Saints on SA soil

To replay  that old 1960's Kinks song , " he's a dedicated follower of fashion ", he's a dedicated follower of Football .

Interstate flights , a Hotel Room , and tickets to the AFL Game were purchased , and the football jumper , jersey , guernsey , was lovingly packed for its trip .

With the club song in his heart , and joyful anticipation at the prospect of watching a good nights footy , the journey began .

The adventure began to go pear shaped when upon arrival on SA soil , rain bucketed down for 3 hours , and the local $2 shop had sold out of emergency ponchos . Further anguish ensued upon arrival at the ground, when it was discovered the pre-booked seats for the match, were in the  middle of the Opposition Team Members Area .

A teenage daughters mate texted  , " what a dead set legend  '', probably for both attending the game , and sitting amongst the  toughest group of fans , on this  most parochial of grounds  !A hard night at the office followed,  for this loyal  fan , a staunch  supporter of arguably the most success starved ,  of AFL clubs .

The well travelled , football jumper , jersey , guernsey will arrive home , colours lowered on the night , but hopefully not too severely scarred , ready to battle on . Now if only I can get the stains out . Hopefully , they are beer stains  , and are not the byproduct of too much beer consumption , which is said to be sprayed on opposition  fans , at this Ground , if you can believe Eddie Mc Guire's Missus .

Ironic , that those left behind , spent Saturday afternoon shopping, and came home with a football jumper , jersey , guernsey , in the vanquished team's colours.

The Saints , Cats , Hawks , Magpies , Suns , Blues , Tigers and Freo all had a good day at the office for round 5 of the AFL footy fixture . The Swans , Demons , and Eagles all had a rest .

Win this Eagles Jumper to wear to the footy

Many highlights and great entertainment was provided over the extended round of matches for the Easter / Anzac Day holiday break . A milestone was reached by the Suns , when they won their first AFL Game . Collingwood proved too strong for Essendon , and Geelong looked good against the Hawks .

The Saints posted their first win for season 2011 , as did the Tigers ,who proved more accurate in front of goals than the Kangaroos , with young spearhead , Jack Riewoldt booting five goals . The Bulldogs were unlucky in WA and lost only in the dying minutes of the game to the Dockers .

Fans enjoying the mighty spectacle of a holiday fixture of AFL Football , watched games wearing their beloved football jumpers , jerseys , guernseys .

Last weekend saw mixed results , for all afl football teams . Collingwood , continued its winning streak , the Saints eked out a draw against Richmond , but lost Lenny Hayes , for the rest of the season to injury . The Gold Coast Suns , playing their first AFL game , were thrashed by the Blues , and West Coast upset the Power at home to win . Geelong scraped home against Freo , whilst a strong Sydney team beat the revitalised Bombers . Hawthorn and the Bulldogs beat their opponents , the Demons and the Lions respectively .

Fans supported their team , by wearing their football jumpers , jerseys , guernseys ,

Baby Magpies

to watch the Game .

Who can stop Collingwood ?How many games will the Suns lose ? When will the Bombers win again ?

All questions to be answered at the next round of matches . Its fun , its exciting , its AFL football , and fans wearing their football jumpers are along for the ride .!

Kangas to bounce back

Melbourne , the home of AFL football, is experiencing it's coldest winter for many years . A recent June day, was the coldest for two years , with temperatures only reaching 7 degrees Celsius, at midday.

Devoted fans, wearing their football jumpers , jerseys , guernseys, will still come out to watch their teams play, despite the extreme weather conditions .

The AFL, scheduled three of the last round of matches , to be played at Etihad Stadium . Its got a closable roof , bright lights , comfortable seats , and ensures fans are warm , dry , can see and are comfy on these cold ,wet , winter nights .

The MCG , despite having a much larger crowd capacity , and having recently undergone a costly renovation, is less comfortable .

Fans , and teams of the modern AFL game , require a certain standard of comfort .

Interestingly, the  Brisbane Lions lost,  to the  Carlton Blues , at Etihad Stadium, in Thursday night's Clash .

Can the Lions , hailing form sunny temperate Brisbane , blame their loss on the weather ?

Too cold for Lions ?

The modern , AFL game, is fast , exciting , and thrilling.

Fans, watching their team , witness the lead changing many times ,in a closely contested match . Many seemingly , lost games , are retrieved by a teams doggedness , and their players superior athleticism .

Those , that can run the fastest, for the longest , are often the victors .

Last night,  it appeared the Hawks,  would walk away from the match , with a certain victory .

This conclusion discounted the fast finishing , young and fit,  Bombers squad, who almost snatched victory , from the Hawks in the closing minutes of the Game.

Fans , dressed in their football jumpers , jerseys , guernseys were treated to a lively night's entertainment .

They were engrossed in the last quarter,  watching the Bombers fight back .

No certainties in the modern game , only that each week,  fans will go to watch footy matches .

They will do so wearing their football jumpers , jerseys , guernseys .

Hawks won

The pressure to succeed and the unpredictability of the modern AFL game was never more evident than in last weekends round of matches .

The Cats thrashed the Lions at the Gabba', Western Bulldogs beat in form team Sydney and the Saints suffered their third loss in a row to a speedy , youthful Bombers side .

The Richmond Tigers looked poised to breakthrough with their first win of the 2010 season only to have it snatched away by their Hawthorn opponents in the dying moments of the game.

A  youthful Melbourne Demons team were no match for a rejuvenated West Coast Eagles who beat them soundly at the MCG.

Interstate results saw Carlton hold off Port Power at AAMI stadium and the Collingwood Magpies beat vastly improved Fremantle Dockers at Subiaco.

Many fans, tipsters and media commentators would have expected different results to those posted in this round of matches .

Fans were out everywhere in their jumpers , jerseys , guernseys to cheer their team on and to will them to succeed.

Nic Naitanui's Jumper

Are the Blues finally coming out of the wilderness? find out 26 mar

20th march 2009

The AFL season kicks off next Thursday night the 26th of March with an opening block buster between traditional rivals Carlton and Richmond at the MCG at 7.40pm EST .

It promises to be a fantastic contest with two of the League's up and coming Flag contenders going head to head in what promises to be a fitting curtain raiser to the season .

All the big names will be playing including the new look Brendan Fevola sporting a shaven head playing for the Blues . The spearhead for the Blues has had a quiet summer concentrating on training and getting fit and will run on to the "G" in fine condition with the trademark curls well tamed like his temper hoping to provide the blues with a great start to the season.Have Carlton got what it takes to beat a rejuvenated Richmond in front of a huge home town crowd.?

The big news at Tigerland is the debut of Ben Cousins in his first AFL game since his well publicized battle with drug addiction . Can he give the fans and the Tigers their money's worth and will he provide a glimmer of hope to fans long starved of premiership success?

It should be a ripper of a curtain raiser to the AFL's 2009 Home and Away Season .