Melbourne badwagon rolling all the way to Perth as finals run gathers momentum
SIX years ago the red and blue wagon was heading towards oblivion. Now the queue to jump on is the biggest Demon fans have seen since the Mt Buller chair lift broke down. Next stop: Perth.
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ALL aboard the Demon train
Six years ago the red and blue wagon train was heading towards oblivion.
Huge debts, huge disharmony, huge embarrassment (tank you very much), huge losses (the season began with nine straight defeats including two by more than 100 points) and a huge hole left by the club’s revered president Jim Stynes losing his battle with cancer.
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If you had a red and blue beanie or scarf, it stayed in the back of your wardrobe.
But what a transformation it’s been the past two weeks.
All of a sudden every second youngster is donning a Demon jumper with the No.5 or 10 or 13 on their back. The tall kids wheel out No.11.
Old men are pulling out their Redleg ties or socks and are ringing up the Long Room to make dinner reservations.
Wives who have never been to footy games in 30 years are busy searching for their old MCC ladies ticket, happy to attend the MCG like it’s the Spring Racing carnival.
It’s now almost impossible to walk down Chapel St without someone wanting to tell you how their father took them to the 1964 Grand Final and they saw Neil Crompton kick the winning goal.
There are queues everywhere – whether it be for the David Jones hamper pack special or Moet Chandon.
Getting to and from the MCG the past two Friday nights has been nigh on impossible. The Belgrave and Lilydale lines have been jam-packed, while the Sandringham line is back in vogue, at least until the Brighton Beach station stop.
It’s been dreadful too if you are an MCC member (and what Melbourne fan isn’t?). The queue to get inside the ’G to get your seat pre-game has headed up Yarra Park all the way to the Pullman. It hasn’t been this bad since the Bourke St chairlift broke down at Buller last September. The only thing that has kept us fans from hyperventilating while we waited was Russell Robertson’s guitar-playing forays.
This week’s there’s a whole new problem – getting to Perth.
If you took a punt two weeks ago, you could get a return flight for about $498. Now if you try Webjet the cheapest ticket starts at $1050 for the midnight horror – which it will be if Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling get going.
But what if Nev Jetta manages to convince half of Bunbury to drive up to Perth and cheer for him and the Dees get a few dubious free kicks?
Imagine if Frosty’s torpedo bomb late in the game gets caught up in the Freo doctor and sails through for the winner.
The Dees would then get a chance to end their 54-year drought against the Tigers or the Pies.
Last year Richmond’s run forced the Yarra City council to close down Swan St.
Laugh if you like, but the Dees wagon train is growing so fast that it might be a bigger party than that.
Perhaps the City of Melbourne needs to start planning a total shutdown – a Code Red (and Blue) situation.
Go Dees.
Chris Muirden is a long-suffering Melbourne supporter and Sunday Herald Sun sport production editor
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