Posted by smokie88 on 28th July 2010
By Darren Dawson
North lost by three points on Saturday night. Yes, it would have been wonderful to win the shoot-out at Etihad. But I came away from the game feeling a sense of relief, and not disappointment, that the Kangaroos were now unlikely to be fronting up in the finals. I have long been a believer that scraping into the final eight – and indeed any finals system which ensures that at least half the teams in the competition qualify for post regular-season action – can cause more harm than good in the longer term. Certainly, North Melbourne’s finals performances in the Dean Laidley era are a case in point. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Essendon, North Melbourne
Posted in 2010, NM v ESS (17/2010), Round 17 (17/2010) | 6 Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 20th May 2010
By Darren Dawson
There has been more than a little discussion about junior footy on the Almanac website recently, in part prompted by Paul Daffey’s piece referencing the Brunswick Junior Football Club: http://footyalmanac.com.au/?p=10504 Was it mere chance that in the very week Daff’s article appeared on this site, that my old club Williamstown CYMS was fixtured to play NOB/St. Pat’s in a VAFA Division 1 encounter? Probably! The coincidence is further enhanced by the fact that Cys are an integral part of a new concept which will be officially launched this Saturday at mid-day at the Fearon Reserve in Williamstown.
“Football Williamstown” is a joint initiative of the Williamstown (VFL), Williamstown CYMS (VAFA) and Williamstown Juniors (WRFL) Football Clubs. Thus far, the chief driver has been well-known former VFL umpire Bill Deller, who was born and bred in Williamstown. The aims are numerous. Chief among them is to provide a pathway for junior footballers (Willy Jnrs have no senior teams) into either the VAFA through the Cys (who have no junior teams) or, if they are talented and dedicated enough, to Williamstown (who also have no junior affiliation other than a loose geographical arrangement with TAC Cup team Western Jets). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Local Footy, VAFA, Williamstown CYMS | 4 Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 5th April 2010
By Darren Dawson
Was it the anticipation of Easter eggs to be received the next morning that had me thinking of chocolates as I watched Nick Riewoldt jog to the St. Kilda goal-square? If so, a sudden vision of boiled lollies came to mind as I turned to see David Hale take his position at the opposite end of Etihad Stadium. By quarter-time, I was feeling as nauseous as a man who had gorged himself on said treats. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: North Melbourne, St Kilda
Posted in Round 2 (2010), STK v NM (2/2010) | No Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 2nd March 2010
I marvel at the crisp, clean lines of North Melbourne’s new Arden Street edifice each time I pass. It is a truly impressive, and long overdue, development in the evolution of the club.
Not having yet been inside the facility, I also wonder at the magical qualities which must surely lie within. For I have not yet read or heard an interview with a North player or official this pre-season which is not prefaced by a glowing endorsement of the club’s new head-quarters and all that it contains. I am overjoyed that the Kangaroos resisted the AFL’s dollar-laden overtures to send them north; I am as “excited” as Andrew Demetriou about the new-look Arden St; but I am also prone to a wistfulness that something intangible was lost when the shambolic combination of old grandstand and huts were demolished. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: North Melbourne
Posted in General Footy Writing | 5 Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 20th January 2010
By Darren Dawson
The movable feast that is the “20twenty Big Bash” is all but over for another season, and I am now feeling a little bloated from the viewing. However, a number of questions remain unanswered, and to me, chief among those queries: “Is it really cricket?”
As a traditionalist, I have been a late convert to the newest form of the game, but this month my Luddite-like resistance has been abandoned and I have fully embraced the entertainment offered up on Fox Sports. But is there any substance beneath all the riches on offer? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cricket
Posted in Cricket writing | 5 Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 2nd December 2009
By Darren Dawson
Cricket has consumed great slabs of my time over the past thirty summers. It’s cost me many life experiences: trips to the surf coast with mates as a teenager, weekends away with friends, long summer holidays with my young family. The only Derby days I ever attended were when the cricket was washed out. Now, at 44, with not too many more seasons left in the tank, I feel a sense of rejuvenation in my love affair with the game, because for the past year I have been playing with my oldest son, John.
How often have I heard the comments “I’m looking forward to playing a game with my son” or “I will retire after I play a game with my son” over the years? Is it a primal urge that drives us to want to play competitive sport with our offspring? To be honest, I never really thought much about donning the whites with my three sons; that is, until the prospect of it actually taking place began to loom. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cricket
Posted in Cricket writing | 2 Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 13th October 2009
by Darren Dawson
I will always be proud of the fact that I am a member of that small percentage of the population who has completed a marathon. In fact, I have competed in four of those 42.2 k runs, with a couple of half-marathons thrown in for good measure. And so it is with a sense of bewilderment that I now look back and search for the reasoning behind my January statement that “I reckon I have one more marathon left in me”. Was it a new year’s resolution? Doubtful, because I do not believe in making them. A moment of madness? More than likely, because I briefly must have taken leave of my senses and conveniently forgotten the anguish I experienced during those torturous events. I am never ashamed to relate how, when my wife picked me up after that first run, I broke down in tears of pain and emotional relief. Also, I had wistfully recalled that the 2009 Melbourne Marathon would be the tenth anniversary of that first result. And the finish line these days is on the M…C…G. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in General Sportswriting | 5 Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 23rd September 2009
By Darren Dawson
Almost two weeks on from my old club’s stunning grand final victory, it is only now that the hairs on the back of my neck have begun to settle down.
Having been comprehensively defeated by D1-section rivals Peninsula Old Boys in the second semi, Willy CYs had fought back through the preliminary final to earn another shot at the Pirates. The grand final was a see-sawing affair. An arm-wrestle between the experienced bigger bodies of Peninsula and the youthful running types from Williamstown. At three-quarter time, the game was up for grabs. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Williamstown CYMS
Posted in Local Footy, Williamstown CYMS | 4 Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 22nd September 2009
by Darren Dawson
The Saints v Bulldogs prelim final was a cracker of a game. It was impossible even for the impartial viewer not to get caught up in the romance of two historically unsuccessful clubs battling it out for a spot in the grand final. The game itself did not disappoint. However, for me last Friday night’s contest contained an added element, and it was only when my wife (a died-in-the-wool Bulldogs supporter) pointed it out to me: I was actually barracking for a goal umpire! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in General Footy Writing | No Comments »
Posted by smokie88 on 10th September 2009
By Darren Dawson
It’s been eleven seasons since I last pulled on the boots for the Williamstown CYMS Football Club. As the years pass, the number of players with whom I played continues to diminish, but strangely my attachment to the club grows stronger as I get older.
When I finally hung up the boots after 213 games in the blue and gold hoops, I believed that I would severely miss being out on the field and that nothing would fill the void of the camaraderie that I had left behind. However, I distinctly remember that first season out of the game and how it greeted me with a strange sense of detachment; I was surprised that I had no urge whatsoever to again pull on the boots, despite the urgings of players to reconsider my retirement. Happily, my feelings of ambivalence have receded, to be replaced by a sense of belonging and ownership that possibly only a past player can feel. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Williamstown CYMS
Posted in Local Footy, Williamstown CYMS | 4 Comments »
