could see he was sore. Sometimes with those really bad corkies, especially when they bleed into the knee, you just don’t come up.  

Josh Caddy didn’t look right either so all of a sudden that takes a lot away from your team with a couple of your best players under a cloud.” 

Watching his son Liam star for the Western Bulldogs in the 2016 grand final.

“It was my first chance of seeing up close what it was like at a club that had won the grand final, I had always been on the other side.

Afterwards in the rooms and at the functions that followed, there was a lot of joy, people were just so happy. 

To see the elation on the faces of the supporters was just incredible.

People who had worked so hard for that club who probably thought they would never see a Bulldogs premiership. It was bloody exciting.

It was hard to believe because the Bulldogs history is full of hard luck stories.

They had lost a few preliminary finals and they were a bit like Melbourne or St Kilda, it was hard to see when that success was going to come. 

Liam had a great grand final and a really good finals series overall. 

Again, he was fit and healthy and ready to go at the right time.

Add that to the fact he is a pretty determined character and that lays a good foundation to be successful.

Watching the Magpies play West Coast Eagles in the grand final this Saturday.

Yeah I will be going along, I’ll probably catch up with some blokes I played with.

Eddie (McGuire) is really good with the past players stuff, he likes to keep us involved with the club and make sure we are all happy.”

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