I WENT to see the footy in Sydney last weekend. Rod Gillett took me. I'd often spoken with him on the phone, but until Friday evening, we had not met. Just two days with him reminded me that footy is about people.

Involved in footy in NSW, "Rocket" had invited me to deliver the Ralph Robertson Memorial Lecture at Club Swans in downtown Kings Cross for AFL NSW. I was delighted to speak. Robertson, who played a handful of games for St Kilda in the 1890s, was a pioneer of footy in NSW, but was killed in Egypt during World War I.

I spoke about the game and its origins, and the affection we have for it. Footy certainly has the capacity to bring people together, which it did on Friday night. Locals. Expat southerners. Footy lovers. Everyone with a rich story.

Like Mic Conway, South Melbourne and Swans fan, and frontman of the celebrated Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band. And Peter Thomas and wife Maree, who recalls with misty eyes her days of footy at Kyabram. Bill Kelso, who said g'day and told me his grandfather had raced a horse called Statesman, who won The Cup in 1928. And the bow-tied, wild-haired Rod Monk, footy nut and known as the best roller of the three-paper joint ever, who along with a push of artists and writers revived the Newtown Football Club (the famous blood-stained angels, who hadn't survived the legacy of Sam Kekovich's coaching) and these days have the Glebe-Paddington chapter of Auskick firing.

I had a beer with Muscles Mildenhall who, along with Arthur Chilcott, the first native New South Welshman to play for the Swans, was recruited from the Dapto Canaries rugby league club. ("We were just a couple of mugs from league.")

Craig Davis hosted the night, with his trademark enthusiasm, rousing himself with a Swans promo video, which did the trick, even though he'd seen it 437 times before. The panel included Ricky Quade, the second-youngest of 15 kids from a farm at Ariah Park, not far from Temora. ("When the train went through at 4.30am, it was too late to go back to sleep but too early to go to work.")

Actor Rhys Muldoon, fresh from his role as the coach in Valentine's Day , produced a couple of yarns about suffering the St Kilda FC. And Greg de Moore, psychiatrist and writer, whose book about Tom Wills has just been published, told us about his father's decision, as a Sri Lankan immigrant in North Coburg, that his family would follow Carlton.

When the dust settled, Rocket and I sat in a Kings Cross cafe eating (shocking) pizza and watching the world go by. Rocket's story is just as rich. He grew up on a cattle farm in the Rochester district. The local tyre shop man, Ron Williams, father of Melbourne player David, coached the local side. ("A moving guernsey gets it" and "we're gunna get out there and put the handcuffs on 'em.") Rocket's family moved to northern NSW and he went to university in Armidale, where the rugby codes rule. To satisfy the desperate southerners, the uni had a four-team competition of its own.

Rocket loved music as well. As one of the student recreation officers, he came up with the brilliant idea that if bands were on the road between Sydney and Melbourne, he'd put them up in Armidale if they'd do a gig. And so the students heard bands such as Cold Chisel and Dave Warner's From The Suburbs. Music and footy.

Rocket then ran sport at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga before heading to the big smoke, where he played at Sydney Uni while working at University of Technology Sydney. These days, he is an education consultant. He has always been involved in footy, and his passion has never waned. By Saturday afternoon, I was convinced that Rocket knew everyone. When we went into the Surry Hills TAB to watch the Liston Stakes en route to Homebush, the woman behind the counter greeted him like a long lost friend. And he backed Light Fantastic.

Then in the train, "Moose" Henwood, now a criminal barrister, said g'day. ("Great bloke, Moose. Haven't seen him since he finished at the Swans: he took off on his motorbike to go round Australia.") Rod Tubbs said g'day ("He runs alumni sports dinners at Sydney Uni. Was a good centreman.")

It was getting ridiculous. On the concourse outside the ground, a familiar bloke in the full regalia of a high-ranking army officer spotted Rocket. I recognised him from the news. Rocket introduced me: "Brigadier-General Brian Dawson, just back from Iraq." I almost had the giggles. ("Rochester boy.")

Footy and people. And that spirit. Rocket has it. He is a congenial man; a man who is interesting and interested. He brings that spirit to everything he does, especially footy, which has the capacity to generate loyalty and action.

Geelong beat the Swans easily. The Swans surged a couple of times. They were impressive during the third quarter. Rocket knew that his boys were outclassed. The locals thought Hayden Kennedy was Geelong's best.