Which other game throughout the season do you need to win to become premiers? None! That is why the GF is so different. What a farce it would be if they awarded medals to blokes who played half a game early in the year got a medal. In fact we might award a medal to a bloke who played less than a half in a losing game for the year getting one! The medals should be recognition of the blokes who did the job on the day it mattered most, not the blokes who couldn't even get on the park.
And if it was Colville's decision that he wasn't up to playing, why was it up to him? The decision on whether a player is fit or not shouldn't be the players, it should be the match committee in consultation with the medical staff. Nathan Steinberner would be a walk up start for the dogs under normal conditions, but if he said to the match committee he was able to play the GF would they let him?