By David Leydon
My son Sean and I were there as guests of an old friend who is an MCC member.
The day started long before our 3.20pm MCG date with AFL destiny when both Sean and myself had to go off to vote in our Australian Labor Party branch elections on the way to the ground. This was to ensure the good, honest Comrades of the working class were well represented in the forums of the people’s party over the next year or two.
With voting duties complete by midday we drove to my MCC Member mate’s inner-city manor where we transferred ourselves and a bevy of coats and scarves into her car for the trip to the ‘G.
Mindful of the dress requirements in the MCC Members both Sean and myself looked resplendent in our 2019 Lions members polo shirts which were complimented by the 2019 Members jackets. A finer looking pair of Members guests you would not find on this day!
After parking our car we quickly found ourselves upstairs and exiting from the lift to the wonderland of the MCC Members. Simply put – the place is magnificent!
The Honour Boards, the photos, the paintings, the sculptures and, above all, the historic vibe of the place are something to behold.
Life for me is fairly straight forward – after family and work it’s cricket in the summer and football in the winter. Nothing needs to be any more complicated than that and here I was at the heart of the history and big moments of those two most wonderful of sports.
Both Sean and I have spent our lifetime playing cricket at the Burnley CYMS Cricket Club. I’m a Life Member there and still playing and Sean is a two-time Premiership player, Club Champion and in the 1st X1. We are proud of our history at that club. But boy, does it pale in comparison with the names on the honour boards in the MCC!
MHN Walker, DM Jones, B. Hodge – they’re all there. Then there’s JK Moss, whom I mentioned to Sean happens to have a Test match batting average of 60.
“Wow,” says Sean, “60? How come I’ve never heard him mentioned as one of the greats?” I then got to finish the story that courtesy of 38 and 22 not out in his only Test against Pakistan back in 1978/79, he finished his career with a very healthy average.
We were very taken by the wonderful (and huge) painting celebrating the six-wicket victory by A.E.Stoddart’s touring England team back in 1895. Why can’t we have a painting like that on the Burnley CYMS CC club rooms celebrating the Grand Final victory we had back in 2009/10 after coming back from being 6-7 on the first day of a three-day game?
Then there was the famous wall of MCG individual records. Cowper 307, Sarfraz 9-86 (I was there that day), Cook 244 (I was there that day too!).
All the names and photos are here – Bradman, Lillee, Warne, Chappell, Lawry and the great Bill Ponsford are all there. I was like a kid in a candy shop.
We then adjourned for a bite to eat at one of the small and wonderful little cafes that we never knew existed within the members area. Fish and Chips and smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches were the order of the day for our table and we lapped it up with unquestioned enthusiasm.
After lunch we made our way out to our seats to get settled for the big game.
As a lifelong Fitzroy supporter nothing is more beautiful than sitting at a home game at the Brunswick Street Oval on a cold but sunny winter afternoon with the city skyline in the background as we cheer the Roys on in the VAFA.
As I was thinking that I looked just to my right and there was the great Laurie Serafini waving to me in the distance. Aaaaahhhh – I love the Fitzroy Football Club.
The next best spot to watch the footy was, in that instant, the seats that my friend had secured us in the MCC Members. Magnificent is an understatement. Towards the wing, perfect height, under cover, plenty of leg room and a smile to go with the great service and assistance from the wonderful staff. This had been a great afternoon already and we hadn’t even got to the first bounce yet!
Comfortably seated and happy as Larry after the excellent lunch and consumption of history I was reminded by my far more responsible son that I needed to tone down my usual game time banter as it would be inappropriate in the MCC Members.
He was of course right and I did behave myself at least until the moment of the first bounce when I let out a boisterous “Go you mighty Lions” at the top of my voice.
The noise (from me) went up a few more octaves when Hugh McCluggage kicked the first goal of the game for the Lions and we were on our way.
Unfortunately Richmond kicked six of the next seven goals in that first quarter to lead by 25 points at the change and my noisy ways were quickly silenced by a sizable concern that there might well be a thrashing coming our way after nine straight wins.
Things only marginally improved for the Lions in the second quarter and we were still a similar four-goal margin down at half-time.
But this 2019 version of the Lions do not lie down meekly. They proved that with a superb fightback in the third quarter to draw within seven points of what had previously been a far superior Richmond side.
Eric Hipwood was playing a great game and Charlie Cameron was finally looking dangerous again after being well held (and I do mean “held”) by Grimes all day to that point.
A couple of humorous exchanges with the worried Richmond fans occurred around this point when one annoyed “older” supporter complained about a Tiger player being held after getting rid of the ball to which I responded that “it isn’t Kevin Bartlett 1969 throw the ball out in front of you with arms out free kick rules any more”. This drew a hearty round of laughter from the crowd including from the good natured original complainant!
Unfortunately Richmond found their way in the game just enough again and the margin at the final siren was 28 points.
Then came the news that these two sides would actually have to meet again in the first week of the finals at the Gabba. In the context of today’s game what did that mean for Lions supporters?
To me it meant endless opportunity. The simple explanation of today’s game was that Richmond had a very good 15 minutes in the first quarter that enabled them to draw four goals clear which they were able to maintain for most of the game. For the other three and a half quarters the young Lions were at times brilliant, frustrating but above all exciting – hence the aforementioned descriptor - “opportunity”.
Lachie Neale was superb with an amazing 51 touches, Skipper Zorko was a man on a mission and played a wonderful game and Robbo hit hard and hit often around the big contested ball moments in the game.
In a nutshell, as a hardened and usually optimistic Lions supporter, I entered the game on Sunday fearing Richmond. I don’t fear them anymore. The Lions can win this first final.
As a debutant visitor to the amazing MCC Members I can only say my life has been greatly enhanced for the experience and that we do indeed have the best sporting facility in the world at the MCG.
It has also given me a few more clues for how we might improve the memorabilia displays at the Burnley CYMS Cricket Club too in the summer ahead albeit on a much smaller scale than the grandness of the mighty MCC.
David Leydon
David Leydon’s Mum and Dad met as 16 year olds and discovered they were both Fitzroy supporters. They are now both 83, still together and still Fitzroy/Brisbane Lions fans. When David was born the Fitzroy jumper had already been knitted and was duly placed over the end of the cot thereby ensuring a life of passionate support for the boys (and now girls too) from old Fitzroy. His first hero was and still remains Kevin Murray. He is a member of the current Fitzroy Football Club Board of Directors. He has worked as a Union Organiser at the Australian Services Union since 1988 and is now President of the Union. The workers united will never be defeated. He is married to the wonderful and very patient Sarah McKinna.
At the age of 55 one would think there’s probably not too many sporting “debuts” left for me to make in my life.
Last Sunday proved that theory wrong when I was indeed lucky enough to finally make my debut in the MCC Members for the big Brisbane Lions v Richmond Round 23 AFL clash.My son Sean and I were there as guests of an old friend who is an MCC member.
The day started long before our 3.20pm MCG date with AFL destiny when both Sean and myself had to go off to vote in our Australian Labor Party branch elections on the way to the ground. This was to ensure the good, honest Comrades of the working class were well represented in the forums of the people’s party over the next year or two.
With voting duties complete by midday we drove to my MCC Member mate’s inner-city manor where we transferred ourselves and a bevy of coats and scarves into her car for the trip to the ‘G.
Mindful of the dress requirements in the MCC Members both Sean and myself looked resplendent in our 2019 Lions members polo shirts which were complimented by the 2019 Members jackets. A finer looking pair of Members guests you would not find on this day!
After parking our car we quickly found ourselves upstairs and exiting from the lift to the wonderland of the MCC Members. Simply put – the place is magnificent!
The Honour Boards, the photos, the paintings, the sculptures and, above all, the historic vibe of the place are something to behold.
Life for me is fairly straight forward – after family and work it’s cricket in the summer and football in the winter. Nothing needs to be any more complicated than that and here I was at the heart of the history and big moments of those two most wonderful of sports.
Both Sean and I have spent our lifetime playing cricket at the Burnley CYMS Cricket Club. I’m a Life Member there and still playing and Sean is a two-time Premiership player, Club Champion and in the 1st X1. We are proud of our history at that club. But boy, does it pale in comparison with the names on the honour boards in the MCC!
MHN Walker, DM Jones, B. Hodge – they’re all there. Then there’s JK Moss, whom I mentioned to Sean happens to have a Test match batting average of 60.
“Wow,” says Sean, “60? How come I’ve never heard him mentioned as one of the greats?” I then got to finish the story that courtesy of 38 and 22 not out in his only Test against Pakistan back in 1978/79, he finished his career with a very healthy average.
We were very taken by the wonderful (and huge) painting celebrating the six-wicket victory by A.E.Stoddart’s touring England team back in 1895. Why can’t we have a painting like that on the Burnley CYMS CC club rooms celebrating the Grand Final victory we had back in 2009/10 after coming back from being 6-7 on the first day of a three-day game?
Then there was the famous wall of MCG individual records. Cowper 307, Sarfraz 9-86 (I was there that day), Cook 244 (I was there that day too!).
All the names and photos are here – Bradman, Lillee, Warne, Chappell, Lawry and the great Bill Ponsford are all there. I was like a kid in a candy shop.
We then adjourned for a bite to eat at one of the small and wonderful little cafes that we never knew existed within the members area. Fish and Chips and smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches were the order of the day for our table and we lapped it up with unquestioned enthusiasm.
After lunch we made our way out to our seats to get settled for the big game.
As a lifelong Fitzroy supporter nothing is more beautiful than sitting at a home game at the Brunswick Street Oval on a cold but sunny winter afternoon with the city skyline in the background as we cheer the Roys on in the VAFA.
As I was thinking that I looked just to my right and there was the great Laurie Serafini waving to me in the distance. Aaaaahhhh – I love the Fitzroy Football Club.
The next best spot to watch the footy was, in that instant, the seats that my friend had secured us in the MCC Members. Magnificent is an understatement. Towards the wing, perfect height, under cover, plenty of leg room and a smile to go with the great service and assistance from the wonderful staff. This had been a great afternoon already and we hadn’t even got to the first bounce yet!
Comfortably seated and happy as Larry after the excellent lunch and consumption of history I was reminded by my far more responsible son that I needed to tone down my usual game time banter as it would be inappropriate in the MCC Members.
He was of course right and I did behave myself at least until the moment of the first bounce when I let out a boisterous “Go you mighty Lions” at the top of my voice.
The noise (from me) went up a few more octaves when Hugh McCluggage kicked the first goal of the game for the Lions and we were on our way.
Unfortunately Richmond kicked six of the next seven goals in that first quarter to lead by 25 points at the change and my noisy ways were quickly silenced by a sizable concern that there might well be a thrashing coming our way after nine straight wins.
Things only marginally improved for the Lions in the second quarter and we were still a similar four-goal margin down at half-time.
But this 2019 version of the Lions do not lie down meekly. They proved that with a superb fightback in the third quarter to draw within seven points of what had previously been a far superior Richmond side.
Eric Hipwood was playing a great game and Charlie Cameron was finally looking dangerous again after being well held (and I do mean “held”) by Grimes all day to that point.
A couple of humorous exchanges with the worried Richmond fans occurred around this point when one annoyed “older” supporter complained about a Tiger player being held after getting rid of the ball to which I responded that “it isn’t Kevin Bartlett 1969 throw the ball out in front of you with arms out free kick rules any more”. This drew a hearty round of laughter from the crowd including from the good natured original complainant!
Unfortunately Richmond found their way in the game just enough again and the margin at the final siren was 28 points.
Then came the news that these two sides would actually have to meet again in the first week of the finals at the Gabba. In the context of today’s game what did that mean for Lions supporters?
To me it meant endless opportunity. The simple explanation of today’s game was that Richmond had a very good 15 minutes in the first quarter that enabled them to draw four goals clear which they were able to maintain for most of the game. For the other three and a half quarters the young Lions were at times brilliant, frustrating but above all exciting – hence the aforementioned descriptor - “opportunity”.
Lachie Neale was superb with an amazing 51 touches, Skipper Zorko was a man on a mission and played a wonderful game and Robbo hit hard and hit often around the big contested ball moments in the game.
In a nutshell, as a hardened and usually optimistic Lions supporter, I entered the game on Sunday fearing Richmond. I don’t fear them anymore. The Lions can win this first final.
As a debutant visitor to the amazing MCC Members I can only say my life has been greatly enhanced for the experience and that we do indeed have the best sporting facility in the world at the MCG.
It has also given me a few more clues for how we might improve the memorabilia displays at the Burnley CYMS Cricket Club too in the summer ahead albeit on a much smaller scale than the grandness of the mighty MCC.
David Leydon
David Leydon’s Mum and Dad met as 16 year olds and discovered they were both Fitzroy supporters. They are now both 83, still together and still Fitzroy/Brisbane Lions fans. When David was born the Fitzroy jumper had already been knitted and was duly placed over the end of the cot thereby ensuring a life of passionate support for the boys (and now girls too) from old Fitzroy. His first hero was and still remains Kevin Murray. He is a member of the current Fitzroy Football Club Board of Directors. He has worked as a Union Organiser at the Australian Services Union since 1988 and is now President of the Union. The workers united will never be defeated. He is married to the wonderful and very patient Sarah McKinna.
RICHMOND 6.2 8.6 10.7 12.10 (82)
BRISBANE 2.1 4.4 7.6 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Lambert 2, Martin 2, Rioli, Castagna, Lynch, Ellis
Brisbane: Cameron 2, Zorko 2, McCluggage, McInerney, Hipwood, Robinson
Official crowd: 76,995 at the MCG (an AFL home-and-away record for a game involving an interstate side)