AFL Outer East 2021: Olinda Ferny Creek beats Upwey and the fog in Division 1

Players in an AFL Outer East game could barely see the ball when a dense fog rolled in, turning the last quarter into a guessing game.

Olinda Ferny Creek players leave the ground on Saturday. Picture: Olinda Ferny Creek FNC

Visibility was almost zero.

But the show must go on — and it did at Olinda on Saturday.

The Olinda Ferny Creek versus Upwey Tecoma AFL Outer East Division 1 game took an unexpected twist when a dense fog rolled over the Olinda ground in the last quarter, and only got thicker.

Respected local football identity Leo Groenewegen was commentating the game for GameFace, alongside Cameron “Pretzel” Hutchison and Liam Vertigan.

They did their best to enlighten while the game was being played behind a grey curtain.

“It was clearer on the screen than what it was in real life,” Groenewegen said.

“You couldn’t see a foot in front of you.”

Foggy conditions at Olinda on Saturday. Picture: Olinda Ferny Creek FNC

Play continued, with Olinda Ferny Creek running out 44-point winners, 12.15 (87) to 6.7 (43).

“Honestly, you couldn’t see 10 metres inside the fence,” Groenewegen said.

“I’m surprised the umpires didn’t stop it for a bit actually.

“We just didn’t know where the ball was. All of a sudden it would pop up.”

Groenewegen, who played for North Melbourne in the early 1970s, has been a stalwart of the local competition for decades and said it was nothing unusual for a game to be affected by fog.

“She’s pretty high up in the mountains at Olinda,” he said.

“You’re up in the clouds there.”

Groenewegen said the foggy finish only added to his love of local footy.

“I love it. This is real footy isn’t it?,” he said.

“After the game everyone was back inside for a few beers and something to eat. It was all good.”

Groenewegen played five games for the Kangaroos “a hundred years ago”, alongside the likes of Keith Greig, Sam Kekovich and Denis Pagan.

But his real passion has been for the local game, played on unique and varied grounds.

He says his favourite ground is Gembrook.

“I finished my footy at Gembrook so I do enjoy Gembrook,” he said.

“As far as country ambience goes I love Warburton, Mac Sparke (Oval), a traditional ground with a beautiful old building and kookaburras everywhere. It’s just a beautiful local football ground. The Warby rooms have got an open fire in it.

“I’ve had snow up at Olinda before.

“You get all shapes and sizes but generally speaking all the grounds are way better than when we played on them, they’re not slop heaps you used to see when we played on them.”