There’s something about football
THERE’S something about the smell of September that gets the blood pumping.
The sun starts to warm up, the grass is greener, people are happier, and finals footy starts.
It’s been a long AFL bye week for us footy tragics.
Those Friday night blockbusters were replaced with nothingness last week, and I almost felt lost as I scrolled through the TV channels with nothing to watch.
The journo in me loves the bye, though. After 23 weeks of living and breathing AFL, a week to catch my breath is always welcomed.
But I managed to fill the void by covering some local footy.
I’ve covered a bit of the GDFL this season and it’s now getting to the real pointy end.
While the money isn’t huge, unlike AFL, the stakes are the same even if they don’t play in front of 100,000.
On Sunday I saw what I reckon is one of the greatest finishes to any final at any level ever. Let me paint the picture. Werribee Centrals — the team many predicted could play Thomson in the grand final — was looking like it would exit the finals in straight sets. With their arms linked at the three-quarter time huddle, coach Nick Smith urged his team for one last effort. It could come down to one or two individual bits of brilliance, he said. Just 27 minutes later he would have felt like Nostradamus. His side hit the lead during the last quarter, but coughed it up again late. With seconds left and Centrals trailing by five points, Josh Sutton took a towering mark inside 50. Siren. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Sutton went back and kicked the goal.
I cannot begin to describe the scenes after that. Pure happiness from anyone in Werribee’s colours.
And that’s what is so amazing with sport. Every single pit of emotion is raw.
Inverleigh players were in tears in the rooms just metres from where Centrals belted out their club song.
Werribee may not go on to win the premiership, but in 50 years Josh Sutton will still be telling his grandkids about that moment.
I bet it will feel like just yesterday to him.
It’s for moments like that players run themselves to exhaustion during summer and put their safety at risk backing into a pack during a game,
Bring on the AFL finals. I can’t wait.