by Trevor Blainey a few thoughts on the draw for the Almanac. like a lot of footy tragics i’ve thought about the draw a bit too much. divisions has appeal but i keep getting hung up on things like how after looking at a division based system would you make a fair finals [Read more]
One sided games
August 9, 2011 by 7 Comments
by Dave Nadel There has been much angst this week about one-sided games after the two top teams demolished the two bottom teams (and gee, wasn’t that a surprise). While I agree that a few seasons of one-side games would damage the competition, AFL fans and commentators are once again responding to a short [Read more]
THE WRAP – ROUND XX
August 8, 2011 by 1 Comment
WHERE LIFE IMITATES SPORT What a round it’s been in Footy Eddie. The Sainters shrugged off The Fremantle challenge in such an authoritative way that Students of The Game & Punters alike are rushing to reappraising their forward projections and budget sheets. Dwayne Swann had 37 possessions, nine of them contested, in Carringbush’s dismantling of [Read more]
A beautiful man, a curious crossroad.
August 7, 2011 by 8 Comments
There aren’t many footballers like Cam Mooney. Not afraid to hug and kiss his teammates, and sometimes even his opponents, his tender acceptance of his 2007 Premiership medallion still chokes me up. He is the image of Hamish, the fierce, but loveable rock-tossing friend of William Wallace in the movie Braveheart. In the age of [Read more]
A pilgrimmage
August 7, 2011 by 2 Comments
Richard Naco has visited Geelong and Kardinia Park for the first time, and this is what he observed… It was a sensational day, although my wife told me that I looked like death warmed up when she collected me from Sydney airport at 10:15pm (I’d been up since 2:15 am, and had been away [Read more]
Characters. Part I.
August 7, 2011 by 24 Comments
Characters Pt.1. Lenny Hayes has it. I’m sure. He plays with it, in a way that defines a person. Character. What a jet! I’d be stoked to meet him. Just to say thanks. But there is character, and there are characters. The game needs ‘em. I need ‘em. On the footy field, in my [Read more]
Sal’s Tips: Round 20
August 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A touch tardy this week but time is the killer. An abridged version without much commentary – except to say that as an AFL Coach Mick Malthouse makes a very ordinary mathematician! Did pick the lot last week – but not a tough challenge. A return to some old names due to time constraints!
Road Warrior
August 5, 2011 by 2 Comments
By Sasha Lennon My profession takes me to lots of places. Last week it took me to Western Australia’s Gascoyne region. The Gascoyne is a big place, twice the size of Tasmania but with only a fraction the population. And like everywhere else in WA, the Gascoyne is big on footy.
THE PRE WRAP – ROUND XX
August 5, 2011 by 17 Comments
FOR THE PHILOSOPHICAL MARNGROOK FAN What a fortnight it’s been in Footy Eddie. We’re not boastful by nature around here in The Wrapcave, but let us take you back to our pre-season call for the Coach most likely: This year the Deathly Dirge of the Coaches’ Carousel will be wafting down from Mt Lofty and [Read more]
One Hundred Years Ago: Round 14, 22nd July, 1911
August 4, 2011 by 6 Comments
Even before the VFL era had begun, the Australasian newspaper had formed the following opinion of the St Kilda football club: “There are 2 classes of men who play football. With one the pleasure of participating is more than sufficient recompense for defeat: the other class thinks that a win is above everything else. [Read more]
Almanac Footy Teams: Kelly Country
August 4, 2011 by 22 Comments
Glen! picks a side of Kelly-related footy names.
Grand Final Day Infirmity
August 4, 2011 by 6 Comments
By Manning Clark (circa 1981) On the last Saturday of September every year many of the inhabitants of Melbourne, and indeed of the whole of Australia and even in foreign lands, are stricken with a strange infirmity. Over 100,000 gather in an enclosed space mistakenly known as the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There for two [Read more]
A Lovely Bullet
August 3, 2011 by 1 Comment
I met her up in the mountains, which was rare. She was tour guiding while I rebuilt the forest floor, in the middle of winter. Head-to-toe in mud. She didn’t care. Come autumn, the girls from down in the Bay had arranged a female footy match to raise money for something. You [Read more]
Driven up the Walls
August 3, 2011 by 39 Comments
It can’t be far away now, perhaps only a matter of a week or two. I wander what the banner line to the article might be? “Ablett and Suns a Good Fit” Or “Suns Shine on Gazza.” Or “Walls has Surgery to Remove Stale Egg from Face” Earlier this year (April 1st in fact), [Read more]
Castigate – the AFL scandal
August 2, 2011 by 31 Comments
From an uncannily innocuous inception similar to the matter of fact break in that incited the Watergate Scandal (Nixon and “Deep Throat’; what an unfortunate coincidence) the Castigate scandal is about to blow the AFL open. No doubt there are plans being identified and executed at this very moment to make the whole [Read more]
Football’s Messiah Complex Lives On
August 2, 2011 by 4 Comments
The modern football ‘industry’ tries very hard to portray itself as a serious business run on serious business lines. The jargon of the boardroom has long since infiltrated the change room. No club CEO would be caught dead without his full complement of KPI’s , spreadsheets and mission statements. Sports administration is taught alongside MBA’s [Read more]
Phlegmatic Flegg Reaches Milestone
August 1, 2011 by 6 Comments
This week, another AFL games record will be broken. And could there be a more deserving man to take over the mantle? I think not. * * * The casual football observer would be unaware of the preparation and dedication required to be an umpire in this era of professionalism. Long gone are the days [Read more]
The Footygods: Sisyphus
August 1, 2011 by 8 Comments
Sisyphus came from a famous family although he didn’t like some of them all that much. He had a brother called Salmoneus who he spent much of his time trying to kill. It seems that he liked killing people generally. People would stay at his place and he would kill them too. It didn’t go [Read more]
What Makes Them Tick?
July 31, 2011 by 14 Comments
Cameron Ling seems like a top bloke. That counts. In my books, anyway. He used to surf Joanna Beach, and Castles, where I lived. I’d see him with his mates, up on the ridge, at the tavern, being Cameron. No tags on himself. I wonder what he thinks before a game? Does he [Read more]
Crisis = Opportunity
July 31, 2011 by 31 Comments
by Andrew Gigacz So, Bailey’s been bumped as Demon coach. I can see the headlines now: “BAILS FAILS” “DEMON EXORCISED” “HUMILIATING DEFEAT NAILS BAILS” The call has already gone out on the Twitterverse for the Demons to pursue Malthouse at all costs. But I’m still focussing on this year. Melbourne are still only a [Read more]
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