Round 1 – Carlton v Richmond: Deja Vu

 

 

 

249 days, that’s how long it has been since I attended my last footy game (249 days too long if you ask me). It’s like the story of two long lost lovers finally reuniting. Football will always be my first love. It’s been etched into my DNA ever since my first breath, and boy am I eternally grateful. From an early age, my parents realised that they ignited a nuclear weapon the moment I fell in love with football. Every new stat or nuance of the game that I’ve found out has been relayed to my parents, to the point of irritation.

 

But what is there not to love about AFL? The purity of boot to ball, and the satisfaction when a target is hit, moments that send shivers down my spine, what more do I have to say? So much so that I don’t even go for any of the teams playing tonight, I’m a Collingwood supporter! Any AFL nuffie will tell you that neither of these teams like each other, but my pure hatred for Richmond, and my nagging Carlton mate leave me with no choice. I have to side with the Blues for the night, in what I would call two hours of community service.

 

My connection to Carlton is actually closer than what some might see. Dad supports the Blues, and if the decision was up to him I’d be attending the game saturated in navy blue. Let’s just say thankfully, he’s married to my Mum.  If I could describe my Dad’s relationship with Carlton in one word, it would be frustrating. He knows that any Carlton lead, whether it’s 10 points or 100 points is not safe until the final siren sounds. And when they relinquish any lead they have, he would say “see we ran out of legs.”

 

My mate knows it too. Especially against a team like Richmond. Yes, they might not be the tigers of old, but they have Dusty. Future generations won’t understand how Dusty is arguably the best player of all time. Just like I won’t understand how good Robbie Flower or Royce Hart were. Stats say one thing, but overall performance says another.

 

When I meet my mate at the ground, he is beaming from ear to ear with excitement, but I’m quick to remind him that at quarter time, he will not feel the same way. “They’ll kick the first 5 goals of the game and it’ll be the same old Carlton again” I joked, but tonight I’m feeling a bit more optimistic. I never understood the hype around the ‘Teague Train’, but I can understand the hype around the ‘Voss Voyage’. An experienced coach, decent recruits, and a healthy Cripps have me acknowledging the standard “we’ll make finals” murmurs from Blues fans far and wide. For the Blues to win tonight though, Patrick Cripps will need to be at his best. With no Sam Walsh, 2019 Crippa needs to take charge.

 

Filing into gate two reminds me of the footy aesthetics that I’ve missed since my last game. The steep flights of stairs, the expensive gourmet food (please bring back Red Rooster), the mad rush to get to your seat before the bounce, the cramped space you have with people sitting either side of you (trust me when you’re 6”2 and your mate is 6”3, every centimetre counts). These are all third world problems to me though, I just want to enjoy being at the footy again. As the clock counts down, the roar from the crowd sends those shivers down my spine. It’s finally back!

 

Fast forward half an hour and I wouldn’t even know that my mate was at the game if I didn’t look to my right. His head was cradled in his arms. “I told you so”, are the first words to come out of my mouth.

 

“It’s alright, it’s only four kicks”, he says optimistically.

 

He is right though, they’re still in it. But they need to clean up their game in an instant. Too many skill errors, and costly free kicks out of the centre. Cripps needs to lift though. His seven disposals for the quarter have not amounted to anything, and when you are four goals to one down, your leaders need to step up.

 

Kennedy gets the first centre clearance of the second quarter and I immediately think ‘that’s better’. Although it wasn’t the cleanest passage of play, McKay is lining up for goal. You would think that the 2021 Coleman Medallist would convert accurately. A sigh of disbelief come from the both of us. Just like De Koning’s miss at the start, it’s another opportunity gone begging.

 

This is gonna be a long night for Carlton fans, my mate is getting more irritable by the second. “MCGOVERN!!!” We spring out of our seats like a jack in a box as he reels in a hanger. As we sit down, Cripps receives and launches from 50. Just like that, Carlton are back in the game. Maybe tonight could be their night. Moments later, the Blues skipper slots his second and the belief rumbles louder amongst the supporters. He is rewriting the script. A script that has been tainted in yellow and black for the best part of a decade. However, it was clear that Carlton had taken over the scriptwriting when Sam Docherty found himself lining up for goal.

 

A side note on Sam Docherty. I have always admired his game, and his career setbacks could not have been crueller. Two ACL injuries and two bouts of testicular cancer could make any footballer call it quits. But the willingness and determination of Docherty to return to football has been nothing short of remarkable.

 

Despite my loathing for the Blues, I’m a football fan and a Sam Docherty fan. So in that case, I would love nothing better than for Docherty to kick a goal. It would make football sane again. As I swivel my head slowly towards the right, the noise raises by the second. The 70,000 strong crowd felt more like a full house in that instant. Everyone stands up around me and I follow suit. It would be inhumane of me if remain seated. Football is bigger than the teams that take the field, or the small grudges people have over enemy players. It unites a suburb, a state, a country; and when it has been eight months since footy crowds were back in Victoria, this moment of unison seemed fitting.

 

More content with their second quarter performance, my mate has this feeling that it is their night. For the first time since 2009, he thinks the Blues will be in the top eight after round one. He cannot believe what he is playing witness to. In all honesty, neither can I. I have tipped Carlton to complete the feat, but it still shocks me to see it unfold before my eyes.

 

At three quarter time, it is a different story once again. Instead of praising their performance during the third, my mate is praising the Lord in hope for a Carlton victory. Something that I have seen from him many times. My guess is that he isn’t the only one looking for answers in the final term. They have been the better side for most of the night, but subtle turnovers and free kicks have haunted them.

 

“It’s only three kicks,” my mate says. Still optimistic about a potential win, he raises his hands and looks up to the sky.

 

My Dad would almost be calling it quits, knowing what he has seem from them in every opening game for the last few years. Even more so when Shai Bolton makes the most of a Weitering slip on the wing. Now 20 points up, it begins to get increasingly difficult for the Blues to pluck out a miracle.

 

We (my mate and I) have been in this position before. Funnily enough, it was the most recent game we attended, 249 days ago. I forced him to support the Pies for the day, and they were down by a comfortable margin at three-quarter time. However, the irony and the connection lie with the opposition and what happened next. Richmond were comfortably leading in that game, and hold a cosy lead now. But Carlton’s resurgence resembles that of what I saw 249 days prior. The sequence of Durdin, Hewett, Cripps, Martin, Fisher, O’Brien and Cerra now resembles that of Cameron, Elliott, Adams, De Goey, Murphy, Grundy and Thomas. It was déjà vu. With every goal kicked, the decibels soared immensely. Carlton fans were quick to realise that there was no giving up this lead. It was a different team to what supporters have seen in previous years, let alone from what I have seen.

 

When the siren sounds, the first message I send is to my Dad. Like other Blues supporters, he can see the change for the better. My mate is in awe, the same reaction as he had to that Collingwood v Richmond last year. Carlton fans exiting the stadium have this buzz about them, knowing that they are in safe hands. Whilst watching the Blues tonight was an enjoyable experience, there is no chance I would move to the dark side. Go Pies!

 

 

CARLTON            1.3       5.9       7.12       14.17 (101)
RICHMOND        4.5       4.7       10.9     11.10 (76)

 

GOALS  
Carlton: Cripps 3, Durdin 2, Docherty, Hewett, Kennedy, McKay, Silvagni, O’Brien, Cerra, Fisher, Martin
Richmond: Bolton 3, Balta 2, Lynch 2, Aarts, Baker, Martin, Riewoldt

 

BEST  
Carlton: Cripps, Kennedy, Docherty, Cerra, Hewett, Saad
Richmond: Short, Pickett, Bolton, Martin

 

INJURIES
Carlton: McGovern (back/hip)
Richmond: Prestia (hamstring)

 

SUBSTITUTES
Carlton: Nil
Richmond: Ralphsmith (for Prestia in second quarter)

 

Crowd: 72,179 at the MCG

 

Votes: 3. Cripps. 2. Kennedy  1. Docherty

 

 

More Round 1 reports can be read HERE

 

 

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