By Fintan Daly
Hotels booked out. Fans flocking to the streets. A buzz around town. Adelaide had caught footy fever, and they were hooked on the feeling. With 221,853 supporters turning out across 4 days, the second iteration of the AFL’s Gather Round was a staggering success.
My family and I touched down in the City of Churches on Friday night, before hopping in a taxi straight to Adelaide Oval for the Port Adelaide vs Essendon game. Port were clinical in front of their home fans, with a career-best performance by Connor Rozee, and outstanding games by Jason Horne-Francis, Zak Butters and Jeremy Finlayson. After a hotly contested first term, Port lead by 3 at quarter time. They blitzed away from the bombers in the second quarter, kicking 6.3 to go into half-time with a 36-point lead. The onslaught continued in the second half as the power stormed home to a 69-point win. We didn’t get to see Port’s unofficial team song, ‘You’ll Never Tear Us Apart’ being sung by fans before the game, but the roar at the final siren made up for it. The crowd erupted and broke into the team’s unexpectedly catchy team song – “We’ve got the Power to Win!” and so on was stuck in my head for the whole weekend. So, after the song ended, we headed to our Airbnb which was a fifteen minute walk from the Adelaide Oval, lengthened by our bad navigation skills.
The next day we woke up and sauntered to the ‘Room 19’ café where we sat down next to Jai Newcombe (Hawks midfielder), who was having brekky with his parents. Throughout breakfast 3 other AFL players came into our café. I had a chat with Zach Tuohy (Geelong winger) and we left to explore the Rundle Mall area. We had a look around the markets, got some Haigh’s chocolates, saw more players and then went to Elder Park to take in the Gather Round festivities happening there. The bombers players were doing a signing session when we arrived, so we joined the queue. The atmosphere in the whole area was fantastic. I was blown away by the number of people walking around, and the excitement you could feel in the air. It was almost midday, so it was time to depart on our bus to Mount Barker for a 1:00 pm start to the Swans vs Eagles game.
As we arrived at the ground, it was like we were in the middle of nowhere. Country hills rolled on the horizon; cows grazed on paddocks as if there wasn’t an AFL game happening 50 metres away. We walked into the stadium (if you can even call it that), and the suburban footy feel got even stronger. A loud low quality PA system. Blue demountable grandstands bathed in sun. A hill, with an old scoreboard. It was local footy meeting the AFL, and it was brilliant. With chips in hand and Swans jersey on, I sat down as the siren sounded to start the game. The match was a tight arm-wrestle in the first half, with the Eagles stunning the Swans to go up by 5 at half-time. As the game went on, West Coast continued to play with spirit, including strong performances from Liam Duggan, Elliot Yeo (who is now on track for an All-Australian jacket if he stays injury-free), and his mentee Harley Reid. However, the Swans’ determination and experience got them over the line, winning by an end margin of 26.
Then we were back on the bus and on track to Adelaide Oval to see the Saturday night double-header – Fremantle vs Carlton and Western Bulldogs vs Geelong. The first game was a cracker – it went down to the final five minutes as Carlton’s Matthew Cottrell kicked a goal to go up by 4. Then Fremantle’s Jordan Clark was penalised for umpire dissent and Matthew Kennedy did the honours of putting it through to win by 10. Tensions were high for both fans and it was an awesome atmosphere to watch footy in; it felt like finals, like a lot was at stake. 30 minutes of milling around Adelaide Oval and we were back in our seats to see the Presets play a set on the field and then the opening bounce for the Cats vs the Dogs (no pun intended). It was again a very close game in the first half, and in the third quarter, although Geelong lead for a majority of the time. In the fourth term the Bulldogs put in an inspiring effort to make it another tight finish. The Cats’ lead was reduced to 4, but they held out to take home the choccies after a great day packed with football.
After the double-header it was back to the hotel for me and my family, preparing for an early flight the next day.
As the plane flew over the rolling hills of country South Australia, with the sun rising over the horizon, I reflected on what a great weekend had just happened, and the many experiences I would cherish from it. The Festival of Footy in Adelaide was more than I could have ever imagined. It exceeded all expectations, and I can’t wait for the next iteration. Goodbye for now, Adelaide, but next year I’ll be back for more!