Footy Is Our Poetry | Thebigtip

We go to watch sport for many reasons but poetry in action might not seem to be on the list - unless you really think about it.

If we are honest, a prime reason we go to most local sporting events is to see our team win. If our friend, son or daughter is playing, it is to enjoy their prowess or to just watch them participate, grow and enjoy team sport, maybe even win. My son’s team had one win in two years playing soccer in our local league. They never gave up and persistence shone through.

Poetry was there as well.

A lad one day on the losing team, ours, trapped the ball deep in defence, generally where the ball always was. After giving off a small feint, he sidestepped an opponent and sprinted with the ball clinging to his feet. At speed, he baulked a midfielder and continued his run down the wing with another opponent in his wake. Transferring back to the centre, he stepped around a defender, pretended to pass and transferred his weight to his right. Leaving the defender off balance, he sprinted to the goal with only two players between him and a team-lifting reward for hard effort. He paced to the right of the goals, pausing to entice the goalkeeper and sweeper to push forward and stop him. With a deft clip, the lad passed the ball with a stab of his left foot to his team mate in front of the goal.

Goal! Every Saturday and every Sunday in all sports, the young, the middle-aged, the seniors and the very seniors all contribute their own little sonnets and verses. This lad wrote his and every Saturday we see it in AFL football.

I consider myself fortunate to have watched Gary Ablett play earlier in the year. His range of skills, speed and capacity to know how to use his body in all situations is extraordinary. A twist of the body, a pause in stride, a side-step; all in micro seconds. It’s a form of poetry and you do not need to look far to see other examples. Watch young Scott Pendlebury, Cyril Rioli and Leon Davis; they are an art form performing to a level most humans can only dream of.  All sports have had them in their most exalted stages – Lionel Messi, Cathy Freeman, Michael Jordan; the list goes on. They are not art in the traditional form - on a canvas, in a novel, on a disc, on a stage or movie screen – but they are art. They are also around us every weekend as well. Some just don’t get paid for it.

Last Sunday, another example appeared at Ethiad Stadium in the form of Robert Murphy. Respected as a part-time journalist and a gifted player, he showed exactly why Australian Rules is such a great game to watch, even if your team is getting beaten badly. He also showed his art. Deep into the game, after playing down back and now up forward, the natural right footer in Robert grabbed the ball on the boundary, wheeled left at speed, looked up and spotted a teammate in front of goals 25 metres away surrounded by Hawthorn players. The outcome was lace-up delivery at seemingly bullet speed. How may decisions were made in that timeframe, how many twists and angles? It is extraordinary.

Football really is more than a game - it's art in motion. So are all games of basketball, netball, bowls, cricket and any other sport you care to mention. You just have to watch and it is evident. So, thanks to that lad at Beaumaris all those years ago, thanks to Gary Ablett and thanks to Robert Murphy.

I do really want to win but I also know that there is a canvas being painted every time we watch a game of football or any sport. If we add the emotions of people, the sounds, the smells and even the weather, that makes for one great sculpture.