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And so there should have been MG, to those of us who suffered many long years in the wilderness it was a relief and release of immersurable proportions.These were the 20 pages in the paper devoted to our awesome win!!!
I too was only 4 when we won our previous premeirship in '58 Dave - get your head around thatI was 4 so No Real Memory of it when it happened
Read it from you before Jonbe but still encapsulates the feeling that we of less youth felt on that day. Love your work!I've posted on these boards before on this subject but for any who have missed it here we go again
GF day finally dawned for me after waking at around 4:30 A.M. By the time wife and son woke up I had already downed 3 coffee's and was buzzing around ourl little cottage in Seddon like an agitated wasp, not even capable of settling down enough play my favourite PC game Elite.
My son was up at 6, wildly excited at going to his first GF and wifey surfaced at around 8 by which time son and I had had brekky and scanned the newspapers for news about the game. All our gear was organized by 10 and it was time to ring my sister to come and pick us up and head for the G.
It started to hit home then we were in yet another GF and Essendon were a daunting opponent, could we win it? It's sort of like the time you proposed to your girl, you are excited for days before but pretty anxious about the process and the outcome.
Butterflies, mad burining hope and deep worry from previous GF's conflicting, first one and then the other.
Sis arrived about 10:30 and we all jumped into her Fairlane and headed off to the G, getting there around 11:30 after the nightmare of getting a park for the big Fairlane in Jollimont.
Looking around as we entered it seemed every Collingwood supporter had the same face on, looking in their eyes you could see an equal mixture of hope, dread and excitement.
Quarter time and the outrage of Gavin Brown being decked drove Collingwood fans to fury, but that fury was partially driven by fear - could we sustain a credible challenge without our Browny on the forward line, would this be another failure driven by an act of calculated thurggery?
But NO! We came out an inspired and deadly dedicated team, ignoring the physical tactics of the bombers and challenging them, when the budgie was run down on our half forward flank a terrible, desperate hope was born in our hearts, the Magpie faithful dared to believe in the dream again and a murmur gradually built up around the ground. Essendon fans started to lose their cocky smirks and the ball started to bounce our way.
Half time was a hazy blur with Pies fans munching on snacks and sipping coldies, the young ones talking big and jeering the Essendon supporters with the older among us sitting quietly and praying to the footy gods that THIS time, perhaps we might get through.
The third quarter was blissful agony with our Pies setting up a flag winning opportunity and refusing to be diverted from the ball despite an increasingly desperate Essendon going the man frequently - but could we sustain it?
The final quarter every Collingwood supporter from 8 to 80 was on their feet cheering for every mark and tackle, every goal was another nail in the coffin of the '70 GF but deep inside was the memory of other GF's we had led and failed.
Banksy passes to Douggie and he puts the final nail in the coffin of not only Essendon but of '70 and the Colliwobbles!!!
I look around, aware fully for the first time of my surroundings and the Collingwood fans are going absolutely nuts. My son is so happy he may just expode and my sister is crying in sheer joy and release of those demons that have haunted us both for decades.
The final siren! Lethal is a cult figure, Banksy - at last - a premiership player, pants joyously holding the ball aloft in both hands, Daics deservedly a premiership player and every single Collingwood supporter euphoric with unrestrained joy.
NOTHING will ever equal that day and evening and the week that followed. Arriving home still ablaze with happiness the long suffering missus finally gets young Robert to bed, exhausted from his day of days. Sis and I spend an hour or so talking the day and the game to death as we watch the replay and act all wise and composed after the event whilst sipping some ice cold suds.
10 PM comes and goes with the missus going to bed in a bit of a miff and shortly after sis leaves for the long drive back from Seddon to Alphington and I'm left sitting alone in the loungeroom. My thoughts turn to how proud dad would be of his beloved Pies and his long drawn out misery since '58 after seeing the Pies 4peat in his youth.
I went to the dresser and pulled out the 25yo bottle of Glenfiddich saved for just this occasion and went out onto the back deck. Sitting out under the seemingly black and white night sky with straight, strong single malt untarnished by even ice I toasted my wonderful Pies, then I toasted dad who I was sure was giving St. Peter a hard time tonght and I toasted the club who had been so much a part of my life since that first match at Geelong in 1964.
Then I went inside, closed and locked the French doors, put away the bottle of Glenfiddich and went to see if I could make the wife as happy as I was that night.
One of two golden days that live forever in the my heart and mind PNS I told the missus to tape it on the VCR while we were away at the footy and miraculously she did Like yours it has long since gone to a better life lol.Read it from you before Jonbe but still encapsulates the feeling that we of less youth felt on that day. Love your work!
I can't tell you how many times I have watched the replay of that game but it would definitely be in the hundreds and I still get goosebumps every time. My VCR recording of the game was a casualty of my separation from my former wife but it didn't take me long to find and purchase a copy on DVD. I have even ripped the DVD to my Media Centre which is attached to my lounge room TV so that I don't even have to go to the cupboard to find the DVD anymore. It got a run just a few days ago too. I am definitely a tragic but having seen only two in my life, I just can't get enough!
Floreat Pica!
One of two golden days that live forever in the my heart and mind PNS I told the missus to tape it on the VCR while we were away at the footy and miraculously she did Like yours it has long since gone to a better life lol.
You can still get dual mode players Vicky and specialist copyists could copy your recording and clean it up a bitI have the video recording, but nothing to play it on! Was nearly worn out last time I watched it.
My first GF and I got front row seats behind the Ponsford goals. I bought my school bag full of cut paper and streamers to hand out to everyone around the cheer squad area.
Does anyone remember in the last Qtr soon after Barwick kicked the goal a noise started to grow around the ground, first a couple of people began to sing 'Good ol Collingwod Forever' and it grew like a mexican wave around the ground. People just started crying everywhere - it was spine-tingling . Looking back the game was over by half time but it took unitl that goal late in the final Qtr for people to finally let themselves believe that the seemingly impossible was going to happen.
My other main memory from 1990 was Abbortsford that night. I was only about 16 at the time so was pretty innocent but people went mental like has never been seen before or after. Johnston and Hoddle Streets were blocked all night due to the people just partying in the street. People who came through became trapped in their cars. I remember supporters jumping up and down on the bonnets and roofs of cars waving flags while people were trapped inside stationary in gridlock. I'll always remember the look in the eyes of a family as they pressed their scarves against the window hoping that would somehow protect them from the pandemonium. A police truck arrived but was shown the same respect. The crowd just massed on it and began rocking it from side to side trying to turn it over.
The streets around Victoria Park that night were completely lawless.
Agreed about primal noise Vicky, not to appear too carnal it was almost orgasmic in some ways. Utterly undescribable to those not there, it wasn't loud or threatening but deep and emotionally very satisfying.Dansa, I wasn't at the game as I had young children at the time and couldn't get hold of a ticket anyway. But that noise you refer to, it was building and building in the last quarter, I could hear it on the telecast. A number of my Pies supporting relatives were at the game (one flew in that day from Singapore, as he couldn't miss it), and they have talked about that noise. My cousin described it as primeval, the sound a mighty crowd makes when all as one experience immense relief and joy. She had never heard the like, and in many ways I hope we never hear it again, as it went hand in hand with being flag-less for decades.