Brendon Goddard by Yvette Wroby
(Post match Fox Interview)
Brendon Goddard: I’m pretty emotional. (He is crying throughout interview but in a manly restrained way, hand used as tissue).
(Cam Moody says: it’s hard coming up against your old side)
Brendon: It is. You know it’s a weird feeling, a unique situation, I’m emotional and I don’t know why. I loved the footy club and they meant so much to me … and the boys, I don’t want to see them losing.
I am home, post-match, feet up, watching someone else’s team win and lose (Carlton thrashing West Coast, Port flattening the Suns). I tipped Essendon at Mum’s retirement Village Footy Tipping competition. I win either way. I just knew we would have to produce something pretty special to win, and we didn’t. So other things have to be special.
Like seeing Fox Footy replay Brendon’s emotional moment. It actually makes me feel better about losing him, knowing it hurts him like it hurts us. Knowing that seeing him take speckies and kick goals for THEM instead of us. This sucks, I sms’d DD. Not just about Brendon, but how we played. ARRRGGGGHHHHH I sms’d my sister Denise. “WTF “was her reply. Very apt.
We kicked 13 goals, they kicked 19. We only crept up in the second half when they eased off a little, we were never in danger of a comeback. Saints fans began leaving at the beginning of the last quarter. I don’t get it. Our boys have to stay, so could we. Even when it’s hard. Even when Essendon fans begin to sing the song half way through the game.
On the train, sitting opposite new footy train friends Michael and Ellen, I talk to them about finding something good in the evening. What comes of this is finding them. And the train not being as packed as usual. And us getting seats. Michael and Ellen (she’s the original USA Ellen says Michael of his wife), are two other mad Sainters, who read about my footy art exhibition (now online) in one of the local papers, who know my ex-sister in law, who can give me tips about travelling to the USA in September. After the first four rounds, I’m giving September in Melbourne a wide berth. It means the States in Autumn. It means seeing some sports with Almanacker Glenn and Debbie in Louiseville, Kentucky. It means catching a little summer here on my return. See, I’m finding positives already. If my team fails to thrive this year, it doesn’t mean I will fail to thrive. Life goes on.
Rina, Amanda and I talk to Michael and Ellen and we find words to describe the night: we was squished, crunched, played, bullied, outrun. We did so many stupid things. We now have no great expectations, which kinds of help us relax and enjoy what we can of the season. We will now be grateful for any win we can get. We are at least ahead of Carlton on the ladder because of our percentage (thanks GWS). We may be sooky after this loss and face the Swans in New Zealand Thursday, and Sydney will be out to smack us around after their loss to the amazing, ever young, ever strong Cats last Thursday.
We started talking with Michael and Ellen when Rina and I were trying to work out my title. I was going to write “we were pantsed” and Rina and Michael said “we’d been dacked”. Our strides were pulled down. Slightly different from Saads bodice ripping episode. I wonder what the Essendon player said to him in passing, along with the poke, that stopped Saad cold and got him fired up. It was an all in ruckus but luckily not too ugly.
So what else was good? Seeing Essendon up close and seeing how strong they are. Bellchambers (2 goals), Gumbleton (4), Watson amazing with 3, Stanton, Goddard with their first and with some amazing 2009 like big grabs at the top of packs of players. Hurley is unbelievable with 3 goals, flattening our depleted back like. Dempsey, Merrett and Howlett joined the party and Davey made us look slow.
Actually, at times we were really slow. Then we’d speed off and get up to our forward line where Riewoldt settled and kicked 3 truly, Dennis-Lane kicked 2, Saad kicked 2 and got some of his missing spark back. Maisters early goals kept us in with an early sniff while Milne added one later along with Steven, Gilbert and Milne.
I liked what I saw of Seb Ross, Geary was brave, Armitage tried hard and Jack Steven looks like he can take over eventually when Lenny has had enough. Stevens is showing great courage, as did Ray, Fisher , Lenny and our captain. I liked watching Roberton and hope he settles in. McEvoy continues to improve.
Our coach has some work to do with our boys, especially the young ones. Get the new boys some games. Put some experience in them to help, now that it has been reframed as “rebuilding” rather than “collapsing”. And while the team get some skills put into them and some refreshing, Saints supporters need to find moments of love for their team to sustain us through the long, cold winter that is our footy season in 2013. Who knows? Perhaps they’ll surprise all of us. If not, there’s always the fun of watching other teams climb the mountain we’ve just walked down.
And Brendon? It’s OK to enjoy your success with your new team. You have been a good servant of the Saints and I thank you for that and your love.
St.Kilda 3.2.20 5.6.36 9.9.63 13.13.91
Essendon 6.2.35 10.7.67 15.8.98 19.14.128
Malarkey votes:3. Watson, 2. Hurley, 1. Goddard
Jobe Watson by Yvette Wroby
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.
- Web |
- More Posts
As an Essendon supporter, it’s great to see Goddard expressing emotion in his post-game speeches over the last couple of rounds. Too often footballers give the stock-standard responses which they’ve rehearsed a couple of hundred times with their media manager!
Keeping it all in perspective is the way to go Yvette. You do that well. I am very pleased we have Goddard .He served the Saints well and I hope he continues to enjoy his footy with Essendon.
I agree Yvette,
It was great to see Brendon show some emotion, particularly as he left us quite in the dark regarding his reasons for leaving. It makes me really believe that he was torn and was really wishing that he could have been given the midfield opportunity at the Saints. Perhaps the reason he had been so closed was because he was afraid that those emotions would spill over?
Regardless of his reasoning, he was a great player for us and he will be a great player for the Bombers, it is already clear that he is a leader at the club, which is great. (Pity he had to play so well on the weekend though!)
I also agree that the lower expectations for the season makes us appreciate what we can actually get out of the season now, it kind of takes the stress away each week, even though it still pains me heavily to see the boys out of sorts and losing.
Let’s just hope that the young boys really find their feet this season so we create a great dynamic like the one from the past number of years.
I guess the Saints’ loss is our gain. And the post-match interview indeed seemed a genuine moment we see much more rarely these days. I’m hoping for seven or eight wins and a couple of surprises later in the season once the team finds its footing. But the Saints simply can’t keep up with the best sides right now.