Jennifer Melfi- Respected psychiatrist, specialising in anger management issues. Best known for her work with a Mr Tony Soprano. Alastair Clarkson- Hawthorn premiership coach. 2010 was meant to be the rebound year for the Hawks. But once again, it’s turning pear-shaped. They needed a ruckman, but drafted Burgoyne- then he couldn’t get on the field. [Read more]
KEN PIESSE’S 10 FAVORITE FOOTBALLERS FROM … THE OVENS & MURRAY
April 29, 2010 by 6 Comments
Each week prominent football author and commentator Ken Piesse will feature 10 of his personal favorites from the major country Leagues. Buffalo Creek has surely not had a more famous drifter. The tiny Myrtleford township was home for Gary Ablett snr. during his devastating six month assault on Ovens and Murray football, the launching pad [Read more]
AFL Teams: Go the Tricolours!
April 29, 2010 by 19 Comments
In the lead-up to the Footy Almanac lunch at the Clyde Hotel on Friday 30 April, a lunch with a Saints v Bulldogs theme, Michael Rees has selected a team of players to have played for both clubs. Go the Tricolours! B: Dean Chiron, Alby Smedts, Michael Ford HB: Mick Frost, Mark Kellett, Anthony Darcy [Read more]
Cuba provides early omen for the Saints’ night.
April 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By David Downer Ancient Chinese military general Sun Tzu once remarked: “choose your battles wisely”. Indeed mate. When supporters size up the fixture release in October, there is a general pecking order of matches to consider as “interstate dirty weekend away” material. Who is most worthy of your hard-earned $39 discounted Tiger/Virgin/Jetstar fare? Not high [Read more]
AFL stat site anomalies
April 29, 2010 by 22 Comments
This (AFL owned) site has me perplexed. It seems to suggest, for example, that in the 1910 home and away season Collingwood’s average crowd was only 488. This is obviously incorrect. So why is the site still up (I first noticed it this time last year)? Have a look at the attendances of all clubs in [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Anzac Day: From Reservoir to the ‘G’, to the eye of the Storm
April 29, 2010 by 2 Comments
The national anthem brings the dawn service at the Reservoir cenotaph to a close and a greying man wrapped in black and white trumpets, Carna Pies! Some giggle into their winter coats while a few women puff on heartstarters. Children hang from parents’ arms. A craggy digger approaches another standing at the rear of the [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Real Storm surprise is that people are surprised
April 29, 2010 by 18 Comments
It has been a most tumultuous week in Australian sport. Well, in Australian professional sport. You have to be specific because I reckon professional sport and normal, everyday, garden-variety sport are actually quite different. One is about commerce, the other is about the game. The tumult comes from the exposure of the flagrant salary cap [Read more]
Round 5: Fremantle v Richmond – Defeat’s not as bad from home
April 29, 2010 by 1 Comment
It’s looking like another grim football season for the Allan household. I decide this as my “other” side of the family watch their under performing Hawks remarkably lose to the predicted cellar dwellars North Melbourne. I can’t help but think back to 2008, when the season ended with my Tigers, finishing just outside the eight, [Read more]
Upset Round
April 29, 2010 by 4 Comments
Now that the annual ‘upset Round’ has been completed with football scholars’ throughout the land and possibly beyond, predictions being turned upside down and my geriatric Cats morphed from roosters to feather dusters as quick as you can say Podsiadliwho, I reflect, perhaps because I am upset. Some comment on Anzac Day footy, as the [Read more]
end of sorrow
April 29, 2010 by 3 Comments
Anzac Day – the sun settles on every medal Anzac Day crowd – the amplification of silence end of sorrow Cloke kicks the first bright autumn sun flashes through the goals Cloke’s banana Toovey goals there must be something in this beer Anzac Day – Didak finds a gap between bodies watching the rain beer [Read more]
More than one punt in modern footy
April 28, 2010 by 2 Comments
I haven’t lived in Melbourne for a few years now, but still love getting back home and catching the odd game. Having spent years overseas watching football (soccer) and now living in a rugby state, I can still safely say that footy, the Australian variety, is clearly the greatest of them all. But there is [Read more]
Dees Fans Sing a Saturday Night Song
April 28, 2010 by 15 Comments
It seemed like an eternity since the Demons had played a night game at the MCG. In actual fact, it was Round 19, 2008, and I wasn’t even there. But I was there tonight for the game between my rampant Demons and an undefeated Brisbane side. As I walked down to the Olympic Stand pocket [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Storm fans need another Lazarus moment
April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Rugby league isn’t my game of choice. In fact, I can honestly say I’ve never been to one solitary game in any of my 33 years. My first real sense of association with it was at an unlikely event on a glorious spring day in 1999. North Melbourne had won the flag the day before, [Read more]
The Real Round 5 Ladder?
April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Following a discussion with a Swans supporter about their dream run to get them to the top after round 5, I felt the need to try and justify my position……. Consequently, please find below the real ladder after Round 5. One that perhaps offers a bit more perspective on a team’s performance to date. The [Read more]
The View From Shepparton: Round 5
April 28, 2010 by 2 Comments
Well what a prick of an Anzac Day weekend that was. The Brisbane bubble was pricked followed closely by that of St Kilda’s, Geelong, but the Storm were the biggest pricks of all, or at least a few of their administrators have been. I spent the weekend in Melbourne, folks, and made up my mind [Read more]
FPS: ANZAC XVI Pies surge to equal top!
April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Mark O’Connell The 16th annual clash between Colingwood and Essendon was, as always, eagerly anticipated. Unfortunately we had to again put up with the annual whingeing about the right of these two teams to have this fixture. Let me re-print something from a previous ANZAC day report Anzac day, as a commemoration of those [Read more]
General Footy Writing: You want great clashes? You’ll have to look beyond Saints and Dogs matches
April 27, 2010 by 4 Comments
This Friday evening the Dogs take on the Saints in what shapes as a potential preview to a September showdown. Maybe. The battle of these tri-colours was once an entry on the fixture that hardly set pulses racing. Times change. As one of the many long suffering members/supporters of one of these trophy-starved teams, here [Read more]
A well-rounded holiday
April 27, 2010 by 1 Comment
26 April – the day after ANZAC Day. Which means it is a public holiday as Victoria has adopted the national policy of a day in lieu of the Sunday. Good idea if you are an employee. My actual ANZAC Day was spent at the MCG seeing the Pies dominate the Bombers, so the extra [Read more]
Blues take advantage of fluctuating circumstance
April 27, 2010 by 1 Comment
Isn’t it interesting how the sporting landscape can change so immensely in the space of just 7 days? It had been an enjoyable week on a personal level as I completed my Work Experience at Channel 10 and felt thrilled as I took a glimpse at the professional work involved in the fascinating medium of [Read more]
Crio’s Question: What are your sports forecasting rules?
April 27, 2010 by 22 Comments
As this weekend’s results attest, punting and picking winners are tough tasks. To simplify the predicament we look for trends, adages, even superstitions. My 2010 theory (at the moment) involves laying teams the week after they’ve played the Dogs. The Pies fell in by a point v Dees but it is otherwise effective! Past advice [Read more]
Recent Comments