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Last weekend, I was able to attend the Carlton-St Kilda game at Marvel Stadium with my family as a guest of an AFL member.
Whether it is a mis-remembering of the old days or an increased sensitivity at having my 12-and 13-year old girls with me (or maybe just because my Blues once again let me down meaning I am now 1-6 when taking my daughter to a Carlton game), I left wondering whether I would return, after a number of incidents led me to the following conclusions.
To begin with, there seem to be a lot of fans at games who value the ability to drink over actually watching the footy.
As we took our seats three rows from the fence, not far from the Blues’ bench, I was struck by two things: the fact that most people were drinking full strength Carlton Draught cans, Strongbow Ciders or plastic cups of wine in their seats, where I thought mid strength was now the only option; and how many of these premium seats were still empty as the game started.
Over the course of the game, a theme as consistent as the tide developed. The first 10 minutes of each quarter were interrupted by people returning to their seats coming from the bar, and the last five minutes interrupted by those same people rushing back to refill.
This meant most of those around us missed at least a third of the game they had paid to attend and quite possibly couldn’t remember the rest.
A significant portion of these attendees also seem to to be less fans and more fanatics. I encountered multiple examples of obnoxious behaviour, instead of support for the team.
This behaviour ranged from the annoying – like Saints supporters who abused one of their own for complaining about their constant swearing around his three-year old son – to the comical – the Carlton supporter who abused youngster Jesse Motlop for not being front and square at a contest… when he was on the bench not 10 metres in front of him.
It reached a dangerous point when a Blues fan moved right next to the bench to hurl abuse at the Carlton players, and then turn on a nearby 60-year old couple who reported him to security. Said security only observed him for a few minutes before leaving.
This might be an overreaction to a small sample size, but the fact my sister, sitting on the other side of the ground, had similar experiences, leads me to believe it is widespread.
Fans look on during the 2022 preliminary final between Geelong and Brisbane. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Fuelling all this is my belief that, despite all the footy shows on TV and analysis done these days, a lot of fans have a fundamental misunderstanding of the game, and overconfidence in their knowledge of it, which is a dangerous mix.
This was shown in the constant abuse of the umpires for incidents happening 150 metres away, as well as the general moaning from Carlton supporters any time the Blues tried to shift the Saints’ defence by going backwards and switching play. It was exemplified by the Blues fan who spent most of the second half imploring them to ‘kick it long down the middle’, where the Saints had set up very well defensively, only to briefly celebrate when they did (“that’s better”), only to then loudly complain “Who was that to?” when the Saints intercepted and rebounded.
Finally, and most importantly, there seems to be an underlying anger pervading the game these days.
It is hard to put a finger on exactly what is was the led me to this conclusion, but of the people around us, no one actually seemed to be enjoying the entertainment provided by the sport being played.
The Saints fans behind us swore like sailors all afternoon, the level of vitriol directed at the umpires and players seemed disproportionate (umpires still copped abuse for ‘evening it up’ when they actually paid the correct free kick), there was a general disrespect to other attendees, and a palpable energy that things could kick off at any minute.
I can’t help but think that the so-called ‘Kane Cornes cycle’ of saying or Tweeting something controversial, going on radio to reassert it, getting other commentators to argue back and ensuring the whole week is dominated by the controversy rather than the game, combined with the combative keyboard warrior culture that has emerged in recent years, has a significant part to play in this.
With this in mind I am wrestling with a big question – will I go back to see the Blues play the Saints again later this year?
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I hope so – although until the AFL release the rest of the fixture, it is hard to say – but the fact I am even debating the idea should give us all, myself included, pause to consider what kind of experience we want at the game, and what kind of football follower we should all try to be.
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