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Local Parramatta Eels fans Oxley Tuross (46) has today learnt that there is an entire suburb in Melbourne full of people who have suffered similar torment to him.
His autumn holiday down south has led Oxley to all of the different sights and experiences that the Victorian capital has to offer.
From the live comedy scene to the restuarants that serve tiny meals, he doesn’t mind the place, and to be honest he thinks the Sydney/Melbourne rivalry is silly.
“We don’t need to compete with eachother” he says.
“Both of our cities have their own individual strengths”
“For example, Sydney has the best beaches in the world, but Melbourne serves beers in bigger glasses”
“They also have a place that has really good croissants. The missus wanted to go there but the line was too long so we just jumped on the light rail instead”
And it was at the end of the ‘light rail’ journey that Oxley discovered the one part of Melbourne that felt familiar to his hometown of Parramatta in Sydney’s outer-inner west.
“St Kilda, man” he says.
“How have I not heard about this place. This is Parramatta with an esplanade”
As Oxley goes on to explain, aside from having some of the busiest pubs in their respective cities, the similarities between the two places extends to the psyche of the locals.
“They are so much like us”
“So resilient. So patient. So pathologically twisted and tortured”
Oxley is of course talking about the fact that the St Kilda Saints have not won an AFL flag since 1966. Similarly, his beloved Parramatta Eels have also endured decades between NRL premierships.
They are both long-suffering fanbases, who are occasionaly teased with a sudden finals dash every decade, only to be crushed at the Grand Final.
However, the St Kilda fans are far more realistic about their club’s prospects. He thinks Eels fans could learn a lot from their AFL equivalents.
“Parra fans still live with a bit of frustrated hope” he says with a sigh.
“We won our last Premiership in 1986. So we are about two decades behind when it comes to the psychology of it all”
“Some of these St Kilda fans are just going through the paces of it all. I don’t think they’d know what to do if they ever won. I hope I don’t end up like that. But then again, I envy their fortitude”
“There’s a pride in their lack of belief. It would do a lot of good for Parra fans to start looking at the game they way they do down here”
