Write. From the Heart.
Gather Round has been a triumph for South Australia and Adelaide, again. Here’s a celebration of the Adelaide Oval, written by John Harms after Round 2 in 2014, the first AFL game for points at the new Adelaide Oval. {Or was there a game the season before?]
John Harms could not keep himself away from one of his favourite places on the planet. He travels to Adelaide for a significant moment in the life of the South Australian nation.
To honour Marcus Bontempelli reaching the 200 games milestone this week, we reprise Neil Anderson’s July 2014 match report of the Western Bulldogs v Melbourne Demons clash in Round 15. It was the first time Neil saw ‘The Bont’ play live.
Read Rod Oaten’s account of Essendon’s great win over Richmond in the 2014 AFL Dreamtime match.
Mickey Randall’s Tales of the City. Tales of a winter Melbourne adventure of people, books, music, people, wine, footy, food and people.
Tex Walker and Sir Edward Betts combine in perfect symphony to crush Essendon. As always, Malcolm Rulebook Ashwood is on hand with a comprehensive match report.
Part three of Paddy Suggests, Richmond’s incredible, euphoric and, yes, emotional win over Sydney in Round 23, 2014 was one of the best examples of Australian Football of all time, while Callum O’Connor’s report of the game, a rollicking tale of three Tigers following every twist and turn at the Sporting Globe, made the win all the more sweet. This was also the Almanac’s 10,000th piece (and a bloody good one, I might add).
A great piece from Justin Lalor on last year’s Grand Final, and the dominance of Hawthorn on the competition in recent years – which gets you to thinking where Clarkson, Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Cyril and Roughy might sit in comparison to Jeans, Dipper, Dermott, Ayers and Collins if they can knock off the Eagles in the 2015 Grand Final and be the first Hawthorn team to snare a premiership hat-trick. [With absolutely no disrespect intended to the Eagles at all, and in no way getting ahead of ourselves here at Almanac HQ. Anything can, and often does happen on the day. – Ed]
John Harms re-visits the 2014 preliminary final between Hawthorn and Port Adelaide. [Hard to believe Port nearly pulled it off – Ed]
Peter Miers recalls happy times in the family home and the evening May, 2014 when the family gathered for a farewell party and Dees traveled to Adelaide to record a famous upset.
Luke Reynolds looks at the Magpies final thrust at a finals birth and watches hard-nut Luke Ball give it one last crack.
Woodleigh student Tom Goldsmith revisits the 2014 Grand Final when he was given the red card for his noisy passion for his Hawkers.
Hawks supporter Willow Wilson shares with us some fond memories of last years Grand Final between the Hawks and the Swans.
Yoshi lists his 10 biggest sporting upsets that have occurred between February 2014 to January 2015. There’s a healthy smattering of AFL surprises, but also some shocks from the World Game and on the tennis courts, too.
Yoshi Imagawa’s itch for all things St Kilda received some scratching on the weekend. Channel 7’s Tom Browne filed a series of reports on the Sainters’ pre-season work in Queenstown, New Zealand.
Who deserves a premiership medal? In the third part of his Grand Final trilogy, Rick Kane shows how the 2014 Hawthorn squad shines a light on this issue. [You just can’t stop thinking about the 2014 flag can you Trucker Slim? – Ed]
Matt Watson consults a leading sports psychologist to explore the mental side of Hawthorn’s domination and Sydney’s capitulation in the 2014 AFL Grand Final.
Trucker Slim with some words of advice for neutrals and their neutrality.
Calling the Callers: Hawks Christmas revue.
As a Christmas treat to Almanackers, Paul Campbell undertakes to review the various broadcasts of the 2014 AFL Grand Final…in songs and vignettes!