Aussie Rules Grand Final (some Spoilers)

[SirFozzie]

Probably one of only four-five folks who care, but the AFL Grand Final (Aussie Rules version of the Super Bowl) comes on shortly on Setanta Sports (pregame starts at 11:20 PM EDT), and figured it wouldn't harm to kinda live-blog it.

Should be a good game, the two teams had a one point game earlier in the playoffs, and with the pressure of the Grand Final, should be an even better game.

I'm barracking for the Sydney Swans to beat the West Coast Eagles.

(The Aussie Rules playoffs (known as the Finals Series) has a weird format, the top 8 teams make it, and it breaks down as follows)

Qualifying Finals (the winners automatically qualifying for the Preliminary Final, losers get a 2nd chance the following week in the Semi Finals)

1v4
2v3

Elimination Finals (Winners advance to play the next week, losers go home)

5v8
6v7

Semi Finals pit the winners of the Elimination Finals vs the Losers of the Qualifying Finals)

The Semi Finals winners play the Qualifying Final Winners, and advance to the Grand Final.

So this will be the 2nd meeting of the Swans and Eagles in the playoffs, the Swans won the first game (13.7) 85 to (12.12) 84

How to read the scores.. the first # are goals (kicked between the two center posts), worth 6 points, the 2nd number is behinds (balls kicked between a center post and one of the outside posts, worth 1 point)

[Groundhog]

Put me down as a Swans barracker too...

I plan on being too drunk to post or read this thread within the next 40 mins however! :)

[SirFozzie]

This is the 2nd straight year that the Swans and Eagles have met twice in the postseason, last year, Sydney lost to West Coast in the qualifying final (10.9) 69 to (10.5) 65, but made it to the finals, and got their revenge, beating the Eagles (8.10) 58- (7.12) 54..

So it may not see a lot of goals, but it will be a crunching game.

[SirFozzie]

Put me down as a Swans barracker too...

I plan on being too drunk to post or read this thread within the next 40 mins however! :)

GH: Were you the one several years ago who explained to me what an insult it was to ask an Aussie who they root for? :D

[21C]

I think that was me.

Carn the Bloods!

[SirFozzie]

11:30 PM Apparently it's not a sporting event in Australia until somebody sings Waltzing Matilda. A group is singing right now.

[SirFozzie]

I think that was me.

Carn the Bloods!


http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=241429&postcount=6

Yup, it was!

[SirFozzie]

11:34 Oh Ok, that'll be fun.. Setanta just announced they will have coverage of the International Rules series, which will pit a team of Aussie Rules players against an Irish Gaelic Football tean under a rules set that combines the two games (there was a LOT of bad blood after last year after some horror tackles), so there's going to be a lot of energy in that

11:36 Introducing the AFL Hall of Famers of 2006.. pretty cool

[21C]

I missed Sydney's Grand Final win last year ( first one in 72 years ) as I was in Ireland at the time. I also missed their only other GF appearance in 1996 as I was in the US.


I'm looking forward to this game.

[SirFozzie]

11:37 They introduce the Australian Women's basketball team, which came home with the world championship. No reaction over the music being played, which must somehow please Bill Simmons.

11:39 There is comedy, there is high comedy, and there is a group of four young Australian women singing Chicago's "You're the Inspiration" in honor of the AFL Hall of Famers and the Women's basketball team

[SirFozzie]

11:43 They are now singing the West Coast Eagles fight song.. which I think is sorely missed these days outside of college sports. I mean, when was the last time you heard Hail to the Redskins?

[SirFozzie]

11:45 Now it's the Sydney Swans turn. I'm not saying it's a knockoff of the Notre Dame theme.. well.. maybe it is .. they even have "Shake down the thunder from the sky". Not that there's anything wrong with that, necessary, just sayin.

[SirFozzie]

11:50 They have a group who look like the Aussie version of the Eagles (never heard of em here in the States I guess), singing a medley of all their old songs. Not bad actually.

[21C]

Notre Dame
<dl><dd>Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame,
</dd><dd>Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
</dd><dd>Send the volley cheer on high,
</dd><dd>Shake down the thunder from the sky,
</dd><dd>What though the odds be great or small
</dd><dd>Old Notre Dame will win over all,
</dd><dd>While her loyal sons are marching
</dd><dd>Onward to Victory.</dd></dl>Sydney Swans
Cheer, cheer the red and the white,
Honour the name by day and by night,
Lift that noble banner high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky
Whether the odds be great or small,
Swans will go in and win overall
While her loyal sons are marching
Onwards to victory.

[SirFozzie]

Yeah, kinda obvious now ;)

[SirFozzie]

12:02: LIVE from the MCG is Network 10 coverage of the Grand Final.. they're about ready.. OOPS. Major Fuckup as the announcer welcomes the World Wide Audience watching the game, including apparently, those of us in the US watching on Fox Sports World. You think they would've updated that since last year...

[SirFozzie]

12:13: A bit showing the Aussie Hall of Famers and the guy creating their statues.. damn.. real nice.. better then even the bsts in the NFL Hall of Fame

[SirFozzie]

12:17: Here's a first, they actually interview the Umpire before the game. You do that in America.. with say Jess Kersey, and David Stern's head would explode.

12:19 Definitely a Swans crowd.. they introduce the Eagles and there's booing.. and oh god.. not the fight song again..

[SirFozzie]

12:21 and the swans.. ....onward to victory... I'm gonna be singing this for days. Guh.

[SirFozzie]

1228 National Anthem time.. means we're just about ready to play.

[SirFozzie]

1232; And we're off.. and five seconds in, we have one of the things I love about aussie rules, the weird fights. I love Aussie Rules fights.. they don't punch eachother.. they just slam into the person with their shoulders.

[SirFozzie]

1236 Only in Aussie Rules: The commentator, about the opening score of the game.. "And he opens the scoring.. with his fist"

[SirFozzie]

12:42 West Coast jumps out to a 11 point lead with two quick goals

[SirFozzie]

12:46 The Swans star Barry Hall misses a fairly easy shot, this could be a long game for the Swans if this keeps up..

[SirFozzie]

12:56 One of the weird things about Aussie Rules Sometimes. The ball-up.. that's when the ball becomes stuck in a pile up. the two teams gather round the ball, the referee slams the ball as hard as he can into the ground to makeit bounce high, the players converge.. and usually they have to do it all over again.

[SirFozzie]

1:00 While I'm riffing on strange Aussie Rules things, you probably see it often.. a guy is standing there waiting to catch the ball, and some guy takes a 20 yard running start and out leaps MJ, landing his knee right on the opponents back or on top of the shoulder to catch the ball.. I wanna know, has anyone seen the guy coming and stepped out of the way, to let the would be flyer to fall flat on his face?

1:04 End of the first quarter: WCE 4.2 26 Swans 1.4 10

If the Swans don't stop missing easy shots, this could get out of hand early

[SirFozzie]

1:18 Sydney finally scores a goal.. they need to keep this up, it's still WCE by 17

[SirFozzie]

1:22: The difference between Sydney and WestCoast tonight. Sydney is hodge podge. Kick and hope.. try to come out with the ball and see if something good happens. West Coast just moved it all the way across the ground and scored a goal, with no problem at all. The lead's now over 20.

[SirFozzie]

1:25 God, there's only one team in this. it's like Sydney's not even trying

[SirFozzie]

God, lost net at the worst time.

ANOTHER 1 point game, West Coast wins 85-84

[Groundhog]

Tough game. :(

Barry Hall had a shocker for Sydney... those 2 missed goals ended up being huge.

[21C]

Disappointing result for me being a Swans fan but I thoroughly enjoyed the game - even though I watched the last quarter pacing around the room. I thought the second half was a complete reverse of the first. The Swans had their chances but couldn't make them count.

I saw that Andrew Embley won the Norm Smith Medal but I thought that Daniel Kerr had a blinder. He seemed to turn momentum to the Eagles every time he was involved in a play.

[RoastDuck]

Disappointing result for me being a Swans fan but I thoroughly enjoyed the game - even though I watched the last quarter pacing around the room. I thought the second half was a complete reverse of the first. The Swans had their chances but couldn't make them count.

I saw that Andrew Embley won the Norm Smith Medal but I thought that Daniel Kerr had a blinder. He seemed to turn momentum to the Eagles every time he was involved in a play.

Agreed.

In a midfield including Cousins and Judd - Daniel Kerr stood out and was the difference maker. He came of age today.

That was an awesome game, I suppose we should not expect anything else when we play Sydney. What an awesome rivalry we have with you guys now. We are witnessing one of the greatest rivalries in modern AFL history right now.

WC came out with momentum and got points on the board which was critical against your awesome defensive game. Throughout the first half we could do no wrong every bounce every pass every tackle seemed to go our way. All we had to do was trade goals with the Swans throughout the second half but of course it never works out like that. Sydney refuse to lie down, they seem to always have extra fuel in the tank and I honestly thought we were going to blow it again. By the end my daughter and I sat barely 6 feet from the TV screen - fantastic sporting drama.

Tough luck Swans fans, I know exactly how you feel right now - I guess you know how we feel right now as well. :)

[Toddzilla]

How did Richmond do this year?

[SirFozzie]

Finished 9th, 2 games out of the Finals Series.

[Critch]

Doesnt seem long since the season ended, but it all starts up again this weekend. Kangaroos v Collingwood on Setanta on Friday night/Saturday morning depending on your time zone.

edit to save dola - And Western Bulldogs v Geelong on Setanta on Saturday night/Sunday morning too.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Jeez, I don't even know what Setanta is, much less how to find it.

[finketr]

too bad i don't have sentanta sports.

[Critch]

Jeez, I don't even know what Setanta is, much less how to find it.

channel 615 on DirecTV.

I wasn't really expecting anybody other than SirFozzie to care less about this.

[Pumpy Tudors]

channel 615 on DirecTV.

I wasn't really expecting anybody other than SirFozzie to care less about this.
I don't have DirecTV, and my cable provider doesn't carry it, so I guess I'm out of luck.

I don't follow AFL enough to know the players or anything about the teams, but I love watching the game. I used to stay up late on weekends to watch Aussie Rules on ESPN when I was a kid. It's really fun to watch, but I guess I just don't feel passionate enough about it to figure out which teams I like and which I don't.

[SirFozzie]

Yeah, I already have it set on my Tivo :)

[21C]

I did a double-take when I saw this thread resurrected.

I'll be closely following the fortunes of the Swans again this year but I just hope that they don't have a slow start like they have had for the last couple of seasons. Then again, that hasn't hurt them in the end.

[finketr]

writes the cable company to ask about setanta sports.

[Critch]

I missed that as well as the two live games, Setanta will also be showing Sydney Swans v West Coast Eagles on same day delay on Sunday.

When Setanta covers a sport, they really go for it.

[21C]

I'm sure some of the games will appear as torrents during the season . . .

[Groundhog]

I'll be at the Swans game this Saturday. ;)