While injuries have taken their toll, with bandages and crutches much in evidence on the stage as the team was presented, good humour predominated, and coach Dean Bailey pointed out the obvious silver lining to the 2500-odd in attendance. ‘It means that some of the younger guys get the chance ahead of what they otherwise would.’
Some of those younger guys were amongst the most popular figures on the day, with Jack Watts being mobbed for autographs, probably to the same extent as Ron Barassi, Robert Flower and David Neitz, three legends of the Club who threw themselves wholeheartedly into the Family Day spirit, signing for a queue of some hundreds. ‘It’s a great opportunity to stay in touch with the Club’, said Flower, before posing for one of many dozens of photos.
Around the Park, around 150 memberships were sold, new merchandise and showbags were snapped up with alacrity, and Club President Jim Stynes was the most popular attendee of all. Face painting, rides and raffles - all the fun of the Melbourne Football Club was there, along with many volunteering to take home one of the footballs in the Volvo before guessing just how many were there.
In amongst all the buzz and commotion, however, one small Melbourne member was oblivious. Eight week-old Lucinda, all decked out in a red and blue gro-suit, slept her way through the queues. Many seasons doubtless lie ahead for her to enjoy the Melbourne Football Club, and this Family Day was but the first of all those yet to come.
