It’s that time of the year when we are bombarded with the last-minute pitch by AFL clubs keen to separate us from our hard-earned membership moolah.
This week, St Kilda – a tribe to which circumstances render me all but genetically hardwired – took its turn by releasing a video called More Than a Football Club.
It’s an impressive production that tugs at the heartstrings in all the right ways. Lenny Hayes. Robert Harvey. Darrel Baldock. It reminds St Kilda types of the special kind of solidarity that comes with elusive premiership success.
Tex Perkins voices a montage that includes vision of Luna Park, Acland Street, and the Espy, along with a kind of ‘what the?’ nod to the bayside and peninsula Melbourne suburbia which Saints plotters and planners are keen to claim as officially their own.
It’s a classic example of traditional localism sitting a little awkwardly alongside the modern survival strategies employed by clubs to retain relevance in this expansionist era.
I was reminded by the place of localism in football by – of all things – an extraordinary aftermath to the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro World Championship Tour events on the Gold Coast.
Kelly Slater – the Bradman of his chosen sport – was asked by a journalist about overcrowding at Snapper Rocks after he’d been photographed on a lay day in among a tight cluster of five trying to catch a wave.
He quite sensibly expressed concern at the number and aggression of local surfers, who showed scant regard for the safety of others.
Mistake.
Slater’s statement of the bleeding obvious was poorly received by locals, who took it as whiny entitlement. The result was the vandalisation of Slater’s car, with someone using board wax to scribble ‘F-ckwit’ on a window.
No more eminent authority to comment on the state of recreational surfing, and that is the treatment he gets from a fiercely loyal local contingent, who didn’t take kindly to the casual dissing of their break.
So what’s this got to do with AFL? It made me ponder the similarly hostile geographically-obsessive passion once embraced so dearly by fans of the national code.
But almost without noticing, the outer has become – thankfully – a much more polite place to be. There remains hardcore pockets of feral fandom of course, but there’s no doubt things are a hell of a lot nicer than they once were.
Why? The overt marketability of family friendliness is one reason. I’d argue talent distribution has had plenty to do with it too.
I was behind the scenes at the 2010 National Draft. What struck me was the ambivalence of the young talents who waited quietly for their number to be called.
For most, roads trodden for half their young lives had led to that moment. They cared not for any particular club, they simply cared for an end to the journey. They wanted to play at the highest level. Being elite was the drawcard.
They’d been through draft camps and State competitions together. They’d trained at specialist academies together. They were so collegiate it was almost eerie. The colour of a jumper, or of a club followed as a kid, seemingly meant nothing.
I left feeling if the players were so unconcerned, there’s no genuine reason why we, the fans, should care much either.
But we do.
I stick to the Saints because of my mother. I was a Saint well before I’d drawn my first breath. Mum used to attend mud-caked games at Moorabbin with me in utero.
Out on the field, players were there by virtue of the zone in which they were born. Soaked wool jumpers weighed them down. All the while they were burdened by the prospect of returning to a real job on Monday.
These days, the players are full-time athletes who come from anywhere. I can’t remember the last time I saw genuine stud-clogging mud on a football field. Woollen sleeves have gone the way of cassette tapes. And Moorabbin has been usurped by a strategically-positioned high-performance centre at Seaford, one just as concerned about training as it is about demographics and St Kilda’s future economic plans.
The game has changed so much and yet supporters still live in this artificial realm of connectedness, when the reality is an unspoken loyalty to a brand.
It’s all quite brilliant, even if it totally lacks logic.
Of course there’ll be plenty of you who scowl at the accusation you’re living a lie. That’s all part of it. Your ire can be conveniently badged as passion.
Is there an answer to combat the artifice?
Mine is simple. I luxuriate in the talent on display. I accept the fact a couple of teams are going to have a more talent than others for a bit. I accept the fixture is a total nonsense, dictated by television needs.
In essence, I cave in to the construct. I do as I’m told – I switch on, soak it up and enjoy it.
Even if the game’s loyalist edge has been blunted, regardless of how many members’ scarves you own, the players remain the game’s greatest drawcard. That they don’t wear your preferred colours doesn’t matter in the slightest.
peloton
Guest
You lucky, lucky man
Wiggins
Guest
Yes & no - my nephew, aged all of 6, and hitherto a devoted Collingwood fan like his father's family (& me, his mother's sister), is having doubts. Not due to Collingwood's chances or so on - & yes, we've all heard the jokes, and indeed, that is the point: he is a sensitive kid, and the constant jokes/comments/bullying he gets for supporting Collingwood are hard going. He was camping down by the beach one holidays & there was a kick-to-kick of most of the kids & some parents - he trotted over in his Number 8 top: only to be told - by "grown ups" - that he couldn't play because he supported Collingwood. They may have though it was a good joke, but the little kid went home in tears. He cops it a school too, which while everyone does to some degree, seems not to be deemed important enough to be stopped in an age when there's so much out there about bullying.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
I think it's a good article. I wish I was more of a footy purist. That is, being able to simply observe & appreciate the match no matter what the result might be. I can generally only do this when I watch matches not involving my club. That's either a curse, or just human nature. Either way, footy clubs need passionate support like oxygen. Former La Trobe academic, Richard Stremski wrote a book in the eighties titled Kill For Collingwood. As an American living in Melbourne, he was struck by the obsession some people had for their club. Particularly the Pies. I should also add, he became a fervent Collingwood supporter himself.
Nathan
Guest
The way ones comes up with a team to follow can happen through many ways, for many of us we are born into it and follow our families team, others go for the 'local' side, others decide as kids once a player visits their school that they now follow that team, for me as a youngster growing up in Adelaide I always followed the Crows. But something happened and I cant quite work out why, When the Gold Coast came into the competition I got their cheapest membership just as my way to show support in the idea of having a team there, but watching them in their 4th game, against Port Adelaide coming from 40 points down to win, I had never cheered for any team as much as I did that day. Being at the ground I just went nuts, I've never been so excited to be at a football game, almost didn't happen wit Westhoff (thankfully) missing a goal after the siren. From that day I realised I was converted, so every year since have signed up my membership proudly. Still have a soft spot for the Crows but I'm a happy sun.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Isn't the "construct", according to the article, the loyalty to the club (which is based on tenuous ideas)? So you haven't really caved to the construct. There's a section in Nick Hornby's book "Fever Pitch" where he describes trying to appreciate football for its essence - the play - but discovers he is incapable. Every time he starts to watch a game as a neutral he ends up siding with one side by the end. It's tribalism I suppose - the desire to identify. I find myself doing this as well - and beyond those individual games, teams, no matter the code or league, develop themselves into a hierarchy in my head - sometimes based on absurd preconceived ideas or gut feelings! While modern sport, and specifically the advertising money, tears away at what it used to be - when there was a connection with teams based generally on locality - it will be a sad day in my book when that goes altogether. Maybe it has already (although clubs I support at least put up a fairly good pretence, that's usually what attracts me to them in the first place). While I can appreciate good play and enjoy watching a good talented contest, there's something satisfying about sticking with a team and watching the struggle to turn things around as well, getting to know the ins and outs of players. What I have noticed about myself the last couple of years is that I have less of a tendency to get upset about results or frustrated about poor play. I can't quite put my finger on why - but it doesn't change that given a choice between watching my teams or a top of the table clash that promises silky skills galore, I'm still going to opt for the former.
Cat
Roar Guru
Its not a puzzle at all, the reason why one team can't take advantage of it, is because its different for everyone. My Story: I moved to Australia in 2007, I had never heard of this AFL game beforehand, I thought, as most Americans do that rugby and aussie rules were the same thing. My father-in-law an avid Blues fan and American gridiron fan assured me I would love the game and implored me to watch it. Since I first arrived in australia under a tourist visa, I was not able to work so I was left at home while the inlaws and my wife went to work/school. Being bored and home alone I eventually turned on the TV and saw there was an AFL game being shown from the weekend before. I watched it, found it interesting but also confusing, didn't understand alot, didn't know any teams or players either. Turns out it was round 1 of the 2007 season and I had just watched Geelong lose to the Dogs. Next weekend roles around and I watch the Carlton game with my inlaws which happened to be against the Cats. Anyway to cut a long story short I kept watching a game here or there for the next few weeks and by some stoke of fate each game happened to be a Geelong game, and in round 5 I suddenly realise I could actually spot a player running around and knew his name without having to ask or be told. Was some guy named Ablett. Gary Ablett Jr. to be exact and because I could name someone in the Cats team I started watching them on purpose (as well as other games) and by the middle of the 2007 season I told my wife I wanted to be a Geelong member next year ... and have been ever since. So my love of the Cats started as a quirk of fate and because I could recognize a bald bloke with the name Ablett :)
Epiquin
Roar Guru
What makes somebody follow a team is a puzzle I don't think anyone can ever crack. When I was a kid, I supported my team because my dad supported that team and it was our local side. However, I had a stack of friends who supported different teams to their dad or brother so that they could compete with them. Some people will choose a different side to their own because they love a winner, others because they like the colours of the cross town rivals. If any code or organisations can solve the puzzle they'll have the power in their hands.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
That's a big like by me Matt. I grew up in rural NSW and started following North Melbourne because they had never won a premiership. At the time my peers where into Richmond, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn. Growing up in splendid isolation far from the epicentre kids generally picked their teams based on success. Although we were in South Melbourne's zone, no kids follow them. Now when I go back for a visit, everyone is a Sydney Swan expert. The reason we followed these remote clubs from suburbs we would possibly never deliberately travel to was, like these modern draftees, because it is the highest expression of the game we loved playing. North remain my team and I'm pretty excited the season is finally getting underway tonight, with the bonus of being against a mob I hate. I'd watch almost any game though, getting behind the underdog. With geography and relationships I've grown partial to the fortunes of Sydney, GWS and Collingwood ( I know!). Loved the old hapless Bears. And enjoy the GCS until they come too good. I'd watch almost any combination of contests though but there are some I can't stand. Combos I don't watch are any involving traditional overdogs and overacheivers Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn.
Cameron Rose
Expert
I feel a bit sorry for you Matt, that you can only enjoy the game in such a deconstructed way. The beauty of the passion in sport is that it needs no logical assessment. Put yourself at the Richmond v Carlton elimination final last year and see if the two sets of tribes in the crowd were there just to admire the 44 players. I wonder if your affiliation with the Gold Coast, and living up there, has anything to do with this. I've been to a couple of games at Metricon, and what struck me was a number of people I spoke to weren't AFL converts, but simply existing AFL fans who lived on the Gold Coast, and figured they might as well barrack for the Suns as well as their first team. Thus, their passion for their original club is diluted, and nor will it ever be truly replicated barracking for the Suns. Ultimately, AFL is a club game. This is what drives it. It's the reason state of origin football died, and rightly so.
Me Too
Guest
While it's the best local sport of them all, I rarely watch games that don't involve my team. Not sure how many others do, and I'd think many neutral viewers pick a side to cheer on in any particular match. Sport is a contest and team sport is a team contest, so it is much more involving when we take a side. To suggest that new recruits don't care should hardly reflect on the fan - how many aspiring employees care which company selects them so long as they are able to work in their chosen field at the highest level possible, especially so when they know full well years beforehand that that is how the system works. Take the tribal mentality out of fandom and you take away a major essence of why we follow a particular sport so fanatically, whilst other sports we simply enjoy without necessarily investing money and time and emotion in.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
I followed NRL for almost a decade without a team after my team was booted from the comp. Eventually I settled for a different tea, but it can be done.
Mark
Guest
Good piece but most would call it absurd to just sit back and watch footy without following a team. I can happily watch other games in which my team aren't playing if it's a good contest but I wouldn't follow the code if I didn't follow the Swans, regardless of the fact that only a handful are from Sydney, let alone NSW.
Franko
Guest
Great piece Matt, summed up nicely. I'd be interested if this is a slightly more Vic central thing than is felt for the interstate teams (or even Geelong), where often local lads are sought after and revered by fans. I know Port like to see the local lads, or those with links to the area do well, especially those that have been forced away by the draft and then returned such as Ebert and Polec. Same for the Crows with locals like Rutten, Porplyzia, Jacobs, and who knows if Gibbs were to return to Adelaide at his own request, no doubt he would be greeted with a hero's welcome. The players that do care about where they play are certainly appreciated by the fans.