By Michael Allan
Weekends are a wonderful thing.
They give us something to look forward to, a time to catch up with people we may not see or just an idle discussion point to fill in silence with a co-worker with whom you may otherwise have nothing to talk about.
How we spend our weekends actually says a lot. People are bound to all sorts of jobs throughout the week to provide for a family, pay off a mortgage or save up for a holiday.
For most of us this cycle takes up five of the seven days of the week. Some of us are lucky enough to love our jobs and others just get through them for more practical reasons.
But it's the weekend that provides us with the individual freedom to choose how we want to spend our time and fulfil our lives in the way we see fit.
For many of us, this personal freedom says a lot more about who we are as people than the job descriptions we perform ritually. The chance to go out and really do what you want to do. Two days of your own making.
It was these familiar idle chats in the office about our weekend that organically led to me inviting a group of teacher colleagues to experience a slice of my weekend lifestyle, a night in the MCC Members watching my beloved Tiges.
Our interest and association with football varied greatly. Sharing a beer in the Frank Grey Smith Bar before the game there was wonderful contrast of people within the eclectic group.
To my left stood a Gold Coast Suns member and, on my right, someone who was more inclined to spend the final Saturday in September at a local park with friends than watching footy.
Mixed in with the work footy tipping comp leader, a Sydney member and an ex-St Kilda supporter (a relationship terminated on ethical grounds) the drinks flowed and the conversations went in countless directions that were impossible to keep up with.
I was quickly reminded through this fantastic collection of people that how I chose to spend my weekend was more unique than I'd ever given credit for:
"So you come here every week?"
"Is this how you always watch the football?"
"These seats are fantastic!"
"Where's the smokers area? Oh, you have to leave the ground?"
I'd given these people an insight into how I chose to spend nearly every week of the winter months and, in return they'd affirmed just why I love it so much. The passion hadn't come from revelling in the 2017 Grand Final or talking about my favourite Tiger players. It instead rested in the fortune of enjoying the company of friends while doing something I love.
As a poorly-timed round of drinks was ordered minutes before the bounce, I knew I wasn't going to be seeing much of my fantastic balcony seat tonight - and I didn't mind one bit.
To have that fresh set of eyes on the game of footy was a treat in itself. I went back to that raw enjoyment of watching footy. The experienced footy viewer in me would've been level-headed after Melbourne's three early goals, knowingly calm that this experienced team would run over the top of the young Dees.
Instead, caught up in the fresh excitement with my friends I was stressed and sure this spelt danger for Richmond. I started panicking. I started signalling to the players who were three levels below and the other side of a glass wall. The passion had surfaced.
Even when out at the seats my friends brought, a new passion for the area that I've grown accustomed to.
Fellow Richmond fanatic Waleed Aly sat an aisle across from us and, at three-quarter time, two of us wanted to give a quick hello to The Project favourite. What resulted was a full-blown chat about education and the recent Adam Goodes documentaries. As the three-quarter time siren sounded we ran off giggling back to our friends.
The final quarter petered out and Richmond had a comfortable win. I couldn’t tell you who played well or what won it for us. Instead of a Riewoldt hanger or a Dusty goal, my highlights had been talking with friends, sharing stories and enjoying a bit of footy in between.
Sometimes I wonder about why I spend so much of my free time watching and taking in footy.
There are a limitless amount of ways to use the two days off at the end of a working week and, to partake in the footy ritual so often can definitely be seen as a narrow way to live out a life - particularly when this apparent free decision to enjoy footy all started with joining a waiting list at birth.
But the core values that underpin the footy fan is what makes this endeavour so addictive. Friendship, loyalty, action and competition continue to pull me back to the football week-in and week-out.
I don’t think it’s my place to tell someone how they ought to spend their free time, but I hope that everybody has the ability and means to enjoy their freedom that they earn at the end of each week.
I know that I am very lucky to be passionate about my work and enjoy my weekends. I am also extremely fortunate to work with people with whom words like ‘co-worker’ and ‘colleague’ seem to undersell their significance in my life.
It was an absolute thrill to share the MCC experience with friends and hopefully I was able to convince a few to join the waiting list!
Michael Allan is an English and Philosophy teacher at Templestowe College. He wears his Richmond scarf proudly in all of his classes.
MELBOURNE
3.1 6.2 7.4 9.6 (60)
RICHMOND
3.2 6.5 11.9 13.15 (93)
GOALS
MELBOURNE:
Fritsch 3, Lewis 2, Dunkley 2, Wagner, Brayshaw,
RICHMOND:
Lynch 3, Graham, Bolton, Martin, Rioli, Castagna, Caddy,. Lambert, Chol, Soldo
Official crowd: 37,254 at the MCG