I'll take binoculars next time

I had the privilege of being the ground announcer at Medibank Stadium last night where West Coast Eagles took on Hawthorn in an AFL pre-season practice match.

I have a friend who is the standby announcer at the ground. He had a prior engagement and so I was standing in for him. A stand in for a stand in.

(Click on photos for a better view.)

My job was to make all the usual welcoming announcements, speak in glowing terms about the sponsors, remind people not to smoke at the ground and to let them know they weren’t allowed onto the playing area until all the players had left at the end of the game. On top of that I had to wrestle a very old CD player on top of a very high shelf to play the clubs theme songs as they entered the ground and play the winning club’s theme song at the end of the game. Unfortunately, last night I had to play Hawthorn’s song and sound very pleased to be congratulating them on their 33 point win.

I knew that Medibank Stadium, formerly Leederville Oval, wouldn’t be as well equipped as Subiaco Oval. The ground has seen some great improvements and I’m sure there are more to come. I was led into the grandstand by one of the Subiaco Football Club staff members and I then followed him higher and higher towards the top of the stand. I finally arrived at my post, next to the official time keepers in the media area. We were a long way from the oval itself and if I ever get the opportunity to head back there I’ll remember to take my binoculars. The facilities are pretty basic up there but adequate for an AFL practice match. Even though it was quite a distance away from where I was, the playing surface below looked to be in great condition.

As for the game itself, I don’t know how the West Coast Eagles are going to get themselves in shape for the official season within the next couple of weeks but I certainly hope they do. From the point of view of this very amateur footy fan, they didn’t seem to have the desire to win and a lot of their kicks seemed to be aimed at no one in particular; they were just sending the ball in the general direction of their forward area rather than picking out players to kick towards.

After 3 pre-season losses in 4 games, I guess no one can say that they’re peaking too early.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Australian Rules Football – West Coast Eagles – Hawthorn

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