Happy new year to all The Terrace punters. Here’s to back-to-back in 2012.
On Monday, a Gary Ablett of a different kind passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 46, played for Liverpool and was later controversially transferred to Everton. Ablett scored in his first match and won two championships and the FA Cup during his spell with Liverpool, and became the first player to win the FA Cup for both Merseyside clubs when he repeated the feat with Everton in 1995.
Here at The Terrace, we remember first hearing about “our Garys’” namesake whilst hiking in Brazil with an Englishman. Upon sharing our obsession for one G. Ablett Snr of Geelong, he spoke of one G. Ablett of Merseyside. Memorably, he remarked that Ablett’s name had become rhyming slang for an ecstasy tablet. For example, ”eh mate il give ya 3quid for that last Gary Ablett”. The irony was and still isn’t lost on us.
Anyway, we digress. You can read a moving tribute by former Liverpool captain Alan Hansen on The Daily Telegraphwebsite. By all accounts he was a decent man with great talent for the world game.
From all here at The Terrace, we wish you a merry and safe Chrisscottmas. May your Buddha Hocking be chockers with 2011 memorabilia, including Cameron Ling’s premiership-winning underpants.
If you do yourself one favour this festive season (apart from watching the 154th repeat of the Grand Final), indulge in this interview with Great Scott on FoxSports’ ‘On the Couch’ program. Articulate. Intelligent. Hard man. First-year Premiership coach. Legend! Ho ho ho…
p.s. we were wrong. on a less festive note, the actual winner of The Footy Almanac competition was Simon Balderstone. Bit of a mix up, but no love lost apparently! Congrats, Simon.
Well, it only took us three weeks to decide. But, as they say, Christmas (and back-to-back) is coming. The quality was so high we referred judgement to the third umpire, Harmsy, who judged ‘The Cleaner’ to be best afield. Max Rooke certainly is the epitome of Geelong greatness in so many ways. We miss you, Max.
Congrats, to ‘The Cleaner’. Please send your mailing address to theterrace05@gmail.com and we’ll post the book out in time for Christmas. And thanks to all who participated. Some fine memories there.
You know Christmas is coming when all good football stories are bound, gagged and launched under the guise of the much-loved ‘The Footy Almanac‘. It’s the brainchild of John Harms and Paul Daffy, and makes for great bed-time and toilet reading. Here at The Terrace, we have one very special copy (RRP $2,000 or thereabouts) available to give away to a dedicated Terrace punter. To win, simple leave a comment at the bottom of this post telling us which single moment in time between 2007-11 has best epitomised the gloooorrrrrrry days.
2007 Grand Final – giving Tommy Harley a massive hug on the victory lap. Picture got printed in The Age, a red-faced me bawling my eyes out (at the time, was 44 and had been to all the losing Grand Finals, etc) with Tommy with a bemused look on his face. Hopefully it helped him realise exactly what the club, and the win, meant to us. Sounds a bit strange, bawling after a 119 point win, but that is what it meant. So many other moments. GO CATS!
john said:
Mmmm..recalling all the “epitomy” moments is a bit like drinking water through a fire hose. But after a delightful bout of footy water-boarding, I have settled on the Max “I changed my name to be that of my dear grandfather” Rooke moment in the last quarter in the 2009 GF against the Sinners: When he charged back , following the flight of the ball and not much lower, into a pack in the goal square and busted the pack apart, thwarting an almost-certain St.Kida grab and allowing ‘Vis Varcoe to get the ball to chappy for THAT goal. If you allow me to stretch that moment to the magic final minute, on the wing, when he crashed and bashed his way through several phases of play, secured the ball for Moons, then bolted down the field, still going strong, to mark Moons’ kick and have the ball when the siren sounded…and kick the goal so his mates in the pub could cost the publican another entire round . The epitomy.
Today’s guest post is written by a Carlton fan who grew up in Geelong, then married a Cats fan, and now lives in Geelong. Pity but respect the man. Let’s just call him the Duke of Newtown. Here at The Terrace we regularly sound him out for his objective viewpoint on the game, as opposed to our subjective one-eyed drivel. Kudos to the Duke. Great post. Read on…
Photo credit: Sebastian Costanzo
Jimmy Bartel is a champion. But what is a champion? Who deserves this moniker, the ultimate accolade?
What are the measures of a true champion? A champion stands up when it matters. They break and lay the tackles when the game is on the line. They beat their opponent or, at the very least, break even when all the momentum is against them. They find a way forward in a passage of play where they are outnumbered, when the easy option would be to go to ground. They take the mark when someone has to stop the seemingly inexorable flow toward the opposition goal. Most of all, a champion kicks the goal when their team needs it.
No one this year has defined himself as a champion more than Jimmy Bartel. When the mark had to be taken and the goal just had to be slotted, Jimmy Bartel was the one you knew would do it. Fittingly, Jimmy Bartel showed he was a champion in the Grand Final. When it mattered, he took the marks. When it mattered, he kicked the goals. The hard goals from seemingly impossible angles and great distances. He did it because someone had to. Someone had to finish off the hard work of the team and win the game for Geelong. He did it it because he is a champion.
Humble is an over used term. But not when used with the name Jimmy Bartel. He doesn’t take the mark or kick the goal for himself; he does it because it falls to him to do it for the team. He does it because he doesn’t want to let the club down. It’s his job. And, because he is a champion, he doesn’t let anyone down.
He is one reason Geelong have gone from good to great, and deserves every accolade and award that comes his way. But no medal or award can really indicate his worth to the team, the club and the game.
David King certainly gets an ample hosing in this crude but glorious edit. Clearly King was getting his football advice from the same person who recommended his shirt. Nice matching collar and cuff, David.
Watched the Grannie (again!) last night, this time with the 3AW commentary with King providing the ‘expert’ comments. He spent the entire first half and the beginning of the second talking up Collingwood’s ‘control’ of the game. Then funnily enough he went very quiet with nary a word about the Cats taking control. It must have been very galling for him but of course it was a highlight for this viewer. Professional commentors and ‘experts’ like Gerard Whately, BT and even Tim Lane can get beyond their being fans of a particular team and provide relatively unbiased commentary but not that clown King! We will never let him forget how wrong he was about the 2011 Premiership and particularly the mighty Cats.
Buddha said:
Last we heard, Kingy was dwelling in a cave eating humble pie, but we haven’t read any ‘retraction’ or ‘apology’ yet. Why is it papers are forced to write ‘we were wrong’ notices when they get the facts wrong, yet knobs like David go on filling column inches with that droll without having to face up to the music? There’s a sizable and entertaining post dedicated to it on big footy (http://bit.ly/qxW2oa), which you may or may not have read.
Here at The Terrace, we can’t help but feel our beloved Lingy has pulled the trigger a season early. Maybe that’s because we can’t fathom life at KP without him? He’s newly crowned king of the dynasty. Part of the hallowed turf. Engrained in the history and culture of the place. But, Lingy’s decision is the mark of a man who also bought Smorgy’s at the right price, right? Let’s just say a man ahead of his time.
Surely Lingy now has earned the right to be our greatest ever red-headed player? Respect, Lingy. We’ll miss you as much as Max Rooke, if not more. And that says a lot in itself.
Shall we now refer to the 2011 premiership cup as the Ling Vase? Oh, what a great game it was. Here at The Terrace, we couldn’t have scripted it better ourselves. Keep it close for three quarters, then smash them with five brilliant last-quarter goals to seal the deal by six goals. And throw in a Jimmy Bartel Normie for good measure. Special. This would have to be one of the greatest premierships of them all. To rise above adversity and stamp our greatness on the game is the mark of a champion team. And to hear it from one E. McGuire, makes it very rich indeed.
“…I stand being beaten by a better team and better club in season 2011…They’ve just been a mighty team and they deserve all their successes.” That’s nice, Eddie.
To hear all-round praise for the club and its success, from opposition and Geelong supporters alike, is a rare commodity. We should enjoy it, for it won’t last long. Unless…we go back to back. Now that would be something.
Our top five highlights of the match:
1. The opening goal – bang!
2. The second quarter fightback…to put the Collingwood chant back in the box.
3. The third-quarter Bundy Christensen mark and resultant passage of play that led to a soccered-goal by Hawkins.
4. Hawkins’ second half. Lazarus has risen!
5. The entire last quarter – each goal was a cracker.
Funny you should ask! We quote: “Late last season, a certain television commentator extremely close to this columnist drew much derision when he declared the Cats’ days of domination to be done. By the end of the season he appeared right. It now emerges, though, that he wasn’t: it was only the old method that was finished. Bravely, creatively, and outrageously successfully, a new way has been found.” Time Lane, The Age, October 2, 2011.
1. Geelong players are nice guys and Chris Scott is a good bloke. Nice guys and good blokes ‘deserve’ three premierships.
2. Channel 10 are televising the big game. They broadcast ’07 and ’09. Channel 7 broadcast ’08. It’s an omen.
3. To prove the critics wrong. Again. For the record, Tim Lane tipped against us (Collingwood by 11 points). Duh.
4. Bobby Davis would have expected nothing less. Bring on the piano accordionist and Happy Hammond.
And lastly…
5. We have beaten Collingwood twice this year. They haven’t beaten us once. We beat Hawthorn and West Coast in the final series by a cumulative score of 79. Collingwood beat them by a cumulative of 23 points. Sounds like a friggin’ form guide to us.
(Photo source: Geelong Advertiser/Herald-Sun)
From all at The Terrace, go you bloody good thing. Play like Max Rooke’s life depended on it.
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2007 Grand Final – giving Tommy Harley a massive hug on the victory lap. Picture got printed in The Age, a red-faced me bawling my eyes out (at the time, was 44 and had been to all the losing Grand Finals, etc) with Tommy with a bemused look on his face. Hopefully it helped him realise exactly what the club, and the win, meant to us. Sounds a bit strange, bawling after a 119 point win, but that is what it meant. So many other moments. GO CATS!
Mmmm..recalling all the “epitomy” moments is a bit like drinking water through a fire hose. But after a delightful bout of footy water-boarding, I have settled on the Max “I changed my name to be that of my dear grandfather” Rooke moment in the last quarter in the 2009 GF against the Sinners: When he charged back , following the flight of the ball and not much lower, into a pack in the goal square and busted the pack apart, thwarting an almost-certain St.Kida grab and allowing ‘Vis Varcoe to get the ball to chappy for THAT goal. If you allow me to stretch that moment to the magic final minute, on the wing, when he crashed and bashed his way through several phases of play, secured the ball for Moons, then bolted down the field, still going strong, to mark Moons’ kick and have the ball when the siren sounded…and kick the goal so his mates in the pub could cost the publican another entire round . The epitomy.