Footy Finals Fever 2011

It has been a big week of football across all of the codes we love - AFL, rugby union and rugby league. It all started on Monday night when 7mate televised the Brownlow count for the first time ever into Sydney, to much appreciation from at least two former Melbournians. It was fabulous night of counting (votes), clothes (good effort this year people) and comfortable couches (for Eady and I anyway). Congratulations to Dane Swan from the Collingwood Magpies for winning the gong this year. I have been known to take issue with winners in years past but I definitely feel he is a worthy recipient after his 2011 season!

The excitment really ramped up on Wednesday night when Eady and I attended a function at the Sydney Opera House. The former Wallabies captain and current captain of the Melbourne Rebels, Stirling Mortlock, was  a guest speaker at the function. He gave lots of feedback on the current Wallabies side and the teams to watch in the World Cup series currently playing out across the ditch. He named the current-favourite-but-by-no-means-guaranteed-winner as the All Blacks but also suggested that England are flying under the radar and could well end up stealing the cup away from the hosts (beware New Zealand, underestimate Johnny Wilkinson and his drop kick at your peril....). Stirling shared some insight into the new players drafted to play with the Rebels next year and how he proposes to keep them on the straight and narrow. All I will say is may the force by with you Stirling, I suspect that James O'Connor is going to be a handful! The exciting part of the night was meeting Stirling, having some photos taken with him and taking home my very own autographed ball.

The AFL Grandfinal on Saturday was a big day of BBQs, barracking for Geelong and booing for the Pies. Needless to say, I was really pleased that the Cats won and by such a healthy margin too. It really validates their 2011 team - that even without Bomber Thomspon at the helm and the amazingly skilful Garry Ablett on the field, they are still an exceptional team capable of winning the premiership in convincing style. Now if only the Western Bulldogs can pull it together for 2012, I will be one very happy fan! With torrential rain in Sydney on Sunday, we were left with little choice but to stay indoors and watch some more football. So off we headed to our local pub to watch the NRL Grandfinal against Manly Sea Eagles and the New Zealand  Warriors. Along with just about every other North Shore resident who didn't go to the game, we were there supporting Manly. The Sea Eagles ended up winning by 14 points on the day but unfortunately this was a little too good a win for us. We had a double-header bet that the Cats would win by less then 39 points and Manly by 12 or less and so the two extra points cost us a nice, tidy pay out from the TAB. Who would have thought there is such a thing as too much good news?!!

With the 2011 seasons over now in all codes, we will be making the most of the World Cup games before another endless summer begins. Now if I can just find a way to stay awake during the cricket, I'm sure I won't miss the footy quite so much...