Just

Well, Collingwood has made another Grand Final. It's the Australian football version of the Superbowl, where the whole season comes down to one game. In seven days' time most likely Geelong will thump us, but until then we're part of Grand Final Week. It's the big spring festival in this town.

The way we won it last night was phenomenal. Beaten for three quarters, it was inspiring to watch Travis Cloke taking pack marks, Ball and Swan willing themselves to win the ball, and Dale Thomas laying those tackles... to have us fall over the line by three points, 68 to 65.

 That is so hard to do when the defense is crashing in to you and trying to knock the ball away.

I've been meaning to write about why I love this game for a while, so here it is.

Australian football gets the balance between athleticism and physicality just right. By banning protective equipment and placing a premium on the ability to run fast, the game retains full physical contact while allowing small, skillful players to play a prominent role, and avoiding the gorilla physique of rugby players. Together with the close-fitting jumpers and tight shirts it's a much more aesthetic experience than rugby or American football.

At the highest level of the game it remains a club sport. For me this is a great thing. It mostly avoids the tendency to patriotism and prejudice which is too often an ugly feature of representative sport. I mean I hate Carlton with a passion. Always have, always will. But I work with Carlton supporters. I've lived with them, I'm even friends with some of them, for my sins. When I go to the football, I'll end up sitting beside them. You simply can't take it all too seriously.

                                                 Carlton. Just not good enough.

It's become a more inclusive game. Women have always been a part of football. Over 40% of crowds are female, so the authorities must keep the testosterone in check. Slowly there are more involved in clubs. Women's football is also growing at a fantastic rate.

Socially, too. In Sydney there is a social divide. The educted classes play rugby, the great unwashed play rugby league. In Britain I understand that the rugby/soccer thing works a little that way too. But in Melbourne everyone plays footy. The private schools have their own schoolboy competition, which leads on to the Amateur competition, the plebs just play in the various suburban leagues. But they all funnel into the AFL.

There is still plenty of homophobia around footy, but even that is fading. Last year, when a prominent player (Jason Akermanis), made public statements saying gay footballers should stay in the closet because otherwise they would destroy the trust footballers have in each other, he was condemned by people across the football world, and it was the issue that finally triggered his sacking. Hey, Collingwood even have an officially recognised gay supporters group.

But it's the way the game has embraced its indigenous roots in the last 20 years which pleases me the most. Tom Wills, who codified the rules of the game in the 1850s, grew up living among local tribes and took elements of their game, marn grook, played with a stuffed possum skin, into the new Australian game. Throughout its history there have been brilliant aboriginal players, there is a particular combination of speed, vision and anticipation many share which can be breath-taking. But for many years they were the exceptions as they came up against the all-pervasive racism of the times.

The moment that brought me back to the game came in 1993. St Kilda's Nicky Winmar, tired of the torrent of rascist abuse from the Collingwood grandstand, turned to face the crowd, lifted his shirt and pointed to his skin. That iconic moment was crucial in forcing the game, and my club in particular, to deal with racism. It's not perfect now, but it's much better. 11% of current AFL players have an indigenous heritage, compared to 2.5% of the general population.

And finally all those cute guys. On the field and in the crowd.