Completely OT - AFL Grand Final Week Melbourne - PART 1 and 2!

[PrincessInOz]

I know that this is way off base for the DisBoards but some of the travellers may appreciate these shots of Melbourne from the last 2 days.

I have the privilege of going to the MCG on the Thursday before the AFL Grand Final every year for breakfast. Here is the hallowed turf that in 24 hours time will look like a dumpster after 100,000 people have spent the better part of 6 hours there. And no, I don't have tickets to the Grand Final!

Today, I took a stroll amidst the thousands of people attending the Grand Final parade.

And finally found a spot near here. There sure were a LOT of Collingwood supporters out!

I support Geelong; so Tom Harley was a snap for me!

This is as close as I'll get to the Trophy.

And Chris Judd did have his Brownlow with him....but which Brownlow is it?

As I support Geelong, I am unable to name any Collingwood players....but I know a Mick Malthouse when I see one...

This one is blurry...sorry; but I thought I'd post anyway...given how many Collingwood supporters there seems to be out there .

In case you've missed it, I support Geelong, I am ALMOST unable to name any St Kilda players....but I know Ross Lyon from a Mick Malthouse...

And this is Nick Riewoldt...on the other side of Ross Lyon.

Hope no one minds this off-topic post!

 

[lovintheland]

Hi Princess, thanks for that. We are still in Anaheim and DH desperately wants to watch the game but I don't think it will be played here anywhere. He will have to settle for your update.

 

[OzCath]

Thanks princess. Great photos. Love the one of Lenny Hayes he is a real cutie! Looking forward to watching the game today in Adelaide. Pity all you victorians if collingwood wins! Go Saints!

 

[areweindisneyyet]

My husband is Collingwood and I am St Kilda.

We are trying to play nice. Go Saints...

 

[PrincessInOz]

LOL!

DH barracks for the Saints, DS barracks for Collingwood and I barrack for Geelong. This is the second year in the row where the last two weeks of the finals have been like WW3 in our household!

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that has to deal with split loyalties....

 

[areweindisneyyet]

LOL!

DH barracks for the Saints, DS barracks for Collingwood and I barrack for Geelong. This is the second year in the row where the last two weeks of the finals have been like WW3 in our household!

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that has to deal with split loyalties....

I shall be thinking of you... hope they behave. Our youngest DD is a Saints fan also, our outcast Hawks supporter is just rolling her eyes and waiting for it to be over.

 

[ehsmum]

Great photos! I don't know anything about AFL but I can pick Mick Malthouse out of a crowd!

My boys are West Coast fans but we're supporting Collingwood today in honour of an old friend who is a huge Magpies fan.

We did the MCG tour a couple of years ago and our boys are on the waiting list for membership. It should come through in about 25 years or so .

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hi Princess, thanks for that. We are still in Anaheim and DH desperately wants to watch the game but I don't think it will be played here anywhere. He will have to settle for your update.

Lovintheland - In case you're up (or your DH is up) and trying to get an update.

First quarter score
Collingwood 4 2 26
St Kilda 3 2 20

The quarter was a story of thirds.
The first third was all Collingwood. They jumped early with Jolly kicking the first goal within the first 45 seconds of the bounce. Gap was out to about 20 points or so at one stage.
The second section was scrappy'ish as both sides fought hard to gain control of the ball, without any clear winners.
The last 8 minutes was all St Kilda; and they kicked 3 goals to draw within 6 points of Collingwood. Lenny Hayes and Riewoldt were excellent in the last 8 minutes.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Half time score

Collingwood 7 8 50
St Kilda 4 2 26

The quarter was all Collingwood, with most of the play firmly centered around the St Kilda 50m line.
Fierce tackling, stoppages and pressure on the St Kilda defenders was the order of this quarter. Collingwood numbers on the ground are resulting in St Kilda making a number of errors, resulting in turnovers that Collingwood capitalised on. St Kilda also provided the umpires the opportunity to award McCaffer with a 50 m penalty (resulting in an unmissable shot at goal).
The margin could have been a lot larger as in the last 2 minutes of the game, Cloke missed 2 sitters!

 

[PrincessInOz]

3rd Quarter score

Collingwood 7 13 55
St Kilda 7 5 47

If the first half was characterised by short, flat kicks, this quarter was the opposite.
St Kilda came out and played a much more aerial game, with every player making a concerted effort to kick the ball long and forward. This style of game resulted in much more one-on-one contests than the one-on-Collingwood-swarm seen to date. The result was a much more flowing and open quarter with the ball ping ponging long distances.
St Kilda challenged in the first half of this quarter, with Nick Riewoldt kicking 1-1 and instrumental in another goal by Goddard. Gilburn kicked the 3rd goal for St Kilda.
Collingwood held goalless for the quarter!

 

[PrincessInOz]

4th Quarter score

Collingwood 9 14 68
St Kilda 10 8 68

What a ripper of a quarter! And what a game!

In front of a crowd of 100,016, the game ends in a draw and we are back at the MCG next week.

Words cannot express what a fantastic quarter of football that was and I won't even try. After leading for the longest time, Collingwood finally lost the lead with 10 minutes left to go. We got down to 6 points difference, 5 points difference, 1 point difference and finally the tied score with 1:20 left on the clock.

Both teams are spent - both captains called the match 'a WAR'.

Norm Smith medal for this game awarded to Lenny Hayes. Another medal will be made available for next week's game.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Stayed tuned to the DIS Boards same time next week

Believe it or not .... a DRAW

Oh my goodness I do not know if I can possibly make it through.

Until next week....

 

[PrincessInOz]

Stayed tuned to the DIS Boards same time next week

Believe it or not .... a DRAW

Oh my goodness I do not know if I can possibly make it through.

Until next week....

I wonder if there will be another grand final parade???

 

[areweindisneyyet]

4th Quarter score

Collingwood 9 14 68
St Kilda 10 8 68

What a ripper of a quarter! And what a game!

In front of a crowd of 100,016, the game ends in a draw and we are back at the MCG next week.

Words cannot express what a fantastic quarter of football that was and I won't even try. After leading for the longest time, Collingwood finally lost the lead with 10 minutes left to go. We got down to 6 points difference, 5 points difference, 1 point difference and finally the tied score with 1:20 left on the clock.

Both teams are spent - both captains called the match 'a WAR'.

Norm Smith medal for this game awarded to Lenny Hayes. Another medal will be made available for next week's game.

Hope the warring parties in your house have survived. We are feeling very flat. We are still married and we are still going to Disney next year. Go to the happy place..... See you next Sat.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hope the warring parties in your house have survived. We are feeling very flat. We are still married and we are still going to Disney next year. Go to the happy place..... See you next Sat.

The war at the MCG did not extend to my home.

See you next week and I hope the above comments will still hold then

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Its 3.45am here in New York and we just caught the end of the game on ESPN2. Wow, unbelievable result. The AFL will be rubbing their hands together lol.

The updates were great Princess, very kind of you.

By the way, I'm a Geelong supporter also. Grew up there.

 

[mareeld86]

OK so Im thinking of getting tickets to next weeks game I am a Collingwood supporter!!
Who Knows the flights are about 600 return!!

 

[melbarkwith]

Awesome pics Princess. I did think of taking the kids (all Collingwood mad, I'm a Swannie!), but after seeing the crowd pics I'm glad that I didn't.

I did however manage to get 2 tickets today for the replay for dh and his equally crazy friend Mareeld did you manage to get tix?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Awesome pics Princess. I did think of taking the kids (all Collingwood mad, I'm a Swannie!), but after seeing the crowd pics I'm glad that I didn't.

I did however manage to get 2 tickets today for the replay for dh and his equally crazy friend Mareeld did you manage to get tix?

Thanks. And if you got tickets today, you must be a paid-up member to boot! Hope DH and pal have a great time.

Yeah Mareeld - are you Melbourne bound? You might want to avoid Virgin....but the system should be fixed by the weekend ? .

 

[melbarkwith]

Thanks. And if you got tickets today, you must be a paid-up member to boot! Hope DH and pal have a great time.

Yeah Mareeld - are you Melbourne bound? You might want to avoid Virgin....but the system should be fixed by the weekend ? .

Yes, DH and friend are both members (but not of the type that got them a ticket last week). Since more tickets were allocated and released today at 1pm, I very kindly cut short my visit to USA foods to get home and buy them DH had better cook and clean for at least the next week...