by Paul Mitchell There seemed no reason for our bit part ruck/forward to be nicknamed ‘Gull’. I attributed the moniker to the fact that his mullet stuck out ingloriously at the sides, made him look like a windblown seagull. I didn’t know his real name, but that didn’t matter – when I called out ‘Gull!’ he [Read more]
AFL Round 9: The View From Shepparton
May 26, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Peter SchumacherSydney and Adelaide. How I fervently wish that Brisbane and Western Bulldogs had been in that list. Can’t blame the umpies for Brisbane‘s loss, though as one correspondent was quoted as texting on Jon Faine’s (ABC Melbourne) program this morning Brown doesn’t have a back apparently or words to that effect.Tasmania has officially said [Read more]
AFL Round 9: Field of dreams – all types really.
May 26, 2009 by 1 Comment
by John Green The MCG is a field of dreams. All types of dreams. For some, the vision of reconciliation between Australia’s original inhabitants and its newcomers. A resurgent Bombers under Matthew Knights are dreaming of creating yet another successful era borne on the wings of fleet-footed youngsters. Richmond, they may as well be dreaming [Read more]
AFL Round 9: What pain is that?
May 25, 2009 by 4 Comments
By Andrew Gigacz When my son Oliver was about three, he took an interest in birds. Living near a park afforded us an opportunity to be exposed to all manner of feathered creatures. Many were easy to identify: magpies, kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets. But Oliver has an eye for detail and he soon became [Read more]
AFL Round 9: (FPS) Pies work together for Tarks in the west
May 25, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Andrea Mcnamara Collingwood 12.16.88 West Coast 9.12.66 I like to get my game preparation right, and looking back, I know I wasn’t ready for either that Monday Massacre or the Sunday Blues game. With both, life got in the way of footy – I hadn’t fully absorbed how much the team had changed since [Read more]
AFL Round 9: Nightmare at the G
May 25, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Michael Allan I don’t know what to think of Richmond anymore. At the start of the year I penciled the dreamtime match in as one of our 14 wins on the way to September. Seven losses later I’m struggling to keep up with all that is wrong with Richmond. It started off with their [Read more]
AFL Round 9: West Coast lose to the Pies at home?
May 25, 2009 by 1 Comment
by David Bruce I didn’t watch this game. Didn’t see a single second of it, and if I have my way it will stay that way. In truth, I’ve not watched a game live since the 2005 GF, but living here in Canberra it couldn’t be any other way even if I wanted it [Read more]
Gigs’ Stats: Round 9
May 25, 2009 by 1 Comment
by Andrew Gigacz Round 9 was officially Indigenous Round but it could have just as aptly been named Paradox Round. With St Kilda in danger of losing their first game of the season until deep in the last quarter against Brisbane, and Geelong relying on a post-final-siren miss by the Bulldogs Brad Johnson [Read more]
Round 9: Richmond v Essendon: Dream land gives way to dreamtime victory
May 24, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Rod Oaten When you follow the Essendon footy club for more than 60 years you have a store of great memories, and in the first half of this match at the ’G the Dons were playing lacklustre, indecisive and error-prone footy, while Richmond were too good at getting the ball out of the centre [Read more]
AFL Round 9: North Melbourne v Fremantle: Resolute Roos hold out Dockers before paltry crowd
May 23, 2009 by 3 Comments
By Tim Ivins The AFL has a problem, a really big problem, as we’ve all discovered. The stadium deals negotiated by Wayne Jackson and Co don’t make sense. I settle down on the couch for the clash of those crowd-drawing behemoths, North Melbourne and Fremantle, and my thoughts turn to how Eugene Arocca and James [Read more]
Cricket: Another Ashes squad announced
May 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Patrick O’Keeffe One of my earliest sporting memories was sitting up in bed, listening to the radio coverage of the first test of the 1989 Ashes series. I was 8 years old and Deano was my hero. Although the Australian cricket team had been on the canvas throughout much of the 1980s, they [Read more]
Jones files: The lighter side of broadcasting in PNG
May 22, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Richard Jones I’VE been broadcasting either from the studio or from outside locations since the mid-1960s. I lived in Papua New Guinea from 1963-76. PNG was the Territory of Papua New Guinea before self-government in 1973 and independence in 1975. When I started calling amateur boxing tournaments from ringside for the ABC’s 9PA Port [Read more]
Local Footy: UQ notch a win, and seem to take on the local Ippy lingo
May 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Avan Stallard Div2 Reserves Match Report 16 May 2009 (BAFL) Uni 1.5 2.6 4.10 6.13 (49) Ipswich 1.0 2.3 3.4 3.9 (27) We played really good on the weekend. In the first quarter we wanted to beat the other side, who were Ipswich. [Read more]
Yarra Man: A half-back’s comparison of the Eastern league and the Ovens and Murray league
May 21, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Tavis Perry Last year I played for Blackburn in the Eastern Football League, which is commonly regarded as Victoria’s premier competition outside the VFL. This year I’ve transferred to Yarrawonga, which plays in arguably the strongest — and definitely the most even — country competition, the Ovens & Murray Football League. Often I’m asked, [Read more]
General Footy Writing: The Roys are back in town
May 21, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Adam Muyt Royboys. It’s got to be one of the best nicknames in Australian football, conjuring up all sorts of affectionate images of a footy club and the people who followed it, most blessed with a particular (peculiar?) outlook and attitude. And now it’s the title of a doco having its first airing at [Read more]
In the Sheds: Royboys’ turkey run unites distant clubs
May 21, 2009 by 3 Comments
By Paul Daffey The AFL’s Indigenous Round this weekend will promote unity through sport. For an example of such unity, look no further than the link formed by two clubs on opposite sides of the country, from opposite sides of the demographic coin. Warnum is a West Australian Aboriginal community that was once known as [Read more]
AFL Round 8: Melbourne v Bulldogs: Dees go close again
May 21, 2009 by Leave a Comment
By Steve Healy It was clear from the start that the Dees would put up a fight against the Dogs, but a fight isn’t enough when you come out to win games in front of your home crowd. Matthew Bate kicked the opener for the Demons, which came as a surprise due to his recent [Read more]
General footy writing: It’s time mulligans were introduced to footy
May 20, 2009 by 7 Comments
By Darren Smith No one can accuse this forum of not covering the big issues … I recently used the term “mulligan” in a description of the Round 7 game between St Kilda and Essendon, suggesting that, if Essendon could have taken a mulligan for their first quarter, they would have. This claim was met [Read more]
General footy writing: Cats need Moons to cut funny business
May 20, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Damian O’Donnell Has the first crack appeared in the Geelong armour? For the last three seasons the Cats have been an organised, well-drilled organism. They have honoured “the process” and broken the game down to a few basic key-performance indicators. The group has overwhelmed the individual, and, to quote Pink Floyd, all the players [Read more]
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