AFL Grand final 2023 – handling the heat!

They say that only a few players can handle the heat in a Grand Final, even without 29 degree temperatures.

It was already warm outside the MCG at 8.00am on Grand Final Day as I joined the back of the queue of MCC members hoping for a seat. Some people had been camped out there for days. But there were slightly less than 7500 people ahead of me in the line, which meant that I was lucky enough to obtain a seat high up under the roof of Level 4.

The members of KISS declared that the best AFL Grand Final deserved the best rock band in the world. Possibly this was hyperbole but they were the only ones who had played more times in stadiums than Scott Pendlebury. KISS belted out three numbers, their last song accompanied by thousands of young dancers who would have heard about the band from their parents, and grandparents. It was a feast for the senses as we watched the spectacular dance moves, heard the classic tunes and felt the radiated heat from the blasts of fire shooting skyward.

At the conclusion of the National Anthem Kate Miller-Heidke soared on an impossibly high note. But as always, the crowd eventually drowned her out with that massive Grand Final roar which signifies the end of the festivities, and the start of something tribal and completely different.

For four quarters I was wedged between a Collingwood supporter and a Brisbane fan who kept making ear piercing whistles. Emotions flared almost immediately when Nick Daicos was awarded a dubious high-tackle free in front of goal.

As a neutral, I tried regulating my emotions by changing allegiances. I was a Collingwood supporter while they were artfully dominating the corridor and kicking the opening goals. I was a Brisbane supporter when Zac Bailey responded by kicking two incredible goals from the boundary line. Eventually I was just entertained and enthralled and confused by the spectacle. My theory is that the pressure in a Grand Final is so intense that the only way to penetrate the defensive structures and score goals is to do something miraculous. The first half was high scoring not because the game was a free flowing, but because both teams kept conjuring moments of magic. Someone always bobs up in a Grand Final, and in this case it was Bobby Hill who had four goals to half time.

The scoring rate slowed in the second half, and this emphasised the importance of particular moments. The fifty metre penalties that led to goals. Bobby Hill’s totally unexpected pass to Scott Pendlebury in front of goal.

The frenetic gather and re-gather and pressured snap from Charlie Cameron. The impossible save from the boundary line that led to a Daniher goal. So, after all of that, it came down to the exhausting final few moments. None of us knew whether to hush or to roar or to watch or to hide. It was unfair that an entire season should come down to this. But Collingwood hung on and they are the premiers. They have my grudging admiration but I left not long after the game and walked over the footbridge towards Flinders Street. Bobbing up and down ahead of me were thousands of red, blue and yellow jumpers that shimmered in the heat.

 

Dave Campbell has watched some Richmond Premierships on television, some live at the ground and was happy with all of them. He is a Maths and Environmental Science teacher in Geelong, where there are a surprising number of Tiger supporters. He is a keen cyclist and rides in lycra or casuals depending on the occasion.