Footy at the G

If you come to Melbourne, you have to go to see Footy at the G - that's Australian Rules Football at the MCG for the rest of us... everyone told me this so tonight i went to see footy at the G - the game was Essendon V Carlton - two local Melbourne teams, so the game had an extra edge to it.

I arrived at the G quite early so I could get a good seat - the bus driver from my coach trip on Friday said i needed to sit as close to the pitch as possible so i could smell the game as well as watch it! In the end, I sat about 20 rows back in the Southern Stand. I decided to support Essendon as they play in red (with black) and Carlton play in blue - can't support a team that plays in blue. I found a seat next to Essendon supporters - two grandmas who have been watching the games for years and years... they were excellent tutors in the AFL and also pointed out the most popular (or cute) players on each team - current favourite is full-forward Matthew Lloyd for Essendon!

There were nearly 65,000 at the G for the game - more than most football matches in the UK on a weekly basis and the atmosphere was fantastic. This being my first game, I don't have much to compare it with... however, i was told i was watching 'a real beauty' - high scoring, lots of incident, refereeing controversy. The final score was 150 - 134 in favour of my new team Essendon - I promised the women who explained the game to me that i would be an Essendon girl from now on! however, i'm not sure whether they'll be particularly successful. I may not know much about the game but neither side looked like they knew much about defending.

On Thursday, I also took a tour of the MCG, which was a great experience. This is a picture of me standing on the hallowed turf! The tour takes you behind the scenes of the stadium, into the dressing rooms, which house the cricket honours boards, out onto the pitch and also into the members area for the Melbourne Cricket Club, which has a long room just like Lords and loads of great cricketing memorabilia - loved it.

The MCG is also home to the Australian Museum of Sport, which i also visited. Lots of interesting stuff about Olympic history and also the story of cricket in Australia... including Don Bradman's baggie green cap (probably not of much interest to anyone not a fan of cricket....).

Tomorrow, I head for the Great Ocean Road.