All photos by Sean Foster
Collective sadness is an unusual phenomenon. Sadness is usually felt alone, at home, over a bottle of gin in a bathtub. But attending a grand final to watch your team lose amplifies that emotion. You end up leaving feeling bummed and alone, along with a crowd of thousands.
On Saturday the Western Bulldogs beat the Sydney Swans by 22 points. While this was a historic afternoon for the Dogs, for Swans fans it simply signalled the end of hope. We headed to the MCG to capture some of that mood, amongst all that joy.
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A grandma (right) comforts her shattered grandson. “I’ve been following them for 40 years when we used to be on the bottom of the ladder. He’s [motions to her grandson] definitely sadder than me.”
Two guys who had come down from Sydney to see the game at the ‘G. “We’re going to go home now and do some damage to our bodies and hopefully society because of the misery we suffered.”
“My wife isn’t here right now, but it was all crying emoticons that came through”
These two didn’t want to talk. “What’s left to say?”
This guy also had nothing to say. Just a weird half-smile.
“I just want to go home.”
KFC was strangely full of Sydney fans after the game. Seems a lot of people were drowning themselves in grease.
“At least I didn’t have to wait as long as my mum did to watch them win. She was there at the 1945 blood bath and it wasn’t until 2005 that she saw them win a grand final! I’ll get another turn someday.”
When asked how he felt, this guy just pouted.
