Almanac Footy: Caleb Serong reveals the challenges he overcame to win the Rising Star Award

Caleb Serong won the AFL’s Rising Star Award. Max Hatzoglou caught up with him.

Almanac Footy Comment: An Open Letter to the Collingwood Football Club

Frank Taylor loves the Collingwood Football Club. But, at 66 years old, he will not renew his Collingwood membership until the club answers some of his questions. And he reckons plenty of The Faithful, many of whom are disillusioned with what has happened, are in the same boat.

Almanac Footy and Music: McLennan and Riewoldt: Stars or Role Players?

Michael Nichols explores the interplay of footy and music through the lens of Richmond’s role player Jack Riewoldt and The Go-Betweens’ composer/performer Grant McLennan.

Almanac Memoir (and Music): Shadow Boxing at The Argyle Hotel

Kevin Densley revives memories of Geelong in 1980 with his band Murmurs at The Argyle Hotel.

Almanac (Footy) History – Trade Week 1973: How Richard Michalcyzk got to the Kangaroos

In 1973, every club in Melbourne wanted to recruit Richard Michalcyzk. Michael Sexton tells the curious tale of how North Melbourne managed to secure his services.

Almanac Rugby League – State of Origin Game 3: A deserving finale

Sean Mortell concludes his series of reports on the NRL’s 2020 State of Origin series. He’s getting to understand just what that famous Maroon jersey means!

‘Bastards, bitches and bloody good people……’ by KB Hill

KB Hill recounts the colourful, trail-blazing and highly successful career of Wangaratta’s legendary female jockey and trainer Gabrielle Marchant.

Almanac Rugby League – State of Origin Game 3: ‘Bennett’s babes’ Mark II

It took him an hour after full-time to calm down but Ian Hauser finally put his thoughts on paper as he reflected on last night’s State of Origin Game 3 in Brisbane.

Almanac Cricket: Australia v India 2020-21 – Fingers crossed for a big pay-off

After an off-season dominated by financial arguments, Australia once again takes on India, Covid-19 allowing. John Butler sets the scene.

Almanac (Cricket) Books: ‘George Giffen – A Biography’ extract

Bernard Whimpress has provided an excerpt from his newest book,’Beorge Giffen: A Biography’

Book Review: Les Everett on ‘Belief’ by Dave Warner

Les Everett has written a review of Marlion Pickett’s biography, ‘Belief’, written by none other than Dave Warner.

Almanac (Cricket) Books: ‘George Giffen – A Biography’ by Bernard Whimpress

Historian Bernard Whimpress introduces his recently-released biography of the great nineteenth century South Australian and Australian cricketer (and more than handy footballer) George Giffen.

Almanac Rugby League – State of Origin, Game 3 preview: Are we in for a Lang Park special?

Queensland and New South Wales fight it out for 2020 State of Origin supremacy when they clash at Lang Park tomorrow night. The Almanac’s Ian Hauser provided this preview.

Almanac Cricket: Kew v Power House – The Spirit of Cricket

Phil Hill loves his cricket having played and umpired in the Mercantile Cricket Association all his adult life. And, the spirit of the game is well and truly alive as he recounts the goodwill displayed between teams in a recent game he umpired.

Almanac Rugby League – NRLW 2020 State of Origin: Stars in their own right come out at night

Our rugby league scribe Ian Hauser went to the women’s State of Origin match on Friday night with high expectations of a quality match. He got that and heaps more!

Almanac Poetry: Beyond Goyder’s Line, South Australia

This week’s poem from Kevin Densley involves nineteenth century family history, life, loss and heartbreak in the Flinders Ranges region.

Almanac Book Review: ‘Taking it to the Streets – the Second Life of the Newtown RLFC’ by Glen Dwyer

Following our introduction to Glen Dwyer’s book on the Newtown RLFC last week, we present this review by experienced rugby league writer and commentator Dave Hadfield.

Almanac Rugby: Viva Los Pumas

Brian the Ruminator regaled us with the rare gold of a Wallabies Bledisloe win last week – this week something even more extraordinary has happened with Argentina having defeated the mighty All Blacks for the first time.

Almanac Teams: Number 1 Hits (1980-)

Hot on the heels of his last ‘Return to Sender’ side, Rodney Boyd shares his picks for the best team to have worn Number 1 on their backs since 1980.

Almanac Book Review: ‘Flags, Spoons and Knives’ by Lee Harradine

West Adelaide stalwart Lee Harradine has produced a book reliving sixty-plus years of the trials and tribulations of this proud SANFL club. Swish has reviewed this important addition to SA footy history.