We walked across to the big game from The Lakes Resort on a beautiful warm day. I was pleased that I could just wear my sleeveless Juddy footy guernsey because that meant I could have Carlton tattoos on my arms. We sat with heaps of other Carlton members directly behind the goals, a couple of rows back from the Carlton cheer squad. We could hardly believe when we got to our seats that we were sitting right alongside some friends of Mum & Dad's from Penola! Fancy that - they're all Carlton supporters, too, and had driven up especially for this game. We watched our players run out through the banner that simply said STONE THE CROWS. I liked that. And then the Carlton boys did some goal kicking practice in front of us. I'm glad the big net was there because there were so many balls coming in thick and fast! I liked seeing the #43 back in action for the first time since Kouta retired - Simon White was playing his very first AFL game. I've been looking forward to seeing him and think it's pretty cool that the AFL now has a Simon Black AND a Simon White!
Jesse with Mia
When the siren sounded to signal the match was soon to begin, the players all gathered really close together in a huddle. I reckon they were all firing themselves up for a big game after their terrible one against Essendon the week before......we hoped that was the case, anyway. Our captain Judd being back would surely help us, too. Carlton was going to be kicking towards us in the first quarter, so I prayed for lots of goals to come our way!
When the game began the ball came down to us almost straight away - Hoops got the ball out to Setanta who had a shot at goal.......but he missed it. But don't worry! Yarran got it and snapped a fantastic goal! The Carlton cheer squad leader got us all cheering for that one. Back in the centre, Judd got the ball and was held without it - a 50 metre penalty followed so Juddy had a set shot around 50m out, and he kicked a goal! The cheer squad man yelled "give us a C" and we all yelled back "C!" "give us an A" "A!" etc until we spelled out CARLTON, followed by lots of clapping. I loved it!! Next Garlett and Yarran had the ball, and Yarran snapped from deep in the pocket to get another goal! 3 goals 1 point to nothing in less than seven minutes! The cheer squad man's voice is almost gone already! The Crows got a point and then Jamo kicked well to Hendo who kicked it to Hoops - beautiful kick to Eddie just outside 50, doesn't want to take the shot for goal, so he looks to handpass it off.......ball goes out of bounds. The Crows get their second point, then Lucas kicks it to Simmo - to Eddie who marks it way inside 50 - "Have a shot, Eddie!" we yell, but he passes it off with a terrible worm-burner to Robbo who has no hope of marking it. The Crows take it away. Good defense, Blues - we get the ball back, but then lose it again and a Crow is all on his own in their forward 50 and has a shot for goal - JAMO! What a great smother - not only does he smother it, but then scoops up the ball and kicks it to Murph - Betts handballs to Walker - great kick to Houlihan who takes the mark. We bet HE won't look around for other options, and he doesn't. Instead he concentrates for a goal straight away, and goals. Yahoo! The Crows then get three more points and finally get their first goal of the match at the 23 minute mark. Scores are 1-5 (11) to 4-1 (25). Go Blues. We get the next centre clearance, Yarran (I call him Yazza) is great on the boundary, kicks it to Murph who for some reason doesn't take a shot at goal but instead kicks it to Eddie who is further over towards the boundary. Eddie looks to give it off to someone but luckily finally decided to go for it quickly himself - and he kicked a goal! My voice is starting to go from cheering so much - this is such great fun! The Crows get a goal soon after, and at quarter time the scores are 2-7(19) to 5-1 (31).
In the second quarter Murphy has a shot for goal within seconds but it hits the post. It comes our way, which is now the Crows' end, until White marks and lots of handballs between Carlton players follow. Jamo comes out from our backline almost to the centre of the ground and kicks long to Hoops - his mark is spoiled but Hoops recovers straight away, scooping the ball up off the ground, spinning around and handballing the ball perfectly over the top to Yazza who kicks a goal! From the next centre bounce, Juddy puts boot to ball and kicks a whopper which Setanta marked down against his hip with one arm - yahoo! He takes a set shot and goals as well! 2-7 (19) to 7-2 (44). Gee, it makes a big difference when we kick goals instead of points! At the centre bounce Warnock is strong and earns a holding the ball free - gets it to Hoops who runs away, does two bounces and sends a pinpoint pass straight to Yazza - we get excited as he takes his set shot.....but he kicks a point. There's great pressure by Carlton in the Crows goal square right in front of us - Lucas (second gamer) has good composure and kicks to White (first gamer) - good stuff! It goes back down to our end, where the Crows get it but there's fantastic pressure by the Blues and Hendo tackles well for Robbo to get a free. The Crows then start pressuring us well, also. It's in our forward area, and Scotland gets the ball out by hand to Armfield who kicks perfectly to Betts - we get excited again.....but another point to us. Kane Lucas takes a great mark against the flow of Crow action, Russell takes a long run and kick, ball goes to ground, Hoops does well to get the handball out to Simmo - goal! The Crows then bring it towards us but Walker takes a big leap - great spoil, Walks!! Gibbs gets it across to Hendo, drops the mark but gets it out to a team mate, Crows get it though, Murph big tackle - it's really tough and tight in there with lots of tackles and blokes piling up on the ground - Hoops handballs it to Judd who is SO STRONG and somehow breaks through two strong tackles and gets it to Robbo - Carrots - Scotland - goal!! 2-7 (19) to 9-4 (58). Looking good, Blues! It's about now that one of the umpires decides the Crows need a helping hand. First they ping Walker for holding the ball when he actually got the handball out, then he pings Aaron Joseph for stepping over the mark by 3mm and gives the Crows a 50m penalty, and THEN he doubles the 50m penalty to a 100m penalty because Walker was supposedly too close to the Crow taking the kick. ??? So the Crows get a set shot at the top of their goal square to get their only goal of the quarter. Thanks, umpire, I reckon they'd have said. The ball is down our end, Russell mops up well - to Murphy - Walker - Garlett - Scotland - Juddy bursts out of a pack and kicks around his body for a goal but it goes across the face. Our Walker (Andrew) is on their Walker (Taylor) in their forward 50 and our Walks makes a good spoil. Kruezer goes off the ground with a blood rule, pouring down the side of his face which I reckon looks really cool. Warnock gets it out to Setanta who is playing in defense for a moment, big kick through the middle so the ball's in our goal area but the Crows take it away. But then Eddie Betts lays a super-duper tackle on their Big Ben (Rutten), Hoops quickly snatches the ball and handballs to Simmo, play on advantage called, handballs over the top to Garlett - goal! Simon White is great - lots of action in front of us in the Crows forward line, Burton has a shap shot at goal but phew! Hendo's on the back line and fists it through for a point. Half time has the scores at 3-9 (27) to 10-4 (64). Can we hang on for another half and actually win the game? We're certainly playing the much better footy. Mum and I go to the toilet and while waiting in the long queue, we meet a Carlton fan who's also called Jess! She's from Adelaide and has seen my website stories. Mum took our photo. I tell her all about my morning at the Spirit Of Carlton function, and we agree that we think the Blues will win this match.
The second half starts with Warnock winning the ruck, tapping it straight down to Judd who kicks the ball towards us inside 50, but it escapes and the Crows take it away. Only as far as the middle of the ground, though, as Setanta jumps up high to intercept the ball, and while lying flat on his tummy he manages to get it out to Hoops, who does a great kick across his body to Eddie in lots of space well inside 50, who turns around and handballs to an unmanned Garlett right in front of us, who takes a couple of steps and kicks a very easy GOAL! One minute into the quarter. There's defeaning cheering by all of us now. Then it's down the Crows end, Walker spoils and speeds off through traffic, Kreuzer takes a big mark (I love his big head-band bandage), pops a small kick over to Garlett not far from us..........but he mucks it up by kicking straight into Edwards from the Crows. They have it in the centre - Juddy what a tackle! Gets a free but kicks poorly out wide to the boundary for a throw in. Both teams play tight and defensive for a long time, Carlton doing a lot of short kicks to each other. Simmo kicks to Kreuzer in a big pack - Kreuzer brings the ball to ground - Eddie runs away with it - handballs to Juddy - kicks to Garlett, who at full speed plays on deep in the forward pocket, running fast and does one of those bouncing snap shots like I always practise on the back lawn at home (pretending I'm Eddie Betts)......looks like it's going to be a beauty goal but darn it! Bounced the wrong way and hit the post. We all let out a big sigh. Again, the game becomes stagnant with good tackling by both teams and neither team looking like scoring at all. Burton for the Crows gets a very weak free when leading in their forward line - the umpires are feeling sorry for them again, I reckon - but it's another point! Kane Lucas makes a good spoil on the wing to force a throw in - Crows have it and go towards goal - Jamo marks it, yay! - Walks - then we start kicking back and forth, sideways, backwards......our goals are UP HERE, THIS END, BOYS!!! Very frustrating to watch. Carrots - Simmo - Murph - Hoops - Hendo holds strong on the boundary - Judd bulldozes through near the boundary not too far from us - too high on him, surely? Not paid. Crows get it eventually and have a set shot for goal. "Straight into the post", the man behind us says, and guess what? Yes, it hit the post!! The Crows then get another point, and Edwards for Adelaide has a set shot for goal. Will they finally get one? No! 3-15 (33) to 11-5 (71). There's only been one goal kicked this quarter - ours right at the very start - Come On Blues!! This is not good! We bring it all the way from the kick in - Kane Lucas takes a good mark on the boundary, it's coming closer to us - Simmo goals! At last!! Mum takes some video footage of us all cheering our lungs out. Ball comes to us soon after, tight and congested packs near our goal square - we have a big chance to get another goal straight after our last one, but the Crows take it away and kick a goal right on the siren. We hope that goal doesn't give them enough moementum to really get them going in the final quarter!! Scores at three quarter time were 4-15 (39) to 12-5 (77)....we're almost double their score - surely that's enough??
The last quarter starts with a Crows mark and they get another 50 metre penalty! Why?? Is this the only way the Crows can win, with the umpires' help? It's the same umpire and the same Crows player (Thompson). So yet again he gets to walk to the top of the goal square and boot a gifted goal. At the centre bounce, Juddy gets it - Murph - kicks across to Hendo who can't take the mark but handballs Setanta - to the Crows - tackle by Simmo - back to Setanta who does a VERY strange chip shot for goal......misses. The Crows take the kick in - Lucas does a great leaping ripper mark - but the Crows evetually get it again - we get it back - Lucas and White are great, Simpson could have a shot but kicks it short to Murph - he has a shot for goal but hooks it for a point. The radio that Gayl is listening to (she's sitting next to Mum) has just said there's a traffic jam out the front because all the Crows supporters are leaving! Funny. Knights marks for the Crows deep in their forward 50 - goal. Oh dear! We're only 28 points up now. Surely we won't lose it after all this?? The Crows have ANOTHER shot - phew, a point. Another free to the Crows (against Judd) but what? ANOTHER 50 metre penalty to the Crows? And then Tippett, who drops the mark, gets a free anyway to line up for a goal - misses! Justice, perhaps. 6-17 (53) to 12-7 (79). Bad kicking is bad football, Adelaide........(we've said that to Carlton a couple of times already this year). Please get it out to our end this time! Andrew Walker kicks to Kane Lucas - good mark - but no, it's out on the full. Great tackle by O'hAilpin, Crow drops the ball, but the umpire refuses to give us a free! Thompson for the Crows has a running shot for goal - out on the full! We cheer at that one. We're kicking sideways in our back half again.....KICK IT DOWN THE MIDDLE! The cheer squad gets us cheering - Carlton! [clap clap clap}. We get it towards our end but the Crows take possession, Johncock kicks a point thanks to a good chase and pressure from Setanta. But then Setanta walks back to our forward end ever so slowly with his back to the ball while Murphy has it on the boundary looking for someone to kick to - TURN AROUND, Setanta! Give them an option!! We do eventually get the ball out, Hendo kicks to Garlett who kicks straight to a Crow. Grrrrr. Well done Simmo, though, went to spoil and got a free for a push in the back. But once again it gets up to our half forward line before the Crows repel and send it on a spearing inside 50 pass directly in front of their goal but White makes a diving lunge to spoil it! Fantastic. Gibbs has his head down going for the ball and gets himself a free. Walker - Carrots - Garlett - we have possession, keep it this time! But the Crows have it, Judd tackle brilliant, kicks across to Hendo who marks it on the boundary, kicks back beautifully to Hoops who marks it. Stand up now, Hoops, and don't give it off - kick a goal yourself! Mummy and I hold hands and hold our breath while he takes the kick - GOAL! Mum gets so excited by now, as are all of us with our cheering! She takes some more video footage. The cheer squad guys turn to the Crows fans who are starting to leave in droves and sing out a goodbye song to them, waving their arms. I laugh a lot. At the centre bounce Kreuzer tackles, Murphy handballs to Judd - kicks it inside our 50 but it missses Robbo and the Crows have it, they muck up a handball, Garlett pounces - and goals! 6-18 (54) to 14-7 (91). From the next centre bounce Kreuzer again rucks and roves his own ball - big kick to our goals - Crows get it but Simmo tackles out on the wing to earn the free. We kick back to our defensive 50 for a while before Scotland goes forwad - Crows have it back in the middle, though, until Eddie! Beauty intercept of a Crow handball - handpasses to a running Judd - kicks long to Setanta who puts his arm up and brings the ball to ground - Hoops is in the goal square with him, along with two Crow opponents - Hoops chases the bouncing ball and while being dragged from behind somehow manages to put his boot to the ball and kicks a goal right on the goal line! That's it - Mummy's going bonkers, now! I'm pretty crazy myself, and even Daddy's whooping it up! The next centre bounce has us taking it straight out again - Murph kicks to Houlihan on 50m who kicks big towards the goals - might be a point.......but Hendo marks it on the last line in the goal square! And he goals! Our cheering gets even louder. It is just SO GOOD to finally beat the Crows over here.......I can't really remember back in 2004 when I was only one year old! The final score is 6-19 (55) to 16-7 (103). We walloped them. Mum and I think what finally gave us the win was Daddy wearing a Carlton guernsey to the game for the first time, one with Juddy's number 5 on the back, just like mine.
It is just so good to hear the Carlton song come out over the loud speaker - we sing it over and over again, in fact, I reckon I was singing it in my sleep that night. The players then made their way over to where we were all sitting to thank us for our support, clapping their hands high above their head for us as they came. I ducked and weaved down through the three rows of seats in front of me and somehow squeezed my way to the front of the aisle to the boundary - and Lachie Henderson gave me a high five! His hand was all sweaty and Mum told me later that all the players would have been pretty hot and pooped out there on such a warm day. Meanwhile, Mum and Dad stayed back at our seats, Mum standing on hers to video the players. A Carlton friend of ours, Sue, was there yet again (she'd also been with us at the Spirit Of Carlton function) and Mum took a photo of us, both very happy people. She also took a photo of other Carlton friends we've made over the years - Denise, Alex, Michelle and Gayl. They were all very ecstatic too, as it's been such a long time since we beat the home town over here, the supporters of whom we've been teased by for ever so long!
After the players left the oval, we were all allowed to go out there and kick footballs. I was sad that I didn't bring my fancy new gold footy that Peter McConville had bought me that morning, but Mum & Dad said there was no way I'd ever be allowed to kick THAT! So Dad & I just went out there and kicked balls that other people were using. It was heaps fun. The grass was ever so lush and green. While I was there, another little Carlton member was kicking a footy with her Dad - her name is Mia and she and I had our photo taken together. There is certainly plenty of support for the great Carlton Football Club all around Australia, including over here in SA!
We then made our way back across to The Lakes Resort for a few celebratory drinks with fellow supporters before driving home. While still outside AAMI Stadium, we actually ran into ex-Carlton ruckman, Barnaby French! He and I first met the day that we last beat Adelaide - he was injured at the time and was at the pre-match function at The Lakes Resort way back in 2004. We had met a couple of times since, and it was really nice to see him again for the first time since he retired. He had been at the game too, watching his old team play, along with Scott Camporeale's parents. It turned out to be a VERY small world, as we learned that Barnaby's wife grew up near where Mum and Dad did, in the south east! Not only that, but she used to play tennis against them! We walked with them back to their car which wasn't far from ours, chatting all the way.
So that was the end of my very exciting day. First, seeing my hero Kouta and getting a presentation from him at the Spirit Of Carlton function and meeting all those great past champions of our club, and then seeing my current heros beating the Adelaide Crows on their home turf. What could be better? I'll be back in just another four weeks when I'll be here again to watch us take on Port Power!
Until then, Go Blues!
From Jesse (Jezza) Hanel.
