Last weekend Joe Fluechter and I headed over to Adelaide for a HUGE weekend of footy.
It started on Friday night when we went to Norwood Oval to see Norwood vs Woodville/West Torrens.
On Saturday we went to my old high school Prince Alfred College and saw a 4ths game (!). We then stopped off at a pub in North Adelaide where we watched Richmond v Collingwood, before walking up to Prospect Oval to See North Adelaide vs Adelaide.
We then walked back into town, and along the way saw Darren Jarman at a bottle shop. I told him he was my favourite player growing up, and thanked him for all the enjoyment he gave me watching him play, for which he seemed genuinely happy about.
After meeting up with some mates in town, we went on to the Adelaide Oval, where we saw Adelaide vs Melbourne.
Finally, on Sunday, we headed down to a pub in Unley where we watched North Melbourne vs West Coast, before trekking over to Unley Oval to watch Sturt vs Central Districts. Then at the airport before flying home, we watched some of Fremantle vs Hawthorn on my phone in a bar.
So all up, 5 games live, and three games on TV, including one on my phone.
Needless to say, it was fucking epic. Of course there was plenty of drinking done in and around the footy, and it was awesome catching up with mates at the Adelaide Oval. I took my footy with us everywhere over the weekend (literally, everywhere), and so after the Crows game, we went down to the area behind the members grandstand and had a kick of footy, which will go down as one of the best ever!
Also, meeting Darren Jarman was a real surprise which I think both me and Joey enjoyed. Completely unexpected, and he seemed happy enough. I was happy with the way I approached us, and although he turned down the request for a photo, he did beep his car horn as he drove off.
Some other thoughts on the weekend:
- The SANFL rules about turning the ball over on a kick or handball out of bounds is excellent and should be adopted by the AFL. It results in heaps more play, and it seemed to us, higher scores and more skills.
- It was good going back to my old school, although everything seems a bit smaller than I remember!
- Would've like to get a look in at my old-scholars game as well, but I didn't think about it before we went over.
- The standard of the SANFL was generally very good, apart from on Sunday when the wind got up and made skills difficult. But the Friday game was very good, and the North Adelaide game had over 40 (!) goals kicked in total.
- Me and Joey have short-listed Perth and Darwin as the next possible places for a footy trip.
- I think I might retire my footy after this trip. He performed very well, but is getting a bit old. Joe and I had the idea that for each subsequent footy trip, we should by a new footy for it, and write on it where the footy trip was, and sign and date it. Then, even though it's a new footy, we would still kick it around on the trip, letting it get all the cuts and bruises as a mark of the trip.
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So the Herald Sun released the results of their Fan Survey this week, of which I also voted in:
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/footy-fans-survey-nearly-a-third-of-fans-say-their-enjoyment-of-the-game-has-diminished/news-story
It's now gone behind a paywall, but it did show that I'm in tune with most fans on some things, but way off the mark with others.
For instance, I'm definitely not a fan of Bruce McAvaney as the best commentator, but I think David King is the best analyst.
One's I got 'right':
- The Grand Final should be a day game.
- Protected zone is the worst rule
One's I got 'wrong':
- Reduce interchange numbers
Unfortunately the online article has gone behind a paywall now and I can't see it. It does make me think that most AFL fans are more conservative that I am, and it also shows how the free-to-air coverage dominates fans perspective of the game, as shown by most of the results being skewed in that direction.
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