I returned to work after the long weekend in Melbourne and the office was buzzing with chatter about the AFL Grand Final.
asserted
office → return → Final
I am not a footy fan, so usually don’t really participate in such discussions, but I had been invited to a grand final party and watched the game this year.
asserted
I → participate → game
I have to admit it was very exciting.
asserted
it → have → ?
Unfortunately, I seem to have made a bad mistake on the Monday after.
asserted
I → seem → Monday
I innocently asked what “Wharfie Time” was, something I hadn’t got a grasp of on the day.
asserted
I → ask → day
A colleague replied with words along the lines of: “It was a disaster – that’s what it was”.
asserted
it → reply → lines
Then another colleague who wasn’t part of the conversation, but was within earshot, became very upset.
asserted
who → become → earshot
We haven’t seen them since.
asserted
We → see → them
What did I accidentally bring about?
asserted
I → bring → What
The person who became upset and fled the scene was unquestionably a Fremantle supporter.
asserted
who → become → scene
They joined the league in 1995.
asserted
They → join → 1995
Unlike their larger cousins, the West Coast Eagles, who joined in 1987 and had won the premiership (finished the champions of the entire competition) within six years, the Dockers have never reached that pinnacle.
asserted
Dockers → join → pinnacle
Saturday’s game was their best chance to break their drought.
asserted
game → break → drought
They had finished on top of the ladder at the end of the home and away season (the part of the football calendar that precedes finals) and at times looked invincible.
asserted
that → finish → times
The grand final was a brilliant, close-fought game, but with less than five minutes to go in the last quarter, it looked like Fremantle had repeated a pattern that had defined their season: they had weathered the best football their opponent could muster and had accelerated towards victory.
uncertain
opponent → fight → victory
This is where Wharfie Time comes in.
asserted
Time → come → ?
What you saw on the telecast was a kind of in-game celebration (I’ve seen it referred to as an “activation”, a term that makes me want to gag).
asserted
me → see → activation
I’d call it a crowd provocation in the form of a strange assortment of in-jokes and homages.
asserted
I → call → jokes
Until the grand final, it had only happened twice before.
asserted
it → happen → final
Fremantle sought permission from the AFL to use it at the grand final (under the right circumstances), and the AFL reportedly encouraged it.
uncertain
AFL → seek → it
“Wharfie” is the Australian term for a dockworker, a name originally considered by the club administrators as the football club’s nickname, but sidestepped due to perceived political connotations.
asserted
Wharfie → consider → connotations
In 2009, however, the Dockers’ captain, Matthew Pavlich, addressed the playing group before a match while wearing a mic and implored his team to “Put on your superman capes, boys!
asserted
captain → address → capes
It’s wharfie time!”
asserted
It → ’ → ?
(They lost the game comfortably.)
asserted
They → lose → game
The whole thing starts with a baleful funeral toll, taken directly from the AC/DC song Hells Bells.
asserted
thing → start → song
In Perth, the lights go out at this point, and it’s here that the similarity to the entrance of The Undertaker in WWE wrestling is impossible to ignore.
asserted
similarity → go → wrestling
In this way, it’s not just “sports entertainment,” it’s a pastiche of sports entertainment.
asserted
it → ’ → entertainment
While DNG! DNG! DNG! echoes through the arena, the words “WHARFIE TIME” appear on the stadium screen and the crowd goes berserk.
asserted
crowd → echo → screen
This all happened, with the exception of the lights, at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
asserted
This → happen → afternoon
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I would certainly say it was ill-advised in a grand final against a team notorious for never being beaten.
asserted
it → say → team
In a game where the gods can be so capricious, never tempt fate.
asserted
gods → tempt → fate
Immediately after this iteration of Wharfie Time, Brisbane commenced one of the greatest (and probably the fastest) comebacks in grand final history, kicking an almost unimaginably brilliant four goals in four minutes.
asserted
Brisbane → commence → minutes
After the game, numerous Brisbane players referred to the gimmick as a catalyst for their late surge.
asserted
players → refer → surge
So that’s the potted history.
asserted
that → ’ → ?
Let’s address the question of what you accidentally brought about?
asserted
you → let → what
It’s a great tradition – in Melbourne, certainly, and I’m sure throughout Australia.
asserted
I → ’ → Australia
But for those not versed in the intricacies and earnestness of a certain kind of deep supporterdom (and for those who are, but have never truly fallen in love with a club), a stray word or off-hand comment on a Monday morning can cause great pain.
asserted
word → verse → pain
It probably wasn’t even the fault of your blunt colleague – although surely if they knew there was a Dockers supporter nearby they could have been a touch more tactful.
uncertain
they → know → colleague
But it does highlight the fact that a thing undertaken in fun – whether that’s a water cooler chat about a weekend event or a premature celebration of a seemingly certain victory – can easily go sideways.
asserted
that → highlight → victory
Get workplace news, advice and perspectives to help make your job work for you.
asserted
job → get → you
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
