AFL Celtic idea abandoned
I thought it curious last Saturday The Age ran with a front-page lead story on the possibility of an Irish-theme team being established in Sydney. The story was also prominent on Fairfax websites.
Today there is a story online, which is far more realistic, headlined West Sydney ground zero.
It talks about building a broad-based supporter base from scratch for a new team. This paragraph is nestled in the story:
Less than a week after it was reported that the league was considering a proposal to create an Irish-aligned club — known as the Celtics — that idea has been effectively abandoned.
Solomon penalty harsh
I was expecting Dean Solomon to be rubbed out between four and six weeks for his crude hit on Geelong midfielder Cameron Ling.
Solomon’s penalty is the harshest for an AFL player since Carlton’s Greg Williams was suspended for nine weeks after pushing an umpire in 1997.
Big Bad Barry Hall only copped seven weeks for striking West Coast’s Brent Staker. Read more
Suburban football
There were some interesting articles in The Australian on Saturday about suburban football and the future of the rugby codes.
Regarding suburban football, the report described how it continues to some extent in Sydney rugby league, but no longer exists in Australian football.
There was mention of the Newtown Jets playing in a minor division. Read more
Lions lose the marketing plot
The Western Bulldogs thrashed the Lions by 63 points today at the MCG. I’m glad I didn’t travel to Melbourne for the game. It’s one I might have gone to if circumstances had permitted.
I want to comment on the ugly jumper the Lions wore. Why did they wear that white guernsey with strange stripes and faded yellow?
Melbourne was carpeted a few weeks ago for the crappiest alternative strip, but I reckon this takes the prize.
The Lions only play half a dozen games each year in Melbourne. They should wear the former Fitzroy jumper in Melbourne games as a matter of policy.
I think the last time they wore it was in Perth.
For a club with such a rich heritage it’s hard to believe they wasted time and money creating jumpers that will never be appreciated by anyone.
Whoever thought of this crazy idea ought to be sacked. The CEO should have a cold shower and remind himself that supporters and some players follow the jumper.
Whether it’s Lions, Bears or Fitzroy, stick to the heritage script.
The centre square in Australian football
There’s a great yarn by Jon Anderson in the print edition of the Herald Sun about the introduction of the centre square to Australian football, including a terrific photo.
It was June 5, 1971 when Carlton and Fitzroy played at Princes Park they experimented with a one-off trial using the centre square.
The concept was adopted as a diamond in 1973 and became the square we know today in 1975. That’s the year I started playing football as a junior, so I’ve known it all my life.
The square keeps players who aren’t followers out of the centre when the umpire bounces the ball after a goal or to begin a quarter. Read more
Country footy
Country football is an important part of the social fabric in many communities. Young men have a social and physical outlet, women get involved through netball and supporters barrack for their local clubs, invariably their town.
I went along to Vansittart Park in Mount Gambier today to watch North Gambier play Hamilton in the Western Border League. It was my first taste of country football (Victorian and South Australian style) for three years.
Apologies to Kalgoorlie readers, but football there was less community oriented. Games were played on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday (to boost bar sales, I believe), but not the traditional Saturday afternoon. And there was no netball link.
I prefer Saturday football. Read more
Subiaco team of the century
It was good to see both Haydyn Buntons honored in Subiaco Football Club’s team of the century.
The senior Bunton (pictured) was an automatic selection, winning three Brownlow medals and three Sandovers. He is arguably the greatest player ever.
His son was a good player too. He coached with success and was selected as coach of the Subiaco Lions century team.
Haydyn Bunton Snr is also a member of the Fitzroy, New South Wales and AFL teams of the century.
He hailed from North Albury before moving to Fitzroy.
WAFL game in Boulder
I watched part of the WAFL game at Boulder yesterday between Subiaco and Peel. It’s probably the only WAFL game I will ever see.
For those who don’t know, WAFL is the West Australian Football League; it’s the premier Aussie rules competition in the state and arguably the fourth best in the country after the AFL, SANFL and VFL.
That said, I reckon there are a few clubs in country Victoria that could knock over Peel Thunder based on yesterday’s performance and Subiaco would roll a few VFL teams.
The Mandurah team lost 7.8.50 to Subiaco 29.33.207. Subiaco are a class act, very skilled.
There was a big crowd at the game and Digger Daws Oval was in good condition.
Football theme songs after away games
I’ve just listened to Hawthorn defeat Fremantle in the AFL on ABC Radio. The Hawks theme song blared out across the ground and on national radio after the game.
That’s been the case for a few years, that the winning team has its song played regardless of the venue.
For the record, winning away teams didn’t always have their songs played after the game.
I can recall watching Fitzroy lose and feeling the funereal atmosphere afterwards at a home game. Conversely, I wanted to hear the song ring out sometimes and it didn’t.
I think I like the old style. Why should the opposition hear their song after winning a game on opposition territory?
AFL pre-season competition
The Australian Football League stages a pre-season competition named after the sponsor: variously Ansett, Wizard, NAB, etc.
The league uses the competition to experiment with various rules. For the past few years, goals kicked from outside 50 metres have been worth extra and rushed behinds register three points instead of one.
As my brother-in-law noted, they’ve been trying that rule now for so long surely they can decide if they want it or not!
I like the idea of penalising teams for rushing behinds. Football should be an offensive game and there should be no easy escape in the last line of defence. Read more
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