Saturday night was a dark night in my home. Couldn’t get to the Collingwood v North Melbourne game due to work commitments. So watched my pies lose on TV in an ordinary effort. Don’t want to talk about it. Recorded the Wallabies Test against the All Blacks at the same time and watched it afterwards. Same [Read more]
Big Burkie’s boot busts Boort
August 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Maryanne, Helen and i did the journey on Saturday to Donald where the sixth placed locals played seventh placed Boort, the home of the McGraths, and Woodalls. It was second last versus last. Boort had the early break, leading by 5 points at the end of the first term. In a scrappy second term the home side used [Read more]
crio’s Q: Of long stops and long sleeves
August 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
What a winter! I’ve driven past some bogs in recent weeks, marvelling at where the full back could find footing for his kick-in. Some grounds are just sodden, others mudheaps. “The Age” on Monday highlighted the conditions for the VWFL (NW Div) GF here With Junior finals proliferating I assume Almaknackers have been to some [Read more]
Coming around
August 21, 2012 by 1 Comment
At our wedding, 10 years and a bit ago, the blushing bride joked that I had a choice: she would take either my surname or my football team. Silly thing to joke about, really. She still has her own surname, and for the best part of this century has half-heartedly gone along with the idea [Read more]
The Wrap – Round XXI
August 21, 2012 by 7 Comments
THE WRAP – ROUND XXI WHERE LIFE IMITATES FOOTBALL And what a round it’s been in Footy Eddie. On Friday night The Handbags led at every change, seeing off a second half challenge, to send The Saints marching back to Seaford for Season 2012. Come Saturday and it was Boilover time. First it was The [Read more]
Olympics – Glory off the dais
August 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
If you look close enough in the aftermath of the 2012 Summer Olympics, you’ll notice many athletes returning home feeling enormous pride and satisfaction with their performances in London, even though they never got near a dais, a medal ceremony or even a final.
People’s Elbow tribute sinks in mud
August 20, 2012 by 7 Comments
This was intended to be a ‘People’s Elbow’ tribute. Or possibly a gratuitous rip-off. It would be filled with short, punchy paragraphs which were frequently humorous and even more frequently vengeful against my own team. There was to be a photo or two, possibly a youtube clip and a lather of footnotes. All of these [Read more]
People and Memories – part 3: Gerard Egan
August 20, 2012 by 3 Comments
People and Memories Gerard Egan – Richmond FC With only three finals campaigns and equally exasperating off-field fortunes since Richmond’s last Premiership in 1980, why do Tiger supporters keep the faith? For Gerard Egan, Richmond Cheer Squad Chairman, the answer is obvious. ‘Belief. We are eternally optimistic. Every year we turn up and think this [Read more]
The Reverend remains faithful in Afghanistan
August 20, 2012 by 17 Comments
I lazily roll out of bed and wander down to the shops. “Salaam alaekum.” This isn’t Sydney Rd, Brunswick. This is Kabul, Afghanistan. I grab the basics – bread, eggs, juice – and introduce a new (expat) neighbour to my bootleg booze dealer; a teenage shop assistant called Sadam Hussein. That’s his actual name. He [Read more]
Holidaying on Fantasy Island
August 19, 2012 by 2 Comments
By John Green Where else would Richmond supporters stay in Perth, but Richardson’s Hotel and Spa in Richardson Street? At number 32 no less, Ben Cousin’s ID at Tigerland. Richmond is taking on Fremantle. While it’s a sunny Saturday morning on this side of the country with a projected maximum of 24 degrees, it’s 15 [Read more]
Eddie Betts’s shorts the highlight
August 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
By Rod Oaten As far as I’m concerned the highlight of the game was the size of Eddie Bett’s shorts. I used to blame the Brotherhood for not finding him a better size, but I recently read an article on John Nicholls and I reckon Eddie found a pair made for him all those years [Read more]
Late season blues
August 19, 2012 by 2 Comments
Everything is falling apart for me. Early Saturday, the first time in three weeks we played tennis, it got washed out when we were playing our third set. To make it even more annoying, we had to drive 45 minutes to get there for one set. At least we got something. Our big rivals, who [Read more]
Mud, Mud, Monash and Glorious Mud
August 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Gee, it was wet down at the Brunswick Street Oval, oops I mean the W T Peterson Community Oval. Mud, mud everywhere prompting Luke Ablett, who didn’t play, to Tweet that the day reminded him of playing down at Drouin in the under twelves. It reminded me of working with cattle in the winter when [Read more]
AFL Round 21 – Port Adelaide v West Coast: The End Hunger/Hungry Jacks Cup
August 19, 2012 by 1 Comment
I have a major dislike for the early Sunday starts. By the time you’ve slept in, lazed around watching Offsiders and finished breakfast you have to make tracks to see the game.
Swans are live
August 19, 2012 by 2 Comments
With the Sydney Swans experiencing a somewhat unseen resurgence it feels appropriate to mention another bunch of Swans also making their own understated comeback this year. Born in the bowels of NYC in the early ‘80’s the band Swans, led by Michael Gira, have been unleashing their genre-defining sound on the world for thirty years [Read more]
MRP – it’s the humans, stupid
August 19, 2012 by 15 Comments
We all remember the old AFL tribunal – well some of us do. It was hopeless. Subjective as all get out. Inconsistent. Biased. Incredibly frustrating. Everybody agreed, even the AFL commissioners. There had to be a better way. So they scoured the globe, looked at other systems, and decided that the solution was to go [Read more]
Out of control
August 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The fracas at West Sydney’s first (practice) “rivalry” match raised eyebrows. How do you promote “enemy” and avoid its escalation to violence? Here’s the extreme of “fan” power and danger…from Argentina http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/the-beautiful-game-breaking-bad/311/
There’s a party happening and we’re not invited
August 18, 2012 by 6 Comments
1. The leaders I just heard Nick Riewoldt on SEN on Saturday morning. He was up in the coaching box last night at the game, sitting alongside the HULK Eric Bana who was their guest. Nick said there were a few air punches in the third quarter and the beginning of the last (matching [Read more]
Canberra’s Own
August 18, 2012 by 4 Comments
By Carl Murphy Canberra is a crossroads of the football civilisations. It has its own Rugby League and Rugby Union teams, and even had its own soccer team in the national competition for many years until continued failure meant everyone gave up and went home. But despite a flourishing local competition, it had never really [Read more]
Sydney’s rich Australian football history
August 17, 2012 by 5 Comments
By Miles Wilks It is a commonly held belief that Sydneysiders have had an almost non-existent role in the game at the top level, yet the fact is that as many as 80 players have been recruited from Sydney to the VFL/AFL. Amongst the “no-name” players recruited from Sydney is a player who kicked the [Read more]
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