First time Footy Fan

RICHMOND vs ESSENDON – the match that got me hooked to Aussie football
By Praveena

Football has never particularly appealed to me. It may be one of the most famous games on the planet, but no thank you, I am not going to pretend to succumb to its nonexistent charms. Voila, UniLodge was organizing a trip to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch a footie match. Why oh why did I suddenly feel a pang of yearning to go? Kathy, my next door neighbour assured me that it would be fun and as a Community Sprit Member, I got to go for free.

I had no idea which teams were playing that night. Pulling myself out of bed, I got dressed and was still half-convincing myself that it would be very educational and I would get a chance to peek into the fabric of Australian culture. We took the tram. Michelle (the @ Melb Property Manager) tried her best to explain the rules of the match to us as we walked to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

What particularly struck me was the amount of people who turned up for the game! Families came dressed in their favourite teams’ colours, some people were carrying huge banners and there was a lot of noise, mayhem and the faint whiff of anticipation in the air. I was pleasantly amazed to discover that we had seats seven rows from the front of the stands, behind the goal! The two teams facing off were Richmond and Essendon. Michelle’s a fierce Essendon supporter so we threw our support and started cheering for them!

The atmosphere was electric. To me, it was absolutely magical. The great big lights, the green pitch and the amount of people were overwhelming to say in the least. Around 76, 000 people attended the game. I had only ever seen matches on the television but to be here, sitting amidst boisterous supporters, was an experience to remember. We settled in our seats and proceeded to watch the game.

In the beginning, Richmond ran away with the lead. Their supporters went ballistic with joy. The only thing I am very confident about was the three poles that stood as a goal centre. Score through the middle one and you get six points. Score through the other two on the sides and you get a point. And yes, even if you do score through the middle pole but you hit the bar, you get a point. There were the few odd moments when someone carrying the ball would fall and everyone would jump on him and they would resemble Sumo wrestlers for the interminable fraction of a second.

There are four quarters and each quarter lasts for 25 minutes. After halftime, Essendon made a comeback. Backed by their supporters and probably a good ear-bashing from their coach, they scored some amazing kicks that had their supporters on their feet. We got caught up in the swirl of chanting and yelling, that we did our own dances whenever Essendon scored. Our ingenuity includes the “snake” dance, the wave and the crunk (or crumping, I’m not sure)! We started name-calling but sadly, I am not possessed of the ability to scream hoarsely at the top of my lungs like some of the gentlemen in the crowd.

At the end of the footie match, Essendon had opened a big gap over their rivals. The score was 125 to 85. We stood up to sing their anthem, making silly faces because we were exultant in the knowledge that we had won. On top of that, we witnessed a streaker who came out of the benches across the field during the game. The poor dude. He rarely made it past 15 metres before being subdued by the security. To make matters worse, it’s a 6000 dollar penalty. I wonder if he will be banned for life from footie matches.

We came back happy campers. For me, it was an eye-opening experience! I can’t wait to go for another one! Word is, Michelle might organize another trip and this time it might be Essendon against Carlton...Viva la Essendon! And viva la UniLodge for making it possible!