Wow! What a weekend of footy that was!
At that game on Sunday afternoon, where I sit, there is one particular man who I shall term as being a GOSM – a grumpy old supporter man. I have seen him around other games throughout the years, and it seems that when Carlton is not fairing too well, he yells, screams, and gets animated to the point that I swear he is just one heart attack away from departing this world. But when the team is doing great and going well, nothing happens. He sits there and glares while others are up on their feet, cheering and screaming their lungs out. (As a side note, he left the game at half-time).
What makes a person act that way is beyond my comprehension, and given what Carlton has traversed over the years, it made me ask: What defines a person as a supporter? Does support mean that it is based on the team’s successes? Is it defined by where a team sits on the ladder? Is it based on continually being at the top of their game for every round? Or is it one that comes from a deep love and passion for the game and the club, that support will always be there no matter what?
For me, support is one where, no matter what, I will always attend the game, cheer on the team and the club and know that with each and every game played, the club will eventually get the success they so richly deserve.
On Sunday, I am sure most fans watched the game with trepidation. The team has been on a dynamic, electrifying winning streak that surely has its end, and maybe playing against St Kilda, we will see that end. For the first half, it seemed that this was the likely outcome. How shocked and wonderfully elated were we when that did not happen?
In the first half, Carlton played a game different from their gameplay. It was slow, methodical and showed none of the fire and spirit we have seen since the Bye Rounds. I felt saddened that the team did not show the same spirit they had previously shown, but my support did not waiver. From the ball’s first bounce in the second half, the doom and gloom that permeated around Marvel Stadium was swiftly turned on its head.
Compared to their three, we went from only kicking two goals in the first quarter. From one goal in the second quarter to their four. Then we kicked three goals in the third, to their one. Finally, we kicked a massive four goals in the fourth, to their – none and all this without some of our regular team stalwarts. It showed that the club has a group of players that may not be viewed as “superstars” of the game but had something more important than that – heart. It showed that this deep-seated need to win in all contests was at the forefront of the Carlton players on the ground.
It mattered not that Charlie Curnow did not kick many goals; it mattered that the team as a collective whole wanted, more than anything, to win this game. It mattered that once-maligned players wanted to show themselves and those around them what they would bring to the team. They played a quick, fast-paced, continual moving of the ball that we have seen since the Bye Rounds, which has resulted in the wins.
It was a pivotal moment for the team, who would have previously given up. It shows that as a group, this team has the capacity and ability to do what many did not think possible, including GOSM. The team banded together, supported each other, and as a team – came out as winners. As a supporter, it was a club and season-defining moment.
Understanding the game of footy, and the fact that it has 23 games that each team plays, it matters not how you start but how you finish. It is a long and arduous time for the players physically and mentally. Those continually at the top of their game have nowhere else to go but down. They cannot sustain the mentality and physicality of winning all the time. It doesn’t give them something to attain. It may work for a few, but not as a collective whole. It is those who rise then stumble to understand that the only way for them now has to be on the up. If they want to attain any semblance of success, their approach has to reflect this deep, resonated need to win and get better, no matter what. It is those teams, those players that know that what counts is where you are as a club at the end of the season, not where you are at the start.
The drive that makes the team successful is not just about the game’s stars but about those who group together and say – we, as a collective, can do this. We believe in ourselves and our coaches. WE CAN DO THIS! Boy, did they ever!
As a supporter, I do not and never will subscribe to this need to be continually at the top of the team’s game. It does not allow for growth, nor does it allow the team to strive for ultimate success. Knowing and understanding what it will take for each player to become successful means knowing and understanding that the game is a team game and only the team will ever be successful as long as everyone buys into it.
Undoubtedly, the Sunday game was a catalyst for the club and the footy world in general. It shows that Carlton will not be bullied into failure. That we have the spirit and the drive to want to succeed, and we will do it as a collective.
That we do not rely on just our stars, but on everyone who puts on the guernsey, laces up their boots and runs onto the ground. As a supporter, I will be there no matter what. I will console in the losses and relish in the wins. I will send GOSM back to his pessimistic outlook and out of the stadium, and know that when the ultimate success comes into our being, I will have gone on this journey in all its twists and turns because the game on Sunday showed that I always knew and always believed, and so did the players!
GO BLUES!
#alwaysknew #alwaysbelieved
All images courtesy of AFL.
SPORTZ 