By Andrew and Ursula Fithall
Andrew:
My wife Helen, declared before the game even started that she would possibly go to bed before the end of the game. This was pessimist Helen. Geelong-supporting Helen. Helen who has to work the next day and it is a long trip from the kitchen to her temporary workplace in the spare bedroom at the front of the house for an 8am start. (In fairness Helen does get out of bed at 6:15 each morning to either go for a walk or do a personal workout session in the carport adjoining our house.)
The later start-time because of the Perth location of the match meant a finish time past her regular bed-time. But I was deadest certain that if Geelong were in a winning position late in the game, there was no way Helen was going to abandon her beloved team.
As soon as they had gone on sale earlier in the year, we had booked reserved seats in the MCC for the Collingwood-Geelong clash, originally scheduled for Friday 17 July. We always go to these games as a family. A divided family! The split is four to two in Collingwood’s favour. It had been equal many years ago, but a defection of one child, Audrey, from Geelong to Collingwood, in her impressionable pre-school years, caused the imbalance. On their birth, our children were allocated to a team according to their gender. Females to their mother’s team and males to mine. This might come across to some people who have no real understanding of football as being a bit over-the-top. Perhaps. But not really. We are/were happy for our kids to determine their own religion. But some life-matters are too important to be left to chance. It just wouldn’t be right if we had to evict a four-year-old because for some reason they had decided to barrack for Carlton.
Ursula:
The Collingwood-Geelong games have become a more religious tradition in our house than the old once-a-year Christmas Eve church attendance. I deliberately planned for my three-month solo Europe trip to end a couple of days before the game, just so I wouldn’t miss out. I’m one of those Melbourne-based Geelong supporters where I am selfishly happy we have some home games at the `G rather than Kardinia Park (and maybe even finals, although always torn when I wonder if so many of those recent finals losses would have been avoided if played in Geelong). The beauty of going to these games may be that the sound and complaints of opposition supporters (read: other members of the family) are drowned out by the cries of 80,000 people. Not so much sitting at home on a Thursday night where every single outburst and yell at the umpires through the TV by Collingwood family members, and celebration of yet another Collingwood goal, felt like a personal attack.
We watched a kind of game that is ‘the demise of football as we knew it’. The modern game. Defence-focused, low-scoring, congested football. No key forwards sitting in the goalsquare kicking bags (shhh, Jordan De Goey’s five-goal haul doesn’t count). Wet conditions in Perth and a less than ideal pre (mid?) season prep didn’t help. But every time I read about how frustrating football is to watch in 2020, you have to appreciate that it’s at least footy! In 2020! Low-scoring, congested, sloppy games beat those 11 weeks from March to July where there wasn’t any at all. While footy currently doesn’t mean going to the MCC bars and meeting up with family for a pre-game (full strength!) beer, or feeling the pure exhilaration and the shaking of the stands when the final siren goes in a close game, it’s a sense of normality in a chaotic, ever-changing and frustrating year.
Andrew:
I am frequently chastised at home regarding my demeanour when watching football. Usually it’s for being too negative and critical. Last Thursday I was rebuked for being too celebratory! The celebration came in the last quarter (no surprise there). Geelong had kicked a goal after Taylor Adams dropped a simple mark in the backline. The margin was in single figures. In the next phase Mark Blicavs dropped a simple mark in the back line and the ball went out of bounds. From the throw-in, the ball spilled loose to be kicked out of the air by Jordan De Goey - for his third goal of the game! It wasn’t the sealer but it did cause me to yell out loud in celebration. It’s a good indication of the sensibilities that these intra-family rivalry games evoke that when the rebuke comes, it comes from a fellow Collingwood supporter.
It was a good win to our Pies. We look like we have much to offer in this crazy season however we are able to take that in.
Last week Helen and I received our MCC renewal notices, with the notice that our restricted memberships were being upgraded to full membership. It means this year we can go to the Grand Final. Perhaps?
Ursula Fithall is an International Studies student at RMIT. She also works in retail. Having grown up during the 2007-2011 dynasty, her experiences of being a Geelong supporter are of mostly success, but can often be seen leaving the MCC heartbroken after yet another preliminary final loss.