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Adam Freier
April 1, 2011 via www.rugbyheaven.com.au
SITTING there in my team polo in the franchise coffee chain at Tullamarine Airport, I feel a shadow appear over my shoulder and a big waft of nanna's perfume flow past my face like a near miss from a heavyweight boxer.
''Excuse me?'' the elderly woman says in a graceful tone. ''You look a very fit young man. What is that shirt you're wearing? What do you do?''
''Well ma'am, I play rugby union for the Melbourne Rebels,'' I said while tapping away on my laptop.
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''Yes, yes, of course, I know rugby, I am such a huge supporter of rugby,'' she replies. ''Have been following it for years.''
I smile, still on a high from the near 17,000-strong crowd at AAMI Park and the ovation we received nearly a week ago. ''The support has been great, we are very lucky,'' I say.
''Wooonderful,'' she says. ''I felt so sorry for you young men, you played so well and never gave up, you tried your hearts out, didn't you?''
''Well, yes, we certainly did,'' thinking, ''was it the Waratahs match we were beaten by 43, or the Reds match where we lost by 50?''
''I admire you all for showing such great resolve. You didn't deserve to lose, not like that,'' she continues.
'Ah ha!' I thought, it was most probably that two-point loss to the Sharks.
''Well yes, didn't we just, we have a great group of players,'' thinking, ''I am buying what this lady is selling, can I adopt her as my full-time good vibe ambassador?''
''And to be playing for all that time knowing you were no chance of ever winning, that must have been so tough on you all,'' the sweet little old lady says.
I then started to feel a sense of brutal honesty from her, being down by 40 or 50 points is one thing, but this was about our losses rather than our wins. I am unsure what to think.
The conversation continued and I was talking to her as if she had watched all the games we had lost as well as the great victories. She appeared to know so very much in our short history.
''Well good luck to you young man and to the rest of your team, and you make sure that Gallop doesn't take all your points off you ever again, you hear me.''
Silence. ''Of course! Yes. David Gallop, the chief executive for the NRL. Melbourne Storm. Yes. Sure won't.''
''I love that Billy Slater,'' she says as her little legs speed her away.
With that I, metaphorically speaking, rolled the paper out of my typewriter and chucked it in the bin. New article: We still have a lot of work to do. By Adam Freier.
The irony of this conversation is that despite the recognition - mistaken or real - and no matter if it's league or union, in this state we are all way behind the might of the AFL.
But this week we meet the team from the other ''non-rugby state'' for the first time. Two states so far apart but with many similarities, not least the dominance of the AFL, and two clubs with very loyal and passionate fans, who seemed to be unfazed by results, but more compelled by effort.
Before a whistle is blown, this match has all the ingredients to produce a great and lasting rivalry and with that rivalry the game will be elevated.
So whatever the result, this match is important in the evolution of the game as it continues to take its baby steps to becoming a national sport, just like the AFL.
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I would like to see a big rivalry develop between the two teams.
