Cats play in the winter sun

The phone rings on Saturday morning. J. Dunne is in good spirits, enjoying the Barwon Heads sunshine, on a perfect winter’s day. He’s thinking footy (which usually means he’s considering backing the opponent) and wondering what my footy-plan is. I am slogging away at the desk, resisting the temptation to be reading the form guide. [Read more]

Confident Pies cause bootyshake syndrome

For those of you who were looking forward to a match report by yours truly on the Pies vs Saints game i do sincerely apologise. As the season flowed it was said the threat to Collingwood would be the Eagles- well, we beat them. Then people said no, the Saints are still the worst threat to [Read more]

Hot Chocolate and Cold Bombers

Recently, three year 11’s and myself started a business. It was called Choc&Chops, we sold hot chocolate and hot chips to the rest of the school at lunchtime (the ‘chops’ is a dig at the New Zealand accent). This was THE assessment task for Business Management unit 1. The four of us had to venture [Read more]

The Beatification of Saint Sandra: The Father/Son mule.

The night before the 1990 Grand Final I was a ticketless 14 year-old in an adequate hotel room in Dubbo. This is how near perfect father/son moments happen.

Crio’s Racing: AUSTRALIAN HURDLE AND STEEPLE MEETING 2011

Here’s what’ll happen. It did last year: A mini-bus will pull up just as I am getting to the gates and out will tumble a small and motley group with rag-tag placards. They’ll wait for the pre-arranged TV camera and then froth at the lens like so many others who somehow yearn to be on [Read more]

An open letter to Tom Hawkins

Dear Tom, As a Geelong supporter who hasn’t played a game of football since primary school and thought that Henry Playfair could gave been anything, I think I am highly qualified to give advice to you on how to get the best out of yourself on a football field. When you burst onto the scene [Read more]

When Greg Met the Butcher

A Football Fable (Colours and clubs have been changed to protect the colours and clubs) I Footballers up and back through the Wimmera Knew well the name Greg Trotter His number sixteen and his muscular arms Strung tight like a horse’s hindquarter They cowardly stepped away When they saw that number they knew But men [Read more]

Round 11 Blog

Another big week in football knackers! (oops, that’s probably already copyrighted). Melbourne get the opportunity to wear a few bruises against Essendon tonight. A real test of Tony Robb’s bye theory. The Bulldogs travel down to Catland with their expectations lower than at any time in recent years. Is this the opportunity for a surprise? [Read more]

NMFC 1871: Just for recreation’s sake

Reverend Shinboner goes back through the annals of North Melbourne Football Club’s history, reliving one season from each decade, starting with 1871. The club was just about to embark on their third winter of football. The suburb: North Melbourne, known as Hotham at the time, was a largely industrial suburb with some 13,500 residents, significantly more than [Read more]

Sunday Sessions

Sunday Sesh’s are the best. There’s something lazy about them. Sloppy. All the gloss and polish of game day and Sat night has been belted off. We’re in a new player’s shed, in town, eating deer on a spit, either drinking slow, easy and constant, or going the hack. The Swans are playing the Hawks [Read more]

Pandora’s box opened?

Anyone who’s read any of my articles on footy almanac would’ve realized how much males love playing AFL on Elcho Island. Basically the only community on Elcho Island (Galiwinku) is home to 2,200 individuals, yet the senior competition has 9 teams and over 350 participants! Last weekend the senior Grand Final was played in front [Read more]

Tigers see the light

Nestled in Victoria’s high country about a one-and-a-half hour drive north of Melbourne is the town of Yea.It wasoriginally known as Muddy Creek settlement after the Yea River which was called Muddy Creek until 1878. The town was named after a Colonel Lacy Yea who was killed in the Crimean War.

Flamboyance in goal umpiring; efficiency in junior team management.

by Jill Stoll Kurt has wanted to play in a ‘proper’ AFL team – “not Auskick, Mum!” – for the past year. We signed him on for the Under 9’s at our local club, the Everton Wolves, in Brisabne’s north, in March. Good decision. The first date for the ‘cubs’ was a ‘Meet the Pack’ [Read more]

The Record Records

Having read this article on the GFC website, I was compelled to delve into the record books. With my trusty deerstalker and magnifying glass, I was pleased to find that not only do Geelong famously hold the record for highest score in a VFL/AFL match, but they hold many other lesser known records. Here are [Read more]

Saints run the Heave Ho ragged

I was nervous but excited going into a Patersons stadium match with my beloved Saints taking on the loathed Dockers. I was skeptical about the fact Blake was starting in the ruck, McEvoy being an emergency, but then again the giant 7 foot Docker Sandilands was out with turf toe, an injury usually occurring in [Read more]

THE THERMOS IS EMPTY

After years of crisis, Saturday after Saturday of hoping, Fitzroy Football club finally died. For our mob it ended at the M.C.G with that game against Richmond. The last game on TV against Freemantle just didn’t seem real somehow. Almost 12 months on I still can’t believe that game couldn’t have been moved to Melbourne. [Read more]

One Hundred Years Ago: Round 5, 27th May, 1911

On the Friday evening prior to Round 5, a joint conference of VFL and VFA representatives had met to discuss the control of football in Victoria. They produced the startling recommendation that the two organisations should amalgamate into one controlling body, appointing a board with equal representation for both parties. This offered the prospect that [Read more]

Sat’dy arvo at the footy…

What a great Saturday of footy is in our backyard here in Melbourne this weekend – no excuses for not getting to enjoy a game somewhere in your region. Even the AFL has a suburban Saturday highlight with the real Western Derby taking place at Kardinia Park; although, despite it being an easy train trip [Read more]

The Final Game

If you could die peacefullyon a footy ground, where would it be? Centre circle, goal square, back pocket? And wouldn’t it be handy if there was a cemetery, with headstones a bit like goalposts, just behind the scoreboard? While visiting the Oakleigh ground this week Vin Maskell met an old Devils’ supporter. More details at  [Read more]

Carrara daze

Saturday night. Gold Coast v Geelong. The Ablett match – for most. And yes, that is a key part of it. But for me, something has been forgotten: this is also the Carrara match. Footy is back at Carrara. And as weird as it might sound, on Saturday night I was feeling a little nostalgic [Read more]