View From Palm Cove: Queensland setting inspires dreams of Lions surge despite loss to Bulldogs

Still at Palm Cove, what a great place, have been spurred to ask why anyone would want to live in cold old drought-stricken South Eastern Australia when one could be living up here. Unfortunately there is the small issue of finances …

Meanwhile, in the real world, or at least that inhabited by AFL tragics, I hear that Essendon got over the line against St Kilda. Unfortunately, as much as I love this place the resort at which my wife and I are staying is the only one in Queensland without Foxtel so that I am at the tender mercies of the free-to-air networks. A bloke who is  obviously much more techno savvy than me is sitting at the table next  to ours with his, lovely wife and two beautiful well behaved toddler girls. He is operating his Blackberry or some such and says excitedly to his wife: “The Saints are tanking, Essendon are ahead”.

Turns out that he is a Carlton supporter who doesn’t want to know the score at his game but keeps being  emailed by his mates. He wants to savour the joy or suffer the horror on Foxtel (lucky devil) a couple of hours later. That’s the thing about sports followers: an instant camaraderie can formed. This is something that non-sports followers don’t understand.

We go our separate ways with me saying, without much conviction it must be said, that Brisbane or Adelaide could yet be dark horses, or more likely, and this is said with conviction, Collingwood could be the ones. My new best friend somewhat sadly, I think, concurs.

So Essendon won, Jobe Watson was the standout player and Dustin Fletcher got one from 70 metres out. Well, good luck to them. The fact of their win was confirmed when my son-in-law, a died in the wool Bombers supporter, rang me from Shepparton to gloat. Don’t blame him either.  Riewoldt was yet another who missed a critical shot for goal. Have to ask yet again how it is that in the NRL, at least at State of Origin level, those with the task of converting tries are able to do so most of the time, indeed at club level El-Masri does so nearly all of the time. Surely elite AFL players should be able to develop their goalkicking skills so that they too are accurate most of the time.

Michael Voss was cranky with our mob but the truth was that most of the time they were completely outplayed, so much so that any pre conceived plan would have been hard to adhere to. I did however harbour high hopes in the last quarter but Aker fixed that. In terms of that, I heard the rather sensible comment regarding Brisbane supporters’ attitude (including mine) towards him, “doesn’t three premierships mean anything”? I think that it does and good luck to him for making good with the Bulldogs. It was a really good game to watch. Again Bradshaw, though slowly on the improve, missed goals that he should have snaffled.

Adelaide gave Hawthorn 5 goals start and won. Would love to have either viewed or listened to that game. I remembered ABC streaming about 5 minutes after the finish. So much though for my writing them off, not for the first time, last week. It was fantastic that Hentschel had a good game.

Ablett proved that he can play a bit. Really wanted Sydney to get up particularly for Goodes 250th. Wasn’t to be.

Once again would hate to be either a Richmond or Freo supporter, those teams are so hopeless, Freo in particular just after I had written them up after their win against Port Adelaide (Port what)? That reminds me, add the Powerless to the list of the hopeless. Great win by Carlton but they too run hot and cold, can’t really see them being a finals threat. This view probably means that they will be.

On another planet, the Eagles beat North Melbourne.

What this round proved was that past results mean nothing, it is how you play today that really counts. Thus it would be a brave man to put his house on the result. That gives me an idea: Brisbane’s odds would have lengthened a bit. If I can get my wife to agree I might just put a little something on Brisbane to aid our permanent move to Palm Cove.

About Peter Schumacher

Wannabe footy commentator and writer, used to be a wannabe footballer

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