Crows great Andrew McLeod, assistant coach Narelle Smith pay for stranded fan’s flight to Women’s T20 World Cup final
An Adelaide supporter was devastated after her flight to the women’s T20 cricket decider was cancelled. But after approaching two Crows premiership stars in the airport for a photo to cheer herself up, what happened next left her stunned.
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An Adelaide Crows fan got more than she bargained for when she approached dual-premiership stars Andrew McLeod and Ebony Marinoff at Hobart Airport on Sunday.
Victorian-based supporter Jay Gardiner’s flight to Melbourne had just been cancelled and, with tickets to the Twenty20 Women’s World Cup final, she was upset that she was unlikely to make the game.
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But McLeod, together with Crows AFLW assistant coach Narelle Smith, dipped into their pockets and bought Gardiner a flight with a different airline.
Thanks to their generosity, she made it just in time to watch Australia beat India in the final at the MCG.
Marinoff has revealed the story on The Advertiser’s women’s football podcast, CJ and the Noff, with Courtney Cramey.
Gardiner, 48, a member of the Crows Rainbow Supporter Group, had watched the Crows AFLW team lose to North Melbourne at North Hobart Oval, on Saturday.
She said it was a special moment and an incredible gesture from her football hero, two-time premiership star McLeod.
“I was just sitting down in the departure area feeling pretty flat thinking ‘oh no, I’m going to miss the (cricket) game,’ then I saw Noff and Andy,” Gardiner said.
“I thought to myself that I’m having such a bad day I need something to lift me, so I’ll get a photo with them.
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“I tapped Andy (McLeod) on the shoulder, explained what had happened.
“I got the photo and went and sat back down again.
“Then they (McLeod, Marinoff and Smith) came over and said they’d try to get me on another flight so I wouldn’t miss the cricket.
“It was quite overwhelming.
“They got me onto a Virgin flight, it was just fantastic.
“I just hugged Noffy and afterwards (and) it was great to get that support from the club.
“They are a fantastic club.”
Gardiner grew up supporting Collingwood, but after watching McLeod play her allegiances quickly turned to the Crows.
Then when the club entered the women’s competition, she said it was only right to also support the girls.
“I was watching Andy run around and thought ‘he’s something spectacular’, so I made the switch,” Gardiner, who works as a support officer for the Victorian Country Fire Authority and is also a volunteer firefighter with Glenlyon Fire Brigade, said.
“It was him that made me start loving the game again.
“I was lucky enough to go to Adelaide and see the Crows play in the (AFLW) grand final last year … and I really enjoyed that game.”
As for watching Australia win the Twenty20 World Cup, Gardiner said that would be a moment she would also never forget.
“When I was at the World Cup it was quite reminiscent of the AFLW grand final because it was a really big crowd and lots of noise,” she said.
“We had a team of 10 emergency service workers go because we wanted to watch an international game on International Women’s Day.
“That was really special.”