Shai Bolton takes to the skies to hold one of the great marks

Even though he was dealing with the harsh realities of defeat, talk of Shai Bolton’s incredible mark over Geelong’s Mark Blicavs brought the hint of a smile to the face of Tigers’ coach Damien Hardwick.

He somehow managed to praise the spectacular grab while keeping alive the team ethos that defines Richmond.

Shai Bolton flies high.Credit:Getty Images

“You don’t get four points for mark of the year. Disappointing as [the loss] is, it was a great mark,” Hardwick said.

“He’s had a great year. He’s an incredible talent.”

Geelong coach Chris Scott could only tip his hat when he saw Bolton rise above the horizon to grab the ball on his chest while hovering above the goal-square somewhere near the second tier of the Ponsford Stand at the MCG.

“It looked like Gary Moorcroft, didn’t it?” Scott said referring to the former Bomber’s grab over the Western Bulldogs’ Brad Johnson at Marvel Stadium in 2001.

Like Moorcroft, Bolton managed to gain some elevation off Blicavs back after sitting on the shoulder of the 198cm Cat.

“We do get reduced to the level of fans sometimes in the box, yep too good,” Scott said.

For Richmond fans it brought back memories of spectacular grabs from Michael Roach at the same end of the MCG against Hawthorn in 1979 and Michael Mitchell when he took a one-handed mark over Fitzroy’s Brett Stephens to win the car in 1990.

Mitchell wryly said when accepting the prize, “not bad for a couple of seconds”.

For most, the grab was more reminiscent of Melbourne Shaun Smith’s mark of the century at the Gabba in 1995 when he stood on teammate Garry Lyon’s shoulders.

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