Big footy games thrill, draw us together

Three minutes from time, Brisbane Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds capped a compelling weekend of football with a match-winning conversion, sending the team’s home crowd at Suncorp Stadium into uproar. For the mighty Penrith Panthers, who dominated the first half leading 14-0 at halftime, a fifth premiership is not to be. Next Sunday’s final in Sydney will be a battle between Brisbane and Melbourne Storm.

Like the Brisbane Lions’ emphatic victory over Geelong at the MCG on Saturday – their second flag in a row – Storm’s 22-14 win over the Cronulla Sharks on Friday night, to be first team into the NRL grand final, emphasised how the modern competition stretches far beyond the codes’ traditional boundaries. The AFL final was an absolute classic, dead level at halfway for the first time in more than a century, until the Lions made kittens of the Cats.

Across the ditch, the Wallabies’ revival continued – they came close to a rare upset of the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup. With 10 minutes left, Australia trailed 26-24, but referee Andrea Picardi sin-binning Harry Potter in the 73rd minute, one of 15 penalties imposed on the Wallabies compared with 10 on New Zealand, put paid a win. Coach Joe Schmidt stoically refused to blame the referee. His team is heading the right way.

Like the Melbourne Cup, Gout Gout’s races and upcoming first Ashes Test, footy grand finals stop the nation, bringing us together to bellow and cheer. Tribal loyalties can be intense. But it’s a healthy sign of our culture that football rivalries, for most of us, are as deep as social divisions go.