Episode 17: A Preview of the Semi-Finals: "I am shocked looking at that stat", it "almost was. the 2018 grand final" but "we held on", and can the Cats bounce back?

What an opening weekend of finals footy that was! In this week's Episode of the Through the Banner Podcast, Shamsiya Hussainpoor, Eleni Thomas and Caspar McLeod discuss all the results from the Qualifying Finals and Elimination Finals, including Tom Hawkins' awful night and Collingwood's backs against the wall victory in Perth. Shamsiya Hussainpoor's favourite team are the Geelong Cats. AFL, the Cats have filled the gap of displacement and isolation. She fell in love with this game the year she migrated to Australia. In a new country, she felt alienated but footy gave her a sense of belonging and a sense of identity in her new home. She also thinks she's the good luck charm for the Cats, the year she arrived in Australia is the year Geelong won a premiership after 44 years. Eleni Thomas is a huge fan of sports in general but footy holds a special place in herr heart because it’s something her whole family and she loves. When she was little she did Auskick and would play footy with all the boys and when she could she would drag her brother out to the oval to kick the footy so footy has always been a big part of her life.