Photos by Yvette Wroby.
The time-honoured Footy Almanac Grand Final Eve Lunch [which is a fully constituted meeting of the Almanac community] consumed the entire afternoon and a fair bit of the night a the Royal Melbourne Hotel, in Bourke Street, last Friday. There were lots of people in attendance. They came from all over Australia.
JTH tried to keep a semblance of order as the lunchers struggled with their thirst in the October sunshine (what perfect weather!)
Conversation was scintillating.
With any luck, the weather will be just as perfect next year…
Isaac Smith’s Dad and Matt Suckling’s Dad were simply magnificent.
It’s always good to see the world’s third best Chinese footballer lob to the lunch. Sam and JTH killed – again!
There are many things that Mr Sam Pang has been called before. A one-club player isn’t one of them…here he is on team 4 of his 13-team career.
Thanks to all of the speakers:
Matt Quartermaine
Anson Cameron
Mark Pennings
Rod Gillett and David Honeybun
The Weathermen: BD Dutschke (commercial), E. Regnans (official)
Wayne Smith and Barry Suckling
3G – Sam Pang, the third greatest Chinese footballer of all time
And, finally, Zig
Huge thanks to Ned Wilson who is a logistics genius. Thanks to Nick and Kellie at the Royal Melbourne – who make it so easy for us.
And, finally, congratulations to Gigs, who took out the Tip the Top 8 comp, after an exciting count beating Vonnie Hutchins and Peter Fuller. (Make sure you get your Top 8 in before the start of the 2016 season. Stay tuned.)
See you at the Gideon Haigh dinner on Oct 14 [DETAILS HERE].
See you at the Almanac Melbourne Cup Eve Lunch at the Royal Melbourne on Nov 2 as we try to nail the Cup trifecta.
Get yourself a 2016 MEMBERSHIP.
And a copy of our new publication Long Bombs to Snake. [WHAT IS IT?]
Let’s do this again next year!
[Give us your Brownlow votes for the lunch – any element of the lunch is eligible. Could be a performance from a reveller. A speaker. The potato bake. Anything.]
I fondly remember the day TG met 3G, as he randomly introduced JTH and me to Deadly Derek Underwood who was wandering the same bar as us. Sam then took us to an authentic Chinese restaurant somewhere, which was packed out at about 11 pm. He’s a funny bloke and I would someday like to meet up with him again.
My Brownlow votes for the lunch:
3 – J. Harms for maintaining order in chaos
2 – S. Pang for injecting chaos into the order
1 – A. Cameron for a ripping tale of his Mum and the Cisco Kid (only at the Almanac)
The beer was cold, the bar staff were attentive, the food was good. Great afternoon/night.
3 votes – YVETTE (for her saintly regalia);
2 votes – BULLDOGS supporter wearing the Gary Dempsey T
1 vote – PETER FULLER (jacket AND tie!)
So sorry I missed another GF lunch – looked like an absolute belter. Next year, front and centre!
The Dempsey wearer was probably Gigs, well done on your tipping win too fella. The new improved Dempsey is available here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/4boat/collections/384146-footy-enigmas in all sizes from small baby to small tent.
3. Ned Wilson (no explanation necessary).
2. David Wilson (I got lucky drawing him and Andrew Fithall on either side of me).
1. Jennifer Muirden (wonderful to meet you, Jen).
3. Whoever compiled the SANFL 70s highlights on the big screen
2. The Cisco Kid
1. The Airport Economist
Yes, Gigs was in Dempsey, I was in Grenville
3. Sam Pang’s Dad.
2. Anson Cameron’s Cisco Kid yarn (and for the way he grinds out an F-bomb)
1. Glenelg v Norwood on the big screen.