The Big V Aftermath

Posted on May 13, 2008 | Category: The Other 15

What I Liked

There’s something that stirs within every Victorian football supporter when you see the Big V take the field, regardless of the opponent. And it was absolutely epitomised by the sight of Jonathan Brown. If Browny was in any doubt that we wanted him back playing for our team (regardless of which team that was) - it would have been dispelled on Saturday night. Nobody got a better reception. And Brown lead like a Victorian captain should: with pride. Brown oozed pride in the jumper on Saturday night, and while he wasn’t the best on the field by quite a way - he was the inspiration for the Victorian win.

The best player out there - incidentally - was Brendan Fevola. I’ve always been a bit of a secret fan of the Fev, and it’s hard not to want to see him succeed, even if he does play for the filthy Blues. But he was beautiful to watch. The mark he took at the end of the first quarter - with the Vics in a small amount of trouble early - was inspiring.

I must admit, I did think that the next best player on the ground would just about have been Nathan Foley. Axel was in playing his silky-smooth game without the impediment of a tagger, and it was beautiful to watch. It’s frightening to think how much ball Foley would get in a team where he wasn’t getting the number one tagger every week. Unlike other in-and-under types who sat back in the fear of getting hurt (I’m looking at you Sam Mitchell), Foley showed the sort of commitment you expect in a state game. So many clearances were a result of a little Foley handball: it was beautiful.

And the Big V won. Despite a great game from Buddy (although a touch wayward in front of goals), the good guys came through at the end. Brent Harvey proved that he gave a crap by grabbing his jumper after kicking a late goal, and that was probably the biggest difference between the good players and the ordinary ones. Scarlett out of full back was clearly keen to prove that he’s still the best full back in the country, Scott Pendlebury made sure that we knew he was one of the most exciting young players in the league.

What I Didn’t Like

I didn’t hate anyone. I felt a respect that shouldn’t be there in a State of Origin, or if it is - should certainly be overpowered by a passionate dislike. It’s really hard to detest a team wearing all white. If Campbell Brown had thrown some fists around, or Mooney had done something stupid, it would have been on. But you felt that the biggest thing on the evening was that these guys just respected one another. It made for some skillful footy, but not particularly hard footy. Next time it’ll need to be state against state - because who doesn’t want to belt the living daylights out of anyone wearing a South Australian jumper.

Another thing that seemed to sanitize the match was the ridiculously large bench. If you ever needed evidence that 7 is way too many to have on the interchange, Saturday was it. It was always going to be impossible for any midfielder to win the best on ground, because none of them were out there for long enough! I don’t care how much the coaches whinge - keep the bench the same (or at absolute worst, Wallaces “subsitutes” idea has much more merit than extra interchange).

If there’s ever a state of origin game played again, for goodness sake can we please have them coached by non-AFL club coaches! While I understand the concept that it was fun to have the grand finalist coaches facing off - it gave them both a conflict of interest the size of Mark Williams’ over-inflated ego. Scarlett was the only Geelong player who showed any sort of interest (and there were plenty to choose from), and I’d be amazed if there hadn’t been some coaching influence on that. Just don’t do it. Give Sheeds the Big V coaching job until he dies - there’s nobody else worthy. (Maybe Tom Hafey, but I doubt that’d happen).

There were a number of disappointing players. Judd looked like he would rather be watching the game on the telly, Sam Mitchell refused to do the only thing that earned him a game in the first place (going in hard), and Josh Fraser couldn’t dispose of the ball without causing a turnover. And whichever morons started that Mexican Wave just when the game got exciting should be shot, rolled over and shot again. Wasn’t happy with that. And while I didn’t see the TV footage resulting from the big experiment that “Umpire Cam” was - I’m fairly certain we won’t see umpires looking like they’ve got man-boobs again.

The Verdict

I can’t see this game happening again, but I’d be amazed if there wasn’t plans formulated for some sort of State of Origin as a result. Because all of the things missing from Saturday night, can be rectified if you have two sides both playing for the state they love. Plus I’d love to get some real bragging rights over the filthy Sandgropers and Crow-eaters.

» Filed Under The Other 15

Tags:

• Big V
• Brendan Fevola
• Brent Harvey
• Chris Judd
• Hall of Fame
• Jonathan Brown
• Kevin Sheedy
• Mark Williams
• Matthew Scarlett
• Nathan Foley
• Sam Mitchell
• Scott Pendlebury
• Tom Hafey

5 Responses to “The Big V Aftermath”

1. Gaz Says:
   May 13th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

   It was hard to get into the game. I found myself not really caring who won, I just wanted a good game. Also, supporting a Victorian team, being a West Aussie and now living in Queensland meant I was a tad confused.
   The umpire-cam was pretty average. A fuzzy view of a bunch of players. But the commentators had to build it up.
   The one good angle was from the goalpost. It gave some great shots of players kicking at goal. That one should definitely be kept.

2. mark e Says:
   May 13th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

   Good summary Geoff.

   Have to admit, Pav was a bit dissapointing too. Maybe a result of coaching, hard to know who to kick to when you have so many good forwards. And then they switched him to the back.

   Reckon Sandy would have eaten Fraser.

3. The Wounded Tiger Says:
   May 13th, 2008 at 3:42 pm

   Could Josh Fraser be the most over-rated player in the league? He was dominated in the hit-outs (admittedly by the best ruckman out there - Dean Cox), and was useless every time he got the ball. Pavlich seemed to be a victim of being played all over the place, mixed with not being the main marking target inside 50. There was no way the ball was going anywhere except into the hands of Buddy.

4. Mark E Says:
   May 14th, 2008 at 4:14 pm

   who then proceeded to kick points….

5. The Wounded Tiger Says:
   May 14th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

   Naturally. Sorry, I must have forgotten that the anti-Dockers conspiracy stretches to the game-plan of the Dream Team.

   With Franklin in that kind of form, at least you knew he was going to take the mark every time.

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