One day in September

What a day! What a stadium! What a game!

The Melbourne Cricket Ground was in fine form for the 2008 AFL Grand Final. Two proud clubs - Hawthorn and Geelong - came together for the season's crowning battle.

A month or so earlier I applied for a reserved seat and just as the pre-game entertainment was starting, I took my place along with 100,011 others. I was seated on the fourth level of the new stand, just a few rows from the front. I feared I would be too high, too far back... but my location was great. It offered a great view of the game, plus I felt immersed in the moment... caught up in the excitement of the crowd and the energy of the great game.

In the great tradition of AFL Grand Finals, the pre-game entertainment was rubbish. The MCG is a giant stage and the AFL Grand Final is one of the world's great sporting events, so I suppose it's a folly to try and live up to moment with world-class big-crowd entertainment. The only interesting bit was a flyover of the very ugly A380. Not a particularly impressive flyover - too high - but a flyover nonetheless.

Seconds before the opening bounce, I snapped the following on my phone:


And then it was game on. First goal to Geelong, the next to Hawthorn. The lead changed numerous times with Geelong unable to convert their better second quarter play into a better score. In the third quarter the Hawks hit their stride and their lead, and a famous victory, was secured in the final 30 minutes of the game.

Just great to be there. Let's do it again in 2009