I’ve been thinking about Memberships and their worth. The days of them offering a sense of belonging seem gone in Melbourne’s corporate AFL world, with home grounds redundant and fixtures fragmented. No doubt this is less so in “lower” leagues where your money up front makes a statement and a difference. But honestly, despite the [Read more]
Collingwood vs St Kilda Round 21 2011
August 14, 2011 by 1 Comment
Factors such as a resurgent St Kilda keen on extending its long winning streak; a six day break following a road trip and a match played in very wet conditions meant that this game had some danger associated with it. There had been a big build up during the week with strong media emphasis on [Read more]
Life’s drama: another week in the life of Yvette Wroby and the St Kilda FC
August 13, 2011 by 1 Comment
A Wedding, an almost Funeral, two wins and a loss and farewell to the Vikings… It’s been quite a week. The wedding was at Butleigh Wotton, a beautiful, historic venue, an intimate and beautiful ceremony, a yummy meal and lots of dancing. In the middle of the dancing, a family friend collapses. I am the [Read more]
Where Buddy and I part ways
August 13, 2011 by 9 Comments
I would love to have a cool one word nickname that everybody knew me by. Hi, I’m Tiger, g’day, I’m Chappy. Immediately identified. Not merely in name but in character. I love how one word can so simply capture the essence of the individual. That’s neat. So descriptive, familiar, as if we’ve known each other [Read more]
Characters II. The Local Variety.
August 13, 2011 by 9 Comments
The first character I ever saw in footy was at my first club. Andy had long, thin hair, a mo, three stops on each boot, as many teeth and played on the wing. If the niggle was up, and he gave away a free, he’d stand the mark, the ball between his legs. [Read more]
Round 21 Blog
August 12, 2011 by 8 Comments
Four rounds to go and all bar the top two spots are still in contention, which makes week crucial from here. Tonight, we find out if the Saints are really making ground on the top sides. Tomorrow, the Hawks would expect to dine out on the Power. Both Fremantle and Carlton will be desperate for [Read more]
Sydney Musings
August 12, 2011 by 6 Comments
I was beginning to think I’d lost almost all enthusiasm for Australian Football. Barely skimming the news, catching a few minutes of a game here and there, a near-unbridgeable four points off the leader in the tipping comp. It doesn’t help being a Swans fan. Early this season, they cost me a mobile phone; hurled [Read more]
A Fixturing Fix
August 12, 2011 by 2 Comments
It seems that lately the AFL draw has become public enemy number one. Apparently, a system that consistently delivers the best 8 teams of the season to the finals is deeply flawed because each side doesn’t play each other an equal number of times. On the face of it this is a logical argument. If [Read more]
Sal’s Tips: Round 21
August 12, 2011 by 4 Comments
Hello Again All, Again this week I found myself as a tormented soul. After agreeing with Jeff Kennett last week, I found myself this week agreeing with Mick on the widening gap between top and bottom teams. Fortunately order was restored with Kennett blowing out again with his patronising crap on Tasmania and more thought [Read more]
Kapunda to GWS
August 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
This week’s Football People piece by Rob McLean takes a look at how Kapunda boy Johnathan Giles is going in Greater Western Sydney. He also shares some of his memories of being a kid at Kapunda’s Dutton Park. http://www.countryfooty.com.au/FootballPeople.htm
From Windy Hill to the Western Oval, Maribyrnong & Moonee Valley
August 12, 2011 by 13 Comments
Saturday nights “derby” at Docklands Stadium will see the Dons path to September action hitting a bump in the road or the Dogs being mathematically eliminated from this seasons finals equation. Perusing the playing lists of the past 40 years I noticed a little traffic alongMt Alexander Road, past the Racecourse and ontoGeelong Roadresulting from [Read more]
The footy gods: Tyche
August 12, 2011 by 1 Comment
Tyche was the daughter of Zeus. She would spin a ball in her fingers to explain luck. The ball might bounce one way and you could win the game. Bounce the other way and you were gone. And all that planning and all that effort comes to nothing.
A Tale Of Two Presses
August 12, 2011 by 27 Comments
Allan Jeans believed football was a simple game – “We have the ball, they have the ball or the ball is in dispute.” Not so simple are the plans devised to meet that axiom. The biggest developments in on-field strategies in recent times have revolved around what to do when “they” have the ball.
Crio’s Racing: ‘Time Honoured” Spring
August 11, 2011 by 3 Comments
Peter Lawrence is a former Committeeman with the Melbourne Racing Club. Fawning to him, former colleagues have shafted legendary sports identity (and remaining link to the Williamstown Racing Club) J.J. Liston, renaming from 2010 a time-honoured “Spring”-board for WFA stardom. The horses, of course, know nothing of this blight and the owners and trainers still [Read more]
Adapted Fencing
August 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
“Keep your guard up, with your arm out straight. Move the blade with your wrist,” My Dad said as he fixed my grip on the weapon. “En guarde, evut pre , alles vous en. “Quarte, Octave, Septime, Quinte.” I parried as he said the numbers corresponding to the positions but I was being pushed [Read more]
Footy grounds of yore
August 11, 2011 by 5 Comments
The older you get the more your mind drifts back to earlier times, not that they were all good, as some would have you make out, but when it comes to sport and football in particular, all the memories are good. Footy grounds, especially the eleven suburban grounds of the old VFL, bring back happy [Read more]
Fantasy and reality
August 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
It’s easy to confuse fantasy with reality in sports. Three months ago even the thought that the Saints would be contenders for the finals – let alone a home final – was pure fantasy. Or that Justin Koschitzke would be a difference-maker. Now? Sometimes the line is clear. Dream Team is pure fantasy – pick [Read more]
The Forgotten Man
August 11, 2011 by 1 Comment
Following his ongoing battle with a mystery illness, the continued search for a midfielder and the recent emergence of Tom Cleverley, it would be easy for most people to forget about Darren Fletcher. On the eve of United’s defeat by Liverpool on March 6, the midfielder came down with a temperate and was subsequently named [Read more]
Old School Sports Medicine
August 11, 2011 by 2 Comments
John Mosig noted the delicate way the injured player (on left) was carted off. Much less ceremony than today.
One Hundred Years Ago: Round 15, 29th July, 1911
August 11, 2011 by 10 Comments
Any hope that St Kilda might resolve the internal conflict of the previous weekend soon dissipated as the following week unfolded. The committee stuck fast to their position in relation to withdrawing dressing room passes. At Tuesday training the players voted unanimously that ‘the indignity to which Messrs Eicke and Hogan had been subjected [Read more]
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