Koustas inspires Hawks to famous win

James Willoughby reports about a new cult figure down Hawthorn way.

Head along to an AFL game on the weekend, and you will see the fans packed to the rafters enjoying the game.

There are several types of supporters going around. Firstly you have your occasional fan, who maybe goes to a couple of games a year. Then there are the true fans, who turn up to all the games and support their side – win, lose or draw. The third bracket of supporters take it to the extreme, getting to all home games and some of the away ones, all the games with their VFL affiliate club, trainings and all the social events – to put it simply they are the ‘diehard’ fans.

Collingwood might have their Joffa, but Hawthorn have their own cult figure.

Meet Arthur Koustas.

Koustas, a 36 year old Hawthorn nut has been following the Glenferrie boys since 1979, when he attended his first game at the age of 10. Since then, Koustas estimates he has seen over 500 games, with his highlight being the 1989 Grand Final when Hawthorn hang on to defeat Geelong by 6 points, on the last day in September.

His favourite player to watch was Michael Tuck, while the best player he has ever seen is current Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews. Koustas, has also been a regular down at Box Hill ever since the commencement of their affiliation with Hawthorn in the VFL, missing just 5 games since 2001. With games being played in Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Tasmania on occasions, this is no mean feat.

On match days, Koustas sits behind the goals and forms part of the group known as the Greeks behind the Goals, or the GBG for short. He also manages to take time away from his busy schedule as a professional DJ, and attend several training sessions throughout the year.

Koustas’ following started on Hawthorn’s un-official forum Hawk Headquarters, where he became known for his fanatical support and trade mark comment “What a Victory!”.

As Hawthorn and Box Hill supporters began to familiarize themselves with Koustas, his cult figure status continued to rise and with a crunch match against arch-rivals Essendon coming up, Koustas decided he would so something special.

He decided to hire $240 worth of DJ equipment including a DJ mixing console, 2 x 300 watt speakers and a generator to blast the players with an inspirational 80 minute music session to fire them up for the big game against the Bombers.

The 80 minute set included such hits as Eye of the Tiger, YMCA, Hot Stuff and Born to Be Alive.

Koustas positioned himself on the Linda Crescent footpath just outside the ground, and despite a complaint against the noise level the police decided not to disturb this unique and motivational event.

Hawthorn’s Greek star Angelo Lekkas was quick to praise the man who organized it all “The players loved it, Koustas is fanatical about the club – he just loves it”.

Hawthorn’s prolific midfielder Shane Crawford was spotted doing the ‘YMCA’ as he completed a training drill, showing how much the players enjoyed the music.

However, Koustas didn’t just stop at the music and made 2 inspirational banners which were placed around the training track saying “9 years… It’s time” in relation to the fact that it was 9 years since they defeated Essendon, whilst the other one said “no spoon”.

Koustas’ inspiration worked a treat and Hawthorn triumphed over Essendon, getting over the line by 13 points in a famous win for the boys from Glenferrie. As the last quarter came to a close if you looked behind the Hawthorn goals, a banner was held up saying “What a Victory!”

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!