A place in the top-eight hangs in the balance for St Kilda on Friday night, but it’s a game which carries even more meaning and significance for Brett Ratten beyond that fact.
Ratten’s late son, Cooper, will be especially close to his heart tonight against the Western Bulldogs, with Round 18 kickstarting this year’s TAC and AFL Victoria’s Road Safety Round; an initiative encouraging the community to band together in support of road safety and in memory of those who have lost their lives on Victoria’s roads.
Cooper, aged 16, tragically passed away after being involved in a fatal collision outside of Yarra Glen in the early hours of August 16, 2015. The driver of the car was under the influence of alcohol and drugs and was speeding before losing control of the vehicle.
"That scar, pain, is still there every day and it still hurts. And it doesn't just hurt me, it hurts Cooper's brothers and sisters, his nan and pa, his cousins, his friends - that ripple effect,” Ratten said.
“That crash changed everything. That crash is the reason I’m banding together for the TAC Road Safety Round because I want no one to experience what my family and sadly many other families have.
"This is probably why I would like to contribute to this round, it leaves a bit of Cooper's legacy.”
Over 1000 community football and netball clubs across Victoria – along with the Saints – will don blue armbands across the weekend in honour of the lives lost on our roads, serving as a pertinent reminder that we all have a reason to drive safely.
Just over seven months into this calendar year, 135 lives have already been lost on Victorian metropolitan and regional roads, up 15 per cent from the 117 who passed this time in 2021.
“Sporting clubs are the heart of our community. It's where we make mates, grow as players and coaches, and bring the broader community together as one,” Ratten said.
“I’ve heard about clubs announcing a ‘keys behind the bar rule’. If you order a drink at the clubhouse, your keys go behind the bar and you’ve got to assess at that point what your plan for getting home is. Leadership like this is awesome to see, and I hope more clubs find ways to do similar things.
“This makes it a place to show leadership. Just like we do on the field, it's important we look after our mates off-field because no life is worth risking.”
It’s been almost seven years since Cooper Ratten lost his life, but his memory and legacy remains just as strong – as do all those who are no longer with us – this round as Victoria moves towards a future where there are zero fatalities on its roads.
"I don't think you move on, but you can learn to deal with it ... I still sort of don't accept it,” Ratten said.
“He didn't have his 21st, we had a 21st gathering - he wasn't there. We still have things in our family that we do even though Cooper is not here.
"It's a big ask to get to zero (annual road deaths) but we have got to keep pushing ... we don't want anybody to feel the pain that I or others in the community have had to feel.
"If we can pass on a message that helps somebody, it's so critical."
Community members are encouraged to upload their own stories to social media with the hashtag #tacbandtogether, helping to create more than just a wearable message, but a content hub of personal reasons why we should all drive safely.
