Away from the crowds: Jeff Corfe, or "Joffa" at the Salvation Army hostel The Anchorage in Abbotsford. Photo: Jason South
People around Melbourne reckon they know Joffa from what they see on TV - the loudmouth, dentally challenged feral in the cheap shiny jacket barracking in the Collingwood cheer squad and not doing much else.
He gets approached in the street and catcalled from passing cars. He was once labelled ''the most well-known sports fan in the world'' and that may even be true. Even club president Eddie McGuire admits he is less identifiably Collingwood than Joffa.
People want to have a piece of Joffa based on what they think they know. Or because of what they want to believe about someone so strongly associated with the famous AFL club that non-supporters love to hate.
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The thing about Joffa - Jeff Corfe, 47, of Coburg - is that he doesn't often counter the assumptions with the truth; that he is a wise and selfless guardian angel to Melbourne's most unloved men. The bloke dedicates himself on long night shifts in a tough Salvation Army refuge called The Anchorage to the lost ones, the ones at the end of the line.
''I usually only tell people who ask,'' Corfe says.
''But there have been times when I have had to say, 'Hang on, you've got me all wrong'.''
The Anchorage, in Abbotsford, houses 57 men, with an average age of about 50. Half have mental health issues or brain injuries, their life administered by the state trustee. Many are alcoholics or drug users. Some choose to be outsiders, some have had that forced upon them.
Corfe calls them ''unloved and unwanted''. The way he sees it, and the way he sees himself, it's an honour to work with them. It's dangerous and unpleasant, but it's definitely real and it's work that means something.
He calls the men his mates: a schizophrenic, a heroin addict perhaps, or a man so seemingly taciturn and dirty he has not had a hand on his shoulder in years.
''The past is irrelevant,'' Corfe says. ''It's who they are now and what they need now that matters.''
People die at The Anchorage. In all kinds of different ways. The funerals can be terribly sad, and not because of any eulogy or memorial but because often there is no one there except staff.
They sometimes have makeshift funerals in the room where the men eat. The food's all right, fish on Fridays, roast on Sundays. There's no cook, there's not enough money. The Anchorage gets minimal funding from the state government. The food comes in hot by van. They have funerals in the dining room because the coffins won't fit in the lift to get them upstairs to the chapel.
Corfe does night shift, 11pm to 8.30am. That in itself is brutal. He lives alone in Coburg in a ramshackle house. He has an epileptic daughter who has three kids.
Sometimes he'll go to work when he's not rostered on, especially if there's a funeral. ''He just appears,'' says Anchorage manager John Kennelly. ''He's demented and crazy at the footy for a couple of hours on the weekend but in here he's gentle and compassionate and can listen and empathise.
''If I didn't know him I would say, 'What a goose!' But there's a fair bit to the guy.''
Eddie McGuire is a big fan of Joffa's. In the past there has been disquiet at Collingwood about his antics and some high up have questioned whether he is good for the club's image. There were problems in 2008 when he posted a photo of himself with two rifles on a supporters' website. ''He's as rough as hessian undies,'' says McGuire, ''but he has a tremendous intellect and an amazing capacity for good.''
One thing Corfe talks about a lot is the idea of ''against the odds''. It's like a mantra to him. He sees Collingwood that way, in a historical sense. He started barracking for them 40-odd years ago because of his mother, June Murphy, who put a Magpies' sticker on the family's letterbox in Preston and would punch on in the street for her team, he says. Her parents were born in Collingwood.
His mother had a mental illness, Corfe says, but it was undiagnosed. ''These are things I have not told to another soul on this planet,'' he says. ''There are skeletons in the cupboard but I have kept them locked up.''
He was one of seven Catholic kids in her house in 1970s Preston. His father, Robert Corfe, drove a truck and had other ''bum jobs''. Corfe can't remember being hugged by either of them, ever. ''I'm not about to use that as an excuse for anything but the fact is the fact.''
He left school and home at 14 and did time at the Allambie Boys Home in Burwood, then lived against the odds himself in rooming houses and also literally homeless for four years, learning on the fly about street life and dangerous people and survival and risky behaviour until he got a job at a plastics factory in Hawthorn and was able to live better.
Ten years ago he started a cleaning job at another Salvation Army place and found his calling among the needy. ''Some people take longer than others, but this is what I am supposed to be doing.''
He says it's probably true that he is compassionate towards the marginalised because he came so close to it himself. Were it not for one or two good decisions along the way, Corfe says, he would probably be living at a place like The Anchorage in Abbotsford.
Radio 2GB 25/6/11 Before The Bounce show with The gang and Sydney Cheersquad leader Cath.
HOW would a Grand Final between the past two Collingwood premiership teams play out?
The Footy Revolution created a fantasy Grand Final between the two teams. We also asked Champion Data to work out the SuperCoach points, based on the real stats from those two matches.
We've drafted in two fantasy Joffas to do the TV commentary:
2010 Joffa: This is the one Eddie's been lobbying for since he was a reporter on Channel 10, an All-Collingwood Grand Final. Massive crowd at the MCG.
1990 Joffa: It's white jumpers with black stripes, versus black jumpers with white stripes. And now that Colleen Hewett has finished singing Wind Beneath My Wings and the national anthem, we can get down to business.
FIRST BOUNCE
1990: And Big Monky sets the tone by driving his knee right into Darren Jolly's rib cage in the first ruck contest.
2010: Don't worry about Jolls, he's a big boy. Got two flags to Monky's one. Besides, we've got Swanny, Pendles or Bally there to shark the tap and get us the first clearance.
1990: Only because Shawry got blocked out of the contest. Best driver in heavy traffic of the lot of them. The kick is cut off by a strong grab from Banksy, who gets it on to Graham Wright streaming down a wing. Runner-up in the 1990 Brownlow, Wrighty.
2010: Swanny was robbed of a medal by one of the Carlton filth last year.
1990: Anyway, Wright bombs it long, Charlie Manson gives a strong contest and brings it to ground, Daics swoops, freak snap from the boundary, goal. We're away.
QUARTER-TIME
2010: A late goal by Gavin "Rowdy'' Brown -- he was massive in the second semi -- has given the 1990 boys a three-point lead at the first change. Impressive bloke Brown, looks like the sort of bloke capable of become a fine reserves coach one day. Could have been more if it hadn't been for that magnificent diving smother from Heath Shaw ...
1990: Oh, and it's on! We have a brawl. And Brown's on the turf! Craig Kelly and "Pants'' Millane are not happy. They're taking issue with big Leroy Brown. Nick Maxwell's having plenty to say. So is Shane Morwood.
2010: Oh, look at this! There's another spot fire over near the bench. We've got trainers involved. Michael Malthouse is coming over now, he's pointing and giving them a gob full. That looks like one of Channel 7's boundary riders, Bernie Quinlan, in there restoring the peace.
HALFTIME
1990: And the old timers have opened up a bit of a lead. Running goals from Gav Crosisca and Starca. Another after a great tackle by Scotty Russell.
2010: Yeah, but what about if Trav Cloke had kicked straight? Three points and an out-on-the-full. So frustrating. Hope it doesn't cost us.
THREE-QUARTER TIME
2010: Big quarter from the boys. That's the Arizona altitude training paying off.
1990: True, but we definitely got a lift when Rowdy came back on. So courageous. Did you hear the crowd's roar? And his pressure in the forward line created a goal for us.
2010: If it's forward pressure you're after, what about Daisy Thomas? He's had eight tackles. Always comes to play in the big games. Inspirational.
1990: Want inspiration? What about Daics? Another freak goal from the Macedonian Marvel. I reckon we've got the guts to get us across the line. Just look at how well "Pants'' is going, even with his busted thumb. Now that's guts.
2010: Only Listen to that chant: Coll-ing-wood, Coll-ing-wood.
FINAL QUARTER
1990: Less than four minutes to go, and the tension is unbearable. The 1990 boys are five points up, but can they do it? Break the drought, shut up the critics and bury the Colliwobbles once and for all?
2010: Don't underestimate this 2010 group. They don't know how to give up.
1990: Even the coaches are feeling it. There's Leigh Matthews making his way down to the boundary.
2010: Long kick to half-forward ... Great mark to Maxwell. What a skipper. He plays that role to perfection. On to Didak, to Sidebottom.
1990: Who's on Macaffer? Pick him up!
2010: Sidebottom to Macaffer, who kicks long to the top of the square. Heath Shaw flies. Almost. Got hands to it. Spills out the back. Cloke has kicked a goal! They're back in front!
1990: I can't watch. This can't happen again. 1966, 1970, 77, 79 ...
2010: Not to mention 2002 and 2003.
1990: There's still time. The ball spills clear, Mick McGuane, belts it long, will it fall to Tony Francis? It's just out of his reach. It's a point. Scores are level!
2010: There's the siren. It's a draw!!
1990: Looks like we'll back on the first Saturday in October.
It was with great pleasure to speak at the Lions Club of Altona about Collingwood and Epilepsy. A great meal and great night had by all. Outside Festival Hall 16/5/11 Lional Rose Funeral. Hilary The Magpie SIX days off the plane, English poet and BBC broadcaster-turned-musical writer Hilary Elfick gets to try on a jacket they don't sell at Harrods.
Elfick has adapted Shakespeare and written 10 books of poems, but is now crafting a stage musical and a volume of poetry about Collingwood - the suburb and the club.
Yesterday, she made friends with the strangest tribe in town and had the perfect guide.
Before she could blink, Jeff "Joffa" Corfe had given her the "Game Over" gold jacket and put her in front of the march to the 'G.
It is her first time at the footy and in less than four hours, she is rocking in her MCG seat nervously, screaming despite herself, and almost swooning over a Didak goal. "I don't usually shout," she apologises much too politely for anyone in a Ponsford Stand seat 15 along from the Magpies cheer squad.
"That was beautiful," she gushes as Chris Dawes grabs a mark against the post then slots a major.
Elfick is getting used to being asked whether the musical is a joke, but has three volumes of research done, and several songs.
She says the secret to writing is what you leave out and that Joffa will probably get a guernsey in the musical, but nothing flash.
And at the 'G she passes on a pie and a beer because she has to compose a poem about Anzac Day and Collingwood later.
But as the Pies get home, she sings the Collingwood song with gusto.
ANZAC DAY AT THE 'G 2011 - HILARY ALFICK
Gallipoli. France. Kokoda. A cold dawn. Players among the young who joined up for a bit of excitement. Poor exchange for the hard-baked earth, the mud they found, a jungle's spiteful stings. A world gone mad.
Men who played by Aussie Rules came back mad, blind, without their legs or hands if they came back at all. I was born to the sound of Nazi planes and bombs, in darkness now forgotten
in a joy of cheering. For today I marched singing with the Magpie Army here to this oval field of play, vast and green, to mark loss; to remember. Malthouse's last Anzac. My first. First Magpie game.
And this year it is Easter. The bugle, and the Last Post sounds before Reveille, at the Shrine, now at the G. And then the soldiers leave. I'm Level 1, right by the cheer squad,
waves of voice like breakers on the shore - and here they come, bolts of energy that twist and duck and leap, stab-kick and stretch to send the Sherrin soaring high above our heads. Magpies and Bombers
black and white and red, now marking, now colliding head to head and hip to hip, now side by side, and now confronting, feet thudding like steers across a prairie stripped of bush and tree; only the eight posts
for target, and the high ranks of spectators to scream to the tune of Dolly Grey, new words etched in sore throats, a tribal cry and tribal fire to make men race, to stretch, to power a winning kick, a winning run.
And now it's my voice screaming, YES! and NO and Go Harry! Wow Didak! - my life is marked; I caught the bug. An Anzac game, but like a Final. Just the day to march, remember, and, above all, to play.
(C) Hilary Elfick
These Magpies legends will no doubt be included in the musical. Source: Herald Sun
COLLINGWOOD is on song, or soon will be, with Magpies - The Musical well under way.
And Pies fans, whose usual idea of poetry is a Heath Shaw tackle, will be able to buy, borrow or steal a companion book of black and white verse, too.
English poet and BBC broadcaster Hillary Elfick has never been to an Aussie rules game, but says the Pies, and their fans, are a phenomenon.
"I don't believe it's a religion, but it's certainly a tribe," she says.
"There's nothing like it."
What great Collingwood moments must be included? Tell us below
Religion won't be entirely overlooked, with Pie-eyed priest Fr Bob Maguire on her to-do list when she arrives here next week to immerse herself in the club.
The other McGuire, Eddie, has been courted, and Joffa, but that doesn't mean they'll be written into the play. Ms Elfick says the art is what, and who, you leave out.
The Pies are no strangers to the big screen. David Williamson's The Club is a cult classic and Joffa - The Movie hit the big screen, albeit briefly, last year.
Ms Elfick's boots-and-all epic will cover 170 years of Collingwood, the suburb - from its Irish convict heritage to the war-time women who made footballs and army boots there.
It will build up to the present, the point, broadly, to solve one of Melbourne life's big mysteries - just what is it with Pies fans?
"To a poet's mind, there is something different about the players and supporters," Ms Elfick says.
"That's precisely why I'm doing it. It's no good my writing poems that have already been written."
Ms Elfick has written 10 books of poetry and adapted Shakespeare. So it should be more than a bogan opus, though she says "Dancing in boots? What's wrong with that?"
There will be eight songs about the Pies, and present players might be written in.
"I'm not going to tell you. That part of it is tightly under wraps," she says, which sounds like a yes.
Work started five months ago when a Canberra friend, turned collaborator, Bill D'Arcy began to brainwash her in black and white.
The title isn't set but it will include the word Magpie.
Ms Elfick knows to call the MCG "The G" but there are gaps in her knowledge. Unlike other Pies fans, for instance, she hasn't heard about the Colliwobbles.
She is hoping to plug the gaps by plunging into the outer on Anzac Day and is looking for an MCG minder to explain the Magpie frenzy, and somewhere to stay.
"And I need an interpreter. That's precisely what I need in Melbourne," she said.
COLLINGWOOD cheer squad identity Joffa Corfe is swapping his famous gold jacket for a purple one for Saturday night's Melbourne Storm home clash against Gold Coast Titans -- all for a good cause.
Joffa and Storm front rower Adam Blair are supporting Epilepsy Awareness Week (March 19-26), which culminates in Purple Day on March 26.
Joffa, whose daughter Emma has epilepsy, said: "Love me or loathe me, we're going to tell you about epilepsy -- that it's OK to have epilepsy, and that everyone should know seizure first aid. If I can make a difference to one person's life, then I'm going to do everything I can to make that difference."
Blair, whose partner Jess Bishop has epilepsy, is a proud ambassador of the Epilepsy Foundation.
"Jess and I just want to help the Epilepsy Foundation do whatever we can to bring epilepsy to the attention of the community," said Blair, who plays his 100th game at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Adam and Joffa want everyone to take the Epilepsy Smart Quiz (go to www.epilepsysmart.org.au) and become seizure smart .
Epilepsy Foundation volunteers will shake cans on the AAMI Park concourse on Saturday.
NAB Cup carnival time comes to Blacktown
IT WAS a carnival-like atmosphere as the AFL officially came to Western Sydney with the Greater Western Sydney, Gold Coast and Sydney Swans triple-header in the first round of the NAB Cup at Blacktown Olympic Park.
Before the match, kids got their faces painted, dueled each other with ear-shattering thundersticks and lined up for player autographs. Many of their parents signed up as Giants' members. Earlier, young GWS players strode through the gates largely unnoticed by fans waiting to get in, but high-profile recruit Israel Folau was impossible to ignore.
The most popular player on the night, he posed for fans and signed autographs as Giants assistant coach Mark Williams tried to get a friend in for free, unsuccessfully attempting to talk his way past security at the front gate.
Families sat together on blankets on the grassed hills and on fold-out chairs along the picket fence.
The friendly banter between rival supporters started flying on the shuttle bus from Doonside station, where many picked up Hawaiian leis being handed out to promote a TV show, and continued for the rest of the night.
When the Swans kicked the first goal of the match against the Giants, three brave Swans fans stood up in front of the Giants cheer squad gathered under the scoreboard and taunted them.
GWS cheer squad leader Peter has vowed to become "the Joffa of Greater Western Sydney" and is working on a jacket he claims will make his Collingwood counterpart blush. Judging by the sea of red, most of the crowd was Swans supporters. Some were Gold Coast fans but not many. However there was one thing that united all supporters on the night: a shared hatred of Collingwood.
Well not suprising they've pinched everything else, So why not pinch other peoples ideas!
IT is only February, but football fever has arrived early in Victoria with three of the game's biggest rivalries colliding in Melbourne.
Arch-rivals Collingwood, Carlton and Richmond played off in a historic triple-header at Etihad Stadium that meant as much about the return of footy to fans as the first round of the NAB Cup pre-season tournament.
Three sets of fans decked out in black, white, blue and yellow cheered on their teams at Etihad Stadium as the arch-rivals clashed in the revamped format pitting teams against each other in two 20-minute halves.
The new-look pre-season tournament courted its fair share of controversy as fans reacted to new trial rules, including a contentious out-of-bounds rule.
But after a terrible sporting summer that saw Australia lose the Ashes to England and local hopes bundled out of the Australian Open in early rounds, fans were happy to have footy back in town.
But Collingwood's most famous supporter, Jeff "Joffa" Corfe, had mixed feelings about football's return.
"It's good to have it back because it gives us all something to do," Corfe said. "But it means we have to stop celebrating the premiership.
"At the end of the day we have to remember it's February and summer and the Grand Final will be in October, so we've got a long, long way to go."
Tigers fan Adam White said he was more interested in gauging his team's early form than the revamped competition.
"It's good just to be going to the footy and seeing the yellow and black again," he said.
Blues fan Barbara Johnston had high hopes for Carlton, despite captain Chris Judd being rested last night.
"It doesn't matter if it's the NAB Cup or the Grand Final, you always want your team to win," Ms Johnston said.
Tigers fan Anthony Lindsay, of Preston, approved of the round robin-style game, but said other tweaks in the rules were unnecessary.
"They keep tinkering with the rules - what for?" Mr Lindsay said. "I don't hate the changes, but I don't think they are needed."
Morgan Sutherland, 15, of Cranbourne, had three club logos painted on her face to mark the historic clash.
"My sister goes for Richmond, so I'll support her team when Carlton isn't playing," Morgan said.
Melbourne coach Dean Bailey demanded an instant end to the trial out-of-bounds rule that awards a free kick against the last team to touch the ball before it goes over the line.
The law sparked confusion on Friday night, including in Melbourne's win against Adelaide, with umpire interpretations about the contentious rule confounding fans.
Hawthorn, West Coast and Fremantle will play a triple-header at Subiaco Oval from 7.45 tonight.
Carlton hosts a family day at VISY Park from 11am to 2pm today.
JEFF Corfe, or “Joffa” as he is better known, summed up his first outing with East Coburg Cricket Club in one word: “Sensational”.
The gold jacket-wearing Collingwood fanatic made 12 for East in its Moreland Moonee Valley Cricket Association Fourth XI clash with St Francis de Sales at Jackson Reserve last Saturday.
He was happy with his form, too. “Mate, I was sensational,” he modestly said.
“We got a win, it was fantastic.
“They tried to sledge me and do all that, but then I worked out that I was a member of the most feared cricket side in the northern suburbs.”
Joffa said he had played a key role in East’s eventual win.
“When I came in the side was in a little bit of a collapse,” he said.
“So I came in and steadied the ship.
“I hit two fours, and they were beautiful fours, and four or five singles.
“Then I was given out by the referee when I reckon there were question marks. He must have been a Carlton supporter I reckon, but rather than argue the toss I just waved the bat at him and walked off.”
“Joffa” had earlier drawn the ire of the umpire when he trudged out to the pitch wearing what he calls “the people’s jacket”.
The umpire ordered the glitzy jacket be removed instantly.
The famous apparel reappeared later though, when East was assured victory.
Club president George Georgiou pulled it on and, according to “Joffa”, “The whole suburb of Coburg lit up”.
“Joffa” said his skills in the outfield were noteworthy and may have cost him a bowl.
“I was sensational in the outfield, poetry in motion really,” he said.
“Joffa” said the St Francis de Sales players had sledged him but added, “I can’t quote any of those sledges to you, you would get the sack.”
“It was all a bit of fun ... and great to not walk off with a fat lip or black eye, but everyone has a drink and are mates.”
COLLINGWOOD'S legendary fan "Joffa" Corfe has called on the AFL to donate "every cent" it made from last year's AFL Grand Final replay to Queensland's flood victims.
The leader of the Magpie Army said the AFL would win a lot of public relations points by handing the estimated $15million it made from the Collingwood-St Kilda replay directly to Queenslanders affected by floodwaters.
"The AFL has always been good at public relations disasters. This is the time for them to turn it all around," Joffa said.
"They'll get more than $1billion when the new television rights are negotiated this year, so the money from the replay should be immediately given to the appeal." The AFL is already on record as saying the new five-year deal could exceed $1billion, more than $200million up on the $780million that was paid in 2007.
"The AFL controls the biggest football code in Australia and will know the people up north in Queensland are suffering very badly from these floods," Joffa said. "And did I hear the AFL say they wanted to push the game into the northern states in a big way?
"What better way to win some points than to give the flood victims every cent from the replay - and that was in the millions."
Talk of an exhibition or practice match in Melbourne, with all the gate takings directed to the flood appeal, will not wash with the staunch Magpies fan.
"Let's be serious here. They might get 15,000 fans to a practice match and make a bit of money out of that, but it's not good enough," Joffa said. "Everyone wants Aussie Rules to put their hands up in this situation and the AFL can lead from the front by giving the replay money to those unfortunate people in our north.
"This is one of the biggest disasters this country has had to face it's very hard to comprehend what has happened up there.
"So surely the AFL can make a difference by giving the people of Queensland the money they got from the replay so they can get on with rebuilding their lives."
AFL coach Kevin Sheedy would not individualise on where the AFL's money would come from. But he said the game's ruling body now had a big opportunity to make a difference.
"It's when and how they make an impact that will be important," Sheedy said.
Collingwood's cheer squad leader "Joffa" Corfe wants the takings of the AFL grand final rematch donated to the Queensland flood appeal
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