ALL aboard the bandwagon.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Let those among us who have not jumped on-and-off a bandwagon cast the first stone. It's fun to have something to get a bit excited about, hope for a win and to share that excitement and hope with like-minded others.
The ingredients for a perfect bandwagon storm include the chance to unite people with little in common other than geography, to be happy with confirmed underdog status, and to have faith in a reversal of fortune against the odds.
But it can be just as much fun to take up the burning torch and pitchfork and pile-on with the mob united in contempt, and it doesn't have to be sport related. Qantas anyone? Investors love the airline after having experienced a share price rise of almost 40 per cent in the past 12 months, but customers and staff continue to recite a litany of complaints. Ongoing cost cutting has seen Qantas service levels drop, while profits, the share price and flight cancellations have soared.
Many decent people experienced schadenfreudian joy while watching Qantas boss Alan Joyce being slowly toasted by a Senate committee last week. A non-regretful Joyce complained to the committee that the formerly loved airline was caught in a tsunami of "criticism of corporate profits" due to cost-of-living pressures. Tell it to the ACCC, mate.
Getting excited about a contest involving an underdog team provides an ideal opportunity to get on the bandwagon. Except for the America's Cup, even if the Auld Mug is the oldest trophy in international sport. A line must be drawn somewhere, and I'm happy to draw it at yacht racing. But in 1983, I was one of the landlubbers across the nation offering uninformed views on winged keels.
The Matildas and the Socceroos provided perfect conditions during their respective World Cup campaigns for the bandwagoners. Both teams brought card-carrying members of the anti-football brigade to the beautiful game for the first time.
And while both teams were outsiders with genuine underdog status who didn't win the big prize, their achievements were about way more than their respective final result. This year's World Cup can already be viewed as a pivotal moment for women's sport. The Matildas' quarter-final against France was the highest rating sporting event on Australian television since Cathy Freeman's gold medal run at the Sydney Olympics, attracting 7.2 million TV viewers. And the semi-final between the Matildas and England drew a whopping 11.15 million TV viewers, making it the biggest event ever on Australian TV. Incredible bandwagon support.
I have been a fair-weather supporter of the Knights and the Jets for decades, sometimes referring to the stadium at Turton Road as the place where the dreams of Newcastle teams and supporters go to die.
But it's finals rugba league baby! Sudden death. I haven't been this excited about sport since last week when Merewether Carlton (affectionately known as the Greens in Merewether but widely known as the Slime beyond the borders of 2291) lost the 2023 rugby union grand final to Maitland. The Blacks ended a 24-year Hunter rugby premiership drought, and the Maitland bandwagon was choc with supporters from other clubs who hoped Merewether - the most successful team in Newcastle rugby history - would lose.
Yesterday morning, as the sun lit up sections of the Bathers Way - wonderful as usual with its motley array of insomniacs, exercise junkies, walk-of-shamers and steaming dog poo culprits - there was a noticeable spectacle of Knights' jerseys, baseball caps and various paraphernalia from days gone by.
Henny Penny, BP, and Stockland gear. Love me a Henny Penny jersey. It's as rugba league as Tina Turner.
As a genuine Knights bandwagoner, I am constantly reminded by week-in, week-out crusaders that authentic support is not about convenience or glory; it's about a connection to a team, a city, and a shared history of triumph and heartbreak.
It's about the agony of defeat and the ecstasy of victory, bitter rivalries and moments of pure joy that only come after years of unwavering support.
Bandwagoners are the vultures, circling above the carcass of a team's success, waiting to swoop in and claim their share of the spoils. They know or care nothing of the lean years, the wooden spoons and the soul-destroying moments that define the authentic supporter's experience.
Forget all that negativity. Jump aboard the bandwagon, baby!
