Championship games need the utmost concentration from players. You can’t let your mind pander to thoughts of all of the girls you met over the weekend, or the new Ashton Martin you wish to purchase, or news that your house containing every precious belonging you have ever owned is up in flames and cascading to the ground, soon becoming a giant heap of dust and ash. No. You can’t have be thinking about that. It’s why Cobmen ruckman Rugby players waited until after their championship clash to tell their teammate, Simon Morris, that his home was a giant cinder block.

Cobden ruckman Simon Morris, 31, was dealt a double blow when he discovered his house had burnt down moments after his side lost its chance to play in the grand final, the Geelong Advertiser reports.

As the 190cm player was preparing to take on Warrnambool in Saturday’s Hampden League preliminary final, his Jancourt East home, near Cobden in the state’s west, was burning to the ground.

Many of his teammates were aware of the bad news when they stepped onto the oval, but they decided there was little point in telling Mr Morris until after the game.

He was named as one of the team’s best players in the losing match.

Oh, burn. We doubt the game ball was any sort of consolation for a man who has to figure out where he’s going to live, oh, for the rest of his life, homeboys. Did they take him out for cake after and buy him a pony, too?

Footie first, burning house second [Daily Telegraph]