There are many many fantastic things about modern day Canberra (cue first 37 comments now), but one of them is not that all leading music artists visit.
That’s okay for an old codger like me – I’ve been to my fill of gigs, I’m content. But as the father of three children, it means that I am, on occasion, forced to drive three hours to the big smoke to take the kids to a gig.
Normally while the kids are watching Taylor, or 1D, or whoever, I head to the nearest pub, grab some dinner and watch whatever is one the box.
Last weekend however, I got an unexpected bonus. As I drove towards the Horden Pavillion on Saturday night, the glint of light towers caught my eye.
The closer I got, the more excited I got that my next few hours weren’t going to be spent at the Robin Hood in Charing Cross (where my grandfather famously had a ‘chair’ no one else was allowed to sit in) but at an NRL blockbuster!
But as I got closer I realised the lights weren’t at the footy stadium. What magic is this? There is no cricket in winter.
Oh…
After dropping the kids and showing them where to hang out at the back door to see Lorde leave the gig (which they did, and she was lovely and took a selfie with them), I headed off to the SCG for my first ever Sydney Swans home game experience.
To be fair, I’m laying the league stuff on a bit thick, but like all Canberrans I’m multi-denominational. In this land-locked island inhabited by transient ex-pats, you grow up speaking all languages – league, union, AFL, football (Go Cosmos!), as well as netball, basketball and all of the other sport languages of our amazing female sporting cohort.
So I’m a Kangaroos fan (Raiders, Kangas and Aston Villa – what did I do in a previous life?) and I know my footy, but the Sydneysiders didn’t need to know that.
My first impression was of awe. Seriously, the SCG at night is something. Even from the outside I was excited. The sheer presence of the stadium means there’s no way you could go in flat for a game here. The stream of people heading in helped build up the expectation in my mind – there was genuine excitement and a very good vibe.
I like the Swans and Blues (probably the Swans more) but my comments are not influenced by the teams themselves.
The match
It wasn’t a bad match. A 70-odd point smashing by the Swans meant that in the end it was all happy days and celebrations, but the first two quarters were tight. I texted a mad Blues-fan mate, who asked during the second quarter if the Blues were a chance. My reply was that the Swans are clearly a better side on almost every measure but seemed asleep – if they wake up, look out.
By the time I finished the text the Swans had kicked four and it was game over. My mate’s reply – “Yeah, Shuddup.”
The crowd
I tweeted during the game that it was a bit like being at a union match – a massive insult for a league fan (but hang in there, I’m no hater). Of the 34,000 fans there most were engaged, but I’ve been to enough AFL matches in Melbourne to know we weren’t in Melbourne.
I came away with the feeling that only about 50 per cent of the fans would have been devastated if they lost. Frankly, that’s not enough.
For large parcels of the game there was pretty low engagement when the ball was on the other side of the ground, which in AFL is a lot of the time.
Seriously Sydney, have you reached Peak Beard? If you locked the gates during the game there would have been no hipsters left in Newton.
The team
This Swans squad is bloody good. Tough on the ball, exciting to watch, with Sam Reid and Nick Malceski the stand outs. Just excellent. In fact, Reid deferred to Lance Franklin a couple of times but was clearly playing better for three quarters and should have been more selfish.
The reaction to Franklin was really interesting. Large parts of the crowd seemed extremely cynical about him. I heard guffaws when he was off line and out of the play for at least two quarters – guffaws I tell you!
Of course when he started scoring in the third and got his confidence up, everyone was cheering, but as an outsider I sensed Buddy has a long way to go to win over the true fans.
The experience
Bloody good. Every bar open, people everywhere, kids kicking footies at halftime. You can’t ask for more.
Aside from the weird ‘clap your clapper for the merchant bank’ promotion, I can’t fault it – I hope the Raiders front office head to the SCG soon.
Thanks Sydney, it was fun. You have a great team. Enjoy.
Cat
Roar Guru
I'm not sure what makes less sense, the scrum in union that seems to actually have rules and a purpose or the "we're trying to hold onto tradition but we can't be bothered doing it properly' scrum used in league.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
I'm guessing rugby's scrummaging laws don't make a hell of a lot of sense either? I played the game growing up and still have no idea half the time when the ref blows a penalty at a scrum!
Jim
Guest
The clappers are sure annoying, but I guess its a nice point of difference for footy in Sydney. As a swans fan, I find them great to take out my frustration on when the Swans aren't going so well. Some Sydney fans are pretty bad, but it can't be said it is because of a lack of enthusiasm. Every club has some pretty painful, feral fans though - the Sydney ones are fairly tame on the 'feral metre', but plenty need to keep working on their understanding of the game. But as a lover of AFL, I'm happy for newbies to get involved - I want nothing less than the swans to be a strong team and for AFL to grow in NSW, as although I love all sports (as a Canberran, I understand the Authors point completely), AFL is by far the best 'at ground' experience. Whatever the complaints about the SCG, its a great place to watch footy - especially on a sunny Sydney afternoon, but its not bad for a big evening game either. It is such a shame none of the really big games are played there anymore - but hopefully some finals will return at the end of the current stadium contract. There are few atmospheres like a rocking SCG - The Nick Davis night in 2005 long lives in the memory - the roar when he kicked the winner made the whole ground shake!
Cat
Roar Guru
"AFL is seriously one of the most confusing sports if you don’t grow up with it." As an immigrant myself (first 34 years growing up in the US) I'd have to disagree, I found AFL easier to pick up than Rugby league or union. Cricket makes no sense to me whatsoever no matter how many times its explained to me, when people talk about cricket its like trying to make sense of a conversation in a foreign language.
Momentbymoment
Guest
AFL is seriously one of the most confusing sports if you don't grow up with it. My wife enjoys cricket and soccer but simply has no clue about what is happening on an AFL field. Apart from the colours - she like commenting on the jersies - it is just a confusing spectacle of blokes in short shorts. I think it will be a while before we have a 30,000 strong crowd of supporters who are engaged. Thats why the plan is to stay at the top and make a stand. Eventually people will catch on.
Mark
Guest
Those clappers are hell. From Sydney but now live in Melbourne but always go up for Sydney Essendon games. Even I'm a little embarrassed by some Sydney fans but they're getting into it and that's the main thing. A lot of Melbourne fans act like they invented the rules. I know who I'd rather be surrounded by.