VAFA 2019 Premier C – Grand Final Seniors & Reserves: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

By Smokie Dawson

 

There is much for which we have to thank the legendary mathematician/ philosopher/ scientist Isaac Newton. He was responsible for universal gravitation, optics, the laws of motion, and calculus, that most confounding of mathematic theories. It did my head in as a year 10 student, for mathematics and the sciences were never my strongest suit.

 

The story that Newton discovered universal gravitation after being ‘donged’ on the head by an apple is somewhat apocryphal, but the lesson is there for the CYs; I had cause to consider Newton this week when pondering our club’s rise to the dizzy heights of B Grade. Next season, the task will be to ensure that we make a lie of his statement that “What goes up must come down”.

 

But that is in the future, of course. The more immediate task presents itself this Saturday, when our senior team plays off for that most precious of commodities: a premiership. What is more, they are playing for the chance to be premiers and champions – an undefeated season. Whilst I believe even Sir Isaac Newton would have been impressed by that prospect, I wonder what he would have made of the game of Australian Rules football? He may well have remarked “I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of this game!”

 

Old Isaac (while not quite in the league of Mark Twain) was a reasonably dab hand at offering up a meaningful quote or two. My favorite, by far, is his humble and memorable line: “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” It is worth considering these words as our seniors and reserves players take to the field this week for the denouement of their respective seasons. Each of these footballers has been carried to this point with the help and support of their parents, families, partners, children, and friends. Of course, the current players are also standing on the shoulders of those players and administrators who have come before them, to lay the foundations for 2019, which is arguably the greatest ever season this club has witnessed.

 

Possibly without even being aware, the players have been taken to this point while standing on the shoulders of giants. Saturday presents the opportunity for all of us to be elevated just that fraction further.

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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