These were the words screamed out from Gerard Whately on SEN at the end of yesterday’s grand final.
I haven’t been to a grand Final since 2000 so when my old team mate from Coorparoo Pagey, offered me a ticket to The Lions v Dockers, I didn’t hesitate.
Even a two hour wait outside the MCG in the rain waiting for said team mate didn’t deter me.
He finally arrived from a delayed flight and seeing I was soaked through, offered me what he calls his ‘Melbourne grey coat’ which I gladly took up.
Problem was Pagey is six foot four so I looked like his homeless brother that he’d just extracted from a park bench.
I couldn’t have cared less. Any game at The G is a privilege. The stadium is our Pyramids or Taj Mahal.
We arrived at our seats on the top level just as Kylie started. I’m not a fan of her music but I wasn’t offended by the performance. I’m more fascinated by her ageless looks.
The game wasn’t the class of say 1989 but it was without doubt up there with 2018 or 2005/06 in terms of tension and contested footy.
The game will be dissected to within an inch of its life this week but I just wanted to put down a few things that will stay with me personally when I look back over the following years.
At four minutes thirty seconds to go and Freo seventeen points up, all I will remember is a blonde flash appearing and taking over clearances.
Why no one from Freo took responsibility for Will Ashcroft is inexplicable.
When I finally got home on the train we watched the replay as you do. The Freo midfielders, who were superb all day, showed no respect for the dual Norm Smith winner and he ran rampant.
It will no doubt haunt those guys for a long time. On the other hand the Lion’s Mr Fixit, Josh Dunkley will always go to the most dangerous player without any instruction from the coach. He was my pick for the Norm Smith but rarely a defender or defensive midfielder seems to get the nod.
The Freo midfielders refused to stand ‘goal side’ of their opponents in that critical period, somehow thinking that regardless of the score, they would continue to aggressively surge forward. And why Treacey didn’t push back to help McDonald one out with Morris is a question that will surely be asked in the post mortem.
The Treacey missed goal, the missed chances in the 3rd quarter and losing the skipper with a ruptured Achilles were huge moments and I don’t know how the players and coaches will reconcile the outcome. Only time can heal it.
The crowd was amazing. It was definitely the loudest I’ve ever heard and to think there was no Victorian team playing confirms we are a truly national competition.
The Dockers fans out numbered The Lions fans despite the price gouging by the airlines. I spoke to several Dockers supporters and a few had paid $1800 one way! Another paid $750 on a 5am flight on the morning of the game.
I believe Andrew Dillon received word of the gouging halfway through his pre-game lunch of caviar, wagyu and truffles.
Throw in the cost of the ticket, accommodation and food etc and I’m sure that supersedes the cost of living crisis. Even for a FIFO, this was a huge challenge to get to the game.
I can’t imagine how shocked and sad they all were. The young Freo woman next to me was there with her fiancé a Lions supporter both living in Melbourne.
She started crying after the final siren and left, telling her fiancé to meet her at home.
Most of The Freo fans stayed for the medal ceremony. Perhaps it was out of respect for The Lions or their vanquished team, whilst others were wandering around aimlessly with hollow looks in their eyes, unable to fathom what had just happened.
Chris Fagan mentioned that Freo were the better team on the day. I know he didn’t mean it in a derogatory way, but it wouldn’t have helped poor Justin Longmuir’s mood.
The Dockers did deserve to win but footy isn’t always that kind. Longmuir is a fine coach and fingers crossed he gets them back there again next year.
Fagan is a remarkable people manager and it won’t surprise anyone if he finishes up now and heads south to be closer to his kids and grandkids.
Finally, music after goals and wharfie time on grand final day? Get rid of it.
Why do we have to follow other codes or the USA for that matter? Every time they play songs we can’t hear the crowd celebration! I don’t want to hear Country Road no matter how thrilled the bogans of Brisbane want to sing it!
Maybe I’m just jealous. I look at the Lions and Dockers and I can’t help wonder just how far from a grand final The Saints are. I look at how much I admire those two coaches then I look at ours….
One thing’s for sure, the tension of yesterday’s game was visceral. If I’m lucky enough to get a ticket to a Saints grand final that ends up like that, I will spontaneously combust.
Congratulations to both sides and their fans for a brilliant couple of days.
Friday was the wonderful Footy Almanac Lunch and a chance to catch up with some of the nicest people you could wish to meet. What a brilliant community it is and the contributors continue to inspire me every year.
To cap off the weekend I had breakfast with my former next door neighbour from my childhood in Medina WA. Luka is a Lions fan after living in Brisbane for twenty years but has been back in WA for a long time.
He and his siblings had a traumatic childhood living in orphanages in WA after migrating from Croatia. After a long period in his youth dealing with some anger management issues, he joined the army a few months after me out of similar desperation.
He arrived at Kapooka for basic training with a beard and long hair. The first bit of humiliation they did in those days was to escort you into the mess at dinner time day 1, in civilian clothes, in front of two thousand shaved heads.
The doors opened and I was sitting with my platoon eating. I saw Luka enter, then the ritualistic wolf whistles started. Someone must have added a comment and Luka just pounced on him and set about pummelling the unfortunate recruit like Roberto Duran.
Everyone jumped up to get a glimpse of the action and I simply continued eating. The staff were yelling at everyone to sit down and when they did I was asked why I didn’t get up.
I replied, “that’s my next door neighbour”. 3000km from home and he hadn’t changed.
Luka ended up doing three years service then became a teacher and is now a chaplain helping dying patients in palliative care. A remarkable life and great man indeed.
