the end of daylight saving time

sigh. i really like daylight saving and hoped it would get through this time. still, i'm happy to abide by the majority decision and won't be losing sleep over it. 

what really bugs me are the people on both sides of the debate who try and claim some sort of intellectual or cultural high ground based on their opinion. i know plenty of intelligent people who are opposed to DST and they all have valid reasons for opposing it. none of them are worried about their curtains fading, increased rates of motor vehicle accidents, confused cows or any of the other ridiculous 'arguments' frequently referred to by the 'yes' crowd. to my mind, it all came down to a personal choice - does having an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day suit my lifestyle? it does for me so i voted 'yes'. for the majority of west australians it appears it doesn't so they voted no. it has nothing to do with being backward or stupid.

so, yep, i'm disappointed but i'm quite happy to abide by the majority decision and i won't be wasting any time arguing or holding grudges. everyone's entitled to their opinion and i'm just thankful we live in a society in which we get to have our say.

freo vs hawthorn

well, i guess the run had to come to an end at some stage and although i'd been hopeful we'd win, i came away from the ground pleased with the boys' performance. given that we're rebuilding and playing a lot of younger players, i don't expect us to win every week (or even most weeks) but i do expect us to show a bit of ticker and put in a good effort. that's what they did on friday night. with a bit better accuracy in front of goal and a bit of consistency in the umpiring we could probably have won the match but there's no point worrying about what might have happened.

so, for me, there were some pretty big positives from the game.  the guts shown by the boys to fight the game out until the very end was encouraging. the form of duffield and tarrant was fantastic. i've been particularly impressed with the way duffield responded to being dropped earlier in the season. pav played a good match and continued his improved form after a poor start to the season. and then there's aaron sandilands! he's clearly the best ruckman in the country at the moment and still getting better. i feel lucky to be able to watch him play each week and his partnership with paul hasleby this season has been delightful. 

i've no doubt there will be plenty of pain this season but as long as the team continues to play hard, accountable footy i'll be happy.

bud tingwell r.i.p.

how sad it is to hear of the death of bud tingwell. the first time i remember seeing him was in the 'charlie the wonder dog' segment of 'the late show'. that such an esteemed actor would relish a trivial sketch show comedy role said a lot about him. along with most people, my fondest memory of bud was his role in 'the castle'. it remains one of my favourite movies and his character of 'lozza' was brilliantly played. 

bud seemed to be such an good bloke who was happy to laugh at himself and he'll be missed.

reflections on the derby

it may have been a game that didn't reach any great heights but a come from behind win when few people gave us a chance before the game was fantastic. i found it interesting that a lot of the dockers players who weren't playing in the game were sitting in the grandstand with the supporters. it's one of those nice touches that freo tend to do pretty well. i couldn't imagine the pretentious e-girls asking their players to sit with the ordinary folk in the outer. 

it ended up being a game of two halves (yes, i know that's a terrible cliche but it fits here). in the first half we played the style of footy we'd played in the first 4 rounds of the season ie. lots of misdirected handballs under pressure, delaying playing on until all options were covered, applying virtually no pressure on the opposition. and, of course, the result was the weagles dominated play. in the second half we played as we did last week against sydney ie. long direct play and intensity at the ball and the opposition ball carriers. and, of course, the result was we dominated play and outscored the e-girls by 6 goals after half time. it seems as though the key to freo at the moment is to keep it simple and play on with long direct play. hopefully harvs can keep the boys focused and the results will come.

as for the stars, i said before the game that if we won i'd expect hasleby to win the glendinning medal and he did. he's having an awesome season and is showing just how much we missed him last year. it's a tragedy that we won't get to see hase and palmer working together until next season. still, we have the joy of watching stephen hill this season as he just gets better every week. some of his play in the derby was simply stunning. he looks like being one of those rare players that is worth the ticket price alone. the other player who's been an absolute highlight so far this season is garrick ibbotson. he played some very good footy last year but so far this season has taken it to another level. 

i was pretty disheartened after the st kilda match but that's turned around. i still don't expect us to make the finals this year but as long as the boys keep putting in gutsy efforts as they have done in the past two matches i'll be happy. i'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.