This game scares “all the heck” out of me. To think that the Essendon Football Club, a great club with over one hundred and forty years of history could be defeated by this new creation of the AFL, is unthinkable. But there we are, the Dons are to play the Gold Coast Meter Maids at [Read more]
The View From Shepparton: Rd 6
The View” has been delivered late this week as the events organiser and myself have made a sudden decision to relocate within Shepparton. We found this retirement village with facilities that one could only dream of, for example a library, a table tennis table (very important)! a bar, gym, 15 metre lap pool,a gold star [Read more]
Haiku Bob Rd 6: clear moments after
wet afternoon the football used as a lure Johnno subbed off the game loses a little right-side brain sprinting in the clear then on meeting Luke Ball stopped wind-tossed rain a perfect pass by mistake moon strains through clouds a goal clear moments after watering my dead plant Leeroy explodes to life the rain lighter [Read more]
Culture wars: the new frontier of player development?
by Peter Baulderstone Chris Reardon’s incisive piece on football team ‘culture’, and the thoughtful responses from other contributors inspires me to make my own observations on the closely related issue of young player development I have been following the WAFL colts competition pretty closely for the last 3 years. These Saturday morning matches are a [Read more]
One Hundred Years Ago: Round 1, April 29th, 1911
The year of 1911 marked the completion of Australia’s first decade as a federated nation, and many of its not quite four million citizens may have been moved to reflect on their country’s distant role in a rapidly changing world. As autumn arrived in Melbourne, the more rarefied circles amongst its almost 600,000 residents may [Read more]
What about the fans?
Almanacker John Weldon has weighed in with his thoughts on the latest TV rights deal and he doesn’t believe the fans are getting much of a look in. Check out his piece at the link below and then add your thoughts here. http://theconversation.edu.au/articles/fans-pay-most-for-afl-broadcast-rights-1286
Suns thrashing reflects Power failure and a team in disarray
By Sasha Lennon There’s been a fair bit of talk since Sunday afternoon (mostly by Bombers fans) following Essendon’s record-breaking 139 point annihilation of the Gold Coast Suns at Etihad Stadium. Some will say it’s a sign of how undeveloped the new northern franchise is. Others will claim it’s a clear indication of just how [Read more]
Could the Swans have done better than Jetta?
by David Butler The Sydney Swans have had 3 first round draft picks in the last 10 years. Jarred McVeigh, Lewis Jetta and Gary Rohan. The dearth of first round picks is directly attributable to the consistency shown by the Swannies under the management of Paul Roos. As a result the Swannies midfield over the [Read more]
Bombers feast on Suns
by Andrew Else “Och that’s a sin. They’re gunna thrash them” Trust my Mum to start feeling sorry for a team with a borrowed, un-original name that wears a glorified training jumper. How a person raised on the streets of Glasgow could have sympathy to such a conglomerate baffles me. “C’mon Mum, just think of all [Read more]
Admiral Byng-inspired Malthouse leads Pies to victory
by John Ramsdale Game Report v’s Footscray Sunday May 1st 2011 I’ll get it out the way early. A ridiculous time to have a game, but clearly 55,754 others didn’t agree with me. At least it wasn’t at Docklands. I went to the game with some misgivings, no Jolly (he was very good last week), [Read more]
Something old, something new, something borrowed & something blue
by Mic Rees The old custom above shouldn’t have been confined to events 17,000 kilometres from Oz earlier this weekend. Merv Hughes Oval/Turner Reserve, located on the banks of the Maribyrnong River, played host to a Division 2 Western Region Football League (WRFL) game on Saturday that could have used the tradition reserved to instruct [Read more]
A full day of football
Last Friday, I had a full day of football. It started at 12 noon (well actually, it was about an hour later when host and guest turned up). It was the monthly Footy Almanac luncheon at the Clyde Hotel in Carlton, and Ted Hopkins was the Guest of Honour. Many years ago I was an [Read more]
Crio’s Q: What is ‘culture’?
by Chris Riordan Alex “the estranged” Fevola has reportedly (H/Sun, News section, p24, 02/05/2011) blamed the AFL culture for her “monster” ex-hubby’s infidelity, drinking and gambling – inferring that different tolerances apply to gifted sportsmen. It is easy to make light of the media/celebrity circus and, no doubt, her news grab will soon be buried [Read more]
Chris Judd v Football
Many players have pace. Even the AFL’s plodders are quick by any other league’s standards. Many of them can mark. Not just hold one, but squeeze that damn ball under hard physical pressure. Many of them can weave. Man, Brent Harvey can weave! Or get stats. Garry Jr, he can really rack ’em up. What [Read more]
Footy Rich and Poor
An American cousin of mine lives in Pittsburgh, and is an avid supporter of that city’s baseball team, the Pirates. On a trip to the USA some years ago, I asked my cousin Jim how he rated his team’s chances in the Major League Baseball season which had just commenced. He looked at me incredulously. [Read more]
QClash stunt enough to make you QEasy
The media alert was mysterious, intriguing and enticing. The CEOs and captains of the Brisbane Lions and the Gold Coast Suns were going to make a joint ‘major announcement’ ahead of their NAB challenge match. Luckily, journalists had to endure only one sleepless night before they found out what this major announcement was. Could the [Read more]
Book Launch: Ted Hopkins
Ted Hopkins shot to fame when he replaced Bert Thornley at half-time in the 1970 Grand Final, kicking four goals to lead Carlton to victory. Although Hopkins played just one more game, he was to come back to footy in years to come – in a significant way. The collection and analysis of statistics started as a [Read more]
The Five Stages of Death and Dying
Denial: I got my NAB Cup footy record so I’ve got my list of all the opposition players, as well as my TV recording as well as my comfortable armchair. So my feet are up after a day in my studio listening to North Melbourne get their first win for the season. I have been [Read more]
THE WRAP – ROUND VI
WHERE LIFE IMITATES FOOTBALL What a round it’s been in Footy Eddie. Is The Competition a movable feast or what? First up – on the Thursday night over on the balmy Indian Ocean Shore – The Fuchsias fell in a screaming heap against The Weagles. For the Friday night we switch to the Harbour City [Read more]











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