Warren’s Grand Final Family Tradition

As September (actually October this year) rolls around so does the AFL Grand Final. This is a very special time in the Hanna family as we are fortunate enough to be MCC members. In 1950 my grandfather forgot to officially register my father’s birth (which caused a few issues when he was to marry my mum), but he didn’t forget to register dad on the MCC membership waiting list. 31 years later, my dad registered me and 30 years later I have registered my kids.

I have been lucky enough to be a member since the age of 16, as a restricted junior and then full member. My uncle and cousins are also MCC members and this has allowed us to carry on a great family tradition of meeting at the footy, particularly around finals time. Grand Final Day is a family tradition and I have been fortunate to go to 19 grand finals. In the early days I can remember lining up and watching the sun rise, running to our favourite seats and sitting there all day watching the under 19s, the reserves, the pre-match entertainment and then finally the big game.

Things are a bit different now with no pre-match games and the MCC these days offers the ability to go in the ballot for reserved seats for about half of MCC reserve. This provides a luxury for those of us with young kids, but a small part of me is disappointed this year that we won’t be lining up as I almost feel that it isn’t Grand Final day without the excitement of lining up in the cold and often wet conditions at 4am Grand Final day morning. To compensate, we have updated our tradition to include a BBQ in the carpark, and every year either in the line, or at the BBQ in the car park before the game, the conversation always comes back to thanking Grandpa for starting, and our fathers for continuing, this great family tradition.

With two young kids and another on the way, spending quality time with family is a huge priority for me and I’m very conscious of the fact that it is so important to continue our family traditions so that my kids are able to have the same fantastic memories of growing up that I do.