Joining me in the deep freeze were 20,000 odd other Geelong groupies and a few Freo fans to watch an “enjoyable” game of footy. Well, "enjoyable" might be stretching it considering some of the match could have been played out in front of Nero on the Coliseum.
Saturday’s game was a hellava different style of football than I’ve been watching this season. Rough? It was super-rough. Old school? It was pre-historic.
Now listen, I love footy. Yep, I even like the roughness of it (big burly blokes clambering to get their hardy hands on a slippery slice of leather -- I blame the cavewoman thing again.) Yes, AFL is a physical game and every player knows they are liable to take a hit.
The pushing, shoving and verbal abusing I (mostly) get, but on Saturday it was a whole different . . . er . . . ball game; it was agro-ness to the max. The nice, down-to-earth, emotional Geelong guys who I know we’re transformed into beasts. OK, that was a bit harsh but you get my drift. And yes, I blame both teams as Geelong and Freo lit their own spot fires over the ground.
I even witnessed my own fiancé take a mark and get into a Twister-inspired tangle on the ground. Tom pulled himself up and – dare I say, angrily - made a few clenched fist gestures to his opponent. I said a silent prayer to the just-arrived Pope that Tom would behave himself and threw a quick glance to my parents who were sitting beside me. All smiles. Thanks Pope. I’d never seen Tom behave like this on the field before; it actually scared me a bit.
Not as scared as another player’s girlfriend, Nicole Dodds when she learnt of her boyfriend, Cameron Ling’s plight via text after the game. “I figured it was just a normal footy injury so wasn't really worried until I saw him that night,” she told me.
“He hasn't had a major injury before but the tension in the air made it apparent that something worse than usual had happened.” You betcha.
So, how will the “Ling hit” affect her life?
“I took work off the next day to pick him up from the hospital to look after him. He rested and ordered me around. (Just quietly, I think he loved that part!) And that's what will probably happen for the next few weeks,” she quipped.
This old school style of play is not fun on all fronts; for the players on the ground, the unfortunate ones who get injured and end face-up in hospital; the fans with faint hearts; and of course, us significant others. Let’s give Coliseum footy the thumbs-down.
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Felicity Percival is the editor of Women's Health magazine, and Geelong captain Tom Harley's fiancée. More Side by Side.
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The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
