Lot more than just a game
CAIRNS POST AFL WRITER JORDAN GERRANS IS A LONG-SUFFERING BULLDOGS FAN WHO WAS THERE TO CAPTURE THE MOMENT IN HISTORY
THEY say a grand final is just another game. Maybe it is on the surface. The 44 Western Bulldogs and Sydney Swans players have to make it just another game and avoid the distractions that grand final week brings.
For the hundreds of thousands of people that converge on the Melbourne CBD for the AFL grand final, it is way more than that.
They are there for the four quarters of footy that will decide the premier for 2016 but the actual game is just a small part of the entire experience.
It’s about the grand final parade, standing shoulder to shoulder with your mates with your team colours on.
It’s about reading the big Melbourne papers front to back with the double-digit number of pages dedicated to footy. It’s about that unique Melbourne coffee experience down a laneway while you read those papers.
It’s about the walk to the MCG, starting in Federation Square, along the Yarra River, across the bridges while listening to the trumpeter play both teams’ club songs.
It’s about that first beer, which comes at a time of the day when you usually wouldn’t consider having an amber ale.
It’s about the silence just before the national anthem is sung and then the roar when the singer hits her final note.
It’s about the bigger roar as the first bounce is sent down by the umpire.
It’s about that first contest that defines the game.
It’s about hugging strangers in your aisle when you are comfortable in your thinking that your side is far enough ahead to win.
It’s about singing the song, arm in arm, much later in the night, as well as straight after the siren.
It’s about ending years and years of heartbreak, waiting for that breakthrough win, and then cheering like there’s no tomorrow.
Regardless of whether or not your team is playing, the AFL grand final is an experience every Aussie should have once in their life.
Go Dogs.