Australia has caught Taylor Swift fever — and footy players aren’t immune.
With a reported 96,000 a night flocking to three-night stand at the MCG — or a grand total of 288,000 fans — turning out for the American songstress in her record breaking Eras Tour, there were always bound to be plenty of interest from our Aussies stars.
Collingwood, who know the MCG well after claiming the AFL premiership on the hallowed turf last season, had a strong turn out of their stars, sharing a series of pics the players and their partners had posted on social media.
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Under the caption “Pies go cray cray for Tay Tay”, the likes of skipper Darcy Moore, coach Craig McRae and Darcy Cameron were all in the gallery.
It was a photo of Josh Daicos and his girlfriend Annalise Dalins that caught fans’ attention however, but not for the couple.
In the background, 35-year-old Geelong Cats star Tom Hawkins was sitting next to the couple, photo bombing Dalins’ snap while holding not one, but two Great Northerns.
“Stitch up in the background @collingwood_fc,” Hawkins commented on the photo with a pair of beer emojis.
One fan commented: “tommahawk double parked”, to which another fan wrote: “showing young buck daicos how to get litttt.”
Another said: “how’s the tomahawk double parked !!!”
With the AFL season still a month away, the ageless Cats forward is about to start his 18th season in the sport, having tallied 347 games and 781 goals.
It’s a sign of experience grabbing a couple of drinks at a time as with 96,000 fans in the stadium, the lines were likely intense.
Hawkins also took to his own Instagram to share pics from the night with his wife Emma. captioning the post: “Better than our wedding, you betcha @emmahawkins_. You better believe the hype is real. Thank-you @taylorswift.”
However, there were more Pies at the concert than just those in the gallery, with Jack Crisp also taking to Instagram to say it was his daughter Lilah’s first concert, writing “we had a great time”, sharing footage of them getting ready, including making friendship bracelets.
Mason Cox, the 211cm tall Pies ruckman, was also at one of the concerts, but issued a public plea for the people who were sitting behind him.
“HELP NEEDED!!!! I want to find the people that sat directly behind me to give them tickets to an AFL game. If you know them please let me know,” he wrote.
As for the MCG, the real work now begins as the ground staff need to repair the ground ahead of the AFL season.
Two thirds of the ground will need to be relaid after the trio of shows.
Last year, half of the ground’s surface was relaid just 13 days out from the season-opener due to back-to-back Ed Sheeran concerts, with stadium officials content with the result despite some players expressing concern over the new turf.
“With just under four weeks until the first AFL game of season 2024, our turf team have been preparing for the arena’s renovation for the last 18 months,” Fox told the Herald Sun.
“The team has a proven track record in managing significant and successful turf renovations which was evident after last year’s two Ed Sheeran concerts where we faced tighter deadlines to be ready for the AFL season.
“Although we need to replace two-thirds of the turf, the absence of events scheduled after the three Taylor Swift concerts provides us with a more generous window for turnaround time.
“Our turf rolls, boasting a depth of around 10cm, are practically immovable once laid down. With the combination of our skilled team, months of preparation and advanced technology, I have full confidence that the hallowed turf will be to the elite standards expected of us by mid-March.”
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