Grand Final Week

Ellie and Luke had their ear plugs in and portable TVs on before I had pulled out of the driveway,  Monday morning, grand final week.  High School Musical.  I attempted conversation. So, who’s going to win the grand final? Geelong, said Luke, 8. Collingwood, said Ellie, 10. Why? Dunno. Dunno. What about the Brownlow?  Judd. [Read more]

Climbing to the top of the mountain

When James Podsiadly was stretchered off the MCG half way through the second quarter of this year’s Grand Final, Collingwood kicked a goal to increase their lead over Geelong to three goals. I thought Geelong was almost gone.  Almost.  Collingwood’s midfield was on top, their backline was running in waves and there was a man [Read more]

Premiership Celebrations

“Crawshay and Taggart: that famous firm of party convenors.” As captured on Channel 10 broadcast.

Fearless: Here endeth the season! There can be only one…

  Grand Final: COLLINGWOOD V GEELONG MCG Saturday Afternoon by Paul Thomson Whilst the AFL heavies determined whether to leave the Meatloaf out in the rain, the rest of us were hoping that maybe the words of 70s classic ‘Macarthur Park’ would inspire action. True to form Meatloaf, imitated the cake and went off in the [Read more]

The Footygods: Philoctetes

  by Ian Latham Philoctetes was a warrior with a wounded foot. He was in such pain that the greeks left him out of the army with which they intended to attackTroy. Abandoned and suffering on the island of Lemnos, he waited until Heracles finally arrived to command him onwards to Troy.  And there of [Read more]

2011 Grand final day diary: Neutrality is Bliss (and Mums know best)

by Saintly The Hawks are gone for 2011 so I just want to see some good footy and have ale or two with my mates!  Here’s my account, a diary if you will. This is the first Saturday in October for the second year in a row that the Holy Grail may be decided.  So [Read more]

Post GF Floreat Pica thoughts

In hindsight, I’m not sure that the strategy to kick it long to thegeelongdefender was such a great strategy – just a thought. Go Pies, 2012, PS How bad was the ch 10 commentary?   Two injured players cost us big time!! The worst game Reid has ever played!!   Who would have replaced him. [Read more]

The Men from Sleepy Hollow

   by Rhys Howells There is nothing so euphoric when you barrack for Geelong And the team from Sleepy Hollow is on fire They have joined the champs eternal – they can surely do no wrong When they’ve roasted magpies on the funeral pyre. And all the mighty players wearing hoops of blue and white [Read more]

the damp Sherrin

    grand final dawn a bit of tightness in my hammys     low cloud Cloke’s long drop punt splits the ‘G in half     even on this day Stevie J reminds us the ‘G is a playing field     half-time at the pub another round of texting     lights on [Read more]

A short history of Geelong

The narrow yet convincing triumph over the Magpie juggernaut in round 8 instilled a belief in Cats fans that Collingwood could do a ‘Devon Loch’. Geelong’s final round devouring of the Pies was surely make-believe. Watching it in Galle, Sri Lanka, I thought it was a fix. And I reckon this anomalous result muddied pre-Grand [Read more]

Geelong ninth best team of all time

GEELONG is the ninth best side ever according to one email floating around Melbourne. Geelong defeated Collingwood on Saturday to win their third flag in five years. Geelong would be the second best side of the AFL era thus far (1990-2011), with promises of more to come with the likes of Dan Menzel, Nathan Vardy [Read more]

Knowing the Unknowable

  by Sam Steele Twenty minute mark of the 3rd Quarter.  Collingwood is five points ahead.  I sense they’re going the better. I used to refer to it as the D’Amico Moment, but over the years have renamed it (more chastely) the Matera Moment, the Ellen Moment and the Dew Moment. Here was my big [Read more]

The GF, not quite Doggie or Qld style

  by Mick Jeffrey What a week it has been in football was the opening line to many a Footy Show when a certain president oversaw the Melbourne ratings phenomena. For me it proved there certainly was a first time for everything as this was my first true Grand Final experience from inside the MCG. [Read more]

The Chorus and the Agon: The Blue and White Chorus Played a Role

  by Stephen Alomes   At most footy matches, cries of “Ball!”, exclamations about free kicks rightly or wrongly awarded and even Bronx cheers for ‘richly deserved’ points (rather than goals) don’t add up to very much.   They allow us to get things off our chests and to play to the peanut gallery, usually [Read more]

The sweetest one of all

  by Marcus Holt I’ve lived in exile in WA since I was 12 but my love for Geelong has never waned. I got a ticket to the 07 Grand Final by Divine intervention. In 08 my number came up in the ballot but I sent my son, The Heir, in my place. In 09 [Read more]

Collingwood v Geelong Grand Final: 01/10/11 – Kathmandu, Nepal

By Evan Davies Forty-five minutes to the first bounce. 45 (Cameron Ling) minutes to get from one side of Kathmandu to the other.  Kathmandu is not a big city, so the distance itself should not be an issue.  Kathmandu is, however, a busy, dense and congested city. A city with the population of Melbourne in [Read more]

Geelong put Collingwood right in their box, win third in five years

My mate Duncan and I decided to skip the pre-match Meat Loaf in favour of a Parma and a couple pints at the James Squire Alehouse in keeping with the routine we followed last Grand Final I attended in 2007. First though it was a quick detour to Swanston Street to buy a cheap pair of [Read more]

A Players Victory

Geelong and Collingwood. A classic case of starting from a similar spot and ending up in very different places. Two communities who in their own ways felt wronged. Who sought approval from others to compensate for a sense of inferiority. Who burned at ambitions thwarted. Two football clubs who came to represent a means of [Read more]

Grand Finals Pt.3: So This Is Christmas…

It’s 11 am, Saturday morning, the Coodabeens are on the radio. I’ve just got back from cutting a load of wood, and am bouncing off home, getting ready, up here, on the mountain, for the AFL Grand Final, as millions do. Last night I went around to Roland’s pile of corrugated tin he calls a [Read more]

Footy Symmetry

Shortly after Geelong beat Collingwood in R 24 i commented on  a posting, reminiscing back to 1980, my focus being on the First Division of the VFA. That year Coburg finished top of the ladder losing only 2 home and away games, not too dissimilar to Collingwood in the 2011 AFL season. I drew an anology [Read more]