BomberBlitz.com Exclusive Interview - Emma Quayle

BomberBlitz – How did you get to be an Essendon supporter? Was it inherited or just good judgement and taste on your part?
Emma Quayle – I never had a say in the matter…. I’m not sure how much of this is family legend, but the story goes that after moving to Melbourne from England after the war, my grandpa was living in a flat in St Kilda. He wondered what all the noise coming from the Junction Oval was about, wandered down there one weekend, saw John Coleman play and became a Bomber there and then. He got my mum into it and she started taking me with her when I was eight or nine. We got our hands on some seats in the Dick Reynolds stand and I used to sit up there reading books, in the beginning, because the games seemed to go on forever. But it didn’t take long…..

BB – What are the most memorable games you have been to? The best and the worst?
EQ – I always love the last win the most! I’m sitting here watching the replay of the Geelong game as we speak, actually…. There are a couple of games I have strong memories of from when I was a kid. I remember that day at Windy Hill where there were only about 15 fit players left, we only just got done by West Coast and everyone gave the players a standing ovation as they hobbled off. I learnt one of my most valuable lessons out at Windy Hill too….. we were a fair way up against Melbourne one time, I started calling out “percentage” because I’d heard everyone else do it, then Darren Bennett kicked a stack of goals and we got rolled. Haven’t tried that one again… Otherwise, the grand finals, for obvious reasons. The comeback game vs North in 2001. Another favourite is the game against the Eagles in 1993, where Mark Harvey finished his 150th with the ball in his hands and Sheeds did the jacket thing. I was looking right at him when he waved it… I swear! But I think my absolute favourite is the 93 preliminary final vs Adelaide. I didn’t go to the 84 or 85 grand finals and was only young then, at any rate. So comeback aside, the realisation that we would be playing in a grand final the next weekend was pretty exciting. Plus, we got revenge on Greg Anderson, who had me in tears when he went back the Crows that year (don’t tell anyone I said that) I really enjoyed sleeping on the footpath outside Highpoint in the grand final ticket queue after that game, too!

BB – Who is your favourite Essendon player?
EQ – I’m not sure at the moment. I’ve taken a bit of a liking to Kepler. My favourite players are actually at clubs all over the place because I cover the under-18s and draft camp each year, and like to keep track of some of the guys I interview then, to see how they turn out. Guys like Luke Brennan at Hawthorn, Richard Tambling at Richmond and Brock McLean at Melbourne. In the past it’s been Mark Harvey, Gary O’Donnell, Damien Hardwick. As a teenage girl in the early 90s I went through the obligatory Gavin Wanganeen phase. But I think when James Hird gives it away I will feel pretty lucky to have followed his career right through.

BB – Was Michael Gawenda (former Editor in Chief and keen Bomber supporter) responsible for you getting a job in Sport?
EQ – Yep, Michael hired me as a trainee in 1999 and let me move over to sport a few years later. How good is it getting THAT gig – I mean getting paid to watch the Bombers, come on! I’m not complaining…..

BB – Is it hard not to be biased when reporting on the Bombers?
EQ – When you’re covering a game, it doesn’t feel too hard. You’re concentrating so hard on the match – the match-ups, patterns that are emerging, injuries etc – that you just watch the game differently to then you’re in the stands. You’re a bit more detached, I guess. The one thing is that you probably know the players (from how they move on the ground to their different back stories) a bit better than players from other clubs. And let’s face it, hardly anyone follows AFL footy before they follow a particular team. But it’s something to be conscious of, just in terms of making sure you don’t go out of your way to do a heap of stories on your own team or its players.

BB – Does being a woman maker your job harder, more difficult? In other words, do you get the same respect as male journos?
EQ -I haven’t struck any trouble at all, to be honest. I’m lucky, because the women who came before me are the ones who had trouble being let into the rooms and so on, and who sorted out the old schoolers. Occasionally some old geezer will send in an abusive letter asking how many games I played, but within the industry most people are great.

BB – What qualities do you need to be a good sports reporter?
EQ – The same qualities you need to be any sort of reporter I think – you need to be curious and want to tell people things they don’t know. And whatever you’re writing about, you have to know your stuff and communicate it. You have to be pretty versatile in sport, though, I think. You have to be able to chase and write news, and write features as well. Then there’s covering games which is different altogether. You’re thinking on your feet a lot, especially at night games, where the deadlines are so tight that you’re pretty much trying to watch the last half as you write.

BB – On Foxtel’s Lovematch recently, Dean Rioli thought “playtex” referred to a play station/computer game (hee hee). Are you a Playtex or a Wonderbra kinda girl?
EQ – I’d really love to answer that…. but I’m not going to! I’ll be hearing about it for several years otherwise…

BB – Do you think Sheed’s ass looks a little bit better since the hip replacement?
EQ – Um…. not touching that one either. Sorry…

BB – Which players do you think Essendon will target during trade week?
EQ – I’m not sure there will be a heap of action. I’m not sure how much we have to offer this year. A fast, established midfielder would be nice, but there don’t seem to be many of them up for grabs. I’m sure we’ll slot in on the end of some other clubs’ deal, pick up a couple of peripheral players from other clubs and turn them into superstars!

BB – Do you expect a big turnover of the club’s list at the end of this year?
EQ – I don’t think they’ll do will be anything too dramatic, probably just the regulation four or five player turnover. I’m pretty confident that in Bradley, Stanton, Laycock, Dyson, Monfries, Lovett, Lovett-Murray, Winderlich and a few others they’ve got a good group of young players together who’ll be around for a while.

BB – Which player do you think will be the best out of the current crop of youngsters at Windy Hill?
EQ – I really like Brent Stanton and Kepler Bradley and can’t wait til Monfries gets a few more games. But I reckon Jason Laycock has the real star potential.

BB – Will Mark Harvey get the head job at Essendon? Or will it be Gary O’Donnell?
EQ – I think the next coach might come from outside. Just a feeling though, I really have no clue!

BB – Are you an Essendon member?
EQ – Yep, have been for ages. I have a reserved seat at the G and the Dome with my family and a few others who we’ve been sitting with since about 94 (some of you may know Lenny and Cheryl from the cheer squad!). I can’t really give the seat up now, in case I go on to do something other than footy. But I like to get into the crowd at least once a month anyway, or else I start to get a bit anxious.

BB – What lessons have you learned regarding football journalism? When you write an article, are you conscious of the need to sell newspapers? And is this ever related to you by your bosses?
EQ – I don’t think you’re conscious of the need to sell papers as such. The biggest thing is probably trying to tell people things they don’t know and come up with story ideas that are going to catch people’s interest. If you can do that, hopefully that will lead to them picking up a paper, paying for it and reading it!

BB – Do you think it unfair that Rohan Connolly did not finish his journalism degree, yet is still a ahem “well respected” journo?
EQ – Totally!

BB – How did you become a journalist? Did you want to become one when you were small or was it by accident?
EQ – I’ve probably wanted to do it since I was 13 or 15, definitely since the Barcelona Olympics in 92. When I was younger I wanted to be a vet like Vicky on A Country Practice. After year 12 I was lucky enough to get into the RMIT journalism course. I did that for three years, went for an Age traineeship, missed out, then spent the next year working at a media monitoring company called Rehame. At the end of that year I applied to the Age again, and got in. I did my traineeship in 1999 with nine others (only three of us are still there) – and spent a year moving through the various sections of the paper – sport, business, general news, the website etc. After that I worked on the “Backpage” column – on the back of the old Today section – for a year, writing about music, TV, pop culture, and all that sort of stuff. I finally got myself over to sport in April 2001 and I’ve been there ever since.

BB – As a Gisborne girl, who was your biggest influence at Gisborne Secondary College to lead you towards journalism?
EQ – I’d really love to know who’s asking this question…. for the record I’m actually a Riddell girl! I had a great time at GSC…. couldn’t have gone to a better school! I actually went to my year 12 reunion earlier this year, which was a bit scary. I had a guy called Mr Norton for English in year seven and I can still remember the class newspaper we had to make. He used to cut articles out of the paper for me and give me his old copies of Sports Illustrated. All of that had a huge influence, I’m sure.

BB – Was Lois Lane a big influence? Or was it the chance to meet Superman?
EQ – Definitely Superman. I’m still waiting….

BB – You have a superior performance in the Age tipping (in fact last season it was your tips the readers used to ring up and ask for on Fridays for their tipping competitions) what is your method of selection, quiet contemplation or the use of a pin with closed eyes?
EQ – I go with pure instinct! Or I do at the start of each season, anyway. Then I get up towards the lead, start feeling the pressure, think too much and fall in a heap. It’s an annual cycle….

BB – What is your BB alias?
EQ – I’ve resisted the urge to log on and have my say so far.

BB – You were asked by the club to invite some of the new boys over for a home cooked meal. Who turned up? What were your impressions?
EQ – That’s right, I cooked some tacos for Angus Monfries, Andrew Lee, Henry Slattery and Paul Thomas. I was a week or so after they’d all moved to Melbourne and they didn’t know anyone so Adrian Dodoro sent them round. You’ll have to ask them if my cooking’s any good though – actually I think that was the last time I actually cooked properly, how bad is that? They were all lovely guys, just excited to have been drafted and to be getting into pre-season and meeting everyone. I remember they came straight in and threw the Bomber Blitz video from 2000 on. Angus broke a chair…. but I think it was on the way out anyway.

BB – You’ve written a recent article in the Age discussing the AFL’s umpteenth foray into Sydney focussing on copying the successful model used in Queensland which is having a six week programme post rugby season and building on it from there. Can you see such a format being effective in NSW? As this sounds like a “back to basics programme” this is of real concern considering we’ve been in Sydney since the late 70’s/early 80’s – what have we achieved there?
EQ – I like what they’ve got planned for Sydney with the rookie program – there are so many more sporting choices around in NSW and I think they need to do something radical and force the clubs to go along. I do think getting into schools would help more than anything, though. Kids make choices at that age based on what their mates do, and what’s there in front of them, most accessible. I’m sure getting a taste of footy at school would tempt heaps of kids up there to stick with it and find other places to play.

BB – You write for “the “Bomber” magazine on occasions, how did you get that gig?
EQ – I started writing for The Bomber when I was in my first year at RMIT, just as a way to get some experience. The first thing I did was a Q & A with Gary Moorcroft, after he’d played his first few games and to this day I think it was the hardest interview I’ve ever had to do. He just didn’t have too much to say, that one. I got involved by writing a letter to the editor, Michael Roberts, to explain who I was and what I was about, and he let me have a go. Michael gave me heaps of advice and encouragement and I’m really thankful for the opportunity.

BB – Are you planning to venture into other areas of journalism apart from sport?
EQ – I wouldn’t mind being New York correspondent! There are a heap of other areas that would be good to try out one day – that’s the best thing about working for a newspaper, the completely different areas you can work in from inside the same building. My other grand plan is to write a novel. I’ve had my first sentence ready to go for about two years but can’t seem to get any further….

BB – Who is your choice for AFL premiers this season? What sport would you like to cover at the Commonwealth Games?
EQ – I like West Coast or Adelaide at the moment. If Sydney finish top four then you’d have to give them some sort of chance too. I reckon the Saints are starting to get it together now, though. As for the Commonwealth Games, I’m hoping to cover some hockey.

BB – Do you barrack in the Media Room and go off your brain the way Connolly does?
EQ – No-one goes quite off their brain like Rohan, except possibly for one opposition journalist who I won’t dob in! I’m one of those types who sits there with a knot in their stomach digging their fingernails into their palms when the game gets tight.

BB – Tell us you didn’t get up off your seat and celebrate after Jim Bob kicked the goal on the run or after Cupido’s goal straight after – 3rd Qtr V Saints.
EQ – I was sitting in the crowd that night…. so yeah, I did get up out of my seat once or twice!

BB – What sort of music are you into? Name some of your favourite albums? Singers, groups etc. What is the best live concert you’ve been to?
EQ – I’ll admit straight up that I’m into the 80s in a big way. Most dodgy pop music from the late 80s-early 90s has found its way into my collection. In fact I recently bought the Roxette Greatest Hits CD – the best $13.99 I’ve ever spent! Otherwise…. I’m pretty much into everything Neil Finn has ever done – Crowded House especially. I’ve always regretted not going up to Sydney for their farewell concert at the Opera House. I like Travis, Coldplay, Maroon 5 and Ash, too.

BB – Movies or dinner? One of our Blitzers can be at your place “around 7pm either way.”
EQ – Both sound great…. who’s paying??

BB – The famous donut question requires some serious contemplation Emma. What is your favourite kind of donut, iced, cinnamon, pineapple or jam?
EQ – Definitely cinnamon. Without doubt. So long as they’re fresh off the donut machine and still nice and warm. Is it wrong that I’ve never heard of pineapple donuts??

BB – If Courtney Johns asked you for a date, what would your answer be?
EQ – As difficult as it would be to knock back the Messiah, I’m thinking Courtney is a little bit too young for me……

BB – What ringtone is on your mobile?
EQ – Flashdance. Sometimes I switch to Karma Chameleon but it never lasts, I just keep coming back to Flashdance.

BB – Who is your favourite non footy sports person?
EQ – I used to love watching Jonty Rhodes play cricket. Not sure now….. I like tennis, so maybe Roger Federer or Marat Safin.

BB – Do you have an all time favourite film?
EQ – I have a heap of them… I love movies. There’s an old musical called Meet Me In St Louis that I’ve had a soft spot for ever since I was about seven years old. ET, Usual Suspects, Finding Nemo, American Beauty…. they’d all be up there. My favourite recent one is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

BB – Which actress would you choose to play you in a film about your life?
EQ – I’d play myself and charge $12 million! At least….

BB – Which actor makes you drool?
EQ – I have no idea….. maybe Johnny Depp, or that guy from Alias. Or Harrison Ford from the Indiana Jones era.

BB – What is your favourite TV show?
EQ – Life just hasn’t been the same since Buffy and Angel finished. I really like 24 but my favourite is The Amazing Race. It’s my dream to go on that show one day. But there’s not much else I’d set the VCR for…