Well I am here to proclaim it is a fact. We are coming. It must be pointed out that to say We are Coming does not imply that we have arrived. It only carries the message that the worst is behind, the delays, the departures, the toilet breaks, the returning home for the forgotten lunches (or to check the iron was turned off – there was a time my wife and I lived in Korumburra and every time we visited Melbourne we'd reach Loch about 10 minutes down the highway and then turn back – my wife certain something was left on. What can I say, she barracks for Collingwood.)
So I think it is true. I think we are coming. I think we have turned the corner, and left the bottom rungs behind. I think we are finals bound and the wheels are in motion. So I celebrate the slogan. It was a brilliant piece of advertising - every club, almost every supporter of every club, knows our slogan. Another club (not mentioning names but they wear black with a red slash) even pitched their whole campaign around ours. If part of the idea behind the slogan was to generate interest in the club, advertising for the sponsors and place us back in the papers for all the right reasons, then it has achieved its goal spectacularly. I cannot think of another club's slogan that has hit a Babe Ruth home run so well – this slogan rests along side the famous Its Time catch-cry of Labour's 1972 election campaign (lets just hope we stay longer than they did.)
That does not mean there will not be stops along the way. Everyone gets hungry, or needs to use the restroom or to refill the petrol tank (or in Judd's case the electric socket) for the next stage of the journey. It is time we Bluebaggers embraced this slogan, this cry of joy and not get stuck in the childish pout, or the whining, ‘are we there yet?'
To get there, we have to make the journey. It’s not an instantaneous 'beam me up scottie' from wooden spoon to September glory. That only happens in the dreams of all the Magpie supporters - and then the cakewalk gets all twilight zonish and they wake, bathed in sweat, the bed lurching like a dazed McKenna in the 1970 grand final, their foggy minds filled with our white emblem, with that made dash of Wayne Harmes and the umpire, the glorious boundary umpire, not blowing that whistle.
The slogan is quite clear. We are not at the destination, we are simply on our way. This got my brother and I thinking about future slogans along the way. We Are Getting Nearer (maybe for St Kilda). We Left Ages Ago – although that might be stolen by Richmond, or maybe there's should be We Never Left! We're Still Waiting (maybe that needs to be Essendon's). We are Here. Here We Go Again. We Know The Way With Our Eyes Shut. We Got Lost Somewhere Along The Way (for Geelong if they lose again this year) and for the Hawks - We Came Early And Have Already Left.
Yes the We Are Coming slogan can have more spin-offs than a Sylvester Stallone movie-ology (well not as many as Rambo - but close).
The point to all this – yes there is a point – is that we Bluebaggers need to get behind the slogan, get ready to scream it loud and clear every time we win (and when we lose just look down at the Melways and wait for the right street to turn into).
The club, after all, got it right. We Are Coming implies an improvement in output this year and so far that is what has occurred. The best thing about this year is our percentage. It is the third best percentage in the league. The third behind two clubs who have yet to lose a game – of all the others we have the best. What does this tell us? It tells us that, unlike in the past few years when our percentage was terrible, this year we are competitive. It tells us that both defensively and in attack we have improved.
Too often in past years we kicked goals in junk time when the game was over (think Essendon against Geelong on the weekend) – these goals might save a bit of face but usually show up in a poor percentage. Only sides that compete well week in and week out, for whole games, have healthy percentages. It's what we have been lacking for far too long, it's why, until this year, it was impossible to say that we were on the way back.
But now we are showing the signs of becoming a very good side. We have not arrived, we have barely left home, but we have left, we have turned that first corner and are on our way. We are coming -
This week to Brisbane!
Fev for ten,
Gibbs BOG
and Eddie for seven!
Go Blues
Please Note: the views expressed in the above article are solely the opinion of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Carlton Football Club or those employees of the Club. The Carlton Football Club would like to acknowledge the tireless work of those supporters who contribute to carltonfc.com.au.
