VFL: Willy nearly did a Bully

Got very excited to see my seconds team were on the telly this afternoon. No I don’t mean Richmond or Fremantle (after a recent trip to WA and looking at their ground in Freo and noticing it was the home of The Bulldogs [South Fremantle]) . Yes I was desperate to see a link to [Read more]

Brett’s Last Hurrah

  Hello? Yes, Brett. What? You don’t want me to call you Brett today? Oh. Mr. Ratten? No? Um… Rats? Yes, yes, I can hear you… Oh, I thought you were cursing. Serious? Jesus on a cross? What, as if it’s a name? I know, yes I know you still have three hours to go [Read more]

Stars align for Australian cricket

The stars are aligning nicely for Australian cricket. The English empire is crumbling and Australia is motoring along nicely in the UAE. It’s been a big week, and the resignation of Andrew Strauss was by far the biggest part of it. His decision came as no surprise. He has been in ordinary form for two [Read more]

AFL Round 23: More thoughts from Harms

Harms has many queries on Round 23 – and he wants answers.

Gold Coast gold

By Rick Kane

Ratten was sacked by Carlton this week and this story is not about that. This story is about the team that would win the premiership, if awarded based on the team with the most exotic names.

The Pre-Wrap – Round 23: What a year

And what week it’s been in Footy Eddie. And what a year. It’s about to end for some this weekend. No need to name names; they know who they are. Some hang up the nikes till next season; some for good. But let’s not get maudlin; there’s the finals to come.

Ammos Division 1: All roads lead to Elsternwick

With the weather taking a decidedly spring-like turn for the better, in the air around town we can suddenly detect whiff of finals. The hard slog of eighteen rounds of preliminaries is over, and now we have arrived at the big show. Let’s be honest: for a number of weeks now the final four has [Read more]

Let the Finals begin……

Carlton’s abject failure has been a godsend for the Bombers whose fall from a leading contender has been spectacular, how long before the Golden Boy gets the treatment that Ratten has received? Again injuries cruelled the Bombers, but they have their plans. From a mere mortal perspective I am not sure inducing lots of injuries is a great strategy – hamstring injuries are often repetitive and the more you tear ‘em the more likely it is you will tear ‘em again.

That’s Entertainment?

Predicting who will grace the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the 29 September has stretched the capacity of even the sharpest frontal lobes this season, and others such as Luke Darcy. But only now has the picture become clearer, since the AFL brains trust returned from their London Olympic Games reccy.  One place has actually been decided [Read more]

Crio’s racing: The 1st of September, 2012

“Wiser afterwards.” A stock answer to Monday’s Q: “How did you end up at the races?” I lacked conviction last week and failed to cash in on good hunches. It was nothing ventured, nothing gained. Also, I guess, no bet = no loss. We’ll be wiser again this Sunday after reviewing the Caulfield and Rosehill [Read more]

The day North won the flag

I started going to the footy with my brothers and father  in 1974. My first memory was my brother screaming “Ball”. I was watching him  with a mixture of awe and fear. I think I thought he was suffering from some kind of  madness. We were at the Lake Oval. North was playing South. I [Read more]

AFL Round 22 – Richmond vs Essendon: Yellow and Black

Big week. Footy on a Friday night. Everything is at peace in the world. Coming into this game, I couldn’t help but think to myself that this is a game between a team that lost to Melbourne and a team that lost to Gold Coast. Both teams had real chances to make the finals. But [Read more]

The Middle Australia Report: History does repeat

It looks like the narcissistic Mick Malthouse has achieved his aim of having a powerful Melbourne-based club coach sacked so he can takeover to pamper his ego. Last week when Brett Ratten was under fire for losing to the Gold Coast (other great clubs have done this by the way) instead of offering support for [Read more]

How a move for Del Piero could lead the A-League in two very different ways

Recent speculation of Alessandro Del Piero moving to Sydney FC has raised questions about whether the move would have a completely positive influence on the A-League as a long-term prospect. Although upsides such as international publicity and recognition from overseas are obviously much needed for the A-League, there are 2 current examples of how marquee [Read more]

The 10.12 to Epping

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.

Round 23 preview

A few thoughts from Harms on the final round of the AFL.

League Teams

Stephen Alomes is trying to check an unusual fact, which goes back to Lou, Jack and Bobby.

Haiku Bob: so little done

Haiku Bob’s take on the recent West Coast v Collingwood match

Saints of all seasons

The Saints have had a year very much like my most recent set of holidays. Weather wise that is. Instead of attending the Saints v. Geelong game on the Friday night, my boyfriend and I chose to watch the game on TV at university in Bathurst, and rather than spend the next two weeks in [Read more]

EPL: Hammers hammmered by rampaging Swansea

  Swansea 3-0 West Ham   What an amazing start to the season for Swansea. Eight goals in their first two games after managing just 44 last season. West Ham was humiliated in their second outing back in the big time. Early on it was the Hammers making all the running as Swansea continually turned [Read more]