Round 14 Collingwood v Fremantle: It’s gonna be a long flight home.

By Poppy Penny

Back in March, booking flights to watch Freo take on Collingwood at the MCG seemed like a good idea. As the season unfolded and the Dockers unraveled I began to dread my trip east more and more.

 

Waking up in Melbourne on Friday morning, any excitement about the game was soon diminished after reading that we were in for the coldest June day since 1998. The mercury crept just above 10.9°c during the day and seemed to fall rapidly as the sun set.

 

Nevertheless my friends and I layered up and braved the bitterly cold winds, making our way to the ‘G. If we had known what was about to happen I don’t think we would have bothered.

 

Heading up the escalator to the top tier, we realised we were heavily outnumbered and we needed a drink. Although an ice-cold beer is my usual drink of choice at the footy, I couldn’t bring myself to order it so we got red wine instead. This was pointless because by the time we got back to our seats it was chilled anyway.

 

We sat and excitedly discussed that Freo had won three on the trot and might be a chance here, since Collingwood had been about as underwhelming as we had. This chatter was rudely interrupted by Travis Cloke finding form. He kicked the first goal within two minutes, and another minute after that an American was beating us at the Aussie national game.

 

We realized here that one red wine probably wasn’t enough and ordered double the next round.

 

It took Freo 33 minutes and 40 seconds to score a goal, which meant I had to get my hands out of my pockets in the 4°c temperature. I could have gone another 15 minutes goalless simply to avoid potential frostbite.

 

The whole game continued in this underwhelming fashion, although Michael Barlow continued his rise from the ashes with 31 touches and Lachie Neale continued to try since he’s stuck with the club for another three years.

 

It probably wasn’t a game for the highlights reel, but Cloke can probably thank the Dockers for playing him back into form by forgetting to put a defender on him. You’re welcome Trav.

 

By the time the rain started to come down in the final term it became clear that the frosty Melbourne climate didn’t agree with W.A. locals, and that included the ones in the stands.

 

There were a few positives from the night though; I discovered that I don’t hate chilled red wine, and that Freo barely troubling the scorer meant that I only had to remove my hands from my pockets five times. The downside however is that we lost to Collingwood by 48 points and I have to come back to Perth and tell everyone my trip to the footy was worthwhile. All I can say is thank God the Saints game the next day was a ripper.

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