Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Adelaide Oval
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AFL
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Geelong Cats
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Port Adelaide
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Religious experience
We experienced a shot of religion on Sunday; Australian style religion. Yes; we went to church in the morning in one of Adelaide's many historic churches. But that was just a warm-up for what was to follow.
We can proudly say that we are no longer AFL virgins. In fact, we are now AFL converts! Sunday afternoon's match at the revamped Adelaide Oval left us hooked on the sport.
We were amongst a crowd of 47,007 which packed into the iconic cricket ground. And it's safe to say that Adelaide now has a multi-use stadium as good as any in the world. We sat in the grandstand on the eastern side of the ground, on the lower of its four levels. The view was superb.
To our left towered the Riverbank Stand.
We could barely make out the folk sitting at the back of the top deck, but the view must be superb. For cricket matches, spectators are looking right down the line of the pitch, and for AFL they pack in behind the goalpost at the southern end, just a couple of metres from the playing surface.
Directly opposite us were three stands in one; the Chappell Stand and the Sir Edwin Smith Stand flank the Sir Donald Bradman Pavillion. We took this shot just after our arrival around an hour before the bounce; by game-time, it too was packed to the rafters.
And to keep traditionalists happy, the northern end of the Adelaide Oval remains relatively unchanged, apart from the front part of the grass bank giving way to terraced seating. But the gound's iconic scoreboard has been preserved, along with the trees which provide welcome relief from Adelaide's brutal summer sun.
The quality of the football matched the venue and the crowd. We were cheering for the Geelong Cats, the AFL side we have supported for 20-odd years. But they were no match for Port Adelaide yesterday, and the Adelaide Oval will be a fortress that visiting sides have to conquer later in the season. The crowd was vocal, loud, and unashamedly partisan. If only New Zealand crowds could leave their inhibitions at the gates as our Anzac brothers and sisters do!
All in all it was a wonderful experience, and one which we will surely repeat. And if you get a chance to go to the Adelaide Oval, grab it; the new stadium is absolutely magnificent. It will rock next Sunday when Port Adelaide plays the Adelaide Crows in the first Adelaide derby to be played at the new home of AFL in Adelaide; the Oval will be packed to the rafters.
It may be "footie Jim, but not as we know it". But we thoroughly enjoyed our religious experiences in Adelaide yesterday, and we're thirsty for more!
