As I arrived for this game, I felt like I had been at the `G more than I’d been home this week, and possibly had.
As a lifetime Spurs fan, I had saddled up on Tuesday and Friday nights to watch Tottenham and was here again for the Saturday twilight to watch my beloved and somewhat beleaguered Pies. I was zip from two for the week - to date.
My companions included my daughter Holly, and my brother Paul, both also here for the third time this week. Holly is on the MCC waiting list and eagerly awaits her membership, regularly chipping me for forgetting to nominate her until she was five.
I have explained to her that it hadn’t really been top of mind, or indeed anywhere in there, at the time. The MCC isn’t part of my family history, I am indeed the only member.
My dad always had a thing about the MCC - being raised in a grocery store in working-class Collingwood in the aftermath of the Great Depression, he always saw the MCC as both the Establishment and the other side of the road. I reckon being on the wrong end of all bar one of the five Collingwood-Melbourne grand finals between 1956 and 1964 was also a factor, but he would never have admitted it. He died in 1999, a couple of years before my Restricted membership came through, and would have been bemused by my excitement at obtaining it.
He would have been more pleased in 2005 when I started the Floreat Pica Society, a group of people who are connected (on an email list) by a passion for the Pies. Floreat Pica is the Pies' Latin motto, meaning Prosper the Magpie, and FPS started after I had previously written occasional match reports for a small group of friends. The reports started getting circulated to, and commented on, by others and we now have 80 on the list.
Nowadays, each round two rostered writers provide match reports, including votes for the three best Pies (for the Michael Horsburgh Medal, he played four games in 1980) and for the worst three Pies (for the Danny Roach Medal, a former top 10 draft pick, he played one game in 2001). There is also a weekly haiku/Pieku, always written by acclaimed Stockholm-based poet Haiku Bob (aka Rob Scott). FPS is a very enjoyable part of my life.
Pre-game, I had hope. Definitely hope, but limited belief that the Pies would prosper in this game against the Weagles, who had this season been brawny in the West and scrawny elsewhere. I didn’t sit in the MCC Reserve, but did venture pre-match (see photo) to my favourite MCC haunt, the MCC Library, to pick up the excellent match day fact sheet.
The game began with the Pies, through Grundy and Adams, dominating the clearances and Darcy Moore marking everything in attack. Unfortunately, his usually reliable kicking for goal was astray and the Eagles punished us with their better ball use and conversion.
A particular feature of their game early was their use of the centre corridor from defence, with Shannon Hurn hitting targets with a couple of 60 metre missiles to quickly turn defence into attack. I really enjoy watching Hurn play, but not against the Pies! Darling was leading the way up forward and he and Kennedy shared three goals in the opening stanza as the Eagles led by nine points against the run of play.
The Pies’ continued to dominate the clearances in the second quarter while Moore continued his aerial clinic. He brought back memories of his father’s breakout year of 1977 as he stood on defenders’ heads taking grabs, making it five contested marks by midway through the second quarter, as well as three goals.
The visitors looked rattled. They struggled to get the ball out of their defence. All the players were in one half of the ground as the Eagles took numbers to the contest and the Pies’ defenders pressed high. It wasn’t terribly pretty but the Pies scored from several turnovers, and booted away to a three goal lead at half-time, which should have been five to six goals on the balance of play.
The Eagles had again looked a pale imitation of their 2015 selves, but their hopes in this game soared after Moore, easily best on the ground to then, left the ground late in the second term with a hip injury.
With Moore out, the Eagles took control of the game in the third term. While the Pies continued to dominate the clearances, they couldn’t convert, with the Eagles defenders taking multiple uncontested marks.
The Eagles were far more efficient when they got their hands on the ball, with Gaff excellent, as well as Shuey and the hardworking Priddis. The Eagles contingent at the ground found their voice as their team assumed the momentum. Darling and Kennedy again shared three goals for the quarter and looked like they might be the difference between the teams.
The Eagles started the last quarter with an early goal to hit the front. Somewhat unexpectedly, at least to me, the game then completely changed complexion again, with the Pies kicking four goals in the next nine minutes, two from stoppages in our forward 50 as we continued our clearance domination and relentless pressure. When Maynard brilliantly intercepted an errant Eagles pass in their defensive 50 and converted, the game looked over.
Despite a great goal from Hill and some nervous moments, the Pies were home, and had added the Eagles to Geelong Cats and GWS GIANTS as their scalps within the eight in what has been a season of inconsistent performances.
Again the Eagles were ordinary away from home and will be desperate to get Nic Natanui back, but look like they will struggle to qualify for the home final they desperately need.
I had a great week at the 'G, enjoying the two Tottenham games, despite losing both, and needless to say, the Pies’ win. I left the ground reminding myself of my good fortune to be living this life when there is so much horror in the world.
I look forward to the rest of the season and especially to the day when I can share the privilege of MCC membership with Holly and not be the lone member in my family.
Steve Fahey is a father, husband and psychologist who is also passionate about the Pies, AFL, track and field, cricket and the world game. The scarf he is wearing in the photo was knitted by his mother around 1968.
MATCH SUMMARY
COLLINGWOOD 2.5 7.7 8.11 13.13 (91)
WEST COAST 4.2 5.2 9.3 11.6 (72)
GOALS
Collingwood: Moore 3, Aish 2, Sidebottom 2, Cloke, White, Greenwood, Crisp, Treloar, Maynard
West Coast: Darling 4, Kennedy 2, Cripps 2, Hill 2, Masten
BEST
Collingwood: Adams, Pendlebury, Moore, Treloar, Grundy, Aish, Sidebottom, Smith
West Coast: Gaff, Darling, Hurn, Shuey, Priddis, Hutchings
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Brown, Schmitt
Official crowd: 34,929 at the MCG