September 29, 2014: The season in review...

It was hard to imagine the devastation. The pain that Sydney would have experienced leaving the hallowed turf at half-time, knowing that glory had eluded them, would have only been compounded by the awful knowledge that they had to go back out there. That they needed to spend another hour playing the rule of animated witches hats, humiliated by a force that - on this day at least - was as great as any to have graced a football field. Even when that subsided, they would be forced to watch as the cup - the cup they believed was rightfully theirs - was held aloft by other hands.

Hawthorn's dominance on Saturday was of the order we haven't seen since ASADA played Essendon in the Federal Court, the only saving grace was that they weren't forced to pay costs - a bill that included Tom Jones. Any who protested this teams place among the greats must surely now be assuaged. We are privileged to have witnessed it.

It was one bright spot in what has been a dark year for a our great game. ASADA rolls on against a backdrop of disastrous fixturing and other ill-fated tinkering with a formula that has worked perfectly fine for decades. Goal review controversy, inaudible sirens and the perennial cases of drunken misadventure have absorbed ample column space. At times the game itself was seen as a corollary to an arsenal of alternate narratives.

We finish the Smother's first season with gratitude for those who talk about footballers on football grounds, rather than footballers in court rooms. Those who advocate for curtain-raisers rather than fireworks and all-star dance troupes. Those who remember, however much life distracts us, the simple pleasure of that walk to the 'G, those precious few hours when nothing else matters.

Thanks for reading in 2014. The Smother salutes you.

September 25, 2014: A spot on the list...

In the heart of the best week of the year, when football is everywhere and there's no bad games, it was a hero of years gone by that returned to the limelight.

Nestled awkwardly next to the Monash Freeway and miles from a train station, VFL Park has been the unlikely hero of Grand Final week. Thousands of fans turned out to the venue on an appropriately chilly Thursday to see the Hawks train for the last time, the extra sizzle provided by Cyril Rioli's race against time to snatch a spot in the Hawks 22.

Even despite Tom Jones and Ed Sheeran touring the MCG, all eyes were on the man in the blue vest as he made it through training without issue. His performance creates a selection headache for Hawthorn, with 23 men pushing for 22 spots.

That means, unfortunately, that just like the wonderful stadium that used to exist around Hawthorn's training ground, someone might be forced to miss out. Rioli's flashy skills are like the central location and retractable roof of the Docklands dome, and Jonathon Simpkin may be left, like ol' Waverley Park, without a spot on the list.

September 23, 2014: The papers write themselves...

The day after the Brownlow, and normally the papers write themselves. A few pictures of the winner, a bit of back story, and then opinion pieces about how the Umpires have no idea and that 3-2-1 voting system doesn't work.

This year it was much the same, with the added focus on Gary Ablett potentially winning a third medal and Nat Fyfe winning despite being suspended. The whole thing would have been written and prepared, with a few underpaid interns left to insert the winners name and send it to the printers. Until Matt Priddis had his say.

Priddis came from the clouds to claim football's top prize. No one, least of all Priddis himself, saw the medal sliding awkwardly over his blonde locks - and all of a sudden the entire paper had to be re-written. Fyfe wasn't the third ineligible winner, Gary wasn't a three time champion. All of a sudden, the story of the day was whether the All Australian Selectors should be sacked and excommunicated for failing to include the Brownlow winner in the team.

One images a half-cut Mark Robinson swearing as he jogged along Southbank from Crown back to the Herald Sun towers, cutting a terrifying figure in the Melbourne night. I guess that's footy.

In the news...
Simon Meredith, Matt Stevic and Matthew Nicholls will be the three men in green who ruin Saturday's Grand Final. Chelsea Roffey has missed out on a spot and will be the emergency goal umpire.