Apologies.  The Absentee Fan blog has been absent for the last three weeks because of the arrival of our first baby - little Holly - on May 10.  Mum, bub and Dad are all doing well, and now I’ve found some time to get back in touch with the Tiger Army. 

Hopefully, there’s a pic attached to this blog - it shows Holly curled up in her Tigers scarf, in full voice as the Yellow and Black rings out post Saturday night’s win against the Bombers.  And judging by the way she has chosen to wear her plentiful hair for now, bub’s favourite player must be Dustin Martin.

We’ve watched our first game together.  Saturday night’s game was on delayed telecast here in the ACT, coming on at 1030pm.  Incredible.  By any measure a sporting match attended by 85,000 people is a big deal, but not big enough to warrant live broadcast in the national capital. Reruns of Oprah (and American culture generally) far too important I suppose.  The AFL has a long way to go in this market, judging by the fact that during the 5 min long ad breaks, rival codes were advertising intensively. Good luck Greater Western Sydney (a terrible name).  I digress...

The only benefit of the late start was that it coincided with Dad’s night-watch.  I was on bub duty, so her and I settled down in front of the telly to take it all in together.  My mates Sime (Tiges) and Jez (Light Aircraft) were at the game in Melbourne,  and earlier in the evening were ringing in enthusiastically ahead of the kick off and during the match.  But I placed the ‘don’t tell me the score’ embargo on them, so I could maintain some level of tension and a reason to stay awake.  I did allow Jez the opportunity to issue a ‘broad brush’ update, which amounted to advice that during the first quarter I could repeatedly head to the kitchen to make cups of tea and not miss a thing.

That first quarter was so slow that bub was sent into a slumber that stirred not until the final 10 mins of the match (and the broadcaster SC 10 cut 15 mins of it out of the broadcast!).  I was struggling too, with both sides locked into conservative defensive modes that put the World War 1 trench warfare deadlock on the Somme to shame. Yet I could sense our players were up for this match.  Our first quarters have been a problem so far this season so to pin the Light Aircraft down to not much was a victory.  During the second quarter the game started to gain some momentum, and the arm wrestle became more engaging.  So much so in fact that I had no choice but to delay an urgently needed nappy change until ‘the next available opportunity’...

In the third term, we really started to get going, while the Light Aircraft struggled with a few stall manouevres somewhere over Moorabbin.  Tucky was subbed (he’s getting there Tucky but I think he’s a confidence player and needs to start well to finish well) and Dylan Grimes fell hamstrung, but our midfield was full of running.  Again, the work rate started to make the difference, and even though we were losing contested possession and clearances, when we had the ball we used it well.  Holly gurgled with approval when Trent Cotchin goaled from a 50 metre penalty, as she could sense where we were heading. Brett Deledio and Chris Newman demanded respect, and Alex Rance redefined courage several times.

The final quarter opened up and we clawed the Light Aircraft from the sky.  By the time Holly began lobbying for her very early morning feed, the Tigers were home.  At the siren, we sung the song very very quietly, and reviewed the performance.  We both agreed that Reece Conca had played a defining role, his best match so far.  However, Holly saved her biggest cheer for Chris Newman.  His steady hand as the experienced skipper in a sea of cubs continues to prove vital for us.  

Handing bub across to mum for her feed, I whispered a final ‘Yellow and Black’, and Holly acknowledged with gusto.  Our little cub has a whole team of cubs to grow up with, and I’m looking forward to every minute of it.  Eat them alive Tigers. Eat them alive.


 
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