Western Bulldogs

Sport’s weird, we all know that. In sport, men get paid to sit on benches and square enclosures are called rings. That’s just kooky. But something ultra, ultra weird has crept into Australian sport lately. I refer to the gratuitous apology.

On Monday, Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon took the bizarre step of apologising to fans and members for his team’s 123 point weekend shellacking at the hands of the West Coast Eagles – the club’s fourth worst loss in club history.

As extraordinary as this measure appears, it was not unprecedented. Hawthorn boss Jeff Kennett spent half of 2009 season apologising for the defending premiers’ woeful form. If only the nurses and teachers he sacked as premier were afforded such civility. Meanwhile, in Sydney last week, the NSW Waratahs Super 15 rugby team submitted themselves to the mother of all grovelling acts…

Continue reading "A sorry tale of grovelling sporting teams" »

The most remarkable Brendan Fevola-related fact, shocking as it is, is not that he made a clumsy, desperate, albeit half-hearted attempt at suicide after a domestic spat and “three or four bottles of wine”, as revealed at around the three minute mark of his interview on the AFL Footy Show last night.

Neither is it that he was turfed out of Crown Casino yesterday for playing poker, despite the fact he is, supposedly, a recovering gambling addict who once lost $365,000 in a day and who admits he had been visited by tough guy debt collectors.

No, the really surprising thing about the special, warped little corner of the universe reserved for all things Brendan Fevola, is that Fevola is now the subject of enormous public sympathy, if the twittersphere and many other more traditional media outlets are to be believed.

Continue reading "Silly season turns to sympathy season for Fevola" »

Magpie fans ... get ready for the time of your lives. The Collingwood football machine is on the verge of breaking its 20-year premiership drought and we’re going to witness one giant party in good ‘ol Melbourne town.

After ruling the MCG’s hallowed turf on Friday night against Geelong, the Magpies are red hot and on their way to winning the AFL’s biggest prize this Saturday.

The Magpies have just two hurdles to overcome in their bid to secure their first flag since 1990.

Continue reading "The year to banish the Colliwobbles forever" »

Found: the real Julia Gillard, in a column she has written today for the Herald Sun about why she loves the Western Bulldogs.

You can sense the PM’s emotional investment in it. “The Herald Sun has asked me why I love the Dogs, but that is a near-impossible task within the word limit I’ve been set,” she writes. “Our club’s enduring heritage as sons of the ‘scray is unmistakable - the colours, the song, the mascot and the initials FFC on the jumper at the nape of the neck remind us of our club’s proud past as Footscray.” Alongside there’s the Victorian Premier, John Brumby, talking about why he loves Collingwood (insert your witty choking comment here).

There are only two weeks of September remaining before we reach the sporting tundra of October. Last year on The Punch Luke Mcilveen wrote about the devastation this barren month can bring. I recommend reading the whole piece as a spur to enjoying the climactic weeks of sporting action ahead before we all wake up on a Monday and realise the next thing on the domestic calendar is the racing, which isn’t so much about sport as it is about tie colours and the latest trends in hats.

Continue reading "Follow the PM and pen a tribute to your team" »

Surviving in a losing culture on the non-yuppie side of Melbourne must be hard to stomach - decade after decade.

Imagine barracking for a club for more than 50 years and never winning a premiership. Nasty. But Western Bulldogs’ fans are still waiting for the glorious moment they dream of.
With ordinary facilities in the past, and having fans without big wallets like the late Richard Pratt, how can a team expect to match it with the affluent Melbourne clubs of the east?

Continue reading "Why the Bulldogs will win their first flag in 56 years" »