By Sam Steele When it’s 44 degrees outside and the rest of the family are on holiday, what else is there to do but bung a couple of old footy tapes into the VCR and relive some of the great games of the past. As fate would have it, I chose to have a look [Read more]
Footy: A midsummer reflection on the rise of the Cats and the Saints in light of 2004
January 12, 2010 by 40 Comments
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball: West Coast and the Western Bulldogs
January 9, 2010 by 2 Comments
West Coast Eagles: Some teams are good, not great, but just good. Sometimes they are great and shoot to the top of the ladder and win the odd premiership, but then they lose some skill and drop down in the top 8. The Eagles used to be like this. 2002, they finished 8th. 2003, they [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 7: St Kilda and Sydney
January 8, 2010 by 338 Comments
by Josh Barnstable St Kilda: So close, yet so far was the story for St Kilda in 2009. 22 wins from 25 games but failed on the big stage against Geelong. That hurt them. It hurt them more then any other premiership loss would have hurt any other club. They have a great team that [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 6: Port Adelaide and Richmond
January 7, 2010 by 648 Comments
by Josh Barnstable Port Adelaide Power: The Power made a resurgence of sorts on the field, putting in some good displays while also getting rid of that shocking home guernsey that they have worn since their inception to the AFL in 1997. Port Adelaide will now sport a new guernsey made by a six year [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 5: Melbourne and North Melbourne
January 6, 2010 by 340 Comments
by Josh Barnstable Melbourne: Off the bottom of the ladder into finals contention is where the Dees will find themselves in the next couple of seasons. What’s so different though? Dean Bailey has predicted a change, he has changed the gamestyle that was, at times, ugly, recruited the best two kids in the country and [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 4: Geelong and Hawthorn
January 5, 2010 by 111 Comments
by Josh Barnstable Geelong Cats: The premiers, in decline maybe? You wouldn’t think so, as the only major loss from the premiership side of 2009 is captain Tom Harley, but form in the second half of the season pointed towards a change of form in the next couple of seasons. The forward line lacks a [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 3: Essendon and Fremantle
January 4, 2010 by 20 Comments
by Josh Barnstable Essendon: A tough year for the Bombers finished in an unlikely finals berth that they didn’t deserve, and it showed with a 96-point thumping by the Crows showing them the exit from September. Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas are gone, their two goalkicking stars of the past decade. The Bombers don’t have [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 2: Carlton and Collingwood
January 3, 2010 by 45 Comments
By Josh Barnstable Carlton: After such a promising season, it seems it could all go down the drain with the loss of Brendan Fevola. The two-time Coleman Medalist departed during trade week after the Blues were angered by his performance at the Brownlow Medal. Getting Lachie Henderson for Fevola was a dud deal, but a [Read more]
Barney’s 2010 AFL Crystal Ball Part 1: Adelaide and Brisbane
January 2, 2010 by 246 Comments
by Josh Barnstable It’s that time, the time we all cherish as youngsters, I’m sure the fellow members of the Fab 5 will be feeling this feeling that I’m having as I type this. It’s a time of hope, anticipation and gratitude. No, not Christmas, no, not the start of the New Year. The magical [Read more]
A tale of two newspapers
December 28, 2009 by 452 Comments
by Steve Healy For many years, Melbournians have lived in a city of two major papers. The question moves from house to house. It is a question that breaks hearts, ruins friendships and causes long term arguments with peers. Which is better, The Age or the Herald Sun?
Thoughts of a ‘Honeybird’ (nickname from Steve H.)
December 26, 2009 by 228 Comments
by Danielle Eid As I type this it’s 12:13AM. I know what you are thinking, why the hell is Danni still up at this time? Doesn’t she have anything better to do than write a piece up at this hour? I’m writing this up because I want to and I’m nocturnal. Wide awake till about [Read more]
Footy: Why I barrack for the Eagles
December 24, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Brad Carr I’m an Eagles supporter who lives in Melbourne. The most common question I get asked is, “Why do you barrack for West Coast?” The conversation normally goes along the following lines: Local: “Who do you barrack for?” Me: “West Coast” Local (contorts face uncomfortably): “Eeeeww (pauses). Are you from over there?” Me: [Read more]
Memoir: My Father, My Football
December 22, 2009 by 9 Comments
This piece was written in 2000, and has not been published before. By Terry Chapman My life’s first footy moment comes courtesy of a black-and-white image of me in Grandma’s backyard in Coburg. I’m about four. Mum would have been behind the old Kodak 126, freezing forever the opening entry on my life’s stats sheet. [Read more]
Footy Talk: Gary Ablett jnr talks to God (not his Dad, the Guy Upstairs)
December 18, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Gary Ablett jnr: You’ve already met. God: What can I say? Allegedly the only bloke (blokette?) who can hit a one iron. Initial negotiations with GC17 had been unfruitful… and rather baffling. Gazza felt no closer to resolving his dilemma. Having finally made it back from Queensland, his Manager decided to be proactive. Player managers [Read more]
Eulogy: University don inspired footy history study
December 18, 2009 by 4 Comments
By Rod Gillett The ability to inspire performance is a quality that is most often attributed to sports coaches. It is also attributed to teachers of art, music and literature, even mathematics. Many of us have had a teacher profoundly influence our scholastic life and engender in us an enduring enthusiasm for a particular subject. [Read more]
Almanac Launch: An Adelaide trip with a few twists
December 17, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Bob Utber With the Copenhagen climate summit in full swing as I wandered down from Mildura to Adelaide last week, I could not help but notice the way in which country clubs in South Australia and Victoria look after their sporting ovals. Indeed some of the finest grounds are along the highway between Mildura [Read more]
Footy: Prato’s journey to Bulldogs not as exotic as Daw but no less remarkable
December 17, 2009 by 7 Comments
By Richard Jones The Majak Daw story makes a nice yarn. But how about Maryborough boy, Eddie Prato, taken by the Western Bulldogs with pick No.58 in the AFL rookie draft? Eddie spent most of 2009 playing basketball with the Ballarat Miners in the South East Australian Basketball League. At 6 ft 8 ins in [Read more]
Local Footy: Desert dash fails to deter Falcons
December 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Sheikh Mohammed bin Rocket The Abu Dhabi Falcons footy team made sure they did not stray into the Empty Quarter in Saudi Arabia when they crossed the border on their road trip to Muscat in Oman for last weekend’s fourth-round clash in the Middle East AFL. Despite getting to the ground only 15 minutes [Read more]
Footy: Ablett oversight heads questions from pre-season and rookie drafts
December 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment
There were some very strange selections in the pre-season and rookie drafts. Some of the questions that I wondered about are: 1. Why would Gold Coast pick Danny Stanley ahead of Luke Ablett? Danny has played well for Collingwood seconds but has failed to impress every time (five in total) that he was promoted to [Read more]
Footy: A few sausage rolls from Fev would make this Lions fan roar
December 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment
This piece was originally published on the ABC Grandstand Footy Unleashed website in August 2008. I thought it timely to revisit it given the Kangaroos’ selection of exciting Sudanese prospect Majak Daw in the rookie draft. Will Daw be any good? Who knows. It doesn’t really matter because he is the first Sudanese player at [Read more]
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