Businesses come and go. It’s the way of the world. A shop opens. It stays open (or not) pending the vagaries of commerce, of supply and demand, of profit and loss, of competition, of something called the market.
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There are grand finals and there are Grand Finals.
In recent years the A Grade FIDA grand finals have been decided pretty quickly, with some even invoking the 40 point mercy rule. (And a one-sided grand final in 2024 finished early because of lightning.)
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• The Marian concrete pitch. Photos by John Lloyd.
Test cricket moves to Queensland this week when Australia takes on Bangladesh in Mackay.
I decided to feature pitches from that state on the abandoned cricket pitch site on Instagram and went to the vaults where I found the pitch at Marian nicely located West of Mackay. The photos came to us via John Lloyd via Spirit of Cricket.
A quick visit to Trove to get some historical information unearthed a gem. A story about the revamped pitch at Marian in which the word concrete is used six times. It’s from the Daily Mercury and was published on 21 April 1922.
Continue readingWAFL round nine
I went to Leederville Oval expecting a close one. Last year’s Grand Final teams. Both in the top four in 2026.
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• The Belair Lip Bombs 14 March /2026 Freo Social
When I was in primary school I used to have dreams of going really fast. In the sixties our suburban sand dunes were paved with new bitumen hot mix. We built hill trollies with old lawn mower wheels and fanged down hills until our skin was bleeding with gravel rash.
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There is a bucket list for rock ’n’ roll. When I compare notes I realise I have been in some parallel musical bucketverse.
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The idea was hatched at the Western Australian Wheatbelt town of Shackleton in October 2019. Forty or so years earlier I’d played cricket at the place. The pitch was still there along with the practice nets and even the footy goalposts but live sporting action had long since ceased.
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It doesn’t seem that long ago I’d prepare for an upcoming concert by recording songs by the artist onto a cassette. It was a kind of specialised, purposeful car tape.
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I’ve been to an Ashes Test at the MCG. It was the third Test of the 1978/79 series played during the World Series days with the weakened Australian team captained by Graham Yallop and England by Mike Brearley. World Series didn’t seem to have much of an impact on England. Can’t remember why. I just ignored WSC and had great affection for those who played for the real Australia team.
Continue readingTeacher Education, Sport, Australian Rules Football,
Every scoreboard tells a story
With the first dog chosen in the AFL Canine Draft
escape to the Vasse idyll
australianrules.com.au 