On the Blandwagon (Saturday)
Well wasn’t that a hoot and a half? We got so close and it was all just tantalisingly within reach, only for the P&Ws to shut our run down in the fourth… Balls. 100,007 people is a pretty decent turnout too, and I'm not surprised or disappointed to hear Freo were a little wobbly in the first half perhaps due in part to the massive occasion, but to keep the Hawks to only five goals at half time is a decent effort and something a few of the detractors have unfairly overlooked. The fact that Fremantle have only played the Hawks twice in 19 years, including Saturday's GF, at the 'G is beyond the Clive. Hopefully this will be the beginning of the end of playing in regional backwaters and second-rate stadiums (with the exception of Subiaco, of course). It was great too to read about how much fun everyone had in the buildup, the parade, heading to the ground, the atmosphere at the MCG, and of course the game. The third quarter etched that belief in a bit more for the purple crowd, and whilst they did not 'shut the hell up' at any point, each purple goal in the third was met with a building juggernaut of raucous cheers to match Freo's on-field surge. But in the end, it must be said, well done to the Waverley Browns. They were the better team… Just. So in season 2014, the AFL will need to play Freo more at the 'G, whilst the lads work on their shots at goal. Sorted. Easy… But we know better: it never is a done deal, and it doesn't ever get any easier. It's worth it, though. Enjoy your summer, gang.
Terminator's Grand Final week - Day 2
Monday 3.30AM- Damn alarm clock :-( 8th consecutive silly early morning start, 3 to go, Up for work. Scarf still on much to the disgust of a lot of disgruntled Cats fans off to work. Get yet another phone call wanting to know if the office is decorated as there's a media outlet thats interested in running a story. Make our own mock photo shoot awaiting reply. Another fun day in purple. . Finish work at noon, home for a nanna nap, up again, off to Spotlight with the Terminate-ettes buying purple hair extensions, purple glasses and purple clothing. Another phone call, Another media source wants to do a story on a mad Victorian Docker supporting family, awaiting return call. Dinner, then bed, another early start Tuesday awaits
Terminators Grand Final Week
Sunday - 3.15AM, tossing and turning all night. Still excited with result. 6 year old daughter who was asleep early into the match wakes mum up to ask who won, then conducts a victory lap through the house at this god-earthly hour yahoo-ing and cheering, then goes back to bed singing the club theme song for the next 5 minutes before going back to sleep. 5.45AM, alarm goes off so its up and off to work. Grab my Freo scarf and wear it to work with pride. Most of my customers say "well done and hope you win" then theres a small minority of Cats, Hawks and 1 Eagle fan that werent happy that I was proud to show my colors and pride in my team 11.00AM - Mrs Terminator, the Terminate-ettes and more friends congregate at the Terminator Temple awaiting a pre-planned visit from the Herald-Sun wanting to do a story on Dockers fans living in Victoria. 2 hours later, no show, screw you Herald-Sun, never again! 4.30PM - Finish work after a somewhat hectic day, scarf still on (and its not coming off all week!) a mild mid 20 degree day. My neck feels incredibly warm, but I don't care. Time for tea, catch up on the footy shows, early to bed, work again Monday 4AM start!
Last Goodbye: Saluting Antoni Grover, And All Those Like Him
"Before deciding to retire, stay home for a week and watch the daytime TV shows." (Bill Copeland, American poet) To this contributor, the above seemed an apt quote to begin a homage to a retiring Docker; after all, how many footballers - amateur and professional alike - have sat on the couch all day, away from the spotlight or sight of teammates, with a cast, or a sling, or a melting pack of ice, staring at the television, and pondering the thought of returning to full fitness. And for many, that's how it ends. There's no lap of honour, no winning kick after the final siren in the final match - there's just a throwaway sentence in a September news article, saying so and so has been delisted or announced his retirement. In that respect, Antoni Grover is one of the lucky ones: over 200 AFL games, life membership, and all from a spot on the rookie list. If there were a 'Best Fremantle Team' list compiled in 2015 to celebrate the club's 20th anniversary, he'd almost certainly be on the team sheet. Today he enjoyed the spectre of a room of Perth journalists, a ten minute press conference, and a good friend in Luke McPharlin seated next to him to speak of the legacy he will leave. And yet, this contributor had seen a version of this picture once before. In 2003, with the Dockers on the verge of their first ever finals appearance, and with an exciting group of young players pushing into uncharted terrain, one player regularly cut a lonely figure at training sessions. It was Clive Waterhouse, the very symbol of the 'almost there' era the club were so close to finally shedding. Like Grover, he would've loved to have been in the mix at the end, and play one last final (or in Clive's case, one AFL final at all). Yet even for Clive, arguably the club's first true cult hero, he was lucky in his own strange way: almost marooned forever on 99 AFL games, he played on into the 2004 season and got that important milestone. But the writing was on the wall, and he ended his career that year through injuries, poor form and the obvious fact his best days were behind him. Now we remember his mullet, those moments of brilliance, and perhaps sadly, the fact he might've achieved his potential at a Victorian club with higher expectations vis a vis Fremantle during that period of our history. And yet, everything is relative. Once, at a house party in Cottesloe many years ago, this contributor was walking back from the bathroom to the crowd in the main backyard, when the host noticed this contributor's eyes fixed on a framed and signed Dockers jumper on the wall of one of the bedrooms. The host stopped, and with a forlorn face, said a recently delisted or 'retired' Docker was living with them; he had finished up on a 'pay-per-play' contract, lived on next to nothing for over two years with diminishing game time, and now had all his worldly possessions in a small guest bedroom, while he looked for work and tried to get his life back on track. He wasn't at the party, in fact he was rarely seen by any of his friends. His pride was shattered, and he didn't know if he was good at anything else. This Docker was a household name from the late 1990s, one every supporter would know; and yet, what he would've traded for Clive's 104 games, and all those moments in the sun. And this, in many respects, is the nub of it. Antoni Grover is at least worth a beer in a pub if you see him, and certainly deserving of a long piece in this forum on the qualities he brought to the team over fourteen fantastic years. But so are many others, all who loved what they did, and many who will never really get the recognition they deserve. Antoni Grover, and Clive Waterhouse, and that player from the late 1990s, will all watch the exploits of Fyfe, Barlow, Ballantyne and others this September, and it will only be human for a part of them to think 'how I'd love to be out there'. The good news for them is that, unlike the rest of us, they once were. They made it to that rarified air. They played AFL football for the Fremantle Dockers, something all of us would love to be able to say. But we can't, and they can. And that is something always worth saluting.