The Fifty

As we begin this bracing undertaking to tell wistful stories about the world of Australian Rules Football and its culture, we at the Fifty decided we’d love to start by breaking it right down to the specific things we treasure about the game.

It very quickly dawned on us that there were a lot of them and that it was likely there were others out there who felt the same. This is not an all-encompassing list, nor are we telling you this is what you should like, because anyone who is a football fan knows that would be impossible. This list resembles things that we, at The Fifty, admire, remember and can’t let go of when it comes to football.
Continue reading “50 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT FOOTBALL”

March 15, 2017July 31, 2017

HOW TO REMEMBER NICK DAVIS

Embed from Getty Images

You could rattle off a great deal of dire things about how it all played out for Nick Davis – how he fired off a cheap shot publicly to his coach Paul Roos by insinuating the only reason he was dropped was to teach him a lesson for the team losing the week before. It still rubs me the wrong way, that these are the things we vividly recollect when thinking about a free-spirited guy like Nick Davis. Continue reading “HOW TO REMEMBER NICK DAVIS”

February 28, 2017July 31, 2017

LETTERS FROM PRE-SEASON VOL.1: THE LOVE-HATE FEELINGS OF JACK WATTS, ELEPHANTS AND NEW ERA OF BABY BOMBERS

Embed from Getty Images

Pre-season football can become this endless stream of football thoughts and feelings. Darren Murphy and Justin Robertson decided to email each other about these football thoughts and feelings. Here’s Letters From Pre-Season Vol.1. Continue reading “LETTERS FROM PRE-SEASON VOL.1: THE LOVE-HATE FEELINGS OF JACK WATTS, ELEPHANTS AND NEW ERA OF BABY BOMBERS”

February 25, 2017July 31, 2017

Q+A: JIM PAVLIDIS TALKS THE AGE, DAVID BOWIE DIAMOND DOGS AND THE ROLE ART PLAYS IN FOOTBALL

Jim Pavlidis

The best part of being a journalist is meeting alluring people. In the past 10 years I’ve spoken to a spectrum of curious voices, some you’ve heard of and others you haven’t, but it doesn’t make any those people any less important or engaging to me. These encounters have been richly rewarding as I have been able to learn new things, understand processes and have topics explained in a deeper way that I wouldn’t otherwise have known. Continue reading “Q+A: JIM PAVLIDIS TALKS THE AGE, DAVID BOWIE DIAMOND DOGS AND THE ROLE ART PLAYS IN FOOTBALL”

February 13, 2017August 1, 2017

BECOMING A ROO

Embed from Getty Images

Malcolm Blight stood tall on the podium flanked by his players. He raised the Premiership Cup as the head coach of the Adelaide Crows. The torpedo-punt specialist-among other things– held aloft football’s reason for living. All of it – the frothing media, the ear-to-ear smiles of Adelaide Crows staff, the hugs, the camaraderie – made me sick to my stomach. Continue reading “BECOMING A ROO”

February 12, 2017August 1, 2017

WHAT ABOUT THOSE FORGOTTEN AFL PLAYERS

Embed from Getty Images

When you hear the names John Coleman, Ron Barassi, Roy Cazaly and Tony Lockett, you automatically think of the legends of AFL. Some of the best the game has ever known. But, what about everyone else, the many others that ran onto the glorious M.C.G and were great and important in their own right? Then there are the players who were good enough to reach the lofty heights of becoming an AFL player, but for some reason couldn’t put their best foot forward resulting in lackluster careers. Continue reading “WHAT ABOUT THOSE FORGOTTEN AFL PLAYERS”

February 5, 2017August 1, 2017

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Embed from Getty Images

When I was in my early teens, our family used to buy The Age and Herald Sun on the weekend. Two newspapers meant a balanced opinion, sure, but to me, it meant two different sets of sports pages. It was heaven, really. I feasted on two football sections searching for answers to Essendon’s losses, glossing over their triumphs and statistics and reliving games of football through words. I would be sprawled across our living room floor and read – sometimes re-read – both newspapers front to back or until Dad or Mum wanted them back. This was a ritual that happened every weekend during football season.

Continue reading “LETTER FROM THE EDITOR”