Sport

Terry Teaches How To Hate

By Terry O'Brien

There is a simple chemistry involved in being a sports fan. You love your side. You hate the opposition.

If I may be excused for mixing my scientific metaphors, this is an equal and opposite reaction. This passion turns normally placid, sane citizens into raving lunatics. To see the dedicated fan after a day supporting their pride and joy is to see a physically and emotionally drained individual.

In my last column I described the teams a Swans supporter hates. The fact that it is all the others is no coincidence. The antipathy directed towards opposition sides is built up over a lifetime individually, and generations collectively. For some it seems would seem to be genetic. In the home town of D. H. Lawrence there was a motion put through the local council which supported the erection of a statue to the honour locally born scribe. The town rejected the proposal because his grandfather was a scab. The same innate memories exist in the footy world.

Hating players is a slightly different exercise. Players come and go. For the most part teams don't. There are several categories of players to vent one's spleen upon. Generally speaking, due to the cleaning up (some call it sanitization) of the game the thugs, minders, colourful characters - call them what you will - have virtually been eliminated. Therefore the level of dislike of players is usually proportional to their ability. There's also the dirty players and the show ponies.

Then there's the ones that have left your club for greener pastures. Even those delisted by their club can expect the wrath from their formerly faithful fans. Personally I resist the temptation to bag these players because I reckon they need no more inspiration from the sidelines to do well against their former allies.

Greg Williams left the Swans to play for Carlton because, apparently, he needed to play in a premiership side to fulfil his personal ambitions. Once he left it was OK to admit that he was something of a dirty player. He got the premiership he coveted. In the process he picked up a second Brownlow Medal. The thing with Diesel was that he always had a lousy game against the Swans. It was as though they (Carlton) were playing a man down. I loved it.

Interestingly, Williams was one of the people the SCG security guards challenged after Plugger kicked that famous point which launched the Swans into their Grand Final appearance in 1996. Several stalwarts were discovered out on the cricket pitch singing "Cheer, Cheer, The Red and the White ." Maybe if Williams had stayed we might have won the big one in '96. Perhaps, in his heart, he never really left the Swans.

Then there's the reverse situation. When we heard Tony Lockett was coming to Sydney there was much gnashing of teeth and talk of slitting of wrists. The memories of him rearranging Peter Caven's face were in the forefront of people's minds. As he began kicking goals and the Swans started to win that thug became our thug. Now the only thing that stops him walking on water is his immense bulk.

What follows, due to a lack of time and space, is not a comprehensive list of players to hate. But you should get the idea. As I said, generally speaking the better the player the greater the hate. Sneaking admiration for the ability of mongrels is only permitted in the deep privacy of your own mind. Any weakness shown in front of your fellow supporters will only be seen as a lack of faith in your own team.

In later years you will be allowed to remember how good they were, for instance if you are picking a team of the century, but only if you recall the injustices they inflicted on your team. Also, you should remember that the hatred you feel for these players will change from week to week. When you're out at the game and you see them taking your team apart, or watching it on the box, or if a crisis - such as a funeral - means you have to read about it in Monday's paper, the emphasis changes. The freshest memories are usually the strongest.

First on my list is Wayne Carey. The Evil One. Probably his greatest sin is that he is the League's "Blue-Eyed Boy." King Carey, some insist on calling him. Second is that he plays for North Melbourne. They beat us in the Grand Final in '96. Just in case you've forgotten. Next, he should have been picked up by the Swans. In the days when the Swans had first pick of the local lads they let him slip through the net. If we had managed to get him, let alone keep him, he wouldn't be The Evil One. Another thing with Carey is that you think he's being held all day, then in ten minutes turns a game off his own boot.

James Hird (Essendon). Another would be Swan. Another "Golden Boy." He's something of a media personality. Good looking, or so I'm told. Mind you, Andrew Dunkley tried to mar his features with a swift upper cut below the eye in the lead up to the '96 Final. Funny how I keep remembering that. Hird has one redeeming feature. He keeps on getting injured.

Others, in no particular order include: Robert Harvey (St Kilda). Two times Brownlow Medallist. He can cut your side to pieces in minutes. The trouble is the he seems to do it for one hundred minutes. He gives the statisticians RSI. Darren Jarman (Adelaide). Another who can turn a game in a few minutes with an outstanding performance. Gary Hocking (Geelong). A physical player, probably the closest to the tough guy in this list. Goes all day, never gives up. Peter Matera (West Coast Eagles). When he's playing well he's unstoppable.

There's also Mathew Lloyd (Essendon). Anybody who kicks thirteen goals against you deserves to be loathed. Jeff Farmer (Melbourne). He's skilful, he's fast, and is capable of taking a great mark. He knows how to kick goals. Tony Liberatore (Western Bulldogs) is a another small player. Another Brownlow Medallist. He revamped himself and resurrected his career. His tagging tactics have earned the ire of opponents. This may be overstated but he deserves his place on the list. I could go on.

If you can't bring yourself to hate the opposition players, remember that there's always the White Maggots, the Blind Mongrels. Umpires - if you insist.

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»	Guest Report
»	Sport
»	Trades Hall
»	Piers Watch

»	Faction Calls Miss Point
»	Don't Ignore the Class Divide
»	Timor: Look at the Map!
»	Songs of the Revolution Feedback

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