The Melbournian Mediocrity Wildcard Weekend
Did anybody notice that all 4 AFL clubs playing off in the Wildcard round were Melbourne based? In this expanded VFL parading itself as a national competition something had to be done about the lack of success for the glut of Melbournian AFL clubs. Enter the Melbournian mediocrity wildcard weekend, where a midtable result gets rewarded in season 2026. Something like 180, 000 footy fans attended these matches at the MCG. Big clubs like Collingwood and Carlton played off for a final’s spot against perennial also-rans the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne. If you build it they will come, to quote a line from an old sport’s movie.
180, 000 Fans Rewarded By Wildcard Mediocrity Round
In truth, these were great contests to watch, even for neutral fans. Friday nights match was only decided after the siren, as Collingwood fluffed their lines at the death. Carlton overcame the Demons on Saturday night, despite the Dees kicking the first 3 goals of the match. The Josh Fraser story continues for at least another week, with the Blues to face the Cats in an elimination final. The Western Bulldogs travel to Adelaide to play the Crows in the other elimination final. The wildcard round may well reward mediocrity but it greatly satisfies the pent up emotions of the fans of these Victorian AFL clubs.
Melbourne-Centric AFL Rewards Melbournian Also-Rans
In this day and age, every kiddie gets a prize just for participating and the AFL has taken that onboard for their wildcard round. It makes a bunch of money for the AFL and gives these footy fans something extra to cheer about. Purists of the game don’t like it, but modern administrators of the game have messed with the rules so much that nothing is beyond their overreach. Copying American sports is a time honoured pathway for Aussie sports administrators. Extracting every last dime from fans is the American way. The fact that more teams remain in the top 10 than sit outside at the conclusion of the home and away does not phase these rewarders of mediocrity.
https://www.afl.com.au/fixture?Competition=1&Season=85&Round=1519
A Bad Night For Collingwood
Collingwood lose at the death knock and living legend Scott Pendlebury leaves them for warmer climes up the coast. It was a bad night for Collingwood, despite their irrepressible coach’s upbeat claim of some sort of victory. The game’s greatest holder of recorded matches played by an AFL player is going to the Gold Coast Suns as a player/assistant coach on a 4 year deal. Pendles had lost a lot of money via bad deals of late and has accepted a lucrative offer to go elsewhere.
Who says that money is not everything in footy?
“After fighting back from an early 21-point deficit, the Blues outgunned Melbourne, who finished seventh in the regular season, to claim a 10.14 (74) to 7.13 (55) victory in front of 91,733 fans at the MCG.”
Isaac Heeney’s Fate
“It is amazing how often fate treats hubristic behaviour in lives of the rich and famous. It is, as if, a certain point is reached or crossed by the individual and this releases the hounds of hell upon them. Isaac Heeney, the No#1 rated player in the AFL for much of the season and the poster boy for toothpaste smiles has come a cropper in the shady wee hours of Melbourne with a lap dancer. Isaac Heeney: The boy next door is no more. No, the nice lad we once knew has morphed into a dirtbag hero. Strippers or exotic dancers crying sexual assault rings in the ears of the greater public.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; The AI Heresy; What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK
©WordsForWeb
