Page 70 of After the Siren
Theo leaned forward on the fence and watched as the AFLW team warmed up. Jake was next to him, wearing a rainbow headband, sunglasses with pink, heart-shaped frames, a Falcons training hoodie and tiny gym shorts. Somehow, it was a good look on him. Theo could admit he might have lost objectivity.
‘Hey, boys.’ Kat joined them at the fence, Paddy moving over to give her some space. She was holding hands with a tall woman who had a toddler in a Falcons onesie balanced on one hip.
‘Hey Kat, hey Cindy,’ Jake said. He extended his arms. ‘Hey, kiddo.’
Cindy handed Jake the toddler. The toddler immediately made a grab for the necklace of shells he was wearing.
It wouldn’t be a great loss if the kid destroyed it.
‘Riley, this is Stavs,’ Jake said, gently nudging Riley’s hands away from the shells. ‘You gonna shake hands?’
Theo wasn’t sure whether that was directed at Riley or him, so he extended a hand. Riley grabbed one of his fingers, beaming up at him with Kat’s blue eyes.
‘Hi, Riley.’
Theo never knew what to do with children. He was the youngest in his immediate family, and while he’d grown up with plenty of cousins, they were all older as well. Babies and toddlers were a mystery. His niblings were very cute, but he saw them infrequently and in short bursts. He’d always figured one day he’d probably become a parent, but how to interact with children was a problem for future Theo – and future Theo’s prospective co-parent, who’d hopefully know what the fuck they were doing.
‘He likes you,’ Cindy said. ‘I’m Cindy, by the way. I’d shake your hand, but —’
‘It’s Riley’s now,’ Theo confirmed. Riley had some strength in those chubby little fingers. ‘Theo. Good to meet you.’
Yelks came to join them at the rail and Riley’s attention turned to his hair. It was up in a half-bun, but there were strands fallingloose around his face. Theo got his hand back as Riley reached out to make a grab for it.
‘Captain’s prerogative,’ Yelks said, holding out his arms. Jake handed Riley over, and Riley made delighted noises. Theo couldn’t remember if Yelks had kids or not, but he seemed relaxed about babies. Jake snapped a couple of pictures as Yelks hoisted Riley into the air. Yelks was sobig, and Riley was so small.
Jake was running a very aggressive AFLW support campaign on his socials, ably assisted by Paddy and Raze. They were doing a better job than the club, truth be told. Greg wasn’t actively being shit, but he didn’t really seem to understand that a show of force was required, or what that might look like.
Theo waved to Gabby as the players finished their warm-up and headed down to the rooms, and she jogged over to the fence. She’d braided her hair and coiled it up around her head. She looked even more like an ancient Greek goddess than usual: Athena, if Athena had worn footy shorts and had tattoos on her muscular thighs. She was the sort of woman who Theo had always found both terrifying and catastrophically attractive. She could probably break Theo over her knee and he’d thank her for it.
‘Thanks for coming out,’ she said. She was grinning, but there were dark circles under her eyes.
‘Least we could do.’
She shrugged. ‘Still, we appreciate it.’
Jake pulled her into a selfie. She gave Riley a quick kiss on the cheek, then jogged off to rejoin the team. She’d been doing the brunt of the heavy lifting in the media. Greg had interviewed her for the Falcons’ socials, and Theo knew she’d done a lot of work on the statement the club had put out. She’d made time for journos and radio appearances.
He’d seen her and Dex briefly the day before; he’d given them both a hug and told them how fucked up it was. He’d wanted to say other things as well, tell them how much he admired them for keeping their heads up, how courageous they were, but he wasn’t sure how to say that without the risk of sounding patronising.
Theo joined the honour guard that assembled for when the team ran out. Most of the men’s team was there, plus a lot of the coaching staff, trainers, spouses and kids. They cheered the team out, then retreated to a spot close enough to the bench that they’d be visible on the livestream any time it cut to the bench. A few people came over to chat and get autographs, but in general the crowd seemed to sense that the men’s players were there to watch the game, that it wasn’t about them.
Theo had always assumed Yelks was a bit old school, no matter that he was a good captain and seemed like a good guy. But Yelks had taken control of theFull Forwardsituation with the same quiet competence he displayed on the field. He’d even managed to get Tenders and Sheds to show up.
It was a great game. The Falcons AFLW team had been solid the previous season, but it was like all the shit over the last couple of days had kicked things up a notch. It was only a pre-season game, but it looked like a final; the Currawongs were a good team, and just as determined to show what they could do.
The AFLW Falcons played a different kind of game to the AFL team, and Theo enjoyed seeing the game plan unfold: watching how good Gabby was on the rebound from halfback, watching their new full-forward compete hard against the Currawongs’ All-Australian fullback. Jake kept up a steady stream of encouragement, sometimes under his breath, sometimes at full volume.
It had been a long time since Theo had been to watch a football game. He’d forgotten how much fun it was. It was a close game,too, the lead flipping back and forth, and he found himself leaning out over the fence, yelling just as loud as Jake.
Jake grabbed him by the arm as Gabby put a high kick towards the goal square, then wrapped an arm around his shoulders when Dex came down with it. His sunglasses had gone a bit askew, and when he turned to say, ‘Fucking beauty of a mark,’ Theo wanted to kiss him so badly he was pretty sure it was written all over his face.
‘Yeah,’ he said instead.
The Falcons managed to get two goals up in the fourth quarter and held on for the win from there. The handshake line was convivial, players from both teams laughing and joking. There was a palpable sense of satisfaction from the players and the supporters. Both teams dispersed along the boundary to chat to the fans, players signing things and posing for selfies. It was a nice vibe. One of the Falcons players took possession of Riley, galloping off as Riley cackled.
There were a few journos roaming around, searching for sound bites. They interviewed Gabby close enough that Theo could hear every word. He didn’t know how she did it. She was a consummate professional, smiling at the camera as the journo tried to bait her into saying something controversial. Theo could see Jake watching as well, his eyes narrowed a little (one of the ALFW players had nicked his sunnies).
The journo eventually gave up on Gabby and came over to the fence. Theo recognised him as one of the innumerable footy journos who cooked up provocative pieces. He’d written a few pieces about the AFLW, Theo remembered. Mainlywe’re all thinking it,I’m just saying itbullshit.
