Alex.Finds.Love (in the game)

Although this blog entry will primarily cover the AFL game we saw this afternoon, Rach couldn’t allow our trip to the cinema on Saturday go unnoted. Partly from being a girl and partly from being a history nerd, the film Titanic has always been a favourite of hers. Although she’s seen it a billion times, after finding out it was being released in 3D there was no question of her not going. And that meant poor old Alex was going to be dragged along too. Secretly he enjoyed it too as the 3D took it to an entire different level. The sinking scenes were amazing and it’s hard to imagine going back to the normal 2D version again.

Anyway enough of the soppy drivel, back to the more important men’s stuff. We’ve been gradually introduced to the sport of AFL (Australian Football League), more commonly known as Aussie rules and we’ve seen a few matches on the TV and Rach has been taking part in a league competition at work. Our next door neighbours are season ticket holders for Geelong and as they couldn’t make it to the Easter Monday game, offered us their tickets.

Monday afternoon rolled around and we kitted up in our warmest gear as it was chucking it down and the coldest day of the year so far. After a quick train journey there, we followed the stream of scarf wearing supporters to the stadium. We had a little bit of excitement getting into the grounds as Rach had to get in on an ‘Under 16’ ticket and either the clever ploy of tying her hair in pigtails fooled the guard, or she just simply didn’t give a crap. Either way we made it to our seats successfully, just in time for the players to come out onto the pitch for warm-up. Once the game had commenced we settled into our seats for the long haul. An AFL game is made up four twenty minute quarters, meaning that, including stoppage and breaks we were there for well over two hours. Luckily we were under a cover although some poor sods out next to the pitch got absolutely drenched by rain in the first ten minutes and then had to sit the rest of the match in a biting chilly wind. We did still feel the chill though and in the end succumbed to temptation and bought (the world’s most disgusting) hot chocolate to keep our hands warm. Rach managed to keep hers going for well over half an hour.

Back to the game itself; we hadn’t been too sure what to expect as our brief research still hadn’t brought us up to scratch on the rules. It is however a relatively simple game to pick up as you’re watching, in fact probably a lot easier than us trying to describe the rules, so we won’t try. As a loose description imagine, rugby and Gaelic football combined in a gruelling, vicious game. Whilst the game is often aggressive the atmosphere (unlike that of English football) is not. It was truly fantastic and all the fans got on and had a good time at every stage of the game. We reckon it’s probably due to the higher number of scores put on the board meaning that there is less chance for frustration to build up at near misses and a constant struggle to get just one point.

We had a truly brilliant time, with a nail-biting finish just to top it all off. The lead switched between the teams several times in the last ten minutes and we cheered ourselves hoarse for the Geelong Cats and as the final horn blew they came away victorious by two points! All in all a great day out, made all the sweeter by the lucky fact that it was free!

Rex’s Rules of the Road

• Hot chocolate can keep cold hands warm for a long time if necessary.

• AFL is absolutely huge over here and when the season starts it is all anyone talks about. Well worth heading out for a game.