By Andrew Fithall Over the previous two years, the Melbourne leg of the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival had taken a bit of flack. Increased crowds in a geographically restrictive environment resulted in many disenchanted festival goers. 2009 had been particularly bad, with attendees loud in their disapproval of access to bands they had paid good [Read more]
Big Bash a big hit with the kids (and Dad?)
January 5, 2010 by 2 Comments
They say parents go to the football and take their kids. With basketball, it is the kids who go and take their parents. Twenty20 is the basketball form of cricket. Having looked at the cricket calendar I knew we weren’t going to be around for the international short-form games but saw January 2 as an [Read more]
Music: 27 hours at the Corner Hotel … and loving it
December 14, 2009 by 2 Comments
Thursday, 9pm. Normally nearing bed time for an early next-day start for a visit to the gym (Helen) or a walk around the tan (me). Instead we give the kids a kiss goodnight and head out. The band is Akron/Family (and I don’t know the significance of the oblique either) and they are scheduled to [Read more]
Music: Recollections of an old fart at Meredith
November 11, 2009 by 7 Comments
By Andrew Fithall In 2008 I attended my first Meredith. Some people think that is a little bit weird for a then 49-year -old. And some people might be a little bit right. But I have come late to this music festival scene. In fact, live music generally has not taken up a lot of [Read more]
Racing: Spartan Oaks operation suits me fine
November 7, 2009 by 4 Comments
I hadn’t been to the Oaks for a few years. 2009 seemed like a good year to reacquaint myself. My wife Helen many years ago introduced me to racing. Her father Bill Holmes had been a President of the Ballarat Turf Club. Helen still regrets that when Bill offered to nominate me for the VRC [Read more]
General Footy Writing: All’s fair in love and footy
September 3, 2009 by 10 Comments
Ursula, Audrey and Herb were born nine weeks ahead of schedule in May 1997. For quite a few years we didn’t let on to the children the actual order of birth. We thought it might avoid the “I’m older than you” hierarchical claims. After all, that is how Mark Waugh got the nickname “Junior”. However, [Read more]
General Footy Writing: Let every match end with respect among opponents
August 18, 2009 by 1 Comment
Round 14 back on 19 July had WRFL Under 16D ladder leader Spotswood playing Williamstown Juniors at Williamstown’s home ground. It was the second last game of the season and, as a match between the top two teams, it would give an indication of what could happen in finals. Spotswood won by 66 points.
AFL Round 20: Memories of past battles fail to deter me from seeking to share with Richmond people
August 11, 2009 by 1 Comment
Richmond’s success in the 1960s and ’70s means that I number quite a few Richmond supporters among my friends. It is Collingwood v Richmond this weekend. And not just “weekend”; it is a traditional Saturday afternoon game at the MCG. I am not the only Australian Rules football supporter who points out that one of [Read more]
General Footy Writing: Silence is golden where MCG irritations are concerned
July 27, 2009 by 15 Comments
By Andrew Fithall Footy at the MCG is fantastic. Membership provides the privilege of choosing your perspective. The kids love down low as close to the fence as possible. Helen enjoys the additional benefit of the recently-benched (should that now read “rotated”) players doing their warm-down as they walk up and down the boundary. You [Read more]
AFL Round 16: Now I hate Hawthorn as well
July 20, 2009 by 5 Comments
By Andrew Fithall Helen hates Hawthorn. As a Geelong supporter, she has endured too much pain. The dull ache of 1989 endures. The pain of 2008 is more recent, more acute, and much less likely to ease. Our daughter Ursula is also a Cat, but at 12, doesn’t yet really understand that you never regain [Read more]
AFL Round 13: Collingwood v Fremantle: Rufus nickname goes out the back Dawes
June 29, 2009 by 5 Comments
By Andrew Fithall “Rufus” is the nickname I have been trying to apply to Collingwood’s Chris Dawes for some time. Mind you, I haven’t been trying very hard. My biggest effort was a couple of seasons ago when Collingwood was still aligned with Williamstown and Rufus was running around at Burbank Oval. A friend Jason [Read more]
AFL Round 12: Sydney v Collingwood: Victory is determined by whether I record the game or not
June 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Andrew Fithall Given every supporter controls the outcome of every match, it is amazing there are ever outcomes at all. Some people affect the result by attending the game, some by not attending. Listening to the game live on radio when the telecast is delayed has also been known to directly affect the performance [Read more]
General Footy Writing: Coach turns umpire under the Westgate Bridge
June 1, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Andrew Fithall Williamstown v Spotswood – Under 16Ds Dickie Fry and I have been sharing the coaching responsibilities of the Williamstown Juniors Under 16Ds. At the beginning of the year when I was first approached to be coach, Dickie was one whose name had come up but was unavailable. He still plays super-rules [Read more]
General footy writing: New coach: Grounds for change on tackle rule
May 19, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Andrew Fithall Crikey, the grounds are hard. In Round 1 a Williamstown Juniors under-16Ds player hit the turf and broke his arm. The ground hasn’t got any softer since then. It is Tuesday afternoon. I am at home when I should be at work. I am on carer’s leave. Bill is on a nearby [Read more]
AFL Round 7: Thank God it’s a school night
May 12, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Andrew Fithall What happened in the last quarter last night? Monday night football. Ben Cousins says there could be only one thing worse than Monday night football and that would be Tuesday night football. For a parent with children, attending the football on a school night has its advantages. Like not having to [Read more]
Benched Coach
April 27, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Andrew Fithall I didn’t have a good week this week. The Williamstown Juniors Under 16 Ds played Wyndhamvale at their ground and had a solid win. But I didn’t coach. There were a number of reasons for that. But, for the moment, let’s go back to Wyndhamvale. Wyndham was in the news a bit [Read more]
You learn as you go
April 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Andrew Fithall They say that how you train is how you play. In fact Dickie Fry said it several times on Friday evening as under-sixteen training went overtime until we could get some semblance of skill into the drills. Training had begun the same as Wednesday, with “whole group warm-up” co-ordinated by Dickie and [Read more]
Holy Thursday and the Unholy Set Shot by Andrew Fithall
April 10, 2009 by 1 Comment
Mixed marriages can be problematic. Not religious mixes – football. Helen is a Geelong supporter and I am Collingwood. We have four children: two boys and two girls. A numerically well-balanced family. We would like our children to explore various religions and eventually make their own decisions about their beliefs. But football is too important [Read more]
First match of the coaching season
April 6, 2009 by 3 Comments
We love living across the road from a football ground. Helen and I moved into our current abode 14 years ago. The school football ground was part of the attraction. Many family hours have been spent flying kites, throwing frisbees, kicking footballs, catching lacrosse balls, learning to ride bicycles or just running around. We always [Read more]
Coaching Dilemma
March 31, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The telephone number flashed up on the screen and I recognised it immediately. Mark Hunter is an ex- Bulldogs player – 130 senior games. And he has demonstrated over the past few years that he is also a very good junior coach. His boy Lachlan and my son Bill share a year of birth and [Read more]
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