Rusty’s 60th was in Charleville on Saturday night and, while I was in the town, I missed the party. More about that in a minute.
Rusty is my wife’s ‘baby brother’ and, of course, the family would gather to celebrate this great milestone. The party was at the Charleville Bowlo. Originally, the plan had been to get to the ‘Ville, catch up with some family, get to the party, and social bowls on Sunday. What I had to do was try and insert the opportunity to watch, or at least follow, the Suns on Sunday afternoon. This was potentially difficult with bowls and a hangover. In the long run, I didn’t need to worry.
We headed west on Friday afternoon, with Mitchell to be our overnight. We had no intention of driving too far directly into the sun, nor sharing the road with the local wildlife. Dinner was at the Richards Hotel, back to the motel room and watched Port v St Kilda on 7Central, getting news and weather updates for the Northern Territory. Mitchell is self-described as ‘The Gateway to the Outback’, so I guess we had crossed a line.
A couple of asides: the Richards is the last operating pub (of 5) in Mitchell, and local thought points the pubs’ and the town’s demise to politicians who amalgamated council areas some years ago. That said, the staff were friendly and the meal excellent. At least when there’s only one pub you know where all the drunks are when you walk home.
Once you go west of Mitchell, the signposts off the Warrego Highway indicate station properties rather than towns.
Up in the morning, ready for the easy 185km run into Charleville.
Over the past couple of weeks I had suffered from a persistent cough and, in trying to suppress that now, I started to feel a little off-colour. Before long I was shivering a bit and the look on my wife’s face when I turned the heat up in the car was one of puzzlement. About 50km from Charleville I asked her to pull over so I could clear my head and stretch. I was beginning to ache through my back and legs.
We arrived in Charleville and went to see Rusty. I was now starting to feel really ill, and did something possibly never before done in western Queensland. In mid-morning, on a warm day, I put a jumper on and stood in the sunshine to try and control my shivering.
By mid-afternoon I was in the ER at Charleville Hospital; x-rays, blood tests, COVID test, and I just felt sicker and sicker, and the pain throughout my body increased, along with the headaches. I was unable to stand and walk, and was wheelchaired around the hospital. I was admitted to a ward late in the afternoon and immediately put on a drip; I had cannulas placed in both hands for easy access. I was pretty sure at this point that I would miss the party. My wife, a champion, stayed with me and got to hear me groaning in my sleep.
As it turns out, I thought I was much sicker than the doctors apparently did. I can make this assumption because locals have assured me that if they were not confident in managing me there, I would have been flown out to Toowoomba. Aunty Gladys, at the party, was certain I would be. But I wasn’t, and maybe she’s just a catastrophist. She’s definitely not a doctor.
I woke in the morning better than I had been 12 hours earlier, but not better, if you know what I mean. I was able to sit up without pain, I could stand without retching, my temperature was back to normal, and I had eaten some breakfast. The doctor discharged me, I was given some antibiotics to keep me going, and told to see my GP after the course of medication.
I have nothing but admiration for hospital staff: the nurses, doctors and orderlies all have an influence on your experience. There are great people working at Charleville Hospital.
Back to the Caravan Park where I had a small lunch with a few of the partygoers. “Geez, you look better than when I saw you yesterday!” At least I had avoided the hangover that many of them seemed to suffering.
No one argued when I declined the opportunity to go to the Bowls Club for the afternoon, and I wobbled my way back to our cabin where I lay on the bed just in time to see the Suns v Eagles on Kayo, on my iPad.
If you’re a team on the rise, you must win these games: at home, the opposition has their longest road trip, their star player is rested, the desire to make your home a fortress, and so on.
Well, five minutes in, it looked anything but a fortress. How good was Elliott Yeo in the first half? The Eagles have missed a number of players due to injury over the past couple of years, and as they come back and get fit we are reminded of how well they can play. Ask Fremantle.
It was interesting to hear after the game that Dimma has a new stat: ‘shit goals’. The Suns gave up a few of them, especially in the second quarter. But as the game progressed a few things became clear: Jarrod Witts was having an outstanding game. Matt Rowell went from relatively quiet to dominating. Touk Miller is astonishing. And our new ‘new boy’, Jake Rogers, knows how to play. He made a couple of blues early but, as he settled in, his passing was exquisite, and he managed a goal for himself.
The second half was indeed therapeutic to a man lying on a bed in a cabin in an outback town, worrying about his health. And my COVID test was negative.
Gold Coast 2.3 7.5 13.7 17.10.112
West Coast 3.1 7.2 8.3 12.3.75
Goals
GC: King 3, Walter 2, Anderson 2, Rowell 2, Ainsworth 2, Witts, Rogers, Humphrey, Graham, Fiorini, Day
WC: Waterman 4, Darling 2, Cripps 2, Yeo, Ryan, Petruccelle, Maric
Best
GC: Witts, Rowell, Rogers, Miller, Anderson
WC: Yeo, McGovern, Waterman
Crowd
11,440 at People First Stadium, Carrara
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Retired teacher and sports fan originally from Victoria, now in southern inland Queensland.
AFL, cricket, MLB (and anything else where I might have an opinion)
Gold Coast Suns
You think you were crook Damien – the Avenging Eagle and I were over from Perth and actually attended the game!
In all seriousness – hope you are continuing on the road to recovery.
One thing we can agree on is that Jarrod Witts was awesome. Swap the ruckmen and I reckon you would swap the result. Also swapping out the umpires would have helped. I’m rarely an umpire basher but the week before our ruck Bailey Williams held his own against a similarly bulky Sean Darcy. This week all the similar tactics were umpired out of the game. When Williams tried to lead over him he was pinged, when he tried to grapple he was pinged. By the 3rd quarter you could see he was a beaten man – by the Witts/Razor Ray combination.
I have never understood what constitutes ruck (or marking) interference. But I seriously don’t get the stark change of interpretation in a week. We had Razor 2 weeks ago against Richmond and got a good trot at home.
Noise of acclamation? Given it was the smallest and quietest AFL crowd I’ve been part of – I doubt it.
Suns have got plenty of talent on the list, but they lack the hardness or consistency of GWS or the Swans. Your errors kept us in it. Still Dimma has something to work with and there is the makings of a serious team.
Don’t buy Dusty. His legs are gone. Sell Ben King. Not a competitor.
Both King brothers seem to be out of form and therefore should be cheaper to acquire than, say, Jeremy Cameron, for a team whose key forwards are in sick bay, out of form or getting old, looking at you Collingwood. On the other hand they are both key forwards and therefore will command a premium.
The answer for both St Kilda and Gold Coast is not to sell them but put them in the backline. This has worked for various forwards from Darcy Moore to David Neitz so it might work for the King brothers, and you get a good key back.