Round 9 – St Kilda v Sydney: With Pride

 

 

We are experiencing some year. Still sulking from the quick demise of the AFLW season, it’s taken some time to get enthusiastic about the AFLM season, what with disease, lockdown, death, unemployment, anxiety, stupidity, terrific medical teams, lockdowns number two, and incredible hard work by those on the front line, type environment.  Footy, well, meh.

 

Yet bit by bit, I have come back…for St Kilda, June 14, 38 points over the Western Bulldogs.  June 27, 26 over the reigning premiers Richmond,  July 2, 18 over the Blues and most surprising, the two wins in Adelaide.  Beating Adelaide by 23 then Port by 29…well, it’s a good cure for my innate grumpiness.

 

I have been to three losing Adelaide based games.  Not a pretty memory. And I have watched the Saints lose all 4 past Pride Games against Sydney Swans. Also, not great memories.

 

It is with Pride that I joined in a Zoom talk with St Kilda with guests Victorian Commissioner for Gender and Sexuality Ro Allen, Saints CEO Matt Finnis, VicHealth CEO Sandro Demaio, Pride Cup Australia Founder Jason Ball and St Kilda AFLW star Tilly Lucas-Rodd. Friday night at 7pm, I listened to all these people and felt proud of my club, these people and the thought and understanding going into the issues facing the LBGTIQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or allied) community.

 

This is close to my heart. I have attended Pride Games with my St Kilda Sharks VFLW team, and was there when my St Kilda AFLW team won the Club’s first Pride game at Moorabbin.  How good was it to win a Pride Game on the hallowed surface of my childhood memories. Before COVID-19, before our changed world.

 

Because Australia voted and changed the laws, finally, in late 2017, my daughter Rachel married her partner Olivia in my back yard in the first round of lockdown 2020 and we have yet to party but that will come.  The borders closed to Japan on the night of their wedding, so they have managed to pack up their life remotely, move to St Kilda territory, Aspendale, and Rachel has found work.

 

I think I saw her more in the last 5 years visiting in Tokyo than we have managed through lockdowns and isolations.  But they are here and OK, and would have loved to watch this game with me (they will just have to watch the replay once/when/if things lift and change.)

 

Pride. Watching the game tonight, I missed all the hoopla and celebrations that would usually precede a Pride Game, and it took me a while to see the rainbow advertising flashing.  I was too busy watching the hard working, hard running, flashy and fast St Kilda players.

 

This team is exciting to behold. There is something brewing, with deep breathing, confidence, assuredness, hard work, consistency, accuracy, love and attention to each other. They are playing for their team, their coach, their Club and for us.  And tonight, they played for the Pride Round, for our fellow travellers in this world who still have to have games and other activities to try and lead us to be more open-minded and kind.

 

It isn’t just that St Kilda won. We won a Pride Game with pride. Matt Finnis said last night that he would be in isolation in Queensland for this game, watching from his hotel room as he does his two-week stint before joining the hub. I am sure he was yelling and clapping and cheering from his room as many of us were from ours.  Connected by texts and phone-calls post game. We are all in isolation of one kind or another, but Saints supporters are together in this.

 

I am so proud. I am full of Pride. I love my Club. I loved this game.

 

ST KILDA       3.3      7.4      9.6      15.11 (101)
SYDNEY          2.1      3.6      5.10    6.12 (48)

 

GOALS
St Kilda: Hind 3, King 3, Battle 2, Butler 2, Gresham 2, Geary, Jones, Clark
Sydney: McCartin 3, Florent, Papley, Sinclair

 

BEST
St Kilda: Steele, Gresham, Hind, Jones, Clark, Billings, Paton
Sydney: Parker, Florent, McCartin, Lloyd, Cunningham 

 

INJURIES
St Kilda: Ross (calf) replaced in selected side by Savage
Sydney: Nil

 

Carn the Saints.

 

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