After The Game v Geelong - With Snaps Truly

I’ll be honest with you. I am writing this at the pub. The game from cold, bleak Kardinia Park is being shown on the big screen inside but I am going to sit outside and give it only a cursory glance.

What is there to look forward to anyway?

Oh no, the Cats have kicked the first two already.

I know I should at least acknowledge the fact Ethan Hughes is playing his 100th game, but I’ve always thought handsome Ethan is a bit like Clark Kent but with none of the game changing superpowers. Probably quite good at typing, but unable to keep up with dynamic sheilas called Lois.

So that’s damning with faint praise.

What else is there to look forward to?

Well, beyond Ethan’s resilience, there is the fact that, yes, occasionally we win the odd game down at Geelong. That memorable final of course a few years back and just last year, that three-point thriller that had the scribes breathlessly declaring that Freo “today laid down their marker as a genuine premiership contender.”

We were six and one and sitting second on the table as I remember.

Back then.

And hang on … didn’t we beat the Cats by 29 points, just a few months ago? 29 points!

But that was then. We couldn’t do it again could we?

Well, no.

All I’ve been hearing lately from Justin the Perpetually Perplexed Longmuir is that we … AREN’T PLAYING THE KIND OF FOOTY WE WANT TO PLAY!

Winning footy apparently.

And that’s not likely to happen today either is it? So, if you’ll excuse me, on this one occasion, I’m going to focus my energy on the rustic beef cheek and mushroom bolognese with bucatini pasta with shaved parmesan and truffle oil. Pasta is comfort food for the anguished.

(To advance the story. A clock face shows the hour and minute hands sweeping frantically. A time lapse sun rises high in the sky and disappears over the horizon. Newspaper front pages spin dramatically before settling on a headline …)

“DOCKERS WIN THRILLER. KEEP FAINT HOPES ALIVE.
SNAPS TRULY SEEN AT PUB WITH BACK TO BIG SCREEN.”

It’s true Freo fans. Today I turned my back on the team and the game and watched not a moment of it live. Of course, I heard the cheers and moans of other patrons and was feverishly updating the AFL app throughout, but I was completely unable to witness what was playing out at the Cattery because of some deluded sense that having not committed myself fully to the cause – for having questioned and doubted and prioritised the bolognese instead – I not only didn’t deserve to watch a great triumph, I would now somehow jinx the team if I got involved.

So, I sat mute until the final siren sounded.

Truth is, there’s a price to pay for one’s faith wavering. Victory today was not mine. It belonged to a resurgent Alex Pearce – our forwards who applied unbelievable pressure – Freddie and that wonderful goal – and Hayden Young’s brilliant job on Dangerfield …

But I do promise I’ll make good and really put in the hard yards ahead of the Lions next week. I owe it to those with whom I publicly lost faith …

Well played on 100 games Ethan. Well played Freo.

Yours truly,

Snaps Truly.

* By our multi-talented and amazingly insightful footy scribe, SNAPS TRULY. Snaps has seen and done it all. He may or may not have been a fringe player at Fremantle. Who knows? Don’t miss Snaps’ report after each Freo Dockers match throughout the season.

** In case you missed SNAPS’ and his fill-in Grumbles’ other match reports, here they are.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE –