A nation of battlers, a well-worn platitude but well-earned nonetheless.

The she'll-be-right attitude has carried Australia through war years, through stretches of drought. Through fire and flood.

The response to the Black Saturday Victorian bushfires was a testament to the optimism that a people can rebound from devastation on the back of hope.

Yet optimism has been in scarce supply of late as the world finds itself in uncertain waters, from matters economic through to climate change concerns.

So it was heartwarming yesterday to see a true display of Australian optimism played out in a uniquely Australian game: the AFL grand final.

Its origins ride on the back of that most optimistic of periods, the goldrush.

It is a game that celebrates the rights of the common man; no umpire can send a player off the field, ergo here was a class of people unwilling to bend to the whims of a ruling class. It is a game that gives its players almost unfettered opportunities to move the ball ever-forward towards the goal.

The last Saturday in September remains for many Australians a ritual so powerful it contains almost religious overtones.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times