Round 20 – Geelong v Hawthorn: Blockbuster – What Happened There?

 

 

I’ve been to many Hawthorn v Geelong matches that have been tagged as blockbusters; Round 20 was no different and, indeed, the cover of the Record tagged the match as a blockbuster.

 

I have always worried about the outcome, as quite a few have resulted in Hawthorn grabbing defeat out of the jaws of victory. Players like Hawkins, Bartel and Selwood seem to be incredibly clever at making Hawthorn’s stars look like fools. And, it was Stevie Johnson’s 250th so the team would be focused on bringing it home for Stevie.

 

Last Saturday night was different. And not because it started at the unseemly hour of 7.20 pm (we hardly had time for happy hour at our hotel).  Here’s why.

 

We did indeed gulp down happy hour, then headed for a quick bite to eat – again not drawing the lucky ticket for dinner in the Members’ Dining Room. We were fortunate to get a table at a nice city eatery without a booking. In my crowd we had my lovely and clever niece – remember? The one who is an Assistant Coach at Ainslie in the NEAFL. I also had an Essendon supporter (son), Collingwood supporter (husband) and Hawthorn supporter (daughter in law). My niece, the footy coach, is also a Hawks fan. Oddly, one of our number is not a supporter of the code and knows sod all about it. He spent an unseemly amount of time in the bar with the Essendon supporting son.

 

Into the restaurant walked Pav (Adrian Pavese) and the Melbourne women’s team. Pav coaches the Jets at home in Canberra, a women’s team. My niece and I had our weekend planned which involved watching the women’s footy on television following the baptism of my great nephew, Walter. As an aside, are there any famous footy players named Walter? A free pass to the Ansett Golden Wing Club awaits the person who answers this question.

 

So, other than women playing the big game on Sunday, and it being televised, what else was different about last weekend?

 

Oddly, there were only 55,802 of us at the G. Hardly a blockbuster. But it was all over in the first quarter when Hawthorn kicked 7.2 (44) to the Cats 3.2(20). Sure, as a Hawks supporter, it was worth watching Cyril get 12 touches and 6 goals. And Luke Hodge led by example. It was great to see some of the younger players step up to the plate. At the other end of the spectrum, I have a sense that Brian Lake is going all out in what may be his last season to ensure that everyone knows he’s there with his brown and gold blood.

 

Not surprisingly, Sammy Mitchell played another blinder, proving Wayne Carey wrong yet again. Carey should be left to commentate on the Wooragee seconds (Google it), rather than the big game; he got it just sooooo wrong.

 

I didn’t have the heart palpitations that I usually experience. Cats v Hawks matches are now in danger of falling into the ho-hum category – the Hawks have won five out of the last six matches with not a huge effort.

 

My only nervousness related to Cockatoo who came on the ground and immediately kicked a goal; but that seemed to be it for him. And I thought Walker might have converted to make the match closer.

 

And then there were the seagulls.  No one explained to them that they’re not supposed to slip through the very clever wiring that the ground staff have installed.  We were in grave danger of having our cheese and biscuits pecked out of our mouths.

 

The Melbourne women won as well. It was a little stressful trying to be polite at the lunch after the baptism while watching the television, especially as Melbourne scored just one point in the last quarter. I’m calling Daisy Pearce the best on ground, not just for her footy skills but also her promotion of the female game.

 

Now, if only we could get some female commentators as a routine on the TV and radio!  That would be a blockbuster.

 

 

Geelong Cats:             12.13 (85)

Hawthorn:                  19.7 (121)

 

 

Western Bulldogs:     5.6 (36)

Melbourne:                6.4 (40)

About Anne Cahill Lambert

One of the first females to be admitted to membership of the G. Thank you Mr Cain. Nicknamed The Hyphen by Alamanac Editor, despite the fact I don't have one.

Comments

  1. Michael Viljoen says

    Wayne Carey admitted pretty quickly that his comment about Sam Mitchell was out of line. Mitchell’s value is unquestionable. What really happened was that Carey was just trying to say something controversial to try and spice up what was (another) very one sided Hawthorn game. If it wasn’t that Carey has such a huge reputation in the game, then the comment would have been ignored as commentator fluff, and no one would be caring enough to make it a talking point. I’m glad that Carey is around to give his insight and that he’s not scared to say something, in this case, a bit outrageous.

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