AFL Grand Final 2003: Newcomer experiences Grand Final parade, visits the MCG

A sports-mad Fijian has recently made his home — via New Zealand — in Melbourne. He landed slap bang in the middle of Grand Final week and saw the MCG for the first time.

The MCG took the breathe away from Herald Sun reporter Imran Ali the first time he saw it in real life. Picture: Jason Edwards

Melburnians are brilliantly different, hardwired on AFL in a way that someone coming in from rugby-mad Fiji and New Zealand don’t always get.

An AFL public holiday for all in Victoria, even for those like me who’d rather watch paint dry than footy. And another holiday for Melbourne Cup! Crikey!

Welcome to the sports capital of Australia. The title fits aptly on the city’s crown.

I am going to feel like a pilgrim in a strange land for however long it takes for me to learn what AFL is all about.

Going to the big party outside the G was a good start in that endeavour. The atmosphere looked every bit like a pilgrimage for me.

In legal parlance (yes I do cover court), I am prepared to swear in an affidavit to say I’ve never seen madness like that. A young Magpies fan on the train beats his chest ‘let’s get to the party and get stupid as man’.

I am like ‘everybody has a right to be stupid. But just don’t abuse the privilege, mate’.

Footy fans draped in their fav team colours all outside that famous landmark seemed they’d rather drop dead from overdressing on an incredibly tropical weather.

Ten-month-old Collingwood supporter Oakley Kinniff with Mum Sharnee at the AFL Grand Final Parade at Yarra Park in Melbourne on Friday. Picture Lachie Millard

Getting up and close to the G strengthened my belief in God. Growing up watching absolute crackers over many decades and then got given the opportunity to get up and close was quite humbling.

It’s a behemoth, and the rich profusion of fans that throng the venue lends credence to the place as an iconic landmark of not just Melbourne, but Australia.

“Geez, this is what the fuss is all about,” I muttered. Such was the turnout, it seemed all Melburnians were there.

If that was the entree, what would be the main menu like on Saturday? For the winning fans, the dessert will be icing on the cake. The rest can perhaps go for a “stiff drink”.

There is no doubt an unmistakeable pride and passion at the core of how people here go about their business. They work damn hard, they play damn harder.

Kiwis I worked with were under the misapprehension that I’d, over time, convert to rugby league when I moved over from Fiji eons back.

Collingwood players on stage after the AFL Grand Final Parade at Yarra Park in Melbourne on Friday. Picture Lachie Millard

Their herculean effort failed. Here, I wouldn’t let Aussies corrupt me with that aerial ping pong game. They can talk about their fav sport with some brio. They can keep their Aussie Rules and follow them, thanks a ton.

But their passion for whatever sports they follow barely hidden and that they have a knack for creating a pretty special sporting occasion within their own bubble.

It’s not always about winning. Creating that platform for everyone irrespective of their colour or creed to come together in unison is more important. Thousands that sang all the way to the G and back on Friday imparted that message.

Moving from a small town across the ditch and too used to life in my own bubble, I thought adapting to the different pace of life and the culinary nuances of Melbourne would be utterly daunting.

Crowds at the AFL Grand Final Parade at Yarra Park in Melbourne on Friday. Picture Lachie Millard

But to my surprise, it isn’t. The confidence and mojo of working and commuting in a city that runs on a happy chaos and a sort of anarchic energy are beginning to rise.

A walk through a phalanx of tourists, working class, uni students, and construction workers is in many ways the metaphor of Melbourne life.

Endless streams of people on the streets and in trams during rush hour but no stampede to get ahead. In metro trains and buses, the city has a public transport network that is truly the envy of the world.

Until fambam joins me in December, this diverse city must become a place where I can feel I am a part of and not focus on pining for where I last lived.

The realisation that one doesn’t come here looking for the familiar- the domestic comforts they are used to- and then sulk when they can’t find them, isn’t lost on me.

Imran Ali is a Herald Sun court reporter — and a Magpie supporter.