Dons Improving

What a fantastic day at the “G”.  A huge crowd of almost 90,000, a brilliant cloudless blue sky and the surface looked like a manicured billiard table.  And sitting in the crowd were  two who have been regulars for this clash for many many years.  It’s the annual father/son bonding day, son a Collingwood fanatic [Read more]

Saturday Afternoon Spectacular

You have to give it to the AFL for innovation, today they came up with the novel idea of footy at the G on a Saturday afternoon!  You know what ,I think it could catch on, there was a very large crowd there to see the Dons play the old enemy Carlton on this sunny [Read more]

Open Day at Flinders Park

by Rod Oaten One of my favourite days of the sporting calendar is day one of the Australian Open. No-one’s been beaten, and from the the player with the lowest ranking, who dreams of a major upset, to one of the top dogs, everyone is in with a chance. Unlike last year, when the weather was [Read more]

Thumbs up to Hird

Some 7 or 8 weeks ago during the Knight’s saga I had a dream/idea, Sir James Hird would take over the reins at The Dons with Bomber Thompson as his co-coach.  When I mentioned this to some of my mates they dismissed the idea as the disillusioned rantings of a tragic Don.  As if Hird [Read more]

No Real Sign of a Contest

It’s hard to know where to start when you try to write e report about such an incredibly one sided game as we witnessed on Friday night.    At least it started off on a positive mood when I attended the Asylum Seekers rally at the State Library. An enthusiastic crowd supporting such a just cause [Read more]

All over for the Bombers

The “refugee” from the Isle of Jersey rang me up earlier in the week suggesting we go to the G on Friday night for the Dons v Blues game. I was a little pessimistic as the last time we went to watch the Dons, they were thrashed by the hapless Eagles, surely this result will [Read more]

Sunshine, Sea and Footy

It doesn’t get much better than this, mid winter in Lorne, the day is still and mild, the sky a steely grey and the smoke from open fires in surrounding homes creates a unique atmosphere for a game of footy.  Lorne are playing Simpson, a side that gave them a right royal touch up some [Read more]

Insipid Dons Leave Fans Riled

It’s been a puzzling few weeks for us Don supporters. Just a short time ago , well six weeks actually, we had strung a few wins on the run against some pretty good opposition sides and looked like  we might even be pushing to stay in the top eight, then the wheels fell off. Listening [Read more]

Anyone For Trugo?

Oh, the bloody agony of it. There I was, all set up for a night of enjoyable footy, optimistically  thinking that The Dons will have a real crack at it but they were pathetic. I think I missed the best part of Essendon’s challenge, the first couple of minutes .By the time I sat down [Read more]

A day at Woodfull-Miller

The Dons are having a week off, so what better to do than go to one of the prettiest grounds in Melbourne, the home of MHSOB.   High on Forest Hill stands the imposing castle like building of the school overlooking the football oval, The football ground  is called the Woodfull-Miller Oval, named after two exceptional [Read more]

Essendon v Buddy Franklin

I was a bit confused with Essendon playing Hawthorn again. It only seemed a few weeks ago that we fronted up to them, and in fact it was, it was only about 6 weeks ago.  And six weeks ago we gave them a bit of a hiding and that gave me hope after the thrashing [Read more]

Essendon continue their great form

As  young kid I went with my family to the Footsray Football ground  to watch Essendon take on the Bulldogs. on a number of occasions . One game in particular will always stay in my memory. On this particular day Footsray were giving Essendon a footy lesson, it was bitterly cold and very very wet [Read more]

AFL Round 7 – Essendon v Port Adelaide: Bad day at Lorne as Dons mown down

by Rod Oaten Round seven, and The Dons are up against Port Adelaide at the Fish bowl behind Spencer Street Railway Station. A neighbour of ours referred to it as” Empty Head Stadium”, I liked it, so thanks for that Andrea, I shall with your permission, use that name from now on. Now at least [Read more]

Two Wins In One

I didn’t go to the Don’s game on Saturday night, I had a family party to go to. As it turned out I had two wins , it was a fantastic party and the Dons got up against the Hawks. I had a transistor in in the back yard, so every 15 minutes it was [Read more]

Off-field consolations must suffice on a bad day for Bombers.

It was a tough day at the “G” on Anzac Day.  Not the company I was with of course, it’s the Annual Father /Son Bonding Day and we always get together for a pre match beer and chat about the season  so far. I admitted i wasn’t feeling to confident but thought if  the Dons [Read more]

AFL Round 4 – West Coast v Essendon: Nic has the knack, Dons have a downer

by Rod Oaten The night started off ominously – the team from Perth have a ruckman, Nic Naitanui by name, resembling a preying mantis on steroids, who within a few seconds of the game starting,  grabbed the ball from the first bounce, sprinted through a mass of bewildered Essendon players, kicked the ball forward  to [Read more]

Dons score again over old foe.

I wasn’t feeling too optimistic about  Essendon’s chances against Carlton on Saturday night, I had just returned from an entree at Princes Park where I saw Essendon seconds (Bendigo Bombers) get a thumping from Preston, now called Northern Bullants and when I checked the Amateurs results,I found out MHSOB got a great grandmother of a [Read more]

Stawell Gift: The Call of Stawell

by Rod Oaten As it turned out I was very happy I didn’t go to the Fish Bowl behind Spencer Street  railway station for the Don’s game against a team called Fremantle. I even had a free ticket but  no one in their right mind would want to see a game against  a corporate team [Read more]

Dons improving, but Cats too good.

ESSENDON  V  GEELONG    MCG   MARCH  25 There wouldn’t be too many people who could imagine what the name of George Goninon could mean to our family. Up until he came to Essendon in 1948, Geelong was the only club that we thought was “different ” in the VFL. We had absolutely no love for any [Read more]

Tennis: It’s a great day watching the battlers on the outside courts

By Rod Oaten I really enjoy the Australian Open, not to see the  antics of the of the top stars as they strutt their stuff, but to watch and admire the battlers. There are 512 players on Day 1 of The Open,  we all know the top dozen men and women, but what about  the [Read more]