‘Trip down the highway’ | Thebigtip

9.30am. Dad and I were in the car, and off to the place they call the ‘Cattery’... a place opposition fans dread due to parking, reserve seating and habitual poor performances over the last 2 years. We were ready for a long road trip, accompanied by an optimistic belief that North could pull of the unthinkable and defeat the Cats in the Cattery.  

It took us about an hour and a half to drive down and we were very lucky to get a park near the ground. We organised our tickets with the North Melbourne cheersquad, who do a wonderful job in ‘organising the faithful’. We paid for our tickets and proceeded to enter Skilled Stadium. It was 11.30am and the ground was already half full with Geelong supporters expecting another win. Wins for Geelong seem to come as regularly as milking cows ( an apt descriptor given that many of the Geelong faithful are farmers on which Victoria has built its agricultural wealth).

We entered our bay which was next to the Doug Wade Stand, and I was fortunate enough to be ushered to an excellent seat in the front row. There was a catch though, fans occupying the front seats were expected to wave a flogger every time North kicked a goal. This was a new experience for a guy who normally sits further back in the outer and shows his delight by punching his fist into the air rather than by waving a flag or a pom pom. Consistent with my front row seating I was surprised and pleased to be asked to assist in holding the banner aloft on the playing field for my beloved Kangaroos to run through. With encouragement from my dad and his friends at the back I said yes, very quietly.....  

At 12.30 the time had come. A bunch of us, 24 to be exact left the bay and went to collect the banner. Whilst walking through the back of the ground, I managed to catch a glimpse of Majak Daw, the South Sudanese refugee who was picked up by North Melbourne in last year’s Rookie draft being asked questions from Geelong supporters. I also noted that the Cattery’s famous Spud Marquee was inundated with people waiting for a hot spud with salsa on a cold afternoon.

Given the number of Geelong supporters everywhere it felt like I was passing through ‘enemy lines’ with a small band of North Melbourne comrades. Not perturbed by our minority status we cheer squad members were allocated on field tasks and asked to adorn ourselves with distinctive cheer squad jackets (our uniform displayed proudly in enemy territory!)  

The gates to the playing field finally opened and like a centipede with many legs we proudly carried the banner onto the ground. A few boos and derisory remarks from the Geelong enemy, but nothing too serious nor offensive. As a team we got the banner ready and held it up high. I was positioned at the end of the banner and had to run inwards to hold up the banner when it was lifted, but suffered the indignity of catapulting bum first onto the wet grass. This was however a small indignity for me to pay given the important work that we were doing together to hold the North Melbourne colours high. 

A small echo of the North Melbourne song came on and our boys ran out in the ‘Argentina Strip’ for the last time (a pale blue and white striped imitation of the proud North Melbourne colours). It was a great feeling to get so close to the action. A huge cheer erupted as Geelong ran onto the ground and amidst this noise we gathered the banners remains and walked around the boundary line back to the outer where the banner poles were going to be left. Whilst returning the banner poles we had to navigate North’s pre-game goal kicking, which was not fun at all and had all of the markings of a battlefield. A kick from ‘the Big H’, Hamish McIntosh nearly hit a kid infront of me but apart from that, everything thankfully went smoothly.

We packed up and rushed to our seats. The game was about to begin. Patch Adams was in for Grima, who apparently had torn his Achilles, and Ling was out too. Adams had racked up 37 touches the previous week for Werribee, so he was a good inclusion. Quarter time and Podsiadly had already kicked two go and fans behind me were questioning why Laidley never looked at him when he was at Werribee.

We held our own for most of the second term. The third term was disappointing but we cut the final margin back to 35 by the time the siren had sounded.  North played some good footy but Geelong were just bigger and classier on the day. Interestingly, I also noticed that whenever Garry Ablett had the ball there was not a cheer like he received when I had been at Geelong before in 07, 08 and 09 which could say something. Geelong supporters held up ‘Don’t Go Gazza cards’ as well. The ‘Podical Son,' James Podsiadly received the biggest roar whenever he did a smother, tackle, or came off the ground for a rest. He is definitely a cult hero at the Cattery.

At the final siren we said goodbye to our friends and headed back through the masses of Geelong supporters to our car.  As a North supporter, I was not angry with the loss, as predicting a win was probably just hopeful and unrealistic. I also am very happy that we won’t be seeing ‘that clash’ strip again. Argentina and North have had no success in that jumper in the last few days.

We got in car and headed out of Geelong and we turned on the radio to hear Richmond steal a great victory over the Swans. Good for North in terms of final eight aspirations! Overall the day was a great apart from the result on field, it would have been topped off if North had won but it seems Geelong is heading to another premiership flag.  

Until the next time, as I head down the highway, Adios.

Feel free to discuss favourite moments/ past experiences at Skilled Stadium, the place they call the Cattery.