Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?

I have always heard of patriots being people who love their country so much that they would defend it with their lives. I have also heard of the term “expatriates” who are people who live and work in countries other than those of their origin.

To me, being patriotic starts and ends with Rugby League. We have been living in Canberra for four years now so we got season tickets to Raiders’ home games last year. The entire point of the tickets was to have many outings to look forward to and to make memories with Steve. It was good living so close to the stadium and we had many lovely evenings cheering for the Raiders.

Before that, Steve and I went for the North Queensland Cowboys. I am still patriotic as I was born in North Queensland but Steve had decided he was going to change his alliance to the Redcliffe Dolphins as he used to play for them in his prime. Steve was always an expat though as he was born in Victoria.

When we lived in Queensland, we did not choose to go to the Brisbane games as the team was the Brisbane Broncos. I did see them for the first time with my friend from Norway against the Canterbury Bulldogs but the second time was with my kids against the Penrith Panthers. We could have gone to meet the teams after the match but we ended up meeting Australia’s 45th Prime Minister Kevin Rudd instead.

Living far away from Townsville meant I couldn’t just go to the North Queensland Cowboys’ home games if I wanted to. My birth mother did go to matches a lot but I never got a chance to do so. I did once get featured on the Cowboys instagram page though so that was kind of cool.

The kids and I used to go out a lot for special treats a lot and we used to share our beanies around the family.

I still have my Cowboys socks and Beanie so I often get it on during winters in Canberra. Also being from Queensland, I feel patriotic to the Queensland Maroons during State of Origin series. They are the best matches to attend but we did not start going to matches until we moved to Canberra. Last year’s Origin match in Sydney will be the last one we spend with Steve. I don’t know if any of us will want to attend this year. Our grief is still far too raw.

For now, I will leave you with this quote:

“I am very patriotic and grew up in a house full of football fans.”

Rachel Stevens

Until tomorrow, KT18Ø.