Perth is in the grip of footy finals fever! The West Coast Eagles, one of the 2 local Australian Rules Football teams, have reached the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne! Famille Chic (we’ve been Eagles members for years) saw them win the Preliminary Final here in Perth last weekend. Our younger daughter in the Uk watched a live stream on her phone whilst she was travelling back to London by coach on the A1 (we’re pretty passionate fans!).
Domain Stadium Subiaco Western Australia AFL Preliminary Final 2015
The culmination of the Australian Rules Football season takes place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) traditionally on the last Saturday in September. It is a week later this year as a result of the Cricket World Cup Final being played at the MCG at the end of March. Monsieur Le Chic was last seen heading off across the Nullarbor Desert with some friends on a trek to reach the Grand Final in time (well actually they flew to Adelaide and drove a hire car to Melbourne from there)! If you’ve read my article on Perth, you’ll understand what an isolated city it is. The airlines, capitalising on desperate Eagles fans wanting to travel to Melbourne for the final, have hiked up their prices!
Whilst I’ve stayed back in Perth (just as well as the cat needed an emergency operation on Tuesday to remove a pom pom she had unwisely decided to eat) I have been to 2 Grand Finals in the past. One (in 2005) the Eagles lost by 4 points, the other (in 2006) they won in an absolute nailbiter by a single point against the Sydney Swans! As an auspicious omen, I’ve hunted out some photos from our family trip in 2006 to give you a feel of what it’s like to be at the MCG on Grand Final Day. Tomorrow I’ll be going to a Grand Final party with friends and cheering the Eagles on against the reigning premiers and favourites, the Hawthorn Hawks. Footy does strange things – it brings out all sorts of emotions in usually quite mild mannered folk! Wishing everyone a great weekend and “Carn the Eagles”!
Carn means “come on” and is used by Australian Rules crowds!
Postscript: Alas the Eagles couldn’t produce their best footy on Saturday at the MCG and were soundly beaten by the experienced Hawthorn team. The Eagles had a great 2015 season though and confounded the sceptics. Onwards and upwards for 2016, “Carn the Eagles”!
Copyright © 2015 Rosemary Thomas Le Chic En Rose. All rights reserved
Le Chic En Rose 
I completely understand this passion for sport! For us, it’s college football (American football) but the sport doesn’t really matter, it’s the excitement! I hope, hope your team wins (and that your cat makes a successful recovery!)
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Thanks Kerry – yes it’s the excitement that surrounds it all that is such fun! Game starts in under 2 hours now so am getting quite nervous – I am heading off to friends soon to watch it. The cat is doing well – have just got back from her vet check up 🙂 It would be wonderful if the Eagles win as the other team are the reigning premiers! Wishing you a lovely weekend 🙂
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Hope the cat is on the mend now Rosemary!! The party sounds like a great way to cheer on your team – fingers crossed for a win!!
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Thanks Joy she is doing well – the vet is very happy with her progress! She’s still confined to her room for another 10 days then I have to figure out how to keep her stimulated but safe!! Heading off to the Grand Final party soon – am excited but nervous too! Monsieur LC is having a ball in Melbourne! Whatever happens the Eagles have done amazingly well to reach the final (they have already surpassed all expectations this season). As you can see years of living in Australia has tuned me into a die hard footy fan !! Have a great weekend too! 🙂
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Reminds me of myself when young – the family album has loads of pictures of me hiding behind my hair. I still don’t really like having my photo taken.
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It used to be the bane of my life Anabel especially as we lived so far away from our families in the Uk and I wanted to send photos back to them! She’s a bit better now but like you, still doesn’t really like having her photo taken!
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At least she wasn’t dressing entirely in black which was my other thing at the time!
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Actually she did favour black a lot back then! Now she wears lovely colours the majority of the time 😃
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Great post, Rosemary! Wishing you & family a great weekend! 😃
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Thanks! Likewise wishing you and your family a lovely weekend as well! 🙂
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A fun post Rosemary. I don’t have “a team” yet but am loving the atmosphere of finals weekend. I’m also torn between the footy – AFL or NRL – as family are in Sydney. I’m more used to rugby union, so will be recording the Aus vs England world cup game at 6am tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend, whatever the score 🙂
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Thanks Ruth! Sadly we lost but really we did very well to make the Grand Final in the first place – the Eagles are a young team and we’ll bounce back next year! NRL final is today I think in Sydney. Depending on whether you still support England or have switched to Australia you’ll either by very sad or very happy by the rugby result today!
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Hope the kitty is recovering well. Sorry that your team lost but they have much to be proud of for making it so far!
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Thanks Lisa yes she is making a good recovery and the vet is very happy with her progress 🙂 She’s still confined to her room for another week, which she’s not too happy about! Yes the Grand Final was very disappointing (I must add a postscript to my post to update it!). The Eagles did amazingly well to get that far having been considered no hopers at the start of the year. They didn’t play their best at all in the final however they will be determined to go one step further next year! Monsieur LC arrives back this afternoon – it’s a long way to go for the game especially as he and his friends drove part of the way from Adelaide to Melbourne and back! Hope your sailing adventures are going well and I’ll come over to check out your blog again very soon! 🙂
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I am certain that any kitty would be unhappy being confined and a week must seem like a lifetime to a cat. But I’m glad she is on the mend and I’m also happy to know Monsieur Le Chic will soon return from his long journey. The Eagles will ‘get them next year’.
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Thanks Lisa – I have tried to explain things to her but to no avail! Plus once she can come out again, I have to cat proof everything (no string, toys etc) – it’s going to be fun! We will look to get a cat run for her down the side of the house where she can safely play 🙂 Yes the Eagles will bounce back – Carn the Eagles 2016!!
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Football and rugby fever is always in my house! In fact any sport my husband is in to! Sorry your team lost, but it looks like they had a good season. Hope your cat is on the mend, too.
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Yes Ting I know what you mean- Monsieur LC has always been a great soccer fan (in the UK) and since we moved to Australia, Aussie Rules. Now he is even following one of the Berlin teams, Union Berlin (in fact he is now a member). It was a pity that the Eagles lost the final but they were never expected to get that far in the first place so they did very well. The cat is on the mend – it is hard to follow the vet’s instructions and keep her from jumping onto things! Hope you have a lovely week and I’m hoping to catch up on everyone’s blogs very soon! 🙂
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I’m not a great sport fan myself, but I’m sure the atmosphere while watching a game must be fabulous !!
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Yes, I think even if you have no interest in sport, the atmosphere at the MCG on Grand Final Day (and indeed in Melbourne leading up to the game) is amazing! They have a lot of entertainment at the ground before the game too 🙂
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This is fun reading. I do like sport, and going to such events. But with such an athmosphere everyone would it enjoy it I guess 🙂
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Yes I don’t think you’d necessarily have to be a big footy fan to enjoy the atmosphere of the AFL Grand Final Hanne – the venue (MCG) is amazing when it’s full of people very impressive! 🙂
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