Friday and I’m a mixture of emotions. Excited, nervous, full of anticipation. It is a foreign feeling, that’s for sure. And it shouldn’t be. Why oh why does the AFL hate us? Why do we receive dead-rubber Sunday evening games all the time? Why do we never get full exposure on national television? We get [Read more]
Presumptuous Titilations
July 29, 2011 by 1 Comment
Friday. Even with a contact schedule of seven hours a week that word induces a smile. For today as the English and Indians redraw their bows, Cadel celebrates his fifth day in heaven and Australia rub their eyes reading “Magnussen wins in Shanghai”, I enjoy presumptuous titillations of a win in Gosford. Far short of [Read more]
Jack Donkersley
July 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Photo and words by Peter Argent During the annual under 15s SANFL championships Glenelg key forward Jack Donkersley and his Norwood opponent Luke Tomaselli attacking the football with vigour not seen enough at the top level. The Bays went on to comfortably win the semi final and now face off against North Adelaide in the [Read more]
AFL – Pay the Advantage Rule
July 29, 2011 by 2 Comments
I think its time the authorities fixed the advantage rule, as it is certainly one of the most frustrating and contentious aspects of the game. I can’t see any reason to not follow the example set in one of the rugby codes (union I think) where the referee doesn’t always blow the whistle at the first [Read more]
Sal’s Tips: Round 19
July 29, 2011 by 5 Comments
I commented last week on the British Open victory by a fat bloke who dealt with the conditions as they were presented, I think exactly the same can be said of Cadel Evans who dealt with the weather, the mountains and the competition as they were presented. He has changed since his runners up efforts [Read more]
The Recurring Dream
July 29, 2011 by 13 Comments
Every once in a while I have this dream. It is April 1990. The light is always the same. The last waves of summer have passed but there is still enough warmth to obfuscate the chill in the air. Footy season has commenced with its majestic ephemera and hyperbole. I’m part of a team. [Read more]
Crio’s Racing: Saturday 30 July
July 29, 2011 by 17 Comments
It’s time to face the impending (racing) New Year with some upbeat reflections after (my) last week’s death notice for our Industry! There are always great stories in this game, whether they involve man or beast. Or, in this case, woman. Perhaps rather than lamenting the morgue at Sandown the other Wednesday, I should [Read more]
Footy Almanac Race Day
July 29, 2011 by 8 Comments
The inaugural footyalmanac.com.au handicap will be run today at Geelong. A hardy band of Almanackers will be wining/dining/punting their way through the afternoon. Follow the action through the afternoon. (Some more excitable types might even apply the tag ‘interactive’ to this experiment. Good punting!
England win determinedly at Lord’s
July 28, 2011 by 9 Comments
What a fitting finish to cricket’s 2000th Test match at Lord’s last Monday: a full house on a fifth day thanks to some innovative thinking from the MCC, a cosmopolitan and infectious atmosphere, and plenty of hard and meaningful Test cricket. It was a joy to behold for Australian cricket connoisseurs following the [Read more]
Circle the Cars
July 28, 2011 by 1 Comment
NORTH MELBOURNE – 4.7 8.10 12.15 17.20 (122) BRISBANE 4.0 8.5 10.6 11.11 (77) Best: Black (BL) 3, Bastinac (NM) 2 and Petrie (NM) 1 Dust off the picnic blanket and make sure the car battery is fully charged, the AFL’s least popular non-Victorian team is playing Melbourne’s least popular team at [Read more]
Anticipation
July 28, 2011 by 5 Comments
I’ve been looking forward to this game all year. I cut a few extra loads of wood on Friday, finishing past sunset, just to be tired. To sleep early, but couldn’t. I should have gone to the pub, done my routine. Watched some AFL while nursing a few beers, letting small Friday talk bounce off [Read more]
One Hundred Years Ago: Round 13, 15th July, 1911
July 28, 2011 by 18 Comments
Even at this early stage in the VFL’s existence, football had insinuated itself through all levels of Melbourne society, managing to simultaneously exemplify and transcend class divisions within the city. For a clear example of this you needed to look no further than the Essendon and Collingwood clubs as they prepared to face each other [Read more]
A Sporting Weekend
July 28, 2011 by 15 Comments
Friday evening. I am on the footpath outside the North Fitzroy Arms on the phone to a Swedish car wrecker. The family Volvo has died. He has offered less than the value of the computer which we have recently had re-soldered so that the air-conditioner is not stuck on Saharan Gale. Max walks by chomping [Read more]
Neil Who?
July 28, 2011 by 10 Comments
When Neil Craig was appointed to the senior coaching role at the end of 2004, the common reaction outside of South Australia was “Neil who?”. He was a man who did not follow the usual path to AFL coaching. He had no AFL playing experience, although he did play over 300 games in the SANFL. [Read more]
DA’s Clue of the Round (19)
July 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Don’t forget to catch David Astle’s website at http://davidastle.com. But first, see if you can solve this week’s clue: Using surnames only, in this sneaky approach Where only true puzzle-heads will last, Can you mix an E into one current coach To spell a second from the recent past? Solution to DA’s Clue of the [Read more]
Hotel Docklands-ifornia
July 27, 2011 by 2 Comments
by Anthony Thomas MYSTERY surrounds the discovery of a woman in the toilets at Etihad Stadium suffering from cold, two days after the Melbourne venue was last used. It’s believed the 57-year-old woman had spent two days locked inside the ground in central Melbourne following the AFL match between Geelong and Richmond on [Read more]
The best kick in the Riverland
July 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
by Rob McLean This week in Football People, we take a look at the best kick in the Riverland, plus the Roo returns. http://www.countryfooty.com.au/FootballPeople.htm
backing into the swell
July 27, 2011 by 5 Comments
taking my lead from fellow floreat pican andrea mcnamara this week. i too was ‘by the sea’ for this game. actually, it was a lake – and we were in the middle of it. on an island about 3 hours north of stockholm called örjung. beautiful, peaceful place with classic swedish scenery – water, forest, [Read more]
Sat’dy footy 30 July 2011
July 27, 2011 by 3 Comments
by Chris Riordan As a (much) younger teacher I used to play in some staff v student footy games. We had a fairly fit, active team and, with the Principal umpiring to our interests, scores were often settled. The kids wore the school jumper and we were “others”. One time I wedged in to [Read more]
Cadel est de deux ans de retard! (Cadel is two years late!)
July 26, 2011 by 14 Comments
by David Downer The honeymoon was over. Literally. Well, almost. Just a single day remained on our post-wedding European jaunt. A stunningly blue Summer’s day on the Champs-Elysees would provide the final chapter. Yeah, there were worse places to be.
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