Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

On Saturday night, in just two sleeps, a local community sporting club in the heart of my electorate is playing in the grand final of a national competition. The Geelong Football Club was established in 1859, 19 years before Manchester United and more than a century before the Dallas Cowboys. It's the second oldest football club of any code in the world. We won our first premiership in 1878 in the Victorian Football Association, and our last in 2011 in the Australian Football League.

Across that long history there has never been a year so remarkable as this. It has been characterised by a sense of selflessness and sacrifice. Back in March, when the lockdown first happened, our coach, Chris Scott, volunteered not to be paid at all. The team has been on the road since 6 July, more than 100 days with long separations from their families. Our remarkable CEO, earlier this week, when he was named the Geelong Business Leader of the Year, said, 'I never really wanted to be recognised as the best leader but I love being the leader of the best team.'

To Paddy, Joel, Tom Hawkins, Gazza—all of them—we are so proud of you. We also take inspiration from another Geelong identity, Tegan Philip, who was victorious with the Vixens last weekend. We're up against a soulless national corporate brand—for those who haven't grown up with the AFL, like the Prime Minister, you can think about this as a contest between a fighting local community and, I don't know, maybe Coca-Cola. The Geelong Football Club stands for everything that is good and right in this world. On Saturday night the whole nation will be behind you. Go Cats!

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