Round 15 – Port Adelaide v St Kilda: Creativity and Fun Abound and Saints Were the Least Crushed

Saturday 7th July 4.35pm

Adelaide Oval

 

 

It was a weekend of a little of everything. Pokémon special events on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon saw me outdoors, meeting others, and enjoying a freezing cold weekend. It saw me begin a painting, something I haven’t done much of lately.  And it saw me vaguely watching the Port Adelaide v St Kilda game on Saturday afternoon at the Caulfield Racecourse Glasshouse Sports Bar with cousin Gary and friend Rina.

 

The painting I started Saturday morning.  Sketching.  There is an exhibition that begins in September entitled “Aussie Rules – Passion and Pain Exhibition”. Caulfield Rotary took on this project when their main mover Heather, upon reading my book ‘Siren’s Call’, sat bolt upright in bed and pondered it being an art exhibition.  The whole of Glen Eira Town Hall Gallery is at our disposal.  Over 40 artists have work being displayed.  There will be an RSL Section, a children’s section, a women’s footy section, a Pride section, two display cabinets of Collingwood and St Kilda memorabilia.  And there will be a Saints Tragic Fan Room. Guess who is in charge of that little project?

 

The Rotarians traipsed through my mad house months back, Heather pointing out things that would be great in the exhibition or fan’s room. I looked at my old Herald WEG poster and wanted it in the fan’s room. But another thought struck me. I could update the poster.  Do my own version.

 

On Saturday morning, I sketched it out.  Then Pokémon hunting and footy had my attention.  Meeting with Gary and Rina, we watched the game unfold.  It was a difficult one for Saints fans.  We’d lost two solid defensive players just days before, and we were inexperienced compared to Port Adelaide, who after flogging us, sat second on the ladder until the Collingwood Magpies unseated them on Sunday.

 

Port Adelaide seemed to know where to stand to stop our run.  They were better with the use of the ball.  They read out movement and took our space.  Their stars stood up. Paddy Ryder and Jack Watts put the first goals on the board.  We missed everything, Tim Membrey, Jack Newnes, a rushed, a point to Mav Weller and a later point to Paddy McCartin (who got hurt in the first minutes of the game) were all the Saints scored for the first. Justin Westhoff kicked truly. No wonder I was still happy to catch Pokémon and only partly watch the game.

 

It was a hard game to watch for Saints people, except there was a lot of muttering of ‘chewy on your boot’ as Westhoff, Jarred Polec, Charlie Dixon and Robbie Gray all missed. But Robbie Gray and Jack Watts kicked truly (with a miss from Ollie Wines) before the Saints first goal 8 minutes into the second quarter, courtesy of David Armitage. He liked it so much, he did it again two minutes later. We were lucky that Port were not kicking accurately.

 

It was ridiculous, but we still felt in it.  Their inaccuracy had matched our own. There were moments when we played well. And there were moments when they didn’t. Low scoring. Inaccurate. A chance.

 

Each quarter Port Adelaide came out firing. Boak and Westhoff again. A miss to Port. A goal to Membrey. Five more behinds to Port and it felt like we were either spreading our bad luck or causing them to fumble more. Dixon goaled again before Dustan finished the quarter. Now, even with their behinds, they were 5 goals ahead.

 

And yet.  We hoped.  We’d eaten, and we’d returned to our comfy chairs and we waited to see what would happen. Each Port miss (this time Sam Powell-Pepper) gave us hope.  Jade Gresham did more than that with some great work to score.  It had been a free to David Armitage who had been pushed to the ground after missing the goal. The free was played where the ball landed, and Gresh cheekily goaled before Port could set up. Boak answered before Gresham again goaled again. The behinds kept coming but Dixon nailed the coffin shut with three for the quarter, despite a David Armitage goal which bought David’s total to 3 for the day.

 

We lost the game by 36 points, and it felt less painful as other teams were crushed by more – Doggies got done by the Hawks by 63, Melbourne crushed Freo by 54 and Lions had beaten Carlton by 65 earlier in the day.

 

It was still early after the game, and I came home and started to paint.

 

Using gouache (a thickened water colour), I painted the Premiership poster from 1966.  It was bright and stood out across the room as I looked at it. After another Pokémon Community Day on Sunday, I returned to painting. By the end of the evening I decided that it was brilliant but needed updating.

 

By Monday, the old blokey Saint had a rainbow stripe along the front and a little rainbow on his wing, and he, a very model of a modern footballer, had a tattoo.  Of the AFLW symbol. With the stunning joy of a newly painted Premiership painting, I had enjoyed the weekend of footy and friends, and art and imagination, and enjoyed the win on the paper.

 

The messages kept coming. Glenn from the States: “That wasn’t too bad a game. Good energy.  Port just better. Much more enjoyable to watch now.”

 

I responded that I hope we can beat the Blues. “We better beat the Blues.  Or we’ll be really singing them” came the reply.

 

I messaged Elio, my Port texting contact in Adelaide. “Well done” I wrote, “We were cooked.” Elio replied, “Flat out at the restaurant. Haven’t been watching. Well done us. Yahoo.”

 

Friday night footy against Carlton and a painting for my daughter Rachel beckons. It’s been a good week.

 

About Yvette Wroby

Yvette Wroby writes, cartoons, paints through life and gets most pleasure when it's about football, and more specifically the Saints. Believes in following dreams and having a go.

Comments

  1. Hi Yvette,

    It’s sad the Saints lost, but I am happy you are positive on our performances and enjoy your painting and Pokémon hunting.

    I only checked the score on the train when we travelled from Kobe to Osaka after our footy tournament, and after I had a bath. The Saints game was disappointing, but my on field performances made me really happy and keep me positive.

    Your painting and my on field performances are the winners and I hope our boys answer for us fans tomorrow night at the game against Carlton.

    Go the mighty Saints!

    Yoshi

  2. Danae Gibson says

    love it Yvette, there’s always an up side.

  3. Phillip Dimitriadis says

    Fabulous re-working of the old blokey Saint Yvette. Rainbow and AFLW a nice touch. Now for the Saints to win a flag in the 21st century !

  4. george smith says

    A nice trick I’ve got is to Change The Date on the poster, so the disaster of 1980 with its fierce magpie becomes the triumph of 2010.

    Need extra WEG posters for the night premierships, of which the Saints have 3? Find the runner up poster and change the date, and insert the the word “night”!

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