absolutely awesome

until today, the largest margin in any match i'd attended was 169 points (claremont vs east perth at the waca in 1988) but that was smashed today. my tigers were absolutely ruthless in their 194 point demolition of peel at tigerland this arvo. peel were fortunate to be given a couple of charity goals by the umpires which kept the final margin below 200 points but that's fine. what makes the win even more remarkable is that our captain is out suspended at the moment and andrew browne isn't playing. also, when we beat peel by 110 points in round one wilkes kicked 5 goals and fyfe kicked four and neither played today. chad jones was brilliant and ended up with 10 goals despite regularly having the full back hanging off him. brabazon and schammer were unstoppable in the midfield along with foster and mitchell. it's also great watching ninyette play as he gets better each week. and it goes without saying that richo was in everything. what a great arvo at the footy!!

good luck johnno

well, the shock news of the night is that michael johnson was apparently caught by police on the weekend in possession of illegal drugs. my opinion on drugs is well known and it's certainly very disappointing to have one of our players being an offender. my belief is that johnno's well being has now got to be the priority. we saw through the early to middle period of the last decade the manner in which a certain other club was willing to put on-field success ahead of the health of their players. they were informed by police that players had been caught on wire tap discussing their drug use but none of the players were suspended or reprimanded by the club. this has to be the blueprint for how not to deal with drug abuse within the club. on the other hand is the example set by geelong with matthew stokes this season. he was suspended by the club but at the same time it was made clear he had their full support and they cared about what happened to him. i reckon, if the reports on johnno are accurate, that freo need to take a similar approach. he's a player who's very much loved by the club's supporters and all we want is to see him overcome whatever issues he has, to be happy and healthy in his private life, to be a good role model for aboriginal kids and to fulfil his potential as a footballer. personally, i wish him all the best and can't wait to see him better and successful.

ban the burka?

i've watched with interest the growing movement in parts of europe to ban the wearing of the burka and the comments by corey bernardi of the liberal party that he considers them to be 'unaustralian' (what does that actually mean?) and wants them banned in australia. tony abbott stated that he finds the burka 'confronting' and would prefer it wasn't widely worn. personally i have no more problem with a muslim wearing the burka than i do with a priest wearing the dog collar, a jew wearing the yarmulke or a buddhist wearing their robes. in fact, as one astute commentator pointed out, there are some much more offensive items of clothing regularly seen in australia. i certainly know which of the below pictures i find least confronting!!

such is life

i've only heard and read some excerpts from the interview ben cousins gave to fox sports recently but it's been very interesting. obviously the excerpts making headlines are to do with his infamous drug addiction. he tells of how he experienced considerable paranoia and felt that the afl was out to get him. obviously this wasn't the case and presumably he realises this now. he also spoke of how he wants to continue playing on with richmond next season and i hope he's able to do so. i've never been a fan of ben but i'm glad to see him overcome his problems and i really hope he's able to stay on top of his issues for the long haul. there's no doubt he was a very talented player and it's a shame he won't be remembered solely as such.

what really surprised me is that the interviewers were honest and brave enough to broach the subject of the common perception that the 2006 flag won by the weagles has been tainted by the revelation of significant drug use within the club during that season. unsurprisingly cousins is quick to state that he doesn't believe it is. well, i'm sorry ben but the reality you'll have to live with is there's a lot of unbiased people (ie. non weagle supporters) who will always see the 2006 flag as having been very tainted by the exploits of you and a number of your team mates and will continue to treat it with significant disrespect. i'm afraid that is one of the prices you'll have to pay.