Essendon fan gets the same old feeling

by Rod Oaten I guess it started some 15 years ago as a Da/Father/Son day but Da gave up about 5 years ago due to age, he is now over 92, and stays in his aged care facility in Northcote and listens on the radio. Family days at the footy have always been important to [Read more]

Pies Fans

by John Harms Whenever I sit in the vicinity of the Collingwood Cheer Squad, I am reminded of the Sermon on the Mount. I look at the array in black and white around me, and I see lives lived tough. “Blessed are the Collingwood fans,” I think to myself. Only I’m not sure what they [Read more]

Cats Play Keepings Off in the Cold

by Dan Lonergan When Brisbane won those three flags in a row, they relished playing anywhere including what had previously been one of their least happy hunting grounds, Kardinia Park. They smashed Geelong there in 2001 and 2002 on their way to premierships and it was a case of men against boys in those two [Read more]

Five Extraordinary Minutes

by Adrian Vitez While driving to the MCG this ANZAC Day, I was struck by a comment made by the ABC’s Gerard Whately on the radio. In the midst of debate about whether Essendon and Collingwood deserve ANZAC day to themselves, he made the salient observation that to have the honour of playing on such [Read more]

Mark Coughlan: Game 84, Number 24.

by Chris Riches Sixteen possessions, five marks, five tackles. Not a bad night’s work for someone playing their first game for the season, and for a 27-year-old returning from a series of debilitating injuries it is a more than encouraging display. Yet Mark Coughlan looks uncomfortable.Richmond players and officials leaving Etihad Stadium after the side’s [Read more]

The Saints show they are the real deal after smashing Port

by Josh Barnstable I remember the Preliminary Final in 2004 when these two teams played at this venue. The Power got home by 6 points, robbing St Kilda of a Grand Final place. That was a classic ‘finals match’. And tonight has that feel again. The Power, 3 wins and 1 loss so far in [Read more]

A Stats-free, Sabbath-left-overs, Richmond Sort of Night

by Jason Feldman Since 2003 I have had the fortune of being paid to watch footy. I am a stats man for Champion Data. It’s not a bad gig; we get the best seats in the house, munch down on free party pies at half time and get to share the two man urinal with [Read more]

The Bulldogs and that Other Side

by Andrew Gigacz Q. Why didn’t the athiest chicken cross the road? A. Because it didn’t believe in the other side.   At this time of year, it’s hard not to think about what lies on the other side. As we commemorate ANZAC Day and the leaves fall from the trees, thoughts turn to what [Read more]

People, Places and Footy on ANZAC Day

by Andrew Starkie North Melbourne versus Richmond 7.20pm, Saturday, April 25, Etihad Stadium This is primarily a match report for the North versus Richmond game, however, I do want to share some observations from earlier on ANZAC Day. Earlier in the day… A small group gathered around the cenotaph for the dawn service at Reservoir [Read more]

More than a Kick on ANZAC Day

by Sean Gorman I began a conversation with my seven year old son two years ago. That conversation continued yesterday when he played in one of the little league games as part of the half time action at the MCG on ANZAC day. It was the way the conversation started when he was five that [Read more]

Floreat Pica Society Round 5 Debacle

by Mark O’Connell (with Timothy O’Leary’s Danny Roach Medal votes following) Preamble I like, so many thousands of others, left the MCG wondering how we lost and why we put ourselves through such misery time and time again. However, I have a painful duty to perform so I will to review the game as dispassionately [Read more]