Yesterday, I lined up with 18,000 other people at Canberra Stadium to get in to see a fantastic Easter Sunday game of rugby league between the Raiders and the Tigers.
The first half football was almost as perfect as the crisp but sunny Autumn weather that only the Capital can put on. Then things went array (if you’re a Raiders fan).
There are plenty of good articles out there that sum up the game itself. Suffice to say, over the final hour of the game, I watched a Raiders team bristling with talent throw away a seemingly unassailable lead.
The flipside, of course, is that this Tigers outfit is bloody good and can turn a game on it’s head in seconds.
So, surrounded by visiting Tigers fans, I slowly slipped into my regular position of head shaking critic.
“Can’t these blokes catch?”
“They’ve got no heart”
“A disgrace to the jersey”
And so when the final siren put us out of our misery, we trudged off back to the car.
It was in the carpark that MY season got turned around. I had my three kids and two tag alongs and the six of us were lamenting the loss.
My five year old said “the Raiders are terrible” and I agreed.
But then, out of nowhere, this old bloke, maybe 70, appeared and stopped us in our tracks. He had a Raiders scarf that was of the vintage that would have seen it taken to a few grand finals.
He said to me and my son, “they’ll be okay. It’s a long season and they’re young. They’ll get there”.
And off he walked.
It was a great moment. And one that I’ve now taken on board. No more armchair whining for me. I think I’d rather my kids see me supporting our team with the positive outlook I had when I was a teenager.
Back then, the Raiders NEVER won, but we still went every week and knew one day they would!
I wouldn’t mind if they learnt how to catch, though.
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