Essendon v. Sydney

It was a big Friday night of footy at Etihad Stadium as Essendon faced the Sydney Swans and our nemesis over the years, former Hawthorn and current Sydney player Lance "Buddy" Franklin.  Considering how we have been playing lately I wasn't overly optimistic about this match, but I did not expect us to only manage to score 1.1 and be 6 goals behind by the end of the first quarter.  It was good to see Tom Bellchambers back from injury, and that freed up he and Paddy Ryder to go forward from the ruck at times, although it didn't have a massive impact on the scoreboard.

Of course, the biggest worry was Buddy, and he was up and about getting 3 of his 5 goals in the second quarter.  In the third quarter an umpire collided with a Sydney player and was down on the ground motionless for 5 minutes before being stretchered off.  Some in the crowd were actually booing him, which was a bit rough (Onagh and I even had a guy sitting behind us who wanted him put down like a race horse).  Part of the reason for the booing was likely the bad umpire calls, with the last straw being Michael Hurley getting a head high bump from Sydney's Dan Hannebery that put Hurley on the ground for a few minutes and resulted in no free kick.  Jake Carlisle was our sub for the game and managed to kick 2 goals, so hopefully that is an indication of his form starting to improve.  In the end Essendon lost by 50 points but at least we managed to stop Buddy from getting his 600 career goal!

Final Score
Essendon: 9.10 (64)
Sydney: 18.6 (114)

Footy in Sydney

Since I didn't have any solid plans for today, I joined Tash for the train ride out to ANZ Stadium at Olympic Park for the Sydney v. St Kilda footy match.  I'm a bit embarrassed that this was my first footy game of the year (and not even an Essendon one).  Before it started though there was an AFL International Cup match between South Africa and the USA, which the USA won!

Tash's friend Belinda joined us for the Sydney match.  We were quite amused throughout the game as the big screens were used to explain the footy rules to the crowd as things happened on the field.  I know rugby is the preferred sport outside of Victoria, but this was a bit ridiculous.  The game was close, and although St Kilda led for most of the afternoon, Sydney won in the end (despite their inaccurate kicking). 

Final Score
Sydney Swans: 10.23 (83)
St Kilda Saints: 10.8 (68)

After the game we headed back into the city for a bit before catching the train out to the airport for our flight home.  We spotted a few of the St Kilda players at the airport at Krispy Kreme of all places.  We flew Tiger Airways back to Melbourne and I thought Tash was joking when she said their terminal was in a shed.  Sadly she was telling the truth- it was comical.  You even have to walk back to the main terminal to catch a taxi!  In any case, it was a fun little weekend trip away and a brief preparation for my much longer flights to the States in a couple weeks time.

AFL Round 1: Essendon v. Sydney

Last night Michelle and I headed to the Telstra Dome for the opening round of the Australian Rules Football season. Even though we had seats up in the third level, it was still a good view of the field. There was a good turnout of over 45,000 people for the game. Unfortunately, James Hird hurt his calf during the week, so he did not play for the Essendon side. I'm convinced I am some sort of curse on Hird because he's always injured when I go to a match.

Since the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix is this weekend, they had Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher there to do the coin toss. Essendon won and started off with a very strong first quarter. Matthew Lloyd kicked 6 goals and put the Bombers well ahead of the Swans. Sydney played better the rest of the match, but never came closer than within 3 goals. Thankfully Essendon triumphed with a 27-point victory. Final score:
Essendon- 17.6 (108)
Sydney- 12.9 (81)

The Footy Is Back!

It's preseason time for the Australian Football League, so this afternoon I went to watch the Essendon Bombers vs. Sydney Swans match at Optus Oval in Princes Park. It was a practice match so a lot of the senior players didn't play, but the game was still entertaining, and it was nice to see my Bombers in action in person for a change.

I met up with Adrian and his girlfriend Helen and we caught the last ten minutes of the second quarter before halftime began. One of the great things about Aussie Rules is how accessible the players and grounds are for fans. You are allowed to go onto the field and kick around the footy ball between quarters and after the match. At today's game fans were also allowed to come onto the field and gather around to listen to the coach's comments to the players. After the match players will sign autographs as they leave the field, and are very approachable. These things would never happen at a NFL game! It's just a relaxed atmosphere with people from all walks of life in attendance.

As for the game, the Bombers really took control in the second half and won the match by over 30 points (Sydney didn't even score in the third quarter). The weather was hot, so they shortened the time of the quarters at the end. It was a good start to the season, and I hope to catch many more matches in the upcoming months.