“Give me strength, ABC Grandstand,” says Stephen Cooke on a long drive home from northern Victoria.
Almanac Rugby League – Outback Rugby League: The Normanton Stingers
November 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Stephen Cooke revisits a yarn on outback Queensland rugby league team, the Normanton Stingers, who continue to win against the odds.
East Coburg hosts the Big Dipper
October 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The East Coburg Cricket Club is holding a fund-raising sports night, starring Robert Dipierdomenico on November 27.
Best footy club monikers
October 22, 2012 by 25 Comments
Just putting a call out for the best footy team monikers in the country. I just posted some photos featuring the Mount Gravatt Vultures – now there’s a team name that strikes fear. I can’t help but picture a 40-year-old backman, bald as Mil Hanna, sharp elbows, a fearsome stare, ready for his opponent to [Read more]
Cats big winners of trade month
October 18, 2012 by 23 Comments
It seems the Cats have been the big winners of trade month, with the news today the club has secured former North ruckman Hamish McIntosh on a three-year deal and former Melbourne defender Jared Rivers on a two-year deal. This is on top of securing Suns midfielder Josh Caddy.
Don’t let the Dawes (insert pun)
October 14, 2012 by 17 Comments
Why is Dawes even contemplating leaving Collingwood?
The 10.12 to Epping
August 30, 2012 by 8 Comments
The Epping line has been part of my life for near on seven years. It’s called the South Morang line now. I can’t refer to it as that. It has no meaning.
Are Saints fans still happy?
August 15, 2012 by 8 Comments
I’ve been thinking about Scott Rankin of late. Scott penned this classic piece for the site in May after the Saints had posted wins over Carlton and Sydney with some electrifying football. He described the win over Sydney as “exquisite chaos”. “It was EXHILIRATING football. We played with flair, speed, guile and fervour.” You would [Read more]
AFL bites the bullet
July 15, 2012 by 14 Comments
In a bid to finally fix the inequity of the fixture – where 18 teams play 22 rounds – the AFL has bitten the bullet and will embark on the most sensible option. It will introduce five more teams. Commercial realties dictate a 22-round season must be maintained. Except for this year, when a 23-round [Read more]
You’d take magic over grind
May 29, 2012 by 4 Comments
I love a deft tap on the footy field, as much as I love a good footy brain. You can’t have one without the other. Tom Hawkins, he loves the deft tap. Whenever he flicks his wrist to guide the footy to a teammate in the clear, I press rewind on the foxtel control. Look [Read more]
Take no heed of the early crow
May 16, 2012 by 6 Comments
I wish my boy was seven years older so he could have come home from Reservoir West primary on Monday and seek me out to make things better; put him at ease. For those little monsters wearing different colours would have been telling him his world is about to turn for the worst. That his [Read more]
May 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Tasmanian Footy Almanac launch
I heart GWS
May 10, 2012 by 6 Comments
Most people love a battler. Battling teams usually become everyone’s second favourites. Think Footscray. They battle along. Everybody wants them to win the Grand Final – even when Terry Wallace was coach. For that reason my new second favourite side is the Giants. They remind me of the Bad News Bears. Not for the ridiculous [Read more]
From Father To Son
April 5, 2012 by 4 Comments
Dear Harley, I was eight months from meeting you but I couldn’t stop thinking of you when I walked to the MCG on a warm March night. Your mum and I had not long found out that you would be joining us in November. I was meeting Paul to watch the Cats and the Hawks. [Read more]
Post Season Pursuits: Extreme Gardening
October 10, 2011 by 3 Comments
With the enormity of the challenge in front of me, my summer sport of choice seemed like the wrong option. An hour in, and I was already questioning whether I had the commitment and strength of character to succeed in a pursuit endured by millions across the globe. I needed something to get me through [Read more]
AFL Footy Darwin style: unhyped, uncomplicated, and unlikely to push the crocs off the front page
September 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Visiting Darwin is like returning to 1985. This view isn’t shaped by the locals’ preference for iced coffees over flat whites; nor their steaks served with a thick ridge of fat; nor the lack of pretentious fashion chosen by those having a beer in Mitchell St on any given night. It was because of the [Read more]
Worth the risk of heartbreak
August 24, 2011 by 5 Comments
by Stephen Cooke My heart is racing. I have goose bumps. My mouth is dry. I have just watched the final moments of the 2009 grand final on YouTube and the emotions of the day have flooded back. I am desperate for Geelong to make this year’s Grand Final.
AFL Preliminary Finals: What’s this business that the Pies have the wood on Geelong?
September 15, 2009 by 11 Comments
Here’s one for the Collingwood fans. At the completion of Geelong’s annus horribilis in 2006 the club was determined to trade Steve Johnson. Give us a second-round draft pick and we’ll throw in a set of steak knives, club officials said. Collingwood seemed interested. Geelong would have thrown in two sets of steak knives if [Read more]
AFL Finals — Week 1: If you think Cats are under more pressure than Dogs, you’re kidding yourself
September 3, 2009 by 13 Comments
I was sitting at a family dinner on Sunday night, enjoying the lamb shanks but wondering who the Cats would play next week. I had no preference between the Pies and the Bulldogs – if you’re going to go all the way then you have to beat whoever fronts up – and the last update [Read more]
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