The Swans not even making the AFL finals at all this year is disheartening enough, but two Grand Finals and two landslide wins to those damn southerners in a single weekend is extremely difficult to swallow, although even the most one-sided footy follower would have to concede in both cases clearly the better sides won and that after all is how it should be.
The bigger concern for the true believers of the code should be why Sydney based NRL sides are now consistently losing to clubs north and south of the border … when it really counts.
Perhaps the answer is simple and is looking us straight in the eye. Coaches … after all Craig Bellamy was a Wayne Bennett prodigy and together they won the Grand Final in 2000 … so there is a direct link.
But the added motivation of being an outsider (i.e. non-Sydney based) could also come into the equation.
There is also the fact that non-Sydney based teams enjoy total undiluted support from their local communities - their favours aren’t shared about by long time fans who support non-local teams because they grew up in another part of Sydney or just love the Eels, the Sharks or the Dragons, for a variety of personal reasons.
For many these mixed emotions were on display on Sunday night with most Sydneysiders reluctantly supporting the Sea Eagles despite having drilled into them over many years to always support Manly’s opponents.
Of course that particular tradition was a relic of the ‘fibros’ versus the ‘silver tails’ days but it also indicates a shift in the supporter base and could be a result of our increasing affluence. After all, it’s hard to reconcile the ‘working man’s’ sport with imported professional players earning $500,000 plus a year plus perks.
Perhaps Murdoch’s plunge in 1997 has forever changed the sporting landscape as many of the old-timers feared it would since many traditional working class areas with long ties to the code are struggling to compete in a post Super League world.
Perhaps the above is all conjecture and it’s as simple as lacking the motivation required.
If it is … how can we get it back?
Well, I’m pretty sure I do know the answer to this one … just ask a Grand Final loser.
The Melbourne Storm are a great example of the adage: ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’.
I’m not much of a punter myself, although I did pick both Grand Final winners this year, but I’d say “Watch out for Manly Warringah in 2008!”
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Is ‘commitment’ a dirty word?
The dramatically dropping number of our young people heading off down the aisle has been commented upon in the media for many years; in fact recent census figures show that nearly half of all couples in their twenties now living together are unmarried, and the statistics also indicate a large number of these will never take the final step.
There are a number of sociological and economic reasons for this state of affairs, too many to canvass here, however the increased fragility of all types of traditional relationships is perhaps of more significance.
I believe that the underlying cause for many, if not all, of these changes can be laid at the step of mistrust, i.e. a reliance of formal documentation over a verbal but binding promise/s.
Thinking about marriage again, many people would claim that our traditional rituals are no longer meaningful in a modern world and any real commitment must necessarily be between the parties directly involved and quickly add that a ‘piece’ of paper won’t make any difference at all.
Of course these same people would never consider entering into a property deal or investment without all the details being clearly spelled out in writing.
Given this apparent contradiction it is tempting to consider if other deeper motives or factors are at play.
Is this a topic readers would like to explore?
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