Mid-season review: from Josh Barnstable

by Josh Barnstable So, after Round 11 and approaching the mid-season break, just how does each club stand in the Premiership race that is hotting up by the round? And what about the very close Coleman Medal? Ladder: 1st St Kilda Played=11 Won=11 Lost=0 Points for=1160 Points against=633 %=183.25 Points=44 2nd Geelong Played=11 Won=11 Lost=0 [Read more]

AFL Round 11: Carlton sneak home

by Josh Barnstable This match will be an absolute cracker. A gun up one end of the field, and quite a controversial one (Brendan Fevola) while the twin towers await the Blue defence up the other end (Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw). A different role has presented itself to Bradshaw in recent weeks though, with [Read more]

AFL Round 11: Thank God for the Queen and her birthday

by Josh Barnstable I awake on a Monday at 10:30am. “Uh-oh, I’ve overslept”. I think to myself. Then comes the excitement you get when you realize you haven’t overslept, you’ve just enjoyed a good sleep in on a day off school. With that excitement, I bury my head into my pillow for a further 15 [Read more]

AFL Round 10: Skill, ability, speed, unselfishness. Cats are sensational.

by Josh Barnstable A nice Sunday awaits me as I wake up from my sleep-in: 9:45am. Just enough time to get dressed, make a Milo and settle on the couch to watch three hours of consecutive footy replays from the weekend’s games. It’s a nice day to finish off the season of autumn, with tomorrow [Read more]

AFL Round 10: Another Friday, another parma, another Blues win

By Josh Barnstable   Another Friday, another exciting day at school, another successful radio interview on ABC. I tip the Blues on this occasion, knowing that Brendan Fevola does not play too many bad games in a row and that Chris Judd should bounce back from last week’s shocker against Adelaide, and so should everyone [Read more]

AFL Round 9: Dogs may be the real deal after all

by Josh Barnstable I am very nervous. I’m on the phone, waiting to be introduced. As I sit there, Kathy Bedford and Peter ‘Crackers’ Keenan talk footy and are about to introduce me to the Friday Afternoon panel. Finally I’m given an introduction and my radio gig flows nicely. Asked for my tip on tonight’s [Read more]

AFL Round 9: Kangas fight back

by Josh Barnstable Saturday’s are about sleeping in and enjoying a nice day at home in the warmth of the lounge room watching the footy. Not for me though. Up at seven today after a late night of watching the footy. I really don’t feel like playing footy as I would rather go back to [Read more]

AFL Round 8: Freo: a tipster’s nightmare.

by Josh Barnstable I am in three footy tipping competitions at the moment. One at home, one at my dad’s work and one at my mum’s work. I picked Fremantle in each competition, I also used my ‘wild card’ at my mum’s work, where the amount of tips I got correct for this round, I [Read more]

AFL Round 8: Worth a $5 dabble?

by Josh Barnstable I am not very confident about this match. None of the other 14 teams would feel confident either. Geelong at Kardinia Park. Seems impossible. The odds are outstanding for the Cats. Mum put $5 on the Roos last night, even though she knows there is little hope. But things can happen in [Read more]

General footy writing: My All-Australian team so far

By Josh Barnstable With one-third of the AFL season gone, there have been many surprises. Some players have exceeded expectations while others have been disappointing. If the All-Australian team was to be picked today, this would be my team: Back: Sam Fisher (StK) Zac Dawson (StK) Josh Drummond (B). Half-back: Brendon Goddard (StK) Chad Cornes [Read more]

Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

By Josh Barnstable When the fixture comes out for the season, the team that is named first is the home team who will wear the home jumper and home shorts. Tonight it is North Melbourne vs. Collingwood. North Melbourne is the home team. They run out on the ground. White shorts, White socks. But worst [Read more]

Round 6 Preview

by Josh Barnstable North Melbourne vs. Collingwood (D) (N) An enthralling contest between these two sides. The Roos, with their backs against the wall, should come out firing against a disappointing Collingwood outfit that lost to Essendon last week after young David Zaharakis kicked the final goal of the game in the pouring rain to [Read more]

The Saints show they are the real deal after smashing Port

by Josh Barnstable I remember the Preliminary Final in 2004 when these two teams played at this venue. The Power got home by 6 points, robbing St Kilda of a Grand Final place. That was a classic ‘finals match’. And tonight has that feel again. The Power, 3 wins and 1 loss so far in [Read more]

Dogs too good for disappointing Tigers

By Joshua Barnstable Easter Monday. The day on which we are supposed to work off all that chocolate we ate the previous day. Not me. I have a bit of a sleep-in, waking up at 11.20, giving me a little bit of time before the footy starts on Triple M at midday. I’m happy that [Read more]

North Help The Premiers Get Back On Track

By Josh Barnstable Ah it’s Easter. A special day that creeps up on us without as much significance as Christmas, which some kids count down the months towards. It’s the one day that everyone can forget about being guilty when eating chocolate, yet makes us feel guilty if we have any meat. As always, Easter [Read more]

Dogs sneak home by Josh Barnstable

I am excited about this match. The Doggies haven’t beaten North Melbourne since 2005, North having won the last five games. What would normally have been just a normal encounter between these two teams, it was given some extra meaning with the game becoming the “Victorian Services Appreciation Match”, acknowledging the work the Victorian Emergency [Read more]

Friday night footy from the comfort of home

by Josh Barnstable I’m on the computer talking with friends. I am excited. School has finished for two weeks, the footy is back and I’m to play a match on Saturday morning. I’m still talking to friends, oblivious of the time. The computer all of a sudden restarts and I start getting frustrated. But I [Read more]

Go North, after a long drive south

by Josh Barnstable “Josh wake up”. That was Mum, coming in to wake me up at 7:30; 7:30 on a Sunday morning. I would have thrown something at her if I had not already been awake, already thinking about the day ahead. I got up, grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and settled down to [Read more]