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 AFL,  have scheduled a football match , for this Thursday night .

The Carlton Blues , play the Brisbane Lions , in  Etihad Stadium ,  at 7.10pm .

Local popular side  Carlton , play rival interstate side , Brisbane.

Another clever marketing innovation , by the AFL , to get fans at games , mid week?

Will fans turn out on thursday night, in their  , jumpers , jerseys , guernseys , to watch the Game?

Interestingly , of the 8 games in this round  , 3 home games are to be played at Etihad Stadium , compared to only 2 , to be played at the MCG.

Lions on a Thursday ?

The Saints , beat the Cats ,  in AFL , Friday Night Football , at the MCG .

St Kilda Saints , number one ticket holder , Eric Bana , was in the crowd.

He was wearing a Saints scarf , to show his support .

It appeared to be a non official , unlicensed product . In short , a cheap knock off.

With his multi - millionaire status , you would think the successful,  Australian actor , could afford the real thing.

Fair enough , members scarfs are a dime a dozen , with vintage one's being highly collectable , and coveted , making them  hard to get.

Whilst we don't expect him to don the Saints jumper , jersey , guernsey , we at least expect him to shell out, for an authentic scarf .

Perhaps an erstwhile trader , will send him one in the mail ?

Limited shopping opportunities in LA , or lack of time and resources , don't excuse it , as a scarf is easily , purchasable on line.

Come on Eric , get real !

Real Saints Jumper

The split round of AFL matches,  for Round 13 , continues this weekend .

Saints and Cats , play tonight at the MCG , under lights , in front of a huge crowd.

Swans and Magpies,  play in Sydney , on Saturday night , at ANZ Stadium .

The Demons,  play the Crows , in Adelaide , on Sunday afternoon.

All games will be televised .

Port are having a rest

With only one Game to be played in Melbourne,  this weekend , many fans will be reduced , to wearing their football jumpers , jerseys, guernseys , whilst watching footy , on TV .

Disgruntled fans, will be keen to attend next weekend's,  full round of matches .

This split round , is it a rest for the AFL players , or a clever marketing move by the AFL hierarchy.?

Demons play in Clash Jumper

A crowd of 70,000 AFL fans, are tipped to attend the St Kilda Saints versus Geelong Cats , Game on Friday night , the 25 th June , at the MCG .

It is being touted as , the Grand Final Re- Match , and both teams are determined to win .

The Saints,  in their only Game,  for the home and away season , against the Cats, want to remove the memory of the Grand Final loss. They hope to restore some belief to fans , and achieve self pride.

The Cats , hopefuls for the 2010 flag , thus  making it back to back premierships,  will play hard , fast and skilled footy . They want to squash St Kilda's,  hopes for  a revenge victory .

Its tipped to be a ripper contest , with both teams hopefully playing superlative football .

Vocal supporters, will be there,  in their AFL,  jumpers , jerseys , guernseys .

Who will win ?

Will it be the rejuvenated Saints , desperate for a victory ?

Can the battle seasoned Geelong Side , beat St Kilda again  ?

There can only be one winner ! Let the Games begin .

On second thought, a draw occurred recently , between the Demons and the Magpies.

Will this unthinkable result happen, between these two mighty teams ?

Can the Saints win ?

AFL Clubs do not always wear their traditional colours .

Sometimes they might wear a different coloured jumper to mark a special occasion.

Some might do it just for the money.

Several years ago Carlton Blues wore a yellow jumper to launch the new M & M ( mars lolly)amid much fanfare and as a unique advertising ploy.

It generated a lot of interest and gave the club revenue. Those jumpers , jerseys , guernseys are highly sought today by fans and collectors alike.

Spotted recently at Goschs Paddock in inner Melbourne were Collingwood Magpies training in a light blue football jumper jersey guernsey .

The Brisbane Lions have been known to wear red . ( Perhaps as a reaction to seeing red at some of Fevola's antics!)

Sighted last week at a major sporting goods oultet were St Kilda Saints jumpers jerseys guernseys in lime green and fluoro pink .The tag said training jumper .

Perhaps teams will adopt these specially coloured jumpers again .

Tonights match at the MCG between Western Bulldogs and Melbourne Demons is a pink fundraiser for breast cancer research .

Next year will we see Barry Hall in pink !

Traditional Western Bulldogs Jumper

Friday Night Footy at the MCG takes on special significance . It is the venue for the annual afl fundraiser for breast cancer research and treatment.

For several years now the pre match entertainment is of patrons paying a $50 fee to walk onto the MCG , wear a pink poncho and assemble into the shape of a woman.

An impressive sight , a thrill for those involved and a monetary boost to a very worthy charity .

All this before the first bounce of the football !

The ensuing game between the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs should also provide exciting entertainment .

Both teams had a loss last weekend and will be keen to post a win.

Both have lost players to cancer . Ted Whitten , Footscray's favourite son battled the disease and Melbourne's Jim Stynes is currently battling it .

Fans will be out in their teams football jumper , jersey , guernsey .

Many will have them on under their pink poncho on the night.

Western Bulldogs

Melbourne Demons

AFL matches played out over the weekend yielded some surprising results.

Teams fancied for this years premiership flag , Brisbane , St Kilda and Geelong were all beaten.

The Anzac Day match between Collingwood and Essendon provided poor entertainment . Essendon were soundly thrashed by a resurgent Magpies side.

Melbourne with its young , fit team excited fans when they beat the Lions at the MCG . The match was watched by favourite son Jim Stynes.

Their charismatic former leader was thrilled along with hundreds of jubilant fans to see the David and Goliath struggle between flag fanciers and underdog result in a Dees victory.

Nothing is a certainty in Football.

One thing is constant . Fans will wear their jumper , jersey , guernsey to the match.

Melbourne Demons

Go Dees

Today is Anzac Day. A day when Australians as a Nation honour those
killed in War and those who survived.

Traditionally the AFL allow the two afl teams Collingwood and Essendon to play in the only match of the day at the MCG.

It must be asked is this fair and equitable to all the other teams in the competition and their fans?

These other teams and supporters have also lost family and loved ones to Australia's war efforts.

They also would like to attend a footy match on this day .

Ideally ,they would like to see their team play on Anzac Day.

Those two teams have enjoyed this preferential draw from the afl for a long time.

Why not West Coast ?

In the true Anzac spirit of the underdog prevailing against great adversity can other teams be given a chance to play?

A rotation amongst all the teams for match honours is fair and equitable .

All teams should get a chance to play on this one day a year.

Their fans should be able to choose to go and see them.

Will the match always remain between the afl' s two favoured sons or will the aussie way of all getting a fair go prevail?

Patriotic fans will don their teams jumper , jersey, guernsey and attend the sellout match just to be part of the spectacle and support footy .

Many would like to see a changing of the guard and have the match more fairly distributed between all clubs and their fans.

Why doesn't the AFL give it a go?

Protect the Baby Tigers

signed home strip

A record crowd watched the two teams Richmond play Carlton on thursday night at the MCG. More record crowds are expected as the rest of the round is played tonight and over the weekend .Fans everywhere are wearing their team colours jumper , jersey , guernsey . It will be interesting to see in some of the match ups whether teams have to change or modify their traditional strip to avoid confusion over colour clash.The usual home and away strips are usually adopted by the respective clubs unless there is an obvious clash of colours . Often in these situations different coloured shorts are  worn . In recent years there has also been a trend by clubs towards wearing a white away or clash jumper , jersey ,guernsey.

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