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I've never heard a conversation about footy or cricket that I haven't wanted to join in immediately. If you disagree with me, you'll be made to work very hard to change my mind!
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“Keepings off is starting to become an epidemic in our game.” – Mark Robinson, 3AW
Day 1 of The Championships was a roaring success, with some outstanding performances and great racing.
Three rounds into the AFL season and already it’s easy to identify four premiership contenders that look likely to set the pace in the first half of the season as well as a fifth team that is the most watchable in the league right now.
A huge Saturday of racing awaits on day one of The Championships.
The Championships has rejuvenated what had become a tired racing scene in New South Wales, and all involved are to be applauded.
The anticipation is already building. The excitement is palpable. Rarely have we seen a match of the round like it.
Rarely have we seen a Round 1 like it in terms of throwing the early part of the season on its head.
Golden Slipper day is always a feature of the Sydney autumn carnival, the only race day in Australia that has five Group 1 races on the card.
Welcome to the last of The Roar’s AFL preview series for 2019. We’re only a day away from the opening of the season, and it’s a magical time of nervous anticipation.
Collingwood were a surprise packet of the 2018 season, rocketing from a 13th-placed finish in 2017 all the way to leading a grand final with five minutes to play.
From 2007 to 2013, from the end of the Neale Daniher era to the end of Mark Neeld, Melbourne finished 15th on the ladder on average – and a large part of this period of time was in a 16-team competition.
In an era of unexpected premierships, West Coast’s 2018 flag wasn’t as storied as the Western Bulldogs in 2016 or Richmond in 2017.
The inaugural running of the All Star Mile is here, notwithstanding its share of controversy along the way.
Richmond’s charge towards back-to-back premierships, seen as almost a foregone conclusion by some due to the Tigers’ overall dominance in 2018, came to an abrupt and gruesome end against Collingwood on preliminary final weekend last year.
No team has more heavily spruiked in the off-season than Essendon despite the club not having won a final for 5302 days (@EFCFinals is a wonderful Twitter account for those who don’t follow the Bombers).
After finishing fourth on the ladder in both 2016 and 2017, and losing their preliminary final to the eventual premier each time, GWS fell back to a seventh place finish in the home and away rounds last year.
What to make of Geelong heading into 2019? Contender or also-ran? Their time is over, or only just beginning?
Super Saturday at Flemington in the autumn is always one to look forward to, with the Newmarket Handicap and Australian Cup the two best races in Melbourne at this time of year. This years fields do not disappoint.
North Melbourne were a surprise packet of season 2018, rising above doom and gloom predictions to be in the finals hunt all year.
The Sydney autumn carnival is in full cry now, and even with no Winx on the Randwick card there are still eight black-type races to be run and won, headlined by two Group 1 events.
A really good point there Grand-Dag. We get far too many close-ups on the TV coverage, which often provides no context for what the players are doing.
AFL media misses the point, yet again
Very enjoyable rant yourself Tom, a few laughs in there. And it is clear you have a deep well of hostility for everything Barrett represents.
AFL media misses the point, yet again
Ultimately, footy is a club game (which is why state of origin died for us, and will never recapture the glory of yesteryear). Our passion is fuelled most by the team we follow, and our emotions rise or dip based on that performances. Everything else is secondary really. In fact, as supporters, some of our favourite wins are the ugly ones, because they are more about heart than anything else.
AFL media misses the point, yet again
He certainly knows what he’s doing Kane, and serves his employer well.
AFL media misses the point, yet again
Part of the narrative push is to want more contests, yet taking players off the field would greatly reduce then. The game would be more about aerobic capacity than anything else.
6-6-6 at all stoppages, not just centre bounces, would be interesting I think. Or even 4-8-4.
I’ve enjoyed a lot of the games I’ve watched this season, and I’ve watched a great many.
AFL media misses the point, yet again
Ruck frees are often a joke, and the players involved rarely know which way it’s going. They should all be let go.
And I didn’t like the slide rule from the get-go, but it seems more unfairly umpired this year.
AFL media misses the point, yet again
Yes, it is a cool name. Sydney Stack has a great ring to it too.
Five teams to catch in the AFL
I think I wrote in my Pies season preview that the forward mix with Elliott thrown in would need to find their own chemistry, and so it has come to pass. Cox, de Goey, Elliott are all best suited as the deepest forward, but all three can’t do it at once, and some players get lost when playing half-forward. I can’t see Ben Reid as any sort of answer though, I must say.
The depth is unquestioned, but it’s trying to find that best 22 that clicks together.
Five teams to catch in the AFL
Opinions are always welcome, Redbacks fan. Thank-you for both reading my preview series, and the compliment on them.
I’m not kidding when I say this is the match I am most looking forward to this week. Season on the line stuff in Round 3 for two premiership fancies, Friday night football, it’s a huge match, it’s a big story. And I think Tom identified in his comment above that I am having a bit of fun with is as well.
Football is a passionate part of people’s lives, but it’s not always enjoyable. The downs are painful, the ups are sweet. Part of the joy of winning against the odds or when backs are to the wall is because of those who have kicked us when we’re down. We all love the game in our own way.
Death-match at the MCG
The Dons do seem to fall into self-preservation mode very quickly. There’s a disconnect between them all at the moment, and no sense of unity.
Death-match at the MCG
I liked Death Race with the Stath. I only saw it once though, about a decade ago.
Death-match at the MCG
I would think so Pete. If one team was going to blow the other away, it would be Melbourne. Fascinated to see it play out.
Death-match at the MCG
There’s some chance that it could happen again in Rd 5 too, with Ess v NM.
Death-match at the MCG
Yes, my understanding is that Beams does take up quite a bit of off-field resources. Let’s just say it’s a good thing he’s a gun.
2019 AFL season preview: Collingwood Magpies
Yeah, I sense Collingwood/Buckley falls into the Richmond/Hardwick bracket, in that they will build off the unexpected rise and improve again off the back of chemistry and togetherness of the playing list / club. Both teams try to play a committed brand of football, with tactics second.
2019 AFL season preview: Collingwood Magpies
All good points Grand Dog. It’s the intangibles that change from season to season within each club, based on any number of factors that we aren’t privy to. Which is why there is almost always huge surprises with clubs flying up or falling down the ladder against general expectation.
2019 AFL season preview: Collingwood Magpies
Everything about the Dogs under Beveridge is strange.
The Pies did have a very favourable draw, but I think they showed enough quality to say they are a good side. They certainly have a sterner one this time around.
2019 AFL season preview: Collingwood Magpies
West Coast outplayed them over the course of the last three quarters, so deserved the win. The Pies were almost up too much too early. They should improve which will help them in their record against the better teams.
2019 AFL season preview: Collingwood Magpies
Thanks Peter. Plenty of good stuff in your comment there. I think Pendles is a clearance mid, just not a grunt one like the others, and we can’t forget Grundy there as well. I’m fascinated to see who gets spots at the Pies, because the depth is outstanding. Some good players are going to be playing VFL.
2019 AFL season preview: Collingwood Magpies
I suspect there would barely be a contest on a footy field where a player isn’t breaking the rules to the letter of the law. I’ve always felt footy should be umpired in spirit rather than law.
AFL media misses the point, yet again