1st Test Gabba: Australia v West Indies- Day one by John Butler Preoccupations on a sunny Brisbane day Another Test season begins amid rain clouds over scenic Mount Helen (my humble abode). Break the champagne over the bow, or rather, wheel out Greigy and Heals for another pitch report. For a pitch that looks like [Read more]
First Test, Day 1: Ivins on edge in the office; Aussies have edge on the field
November 26, 2009 by 3 Comments
By Tim Ivins That there is excitement leading up to the first test has been a testament to the Cricket Australia’s spin doctors. Articles of Hauritz developing a ball that will actually spin and the future of test cricket have created interest in the media. The bagmen clearly think the West Indies loss to Bangladesh [Read more]
Review of the 2008 Footy Almanac
November 26, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Review by Bernard Whimpress John Harms and Paul Daffey (eds), The Footy Almanac 2008: The AFL Season One Game at a Time, Penguin Viking, Melbourne, 2008, pp. xxv + 507, pb, $29.95. John Harms, Neville Turner, Bob Speechley and I were into our third bottle of shiraz over a long lunch at the Pumphouse Hotel, [Read more]
Footy Talk: Mick Malthouse and Sun Tzu talk tactics (mostly off-field)
November 26, 2009 by 2 Comments
By John Butler Setting: Sun Tzu: ancient Chinese warrior general, author of the Art of War and in many ways the original Director of Coaching. Michael Malthouse: as we all know, is soon to be Collingwood Director of Coaching. In his never-ending quest to bring world’s best practice to the Lexus Centre, President Ed has [Read more]
Daniel Harris speeds to another level in six sessions with the Cannonball
November 25, 2009 by 14 Comments
The challenge for me, Clint Youlden, along with Daniel, is to re-program his body to be more coordinated, run faster and more efficiently. This will give him greater speed and agility as well as enable him to run out the game better and faster. In order to do this, we will have to go into [Read more]
A blast from drafts past
November 25, 2009 by 8 Comments
By Damian Watson Well folks the 2009 AFL National Draft is fast approaching! It’s that brief moment in summer where the sole sporting focus shifts to AFL Footy just one more time before we enter the New Year. It is a day where the best young talents wait anxiously to hear the recruiters announce their [Read more]
What can we reasonably expect from the First Test?
November 25, 2009 by 7 Comments
by Chris Riordan What are reasonable expectations for this cricket test? If Australia make 500 it is due to the visitors’ popgun attack. Windies get 300, we lack penetration. Tourists always struggle here anyway, which is why Sth Africa was such a jolt recently, as was Australia’s retaliation on their soil. Aussie supporters, despite noble [Read more]
My favourite footy memory
November 24, 2009 by 162 Comments
by Josh Barnstable It’s a question I would have to work hard to find the answer for. But I would enjoy sifting through the memories my brain has stored. What is my favourite moment I have experienced in a game of AFL footy? It would have to be from the Round 19 clash between North [Read more]
Morality and sport
November 24, 2009 by 10 Comments
by Chris Riordan Morality in Sport is a very broad, interesting and controversial topic. Fine Cotton. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Recent Euro soccer and tennis betting scandals. All palpably deceitful. But it’s not always so clear. The “gentleman’s game” has had its problems. Trevor Chappell was within the rules (and following orders) when he rolled McKechnie. [Read more]
My footy Cinderella moment – aka “The Launch”
November 24, 2009 by 47 Comments
The Melbourne launch for the Almanac was like a celebrity event, like the Brownlow minus the huge amount of AFL stars, but still it turned out to be a great night. The hectic run home after a day of 3 exams had me running around the house, half dressed, hair straightener in hand while everyone [Read more]
What were your favourite Almanac pieces of 2009?
November 24, 2009 by 42 Comments
This is not a forum for ranking. However, one of the pitfalls of this fantastic site is that so many articles can appear and then be smothered soon after. In the spirit of end of year lists, I wish to highlight some of my memorable reads from footyalmanac.com.au in 2009.
A great night. (At least that’s the Waaia remember it.)
November 23, 2009 by 68 Comments
by Josh Barnstable It’s Wednesday. I wait for Thursday to come. I have been waiting since Daff told me that the launch would be on the 19th of November. It’s the 18th. I’m at tennis training, wearing my Waaia guernsey, I’m in full concentration with my coach, we are doing some work at the net [Read more]
Fab 5 together for the first time!
November 23, 2009 by 51 Comments
By Steve Healy What a great night this was. As I stepped into the Clyde Hotel on Thursday, I was excited about meeting a group of people I knew so well but I had never met before, a group of people with one common link: footy. I walk inside, a pool table or two, a [Read more]
A launch to remember
November 22, 2009 by 2 Comments
by Chris Riordan Dennis Denuto, in The Castle, immortalized “the vibe of the thing” in his stirring support of “everyman”. Anson Cameron, writer and footy fan, clearly sensed it as he launched the “traditional” 2009 edition of The Footy Almanac. His galloping, gloriously irreverent speech captured the spirit of this compilation and of the happy [Read more]
Schauble likely to miss grand final re-match
November 19, 2009 by 6 Comments
by Rod Gillett Former Sydney Swans best & fairest Andrew Schauble is likely to miss the Middle East AFL grand final re-match when the Dubai Heat travel to the Sultanate of Oman to play the Muscat Magpies in their round 3 at the Muscat Rugby Club on Friday. Schauble is suffering from a flu virus [Read more]
Off to South Africa along the All White road
November 18, 2009 by 5 Comments
by Tim Ivins World Cup Football provides me with some of the strongest emotions I’ve experienced as a sports fan. It’s almost like the golden path in the Wizard of Oz, countries play-off for the right to play in the greatest show of all. The show which causes me to shift my body clock to [Read more]
Is poor player management the reason why players get a premature exit?
November 17, 2009 by 7 Comments
by Clint Youlden I met this AFL footballer (let’s call him Player X) through a friend of mine, Tavis Perry. Tavis has long been involved with me, and my training innovations, for the past 5 years and encouraged this player to seek out my expertise in speed and coordination training. Tav floated the idea to [Read more]
Stone the Crows (or at least their recruiting policy)
November 17, 2009 by 2 Comments
by Lynda Morphett These are my ideas on how the Adelaide Footy Club could improve their recruiting (it probably applies to other clubs as well): Recruiting criteria: Our recruiting criteria perhaps needs revising. (Without seeing it – can’t say for sure!) More focus on skilfulness and decision making ability, and less focus on beep tests, [Read more]
The table
November 16, 2009 by 3 Comments
by Damian “Dips” O’Donnell Our dinners at home were always noisy, cluttered affairs. The eight of us would sit around the delightful (though tiny) old mahogany table, which seemed to have a talent for expanding whenever Mum found there were additional mouths to feed. It could have been someone’s mate, a cousin, the local parish [Read more]
Footy Talk: Ziggy Stardust & Chris Judd discuss the Messiah burden (and other matters)
November 15, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by John Butler Setting: Fleeing the rock ‘n’ roll craziness of the 70’s, Ziggy Stardust ended up running an underground backpacker’s in Coober Pedy (a long story). He finds that he blends in with the local wildlife surprisingly well. His hair now tends more grey than fluorescent red, and a middle age paunch hangs over [Read more]
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