It’s been a tumultuous season for followers of the Navy Blue, particularly if you pay any heed to those more priapic pundits who fill their days writing about football without ever really mentioning the play. A winless pre-season had us in crisis, according to some. Then we were proclaimed premiership favourites after stomping the Pies [Read more]
Collingwood TV – An Idea For The Ages
March 22, 2012 by 62 Comments
So they’re seriously considering a dedicated Collingwood channel. I don’t doubt this idea is manna from heaven for many. People will suddenly realise what’s been missing from their lives all these years. Myself? My reaction is rather more like Alex in his maximum security ward in A Clockwork Orange: strapped to a gurney, eyes [Read more]
A Good Time To Reflect
March 19, 2012 by 25 Comments
Football is a pretty reliable mirror. The many ways we express our passion for the game reveal us. The industry that has grown around the game also tells us much by the way it chooses to operate. All manner of issues regarding indigenous footballers have arisen lately. In the case of Liam Jurrah, the [Read more]
Book Review: Australia Story of a Cricket Country
February 14, 2012 by 7 Comments
Editor: Christian Ryan Publisher: Hardie Grant RRP: $90 (Almanac price $75. Details here) We are told a lot of things nowadays. We’re told nobody buys books anymore. That iPads and eBooks are the inevitable, irresistible way of the future. Even cricket administrators tell us few under thirty care much about test cricket now. [Read more]
The Ascension of Pup
February 8, 2012 by 26 Comments
The test summer has concluded in unanticipated rout. Australian success has spawned a thousand post-Argus paternity claims, whereas Indian failure is truly an orphan. Indeed, it seems India’s initial inclination is to pretend the summer never happened at all. But as we bask in the afterglow, Australian fans might still harbour a nagging doubt. [Read more]
Hit Me Again: Djokovic vs. Nadal
January 31, 2012 by 21 Comments
Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, the tennis served as an eminently companionable side show to my flannel-centric summers. I fondly remember Kooyong and White City grass courts. Newk, Muscles, Eddo, Phil Dent and, yes, even JA, were a welcome support cast filling in the gaps between test matches. The tennis was as [Read more]
Another Australian Day
January 27, 2012 by 11 Comments
In the context of this increasingly lopsided ‘contest’, the celebration of Australia Day seemed a case of considerable overkill. What day hasn’t been Australia’s day in this series? India have certainly proved themselves a most accommodating opponent this summer. Unable to muster serious resistance when it counted, the prospect of them showing much fight here [Read more]
A Tale of Two Captains
January 13, 2012 by 4 Comments
It seemed like a classic contest: India’s batting monuments facing Australia’s rejuvenated pace attack, with one last chance to claim a series victory in this country at stake for some. It has only taken eight days of cricket for conversation to turn to consideration of a whitewash. Instead of a great confrontation, we’re left reminded [Read more]
A Confederacy of Dunces (Pt 2): Big Bash League
December 16, 2011 by 27 Comments
Glamorous, jaw dropping, captivating, brilliant. No, it is not Erin McNaught strutting down a catwalk. It is T20 cricket – and it is about to rock Australia like never before. BBL ‘20 Days to go’ promo “KFC T20 Big Bash League is the most talked about event in the country. Fans love their teams [Read more]
Qualified Joy in Kiwi Clobbering
December 6, 2011 by 26 Comments
Two seasons ago Australia were undefeated in six test matches against the mediocre opposition put up by the West Indies and Pakistan. All that success served to achieve was to mask the deficiencies of an ordinary team, and set Australia up for last summer’s Ashes debacle. So an easy win over a New Zealand [Read more]
A Confederacy of Dunces* (Pt 1)
November 29, 2011 by 12 Comments
Poor governance is as integral to the folklore of cricket as WG Grace’s girth and Spofforth’s demonic gaze. For every cricketer who ever thought Yes I Can, there’s usually been an administrator coming up with a reason why he couldn’t. The rule of egg-and-bacon-tied buffers from Lords became entrenched in the Victorian era and [Read more]
The Presidents Men Come to Town
November 22, 2011 by 6 Comments
If, like me, you have played a lot of (bad) golf, but don’t follow the PGA tour that closely outside of the majors, then a local Presidents Cup is about as good an opportunity as you’ll get to put faces to some unfamiliar names. The team match play style of the event also exposes [Read more]
Vale Peter Roebuck
November 14, 2011 by 1 Comment
As a website which values writing – more specifically writing on sport – it is fitting that the tragically premature passing of one of sport’s finest scribes and commentators has already drawn eloquent tribute. More is likely to follow. At the risk of redundancy, I feel compelled to add a few thoughts of my [Read more]
Book Review: Tortured Tales of a Collingwood Tragic
October 27, 2011 by 19 Comments
Tortured Tales of a Collingwood Tragic James Gilchrist Connor Court Publishing Paperback $30 Your choice of football team can affect so much. This presumes, of course, that familial loyalties allow for the luxury of choice. For many, this is not an option. Food, shelter and clothing can be at stake. Even if you are [Read more]
A Players Victory
October 3, 2011 by 16 Comments
Geelong and Collingwood. A classic case of starting from a similar spot and ending up in very different places. Two communities who in their own ways felt wronged. Who sought approval from others to compensate for a sense of inferiority. Who burned at ambitions thwarted. Two football clubs who came to represent a means of [Read more]
One Hundred Years Ago: Grand Final, 23rd September, 1911
September 22, 2011 by 31 Comments
Essendon had been the outstanding team of the year. They’d had the better of Collingwood in both previous encounters this season, including an historic 85 point thrashing of the Magpies in round 4. They were firm favourites to wrap the flag up in this game. But Collingwood coach George Angus had reason to suspect [Read more]
One Hundred Years Ago: 2nd Semi Final, 16th September, 1911
September 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
All available evidence suggests that Jack Worrall was a man of practical methods. A plain-speaking disciplinarian who proved a model for most successful coaches who followed. His famous recommendation to his players that ‘football and booze don’t mix’ suggests a man of temperate habits and firm resolve. The teams he coached were renowned for [Read more]
Blues Rediscover That Finals Swagger
September 13, 2011 by 21 Comments
We’re all well aware of a grim anniversary that occurred this weekend past. I’ve no intention of adding to the numerous postulations on what that event may or may not have meant. So relax. But that same week a decade ago happens to also mark the beginning of Carlton’s descent. In the general scheme of [Read more]
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