Whispering_Jack

Take that Foster you imposter!

I watched a bit of today's game involving the Melbourne Stars and the Perth team and I'm starting to think of it as being a bit like basketball - the last few overs of each innings are interesting but the rest is a bit Mickey Mouse. I was interested in Faulkner who showed something and continues to impress me as an all rounder of the future who will hopefully one day supplement the bowling attack led by Pattinson, Cummins and possibly Heazlewood, Starc, Copeland et al. There are a few other youngsters coming through which suggests that as long as Nathan Lyon comes along, we'll have a fantastic bowling line up. Faulkner was good before his fourth and last over but it was great to see a young bloke get the ball thrown to him for the final over and keep an even keel with all that stuff going on with every ball. That said, the BBL will always pale against test cricket IMO.

And let's hope that he goes on and beats the all comers record for tests at the SCG. I'm sick and tired of these touring cricketers having the gall to score test records on our grounds. By the way, surely someone around here can remember Reginald Foster's record of 287 runs at the ground. Old Dee? Very Old Dee? I'm just a youngster but I can remember Bobby Cowper's 307 at the MCG!

Thanks to George on the Outer and Deeman for the foreword:- ORANGE AND CHARCOAL - Recollections and tales of a tragic football club Foreword “The truth is out there”. Who said that? Was it Fox Mulder or his accomplice Dana Something? You too are about to discover the truth in this enthralling inside story of the Greater Western Sydney football team, its history, its foundation and the tragedies that subsequently led to its demise. Whispering Jack takes the reader through the few highlights and many of the lowlights. He traces the defection of three of the club's players before its debut game in Launceston, the unsolved mystery disappearance of the aircraft returning from the match and carrying half the team just two days later and the dramatic final days of the club in the wake of the collapse of the world economy. Were Martians responsible for the loss of that ill-fated aircraft? The coach had certainly made reference to seeing them in the past and Fred Valentich had disappeared under similar circumstances over Bass Strait years before….. But this wasn’t the only disappearance. What happened to the TV footage of those early games? Is there truth in the rumour that the missing flight was a desperate ploy by a number of players who chose to defect to North Korea rather than to face hostile home town fans after a record NAB Cup defeat? And what of the lost millions of AFL money, prawns in batter, banana fritters and doughnuts that simultaneously went missing in Blacktown? Contained within these pages is the truth. It is for you, the reader, to fill in the gaps but, before doing so, consider some previous advice given to my good friend Kim-Jong-Il and his glorious successor son, and former GWS number one ticketholder Kim-Jong-Un. “Search for the truth. I tell you things and I always ask you to verify what I say”. Never before in the annals of Australian literature has there been an historical narrative dealing with sport so stirringly and emotionally recounted than Orange & Charcoal - Recollections and tales of a tragic football club. In it, you will surely discover the truth about the enigma that was the Greater Western Sydney Football Franchise Club. Sir Les Pattinson FMD as told to Mohammed Saeed-al-Sahaf, Iraqi Information Minister.

ORANGE AND CHARCOAL - Recollections and tales of a tragic football club Preface The Second Global Financial Crisis which began in 2013 wiped out six European countries, Venezuela, the Ivory Coast, a handful of Arab oil sheikdoms and most of Russia's oligarchs. It brought an end to the Internet, lifestyle television programming and Zumba. Among its victims in Australia was the national icon Vegemite which went out of production after 91 years, the Big Bash League and nine AFL clubs including two recently formed franchises which were placed into liquidation when the much vaunted television rights deal collapsed. Several members of the AFL hierarchy resigned and went into hiding amid rumoured sightings in various parts of the world of the former league CEO who had been on the run since the infamous "Pendlebury" incident. The surviving AFL clubs - those fortunate enough to be debt free when GFC2 hit - completed the season and thrived in the boom years that were to follow but the Greater Western Sydney Giants sank into oblivion. At the Rooty Hill RSL where a wake was held for the now defunct Giants, ten of the club's staunchest supporters attended to mourn the passing of the competition's least successful team which survived to make only 39 appearances for no wins in a brief history wracked with scandal and controversy. Only one former player was in attendance but this was merely a coincidence on account of the fact that he now found employment as a food waiter at the RSL club. The function's organisers had catered for 200 guests so they were grateful for the attendance of the Giants' former interstate recruiting scout who single-handedly managed to polish off the lavish spread of finger foods, prawns, cold meats and several banana fritters for dessert before attacking the other more substantial foodstuff on offer in the club's lounge area. At one stage during proceedings, Snowy O'Toole, a diehard fan stood up. It was said that Snowy, a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, was an addict who got high from sniffing avgas but he was much loved by the Giant faithful and he hardly missed a single game, home or away. Now he rose to exclaim at the top of his voice, "Let's sing the club song once more for old time's sake!" The remaining faithful looked at him, heads swaying in a downcast manner. None of them knew the words or the tune, not even Snowy, so they drank a toast to the bloke whose name nobody could recall but who coached the team through seven rounds of the first season before the sackings took place. Then they sat around tearfully exchanging stories of the past including that glorious day in 2012 when their boys outscored Port Adelaide in the third quarter of their round 19 fixture at Skoda Stadium. They were the real supporters of the GWS Giants and the fact that at least four of these loyal and true men and women reside today at the pleasure of the NSW prisons and corrective services department has not deterred me from dedicating this volume to them. Now proceed to Chapter 1 on post # 1512 above.

These things happen.

The preface comes before Chapter Two. We also need to beef up the foreword. I thought you were good at that sort of stuff Redleg?

Short holiday?

ORANGE AND CHARCOAL - Recollections and tales of a tragic football club Chapter One Saturday, March 3, 2012 The Virgin Australia airlines jet bound for Launceston was sitting idly on the Sydney tarmac. The afternoon was hot and the acrid scent of avgas pervaded the air causing discomfort to the passengers who waited nervously for the pilot to get them under way. As it was, the plane was already 15 minutes late when the final call was made for the passengers who had failed to check in for the flight. There were three of them; all playing members of the new AFL franchise team on the way to its first fully fledged match, a NAB Cup round game at Aurora Stadium against the Hawthorn Football Club but not one of them would make the flight down south. Two weeks earlier, the Greater Western Sydney Giants were due to make their debut in AFL company at Blacktown International Sportspark in the heartland of the western suburbs of the country's most populous state but the three way half-game competition also involving Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs was abandoned in unusual circumstances due to a bomb scare. The call received at the state's essential services department suggested that an explosive device had been planted in the visitor's room and set to detonate at half time. The Giants were losing their first game by 73 points at that stage. A hastily convened meeting of the AFL Commission declared all three scheduled fixtures as "no games" and awarded maximum points to the clubs involved and so for a brief period, the fledgling Giants were perched on top of the NAB Cup table, albeit equally with two other clubs. There was no bomb and authorities traced the call to an unidentified mobile phone located in the official AFL Commission box at the ground but there was insufficient evidence to make an arrest. Video footage which showed a dark, swarthy individual of heavy build making a call was inconclusive and, in any event, lost before it could be examined by forensic experts. All records of the first part of the game played before proceedings were called off for the evening were erased, the Fox telecast which was mysteriously jammed after Collingwood's fifth goal was never replayed and cannot now be located in either Foxtel or AFL archives. Now, as the GWS team manager waited nervously at the Virgin desk for a sight of his three missing footballers, he recalled an interview conducted for Fox Sports News and aired that morning. One of the three, a high priced recruit from a rival club who had been ruled out of today's game with knee soreness, had been asked what he was planning to do on this trip to Launceston and the answer was somewhat baffling at the time. "Nothing really, just having a look around". The team manager peered down at his copy of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, turned to the sports pages and his face turned to white at the sight of the headline announcing the impending birth, scheduled for the 2013 season, of the AFL's new Launceston franchise, the Lyre Birds. Beads of sweat were pouring down his back by the time he dialed the number of the team's coach who he knew would be reclining at that very moment in business class row two on the window side. "Kevin, we have a problem". "What is it now. We haven't left the marshmallows behind, have we?" "No. Much worse than that. Where's Phil?" To be continued ... I've just realised that I should have done an introduction or a preface so that can come next but in the meantime, if someone could do a foreword, this would be appreciated. Then we can have a crack at workshopping chapter two - the arrival at Launceston Airport.

Well why not? Perhaps something in serialised form? We can call it "Orange & Charcoal". Give me some time to think about it and I'll come up with the opening chapter.

What history? Apart from some Mickey Mouse stuff in the NEAFL last year, they don't have no history to speak of other than the subterfuge involving people we're not allowed to mention around here.

Have those horses finished running yet?

Not quite right Rhino. Max made his test debut in the second test at Melbourne along with Jeff Thomson who was belted around the park and took 0-100 in the first innings. The test started exactly 39 years ago today - there was no Boxing Day test back then. I was there when Thommo opened the bowling with Dennis Lillee who also had a tough time taking 1 fer about 90. Sadiqh and Mushtaq Mohammed carted us all over the ground for centuries in a mammoth first innings score but we still knocked them over cheaply in the second innings. Maxy took 2 in the first dig and 3 in the second and we ended up beating them. Sheahan got his ton in the second innings but that was a year after the John Benaud century. Thommo was dropped for the third test in Sydney which was the one in which Watkins made his debut. The third test was the one in which Walker took his 6-15 in the second innings. I was in Sydney at the time for a family wedding and had a clear day for the last day of the test but my transport from the north shore to the SCG was stuffed up so badly that I arrived at the ground late. The Pakistanis were chasing 159 in the final innings and were about 2-40 overnight. I got to the ground in time to watch the last two wickets to fall, the last to Walker. The catcher was Watkins who did very little else in the match. They were all out for a little over 100. I then had about five hours to spare before I was due to be picked up by my hosts in Sydney which I spent sprawled on the grass at Centennial Park reading several hundred pages of Lord of the Rings. I think I dreamed that night about a Bilbo Baggins taking a hat trick on the SCG.

I was a bit worried that it might be a trick question because of the fact that he was dropped before making his one and only test century. I think Michael Hussey might find it a tough ask to score a ton in this current test but I reckon if they had to name the team for the Sydney test last night, he might have been in the same boat as young Benaud was almost 40 years ago.

Does he have a brother named Richie?

A couple of weeks and the Australian Open Tennis will be dominating the sports media and the footy won't be getting a look in. The next month is usually totally bereft of football. A good time to read thriller novels, go to the movies or listen to your favourite music.

Won't happen for the second test but it's only a matter of time before James Faulkner gets the all rounder's spot. I personally would have had him in this test ahead of Hussey, promoting Haddin to 6 and batting him at 7. I think Faulkner has more penetration as a bowler and is more solid in his batting.

Open up them Golden Gates.

What are the experts' comments about the pitch? It's hard to tell on the tv but it seems that it might become a perfect wicket for batting and, given what we're going to be up against, a big indian first innings score beckons.

Spot on - 12 each. As to the issue of bad luck dogging out of form players, I know the feeling. Dogged me throughout my entire career.

Quick Quiz: Since January, 2008 who has made the most ducks in test cricket - Michael Hussey or Chris Martin?

That's cricket. You can't overrule the umpire in these tests so we just have to get on with the game and get over it.

How does this Ed Cowan go in the 50 over game and the 20/20 stuff?

Here's the selected team for the First Test:- Michael Clarke (capt) Brad Haddin Ed Cowan Ben Hilfenhaus Michael Hussey Nathan Lyon Shaun Marsh James Pattinson Ricky Ponting Peter Siddle David Warner Mitchell Starc (12th man) The battle is between two test sides both flawed and both underperformers of late. One at the end of its cycle, the other in team building phase. Interesting stuff to come. I'm not convinced about the Australian bowling attack against the strength of the Indian batsmen but accept that, in those circumstances, Christian would have had to come in at the expense of either Ponting or Hussey and I don't think the selectors are prepared to do this just yet. The two vets will need to perform if they are to remain in the side.

"we've done banana fritters sir"