Sat 15th Oct
Dairy Farmers’ Stadium
I waved our Cowboys’ flag above my head and yelled loudly as Matt Bowen scored the fifth try of the second half. The Cowboys were flogging the Broncos by a huge amount. Mum had to duck as I was waving it so hard.
“Watch out there,” she laughed.
“Sorry, Mum…it’s just so exciting…if they win they go to the Grand Final!”
As the Broncos started the kick off for the sixth time in a row I felt my stomach rumble.
“I’m going to grab some food, be right back.”
I jumped up and wound my way through the throngs of Cowboy fans and found my way to the stall where Megan was selling hot food.
“Hey, I’ll have a pie…God, it’s crazy around here.”
“How’s the game?” Megan asked as she gave me my change and then served the next person behind me.
“Mattie Bowen scored another try…and it sounds like they just got another one,” I said as the crowd let out a massive collective roar.
My friend chuckled, “Sure does. Hehe…Grand Final…here we come…”
I grinned and took a big bite out of my meat pie. Nothing ever beat a good hot Aussie Pie. As I stood there I raised an eyebrow slightly as I recognized the next customer. It was Josh Hannay, Cowboy goal kicker.
“Hey, Josh? Got another injury?” I quipped. He glanced over at me.
“Yeah, resting it up for the big game.”
“You sound confident.”
“Yeah…you see out there? We’re way ahead of the Broncos.”
I smiled at that and nodded. “Well, good luck.”
“Thanks…oh, I’ll have 4 pies please,” he said to a slightly bemused Megan. I laughed inwardly to myself and watched as he took the four pies she handed him, thanked her and wandered off.
“Well, I’m going back to watch the game, text me when you’re finished.” I waved back to her as I set off back to my seats where my family was. I arrived just in time for a try by Paul Bowman that was set up by Matt Bowen, no surprises there. I screamed and cheered as loud as everyone else. I glanced toward the clock. Five more minutes. I glanced at the scoreboard and grinned. 50 – 16. There was no hope now for the Broncos.
One minute…and Matt got an intercept. Oh my God…
“GO, MATT, GO!!!” I was literally jumping up and down. There was nobody in front of him or blocking him. The Broncos have finally gone home…30 seconds…Matt ran across the try line and came back placing the ball down on the ground just as the full time buzzer sounded. It was like an explosion had gone off in the stadium. I grabbed Mum and we jumped up and down screaming like little kids.
“Cowdies are going to the Grand Final!” I screamed in excitement. “I can’t believe it…” The rest of the fans were yelling and screaming and generally just getting excited. The usually sedate walk around the stadium by the Cowboys was a full on jog as they waved to us and jumped up and down and punched the air in victory. They were definitely as excited as we fans were.
I felt my mobile vibrating in my pocket and pulled it out and cupped my hand over my ear so I could hear.
“Marlz…they WON, they WON!” Megan’s voice squealed out of the phone.
I laughed, “Yeah, I know…it’s so good…look I’ll come down to the entrance to see you. It’ll be easier to talk.” I turned to my Mum. “Mum, I’m going to go meet Megan, I’ll see you at the car soon.”
She nodded as I made a dash for the exit before I got run over by the rest of the crowd. I cast around until I found Megan and went to join her.
“Grand Final…HERE WE COME!” I screamed loudly as I met her halfway. She grinned widely unable to respond she was so happy. She jumped up and down a few times and then said, “Yeah…and it’ll be here at Dairy Farmers’ too…not in Sydney. Haha…sucks to be them.”
For the next few minutes we continued jumping and just yelling out to random people sharing in our excitement. Several Broncos fans walked past and shot looks of disgust at us. Megan and I were too happy to care. I glanced at the clock on my phone then.
“Oh, got to go…if I don’t see you before Tuesday…I’ll see you, Tuesday.”
Megan laughed and waved as I weaved my way out to the car park just in time to see my family waiting for me in the car. I jumped in just as Dad pulled out and we headed home.
Marly's World 