Results tagged “AFL” from Oh Susanna

Oh yeah, the Footy season. AFL. (Australian Football League) has definitely started...

 

As long term readers of this blog know, I am a totally foccussed St Kilda supporter, who has been following them for many years.

 

Last Friday night, after somehow managing to get tickets to see the sold out match, G and I set out on the train to travel the short journey into town. Alighting at Southern Cross Station (aka Spencer Street Station) it's a short walk down the Northern end of the platform along the walkway that joins Bourke Street to the Docklands Stadium.

 

I always find my pace lengthening as I approach the Stadium, until we met the crush of excited St Kilda and Collingwood supporters thronging around Gate 3, where loud speaker announcements constantly advising supporters to go to other gates where the queues were less. One of the rewards of pre-booking tickets, is that you can walk in at any time, and your seat will still be available. But I was a bit sorry that we came in at the last moment, because you miss the build up before the start of the game. In this case, we got to our seats to see the start, and the aggression and ferocity of tackling, stupid free kicks given away on both sides and low scoring had us on the edge of our seats. I find watching a close match on TV to be much more stressful than it actually is at the game, and although it was very close for three quarters it was not from brilliance of forward moves, generally, rather the defensive pressure which made the game so riveting. Add to the mix, the serious hamstring injury to Saints star, Nick Riewoldt just before half time, who would surely miss 10-12 matches. Then, serious injuries to two other key Saints, Sam Fisher who was knocked out, and carted off on a stretcher; and Lenny Hayes with a badly broken nose. By mid way through the third quarter the radio commentators were giving St Kilda no chance of winning the match. Indeed, all was poised at the start of the last quarter, for a rout, according to all the experts.

 

However, St Kilda had not read the revised script, and burst out of the blocks, scoring two goals in two minutes, followed by another three to break the game open, and it was all over.

 

As we left the ground, the forlorn sight of Nick on crutches, at some distance from his celebrating team mates brought a tear to my eye, but also raised the question: How do the rest of the team carry the weight of a superstar in their midst, on a week to week basis? Do they feel that an undue amount of praise is given to him, when AFL is surely a team game, and there must be significant contributions from the other 21 players on the team to win one game, let alone for the 22 out of 25 games which they won last year? Without question Nick Riewoldt is a superstar of the game, and he will be sorely missed. But labelling St Kilda as entirely reliant on one player denies the effectiveness of a polished, resilient and flexible team who will be able to cope, and who will rise to the challenge.

Somehow, I managed to survive the last quarter, and with seven minutes to go, the scores were even. I can't describe the feeling, though when Geelong scored a goal (from a trademark Chapman snap) and a point, which meant that St Kilda had to kick two goals in the remaining seconds to win: a point from the Saints, then a mark to the Cats in the forward line just before the siren and it was all over...

The feeling of desolation was not the same as the loss in 1997; the Saints last GF appearance, when they were thumped by Adelaide who had a burst of brilliant play in the third quarter to break to game apart.

This game is likely to go down as one of the great matches, a titanic struggle, and a battle of wills. Unfortunately, there has to be a winner, and a loser.

 

In the psyche of the long time Saints supporter, we never really think we can win, until the siren goes. This season we've got used to winning, but can never take it for granted, and rightfully so.

Maybe next year....

 

I think Saints have missed some opportunities they should have taken. In the Saints attacking zone, now a goal from Montagna of St Kilda and Saints in front again...

Riewoldt quiet in the first half, and starting to look dangerous....

Geelong under siege...but a point the difference in the Saints favour and I am still coping, just...

Managed to articulate a few words to the lovely N at half time, and a wonderful contest.

 

Wednesday morning, and now just three sleeps to the Grand Final. If you are not familiar with Australian sport perhaps you might think the finals fever demonstrated in Australia is a little over the top. Simply, there are only two or three events in the Australian sporting calendar which capture the imagination of the nation in quite this way: the Melbourne Cup, Rugby League Grand Final and the AFL Grand Final. In Victoria, the Rugby League doesn't cut it in the same way as AFL, but there is some enthusiasm now that we have a Melbourne based team. There is nothing that I write can capture the buzz in the air in this week of build up to the Final, but I will have a go!

 

A trip down to Geelong will demonstrate the passion of that city for their footy team, and in St Kilda there is a building wrapped in a red, white and black flag, as well as many manifestations of enthusiasm for St Kilda across the city of Melbourne. Ian (Molly) Meldrum, famous Australian music guru, and die hard Saints fan, who apparently fainted in the last few minutes of the 1966 grand final, and consequently did not hear the final siren or see the winning point scored, regularly redecorates the brick walls in front of his house in the St Kilda and Melbourne Storm (Rugby League) colours on either side of the gate. Molly Is just one of some celebrity supporters of St Kilda, including Shane Warne, Marina Prior, Eric Bana and Kate Langbroek and not forgetting Alicia Molik and Geoff Ogilvie.

 

In the long years when the Saints were a downtrodden team, who admittedly had a really good time, despite the lack of success; this year they appear much more focussed on the job at hand, realising that the end goal is not to win lots of matches during the year, but to win the big one.

 

On Friday there will be a parade of competing team players in the city, and even our work place is entering into the theme with wear your team jumper day....not that I hadn't been splashing around the red, black and white for months!

 

Saturday morning is traditional for grand final breakfasts, and the afternoon set aside for viewing the match from wherever...Only one hundred thousand people can actually go to the game. Most of the rest of us will watch on TV...

 

I guess I am going to get through the week, and the supportive emails from friends give me the general feeling that lots of people would like St Kilda to win.... Sentiment is all very well, but in the end, the performance on the ground is what will count....

 

Go Saints!

Grand final week started on Saturday evening, after the result of the Geelong Collingwood match was known, finally we knew who was going to play who, although we've known that there was every chance that the top teams would get there, it's not been unheard of for the leaders at the end of the home and away matches to miss the Grand Final. In case you've been on another planet, the competing teams are St Kilda and Geelong. Thankfully, neither of the top two teams missed out this year. Next, the speculation about who was to win the Fairest and Best award for the year, The Brownlow Medal, which was decided last night was awarded to Gary Ablett Junior, after being favourite three years in a row, this is the first time that this star of the game won. A clear winner, in a superb season, it is an absolute joy to see him play. Almost like a dancer, changing direction with seeming ease, pirouetting around the opposition players; then crowning it all with usually deadly accuracy in front of goal.  He is in the league of those other amazing players, now retired, Robert Harvey of St Kilda and James Hird of Essendon. Readers of this site might recall that last year in Harve's last game, I wept in the stands to see him go, and Hirdy remains a respected figure in the world of AFL.

 

To GAblett's credit, he has also been able to rise above the expectations of everyone in some ways exceeding the exploits of his famous father, also Gary Ablett, in winning both a Premiership in 2007 and the Brownlow in 2009.

 

But now, we can move on, after being able to comment on the often tasteful, but sometimes appalling dress sense of the wives and girlfriends of the footballers or club personnel (see The Age for photos)

 

Now the conversations are couched in terms of: was Collingwood that bad on Saturday night, or was Geelong just really, really good? Opinions on the outcome are divided, with good, logical reasons on both sides. The temptation is to listen to the messages that are favourable to your own team, and to ignore the rest!  

 

The betting favours the Cats, so apparently the bookmakers are hoping that the tipsters are wrong. Then , as always in these things there are some respected commentators who give the Saints a good chance to win, too.

 

It all remains to be seen- I just have to survive the week....

Finally, getting to the business end of this year's AFL season, and St Kilda is in the Grand Final, only the fourth appearance in the 120 or more years they have been playing in the competition.

 

On Friday night we went off to the Preliminary Final with our lovely neighbours, the anticipation and excitement started to build even before we left our street. First stop, to pick up another Saints Fan, C,  in the next suburb. She informed us that she had barely managed to last the week out, she'd listened to all the footy commentary she could find on radio, and some on TV, too, and by Friday evening, was so stirred up she'd had to have a glass of wine and some panadeine with her dinner to calm her down! The talk in the car on the way to the ground was who was going to win, and we agreed that whoever won could put their scarf out the window, to flap away, heralding the triumphant supporters.

 

Thick traffic is almost always a feature of a Friday evening in Melbourne, and this one was no exception, with nearly 80,000 fans making their way to the MCG. A sea of red, white and black; and red, white and blue was before us, and we found our seats with about 15 minutes to spare before the game started.

 

We had some excellent seats with a great view behind the goals at the Punt Road end of the ground. The lady who sat in the row in front of us was annoyed to find that she had left her glasses at home, so all she could see was blurry shapes, but I guess she could still pick up on the electric atmosphere, and the roar of the crowd and score lines from her family, seated all around her.

 

It is traditional for the National Anthem to be played, and the crowd rises as one. Some people do sing the words, but many are just enthralled with the excitement of the evening, and before the anthem finishes, the roar of the crowd almost lifts the players off their feet, and before we know it play has started.

 

We knew the Western Bulldogs would give it their all, and they started on fire, although poor kicking and the defensive pressure of the Saints kept them to only 2 goals 5 behinds in the first quarter. While feeling very nervous, though, there was never the feeling that the Saints were out of it, because the margin was never more than 16 points, but it was a huge sigh of relief when Dal Santo scored the first goal from a snap from the right pocket, early in the second quarter, to lift the Saints and get them rolling.

 

Fumbling mistakes, often caused by the sheer pressure of the game, were frustrating on both sides.  Individual brilliance was rare, except for the marking of Riewoldt, and intensity of Hayes, Dal Santo and Goddard for the Saints, and for the Dogs: Boyd, Cooney and Akermanis.

 

In the discussions that followed the match, some said that the Dogs were robbed, with some dodgy umpiring decisions and poor kicking for goal; but the key to winning is making the most of opportunities, and making sure they are in front at the final siren despite what the umpiring decisions are.

 

Some football purists might argue that it wasn't a good game, but may of the commentators have said that it was one of the best games they have ever seen. For the level of tension, commitment from the players to give their all, it was an absolute thriller- edge of the seat, heart thumping tension...

 

On the way home after the game, we decided to flutter scarves from both teams out of the window. The battle had finally been won, but it was so close and had us on the edge of our seats and biting nails for so long, that surely football was the winner, overall.

 

Now, there is the final week with the build up to the big day on Saturday.

 

Keep up to speed with my rolling emotional state on twitter: www.twitter.com/suessaints

 

 

And on the day game scores will be live on www.afl.com.au

Two semi finals of AFL at the weekend, and footy finals fever is well and truly here...we are down to four teams left to playoff the preliminary finals next weekend: St Kilda vs Western Bulldogs on Friday night at the MCG; and Geelong vs Collingwood on Friday evening.

 

Each game now is an elimination final, and the results will depend on performance on the day, not on what has gone before. An example of this was Saturday night's match, when just about every tipster had Adelaide on for a win; even our good friend H, who is a long term Collingwood Magpies fan. But a determined fightback by the Pies, after trailing by 31 points in the first quarter, and a see sawing, tension wracked final quarter with goals kicked by both teams in the last minute and a quarter saw the Pies win by 5 points.

 

Next morning, when I walked into Southern Cross station to take my step mother to catch the train back to the country, there were sombre looks on the faces of the Adelaide Crow supporters who were gathering to catch the bus back to Adelaide. In 1997, when they beat crowd favourites St Kilda in the grand final, their supporters had to drive back to Adelaide under banners draped across overpasses which rudely told them where they should go...Perhaps the glow of victory made the journey sweeter, but this time, the eight hour journey across the flat Wimmera and South Australian desert, would have seemed endless. There is only so much which can be said about your team when they are well on top, but lose by a kick in the last dying moments of the game.

As for the Collingwood fans, in TV footage of the Magpie fans outside the MCG after the game they were euphoric, singing the club song, over and over again. The journey back to the G next weekend, and the hurdle that they must face in the preliminary final against Geelong temporarily forgotten in the joy of the last minute victory.

I mentioned in my previous post that we went to a game of AFL football while we were on holidays. Not that it is anything out of the ordinary for me, but for Aussie Lass and Muffin Man, and the gorgeous P and T, it was. Muffin Man and P are delightful Frenchmen, and had never been to an AFL game before

 

Unfortunately St Kilda did not win the game, as I would have scripted if I could have done so, but the Frenchmen, AL and T were delighted at the tension and drama of a close match. I was fascinated that they noted things which I normally would not.

For those not familiar with Australian Rules football, there are 18 players on the ground at any one time, from both teams, with a pool of 22 players per team who can be interchanged at any time.

 

So it was with interest that P asked: Why were there so many people who were on the ground who were not actually playing the game?

Why so many umpires?

Three field umpires, two boundary umpires, and two goal umpires

 

With this number of umpires, it means that at any one time there are a minimum of 43 people on the ground, plus you can have a runner for each team; and you can have medical people like doctors, or physiotherapists on the ground if a player is injured, but they can't stay on the ground, indefinitely.

 

A very fair question! And one that I cannot answer here, other than supposed minimisation of mistakes by the umpires.

 

The overall judgement of the frenchmen: it was an easier game to understand than rugby- you can pass the ball forward and backwards....and once they understood the scoring, and the tackling rules...., they could appreciate the free flowing play and the defensive structures.

 

I am pleased to report that since that game, my beloved Saints have returned to their winning ways, ending the season with 20 wins from 22 games. They defeated Collingwood at the weekend in the first qualifying final in a restrained show of strength, which bodes well for the weeks to come. This victory means that they have a week off next week, before playing the winner of Friday night's Brisbane Lions vs Western Bulldogs game, the following week. If they are able to win that match on Saturday 19^th September, they will go into the Grand Final the following weekend.

 

We arrived at the MCG on Sunday afternoon, just a few minutes before the game started, and the tension in the air was almost palpable. To my satisfaction we were sitting with a large group of St Kilda members, and the red, white and black colours were prominent in the 84,000 plus crowd. I normally like to be in my seat early enough to soak in the atmosphere, read the Football Record and just generally enjoy the scene, but this time we had been delayed shopping in the city on our way, so we arrived with just a few minutes to spare.

 

I sat in my seat, almost feeling sick with nerves- some of it my own doubt because of the recent good form on behalf of Collingwood, although they were thrashed by  the Western Bulldogs the previous weekend, and a couple of weeks of the Saints not playing at their best. Some of my nervousness came naturally, just picking up the atmosphere of the crowd. The first goal of the game was scored by St Kilda, then a couple of missed shots and the Magpies scored two goals and the difference at quarter time was eight points. Not too much to catch up, thankfully, and by half time the tide had turned and the Saints were in front, not to lose the lead again in the rest of the game with star performances by Captain, Nick Riewoldt, and centre half back, Sam Fisher.

 

It's a pleasant thing to be able to exchange banter with opposition supporters on the tram, and work colleagues over recent days, for revelling in the here and now is one way of coping with the two and a half weeks of hype ahead of us. For, until approximately 5.20pm on Saturday 26^th September, there is a job to be done, and getting ahead of ourselves will not help the boys one little bit.