It’s hard to talk about the unsavouriness of politics after such a ripping weekend of glorious finals footie, and some pretty good World Cup Rugger. If you’re a fan of pointy-ball sports, this was a weekend to savour.
It started for me 9:30 Friday night, watching Hawthorn do their very best to knock of Collingwood’s inbreeds for the right to play my Geelong Cats in next week’s AFL final. It came down to one kick in a terrific Prelim Final to next week’s main event, with Collingwood just coming out ahead in a thrilling finish that could have gone either way—but with enough bruised and battered Pies’ bodies to make a Cats fan optimistic for next weekend. (Especially since the Cats beat these deadbeats by 96 points just a few weeks ago.)
Saturday’s couch-surfing epic started for me mid-afternoon, watching Geelong beat a tired West Coast by 60 points to confirm our own place in next weekend’s AFL final. (Top effort that. It’s looking good for three flags for Geelong in five years.) I left all the other members of the Auckland Geelong Supporters Club to party on his own, then motored over to watch the All Blacks thump France with a knowledgeable rugby crowd. And wasn’t it great to see the number one team finally out on the track and playing together for the first time. What a coaching master stroke. And how emotional seeing such an ill Jock Hobbs presenting Richie McCaw with his hundred-mission cap. A great moment.
Two games down, two resounding wins for my teams. A great night. To celebrate, I dropped everything to race down the road to watch the second half of the league with a garden-shed-ful of Warriors fans. Who would have thought they could play finals footie with that intensity? Or a garden shed could contain all that excitement when the final whistle went and the Warriors went through to the final!
(And how strange to see champion Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse taking the night off by watching this game over the road from the MCG, where the night before he had cried in the coaching box at his team’s narrow escape—and how strange to see former All Blacks coach John Hart in the Warrior’s coaching box at the same stadium, at the same time as the ABs were redeeming themselves against the team who once made Hart’s ABs, and the entire country, cry.)
Hearing Argentina knock off Scotland yesterday was almost an anti-climax after that. But Scotland have been pathetic at this tournament, and Argentina deserve to go through again. And knocking off a “Home Nations” team has always been good for footy.
So what a great weekend for pointy-ball sports. And for my teams, of course.
1 comment:
by the looks Dane was getting from his date to the booze up tonight, his weekend is coming to a nice finale shortly too.
Go the Cats, there can be only 1 magpies, and they live in the bay
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