(Cover art by Jim Pavlidis) We’d love you to offer your support as a member of the Almanac community by purchasing your copy of The Footy Almanac 2011. It will be available from Friday November 11. This year the book is $30 (collected), or $35 (posted). In 2011, however, we invite a slightly different approach [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – The highs and lows of a Preliminary Final
September 26, 2011 by 3 Comments
Oh, the highs and the lows of preliminary finals weekend. They’ll hit your harder than Brad Izzard on a cold day and they’ll stick with you until you breathe your last. There is something enduring about it, something special, something that separates it from Grand Final weekend, giving it a unique feel, an individual aura. [Read more]
G. Ablett senior
September 26, 2011 by 5 Comments
It is Gary Ablett senior’s 50th birthday on Saturday.
Cats in control
September 26, 2011 by 10 Comments
Friday. I am having lunch with an Eagles fan who is such an Eagles fan he is known as West Coast Dave (a fine contributor to these pages I might add). He is down from Canberra and is in a preliminary final mood. A Group 1 theoriser (with a masters degree in sports psyche which [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A deserved win
September 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
As a Broncos fan who has always had a strong dislike of Manly, I’ll get the difficult part over with straight away: I have to admit Manly deserved to win. In all honesty I wasn’t expecting the Broncos to win. With Darren Lockyer missing, I sensed the Broncos wouldn’t quite have what it took to [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A relentless wave
September 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Despite the absence of my team, and ignoring the Melbourne – Newcastle game, this has been an extremely high quality finals series – the St. George/ Brisbane, St George /Wests Tigers and Wests Tigers/NZ Warriors games were all incredibly exciting but this game – from start to finish – topped the lot. It was fast, [Read more]
THE WRAP – FINALS ROUND III
September 26, 2011 by 14 Comments
WHERE LIFE IMITATES SPORT What a round it’s been in Footy Eddie. The Pies came back from the death to shatter the dreams of Little Hawkers all over the World and book themselves into The Granny for the 2nd successive year. The Moggies joined them with an equally impressive victory over a gallant but outgunned [Read more]
Brownlow Blog 2011
September 26, 2011 by 157 Comments
The buzz over Chris Judd threatens to dwarf the Dane Swan hype of last year. The dream scenario for many is the two double Medalists sharing a 3rd. But Brownlow history suggests you should never count your chickens. If your invite to the big night is still in the mail, join us from 7.30 as our fashion [Read more]
Crio’s Q: List Management
September 26, 2011 by 13 Comments
“List management” We all know what it means. And most of us understand that you have to give to get. Who do you want for your side and what are you prepared to pay?
My Magpies refuse to die but almost kill me in the process
September 25, 2011 by 9 Comments
Furious!!! Would be a good word to describe how I felt by half time. Crap!!! Would be a good word to describe how we were playing. Fierce!!! Would be a good word to describe how they were playing, and gob-smacked!!! Pretty much summarizes how I felt by the end of it all.
The 1993 waiting room
September 25, 2011 by 7 Comments
For Vin Maskell, Grand Finals meant something different after 1993 I haven’t missed the start of the big game since 1977, when the Grand Final was first televised direct. For a few years it was a time for old school mates to get together. Then it became a time for old school mates [Read more]
Best Night Ever.
September 25, 2011 by 6 Comments
A few years ago we met a family from Zimbabwe who had started going to our church at Rosanna. The father, MT, was studying at Latrobe University. MT and Rhee, like us, have three young kids and so we invited them over for a meal. Our three children James, Thomas and Ben loved running around [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – On the road
September 24, 2011 by 1 Comment
We are under immense pressure to perfect what shapes as a great game. We are in the trusted Commodore heading north. The only friend of the driver is the ABC radio and the pressure is from my obsessive goal to hit Miriam Vale at half-time to have the finest road food in Queensland –possibly Australia [Read more]
The willing and the wounded weave a way to the big day
September 24, 2011 by 9 Comments
escapology n. methods and technique of escaping esp. from captivity, confinement in box etc. Yes, this was a great escape for the Pies, and we make it through to the finale by the skin of our teeth. The record volume of FPS email traffic pre-match said a lot about the excitement [Read more]
My first running race
September 24, 2011 by 1 Comment
I remember I entered my first and ever running race when I was just five years of age. I was with my school St. Mary’s Primary at Monivae College oval and I was wearing a yellow t-shirt to represent that I belonged to Loreto, a sports house. I felt excited because I was only [Read more]
These are the days of our lives
September 24, 2011 by 1 Comment
Days of Our Lives Episode 1 – Two weeks ago – An Auto Repair shop on Moorabin Road “Geez Ross you’ve really run this one into the ground. The front end’s stuffed and needs a complete new suspension. Why didn’t you bring it in for a service every 10,000K’s like I told you?” [Read more]
Football and Music Part II (Finals Music)
September 24, 2011 by 7 Comments
Music is a funny thing when laced with footy. When we won the flag two years ago and they finally shut the club rooms, most of us broke into the old weatherboard hall we use as changing rooms. An oil drum fire out front, five utes backed into a circle, the same [Read more]
Pies v Hawks Discussion
September 23, 2011 by 32 Comments
If eagle trumps seagull, does Hawk trump Magpie? Collingwood have been dominant in defence of their flag. But we all know about the Magpies in September. Do Hawthorn outswoop them? Or will form prevail? Let ‘er rip.
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