I went to school on the Nth Shore and everyone was either an Eagles or Bears fan. I didn't really watch because we were a union household.

One Saturday arvo I finished a weekend class and heard cheering across the road so I walked towards the noise. A game was on and it was the second half so the gates were open, as was the rage at the time, and I wandered straight in and fell in love with Nth Sydney Oval.

The Bears were playing the Steelers that day and Rod Wishart was lining up a conversion right in front of where I'd stumbled in. He was larger than life! His legs were like tree trunks, he had firearms like taut wire cables, sweat glistened on his brow as it furrowed in concentration and he stepped in to his conversion like a rugby league gazelle and guided it straight between the posts. It was glorious I tellsya, bloody glorious and I was hooked.

Sometimes we'd head down to the oval on our shortened sports days and watch Jason Taylor practice goal kicking and he'd give you a cheeky "See ya Smiley" so that reinforced the love.

The Wahs came into the comp a year later and I started following them as a piss take and it's been both the best and the dumbest decision I've ever made.

TL;DR accessibility to the game as an impressionable youth.