Round 4, 2004

 

 

For all those in footy tipping competitions this year, I suggest a new tipping comp - who can pick the first coach to be sacked in 2004?

 

Opening odds:

 

Gary Ayres:            3/1

Danny Frawley:       7/4

 

By this Friday night at the end of the Tigers-Crows match, one of these two should have emerged as a clear favourite.

 

Will the rumoured falling-out between Andrew McLeod and Gary Ayres assist Ayres to become the First Sacked? If the Crows heirarchy were forced to make a choice between the two, I wonder which one they would back. Hmmm... South Australia's favourite son and two-time premiership hero; or the aloof, unloved Victorian interloper? Bye-bye Ayresy.

 

They say there are no certainties in football, but I think there are at least 4 certainties which keep repeating themselves every year, namely:

1. Richmond will get off to a flying start, then fall in a heap

2. The rabid Tiger fans will savagely turn on their coach after the annual falling in heap

3. Ben Graham will play one absolute blinder of a game per year, leaving frustrated Cat fans scratching their heads for the other 21 games wondering why he doesn't do so more often.

4. Geelong will unearth yet another 'young superstar of the future', who will then turn out to be just another 'good ordinary player'.

Footballinvective.com was fortunate enough to witness all four of these annual football certainties eventuate at Telstra Dome in the Geelong-Richmond game on Saturday, namely:

1. Having lost to the winless Cats, The Tigers' annual slump has now officially set in, a full 8 weeks earlier than last year, due mainly to the fact that their annual flying start lasted only one round this year.

2. True to form, the fans took it out on poor-old Frawley in classic Richmond style. Once the stands had emptied of Tiger fans during the last quarter, the only pocket of black and yellow left after the siren was a disturbingly large congregation around the players race, which derisivley hooted and jeered the players off the ground, and then saved their worst venom for Frawley, who was escorted off by no less than SIX security guards. All in all, it was a typical post-annual slump Richmond performance - inaccurate kicking, indirect play, comical errors - all that was missing was Richo kicking half a dozen behinds and spitting the dummy at his team-mates.

3. Ben Graham kicked the first 3 goals of the game and dominated the forward line with nonchalant ease. Just don't expect him to do it again until 2005.

4. This year's annual 'next big thing' at Geelong looks like being Henry 'the octopus' Playfair, who may yet join the ranks of David Spriggs, James Kelly, Gary Ablett jnr and all the other 'stars of the future' of Geelong's now 7-year-old youth policy, who (at least so far) have only turned out to be average players. Playfair was dominant this week and had Billy Brownless talking him up as the next big star on the Sunday Footy Show. Let's wait and see, Billy.