I LOVE footy.
Footy’s been my life, lately. Every cent I make from cutting wood, I head off, to Melb, to Syd, to Brissie, to speak to Blighty, Luke Power, Leo Barry, Roos for the Oral History of AFL/VFL book. Which is tricky. I have to be back each week for my game in NE Tassie. Well, I don’t but I do!
DAMN, I love footy!
So I wrote a book about it. Aussie Rules. A kids book. And drew/painted it.
So, of course, Betsy gave me crap.
“There are too many words!” he complained, as his little girl read it to him.
“There’s one sentence for each page!” I thundered.
“There ya go, Old Dog!” he laughed. “Too many!”
“What’s with the jumper on the main character?” he sooked.
“It’s an Alvie one, from the Colac and Districts League,” I told him. “Good, proud club.”
“Why didn’t you do our team, or your old mob’s? Doesn’t seem right.”
“Yeah, that hurt. But they and we wear Demon’s colours. I wanted this book to be AFL neutral, about everyone. Local footy. Kids. The love of the game.”
“Zzz! There ya go getting serious on me!” ha laughed again.
Then we went and cut wood.
I wanted to make a book that was simple, like footy is to a kid, fun. That was inclusive, that inspired activity, participation, interaction, for all races, for boys and girls. A book that parents would enjoy. Thinking about all the colour and the kids flying for marks with wings, and playing footy in the mud with cavemen and charging onto the oval like Vikings, and being stoked when their friends do well, really made my day.
Not that I’d tell Besys. He’d just do what any good footy mate would. Give me even more crap.
“Come on, Old Dog! Get your broken down arse into gear,” he interrupted my daydreams. “I gotta get back home and take the boy to training.”
At the moment everything’s footy.
If you want a copy, and it’s not on the shelves, order it in at your local book store, I guess. I really hope you enjoy it. I hope, if you love footy, it will be hard not to.
Great Stuff! Any chance of getting sold via the Almanac? Bit hard for me over here in Singapore!
Dunno, mate. John and Cookie and the crew already do an amazing job putting up with me. Don’t want to give them more stuff to do. I’ll look into the best way for you to get a copy…
Cheers! Sounds like a great book for my 4 y.o. boy.
I was gunna go and order one in today Turbo, until i read the reference to Alvie, i dont want anything in my house that has ties to the Alvie FC……..
Nah still going to order one, i look forward to the assesment my girls give it.
I love how the non-alf jumper the kid is wearing on the cover says it all!
It takes away all the complexities, all the advertising, legal rubbish, gambling, etc…
…And presents footy in its purest form: a game to be loved. The best game in the world.
I look forward to having a read Matty….
Thanks Pete, and 22! Wonder what the Alvie boys think of it?
I’ll be slipping down the local to order one in a minute. My two boys are having cracker seasons with the Coolum Breakers. Their first playing against other teams. Simon, the eldest, is developing into a fine in and under midfielder, which is a great disappointment to the old man, who was too slow to make it to packs. Benji is more of a sharing player who has been known to run backwards to give the ball to someone who hasn’t had a touch. My wife is the manager of Benji’s team and I do the oranges for Simon’s. Simon and I do the goal umpiring and have a bit of kick to kick for Benji’s blokes if he is playing a bit later. We love being part of a real grass roots club.
Saw the super rules Maroochydore vs Pomona game the other week. Was almost tempted til I saw that only about 3 blokes managed to walk off the ground without limping at the end…