Forget about ladder positioning and form. Forget about injuries and game plans and favouritism. Forget about Brent Harvey’s milestone match. Brisbane defeating North Melbourne on Saturday night is a dead set certainty.
The Curse is back in town. His presence brings a dread I’ve not felt since the last time he was in Brisbane. And the time before that, and every other time The Curse has been here.
Russ is The Curse. He has never seen North Melbourne win in Brisbane. Each time he’s been here North has been favoured to win. Each time he’s flown home unhappy.
The superstitious curse has a powerful hold over his psyche. It influences his thoughts and fears. It sounds like folly, but he believes in his curse wholeheartedly, because it hasn’t been broken in 20-years of football.
I went to high school with Russ in Melbourne. We probably would’ve been mates without our mutual love of North Melbourne. That love helped solidify our friendship and maintain it across the decades and different states.
During footy season it’s unusual if we don’t chat three or four times a week. Often it is more. He’s an affable, talkative man with a deep understanding of football and the history of the game.
He can talk tactics and game plans and watch a game intelligently. His analysis is thoughtful and accurate.
Russ has been a member of North since the eighties and spent his formative years in the cheer squad before graduating to the outer. Now he’s an AFL member, with North Melbourne affiliation.
He has faith in the footy gods but that faith is shallow. His faith in North Melbourne isn’t misplaced. Russ occasionally lays small bets. He doesn’t mind blood money, betting against North when form suggests the odds are inviting.
Russ is not prone to foolish statements based on unfortunate passion. He doesn’t blame the umpires. He doesn’t have a lucky pair of socks or a scarf he must wear or a North Melbourne coffee mug he uses only on game day.
And that makes his belief in his curse all the more puzzling.
He says it was born in 1996, when North, led by Wayne Carey and coached by Denis Pagan wilted in Brisbane’s humidity. It was Russ’s first trip to the Gabba to watch North play.
Later at the Plough Inn, Russ clung onto his footy record and emptied his grief into a beer glass.
Since that fateful game, Russ has been back five times for the same result. Those losses are blamed on his curse.
Last year, before North lost to Brisbane, I pointed out the limitations of The Curse. It only exists when he’s at the Gabba watching Brisbane play North.
And North has beaten Brisbane at the Gabba when he hasn’t been here, though our last win was a decade ago.
Despite these limitations, Russ remains unequivocal.
‘Each time I’ve come up we’ve lost,’ he said. ‘That’s all the proof I need.’
The match last year was predictable. Brisbane dominated the second quarter, opening up an advantage North couldn’t reign in.
When we got home, Russ spent an hour inside as the rest of us drank beer in the garage and played pool. It took about an hour before he joined in the commiserations.
On Sunday, Russ and I talked about the game and The Curse.
‘North lost to Gold Coast three weeks ago,’ he said. ‘They were on the bottom. Now Brisbane is last and we could lose to two bottom teams inside a month.’
I pointed out that Brisbane were awful against Melbourne, and the Demons aren’t much good.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Russ said. ‘I’m worried about The Curse.’
He asked if I had faith in The Curse.
‘It’s your curse Russ,’ I said. ‘And I have faith in you.’
Russ mentioned a gambling advertisement he’d seen on television. I reminded him that I hate ads and refuse to watch them, so I hadn’t seen it.
‘It’s about two mates watching football,’ Russ said. ‘One mate has money on the game and his mate is known as The Curse, so he locks him outside as the game gets close to finishing.’
‘I haven’t had a bet all year,’ I said.
‘It’s a funny ad.’
‘Maybe someone who works for a betting agency read about you on The Footy Almanac.’ I said.
‘Do you reckon they got the idea for the ad from a story about The Curse?’
‘It could be an ad based on you.’
We laughed.
Russ arrives on Friday. He says The Curse is flying free. North Melbourne, once again, are heavy favourites. Russ says The Curse should be favourites.
Brisbane won’t play finals. If North loses, they probably won’t play finals either.
Interestingly, Brent Harvey has never lost a milestone match. He’s played in victories in his first game, his 50th, his 100th, his 150th, his 200th and so on…
Russ is worried.
‘I hope it’s not my fault if Harvey loses his 400th,’ he said.
I didn’t know what to say. It is clear Russ is bringing a heavy burden to the Gabba. He shouldn’t shoulder this expected defeat alone. So I’ve arranged for seventeen people to join him at the Gabba so he can prove the existence of The Curse.
I’m not sure if I can believe it. Long ago I gave up on football superstitions. That pair of socks I wore through the nineties have been thrown out. I don’t have a special North Melbourne t-shirt or jumper to be worn on game day. No longer do I blame myself if North loses.
I can’t influence the result because I’m not playing. Russ believes he can alter the result just by being here. He says The Curse means North loses, that it is real and true.
‘I believe in the curse,’ Russ said.
I believe in Russ. It doesn’t mean I believe North will lose to Brisbane just because he’s here.
But every time Russ has been in Brisbane for a North game, I believed North would win…
