Before I arrived, I was warned that match day was insanely busy after the match, and boy were they right. I had to get there quite early which was a bit boring because there was not much to, but after I found my pass I met my boss and we sat and watched another game together. Once all the other staff came in we picked the players to be interviewed after the game.
The game finally started and I was given a ticket to go and watch the game which was great. I was allowed to do what I liked while the match was on, the only instruction being that I had to be back in the office before the end of the match. So I managed to meet a few friends around the ground before I headed back into the office to watch the final quarter.
The Eagles lost the game. As soon as the siren went and the final tweet was sent, we ran down the stairs and through a number of passageways that reminded me of something from The Da Vinci Code! I was not sure where we were going to end up, but we ended up at the bottom of the West Coast race, and when I turned around there were fans lining the race to clap the boys in.
As the players walked past, they looked very disappointed, and the coaches the same. After waiting for the post-match address from John Worsfold to be done, the four players we selected walked out of the rooms. In the time it took for John Worsfold to finish his speech, the media had make their way down to where we were waiting and we told them who was available for interview. After they told us, we directed the players to their respective media outlets. It was great to see the players so close up and so real after a game.
We had to wait for Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson to finish his press conference before we could enter the room. This took a long time, about 20 minutes of standing and talking to people and looking at the honour boards. After he was done, we were given a security escort to the press conference room with John Worsfold. It was pretty cool. There were only two other people, myself and John Worsfold walking and when we walked into the room all eyes were on us which was pretty daunting.
After the press conference, we walked back through the passageways before I ended my night in the office. Everyone looked very tired and we knew we had to be back again early today (Monday). I made my way home and wrote my article which is on the website (http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/2013-04-08/were-not-depleted-worsfold).
Today was player press conference day. The four players available to the media were Dean Cox, Josh Kennedy, Andrew Gaff and Jack Darling. These days take a long time, about 30-40 minutes of questioning and taking notes. It is great to hear the players talk about the game. After we were done and packed up I headed home to write my story. Monday's are pretty relaxed, and game day is full on, but I am certainly keen for the next one against Carlton in a couple of weeks.
Until then!
Nathan
