Boy's Day at the MCG

Noel Halford had arranged a diversion from the regular lunch time meeting for the pre Grand Final week.   Cleverly this was a tour (and sandwich lunch) of the MCG under the guidance of an MCG member delightfully dressed out in his stripped blazer.   Beneath that blazer was Michael from the Glenferrie Rotary Club.

So twenty plus HRC souls were shown around.    First, into the inner sanctum of the Hawthorn dressing room,  and then to the Fremantle race from which the players will race onto the field Saturday.  In all of this one could sense among the football fanatics among the boys a certain fantasising.    All treaded onto the hallowed turf albeit at the boundary line it was artificial. 

Midst the continued tour we learnt of the successes which the Melbourne Cricket Club had in continued developments at the ground---including grass growing, extensions and modernisation with the latest IT gadgets of stands, dedicated  press rooms ( where coach Neil Roberts lectured the "players") , indoor cricket wickets and bowling machines programmed at a touch  to deliver a certain type of ball to the practising batsman.    In contrast to the amazing modern facility of the ground which is capable of housing supposedly 100, 018 people (not sure where the 18 sit but...) we saw extracts of old and priceless memorabilia and books in the appropriately dark and shrine-like library and surrounds.   The place abounded with sporting history.    The tour brought home the scale in both budget and physical size of the MCC operations-for instance the kitchens could provide 20,000 meals in a day.  

It was a great day and opportunity for a relaxed meeting--thanks Noel.    The cameraman was ever present and one can see from the shots below the sense of heightened fellowship within the club at the occasion.