hardtack

Well, the thing I can see in my favour is that it gave me a whole new lease on life (and I got to revisit my youth in order to think like them), because there's one thing you just cannot do once kids are around, and that is sit down and take it easy... I even went out and bought a bike so I could maintain some sort of level of fitness :-)

Well, I was a late starter. I'm about to hit the big 60 in March and have two kids aged 9 and 12... so no grand kids here (although I tell my kids how lucky they are having a dad and a grandad all in the one person). Oh, and both boys follow the Dees, with a leaning to the Swans, being in Sydney; I've told them there will only be an issue if they start to get interested in GWS.

+1 What is it with the parents of talented kids? As far as I'm concerned, Phil ranks up there with the likes of Damir Dokic etc. In a way I do feel a modicum pity for TS because he's going to cop the brunt of the Dee supporters' anger, while his manipulative dad sits on the sidelines counting his money. If ever someone has earned the monicker Philphy Phil, he is it!

In which case, some of the players probably looked proportionately smaller.

In all fairness, I feel that he was often left holding the ball because there simply was no option available to him... he was not getting the support he needed. This is one area I hope that Neeld will identify as requiring a lot of improvement... greater support and running options for players like Jones to clear the ball to.

A white silouette?... actually, now the arrow is making more sense :-)

Yes, but after a year's hiatus, I wonder how his body is going to stand up to a full pre-season followed by the rigours of serious competition; as much as I would like to think he could, I really can't see it.

I get the feeling that Jones is a bit of a gym junkie when he is not out surfing (if his tweets are anything to go by). I keep saying it (and keep getting laughed at for it), but I think he is our "Chapman" for more reasons than the lack of hair style. As his kicking for goal improves and as he makes more forays into the forward 50, the similarities will become more and more apparent.

I will ask you the same question, you tell me what part of that sentence indicates that it MUST be us? Yes, he has mentioned the Dees, and rightly so, as we are a team with one foot in China with regards to promoting the game over there, and due to the fact that we played a demo game against the Lions in October last year. Additionally, there was an article in the recent past (can't remember if I saw it in Real Footy or on the AFL site), that talked about the development of the game in China and the Dees connection... that may be what prompted his brainwave. However, nowhere in that article does he state that it MUST be the Dees that they play against - he merely cited us as an example of a team that might not be averse to such an idea because of our connection - hence my reference to your use of "journalistic licence" I for one am not against the idea anyway, as given the right promotion (which will be easier given that inroads how been made) even a small audience in China would probably amount to the equivalent of a large audience here. It is not such a draining trip and at the time of year being discussed, conditions would be ideal, unlike Darwin where the oppressive heat and humidity would take far more out of the players than a few extra hours on a plane - in fact, in terms of jet lag, it would be no worse than a trip to Perth. The Super (whatever number it is now) Rugby Union competition requires teams to travel between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa on a weekly basis and it doesn't seem to have much of an impact on their ability to perform.

Meaning?

He was quoted at the very end of the article saying he couldn't see why the Dees wouldn't be interested in such a game... nowhere does he actually say he wants the other team to be us. Is the OP looking towards a career in journalism?

or... Helter Skelter

I like the latest tweet out of the MFC: "It’s Friday afternoon and we hope your boss is cutting you a bit more slack than ours is. http://twitpic.com/7cxoh0"

Actually, the other side of that coin is that the heat may well see us getting improved performance out of a few of our current underachievers... the likes of Bennell, Davey, Sylvia, Petterd, Bate and Dunn may suddenly get some direction.

They claim that this wave is six times the size of those Phil was riding: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/is-this-the-biggest-wave-ever-surfed-20111109-1n6c1.html

Absolute GOLD!!

I think the AFL probably realises that they don't have to "take over" anything from the NRL. The NRL doesn't do particularly well when it comes to attracting crowds (particularly families) so the AFL would realise that there is plenty of the pie to go around. The NRL however is aware of its poor image, particularly in its lack of ability to attract the family element, and so they really do feel threatened. It only needs the AFL to attract 2,000 away from each NRL gate on top of the southern state expats and local AFL supporters and they will start to feel the pinch. For the AFL, success in Sydney would be just a little more icing on the cake. As for those NRL teams surviving? Since I moved to Sydney in 1979 I have followed three NRL teams... firstly Newtown Jets who dropped out of the competition a couple of years later, then North Sydney Bears who were later merged with Manly Sea Eagles to become the Central Coast team (which later reverted to Manly and Norths were suddenly extinct) and finally South Sydney Rabbitohs who then also disappeared... they did manage to do a Lazarus (not the Canberra Raiders/Melbourne Storm variety) and come back with the help of Andrew Denton and Russell Crowe among others, but have never been quite the same club since. The Super League/NRL battle didn't help matters along either and I think this may be one reason that the game has lost its "shine" here... people just don't feel confident with the administration which is shambolic when compared with their AFL.counterparts (regardless of what we like to think of the fat controller).

I would have thought that you would've at least managed to develop a thicker skin by now RangeRover. Just a couple of things in an effort to placate the bruising to your sensibilities: Firstly, the reason I used the words "highly unlikely" was because as I understand it, TS has a history relating to said knee issue that goes back to his days in junior football (or was that fabricated as well?). Secondly, the term "barking mad" was directed as a question to those who are insisting Sheedy has lost it... that is, if Sheedy is mad for suggesting this, then by extension, they must have believed that those in the "TS is leaving" camp, were also losing it.

I think the NRL's biggest fear is that if GWS and the Swans start to enjoy on-field success at the same time, then they really ARE going to feel the heat. Sydney (NRL and AFL) supporters are your archetypal "fair weather supporters" as could be witnessed by the crowds the Swans were enjoying at their peak - they could pack any stadium in Sydney, which is something most NRL clubs simply cannot do at the best of times... they even have difficulty in selling out a GF. If the GWS and Swans get to the point where they're both in finals contention in the same year, then the NRL's crowds are going to be affected, plain and simple. The hard core NRL fans will keep going to their games, but the "fair weather" supporters I was talking about (and there ARE many of them) are just as likely to jump on the bandwagon of any successful team regardless of code... and if it means there's a chance of a team from Sydney putting it up a team from Victoria (or Queensland), then the likelihood of that happening is much much greater. So of course the NRL wants to nip this in the bud as soon as possible... but I really don't fancy their chances.

Well, I'm yet to meet a young one :-) It really doesn't matter what Sheedy says as, true or not, TS is at their club now and no-one stands to gain (or lose) anything by Melbourne spreading such rumours if as he claims, they were unfounded. I suppose there is the slightest of chances that the injury was fabricated as a reason for dropping him if knowledge existed at the time of his upcoming defection, but that is highly unlikely - I do recall there were however, a few of the "TS is leaving" camp, who did actually espouse that theory... maybe it's not just Sheedy who is barking mad? ;-)

Yeah, it's a traditional rivalry dating back to the late 70's early 80's, but I would have thought an Eels v Sea Eagles clash would have been a bigger money spinner these days.

I think that the real issue that works in GWS's favour, is the fact that NRL turns off families in droves and AFL has a much more family friendly image. As I said in my previous post, that Eels v Panthers game in July on attracted 17,333 punters and I really believe that the GWS v Swans game will exceed that easily; the story may be different later in the year when they have lost their first 4 games by an average of 150 points, but until then they will have novelty appeal.

He was very good in his first season and his second season saw him getting very little game time. I think he has a lot of potential and on form is an each way bet - as a rookie, he could be worth a punt (although I get the feeling the club may throw Setanta a lifeline).

Do you know what kind of a massive crowd that same "blockbuster" of a game (Penrith v Parramatta) attracted in July this year? 17,333! I really doubt that it will have much impact on the crowds that get along to the GWS v Swans game at all. The simple truth is that Sydney people are not as fanatical about their sport as their counterparts in the southern states. For what it's worth, I think the game will attract a reasonable crowd for a couple of reasons: it will have a lot of curiosity value and Sydney Swans supporters will be out in droves salivating at the prospect of witnessing a victory of epic proportions in terms of score. Hopefully there will also be a few Dees faithful in attendance passing on their "best wishes" to TS... I will certainly try my best to make it along.

Yes, a particular dislike of mine is the use of "Z" in place of the softer "S". :-)