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Champion the wonder horse, seeing it was 38 years since I played u-12, I could be forgiven for forgetting that the Emmets had to join with Swatragh.  But you're spot on with that as when I went to St. Pats most of the Emmets did indeed play for the Davitts.

Kilrea had many very good players but we just weren't coached.

Interestingly, I began reading Siege of Jadotville and saw a reference to the Balubas.  Here's me thinking they were just a figment of the Swatragh imagination/sense of humour.

Watching the Senior Camogie final livestream at the moment.  The weemin are leadin.

Been off the board for awheena months and have just come back (ahem...in time for the new AFL season - but I'll not elaborate on that!) and there yiz all are berating the Emmets.

Well, in my humble opinion what that club has achieved is fantastic, remarkable and worth every column inch of praise the club has been getting.

When I started out for the Kilrea u-12s, the one game you were guaranteed to win was against the Emmets.  And that continued for years.  The club often struggled to turn out a full team in the various grades, and it was not uncommon for u-16s playing senior reserve football.  Same with hurling.  You knew you'd be in a game with the Emmets, too, though. 

But the one thing that was so tangible among the Emmets was the spirit and club pride.  They introduced the forward-planning mentality and when the first signs of success were beckoning it wasn't long before they had the ball and were running.  Adrian McGuckin did exactly the same thing at Ballinderry, setting up excellent underage structures that was bought into by the whole community.  I recall playing at a S.Derry u-16 final and looking into the stands and seeing a whole raft of Ballinderry senior players on the sidelines roaring on their team.  We never had that same support in Kilrea and never enjoyed much success despite there being some incredibly talented players.

So,no, I don't care where the McGuigans live, or how many generations of Cassidys played for the club or other such shite that some have been spewing on here on this thread. 

The club is a wonderful example of GAA culture, Irish culture and just great community spirit.  I was most pleased for the hurlers as they broke the hoodoo Derry teams losing Ulster finals.  Sure they didn't beat Cuala but as Cuala are in unchartered ground too, I will be hoping they win the final.

Billy Magoo, hats off to your club, fella.  And here's to an All-Ireland double. 

I'm about to click over the half-century mark so decided to do something different.
I'm heading off to S.America in three weeks to join a motorcycle tour through Chile, Bolivia and Peru.  The highlight will be waking up on my birthday and fulfilling a long-held ambition of going to Machu Picchu.  Can't wait.  Oh, and there's Death Road Bolivia thrown in for good measure, as is Lake Titicaca and some other things I can't spell.

https://www.facebook.com/720942448042789/videos/741751425961891/

Hopefully this comes through.  Before the AFL, the Western Australian Footy League had massive crowds and big hits.  Like this one.

ROUND SIX

North Melbourne 61-46 Western Bulldogs
Arguably the most anticipated game of the round.  It was tough and uncompromising but not pretty.  To be expected but the Roos held on and now stretch their winning streak to 6-0.

St. Kilda 135-96 Melbourne
The Saints were just too smart for the Demons today.   

Adelaide 97-64 Fremantle
Never mind hitting a bull's arse with a barn door, Freo couldn't hit one with a fekkin laser guided missile from 5 metres.  They were all over Adelaide in stages of this game and but for shite kicking  (8-16) could even have won this game.  Dear God this is agonising, 0-6.

GWS 158-83 Hawthorn
No, your eyesight  is perfect.  Yes, you have read that correctly.  And I watched it.  Whao.  What an effort.  Ex-Cat Steve Johnson was at his mercurial best as was the Giants' giant ruckman Rory Lobb.  Hands like shovels, arms like windmills and feet that work.  Take note Freo.  A great game to watch as it is nice to see the little man thrash the big man.  Except that Freo play the little man next week.  Gulp, groan, eeeeeeeeek.

Port Adelaide 94-59 Richmond
Things are not looking too good for the Tigers' season either.   Another loss and they are at 1-5.

Geelong 168-48 Gold Coast
Bet Gary Ablett Jr. had wished he had taken up the rumoured offers to return to Geelong last year after this thrashing.  From 3-0, the Suns now are 3-3.  Damnit, there's even a chance Freo might catch up with them.

Sydney 97-94 Brisbane
Ooooooh so close for the Lions.  I was listening to this in stages on the car wireless and it was close throughout but the experience of the Swans was just too great and they fell over the line. 

Carlton 72-57 Essendon
When are Freo playing Essendon?  That is all.

West Coast 124-62 Collingwood
At ¾ time there were only a couple of kicks in it as the Pies came back after a very sluggish start and took the game to the undetected Drug Cheats.  In the end the latter were just too powerful and won handily enough.

ROUND FIVE

Hawthorn 112-109 Adelaide
A fine advert for Aussie Rules.  Not a fine advert for shite umpiring.  For the third week in a row the Hawks escaped defeat with only a 3-pt win.  But the talking point will be the decision to award a free in the last minute to Hawthorn for what seemed a perfectly good tackle.  Other than that it was a classic game for end-to-end footy. 

Sydney 88-49 West Coast
Oh, don't you love it when the media build up a team you despise only to see them self-implode!  Freo's woes are being cushioned by those teams that beat themmuns well.    I only caught bits of the game.  Enough to see me grin again.

North Melbourne 119-81 Gold Coast
The roos made it 5-0 and their best start to a season in over 20 years.  Is this the start of a premiership season?  Wouldn't begrudge them the win, to be honest.  But Collingwood fans are not happy.  Are they ever?

Western Bulldogs 120-67 Brisbane
Back to earth with a bump for the Lions.  The dogs are playing some great footy in spite of injuries.  One to watch in the finals, methinks.

Geelong 107-59 Port Adelaide
At quarter time the Power were up  by 18 points then Geelong woke up and totally dominated the rest of the game.  Some nice "attention" was paid to ex Crow Patrick Dangerfield on his first visit back to Adelaide after his transfer to the Cats.  I got bored at ¾ time so turned over.

GWS 126-79 St. Kilda
The Giants keep on winning and winning well.  Bit of a surprise, this result, as I thought that the Saints were building a bit of momentum following their previous two displays.

Carlton 72-68 Fremantle
My late father used to describe my shots at goals as "ya cuddint hit a bull's arse with a barn dure"!  Well, the same applies to Freo at the moment.  This was agony to experience in the flesh.  In fact, I was numbed to the point of not even getting up and leaving before the end.  What has gone wrong?  I have no idea. Bottom of the ladder.  Suddenly that grin is invisible.  And serious injuries to Nat Fyfe who has re-cracked the fibia he damaged last year, and Michael Johnson with his dodgy hamstring make this the season from hell.  Well, I for one, won't be heading to Melbourne in October. 

Melbourne 129-96 Richmond
For the second week, the Demons have belted another of their old cross-town adversaries.  The first time in several seasons that they've won back-to-back games.  Not something to be lauded, mind you.

Collingwood 142-73 Essendon
The traditional ANZAC day clash and it was crap.  I only saw the highlights which were enough. 

I'm not a happy Freo fan today.

ROUND FOUR

West Coast 125-57 Richmond
Yep, well, we better not be booking any flights to Melbourne again.   Really boring game.

Geelong 72-42 Essendon
More rubbish from the bombers.  Didn't see any of the game but can't imagine my comments to be anywhere too far from the facts.

Hawthorn 87-84 St. Kilda
I only started watching the last quarter of this really tight and tense encounter.  It was gripping stuff.  When young (19 yo) Paddy McCartin took a great contested mark 50m out with only 3 minutes to go, there was nothing to suggest he would miss.  He did and the Hawks hung on for their second 3-point win in successive weeks.  Great stuff from the young Saints team.

Brisbane 107-94 Gold Coast
The Suns were looking for a 4-0 start to the season but a Pearse Hanley-inspired Lions team took the game right up to them and recorded a great win, their first for the year.  The most notable incident in the game was the "bump" by May on the Lions player.  Ouch, it hurt just to watch it.  Tough boys in this game.

Western Bulldogs 85-49 Carlton.
Didn't see any of this game and I don't think I missed too much.

Adelaide 113-103 Sydney
Kurt Tippett returned again to his first club but left on the losing team.  Great game from two teams which I am beginning to think will be in the Grand Final.  (Alrite Horse has booked his Grand Final package already, I'm told.)

GWS 151-65 Port Adelaide
Now I'm not a fan of the Port director, David Koch who also happens to the anchorman for Channel 7's breakfast TV show.  But his description of the efforts of his team as a "disgrace" says it all.  It was.  That is not taking anything away from the efforts of the Giants. 

Melbourne 102-67 Collingwood
Very few like Collingwood, and even fewer Melbourne fans have got even an iota of sympathy for what is reputed to be the largest club in the land.  Well, the Demons' fans were singing loud after this one.

North Melbourne 132-101 Fremantle
Woeful kicking.  That is all.  I started to watch the game then switched off at quarter time.  I'd had enough.  How the fcuk men who are paid very well to kick a fekkin ball cannot do so is beyond me.  Mini-me and his Redcliffe u-15s are better.  Not impressed.  Finals over.  The end.

ROUND THREE

Port Adelaide 112-51 Essendon
Didn't see this game but by all accounts it was garbage. 

St. Kilda 119-90 Collingwood
I had tipped the pies to win but I didn't mind getting this wrong.  Helluva game for Saints fans with some of the play breathtaking in its execution. 

Adelaide 128-92 Richmond
Eeek, the Crows are starting to develop a seriously powerful squad.  Should be there or thereabouts in September.  As for the Tigers, well, it's not looking good.

Sydney 93-68 GWS
Now we know which is the best team in Sydney.  The Swans were just waaaaay to strong all over the park for the Giants.  No repeat of past giant-killing (no pun intended) exploits in this game.

Gold Coast 95-41 Carlton
More shite from Carlton.   Why?  I dunno.  Just not playing ball.

Themmuns 92-59 Freo
A great start by Freo had themmuns on the rack in the first quarter despite some shocking set shot kicking by Freo.  The game could've been over at quarter time but lady luck was to deal us a bad hand.  A serious injury to the Freo ruck giant Sandilands (punctured lung/broken ribs) after a contested mark with the human palm tree saw the Freo game disintegrate.  Not a  happy chappy walking home but at least the effort was better than last week and I refused to let the drug cheats's fans gloat too much and I stayed to the end.  Fekk.

North Melbourne 136-131 Melbourne
Another really exciting finish and had the Demons had an extra 5 seconds there is nothing to say they wouldn't have snatched an incredible win.  But that is footy.  Close.

Hawthorn 93-90 Western Bulldogs
A wonderful game for the neutral.  It had everything.  Drama, controversy, great scores, shocking misses.  But sadly it also have injuries, none more so than to the great Bulldogs player Robert Murphy, who in the last minute wrecked his knee in a contested mark from which the Hawks man kicked the winning score.  Yep that is footy. 

Geelong 125-56 Brisbane.
I didn't see this game but the score says it all. 

ROUND TWO

Collingwood 87-86 Richmond
How not to defend an 18pt lead with a few minutes remaining.  Rule no. 1, do not kick the ball to the wing as the rules have changed and you'll give away a free.  Rule no. 2, mark a man, especially the 6'4" lad standing about 20m out from your goal...on his own. Rule no. 3, do all of the above in the last 30 seconds cos otherwise the opposition will score.  And guess what happened...
An amazing ending to a pretty enjoyable game even if there were long periods of mediocre skill execution.

Adelaide 144-86 Pt. Adelaide
Oh dear, not one the Port fans will want to remember.  Didn't see the game but by all accounts it was a feeble Port effort.

Essendon 80-67 Melbourne
Last year this would've been expected but this year with the banned players etc., Melbourne were supposed to win.  Fekkers ruined my 9/9 tipping.  Fekkers.

North Melbourne 117-83 Brisbane
As expected the powerful kangas continue on their merry way against a rebuilding Lions team. 

Western Bulldogs 93-36 St. Kilda
Another powerful effort from the ascending Dogs. 

Gold Coast 126-100 Fremantle
Another shite effort from Freo.  In my nearly 10 years as a full member of the club I had never walked out before the end of a game...until this game.  I was raging.  Some of the errors were simply unforgiveable.  Not impressed.  On a brighter note, mini-me finally got to see Gary Ablett Jr. play and in the same game as the current Brownlow medallist, Nat Fyfe of Freo.  Not the best start to the season, especially at home.

GWS 89-76 Geelong
Yep, you read right.  Some superb score-taking by the young Giants.  Is this their year to make finals? 

Hawthorn 99-53 West Coast
Phew, there might be room on the planes to Melbourne in October, after all.  The hawks were absolutely clinical in this game and questions have to be raised about the mental capacity of the Eagles' players.  I'm just fekkin happy they lost.  Hard enough living in Perth listening to the soothsayers.

Sydney 131-71 Carlton
Putrid footy by the Blues.  Nuff said.

 

Ahem, the internet issues were resolved; the comment about counselling, while probably not unwarranted, was not the case.  My team are not playing well.  NO.  Oh well, as you've been screaming for it here goes.

ROUND ONE

Richmond 92-83 Carlton
The traditional start to the season and while it was a close game on the scoreboard, Richmond did enough throughout to keep their noses in front to the end.    Of note was the lack of noise from Richmond fans about this being the year...every years seems to be the year.

Melbourne 80-78 GWS
A superbly exciting final quarter saw the Demons snatch a victory that many would not have begrudged the rising Giants.  Not pretty but a win is a win.

Gold Coast 121-60 Essendon
We were all wondering just how much the year-long bans would have on Essendon and this provided the answer.  Tis going to be a long year if you are an Essendon fan.

North Melbourne 107-97 Adelaide
Classic game of footy with two teams who will feature in the finals for sure.  End to end stuff and some great play all around.  What the fan of the game wants to see, every week.

Sydney 133-53 Collingwood
If you're going to upset a team's plans for their season, best to do it two days before the first game of the season and best to make it a damning indictment of the club.  The latest drug scandal to affect the AFL is against Collingwood and, well, it showed.  Rubbish to watch.

Western Bulldogs 103-38 Fremantle
But not as rubbish as the crap that was served up in this game by the team who finished the regular season atop the ladder.  Sweet Jaysus that was bad.  No further comment.

Port Adelaide 133-100 St. Kilda
Not many teams score 100 and still lose.  Signs are not looking good at Port Adelaide for the year and St. Kilda are on the rebuild. 

West Coast Eagles 166-102 Brisbane
Right, if you are from Perth, forget about booking flights to and hotels in Melbourne on the first weekend of October as it is a given that themmuns will be in the final.  This is going to be very difficult to stomach.

Geelong 116-86 Hawthorn
Is this the beginning of the end for Hawthorn or is the four-in-a-row still on?  Hmmmm, I wonder.  Patrick Dangerfield made a great debut for Geelong after his transfer from Adelaide, and the absence of Jarrod Roughead for the Hawks were two noticeable points in this game. 

Several technical issues with the home internet have resulted in my not being able to provide my (as anticipated) unbiased, probing and generally insightful analyses of the rounds that have preceded today.  Now that my home internet connection has a semblance of normality again, I shall endeavour to bring you all up to date with what's what in the world of AFL land.  (And I can see JimStynes and AlriteHorse smirking already...fekkers.)

Well hello there.  It's time to get the Deep heat on, the shrimps on the barby, the 4X in the fridge and get in the mood for another year of Aussie Rules Footy courtesy of my totally unbiased, blinkers off take on the preceding week's games.

Fear not, I am still rabidly anti-West Coast cos the CEO still hasn't resigned and until he does, my observations shall be forthright and full-on.  And if you haven't been keeping up to date with all that has been happening Down Under here is a wee summary.

I forgot to write up a report for the end of the 2015 season as I was still in stitches and fits of laughter about the shameful display of themmuns in the Grand Final v. Hawthorn up until about 10.30am last Sunday (my report of the Freo v. Western Bulldogs game will explain that).  It was that bad that I was actually finding myself taking pity on the decent players in the team as the show-boaters fcuked up relentlessly.  To the point that I was actually shouting at the TV and telling the galloots what to do...as you do.

Essendon got smashed by the World Anti-Doping Authority for its crimes against its players; and here's the irony - the bombers sacked James Hird and employed John Worsfeld, the coach of  West Coast during the shameful period of drug cheating and off-field shenanigans.  Doooooooooh.  Oh well. 

Collingwood is in the sh*ts again for its players misbehaving with talcum powder (apparently you sniff talc for a joke at parties).

So there you go.  All's well in AFL land...or it was until 10.10am last Sunday.  Grrrr.

 

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/29687797/chick-ready-to-tell-afl-boss-all/

No smoke without fire (or ice, as was the case!!!)

Congratulations to Cushendall.

Preliminary Finals (or semi-finals to the rest of us)

Hawthorn 94-67 Fremantle
I was wondering how I would write this without sounding bitter and twisted and one-eyed.  Well the latter is without question especially when the W(e) C(heated) E(veryone) organisation is concerned.  But four days after the game and it still rankles me immensely what happened in that game.  We got off to a great start and  were dominating then for some obscure reason the umpires seemed to forget that it was not set in stone that the Hawks "must" win for the A(nti) F(reo) L(eague).  Two really, really obscure umpiring decisions turned the first quarter on its head and gifted the Hawks two goals.  So instead of Freo potentially leading by 30 points at the end of the first quarter, they were behind.  Fast forward to the fourth quarter and the lads had brought the game back to within 9 points and it was there for the taking and another shit umpiring decision followed by an awfully unfortunate slip by young Tom Sheridan gifted the Hawks the game.  How the fcuk is the AFL able to run an organisation with such wealth yet has such inconsistent and bad umpiring on a regular basis.  And we are not talking just against Freo; several other clubs have been the victims of such terrible decisions.  How the fcuk do you appoint a referee, who was one of the founders of themmuns, as a referee in a themmuns v. Freo game?  That would be akin to appointing a Dublin referee to a Dublin v. Kerry AIF.  It shouldn't happen but it does.  I was at mini-me's districts game today and was talking to themmuns fans who asked me if I'd watched the game.  When I told them I was there, they asked my take on the incidents where the umpires made the wrong calls.  When I said I still hadn't watched the replay (or won't as I deleted it) they told me the decisions were crap.   There you go; coming from themmuns fans.  Must've been disgraceful for them to say so.
Should we have played Crowley?  I don't think so as he was not match fit.  As for Fyfe, well what can we say about the lad that hasn't already been said?  He played the whole bloody game with a fractured shin after a collision in the first few minutes.  And his season was rounded off nicely with the Brownlow medal last night.  Totally deserved.  Such a  class act and I'm so glad he's with us.
And there is was, season over.  I anticipate the retirement of at least two players, our Captain and bloody legend Matthew Pavlich and our full-back Luke McPharlin.  Both have been incredible servants of the club and we owe them a lifetime of gratitude for their services in making us one of the top 5 clubs in the country.
Re. the behaviour of a few in the stands; there was no defence for their behaviour especially the incident where the female was struck.  Thankfully I have been to every game this year and only missed one last year and one the year before.  In all those times, never did I see a single incident involving fans.  We are, if not the best fans in the league, certainly in the top two or three when it comes to fan support and behaviour.  The "man" in the incident on Friday night has never been a member of our club - and never will be, I'm pleased to say.

Themmuns 80-55 North Melbourne
Carbon copy of the game the night before.  North came out all guns blazing and kept themmuns goalless in the first quarter.  Then the umpires kicked in.  Oh my god, how the fcuk the umpires sleep at night is beyond me.  I watched about 10 minutes of the game then switched off as I'd seen enough.

And so it comes down to two teams next Saturday.  I still make no bones about it that I now want the Hawks to win.  Simples.  Me, one-eyed?  Pretty much.  Bitter and twisted?  Nah, just can't stand the drug-cheating liars up the road from us.  I'd even support Collingwood if they were up against themmuns on Saturday, and that is saying something.