It was 1979, early Spring. A skinny little kid stood on the half forward flank waiting for the opposition’s full back to kick the ball back in. The mud grabbed at his boots but wasn’t so wet that it made him feel grounded. The early Spring sun was ridding the ground of the rank smelling, [Read more]
Playing on the ‘other’ Gazza
May 30, 2011 by 37 Comments
We arrived in the land of big things and took in the new ground. Metricon Stadium has a roof like a crinkle cut potato chip; a really big potato chip. It curves around the top of the stadium in a horse shoe shape leaving one end open to the world like a giant front door. [Read more]
Striking the Right Balance
May 20, 2011 by 19 Comments
I understand that 2011 is “The Year of Chemistry” according to the United Nations. The UN is the body that seems to take it upon itself to label each year as if such a label might give the following 365 days some direction. I wonder when the “Year of Accountants” gets a run? I like [Read more]
How I got to see the Cats game
May 11, 2011 by 15 Comments
by Damian O’Donnell If you spell Daniel Menzel’s surname backwards you get “Leznem”. But Leznem is not a Geelong name. A bloke with that surname might play for St Kilda or Brisbane or Fremantle, he wouldn’t play for the Cats. No, the Cats have Menzel. I was thinking this as I strolled around a nursery [Read more]
Stawell Dreaming
April 19, 2011 by 13 Comments
Something is stirring. It might be because the leaves are fading to nothing in the trees, it might be the chill that greets me each morning as I open the front door and toss the tea leaves onto the camellias, or it might be something from within; something that won’t go away. About now the [Read more]
WHITEFRIARS OLD COLLEGIANS CELEBRATE 25 YEARS
April 13, 2011 by 23 Comments
He made his way towards our table dodging through the bustling gathering of blokes all cheerfully engaged in conversation about footy and old school day memories. “Choofer!” We called out his nickname. “G’day Choof” He shook hands with us, smiling like a bloke who’d just backed a long shot. G’days were swapped around. He took [Read more]
Better your own socks…
March 28, 2011 by 13 Comments
I have no better description of Geelong’s win over the stodgy Saints than to say it was a bit like smelling your own socks; not a particularly pleasant experience but better than the alternative which would be smelling someone else’s. The game had a peculiar feeling about it right from the start. The crowd was [Read more]
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
March 21, 2011 by 12 Comments
Different things stir our spirit; reach into our soul. What stirs mine may not stir you. I suppose it’s what makes the world go around. Recently on this site Peter Flynn wrote about the mighty Black Caviar. The sight of it powering away from its rivals obviously captured him. I can understand that. A horse [Read more]
Think Tank At Work
March 11, 2011 by 13 Comments
Extract from secret tapes inside an AFL team’s coaches’ meeting: Forward Coach: We’ve got to do something about the inside 50s differential. Midfield Coach: Yep. We’ve run that through our processes. We’re going to increase the rotations of mids and smalls through the front half. Forward Coach: That’s fine but will the smalls know how [Read more]
Hidden gems
March 8, 2011 by 5 Comments
by Dips O’Donnell About twenty years ago I worked for a business called Visy Pack. The Visy Pack factory was next door to Visy Board which was a major part of Richard Pratt’s packaging empire. Visy Pack was situated at the end of Edwards Street in Reservoir just down the road from Edwards Lake. The [Read more]
Adrian’s call
February 16, 2011 by 11 Comments
by Damian O’Donnell The sun came up as expected this morning, people will die of old age today as usual, governments will extort taxes from their hard working citizens because they can, and the AFL has announced that the new NAB Cup format is a success. All very predictable really. Adrian Anderson proudly announced, ”We [Read more]
I can’t figure out the NAB Cup!!!
February 11, 2011 by 4 Comments
I’ve heard it a few times over the last few weeks; bring back the footy. The cricket this summer was disappointing, both because we lost badly, and because the decisions of the cricket selectors were completely baffling for the punters on the street. There is a distinct feeling that we lost the Ashes partly because [Read more]
Ricky
December 31, 2010 by 9 Comments
He would skip across the rope would Ricky, a spritely, cocky and confident skip, a skip that took him from Ricky the man to Ricky the captain, Ricky the cricketer, and often Ricky the saviour. It’s only a small piece of rope that separates the two Rickys but it must be that Ricky wishes it [Read more]
A Well Oiled Oaks Day
November 9, 2010 by 14 Comments
Have you ever looked really closely at a well oiled machine? When you were younger did you ever take the head off a Holden 186 motor and marvel at the shiny mechanical thingies, all oiled up and tuned to perfection, ready to propel the Kingswood along? No? Me neither. But when I arrived at the [Read more]
A YEAR IN REVIEW
October 25, 2010 by 11 Comments
There is something amiss, something not quite right. 2010 was supposed to be a very balanced year. It is a lovely even number is 2010. No rough edges, nothing sticking rudely out like “1997” for example with all those tails and hard angles. But 2010 has confounded me. It started early in the year. There [Read more]
THE ABLETT SAGA: BE AFRAID
September 30, 2010 by 35 Comments
It is often said that there is a lot more than meets the eye in every saga. I have no doubt that there is heaps more behind the Ablett move to Queensland than we will ever know. There was plenty for a Geelong supporter to be despondent about when we all saw Gary sitting at [Read more]
My Black and White Past
September 23, 2010 by 26 Comments
When I was younger I played football with Montmorency in what was then called the Diamond Valley Football League. When I was older I played football with Diamond Valley Super Rules Football Club in their Master division (old blokes footy). In both of these teams I was required to wear a Collingwood strip – the [Read more]
Not yet Tied, But Testing
August 23, 2010 by 6 Comments
It started when Tony Abbott won the toss and decided to bat. The pitch had a bit of movement in it, but with careful application there were runs to be had. The opponent was disheveled having just changed captains following a bloody coup some two months before. The previous captain left reluctantly after an emotive [Read more]
Almanac Lunch- 30th July
August 2, 2010 by 34 Comments
Not many people realized that a meeting of some of the nations all round great minds took place, fittingly enough, at the All Nations Hotel in Richmond last Friday. It was lost in the fantastic whirlwind that is the Federal election. I must admit that I do marvel at the pace that these political Party [Read more]
There is hope
By Damian O’Donnell Recently on this forum John Harms asked “What has happened to the world?” He made the point that we live in a world where “the disingenuous thrive, where mendacity is trumps…..” and he lays a lot of the blame at the feet of “rum-fart academics who have been seduced by the faddish [Read more]