Catch the delightful puzzles and words of David Astle at http://davidastle.com/. In the meantime, David has once again been good enough to provide with a puzzle a week for season 2012. Here’s his first. To help you segue from one season to the next, we look at the 16 Aussie cricketers currently preparing for the Windies [Read more]
sunlight on leather
March 21, 2012 by 10 Comments
by Rob Scott first morning a familiar scent on the breeze It should perhaps be the game at its purest. Everyone and everything is primed. Sun-tanned, tattooed and absurdly muscled players; feverish fans emerging on frenzied tenterhooks from a long summer of enforced detachment and other family commitments; pristinely manicured playing surfaces; even [Read more]
Brothers Brothers Brothers, Oi Oi Oi!
March 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
by Mick Jeffrey So it’s all started yet again……no folks I’m not talking about the big boys down in the capitals and the South. I’m talking about the footy Central Queensland style. The regular season doesn’t start until April 14 (which by then we’ll see a new Government continue to wreck Queensland in a [Read more]
Thinking outside the oval
March 21, 2012 by 10 Comments
by Peter Baulderstone Football (and that’s a broader family than AFL) has lost two of its broadest thinkers and most compassionate administrators – one to cancer, and the other to political correctness. One loss cannot be remedied, but the other should be. We all get lost in the adoration and fandom of professional sport, and [Read more]
1980 – A Personal Footy Almanac
March 21, 2012 by 16 Comments
by Sam Steele Introduction Thirty-two years on, it’s sobering to realise that half Richmond’s current fan base have no direct memories of our last Premiership. The optimistic ones talk about our next Flag, but with all the belief of world-weary office workers, mouthing their idle Monday-morning pipedream of one day winning Tattslotto. As one [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – NZ Warriors v Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
March 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
by Basil Naimet Going to NZ to play the Warriors is always…well… a worry! The boys is blue and white had nothing to worry about though. They had the match under control from the opening whistle. Good tries by Barba, Turner and Wright got the Dogs barking. Not even a resounding onslaught from the Warriors [Read more]
The Dark Months
March 21, 2012 by 8 Comments
by Jamie Simmons Is it March 24th yet? Anyone? No! How about now? Forgive me Almanackers if the largely incoherent ramblings that follow appear to mark my early descent into madness. I am normally a proud man (well, as proud as a man who walks to the shop in Star Wars themed slippers can [Read more]
Jim Stynes and the triumph of idealism
March 20, 2012 by 8 Comments
by Jonathan Rivett The problem with writing about someone you have never met is that your presumptions could so easily be wrong. Maybe what I’m about to say about Jim Stynes, who died on the morning of Tuesday the 20th of March, is incorrect. Maybe he was not much different from those who came [Read more]
There’s nothing like a prediction to get people talking
March 20, 2012 by 2 Comments
by Andrew Weiss So the NAB Cup has finished and everyone is looking forward to the start of the season kicking off on Saturday night with a real blockbuster to start the year off, that being the Coathanger clash (well that’s what I am calling it) where the new boys in town the Giants [Read more]
In A-League of its Own 15 (2011/12)
March 20, 2012 by 2 Comments
Tom’s weekly outlook on the A-League Melbourne Heart has cemented their place in the finals series for the first time in their short history following a 2-2 draw with Sydney FC. After taking a comfortable 2-0 lead into half time, the home side threw away their advantage by the 80th minute after substitute Shannon Cole [Read more]
New Zealand – Part 2. Bungy!
March 20, 2012 by 1 Comment
by Kieran Deck The dawn sun rutilant on the lake sparks and sets-off the cicadas again. I wake early, still buzzing with the excitement of being in another country. This feeling is at odds with the pessimism I hold for today’s activity: bungy jumping. It strikes me that I’m nervous in the car, somewhere [Read more]
Comeback shelved
March 20, 2012 by 3 Comments
by Craig Dodson A lazy Sunday afternoon sitting on the couch next to my 38 week pregnant wife Sophie and I’m looking for a distraction to take our mind off the waiting game of juniors impending arrival. Lets go for a kick I suggest, a tough challenge for a pregnant lady who is currently [Read more]
You’ve gotta lose one to win one
March 20, 2012 by 5 Comments
by Tony Robb In a departure from my usual ranting, I feel the need to discuss that old acorn about having to lose one to win one. In the case of Geelong and Collingwood, you actually have to lose heaps to finally jag a flag. However, rather than looking at it from a footy [Read more]
RIP Jim Stynes 1966-2012
March 20, 2012 by 20 Comments
Jim Stynes has finally succumbed to cancer. It is a loss the whole football and broader community will feel. If you wish to leave any thoughts, please do so below. Martin Flanagan has paid eloquent tribute over at The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/melbourne-demons/more-than-a-great-sportsman-20120320-1vgjg.html
Premier Cricket – Quarter Final review
March 20, 2012 by 11 Comments
by Mic Rees The 2011/12 Quarter finals of Premier Cricket saw two favourites salute, a major reversal of form and a surprise result in the remaining game. Reigning champs Dandenong travelled to Princes Park to take on minor premier Carlton. Despite missing both Pattinson boys and Peter Siddle, the Panthers would have been satisfied [Read more]
The Shield Final
March 20, 2012 by 8 Comments
by Ian Hauser Late last year on 9th October, son Liam and I went to the Gabba to watch the Queensland Bulls take on the Victorian Bushrangers in a Ryobi Cup one-dayer. We were treated to a decidedly underwhelming match which the Bulls won without being in the least convincing. We agreed that the [Read more]
A Tough Year Awaits GWS
March 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
After watching GWS play against Richmond last Saturday at Manuka I am convinced that GWS will struggle to win a single game this year. In reaching the above conclusion I have drawn upon the experiences of the Gold Coast Suns in their first year. I note that Gold Coast recorded three wins against my pre-season [Read more]
Allez Oppy, le phénomène
March 19, 2012 by 3 Comments
The first week of April will see the World Track Cycling Championships commence at Hisense Arena in Melbourne. It may not get the coverage of yore – road cycling is riding the crest of a popular wave – but Australia once boasted a hero of the boards every bit as extraordinary as Cadel. By common consensus, in the [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – It’s a party and I’ll cry if I want to
March 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Given we had volunteered to host my brother-in-law’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon, I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to watch the Panthers play their round three game against the Rabbitohs. In desperation I setup the recorder in advance, but after a couple of beers, Ray asked if I wanted to [Read more]
Bombers take the Top End
March 19, 2012 by 9 Comments
If Spain played the ‘beautiful game’ with the round ball to win the World Cup, the Tiwi Bombers played it last Saturday night with the oval ball to win the Northern Territory Football League premiership for the first time. Not that it was perfect footy. The Bomber defence took nearly half the game to get [Read more]
Recent Comments