Moorabool Street

After seven years, Victorian football has been avenged, with Geelong breaking a 44 year drought to win the 2007 AFL Premiership. As a Geelong fan, I was pretty chuffed with the result, even if the game wasn't quite the contest many were expecting. Despite some inaccurate goal kicking by Geelong early in the game, Port Adelaide were trounced. The afternoon was spent cheering on the Cats at a Grand Final barbeque lunch organised by my church.

On the way home, I heard on the car radio that a Grand Final after party was being held at Federation Square, at which the winning team would be appearing, so on the spur of the moment I decided to head into the city, and shortly after 8.00, the Geelong players were presented to an estimated crowd of 7000 cheering people, introduced by a hoarse Billy Brownless. Brownless played in each of Geelong's losing Grand Final teams in 1989, 1992, 1994, and 1995, so he could be forgiven for being somewhat emotional that they'd finally succeeded where he and his former teammates failed. It was interesting that with the crowd's adulation of the players, with singing, chanting, and applause, the atmosphere almost reminded me of being at a Pentecostal rally.