You have to hand it to Carlton supporters. It’s one thing to scrawl invective on online message boards and in the social media comments section, it’s quite another to do it on the physical walls of the footy club’s spiritual home in spray paint.
When you’re firing off text on your phone amid another humbling defeat, there are so few hurdles to clear. There is a dearth of barriers. Moments to consider ‘is this rational and appropriate?’ or ‘will this result in me losing my job?’
The Navy Blues ‘fan’ who decided they were the AFL’s version of Banksy had to really mean it.
They had to source spray paint, use transportation, arrive at Princes Park in the middle of the night, then scrawl multiple messages across the actual brick and mortar of the building… well, if you’re Carlton Banksy, you’ve actually thought that through or maybe worse, you’re so furious you’ve actually overridden the inner monologue telling you not to vandalise your own club.
That’s the thing about sport, it’s rarely rational and it often doesn’t respond to logic.
Take the Australian Test cricket team. Fresh off a loss to South Africa in the World Test Championship final, the skipper talked about re-setting for the next cycle. Here was a moment to make changes for the West Indies series that would reboot this team for the impending Ashes and beyond.
It’s like when your IT Help Line tells you to turn off the computer and turn it back on. Maybe delete a program (Marnus Labuschagne) and re-install another (Sam Konstas). Change the configuration (Cam Green bats three)… and yet, it still seems to glitch right in the middle of your big presentation.
Find out how Australia is faring here.
Then there’s irrational success. As Panther star Nathan Cleary charged down ex-teammate Matt Burton on Thursday night, collected the ball and ran to an unguarded tryline, the NRL community rolled its collective eyes.
A tense 8-6 win over ladder leading Canterbury was the upshot.
Seriously. Are these blokes coming again? Like the horror movie villain who just will not go away, Penrith is rising once more. On Saturday morning, Penrith sit sixth. We’ve gone from think pieces about the ‘end of a dynasty’ to wondering if a fifth straight title couched in adversity, would represent their finest moment.
The competition continues to take its stars, yet those remaining irrationally continue to contend for glory. Cleary, Dylan Edwards, Brian To’o have been beset by injury. A shrinking cast of top tier talent are doing more and more.
Rationally, they should not contend… but as Carlton Banksy will tell you, sport isn’t rational.
