Drew-Sta rolls up in a taxi Hayne and Ennis style; clearly late, clearly drunk and clearly not dressed.
Enjoyment
Colin was 74 and now partly blind. He hadn’t been taken to a St George game in nearly 20 years due to a family hoodoo often talked about. My wife’s family were insistent that he was a bad luck charm.
“Can’t take grandpa, Saints will lose.” Mark, his step-son said.
“Huh?” I asked, quizzically.
“You can’t take him – Every time he goes, we lose!”
So it was with a great deal of hope and trepidation that I picked Colin up with Hannah my wife and took him from his Oyster Bay home to the ‘Holy Ground’; Kogarah Jubilee Oval.
“Here you go Colin, whack this one on.” I handed him an older, cotton-and-collar Saints jersey from the early 2000’s.
“Oh, thanks! I haven’t worn one of these in years.” A big grin washed across his face and he pulled the jersey over his woolen jumper.
The car trip over was spent with Colin regaling us of tales from the past. He recalled how he was in the crowd of the 1965 grand final cheering on as Johnny King scored a try. Then he recalled the horrible disappointment of 1975 and the tears he shed as Changa limped off at full time.
What he really enjoyed talking about was 1979. “A great game it was, that Bruce Starkey and Craig Young – They don’t make them like that anymore.
As we arrived, you could without a doubt see the joy and happiness in his eyes.
“They didn’t play night footy here back in the day,” Colin commented.
“Yeah, they built some bloody big lights to make sure we could get the ground up to scratch.” I informed helpfully.
“Do they still have the national anthem before the game?”
“They only do that at international games Grandpa,” Hannah piped up.
As we rocked up, the masses were piling through the turnstiles, with few lining up for tickets.
I whipped out the tickets from my pocket and handed them to Colin and Hannah.
“Oh, so we don’t need to line up?” Colin asked.
“Nup – The joys of the internet mean I could buy them online and we don’t have to wait.”
“Well that’s handy.” Colin struggled to scan the bar code before he walked through turnstile and climbed the stairs. Before him lay Kogarah Oval, and it was like admitting a kid to a candy store.
“Wow, they’ve done some work!”
“Yeah, the various governments have put some money in,” I informed.
We trudged over to the hill and found a spot to sit. The game started and out came Colin’s binoculars.
“These were at the last game I went to as well,” he stated.
“So you’ve been blind all these years ay grandpa?” Hannah joked. He smiled, chuckled and gave her a hug.
The game got under way and Colin looked slightly confused. “Why are they wearing pink?”
“Oh, it’s the Women in League round,” I filled him in.
“The Women in what?”
“It’s a tribute to all the mums and women in the game who volunteer their time,” Hannah explained. “It’s to help raise money for the Breast Cancer Foundation.”
“Well, I never thought I’d see big men running around in Pink V’s,” he slyly quipped.
As the game progressed, you could see the enjoyment grow as Saints pulled ahead of the Tigers. Hannah leant over as the game lay in the balance and whispered into my ear “I hope they win; for Grandpa.”
I nodded soberly and agreed. He was enthralled at the game and despite the many changes appeared to really be enjoying himself.
And it was about then that it hit me. I whine a lot; in particular on the forums and quite often in the form of an F7’s article. I whine and pout at how the game is changing for the worse, how things are so dramatically different and how rugby league is facing ever mounting problems and blah blah blah.
And yet, here was a man who hasn’t been to a game in nearly 20 years enjoying what is in reality a dramatically different sport to the one he last watched. He wasn’t just enjoying it, he was enthralled, captured and happy.
As the full time buzzer sounded, I jumped for joy and gave Colin a big hug. The big grin on his face spoke volumes.
I smiled back, happy in the knowledge that no matter what, a man’s enjoyment at supporting his team is what rugby league is all about.
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Best of luck Titans. No matter what, this looks to be a cracker of a final game and I look forward to having a cold one with you all in the very warm tub
