Match Report
Senior Match Report - Preliminary Final - 13/09/2008By Ziggy Arness
And so it’s come to this. Dingley (population 2006 Census 10.074 people including 16 indigenous or Torres Strait Islanders) face off with Heatherton (population 2006 Census 2,524, instantly doubled in 2004 by the Kingston Rd development whose inhabitants probably don’t know that their football club exists).
Irrelevant and inconsequential information in the overall scheme of things, other than to suggest that the Dingoes may have a slight advantage in supporter numbers. This counts for nought when the ball is bounced, and the battle for promotion begins. But is it about promotion? The rumour mill is pretty strong that Division One may be an honour bestowed upon both clubs anyway, regardless of the outcome of this clash.
No, it’s about pride, it’s about respect, it’s about just reward for the countless hours of self-sacrifice and hard training that these blokes have endured in order to savour the glorious moment of self-satisfaction and team achievement that a Premiership brings. And perhaps just a tiny bit for those rambunctious miscreants in the outer who have risen and fallen with every spectacular mark or unforgivable miss that this long but immensely enjoyable season has produced.
“I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes”, was a song that came out of a famous 1994 movie. It is a confident sentiment that I harbour right now, the sense that fifteen years after our last flag, our time may have come again. Perhaps not quite to the script, Heatherton will have had to endure a wedding, three finals and hopefully a wake.
Along with Peter Benjamin, Stewy McGuiness and Chris Morgan, I have become increasingly versed in vexillology in recent times. I hope us Cat followers are joined by a lot of Dingley supporters in the enjoyment of this felicity at about 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. Much is going to depend on how the boys approach this, the denouement of their season. The coach would have done some meticulous preparation, and those of us who have carefully observed the last couple of weeks also know that Heatherton do not hang their hat on one player.
Apart from the obvious danger man in Willo, blokes like Jamieson, Einsiedel, Sauer, Krepp and Connolly have to be given the greatest respect. We are cognizant of who our obvious never-say-die players are, what we will require is some real statement of intent from guys like Dazza, Browndog, and Frosty. We will welcome Jake Moore back, and I’ll keep an eye on the groundswell of innuendo that suggests a certain (of late) one-legged performer may grace the stage again. Bring it on!!!
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