Collingwood fan Joffa Corfe fired up for finals in Fiji
He’s in the Fijian wilderness but Collingwood’s biggest fan Joffa Corfe is determined not to miss the Magpies semi final against Geelong, going to great lengths to watch the game.
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Collingwood mega fan Jeff “Joffa” Corfe is on a high after the Magpies one-point win against West Coast.
And he will be on top of a mountain in the Fijian wilderness tuning into the semi final against Geelong.
The figurehead of the cheer squad for 20 years up-ended his life to move to Namuavoivoi village in Bua Province in March – just before the coronavirus travel ban came into effect.
The patchy phone signal in the village meant he had to hike 3km to get reception.
Last week he was so worried about missing the elimination final he travelled to the tourist town of Nadi to get internet to follow along.
But he said he would be back doing his usual climb to the top of a hill on Saturday to watch the big game against the Cats.
He said he was hopeful the Pies could become the first team in the AFL to win a premiership from eighth spot.
In what he said was a strange year, he admitted it was “a strange feeling” watching from a tropical island 2800km from The Gabba.
“The emotions and the disappointment and the elation and happiness is still the same but you’re just not there,” he said.
He said it felt particularly hard being away from Australia during the finals but he had convinced some of his friends in the village to jump on the Collingwood bandwagon.
“I don’t know how much they understand of the game, rugby’s the number one sport, AFL doesn’t get much of a look-in,” he said.
“But they enjoy it and like wearing the Collingwood T-shirts, it’s good fun.”
Mr Corfe said he was due to be in Queensland for work at the moment and could have possibly attended the semi final but the grounding of flights and cost of quarantining meant those plans were on hold.
Long-time Collingwood supporter Voula Bitsikas said it was “horrible” for fans in Melbourne not being able to meet up and watch the finals together.
Ms Bitsikas hosted a gathering at her house with fellow cheer squad members when the Magpies played Richmond to restart the season in June.
But since then she has watched games on TV alone and said there was no atmosphere.
“I think 90 per cent of the enjoyment is watching the game with other people. Being in lockdown has just been horrible, you can’t go and sit with anyone and meet up or you’ll get arrested,” she said.
The 56-year-old has been a Magpie member for 42 years and made over 500 banners as part of the cheer squad.
She is hoping Collingwood can win the flag but said if they did it would not be the same as other years and would feel “hollow”.
“Whoever wins it, especially if it’s a Melbourne-based team, they won’t even be able to get together with their fans. Being involved in all that excitement and going along to functions is so much a part of it. It kills you that you can’t be a part of it this year.”
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