North Melbourne VS Richmond at Bellerive Oval
For the first time ever, two AFL clubs were playing footy in Hobart on a Friday night. Unsurprisingly, I was one of nearly twenty thousand who wanted to get along and be part of it. The bureau had forecast a cool dry night and as is often the case, they were pretty spot on. The sky was clear, which was nice from an aesthetic perspective, but it also meant it would get colder than George Christenson’s heart later.
I dressed accordingly, covered in more layers than the legalising marijuana debate. I met some friends for a pre-game drink at Post Street Social, walking into the heated bar and discarding layers quicker than a Men’s Gallery employee. As my friends were dressed as warmly as me, they were doing the same and we had quickly built a towering sculpture of discarded jackets and jumpers on one of the table. Fortunately the bar itself was spacious enough that it wasn’t a problem.
I dressed accordingly, covered in more layers than the legalising marijuana debate. I met some friends for a pre-game drink at Post Street Social, walking into the heated bar and discarding layers quicker than a Men’s Gallery employee. As my friends were dressed as warmly as me, they were doing the same and we had quickly built a towering sculpture of discarded jackets and jumpers on one of the table. Fortunately the bar itself was spacious enough that it wasn’t a problem.
I could have happily stayed at Post Street longer. It has a nice atmosphere and a guitarist was setting up on the heated outside deck area, but we had a game of footy to get to, so we decided it was time to move on. I had been quite concerned about getting to the game through the likely press of traffic, given the burgeoning problem of Hobart traffic this year so I have to give plenty of credit to the Hobart City Council for providing free ferries from the Hobart Waterfront to Bellerive Quay. We spent very little time waiting for our ferry and the ride over was very enjoyable. Standing outside at the prow of the boat (but easily resisting the urge re-enact Titanic- I don’t mean I was tempted to sink the boat either, in case ASIO is reading this), the brilliant lights of the Eastern Shore beckoned us and Bellerive Oval stood out like a beacon.
We disembarked on the other side of the river, had a bite to eat and a few more drinks before taking the short walk to the oval. A bit like Australian Climate Policy, we were a bit behind everyone else, so the ground was pretty full by the time we got there. We found ourselves a spot to stand in the wet area. From my position I had a pretty good view of the whole ground, but my shorter friends had their view of the situation as distorted as a Brexit supporter’s. The game itself pitted two big Victorian clubs against each other and I had given the Tigers a sneaky chance of causing an upset. Key North Melbourne Ruckman Todd Goldstein had been in doubt all week with a knee injury and his whereabouts throughout the week had been as heavily scrutinised as Kit Harrington’s during the filming of Game of Thrones’ sixth season. He was ruled out shortly before the game, which added to my feeling that the Tigers were in with a chance. |
Which just goes to show how much you can trust my judgement in football matters. While two teams came down to play, one team put up an effort nearly as inadequate as Brock Turner’s six month sentence. Despite the one-sided contest it was still an entertaining spectacle (as a Brisbane Lions supporter I am used to finding the positives as I watch a team get thrashed). There was certainly plenty to appreciate if you were a Roos supporter. Wells and Dal Santo seemed to find the ball with the same unconscious ease that Adam Brooks lies to parliament, while Cunnington was my pick for best on ground for his strength repeatedly breaking tackles and winning disputed ball for his team. The ruckmen also both caught my eye, with Hampson continuing his surprising reversal of form (things only change direction quicker when the overly-militarised Borderforce are involved) while Daw competed well and showed a few glimpses of his full potential, including one massive tackle (I didn’t mean it like that) on the wing.
There were no shortage of Tiger fans to share the pain and disappointment of their team’s performance and the banter amongst the crowd was mostly good natured and humorous (well I thought it was funny anyway). The night had a great atmosphere that was occasionally tainted by the ground announcer whose voice was pretty harsh to start with and who didn’t seem to trust her microphone by the way she was bellowing into it. There was also a slightly desperate plea for the already-vocal crowd to “Make Some Noise” occasionally popping up on the scoreboard after goals, which seemed to have the same impact on the crowd as a company tax cut will have on the Australian economy (basically none).
After the game, we wandered back to Bellerive Quay and joined a disconcertingly long line of people waiting for the next ferry. Everyone was surprisingly well-behaved though, and the line moved quicker than I expected with a quick series of boats coming in and getting us on our way. In little time I had arrived back in town and was on my way home.
There were no shortage of Tiger fans to share the pain and disappointment of their team’s performance and the banter amongst the crowd was mostly good natured and humorous (well I thought it was funny anyway). The night had a great atmosphere that was occasionally tainted by the ground announcer whose voice was pretty harsh to start with and who didn’t seem to trust her microphone by the way she was bellowing into it. There was also a slightly desperate plea for the already-vocal crowd to “Make Some Noise” occasionally popping up on the scoreboard after goals, which seemed to have the same impact on the crowd as a company tax cut will have on the Australian economy (basically none).
After the game, we wandered back to Bellerive Quay and joined a disconcertingly long line of people waiting for the next ferry. Everyone was surprisingly well-behaved though, and the line moved quicker than I expected with a quick series of boats coming in and getting us on our way. In little time I had arrived back in town and was on my way home.