TOBY Thurstans is not alone. Others have - amid the euphoria of a grand final win - forgotten to acknowledge the Auskicker presenting the AFL premiership medal.

Brisbane livewire forward Charlie Cameron slipped up last year. Collingwood's South Australian recruit Beau McCreery did likewise in 2023. Some - such as Geelong defender Tom Stewart for his gaffe in 2022 - have finished up with lucrative marketing spin-offs from a television commercial re-enacting the snub.

"All I get is s*** from that moment," says Thurstans of his day in 2004 when Port Adelaide scored its hard-earned breakthrough AFL premiership by ending Brisbane's triple premiership reign at the MCG.

So it was at the weekend when Thurstans - at a barbecue in Adelaide for a grand final afternoon with friends - was coaxed, goaded – maybe even shamed – into re-enacting the moment at the G and getting it right this time.

"I was getting crap all day, so finally we decided to re-enact it ... with me shaking hands after getting the medal," says Thurstans. "One of my friends' daughters put it on TikTok and it has gone viral ..."

Now the question is: Where is the Auskicker from that 2004 presentation today?

"Some people have asked me if we were re-enacting it with the kid from that day," said Thurstans who was unable to join his premiership team-mates in Melbourne last week for their annual reunion on the Thursday before the grand final. "This has spiralled out of control .. 

"But that is the way of social media today ... wouldn't it be amazing if we did find him," adds Thurstans. "I'd be up for doing it right ... it would be amazing. He would have to be in his 30s now."

The 2025 re-enactment at the weekend is complete with Thurstans yelling "Catdog" after claiming his medal - a theme that created the problem of ignoring the Auskicker.

"I was so nervous," recalls 110-game Thurstans of the moment on September 25, 2004 when he took to the stage after Port Adelaide's 40-point win against Brisbane.

"I had decided the day before the game that I would say it - 'Catdog' - if we won. But that was so way out of my comfort zone. I was so nervous. I had to muster all my courage to turn round to that microphone and yell into it. And I forgot to shake hands with the kid. I felt horrible about that, it was so bad ... I felt so bad for the next few days. But I could not rewind the moment."

The "Catdog" cry needs some explaining after almost three decades.

"It was from a bye weekend and I went home," recalls the Victorian-born Thurstans who came to Port Adelaide via Crib Point in the 1998 AFL national draft as pick No. 39.

"To catch up with all my mates we had everyone at my parents' place. We had a fire,  a few beers. At one stage, the dog is sitting next to me close to the fire and one of my mates say, 'He's a hot dog'. There was (the cartoon) Catdog on the television at the time ... and the beers do the rest.

"And then we get to the grand final. My brother and my mates from the local football team are in Melbourne for their footy trip ... and the grand final parade. They are telling me I have to say something if we win ... and that is where the idea of yelling 'Catdog' began.

"When we win, everyone is thinking there is no chance I am going through with it. I don't think I am believing I am going through with it. Even when word had got around Albury-Wodonga that I was going to say something, everyone was saying, 'No chance!'

"I did it. And the pub back home erupted. They went crazy.

"And for three years after that it goes out of control with Catdog merchandise arriving at my manager's office. Coffee mugs. Sandwich boxes. I was never allowed to live it down."

Nor did Thurstans live down the snub of the Auskicker.

"Every grand final," says Thurstans. "But if we can relive the moment with the kid from that day, I would be up for it."