10 random thoughts from a West Coast fan

On this glorious day, this holy and spiritual weekend, Round 1 of the 2016 AFL Season, this West Coast fan has 10 things on her mind:

 

  1. Footy’s back! You little rippa!So long 7.30 with Leigh Sales, welcome back Gerard and Robbo!

    (OK, I never actually watched 7.30, all due respect to Leigh – I thought revealing I had been religiously re-watching Shuey’s first goal of the 2015 AFL Grand Final and then shutting off the TV before the pain began would be too pitiful.)

  1. Sheeeeeed! Nooooooo! Wellingham, Brownie… again! Why, God why?

 

  1. Don’t worry, it’s ok, it’s ok. Everyone wrote us off in 2015 due to injuries. We lost our best and fairest winner for the season in the NAB Challenge for heaven’s sake (cannot wait to see Mackenzie back out there this weekend!). They said our defence was decimated, our season was over before it began – and we made the bloody Grand Final! We showed you all!

 

  1. Now taking comfort in the fact that every time West Coast loses a Grand Final, they go on the following year to win one. Ok, ‘every time’ is only twice but that’s enough to classify it as destiny. It is our fate, written in the stars, 2016 will be the year of the Eagle!

 

  1. Pumped up and excited again. Injuries be damned! We have the depth. We have a great list and we’ve got guys who can step into every role. We have Simmo (who was clearly robbed of the Coach of the Year award by the way). We’ll be fine – better than fine, we’re going to take the silverware home this time!

 

  1. I’m jumping onto every website, blog, forum, social feed to consume as much Eagles content as possible, too eager to wait for Sunday’s game for a taste of Eagles football. I must read and watch everything! Videos of Nic Naitanui fishing come at me

 

  1. Outrage! Stumbled across this article of afl.com.au detailing every Club’s leadership group.

 

I scroll down to the West Coast section that has a picture of our brave and fearless leader Shannon ‘Bunga’ Hurn, clearly hurting after the Grand Final loss to Hawthorn. Utter devastation. The caption on the photo reads:

 

‘Shannon Hurn couldn’t have hoped for a better first year as Eagles skipper.’

 

Are you kidding me AFL Media caption writer?!

 

I am calling for a formal apology from the head of the AFL’s photo caption integrity unit for this insensitive and offensive commentary.

Are you guys serious?! ‘Couldn’t have hoped for a better season’? What was he hoping for in that photo you so carefully selected? Not a photo stock photo that you used from the team photo shoot, but the one you just happened to select from our most crushing defeat.

 

I can imagine clearly what Bunga was thinking in that moment, ‘sure, we didn’t win and ok, the loss was pretty brutal – but I couldn’t have hoped for a better season as my first year as captain!’

 

Be better caption editor.

 

  1. Brain fade – who do we play Round 1 again? Brisbane? At home? Forecast of 28 degree? Too easy – put us down for a 1-0 start. Go Eagles!

 

  1. But if we lose to Brisbane in Round 1 after coming off a failed premiership campaign, God help me I’ll be channelling Terry Wallace circa 1996:

 

‘I’LL SPEW UP!’

 

  1. Footy’s back! You little rippa!

 

 

About Kasey Symons

Kasey Symons a writer and PhD Candidate at Victoria University. Her research is focused on gendered issues in sports cultures (primarily AFL) at a fan level. Kasey is a born and raised Victorian who barracks for the West Coast Eagles and yes, she knows that is weird.

Comments

  1. “I’ll have what she’s having”. Great stuff Kasey.
    Sharrod is a loss, but we can cover for the others ok. Don’t rate Mitch Brown as a footballer myself. Do you like his looks or his talent?
    Much greater depth this year, so we can cover for injuries better. The competition for places in the team will be intense, and it gives us more options for how we set up.
    Will be at Subi on Sunday for the Lions game then off to the MCG for the GF replay/revenge. Should I book our Grand Final week flights now, or is that pushing our luck?
    Good to see you and Alex and all the other new young Eagles writing talent coming on board at the Knackery. I used to think of myself as the Matt Priddis holding the side together, but now I’m feeling like Sam Butler warming the pine. Cheers.

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