Mantis
03-06-2008, 12:05 PM
My take on my trip down south…
Arrive at Tullamarine for our 3.50 flight to Launceston. I am travelling to Launceston with my 2 cousins who are both Dog’s fans and 1 of our mates who supports Hawthorn, this is going to be fun!! We check in at Tiger Airways over in T4 with the most un-interested check-in attendant I have ever seen.
Anyway as we get to the gate lounge we notice that the flight will be mostly full of Dogs and Hawks fans who are proudly showing off there tribal colours. We make the quick flight (only time for one beer) to Launceston and then arrive in some sort of archaic place. We have to get our own bags off the trolley?? What no carousel??
We are greeted by my old man who has been touring Tassie with my mum and some of there friends and we make the short journey across town to our accommodation where we meet up with my cousins dad who lives near Hobart who has arrived early and filled the fridge with beer, what a legend!!
After a few beers we head into town for a feed and a few more beers at the Star Bar before heading home at about midnight.
Game day
After a sleep in and a breakfast of champions ( A meat pie) we crack open our first beer for the day at 10.30 ( its past noon in NZ). We head into town and are presently surprised with the number of Dogs fans we see in town. After a hearty feed and a couple of pints at a Pommie Pub we head to the ground.
After taking up position in the forward pocket in the standing room area (under the score-board) all is in readiness for the game, especially now that I have a beer in my hand. Looking around the ground there seems to be a good spread of Doggies fans.
Anyway, we start off well and the early signs are that we are switched on. Our tackling and pressure skills which are always a key indicator seem to be as good as they have all year.
The standing area is in full voice, Hawthorn supporters giving as good as they get. The hard part is the number of ‘neutral’ supporters who have no vested interest in the game, but want to be part of the action too. I suppose we take it for granted in Melbourne how easy it is to see our team or any other in action on any given weekend.
As the day goes by the sun goes down so too do the Hawks to a committed and well-drilled Doggies outfit. As the siren sounds the Dogs fans re-joyce especially the larger man who runs into the ground to kiss the hallowed turf (Well least in Tassie), he is ushered back to the boundary by the understanding security staff (yes, he wasn’t crash tackled) as the theme song rings out for the 2nd or 3rd time.
The player’s clap the fans and make there way off the ground just as the second siren sounds before the time honoured Launceston Gift begins (the race to the centre circle). We walk across the ground and start heading back to town (of course stopping off at the nearest bottle shop for a traveller).
The Bulldogs fans we pass on the way back into town are all buzzing after the great win and are letting there Hawthorn counter-parts know who was the better team, as we are with our mate who is subject to a constant ribbing.
We make our way back to the Tasmania hotel for the after-match. After a couple of beers have been downed the players and staff arrive for the there after match feed. Smorgo has his customary smile beaming and all the players seem pretty content with there days work. Barnes’y heads straight to the bar for a refreshing beverage while the rest tuck into some food.
Afterwards the players mingle with a couple of hundred fans who are in attendance, they sign autographs and take photos and chat about the day’s event’s. I talk to a few player’s, Tim Callan seems to think he will miss 2 or 3 with a hammy, seems disappointed, Dylan Addison is happy with how things are going and Murf is a bit concerned about his report, but all in all spirits are high after a great win.
Rocket makes his way to our area and is mobbed by my old girl who has slammed down about 4 glasses of red since the siren had sounded, yeah she was pumped!! Rocket spoke to the group and sounded pretty happy with the performance and thanked us all for making the journey south which was appreciated.
After downing more beers we head home when we the venue closes via the local take out joint to re-fuel. After a few more cold ones the day is over
Golfing Paradise
After a good nights sleep we awake bright an early to make our 1 hour journey north to golfing paradise, Barnbougle Dunes. We have been blessed with the weather as we hear that it can get pretty wild up this way. The old boys amongst the group all have there Bulldogs member’s caps on and aren’t alone. We chat to a few other Dogs fans who all had the same idea as us and are suitably excited by yesterday’s performance and also little tired and emotional (hungover)
Anyway all the reports I had heard on this course were spot on, this place is amazing. Being the keen golfer that I am I take the course on how it was intended, off the back tee’s!! The round is a bit slow, but extremely enjoyable. There are no ‘soft’ holes with trouble awaiting a miscued shot, but I manage to keep the ball on the short grass for much of the round.
After a refreshing cold one in the clubhouse we head off to Launceston for the flight home.
The airport is full of small clusters of Doggies fans who are all still grinning from the result the previous day. Some are still in celebration mode going by the way they are downing there refreshing beverages (Jim Beam & Johnnie Walker bottles)
Anyway we get back to Melbourne on a cold and foggy night and make our way to the long term car park to find out that I’ve got a flat battery, what a bitch!!! We get the car going and off we go after a fun weekend in Tassie…
Arrive at Tullamarine for our 3.50 flight to Launceston. I am travelling to Launceston with my 2 cousins who are both Dog’s fans and 1 of our mates who supports Hawthorn, this is going to be fun!! We check in at Tiger Airways over in T4 with the most un-interested check-in attendant I have ever seen.
Anyway as we get to the gate lounge we notice that the flight will be mostly full of Dogs and Hawks fans who are proudly showing off there tribal colours. We make the quick flight (only time for one beer) to Launceston and then arrive in some sort of archaic place. We have to get our own bags off the trolley?? What no carousel??
We are greeted by my old man who has been touring Tassie with my mum and some of there friends and we make the short journey across town to our accommodation where we meet up with my cousins dad who lives near Hobart who has arrived early and filled the fridge with beer, what a legend!!
After a few beers we head into town for a feed and a few more beers at the Star Bar before heading home at about midnight.
Game day
After a sleep in and a breakfast of champions ( A meat pie) we crack open our first beer for the day at 10.30 ( its past noon in NZ). We head into town and are presently surprised with the number of Dogs fans we see in town. After a hearty feed and a couple of pints at a Pommie Pub we head to the ground.
After taking up position in the forward pocket in the standing room area (under the score-board) all is in readiness for the game, especially now that I have a beer in my hand. Looking around the ground there seems to be a good spread of Doggies fans.
Anyway, we start off well and the early signs are that we are switched on. Our tackling and pressure skills which are always a key indicator seem to be as good as they have all year.
The standing area is in full voice, Hawthorn supporters giving as good as they get. The hard part is the number of ‘neutral’ supporters who have no vested interest in the game, but want to be part of the action too. I suppose we take it for granted in Melbourne how easy it is to see our team or any other in action on any given weekend.
As the day goes by the sun goes down so too do the Hawks to a committed and well-drilled Doggies outfit. As the siren sounds the Dogs fans re-joyce especially the larger man who runs into the ground to kiss the hallowed turf (Well least in Tassie), he is ushered back to the boundary by the understanding security staff (yes, he wasn’t crash tackled) as the theme song rings out for the 2nd or 3rd time.
The player’s clap the fans and make there way off the ground just as the second siren sounds before the time honoured Launceston Gift begins (the race to the centre circle). We walk across the ground and start heading back to town (of course stopping off at the nearest bottle shop for a traveller).
The Bulldogs fans we pass on the way back into town are all buzzing after the great win and are letting there Hawthorn counter-parts know who was the better team, as we are with our mate who is subject to a constant ribbing.
We make our way back to the Tasmania hotel for the after-match. After a couple of beers have been downed the players and staff arrive for the there after match feed. Smorgo has his customary smile beaming and all the players seem pretty content with there days work. Barnes’y heads straight to the bar for a refreshing beverage while the rest tuck into some food.
Afterwards the players mingle with a couple of hundred fans who are in attendance, they sign autographs and take photos and chat about the day’s event’s. I talk to a few player’s, Tim Callan seems to think he will miss 2 or 3 with a hammy, seems disappointed, Dylan Addison is happy with how things are going and Murf is a bit concerned about his report, but all in all spirits are high after a great win.
Rocket makes his way to our area and is mobbed by my old girl who has slammed down about 4 glasses of red since the siren had sounded, yeah she was pumped!! Rocket spoke to the group and sounded pretty happy with the performance and thanked us all for making the journey south which was appreciated.
After downing more beers we head home when we the venue closes via the local take out joint to re-fuel. After a few more cold ones the day is over
Golfing Paradise
After a good nights sleep we awake bright an early to make our 1 hour journey north to golfing paradise, Barnbougle Dunes. We have been blessed with the weather as we hear that it can get pretty wild up this way. The old boys amongst the group all have there Bulldogs member’s caps on and aren’t alone. We chat to a few other Dogs fans who all had the same idea as us and are suitably excited by yesterday’s performance and also little tired and emotional (hungover)
Anyway all the reports I had heard on this course were spot on, this place is amazing. Being the keen golfer that I am I take the course on how it was intended, off the back tee’s!! The round is a bit slow, but extremely enjoyable. There are no ‘soft’ holes with trouble awaiting a miscued shot, but I manage to keep the ball on the short grass for much of the round.
After a refreshing cold one in the clubhouse we head off to Launceston for the flight home.
The airport is full of small clusters of Doggies fans who are all still grinning from the result the previous day. Some are still in celebration mode going by the way they are downing there refreshing beverages (Jim Beam & Johnnie Walker bottles)
Anyway we get back to Melbourne on a cold and foggy night and make our way to the long term car park to find out that I’ve got a flat battery, what a bitch!!! We get the car going and off we go after a fun weekend in Tassie…