Footy boo birds mar SFNL grand final day

LAST weekend at City Oval the premier teams in netball and football were decided.

It was a wonderful day, well organised and supported by thousands.

Irymple claimed the premiership in the footy and Ouyen United upset minor premiers Wentworth to claim their first SFNL A Grade netball title.

There wasn’t much I could fault about the day.

Perfect weather, plenty of catering facilities and a great atmosphere.

I even heard people praising the umpires, and so they should.

The umps cop plenty of flack – sometimes it is warranted, but more often than not it isn’t.

But last Saturday the three central umpires were fantastic.

They took control of the match from the first bounce and it ensured players knew who was in charge.

Everyone who is involved in footy in this region knows the history between Irymple and Imperials and Saturday’s game had the potential to explode, but by the umpires exerting their authority early, they demonstrated to the players they weren’t going to tolerate anything untoward.

What ensured was one of the toughest contests I have seen for a long time.

There was nothing dirty, no cheap shots or off-the-ball incidents, just a great tough game of footy. It certainly wasn’t the most skilful game I have seen, but what it lacked in class it made up for in other ways.

The physical pressure and fearlessness shown by players was frightening at times.

It’s been a while since I walked away from a game of footy going – ‘wow, how good was that?’

But while I enjoyed everything about the on-field battle, I can’t say I was as impressed with the off-field behaviour of some of the supporters.

It’s shame when a select few spoil it for everyone.

I say a select few, because across the board the behaviour of the crowd was excellent.

It was just a few lagered up heroes who put a damper on things.

I thought the abuse hurled at Imperial’s Ben Galbraith after he won the John Groves medal for the best player on the ground was pretty poor form.

Everyone has an opinion who they thought was the best player, but show some respect.

The foul language and abuse shouted out from a section of the crowd was appalling.

The best player on the ground is chosen by the umpires – Galbraith played a great game in a losing side, was he the best? That is open for debate and, as I said, everyone has an opinion.

I’m sure Galbraith would have much preferred to be receiving a premiership medallion than the one he got.

It wasn’t his fault he was chosen as the best player, so why then should he be subjected to the type of  abuse I heard on Saturday?

It certainly spoiled what had been a great day of footy and netball for me.

I just hope those people responsible think about their actions next time.