Round 10 – West Coast v Greater Western Sydney: Champagne and Chips – Our percussion of Giants’ supporters tasting one of the sweetest victories of all

 

The collective noun for a group of Giants is apparently a Percussion. For the most part, however, our Percussion of Giants supporters are isolated physically from each other. We come together for the 8 games at the Showground, maybe the 3 in Canberra. All of us are in awe of those who travel across to more remote games, such as those in the cauldron of Perth. For the rest of the times, as we get little detailed coverage in Sydney, many of us hungrily consume football reporting from Victoria.

 

 

 

What we have got is this. We have noticed that this season has seen the “Globetrotters” tag rise, along with the “selfish superstar” tag, arising from the likes of the ABC’s Gerard Whateley, after our poor last quarter against St Kilda. But then, since that performance, we have sat behind the goals and watched two gutsy from-behind wins in the last minutes of the contests against Collingwood and Richmond. Character building, we thought. Gutsy team based performances, we thought. Collingwood and Richmond choking, we heard from most of the analysis.

 

So it came to pass that the team flew to Perth, with 25 of its 26 healthy listed players on the plane. No Stevie J and Lobb added to no Coniglio, Deledio, Griffen, Haynes, Smith, Buntine, Mzungu, Hopper, Adam Kennedy, Finlayson… Plus, before the game, Tom Scully was the late out. Tom Scully, the one who has played 100% on the field with staggering numbers of kilometres logged on the GPS, the glue that has helped the side stay together.  How on Earth could we be in with a chance against the Eagles? At home?

 

As for me, the Giants tribe felt particularly isolated from me during this game. Being late on a Sunday, I could only listen to it on the radio whilst on a two hour return drive to Campbelltown.  And torturous it was, listening to the parochial ABC WA coverage, which went something like this:

“Darling gets it, RUNS, KICKS IT TO THE SECOND TIIIIIIIIIER!” as opposed to:

“The Giants have it (looks at record), it’s Williams, kicks it to another Giant (looks at record), Kennedy” and also Giants goals called sotto voce, their quiet matching the quiet of the crowd.

 

The first half was particularly annoying, especially when Toby Greene missed goals, for which the commentators were particularly happy to scold.

 

I reached Campbelltown and before returning, I realised I needed a break from the driving and from the commentary. So I went to popup food stall set up near the Arts Centre by the entertaining Knafeh crew, who mostly looked like they were ready to play for the Dees. This is the new and emerging Western Sydney, where there’s many people happy to queue for such delights on a Sunday night.

 

 

 

Whilst in the queue, I was following the third quarter on Twitter with an increasing amazement. We were in the lead! In the lead..? Surely not. This was the side that weren’t tough, weren’t used to playing as a team against adversity. And yet here was a spirit rising.

 

Jumping in the car, delicious knafeh having been consumed, I made my way home, listening again to the ABC coverage of the fourth quarter. By this stage, the commentators seemed to know the Giants by name and were getting excited about their actions. What had grabbed them – as it should – was the movement of Jeremy Cameron, which fitted into his pattern for the year; the heroics of Callan Ward – this was his best game of the season; finally the resurgent Toby Greene, whose kick from the sideline and 50 out to seal the game should go down in our club’s folklore.

 

As the siren sounded, I sang the song with the same gusto I had the previous two weeks, but this time driving alone on an empty M7 motorway. I did feel, however, the reactions of our percussion scattered across the country. Though this time all of us had to wait until the shocked Subiaco staff spent a minute looking for the track.

 

When I got home, I scoured Facebook and Twitter for the reactions, and for me, the best one was this picture from Geoff Skinner, one of the hardy souls who went to Perth. He was in the Virgin Lounge, waiting for the redeye flight back to Sydney.

 

Photo by Geoff Skinner.

 

The mark of the supporter having braved the hostile cauldron of Subiaco, seeing his team go from adversity to developing the grit needed to push on as a club. It was little wonder that Dylan Shiel and Toby Greene were keen to consider it as the club’s greatest win. Less Globetrotter and more young blokes showing mental toughness in difficult circumstances. In such a context, chips and champagne never tasted so good. Probably even better than my knafeh.