Then and Now

Gary Ablett - Tears and More Tears.

Gary Ablett had every right to start blubbing IMMEDIATELY after the Grand Final. Just that very morning I had sobbed, briefly, when I found my silverbeet seedlings had been eaten by snails. However, I found his tears to be a little off-putting 20 minutes AFTER the bloody game had finished and I'm told the waterworks continued in the changerooms.

This unseemly display of grief indicates, to me, that young Gary had not even contemplated defeat and when it came he was overwhelmed. Of course, there is an undeniable smell of arrogance here. I'm sure most of the Geelong team thought they were Bert Certs to win, before the first bounce, although if they had looked at their form with two eyes they would have had grave concerns.

Gary Ablett in happier times.

Geelong was lucky to scrape past the Western Bulldogs the previous week but every football scribe in the land said otherwise. The Bulldogs missed some easy shots and (here we go again) were on the receiving end of two very poor umpiring decisions. Adam Cooney was pinged when tackled after taking a throw-in in two hands OFF the fingers of the two ruckmen in his forward 50. Then Geelong got a goal after Brad Johnson was taken out FRONT ON when attempting to mark. I really felt for Western Footscray during that game.

I have always held Geelong in high regard. For instance they were the first club in Victoria to provide hot showers for West Coast at a time when all the other Victorian clubs were using the cold water torture. Plus they were gracious in defeat when the Eagles chopped them up in 1992 and 1994. But in recent times they have grated on me with their swaggering arrogance. The way Steve Johnson ponces around the ground gives me a touch of 'em and Cameron Mooney is no better.

Make that two ham & salad and
don't skimp on the pickles.

So where do they get this arrogance? From the coach, of course. I'm sure that when the current Eagles players saw television images of Mark Thompson eating a dirty great ham and salad roll during the Subiaco clash, 2008, they made a mental note to make him pay for his arrogance some time within the next few years. Bring it on.

So it was that I was pleased to see Hawthorn win the Grand Final.

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Don4eva of Ballarat writes .....

Hi FF,
Just looking at your picture. Eerrrmm, when you were born did they drop you on your head?

Footy Fossil replies .....

Hello Don4eva,
No, but when I was three days old a nurse walked past my crib tossing an orange. I launched myself for my first specky and managed to grasp the orange in both hands. Unfortunately, as you can see, I landed on my head. FF

Gary Ablett - Tears and More Tears.

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