There is not much to add to the game. A lot has been said and from various perspectives. I wish to comment though on the results of having the game "offsite" for the first time. It was an applauded decision at the time to move the game. As written ad-nausea here, Riverview had every concern to host this game with so many reunions. What I am worried about is how this was handled.
From the first on-set this game was decidedly not an AAGPS schoolboy game. There is a certain "feel" to a schoolboy game with the sounds of families, schoolboys chatting, bloody bagpipes, drums and some chanting ringing in the ears. There is lively banter from the sideline and cheeky commentary from old boys. The air is filled with the smell of BBQ, mothers smiling broadly in canteens, old, old boys discussing the good old days and the smell of the pies wafting across the crowd at Shore. People are free to wander the grounds and enjoy every angle whether it be the carpark slope at Kings, the banks of the brick pit and Newington, the swamp bowl at View and the acreage of Shore, people can spread out and soak it up. Young families have space for small children to play while daddy watches the game. View has similar smells and sounds and is, and will always be, a massive occasion locals hate every two years. Simply put, "you buy the land you get the Indians".
Yesterday had NONE of this feel. People were confronted with heavy handed security, bag checks, police and even more security inside the crowd. Riverview bunting was everywhere. Three massive school crests adorned the field. I have never seen this before. Joeys goes to great lengths to have both schools’ crests on the field at this game. This looked overkill. Then you have commentator who couldn’t stop himself as all day he was plugging cookbooks, merchandise, thanking people, and scolding old boys to no avail. Areas had been roped off. Old boys herded in and told to behave. Access denied, simple requests were denied and people responded in kind. The mood changed. We were caged in, the venue did not reflect the sights, smells and feel of a schoolboy game. It was a reflection of another game where violence is permitted and expected, crowds baying for aggression, manners do not exist and standards of behavior are long forgotten. Yesterday, this was not a schoolboy crowd. Yesterday should never happen again.
Here endth the rant.
