Playing for the jumper by Vin Maskell

The Footy Jumper Book, by Tim Rath and Andrew Gigacz, has been published by Sporting Nation.

The hardback book features 320 vintage Australian Rules jumpers, from the 1890s to the early 2000s.

I was lucky enough to have a jumper of mine selected for inclusion. It appears in a section called Tricks of the Trade, about how footy clubs would cut corners to maintain the longevity of a jumper. In my case, the jumper had two numbers: 31 and, underneath it, 4.

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Maryborough-Castlemaine FNL opts for Good Friday start and takes stand against sports betting sponsorship by Richard Jones

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The Maryborough-Castlemaine Football and Netball League is the only one of five central Victorian leagues to embrace Easter footy and netball this year. A Good Friday clash on 7 April between Maldon and Dunolly, brought forward from round two, will be the MCDFL’s stand-alone season opener for 2023. The 14-club league was the first in north-central Victoria to formally announce its 2023 fixture. 

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Cricket (pitches) on the radio by Les Everett

The pitch at Boilup between Kojonup and Collie. Photo by Les Everett

Last week I spent a few minutes in the ABC Perth studio with Breakfast presenter Ivo Da Silva talking, of course, about abandoned cricket pitches.

A similar chat in October on ABC Goldfields-Esperance led to some great finds around Kalgoorlie, Boulder, Leonora and Coolgardie. This time the audience was statewide and as I listened to flood and fire warnings on the drive to East Perth I realised many would have other things on their minds.

Still, as with each of the radio (and TV and newspaper and social media) spots I’ve done while ‘working’ on this project the response was immediate and wide-ranging.

This time, however, the tips received might have reinforced the point that there are lots of unused cricket pitches in WA – and I’ve seen most of them.

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