whatever you do don’t put the afl highlights on youtube..it will interupt my watching of Tottenham Hotspur

so Davey Warner and OOsie Kumaja are locked in… a partnership for the moment….. rising to the occasions and delivering the fairytale for Davey, the Aussies and all of us who have followed them… putting the partnership first and just rock solid… the best opening partnership ever or at least potentially….. together since eight year olds and living out this childhood dream on the world’s second biggest cricket stage….. somehow Jimmy bowls a freak and hits Oozie in the head….and the soft and dull ball is replaced without being tested with a hard and shiny ball… a new ball to all intents and purposes… a soft and dull old ball replace with hard and shiny new ball.. without even going throught the shape ring…. do the ICC ask who gave the box of balls to the umpires? No they don’t have to… they exist to gloss over what really goes on and preserve the illusion of fairplay…. Oozie’s mistake was not to walk off if he really wanted to say something…. the signs were there from earlier in the season but he just wasn’t ready for that step…

you have to watch everything in podcast or catch up …. otherwise too many adds and also you could hurt your ears when they pump up the volume…. meanwhile….

I carry the scorecard resultsaround in my head … but there are incidents and on field happenings that give more to the heart…. There’s the Royal Family… then there’s those elite we aspire to we personally carry around in our heart…. sort of our own true royalty….. I like to think Bazball is like Angeball in Soccer….. Ange stands in the middle at early trainings and gives each player the energy or vibe he is after… it’s not a theory… you have to be brave intrepid and fearless…. Because it’s the soccer he likes to watch… do it and it works and you generally win…. go back into your shell and play scared and you will generally lose…. Watching Aussie Rules can be frustrating because the only real cause of fumbly play is fear and it happens a lot ….for a variety of highly questionable reasons but fear of losing is a big one….. I am selfish I’m like Ange I want to watch games played in a fearless style simply because it is more fun to watch…. There is no proof that playing scared leads to more wins anyway… In life you get to name your own poison… watching fumbly and fearful athletes ain’t mine…. Such is the low general IQ of emotional intelligence in sport there is not much mention of the Fear word…. it’s a dirty word….. How could our elite athletes possibly be scared?…. Winning is the province of those who dare… Would they have chosen Bazball if pitches and bat tech was not favourable?… it’s a hypothetical you can muse on.. but it’s all academic… To say they thought it would win games is just stating the obvious.. Did they do it just to entertain? Sounds like a silly question.

There are reasons why artists and writers reputation generally eclipse the longevity of any
sporting legend… to label them merely as entertainers indicates you might not have considered this..
What are you contributing? How do we keep more kids (and adults) playing competitive sport? Do you have an answer to that question?
Bazball has made this series unmissable. It’s head and shoulders better to watch than the pre Stokes era…. (Bar some Steve Smith Generational heroics ) … As a connossoir (not a businessman) this a appeals to me…. I love winning but really you do learn more when you lose…. just don’t make a habit of it…Look at our Captain… the winning should have him riding around on a white horse… but he had no answer to Bazball And Australia shrunk down in its almighty flare….. In a way with Bazball England have already won by taking the fear of losing off the table.. The Aussies have played the perfect sneaky’ and clever villain ( and I truly admire the gamesmanship they applied) to the Bazball Righteous Poms. It kinda shows that even hollow victories beat losing… I just love fearless sport… it’s emotional and unstoppable… If you’ve ever played the game (any game) and been in the zone for any amount of time.. there is no thinking no fear and noone to prove anything to… it’s pure…. sitting in judgement of win/Loss results robs the game of just about everything else it has to offer.
We don’t have connossoirs of Sport in Australia…. that’s our great loss in a way…..that winning is the only thing we can enjoy is kinda sad…. I don’t believe it’s wholly natural and I think it kicks a lot of kids out of sport because it simply ceases to be a pleasurable pursuit.
So save your cold and hard reality of the way the world is and dream a little about the way it could be… I hope Ben Stokes get’s to read this from an Aussie… If not for Bazball Test cricket might not survive…. It has lit up the Cricketing world…The Commonwealth games are gone… nothing is truly secure.

I love Baz ball… best series ever….
Poms kinda gifted Aussies first test a little bit
Privilige to play in the Ben Stokes era…
Love to see play tonight and even Pommie win…
2 all going to last Test would be awesome
Cricket.. all forms is such a great game.
Test Cricket needs Bazball..
Hopefully Aussies pick up on it…
Fear of Losing is not what you want to see from our elite athletes..
It spreads across all sports and ruins any chance for exquisite skills to be the main show….
Even though such skills are the show…
Win loss drama should be the icing on the cake….
Watching elites play like they are scared of losing just sucks your energy…
Ange ball… Bazball and “Fly” ball are showing how good sport can be..
And there is no shortage of drama in these styles…. just a lot more skills and fun…

I can’t believe that guy is getting that much money…. AFL is a money pit. Two divisions more clubs and daily games please.

they couldn’t give it to Southport because they didn’t want to alienate non Southportians…. this was an opportunity missed……. local rivalry is the community feeling you want…
the local derby rivalry is now the cornerstone of interstate games….. thats why even GWS V Sydney is going to do all the marketing work for AFL in the long term…. imagine if GWS could get more than a few hundred to their games…. Tassie’ will need 2 teams to really fly ….. Bendigo V Ballarat would light up Central Victoria….. more teams and divisions are the way the National Game could best serve the Counrty….. but too many AFL execs would lose their closed shop gravy train free ride privileges…. AFL is still Wild West ……with blatant inflated crowd figures….. gray area rule chaos….. and losing good people early with over emphasis on win/loss and resulting over roughness with intent to hurt… rant over

Let’s face it … careless is used to protect the game… mostly the acts are intentional but not called so….. we like to play very rough and that suits the style to a point…. but we are pretty quick to condemn when the line of violence or thuggery (scary words in a sporting context) is crossed… and you know what …. all that kind of works and we do have a highly skilled and very rough game and it’s right to call it out when the line is crossed. The smart play this week was the attempted interception of the ball as a reflex ….. the other choice ( and it is a choice no matter how little time) crossed the line and there is general agreement that is what happened…. as for the Brownlow… we have to keep the fairest element to keep up the controversy and show of decency ….. but I wouldn’t block a player from winning it for this…. so go figure …… it doesn’t make total sense …

IF Nathan Buckley looks at DeGooeys jumper he sees one thing but if he just looks at the ball… ( Where JORDY should be looking) it’s quite a different thing. Is Collyblind a word?

The Cliche Ladder

Top Dog- Pies
Yesterdays Heroes-Cats, Tiges, Dees,
Always the Bridesmaids-Port and Brissy
Fallen Idols- West Coast
Also Rans – North
New Kids on the Block- Tassie
Dark Horse – Crows Bombers Freo
Giantkillers – GWS Hawks
Cellar Dwellers – North West Coast
Whipping Boys – Hawks North
Poor Cousins – Gold Coast
Welcome Strangers – Sydney

outsmarting umpires has been around since they were invented…. making everyone a bit smarter…. not taking advantage of over eager whistle blowers is against human nature.

flopping is fair if the contact is illegal…. even necessary if you don’t want to be out umpired.

As a cat fan my best (and worst) Dimma moments were realizing Adelaide were lambs to the slaughter in 2016 after feeling the awesome and enormous MCG vibe at the Qualifying final against the cats…. The Mrs Hardwick quotes and in particular “What ever happened to that knock about bloke I used to know.” …. Probably have to defer to Dusty at some point, but Chaos football that embraced imperfection held precious appeal to me. .. as an anti thinker. Cats nearly shut it down in 2020 but for Dusty as you say.. Kinda funny the game is analyzed within an inch of it’s life but owning chaos trumped all the stats and strategies.

The sooner we get two tassie teams … teams in Bendigo and Ballarat and Sheppharton and split divisions with footy every night the better…..

Was Adam Goodes being groomed for an ambassadorial role and as such receiving some small advantages as a natural bi product of good will and umpires knowing which way the wind is blowing? This can really irk supporters who really hate any form of cheating. Was Joel Selwood’s booing just because he knew how a certain rule was being interpreted and played the umpires on a dime as many players do? Booing does seem to be the province of the super elite so there’s that.
Tom Papley’s booing is called for and enjoyed. I would have booed Steven Baker and Haydn Ballantyne. I would have liked to Boo Sam Mitchell for different reasons but probably wouldn’t have. The Chemistry is some Footy players rub you the wrong way and it’s probably better to boo and vent than keep it bottled up.

I struggle with what the Gold Coast Suns actually means…. and as the brekky boys on 3aw say the passion meter is just too low….. it’s nice of you to take them seriously but until I look into the stands and see more than Melbourne colors and empty red seats it’s just no good… It’s just another game on TV and fun for the local Melbourne fans to have their team visit…. after that any good will evaporates into the ether…. there is no grass roots connection to the Earth…. big numbers at Oz Kick may impress marketing, advertising and sponsor talk… with the hope they turn into eyeballs in decades hence…. but really… the Gold Coast would mean more if they used only local players and lost every game…. from that they would grow.. the isolated TV reality is getting to it’s use by date… can’t you feel it… it’s a media construct that props up a bit of TV revenue… who cares? I do enough to say it out loud. The national game should count for more at the level…

Let Tassie folks build it from the ground up.. Get as many local people as possible.. Start small and don’t come in like your owed a flag just for turning up… build an inclusive culture… P. Danger when younger would pobably still have preferred Boggy Creek. Winning is a feeling…

Let’s all pretend that money is not really a problem for the AFL…. not too much of a stretch…. let’s ask the national game to do it’s job and reward the deserving… like Tassie…. for services rendered and heartland unity. Nice point Cameron about the Cats unique regional qualities… or is Geelong actually a frikkin big city that easily supports an AFL team … even when it’s marquee players are bought for gold and sent to the desert…. to only pop up as a highlight when they accrue 56 possessions…… but generally their legend withers on the vine. Karma got the Cats Jeremy Cameron… losing Ablett to the Gold Coast disgusting.
Here’s a numbers question…. What’s better for the game? Twentythousand cheering hearts in Hobart at the game or 50000 (if that) half watching TV before turning off in Sydney or Brisbane? What about ten thousand at grounds in Bendigo and Ballarat.. cheering their own local elite players. Would that help the urgent need to promote these areas and make them a better lifestyle to those wondering if Melbourne is indeed getting too big..? Cutting teams is not the only way to go. The Uk divisions works well and the end of season tension and excitement is not isolated to one or two clubs.
USA states do sport as well as anyone and education …. but Australia is kind of unique and we have to find our own way.

Hooray for AFL going where people want it and will use it to elevate life in that territory as only the national game can…. Bendigo, Ballarat, would grow inexorably were they also granted a house pass to the national conversation. Games transcend politics and the dialogue is not corporate….. it’s fun…Englands soccer tables’ with their end of year relegations and promotions is a template worth studying.

Not being a win loss thinker I found the game really enjoyable as the standard of play was very high… a way better spectacle than the Coll V StK fumbly fearfest dished up and celebrated by all on that day. Doggies were playing a very high brand of fearless football…. Freo were nowhere near as bad as everyone is carping on about…

Here’s my 6 for the week…
1. Listening to Gather Round footy talk on SEN and Kayo it sounded a bit like a piss up at times… brain damage anyone?
2. The Adelaide teams won’t be so underestimated next year and spoiling the party will be the unifying factor that will even up the odds.
3. Kudos to Brad Scott and Ross Lyon…and many others in their orbit.
4. Great to see Stevie J getting some love…. he changed the game maybe more than anyone and is a great footy person who I would like to see and hear more.
5. Gold Coast needs a rebranding… If they were Southport ( the reason they aren’t is because the marketing gurus wanted get everyone on the Gold Coast and ended up getting next to no one) If Southport are (pantomime) dissliked by other locals then that’s what you can built a culture on. Similarly GWS should always have been The Parramatta Ducks… which would have had similar emotional engagement… AFL marketing got these two 180 degrees wrong…. trying to please everyone…. it even sounds painful.
6. General point on how virtually every rule and interpretation exists in such a grey and murky chaos and so commentators have to spend half the broadcast trying ever so hard to convince us it isn’t so.

Carlton like everyone missunder estimated the vibe factor of the whole Adelaide town. They never matched that intensity but probably got a bit closer than they knew…. It was kinda like some games I notice where is a big lead sort of settles around the 30 point area and stays there.. the intensity never reached the early heights.. It’s like someone said “Look don’t thrash us by too much and we’ll let you win which is a weird thing…. right? Is that taking the gas? There is rarely that much difference in teams as the AFL is kinda like one big family and trends are quickly passed on. One team can read and anticipate just about anything coming their way…… The Gather round was a lot to get your head around for the Carlton leaders…. But Adelaide and Port have the wood on Carlton at home so there’s that on top….. I’m rambling I know… don’t worry about it. Watch out for Carlton next week.. I didn’t see that many of the their fans at the game but they don’t show the whole ground… still it felt like it was all Adelaide at times

If you are not increasing your emotional intelligence you will more and more wonder how things are happening… (why did he Miss that? … duh ….because of fear) …. our commentators can read the emotions of the games to a certain point but can never explain the tidal changes within a game. One individual on a certain side rouses himself up to the contest and that can permeate any team any time anywhere… given the skill levels are similar at the elite level…..vive la fearless footy.

I was watching the same game but my response is different to others.. I felt the Cat V Hawks rivalry was alive and well and ignited the passions of the cats … which may have been the missing ingredient in Chris Scotts chemistry quote. Vive La Rivalry and all that promote the side v side quotient in the AFL puzzle. Part of Scott’s legacy in keeping Cats up the top is how many great rivalrys the Cats have…. Logic can’t make you run faster… the passions can.. and the precious connections at breakneck speed are felt .. not reasoned out …