History hates Fremantle too much
Okay. So there’s a problem. With the exception of Essendon, I am unashamedly biased towards Victorian teams. I can’t help it and remain unapologetic.
So I want Fremantle to lose the grand final.
I understand all the purple romance blowing across the Nullarbor. I understand that for sentimental reasons, neutral fans might jump onto Fremantle’s back, beside the monkey.
Based on their history, Fremantle qualifying for a grand final seems a fluke, but given they have taken 19 years to get to this point of their existence, it’s a cute story.
But this is footy, not fantasy, and history hates Fremantle. If you don’t believe me, research their wretched history.
My bias was born on the terraces of Arden Street and at JP Falkner Reserve in Oak Park. I quickly loved footy, and though I embraced the national competition I never trusted it.
In 1992, when West Coast overran Geelong in the grand final, my bias was fortified. The Eagles were just six years old. Geelong hadn’t won a flag for 30 years. It seemed so unfair.
When the Eagles repeated the insult two years later, the cool hours of the morning were wasted abusing the AFL for their expansion and Geelong for their lack of fight.
Although there were plenty of adjectives to describe Geelong’s performance, I stopped at bad.
I saved the worst for the AFL, words like woeful, appalling, disgraceful, inept, pathetic, horrifying, contemptible, abominable, lamentable, pitiful, intolerable and fucking reprehensible.
Victorian origins are never discarded easily and it was clear to me that Victorian clubs were being screwed by the AFL, all in the name of expansion.
Nineteen years later, the situation remains the same, despite the annual handouts provided by the AFL to clubs like North Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne.
When Adelaide defeated North Melbourne in the 1998 grand final, things got personal. The Crows, it must be remembered, were just eight years old. They finished fifth and lost their first final, but a quirk in system meant they weren’t eliminated.
Instead, they regrouped and won back to back grand finals. The AFL was delighted. The national competition was alive and well.
When the AFL was forced to change the rules regarding the finals, it happened much too late for a livid Kangaroos supporter who couldn’t get Adelaide’s pathetic, presumptuous theme song out of his head.
If the Crows never win another premiership, it’ll be soon enough.
North Melbourne and Essendon briefly restored the balance of power, but the premiership cup was going to Brisbane, three times, because the AFL wanted it that way.
The Lions exploited $600,000 in salary cap concessions (to avoid players going home) and two extra players on their list to win three consecutive grand finals.
Even Richmond would’ve won a premiership with that kind of generosity.
The AFL handouts ended though, thanks to Eddie McGuire and his legal threat. The Lions, of course, bitched about missing out on four consecutive premierships, as if winning three wasn’t enough.
Their success was said to be good for footy in Queensland and there is no doubt it was, on a shallow level. Ten years later, Brisbane drew 13,000 to a home and away game against GWS. They don’t have a coach. Five top-30 draft picks want to go home.
Please, have no sympathy for Brisbane. I don’t, because the AFL will provide assistance, as they do for clubs they want to be successful, like the Gold Coast, GWS and Sydney.
We shouldn’t forget Sydney and their cost of living allowance which their players need so desperately because milk is more expensive around the Harbour. That cost of living allowance (nine percent extra) ensured the Swans have played in more finals than any club since 1996.
It went a long way to securing two premierships, in 2005 and 2012, and don’t forget about Kirk Tippett who desperately wanted to get home to Queensland but tripped over a bag full of money along the way.
At the weekend, Sydney’s premiership defence was strangled by Fremantle. Don’t feel any pity for Sydney. They were never going to beat the Dockers. Extra money only goes so far when injury is concerned.
And don’t feel any pity for Geelong either. They won three premierships in six years the conventional way, which is largely without AFL handouts.
They played a preliminary final against Hawthorn that was worthy of a grand final. The Cats should’ve won, but blew a 20-point lead at three quarter time and those aging legs could only conjure two shots at goal in the final quarter.
One of those scoring shots is destined to be replayed for years. Had Travis Varcoe kicked straight with 34 seconds left, the match would’ve gone into extra time, but Geelong still would’ve lost. Finishing the home and away season in second place guarantees nothing, except a home final, which they botched.
I hope Hawthorn doesn’t botch the grand final, but I won’t be surprised if they do.
Fremantle could be premiers on Saturday. People hoping the Dockers win are suggesting it will be good for footy, but that is rubbish. It will be good for Fremantle and the AFL.
Ask any Hawthorn fan if another grand final loss will be good for football.
Bias, if it is firmly entrenched in the psyche, is not transferrable. Having lived in Queensland now for more than two decades, my intense dislike of the Brisbane Lions often surprises people.
‘Why don’t you fuck off back to Victoria, and take your fucking Victorian bias with you,’ a mate once said.
My Victorian bias is a feature of my personality. I was born in Victoria. I don’t have any other options.
Besides, I’ve met too many ex-Victorians who jumped on the Brisbane Lions bandwagon during their halcyon days. I got sick of hearing people say, I used to follow (insert team) but now I live in Queensland I follow Brisbane.
I don’t trust people who dump their team, just because they move. They obviously don’t love footy.
I want Hawthorn to win the grand final. It is all about the bias. On Saturday I hope history hates Fremantle for another year.
