The VFL was more prepared to make allowances for interstate football one hundred years ago than it would ever consider today. The 50th jubilee of the codification of the games’ rules had seen a grand festival of football held in Melbourne in 1908 under the nominal auspice of the Australian Football Council. With nationalist fervour [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Rugby League comes to The Footy Almanac
August 18, 2011 by 5 Comments
Growing up as a young Canterbury diehard in Orange, when all you would get were two games a week on television and your main contact with the Big League came through Rugby League Week and The Daily Telegraph, the highlight of every Christmas was David Middleton’s Rugby League yearbook. The book was a goldmine for [Read more]
The Krakouers
August 18, 2011 by 19 Comments
In 1982, I was in Grade 6 at St. Pius X West Warrnambool and obsessed with the Krakouer brothers. I kept scrapbooks of newspaper clippings that said ‘BLACK MAGIC!’ and ‘KRAKOUER MAGIC!’ I wrote ‘JIM 3 KRAKOUER’ and ‘PHIL 8 KRAKOUER’ all over my books and pencil case. I sat in the filtered sun in [Read more]
The Best and Fairest excuse
August 17, 2011 by 2 Comments
So I called the boss at the newspaper the other day. Said I wasn’t coming in. He asked why. “General soreness,” I said. “A bit of this, a bit of that. You know how it is.” “Um, no,” he said. “Not able to take the mark like usual. Not able to fly into the contests.” [Read more]
Berrigan boys
August 17, 2011 by 7 Comments
by Glen Davis I tried a while ago to select a team from Berrigan, and adjacent areas in that part of the Riverina, but fell a few players short. How I left out/forgot Shane Crawford is staggering. I have taken on board the comments of fellow Almanackers such as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rocket, and his [Read more]
DA’s Clue of the Round (22)
August 17, 2011 by 1 Comment
by David Astle (http://davidastle.com/) A chewy one this week: No 3 is a Bomber dynasty; No 5, a defensive Saint; No 7 goes for the Blues But a chiselled athlete he ain’t. No 8, a one-time Demon Is now running round in stripes; No 20 is a Roos rebounder; While the next two [Read more]
Rocket’s rocket
August 17, 2011 by 22 Comments
by Andrew Gigacz LOONY VERSE OF THE WEEK: Rodney Eade no longer coach True or a piss-take? True it is I’m sad to say I think it’s a mistake Yes, it’s true folks. Sadly (in my opinion), my anagram from earlier this year – ROCKET RODNEY EADE = YEAR ROOTED? NECKED! – has become [Read more]
The Cats that ate Paris
August 17, 2011 by 2 Comments
by Ken Haley As a lifelong St Kilda supporter, I’ve never been afraid of lost causes. The heartbreak years fall into two classes – those when we could believe feel that Cup within our grasp – 1965, 1971, 1997, 2009 and 2010 (there has only been one of glory, as the entire world knows) [Read more]
Going broke getting rich
August 17, 2011 by 2 Comments
by Peter Edwards I’ve always been a bit entrepreneurial; always been open to the thought of a quick and easy buck; always been curious about the Bransons, Packers, and Murdochs of this world. I’ve attended many a seminar; read many a book; talked to many a mentor. But without the genius of Gates, the [Read more]
This Sat’dy… 20 August 2011
August 17, 2011 by 7 Comments
by Chris Riordan My sides seem to have gradually slipped from contention and, with the races getting more interesting, it is easy to lose track of the various comps, many of which are finishing the fixture and facing finals fates. For some comps it is an “early September”….for example, my plans for a weekend [Read more]
The meritocracy of sport
August 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
by Lee Carney What is it about sport that sucks us through the gates by the millions every year, makes us pay ridiculous amounts for merchandise, upgrade our Pay TV subscriptions and spend countless hours that would be better spent with our partners and/or family’s, watching grown men play children’s games. The most common [Read more]
From anxious to frustrated
August 16, 2011 by 5 Comments
by Jake “Cobba” Stevens It was a few weeks ago since I had last been to a Swans game. And it was fair to say that their previous efforts hadn’t satisfied me. Last weeks result against Essendon was disappointing. A few weeks ago Fremantle (and Chamberlain) had gotten the best of the Swans. [Read more]
The Footygods: The Titans and the Giants
August 16, 2011 by 7 Comments
by Ian Latham You can always tell Zeus. He’s the middle aged greek bloke either standing up looking serious with his thunder bolts or sitting down looking serious. You didn’t want to get in his way. Well, tell that to the Titans. They thought that they just owned the place, which was true. They [Read more]
Wanna Bet on Another Shaw Thing?
August 16, 2011 by 3 Comments
by Merv Collins When I stuck my head above the blankets to greet the two degree morning in Melbourne today, I’m sure I felt a shiver of sympathy for poor Heath Shaw doing it hard over there in sun-drenched southern America. I suspect his team-mates experienced some of the same emotions as they [Read more]
Sean Gorman: Legends
August 16, 2011 by 7 Comments
Legends, which is a book of profiles of the Indigenous Team of the Century is a very important book. It is written by Sean Gorman who interviewed the players and has written these biographical essays on their terms. The book celebrates the game and the Indigenous players but it does not ignore the political realities [Read more]
Radio Dimwit
August 16, 2011 by 19 Comments
It’s 8:40am. I’m like a zombie walking through the Agora, back to the West Lecture Theatre. Still feeling half asleep dodging on coming uni students with a large coffee, 3 sugars in hand I have the look of a killer on my face. I’m not a morning person, I can’t handle 9:00am lectures- my brain [Read more]
The Grass Is Always Greener
August 15, 2011 by 7 Comments
Embarrassing Football Moments No. 3,204 The Grass Is Always Greener. I played a lot of footy with Brendo, many years ago. Better than that, we were mates. It was good to come home for a few days. To catch up. He’d done well in the years I’d been away. Worked hard and used [Read more]
Stoke City v Chelsea
August 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Rusty was how Chelsea’s campaign began against Stoke City at Brittania stadium. With at least four of its stars on the benches including Didier Drogba and Nicholas Anelka, Chelsea started the first half disjointed. The commencement of the new season saw the team struggle with cohesion as Stoke came to them with intensity and at [Read more]
The double torp
August 15, 2011 by 9 Comments
I think I saw one of the great goals on Sunday evening. It came as Theo and Anna were trashing the bathroom. The details (of both incidents) remain a little sketchy. The thing I am most confident of is that Anna (two years old next week) tipped about 12.7 litres of water on to the [Read more]
City to Surf
August 15, 2011 by 2 Comments
I’ve always admired the stubbornness and stupidity of males – to me this is what separates us from women – we do stupid and impulsive things. Case it point my decision to ‘run’ (and I use this word euphemistically) Sydney’s City to Surf. The only reason why I decided to do this race was that [Read more]
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