Source : the age
Committing to Brisbane Lions pride, Luke Robinson and Will Shepherd-Smith, show out to the MCG with bright red, blue, and gold hair.
There wasn’t much contemplation about doing their hair for the game, after having a short consideration of it the night before the game the friends figured ‘why not?’
The rain may have different plans for the two today though.
“I’m concerned, I can already feel it starting to drip down my hair, but she’ll be alright,” Shepherd-Smith said.
AFL chair Craig Drummond has paid tribute to billionaire media owner Kerry Stokes while promising to continue to “earn” and “repay” the fans of the game in his address to politicians and powerbrokers at the Commission Lunch at the Grand Final on Saturday.
Drummond paid special attention to Kerry Stokes, who was seated beside him in the Olympic Room at the MCG.
“Kerry, your vision and passion have been central to the growth of the game over many decades,” Drummond said.
“Kerry, it’s wonderful to have you and Christine (his wife) with us this afternoon. We are also delighted to welcome Ryan Stokes, the new Chairman of Southern Cross Media. Ryan, congratulations on your appointment earlier this month and welcome to you and Claire (his wife), a passionate Lions fan.”
Kylie Minogue has taken to the stage at the MCG looking as if she were on the Copacabana Beach in Rio, wearing a tank-top and micro shorts draped with a long fringe skirt.
She starts with Love At First Sight.
Landing in Melbourne from Hong Kong come Loren and Olivia Moir, who are hoping to see Fremantle win today.
Loren has been a 32-year foundation Fremantle member and brings some nervous excitement into the game. With the Dockers last in the grand final in 2013, fans have waited over a decade for the chance to see Fremantle take it all the way.
“We flew down to the preliminary final last weekend as well, so we’ve been back and forth between Hong Kong and the eastern states for the last week,” Loren said.
Even with flying around nine hours to get here, the Moirs remain cautious for the game.
It’s a very Melbourne day, the first rainy grand final for years and while Kylie Minogue – a Melbourne girl – won’t lose her footing or voice (unlike Meatloaf), the question of which team adapts and thrives in a slippery ball game will be crucial.
On the surface, this may favour the Lions since much of their scoring is from small and medium forwards such as Kai Lohmann, Zac Bailey and Charlie Cameron. Fremantle did not adapt well to a wet qualifying final when they overused the ball.
Surely, they will adjust and take a more direct path to goal today.
Their talls might find it hard again but their midfield (Serong, Young, Brayshaw) should be strong and will win their share of possessions and centre bounce.
G Flip knows how to command a stage, and it’s not just because they play the drums from up on that riser.
The St Kilda-born singer and multi-instrumentalist just has tons of natural rock-star presence.
I caught a bit of the rehearsal the other day in an empty MCG, and it sounded terrific.
There was a breeze blowing, though, and I did fear that those flames in the background might not just set the Bed On Fire, they might pose a risk to the singer’s hair.
Not so today; if anything, the warmth might have been welcome.
It’s a tight two-song set (opening with The Worst Person Alive), and it’s over before you know it. A good rocking opener for the more dance-flavoured set we can expect from Kylie Minogue in just a few minutes.
A long list of retired players are making their farewell lap of the MCG following G Flip’s typically energetic performance.
Dockers great Nat Fyfe and former midfielder James Aish led things off.
There are a host of babies and smiling players. Maybe a couple of tears too.
Former Adelaide star Taylor Walker and Collingwood great Steele Sidebottom are together in one vehicle in a fun combination.
All footy fans are supposed to be equals on grand final day, but that is not quite true because at the MCG there is one room where the guests are very much the first among the equals.
That room is the Olympic Room where AFL Commission chairman Craig Drummond on Saturday hosted the most elevated gathering of footy’s biggest day chockablock with politicians, media chiefs, business heavyweight, AFL legends and a smattering of celebrities.
Adding a big dollop of glamour to the highly corporate gathering was the OG WAG turned Melbourne’s true bayside influencer Bec Judd.
Judd’s husband Chris, no stranger to footy and grand final days, is on the Norm Smith Medal voting panel this year.
Also adding a bit of star power was celebrity chef Curtis Stone who flew in from LA to oversea the lunch menu.
