After many years of toil and heartbreak, Shepparton's Di Conza would finally deliver on that promise as his beloved Demons broke the AFL's longest premiership drought with a 74-point drubbing of the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.
In the lead up to the big game Pat and Tina’s transformed into a sea of red and blue as Di Conza did all he could to channel his passion for the Melbourne Football Club without being able to see the game in person.
Now in the midst of premiership celebrations, he has gleefully welcomed the region's passionate contingent of Melbourne supporters to the service station to share what has been a once in a lifetime experience.
“It has just been an incredible time, I watched the game five times on Sunday while I was serving people and giving free beer to everyone, it has just been awesome and I am still riding the wave into this week,” Di Conza said.
“I gave out between 250-300 stubbies of Furphy to customers and it was just incredible to be able to do that and they were so appreciative — I want my customers to enjoy my happy times and the amount of Melbourne supporters that came in and shared in the celebrations it was just awesome.”
He explained the range of emotions he felt when the final siren went on Saturday night, as the Demons finally broke the infamous Norm Smith curse.
“I was in tears (when the game ended), because I am 54 years of age I never saw the last premiership in 1964,” he said.
“I have been to two grand final losses in 1988 and 2000 where we got flogged and to have a chance to win one was just incredible.
“There were probably two rivalling emotions in not being able to see it live, but it was still just surreal to see that we won it — when that final siren went my heart was beating rapidly, I think we clocked it at 135bpm, the memories of the losing grand finals are completely erased now and the drought is finally broken.”
While the COVID—19 situation in Victoria forced Di Conza to watch the triumph from his home rather than at the ground, he was still able to share in the celebrations at Optus Stadium due to the power of technology.
“I have cousins who had my grand final tickets there at the game and they all FaceTimed me when they were playing the song after the game and I felt like I was there,” he said.
“One of my cousins got to touch the premiership cup as it was coming around and he yelled out ‘I did this for you cuz’ and that made me feel special as well and part of the atmosphere at Optus Stadium in a way.”
A self proclaimed Demons tragic Di Conza has stuck with his team from the beginning, riding a lot of hard times attending games across the country.
He detailed some of the trials and tribulations he has had to go through as a fan of the Melbourne Football Club over the years.
“We are very lucky around the Goulburn Valley, because back in the old days, this was the Melbourne recruiting zone, so I remember at school a lot of the players would come down and that is why I became a Demons fan,” he said.
“We have been through some dark times, I will never forget when I was going to Waverley one day and I sat there in the rain watching us lose to Fitzroy badly and my father turned to me and said ‘do you want to follow this side?’.
“I have lived through the heartbreak of 1987 when Jimmy Stynes ran across the mark, ’88 we got flogged by Hawthorn — so we have certainly had the ups and downs and to have a team this year that only lost the four games and won it all, it is just a surreal feeling.”
With the curse now lifted and the passionate Demons supporter base rejoicing, Di Conza hopes this is just the start of an incredible era for Melbourne Football Club.
“I reckon there is a window about to open, we have got an unbelievable team and if we can keep it all together there is potentially a chance of achieving greatness,” he said.
“It is exciting times for Demons supporters and we should all be up and about.”
