Embrace week and go with flow
AFL Grand Final week is one of my favourite times of year.
The intrigue; fans’ desperate attempts to secure tickets; team selection and Brownlow night all add to the buzz.
As it has for the past six seasons, this year’s Grand Final pits state against state and good news story against good news story, drawing battlelines leading even the most staunch neutral observer to adopt a team — if only for the week.
Often the faithful jump on the bandwagon of a team they love to hate.
For me, it’s the Tigers. For as long as I can remember they’ve been the basket case of the competition. The team that falls when its supporters most expect optimal performance.
A win on Saturday will reward thousands of long- suffering fans who have stuck fat in the club’s darkest hours.
My allegiance by no means discounts the path Adelaide has trekked to reach the Grand Final.
Off-field, the murder of coach Phil Walsh in 2015 and passing of assistant Dean Bailey in 2014 have rocked the club. On field, the lack of top-end draft picks hasn’t affected its rise. Over the weekend, we were given a taste of the sort of emotion that will be stirring this week. After their preliminary final wins, Adelaide’s Eddie Betts and Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt fought back tears when asked what reaching the Grand Final meant. The raw emotion from seasoned stars shows how much it will mean for the 44 players who take the field. According to pundits, the 2017 edition is the first since the inception of the competition where every player will play in their first Grand Final.
After the match review panel cleared Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin, the biggest talking point of the week has probably been put to bed.
The only dampener on the Grand Final is the number of Richmond and Adelaide members who will miss out on tickets.
Only 34,000 club members will secure tickets meaning more than 90,000 miss out.
The AFL needs to open the doors to the bona fide supporter and shut out some of the once-a-year scarf-over-business-shirt corporate pretenders.
Adelaide and Richmond fans, soak up the fun and frivolity, as you never know when your team will be involved again. Go Tigers!