Time for a Think Tank

Happy Olympics to all, This European Summer has been a killer for sleep – but we toil on.  Meanwhile Brock McLean ensures that the local game keeps plenty of news inches filled.  But really did he say anything we did not already know!  There has been much blubbering about the penalties that should be inflicted [Read more]

Round 19 preview

Just trying to find a winner or two. Some very good line betting to be done.   http://tatts.com/news/2012/7/30/afl-round-19

The AFL is Federation all over again!

I’m currently working on Australian constitutional law and it strikes me that the creation of the AFL is very much like what happened when Australia federated. The States created the Commonwealth which then took on a life of its own and made the States its beggars. Now the AFL, created by the clubs, has taken on [Read more]

Rivalry

  This all goes back a couple of decades, perhaps to 1989. Or even earlier. The story so far: the Hawks are too good for Geelong during the late 80s and early 90s. The Cats have a terrific team of characters who play the game with their own flair and are encouraged by the creative [Read more]

A Blue day in the outback

By Callum O’Connor Deny sleep long enough and it will ignore you when you need it. I’m aboard a bus that has been faithfully lurching and wheezing its way up from Melbourne for 30 hours since 7 am on Wednesday morning with the thirty of us who are on the 2012 Eltham College /school Central [Read more]

light and shade

sunset a few purple patches kill off the game evening sky no great signs only flashes playing the bottom team the caller questions a lack of urgency twilight game the zig-zag path to goal empty seats Cloke marks alone and unattended fading light Wood losing what little he had twilight the light and shade of [Read more]

Hindsight….it’s a beautiful thing

By Neil Anderson Whenever I check the Almanac’s website for the latest offerings and before I have a go at writing myself, the first thing I see written in bold lettering is, ‘Write From The Heart’. This credo is evident in most pieces and none more-so than articles by JT Harms. I have finished reading [Read more]

Secret Cloke list revealed

The following clubs have yet to confirm their expression of interest in the services of Mr T Cloke, footballer. Aberfeldie Junior Football Club Brunswick Bocce Club Creswick Croquet Club Donald Darts Club Elsternwick Elderly Citizens Club Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club Geraldton Golf Club Hopetoun Hookey Club Ipswich Football Club (U.K) Jurien Junior Football Club [Read more]

The afternoon football nearly forgot

By Simon Dalton Perhaps the apparent predictability of this game’s outcome was already sensed by the footballing public and the respective teams well before the first bounce. That could account for a build up lacking in passion or interest.  As such it was played as if a gentleman’s agreement had been reached. With forewarning of [Read more]

The (next) Great Man

Some friends of mine have spoken somewhat disparagingly of my inability to write anything for this website other than Geelong related prose. For those friends: stop reading now. For this I will try to be short and sharp, and deliver it with the minimum of fuss. Much like the man it aims to pay tribute [Read more]

DA Puzzle of the Round (19)

Discover the world of David Astle here. But first, can you solve this week’s puzzle? There’s a current senior coach with a well-known nickname. Bizarrely, two current players in the coach’s former team, have surnames rhyming with that nickname. Unmask the trio.   (Burkie is quick off the mark with the answer this morning – [Read more]

1980 A Personal Footy Almanac – Round 18, Saturday 2 August, v Footscray, VFL Park

Richmond’s hold on the coveted top spot may be suddenly looking tenuous, but I’m feeling carefree today as I ignore the steady rain and catch the early bus out to Waverley from Nunawading. Mid-year exams are over. In a week that saw the release of AC/DC’s immortal album “Back in Black”, I’m ashamed to admit [Read more]

Song of the Seagull

Twilight-time, the MCG, seagulls now are flying free, as old men clean the littered stands, the seagulls spy the fertile land, the hordes have left in trams and trains, only corporate men remain, and while they sip their cold champagne the seagulls sing in joyful strains: “When you leave the footy ground, we fly in [Read more]

What is pressure?

At a recent press conference in London the coach of the US Women’s Basketball team, Geno Auriemma, said: “Real pressure is when you lose your job and have to pay the mortgage, or if you are a single mum wondering if you can afford to pay your kid’s education”. That is the most sensible comment [Read more]

The 2012 ‘Mopsy’ Fraser Cup – Round Eighteen

Greetings Tipsters I had a peek in my Dictionary of Aphorisms and there, under ‘to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’ was a picture of a black sleeveless shirt with a yellow sash. Weren’t the Tiggers suppposed to threaten for The Eight this season? Sure, they’ve gone close a few times and but for [Read more]

Phantom is mad

Excuse me but I am mad; seething actually. And the symptoms are worrying. I am so mad that I look forward to noting the MRP’s ruling next time a player has his head split open, is concussed and misses a game or two. Not because I enjoy that sort of stuff in our “man’s game” [Read more]

Olympic sadness

I woke this morning (a small victory in itself) to a couple of the sadder images I have seen in sport. Initially the sound was down on the TV so I don’t know what happened to the fencer. I don’t know her name. I think she was Korean. I just saw her sitting on her [Read more]

Fearless – Round 18: Faster, higher, stronger, “cleaner”: AFL vs Olympics…

I’m in the process of assessing my son using MRP (Match Review Panel) rationale. Head high contact to the head of dad – – no video of the incident – provocation earlier in the day from unrelated incident and different person – goes to state of mind – no notable signs of concussion, just a shocking [Read more]

5.30am and 4.40pm starts – on the same day

Alarm rings at 5.30 AM. Just in time for Olympic opening ceremony. Not a problem as was asleep early on Friday night, couldn’t stand to sit up and watch the Hawks again after their demolition of the Pies last week. Text Uncle Deano, he’s up early for the opening ceremony too. Could have stayed in [Read more]

The burgers are better at Kyneton but Bloods prevail

By Shane Goss South Bendigo have been made to work hard to overcome a gallant Kyneton to win by 26 points in their round 14 BFL clash at the Kyneton Showgrounds. Had the Tigers kicked straight the result may well have been different. In a low scoring and scrappy affair, Kyneton began well, registering seven [Read more]