So why are you a Cats fan?

[Beth]

It was a random Saturday evening in 1979, I was vaguely watching the 6pm replay when my mum walks by and casually says "Hey Beth that Murray Witcombe would be your third cousin!"...the rest is history. Sorry dad no matter how many times you called him a "receiver" I could never be a Tiger after that. A third cousin playing VFL was gold in the playground!

 

[Rik E Boy]

I am an interstate Cat fan. I've only been to Cat Park once. I grew up in Sydney and Adelaide and I now live in Brisbane. When I was first introduced to the greatest game of all it was the SANFL because to us, the Vics just didn't matter back in the 70's. I was a Norwood fan and didn't give a shit about the VFL. Many South Australian fans felt the same way.

Then the VFL got smart. In 1987 when the (SA free) National Competition kicked off they started showing VFL games live into Adelaide. All of a sudden the VFL became a lot more relevant. Before I started watching regular VFL football I had a soft spot for battlers like St Kilda (phew dodged a bullet there!) and Melbourne (same colours and song as Norwood) and Footscray that had the same colours as my old Rugby League team, Easts. I also had a soft spot for the Cats because they weren't from Melbourne ha ha. It was sort of the lesser evil if you like.

Then I saw this bloke called Gary Ablett. Now many Victorian fans point and laugh at the SANFL but the standard of that league during the late 70's and early 80's were outstanding - consider the names Phillips, Williams, Ebert, Aish, McIntosh, Kernahan, Motley, Naley, Platten, Bradley and you start to get the idea. But this Ablett bloke was something else.

I liked the way this Ablett bloke played the game and I liked the way Geelong went about their business. Gazza remains the best footballer I have ever seen and as soon as I saw him play I became a Cat for life.

regards,

REB

 

[MontyMensch]

Seeing as people we’re talking about Conversions, I thought I would mention a very important one to me. Prior to 2007, I had been single for a quite a while – and as always my main focus was never far away from the Cats. In the 2006-7 Summer however, I got together with my current girlfriend, after a dismal season in 2006 and not trying to bore my new girlfriend away I largely kept football to myself. In fact when I finally mentioned how much I was into the Cats, my girlfriend has since said she thought I was over-exaggerating to impress her.

My reaction whilst listening in the car to Cam Mooney’s failed chance to win us a game early in the season against Hawthorn in Tassie – suddenly showed her that I was being serious earlier in the year. I was then finally able to drag my girlfriend to game, prior to the game I told her if we lost this match we could basically write of the season. At this time she was loosely listed as a Dons supporter.

The game turned out be the Richmond game that sparked the Cats into the whole season. My girlfriend started to get interested and before long became a Cat and now has a good knowledge of all the players and is one of Chappy’s biggest fans. The rest of the 07 season saw I would buy her a badge before we went to ground and the player she chose (Basically at random) seemed blessed every time and always went out and played a blunder.

It got to the point that only game we lost from there on was the narrow loss to Port (Ironically she chose a Ling Badge that day who was a late withdrawal unknown to us). The most uncanny pick of badge came in before the Prelim against Collingwood, having already stated she was going to get another player’s badge the day before she choose a Brad Ottens badge when she even mentioned his name, she just pointed and I brought. I still thank god she chose that badge that night as he know he actually played his greatest game ever and their was no doubt he was the difference that night between making to the GF or missing out.

Tom Harley once said the best thing that happened to Geelong in 2007 was Cam Mooney becoming a dad, for me and my personal Geelong demons it was converting my girlfriend.

 

[Just do something]

Seeing as people we’re talking about Conversions, I thought I would mention a very important one to me. Prior to 2007, I had been single for a quite a while – and as always my main focus was never far away from the Cats. In the 2006-7 Summer however, I got together with my current girlfriend, after a dismal season in 2006 and not trying to bore my new girlfriend away I largely kept football to myself. In fact when I finally mentioned how much I was into the Cats, my girlfriend has since said she thought I was over-exaggerating to impress her.

My reaction whilst listening in the car to Cam Mooney’s failed chance to win us a game early in the season against Hawthorn in Tassie – suddenly showed her that I was being serious earlier in the year. I was then finally able to drag my girlfriend to game, prior to the game I told her if we lost this match we could basically write of the season. At this time she was loosely listed as a Dons supporter.

The game turned out be the Richmond game that sparked the Cats into the whole season. My girlfriend started to get interested and before long became a Cat and now has a good knowledge of all the players and is one of Chappy’s biggest fans. The rest of the 07 season saw I would buy her a badge before we went to ground and the player she chose (Basically at random) seemed blessed every time and always went out and played a blunder.

It got to the point that only game we lost from there on was the narrow loss to Port (Ironically she chose a Ling Badge that day who was a late withdrawal unknown to us). The most uncanny pick of badge came in before the Prelim against Collingwood, having already stated she was going to get another player’s badge the day before she choose a Brad Ottens badge when she even mentioned his name, she just pointed and I brought. I still thank god she chose that badge that night as he know he actually played his greatest game ever and their was no doubt he was the difference that night between making to the GF or missing out.

Tom Harley once said the best thing that happened to Geelong in 2007 was Cam Mooney becoming a dad, for me and my personal Geelong demons it was converting my girlfriend.

I think your GF should buy a Travis Varcoe badge tonight im hoping he has a massive game.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

My older brother was a bombers supporter. Always wanted me to follow them. But One man stood in the way of a another Dons supporter.

ABLETT!!

Just his skills and the ability to kick goals is what got me hooked on him and AFL footy in general. Ever since then I been a cat.

I was 5 then so been one almost my whole life.

 

[vivien]

i like them because cats are one of my favourite animals and i love afl. They are the best team in the afl and because of tom hawkins, gary ablett , matthew stokes,steve johnson and cameron ling. GEELONG SUPPORTER FOREVER! premiership 2010

 

[SriLankanCat]

Watched them play on tv one day in 1991 against Saints in a semi...they played exciting footy so i decided to be a fan. I have lived in Sydney most of my life but always been a CAT!

 

[mightycats]

It's genetics. There's nothing else I was allowed to be and no probability I could be anything else other than a cats' fan. The cat's have given myself and 3 generations of the family such great memories the least I can do is be out supporting them each week. Go Cats!

 

[yebbo]

I twas born in 76 and all dads side of the family went for the catters, so that was only natural. The thing is though I used to go to every Hawthorn match with my grandpa cos dad was probably working. To be totally honest I think I went for Richmond for about a week when I was about 8. I remember being at Waverly for a game and i saw 10 bucks on the ground and someone looking around for something they had lost. I stood on the money, waited for the person to leave and bought a Richmond thing from the merchandising stand. How bad is that?

That was the mid 80s and then dad got back on board and we started going to most Geelong games, driving down from the Dandenongs. My first memories of being hooked into footy came in 1987, remember Hawthorn beat us in the last round so we missed out on the finals. Names like Gavin Exell just couldnt win it for us haha.

Of course we had to wait until 89 and what a year that was, went to the 89 grand final with dad who had bought standing room tickets off a scalper and we were squeezed up against the old wire fence of the old southern stand.

Every Geelong team had a team in the GF that day and we saw them lose them all. I think the reserves led Fitzroy by about 10 goals that day and lost by a few points, they all lost by a few points incl the under 19s and thats what started the painful Geelong supporters life.

Dad actually left early that day to make sure we missed the traffic, I protested cos we were about 2 goals down when we left, what a stupid thing to do I still give him sh$t about that one, we found out they lost crossing over the footbridge and someone told us. If Geelong hadda won that I reckon we would have a few more in the early 90's, we were shot after 92 and couldnt do it anymore much like Collingwood are gonna find out again.

Thankgod we have 2 in the bank, imagine we lost again in 09 after the 08 "hand a flag on a plate to those d-heads from Hawthorn". I wouldnt swap a thing going for Geelong, great memories and great players have played for them despite so many terrible things happening heres some of the events in chronicle order

89 - The big turnaround with Essendon in the finals, thrashed in the 1st final thrashed them back in the prelim. 9 goal lead to Hawthorn after the 1st qtr. Blight should have put Yeates on Brerton to continue to rough him up but didnt and he won them the match. I remember Geelong whittling the lead away each qtr but Hawthorn would then kick a few in time on.

91 - Gary Ayres smashing into Geelong player in the goalsquare try9ing to mark it when we were a few points down in the last minute of prelim, he had no eyes for the ball and I remember being at Waverly and thinking it was sh@t. Its on youtube for everyone to see how cheated we were again.

92 - Materas 5 goals cos I think Bairstow was on him?????? Thanks again Blight maybe he was a match fixer. How much i hated west coast players back then - sumich, pyke, wilson, lewis, langdon what a bunch of steroid munching cheats and we had bad timing coming against an expanded AFL where WCE had half Australia to select their team from. We led my 28 points I think I remember thinking yeah our first flag until the cork in the ocean.

93 - Won the last 6 or so games and missed out on the finals cos Collingwood couldnt win in Adelaide. Another chance gone begging cos Essendon won it with 21 17 year olds.

94 - Spent it all in the prelim against North and West Coast were just too good in the GF (those steroid munching Jackovich and McKennas)

95 - Walloped Richmond out at Waverley in the prelim and I thought we were in form to beat Carlton...forgot about the fact we had mental problems now winning the GF

A decade of no memories.

04 - I was in the UK and remember prelim against Brisbane watching scores on AFL.com and losing my 9 points, we could have taken Port on 04 surely.

05 - Remember being at work in UK watching/listening to the Swans final on AFL.com again, as we all know we kept to them 3 goals all game and led by 3 goals all game and somehow more heartbreak. We could have taken wce or sydney as well in a grand final in melbourne.

Gee we have been some through heartbreak but it has been the best thing ever winning 2 flags, so many things can happen to cost your team the game just like last friday against the saints. Imagine Collingwood beat us in the 07 Prelim so be thankful Geelong that we have won 2, shame about the Hawthorn loss but then if we won that we might not have won 09...you just never know.

And we are still a chance this year, collingwood are wobbling for the last few weeks now, they have more pressure than us, we have won enough, any more is a bonus

 

[GoCatters07]

What a great thread - almost has merit to be a book of some kind!!

My cuz has already posted in this thread....but felt I needed to as well.

I was born blue and white. My grandparents on dad's side got married on Grand Final Day in 1937 (ha...on a side note, that was also September 25th, Geelong vs Collingwood - that would have been kind of cool) - they got married in the morning so they could attend the grand final in the afternoon...thankfully, we won. I am not sure how far back the Geelong fandom goes, but probably further back than that....

All the family barrack for Geelong, husbands, wives, kids...I remember going to the footy when I was little and sharing a stool to stand on (under where the glass Ford Stand is today), and playing with discarded VB cans...we also used to stay with Grandma while the adults went to the footy, but it was always on the radio. Finally the decision was made to purchase seats, which we got in the old Brownlow Stand. My brother and I used to share a seat on a rotation basis. I remember patting the players on the back when they ran out of the race...we loved Gaz snr, Robert Scott, Bewsy, Billy, Buddah, Brunsy and so on...It was so exciting when Neville Bruns ended up being a PE teacher at our primary school!!! I have been to every grand final from '89 onwards....I remember wanting to go to City Hall after the '89 Grand Final and was pissed off with Dad when he didn't take me.

We still have the seats today. Sadly my uncle was extremely unwell in 07 and was totally unaware that Geelong was in a Grand Final (after barracking for them his entire life)...he passed away a week later and had no idea we had won His seat has now been passed on to his Grandson to go to the footy when he is old enough)

As a teen, I went down to training and did all the teen groupie stuff...we did assignments on them, made signs, took photos - you know how it goes.
We had drinks and danced with players at nightclubs when we got older....

Now we just go and admire the greatness of our team, and even though we find them ever so frustrating at times, and I am gutted after last night, the last 4 years have been an almighty, amazing ride. The 150th event last year was a real highlight as well.

It's now my turn to pass on the love of Geelong to the next generation...I just need to find a Geelong loving husband first!!!!! ....

Geelong Cats Forever!!

 

[Shell]

....I remember wanting to go to City Hall after the '89 Grand Final and was pissed off with Dad when he didn't take me.

Lol, try this- me and mum "ummming and ahhing" over whether or not to drive down to Geelong after the 1995 Grand Final. (we live in Melbourne), finally we decide to.

And we miss the whole thing, the players have gone by the time we get there.

We still have the seats today. Sadly my uncle was extremely unwell in 07 and was totally unaware that Geelong was in a Grand Final (after barracking for them his entire life)...he passed away a week later and had no idea we had won His seat has now been passed on to his Grandson to go to the footy when he is old enough)

That is so sad. Maybe he knew.. on some level.

Geelong Cats Forever!!

Amen to that.

 

[yebbo]

This has to be the best thread ever in possibly the whole world

I just noticed before that it was started days before the 09 grand final. I thought it was the other day. We had won only one then (out of 5) for some of us and it all means so much and we can reminisce on alot of years.

What a privilege it is to go for Geelong apparently, oppo supporters sometimes talk about arrogance but Ive never thought it was, it was just enjoying your team and everything it brings.

I hope everyone gets on here and writes a story, you feel like you only get once chance and sorry I couldnt resist with my current addiction to this. To the few people who have posted from Perth, I also cant understand how someone could ditch their team to go for west coast or freo, maybe its a geelong thing

Tell us some more stories, theyre all so grandmotherly lovely (pity my grandma goes for the hawks but I always felt she loved the Geelong way)

 

[TMS]

Hello cuz GoCatters07!

That is so sad. Maybe he knew.. on some level.

My mum went and saw him not long after the 2007 Grand Final. He wasn't very responsive by that stage, but she swears to this day that he smiled ever so slightly when she told him we'd won.

 

[Shell]

My mum went and saw him not long after the 2007 Grand Final. He wasn't very responsive by that stage, but she swears to this day that he smiled ever so slightly when she told him we'd won.

See? There you go.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Time for a timely bump perhaps. Might have some newbies on here that have a story to tell.

 

[Bastet]

There's a family legend that my granddad, whom I never knew, sadly, played three games for the Cats in the years after WW1. Dad's unfortunately never been able to find anything that confirms this, so we'll never know for sure - but my grandfather was a big one for using pseudonyms (he changed his name at least once), and was never one to big note (Dad said other relatives talked about him playing for Geelong as well) so maybe he used a completely different name, or maybe it was the reserves or under 19s, who knows? It could be just a legend, but it's a nice story anyway.

Whatever the truth of it, my grandfather passed the love of the Cats onto my father, and my siblings and I never contemplated supporting any other team, even during the dismal days of the '70s and early '80s. Dad even converted Mum from following Melbourne (although one of my maternal grandmother's relatives was a mad Geelong supporter and had already done some of the groundwork). But it wasn't just parental influence - as a kid, I liked the club colours and the mascot, since cats were my favourite animal species. I affected a lack of interest in football per se when I was in my teens as kind of a rebellion, but that was as far as it went. I realised my carefully constructed facade of being too cool for footy was too much energy to maintain, eventually. When I was at uni, I converted my soccer-mad best friend, who was born in Sweden, to following footy, and almost to supporting Geelong exclusively (although she insists on harbouring a soft spot for Essendon, out of loyalty to another good friend of hers ... could be worse I suppose!).

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

Geelong produces some of Australia's finest athletes...the country kids grow up having to work their way through life and the values are a little different than what the richer (spoilt) kids are in the major cities.

Super competitive, sports seem to the best past-time for many growing up, and it's not surprising the Geelong footy club aquire many of these great athletes and will continue to do so forever more. Once the game expands overseas, am sure Geelong will be one of the 1st clubs to have many follow them as the style of game we play is absolutely brilliant and always has been over the years.

 

[thecatattack]

2 of my grandmas brothers played for Geelong. You may have heard of them, Bill & Matthew Goggin. So really everyone in my family goes for Geelong since the 50's or so.

 

[GHS33]

My old man grew up in Perth and is a West Coast supporter. He joined the army and moved to Adelaide which is where I was born and have lived ever since. When I was about four years old he told me to choose a team to support but he said it couldn’t be the Crows because “...they’re a bunch of knobs.” Expecting me to choose West Coast like himself, I said I barracked for Gary Ablett (Snr). Ever since I’ve been a Cats supporter. Went through many, many tears when the Crows used to flog us at Footy Park all the time but it was well worth it to experience the success we’ve had since 2007.

 

[MOONEY 21]

Re: So why are you actually a cats fan?

Being an American who moved to Melbourne in April '07, I had no clue what AFL was. Never heard of the game. My father inlaw thought I would like it if I gave it a chance (he loves gridiron almost as much as footy so we had that in common too). So while sitting at home unable to work (my visa at the time didn't allow me to work) and everyone else off at work or at uni I turned on the TV to figure out what this footy game was all about. First game happened to be Cats vs. someone. Next week by chance it was again a Cats replay. Third, fourth, fifth weeks again for some reason I always found the Cats vs. someone being replayed through the week.
They quickly became the first team I could actually identify a player and eventually players on so I began making sure whatever game I watched it was a geelong game at least then I didn't feel so adrift and foreign.
Much to the chagrin of my wife and inlaws (Carlton and St. Kilda supporters) I became a Cats fan (and have since converted my wife who only begrudgingly follows footy).
Initially my wife gave me an ultimatium on which teams I was allowed to barrack for and which I was not (no interstate teams, no collingwood or essendon) and somehow I managed to pick the one team she forgot to put on either list.
After the 07 Grand Final win I became a member and plan to stay one forever. I may seem like I jumped on the bandwagon and while that is debateable, I won't be jumping off ... ever.

Thats fantastic! Welcome to the GFC!

 

[chimpassgimp]

Re: So why are you actually a cats fan?

My Grandfather played for the Catters and started taking me ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Still have the duffel coat with Mickey Turner on the back they he bought for me...Go Catters!

 

[auto_world_wide]

Dad grew up in Beeac in the Geelong zone and was always one-eyed so me, mum and my 3 brothers followed. One defected to Richmond after 1980 (flag); one deflected to Carlton after 1979 (flag). Myself and one other have stayed loyal through all the handbag and choker jibes and it's fair to say we're having the last laugh
Still wear my dads (R.I.P) 100% polyester cats jacket to the footy (punt rd end with the grog squad) and still hate Collingwood as i still have memories of dodging dads flying transistor radio after losing 2 consecutive prelims in the '80s.
Worst part is the wife to be (DECEMBER) is one-eyed pies
Hope we make it to December if the Cats get up

 

[Thundercracker]

Dad's family is from the Geelong area, so guess it is hereditary

 

[longtimecat]

Re: So why are you actually a cats fan?

When i was eight, I was in RCH having two colapsed lungs the staff thought I was about to die, they asked me if I had a wish they could grant me. This was1962, the biggest star on childrens TV was Happy Hammond, so I asked if I could meet him. At that time Happy was the number one ticket holder at Geelong. To cut a long story short, he came and spent all day Saturday at my bedside, he missed the Geelong game, but listened to it on an old Astor radio. I decided that day that if I survived I would support the Cats forever, so here I am 49 years latter a Cats nut. Cheers

 

[GFC123]

Re: So why are you actually a cats fan?

Well i can't really remember lol. All i know is that my parents put Geelong jumpers on me all the time and took me to games on a regular basis, then when i was old enough to understand the game and the teams, my heart was already set on the cats from being brain-washed, so glad i'm a cats fan, couldn't imagine going for any other team, i just love Geelong !!