Another great Grand Final, with some excellent play and some misses that will be rued for a long time to come. I’ve never followed either team, but men watching a sporting match have to take sides, and I went for the Swans, while my son backed the Eagles.
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John Quiggin 
The vfl final is, of course, only the curtain-raiser for the Main Event- the SANFL grand final next week between the Legendary Mighty Blue-collar Bulldogs- becoming Herculean in their own time, with seven straight grand final appearances and counting, and whoever wins the prelim final in Adelaide tomorrrow between the Roosters and Eagles.
Whatever, we salivate over the prospect of a baked poultry dinner in another week.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer my unbiased objective humane contribution, to your site.
I noticed that the incomprable Chris Judd has said his prefered reading is the Australian Financial Review. His column in The Sunday Age ventures well beyond football to talk about such issues as social alienation and how to end war. Of course it may be all ghost written, but it is possible that he is following you more closely than you are him.
Judd’s status as the winning captain is the only thing that has reconciled me to the cup crossing the Nullabor.
And the winner is- Football!
Streuth with 12 points accumulated difference in 5 outings you wouldn’t want to be a fan of theirs with a weak ticker.
stephenl, I sat next to Chris Judd at the North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast a few years back when he was the newly annointed Brownlow medallist. He is indeed a lovely bloke, very easy to converse with and very well read for a busy man his age. His carrying on playing yesterday after what looked like a dislocated shoulder is typical of his attitude. I’m sure plenty of West Coast fans think Ben Cousins was hard done-by to lose the captaincy, but Judd is in it for the long haul and is clearly an inspiration to his side. An ornament to the game, as they say. It’s just a pity the Eagles’ club song is so impoverished in lyrics and sounds so much like an advertising jingle. Next year the Lions!
Whichever side lost, it would have been the game that got away, who could count the opportunities that each side missed, even to the extent of kicking out on the full when there was a possibility of a goal.
Very similar pattern to last year, the Eagles jumped out of the blocks and dominated early, then the Swans pegged them back.
Who are the Bulldogs in the SA league. I seem to recall that South Adelaide were blue and white.
The Bulldogs in SA are Central Districts (red white blue) – in reality the northern suburbs. The northern suburbs are where Adelaide’s large manufactories and poverty ‘pockets’ are concentrated. They are battlers. North Adelaide (roosters – red and white) are from inner leafy professional Prospect region, Woodville – West Torrens (Eagles – green, yellow, blue) are from inner west area, once working class, moving up in the world over the past generation and a half. I go for West (the Bloods – red and black) – wooden spooners.
I was so hoping for the draw. It would have been great to have done it all again next week. How massive would that have been?
I used to follow West Torrens when I lived in Adelaide in the 60s – they were the Geelong of the SANFL.
I side with the referees. It’s the only safe bet…
“I noticed that the incomprable Chris Judd has said his prefered reading is the Australian Financial Review.”
Yeah he’s a veritable child prodigy.
“His column in The Sunday Age ventures well beyond football to talk about such issues as social alienation and how to end war.”
And it’s the stupidest column in history, thus proving that footballers should just stick to talking about football. Especially 21 year old footballers.
Yobbo, you wouldn’t support Fremantle, by any chance, would you?
Malcolm Blight is an alumnus of Woodville-West Torrens isn’t he?
Hal,
Yes, Blight was a former Woodies footy player- like so many good players these produced without getting far themselves.
A bit like the AFL today, Adelaide footy over the last generation.
Too many fine old clubs, like West Torrens who amalgamated with Woodvillle, and Souths who have relocated in the new southern suburbs. Westies are another example ( Sturt, on the slide now, borders these inner suburban areas ). No doubting the pedigree of any of these clubs squeezed in to the old inner-western working class suburbs. They are a bit like Fitzroy or the old South Melbourne. The only one of the clubs from this region that ended up going on to better things was Port.
John, your mob, in their current amalgamated form, have again reached the G. F.
Have done well in this form, but haven’t been able to get past their nemesis Central District. One premiership in that fifteen years or so, rarely missing the finals though. Bit of a Collingwood thing.
As for AFL final, yes what a gripper!!
Two new coaches locked in a rivalry that could turn out a bit like the Jeans / Hafey thing , or Mathews and Sheedy, from past eras.
Ahh Yobbo, the politics of envy.
Before anyone has a further go at me, I suggest you actually read Chris Judd’s column in the Age.
Actually I’ve read quite a few of them. It’s not Shakespeare (or even Quiggin), but I find it more interesting than columns by other footballers. The best sports reporting doesn’t just focus on the game, it puts it into a wider context. Judd is aspiring to this, and while there is no question his writing is not as good as his playing I think he does pretty well for a 23 year old.
As for being “the stupidist column in history” – so far I haven’t picked up any factual errors, nor any venemous personal abuse. Those points alone make it far better than some columns written by people with no other claims to fame.
BTW I described the contents of one to a friend of mine he said “He can F@#$ off. Anyone who is that good at football doesn’t get to be smart as well.” He subsequently admitted he would not take this view if Judd was playing in black and red.
hang on a mo, this isn’t about rugby league. What gives? Go Broncos!!!!
“Quiggin – somewhere between Shakespeare and Chris Judd”
That sounds like a quote I can put straight in the poolroom, or on the sidebar.
In a very frivolous mood, I googled “Shakespeare Quiggin” to see what happened and scrolled down to find this gem:
“In the solitude of my prison cell clearly Shakespeare appeared to me as a … John Quiggin”
Gotta love those google search contractions of web pages.
Perhpas we should make it “John Quiggin is to economics writing what Shakespeare is to drama or Chris Judd is to football – or possibly vice versa”.
chris,
Another good one was “Orwell is one of those writers, like Shakespeare, who lots of people want to … Quiggin”
Perhaps the verb means “to discuss economics with in an intelligible manner”.
How about this one:
“The reason most rock critics love Elvis Costello is that most rock critics look like … John Quiggin”
Well, I guess Glenn A Baker does a bit……..