Cats fan of decades and five-time Grand Final attendee Ken Yap admits he was once “soccer mad” – until he saw Gary Ablett Senior play.
He saw ‘God’ live in one of the AFL’s first night games in the ’80s.
“I could not believe the skill of the man,” he said this week, as he decked out his pharmacy in blue and white paraphernalia.
Ken has experienced both heartbreak and jubilation supporting the Cats.
He was at the MCG when Ablett Senior played in losing Grand Finals in ’89 and ’95, and watched Gary Ablett Junior and the Cats win two out of three in ’07, ’08 and ’09.
Customers who could not attend the big games gave the “opinionated” Cats fanatic their tickets, he explained.
“I give opinions on what’s wrong, what’s right, who’s good, who’s bad,” he said.
“When they couldn’t go, they gave them to me and my family.”
Ken first saw Junior’s freakish skills, not on the football oval, but on an indoor soccer pitch when ‘Gaz’ was playing with his son.
“He probably doesn’t remember it but I’ve never forgotten,” he said.
“He lobbed the ball over the head of a player, ran around them and volleyed the ball into the goal.”
“You can’t train someone to do something like that. He used to score so much I had to put him on the bench, so the other kids could have a go.”
With COVID-19 making attending this year’s Grand Final almost mission impossible, Ken will instead watch the game with a friend in his Highton “man cave”.
Simple work ethic will be the key to the Cats giving ‘The Little Master’ the ultimate final game, he reckons.
“When they go out to work hard, they will beat any team.”
The Cats memorabilia on display in his central Geelong pharmacy was only some of what customers had given him over two decades.
“If I were to put them all out, I wouldn’t have any stock on display!” he said.
Among his favourites are a letter from late Geelong player Bruce Morrison and a football signed by dozens of past players, including premiership captain Jimmy Bartel.
“I’ve had many offers to buy that football but I’ve turned them all down.”
In Belmont reformed St Kilda fans Ange Liston-Mccaughley and husband Leif and their kids painted their fence blue and white for the big game.
“It’s been such a crappy year,” Ange said.
“We just wanted to spark a bit of joy and get into the spirit. There’s a lot of traffic in our street and people cheer and beep their horns as they drive past.”
The couple switched sides when they moved to Geelong in 2009, to “bring up the kids as Cats supporters”, Ange said.
Ange was at the 2009 Grand Final when Geelong beat St Kilda, which proved the final straw.
“I said, ‘if the Cats win this grand final, I’m changing teams’,” she said.
“I’m passionate and I go to lots of games with the kids – although obviously not this year.
“I think they’ve played great this year and that they deserve it.”
Across Geelong many families and businesses have refused to let the pandemic dampen the Grand Final lead up, decorating their properties in blue and white.
The city’s pubs and restaurants are also filling up with bookings from fans keen to revel in the big day.
