Almanac Footy: September Songs

 

Days grow short when you reach September
One hasn’t got time for the waiting game

 

Mr Sinatra may not have known a whole heap about Australian Rules but he’s bang on when he sings about September footy. That’s what the song is about, yeah?

 

And man alive, this season’s first weekend of footy finals didn’t disappoint. Unless yer a Blues, Doggies or Port fan. Then it sucked the big one. Those teams were more in tune with Green Day and waking up when September ends. Talk about taking lyrics a little too literally and during their games!

 

But as AFL seasons go, this September is pumping. No, I’m not just saying that because the mighty fledgling Hawks are taking things up a notch. Their game was a ripper wasn’t it.

 

Last Thursday night in old Adelaide town the Cats reminded one and all (especially, the team that contends the opposition will never, ahem, “tear us apart”) that they can tear any team apart. They were stunning. OMG, like Nicholson’s character in ‘The Shining’, they just crashed through. The best finals team of the last 20 years.

 

Putting the fear of the gods into other finalists, the team with the oldest playing list ran their hearts and legs like energiser bunny batteries for 120 minutes non-stop. Their game is skilful and exciting, moving the ball fluidly out into the corridor, across the ground, down the centre, and through the big sticks. Eleven goals to one after half time. The Cats sheer power snuffed out Port’s (don’t do it Rick), er, power.

 

Then, there’s the Blues. Aristotle noted that the ideal man bears his accidents with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances, and I reckon Voss thought about Ari’s advice for a nanosecond before giving his team the spray of a lifetime at halftime following their dismal 60 minute no-show, non-contact footy. They did play better in the second half, but it may as well have been junk time.

 

It has been more than 5 years since the Hawks graced the G on a Friday night. And 98,000 people came to pay their respects. The biggest Elimination Final crowd like ever. The Hawks did not disappoint. Our young ‘uns split the middle again and again from a range of angles, with Dear and the Wiz, at the ripe old age of 19 showing up the Dogs more fancied forwards.

 

The Hawks, led by the mercurial Newcombe and a Sis & Scrim barricaded backline, piled on 9 goals to 2 including six in a row through the middle of the game. Meanwhile Dogs coach Beveridge parked Brownlow fave, the Bont on the bench or down in the forward line a long way from the ball. Will it go down as one of the more injudicious tactics employed to win a game? Or will people simply say, WTF Bevo, get a grip.

 

Three of the four finals were played at night, the timeslot that literally prints money for the AFL and advertisers but guess what. The standout game of the round was played at the traditional time of 3.20pm on Saturday afternoon. Onya, gods of irony, respect.

 

Jeremy Cameron had already gifted us the goal of the year with his 45m out, on the boundary snap at Adelaide Oval but Heeney gifted us two mark of the year contenders and one of them the winner. His game was remarkafuckingble, almost beyond the scope of what can be imagined. He was in it the whole game, but his third quarter efforts kept Sydney in with a shot and his last quarter won them the game.

 

The Swans vs Giants final gave us mere mortals a look at the gods playing the game. Was this a sneak preview of the Grannie? If so, buckle up, things will only get better and betterer.

 

Next weekend’s Australian Rules finals will be played in Adelaide and Sydney, representing a truly national competition. I’m tipping the Hawks and Giants to get up but in much tighter contests. Play on.

 

 

More from Trucker Slim Here

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE