Most memorable moment for me came from, not getting to Waverley Park in the early days, but the return journey.
Walking through the carpark following a game, a few boys were having a kick. They sprayed one in my direction, so I booted it back. We got talking, I joined in, and the competition eventually got a bit willing,.. all in good fun though.
One of them put a floating torp up into the breeze and three of us ran back into long grass to contest it. I remember the smile inside as I came down with the ball, then the agony of landing in a deep rut with one of them falling across my lower leg. Both of us ended up with only a buggered ankle, luckily.
It was dark heading back toward the city. The ankle was giving me grief. The GF (not the theatre nurse mentioned in a post above) suggested heading to St. Vincents and having it checked. I parked outside St. V's and was just about to open the car door as I noticed two figures run across from the tramline. The GF was half out of the car as these idiots tried to smash through the driver side rear window. I pulled her back in, just as she woke to what was happening. I can't admit to collecting these guys as I spun the tail end out of the gutter, as I couldn't hear a thump above the GF's screaming. But I'll bet they didn't pull that stunt again in a hurry.
Happy to know she was safe inside the car and heading out of harm's way, we motored on toward Geelong Rd. Then 'Miss I Know Better' suggested pulling in to Western General Emergency - Footscray? Saturday night? Emergency department? Good hospital now,.. meat factory back then
Four and a half hours later, a nurse finally led me from the waiting room to a bed. "Doctor will be with you in a moment", she said. Forty five minutes later, no doctor in sight,.. the waiting room erupted. Men shouting, women screaming, chairs and tables crashing... I got off the bed and was hopping toward the curtain partition when a doctor came in full of apologies. "I'm sorry, we need to get a couple of patients in here. If you feel uneasy we will move you to another area." I replied, "No problem. I'll check on my girlfriend and come back." Just then she opened the curtain, looking like she'd been to hell and back, and exclaimed, "We have to get out of here! You won't believe the scene outside!"
A nurse came and ushered the GF away, then in walked 2 cops with hospital security, followed by 2 more cops. In between them were 3 roughnut types, covered in blood from head to toe. The situation eventually calmed. Cops and security went outside. The doctor again made his apology, then left. He returned later with a couple of nurses.
While the four of us were left alone I noticed the one closest to me appeared to be almost devoid of flesh on his face, arms and upper body. Not a great sight. The other two were cut up and beaten, but nothing like the first. After a minute with two of them hurling hushed abuse at eachother, everything went reasonably quiet once more. Then one turned to me and apologized for the situation, adding, "Why are you in here mate?" Hell, of all the things to ask about! The boys told me they were just being stupid at a party, threw a few at eachother and crashed through a window. I'd be more confident that was part 3 of a 5 or 6 part story.
Booze, drugs, adrenalin, shock?... I had no idea what was keeping the one guy ticking. He was rushed away while I was there. I stayed around for 30 minutes while the other two were being treated, then left with no hope of seeing a doctor any time soon. Got home as the sun was rising and threw the foot in an ice bucket. Had it seen to a few days later.
Following that day at Waverley I always figured - If you kick a ball my way, don't complain when I put it in the car and drive off
