Great Fitzroy goals
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
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.
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
Fitzroy firsts
I copied this from the Lions web site, but it’s public domain history and I’ve added some comments:
Hear This: John Trait became the first umpire to use a whistle in a Fitzroy-Carlton game in 1886.
Time-On: Fitzroy became the first club to use an electronic time clock to time each quarter in 1888.
A Pennant: Fitzroy were the first club to receive a premiership pennant in 1895.
A Draw: Fitzroy and South Melbourne played the first VFL draw in 1897. Both sides scored 5-13-43.
Grand Final: Fitzroy won the first VFL Grand Final in 1898, defeating Essendon 5-8-38 to 3-5-23, after a top-four play-off system without a grand final had decided the first VFL premiers in 1897. Read more
Bernie Quinlan
Bernie Quinlan came from my home town of Traralgon. He was zoned to Footscray and played there before he went to my VFL team Fitzroy.
I don’t remember much about those early days, but I do recall Quinlan kicking bags of goals for Fitzroy in the 1980s. He was known as “Superboot” because of the tremendous distance he could achieve.
He later coached the Lions and suffered their league-sponsored demise. The chiefs wanted someone to make way for Port Adelaide and Fitzroy was the weakest team at the time, no fault of Quinlan. He kicked some magical goals, as the video shows.
Great win over the Blues
What a great win by the Lions today over Carlton: 25.13.163 to 6.10.46. Carlton has really not made much ground this season, despite preferential draft picks. The Lions are again shaping as a force.
Jonathan Brown (pictured) booted 10 goals in a powerful display. The fact Brown is a Fitzroy man helps me to celebrate this result.
Fitzroy d West Coast
I was so absorbed in watching the Wallabies beat the Springboks tonight that I forgot to check how the Lions were going in their clash with West Coast at Subiaco.
The Lions pulled off a stunning upset victory. It also slipped under my radar this was “heritage round” and that for the first time since the “merger” the Lions were wearing the most recent Fitzroy colors.
It’s a shame they didn’t wear that strip for a game in Melbourne, but nevertheless it is a positive move.
Arguably the best player in the AFL, Jonathan Brown (pictured at the Gabba) was proud to wear the guernsey his father wore for Fitzroy.
I don’t pretend that Brisbane is Fitzroy, but every gesture to retain the memory of the maroon and blue is appreciated.
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