AFL Grand Final

I, Mel, am going to write this post as it is too hard for Tim to relive the grand final experience. Here goes.

The AFL Grand Final was upon us and Tim was getting excited and nervous. He was talking non stop all stop which indicated his excitement but he was also telling me very mundane facts about things like 'how they make oven timers' and other completely usless facts to me, which was a clear indication that the nerves were present in a big way.

This was not only a big match for Tim, given it was second time round and he was lucky enough to enjoy last years Grand Final at the G with Uncle Pip, it was a big game for me and my family. You see Unfortunately we have Collingwood supporters that have married into the Kruize family and infect us and now half my nieces and nephews have also been infected by the Collingwood blood! So I was pretty determined to have St Kilda win so we didn't have to put up with the Collingwood banter for the rest of the year. I guess now knowing the end score, we feel very lucky to not be in Oz!

But there was another reason for our excitement. We were going to be in the company of many Aussies and we needed it. It had been a long time since we could speak the Aussie slang and be understood, or even just be the ones without the accent for a change. We were pretty keen to make some Aussie friends as well. So Tim did some research and found a pub called Gabby's. I believe the owner of the establishment is Aussie himself so was very keen to watch the AFL himself.

Due to the time difference, we were in for an all nighter. We had naps during the day to keep us going through the whole night. We headed out at about 9pm and got to Gabby's around 10ish. Game didn't start until 12.30 am our time but Tim wanted to get front and centre, which we did. As you can see in the photo below we are right in front of the projector, which was strange for me, as I am usually a back seat bandit, and we were surrounded by the projector screen and 3 other TV's directly adjacent the projector. It was a bit much as I didn't know which one to look at. It was like those Media areas in Myers where they line up all the TV's on a wall and play the same channel and you don't know which one to look at. Tim however loved it as he was in heaven surrounded by football!

We didn't pack our football scarves as we were pretty tight on space. But we managed to find a Soccer team here in Toronto that have the exact same colours as St Kilda. We found these scarves in a dodgy sports memorabilia shop and believe it or not these were their old scarves that are not used anymore, they have these new fandangled ones that do not even have the three colours on them. Tim pretty happy that we scored them!

We reached Gabby's and already there were Aussies in their teams football jerseys, just like they do at the games. So there were guys in Carlton, Dockers, Sydney and of course the Grand Final teams jerseys. The place was pumping with the Australian accent and you could hear the Aussie slang being spoken all around. We were all smiles! We headed to the bar, bought a beer, turned around and met an Aussie by the named of Lawry. Now Lawry is what you call a genuine country Cobram girl! Fun loving, a joy to be around and has all the time in the world for you. Lawry has been traveling since June as well, but started off in Egypt, then went on to other places before settling in Toronto. Lawry lives with Paula a Music publicist from Canada. We spent most of the night with these two and met others through out the night. Lawry has become a very good friend and a whole lot of fun to be around, so I am sure you will see her in many photos to come!

Above is Tim before the game started, ready and pumped for a great night! Below is a shot of the crowd that filled Gabby's. Most were Aussies but some were Canucks (Aussie loving Canadians). We found out that Toronto, in fact the whole of Canada has small AFL leagues of their own made up mainly of expats. The local team which was hosting this grand final party was called the Central Blues. We ended up meeting some of their players who were there watching the game. AFL is obviously not very big in Toronto and their followers are usually those Aussies expats who have moved to Toronto or friends of an Australian who have come to love the sport as much as we do.

Here is a picture of Lawry and I and behind us in Anita another Aussie who is living in Toronto. Anita has been in Canada longer than us and is working as a make up artist for TV here, but she is also a nurse and tends bar. Both Lawry and Anita lived in Geelong for a stint during their uni days and worked at Lamby's. Such a small world!

So right about now the game got tense. Tim was not coping so much with the football or the crowd. The more tense the game got the more rowdy the crowd got and you could not hear the commentary. Tim is a processor and needs someone to debrief the play by play with. I was not really that person for Tim as I was hanging out with the gals I just met. So Tim sidled up next to this Collingwood supporter who looked exactly like Peter Russell-Clarke and they debriefed the game together. Now this Peter Russell-Clarke look alike was an Australian who had moved to Canada 21 years ago, but still loves everything Aussie!

Well we all know the result of the first game. Tim was mortified, the Aussies in the pub were shocked and excited by the tension of the draw. The Canadians in the pub that were not familiar with the game were unsure what had happened as they were waiting for the over time play to secure the game.  In the end we left knowing we would all be back the following week.

Unfortunately I was sick with the flu and could not leave the bed for the second round of the AFL, so Tim went it alone. I think now he wishes he didn't go at all!