AFL players keep hope alive in troubled times, writes Nick Riewoldt
Who knows how long the 2020 AFL season will last. But as long as it does, let’s revel in it. Because the world needs hope, writes Nick Riewoldt.
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Andy Dufresne — The Shawshank Redemption protagonist — wrongly accused and sentenced to life in prison, taught us that “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”.
Was Dufresne a footy fan?
Season 2020 is here. Only just. And it’s anyone’s guess for how long.
Footy will always take a back seat to the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of
people. It’s just a game, after all.
But for now, let’s revel in it. The players were desperate to start this week — 88 per cent of them agreeing to lace ’em up.
Hardly surprising given the months-long build up of pre-season training.
As we search for hope in anything, the players are our heroes. Our purveyors of hope.
They haven’t had a great week in the court of public opinion after seeming to
baulk at the notion that they should share in the game’s misfortune, but they lifted the mood of millions on Thursday, provided a welcome distraction again under the most difficult and unimaginable circumstances, and kept the cogs of a billion-dollar machine turning.
But like every stakeholder in the game, they will feel a financial pinch.
It’s appropriate and inevitable.
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These are unprecedented times.
For all of the summer storylines, predictions and redemption stories, there is a cloudy film of uncertainty as to how the season will play out.
Forecasts this week have painted a bleak picture of the financial health of the game and the clubs, even if the best-case scenario is realised and we get through a 17-game season.
Football has always been viewed as a microcosm of society.
Clubs, like small-medium enterprises, are fighting for their lives. Jobs are on the line and many have been lost.
Hope is hard to find in plain sight, but from a pure footy perspective, there are
shoots if we look hard enough.
Carlton fans rejoiced at the arrival of Jack Martin and Richmond provided the Tiger Army with a great indication that the hunger for “back to back” premierships is real.
The unearthing of future stars, which will dictate that your club’s future, are always in abundance in Round 1.
Tyler Brown, Matt Rowell, Kysaiah Pickett and Max King would all have dreamt of this moment since they were boys. Spare a thought for them.
Their dreams looked nothing like this. No family or mates in the crowd. No social gathering post-game.
Still, the storylines surrounding their first steps, in what their fans hope will be long careers, will provide them with “sportsman’s night” stories forever.
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Jordan De Goey says he plans to stay at Collingwood next year
AFL 2020: Recap all the action from the season opener between Richmond and Carlton
Tom Mitchell is back. Tim Kelly and Brad Hill are in new colours. And a handful
of new coaches have been deployed to alter the course of their club’s fortunes.
The news that a positive player test for COVID-19 will shut down the season for
at least a month, means that footy is walking a tightrope.
Let’s hope, for hope’s sake, it maintains its balance.