1: History is Bunk Coming
HERE at The Four Points we are delighted that Septopia is here again. Eh? What? (Throat-clearing sounds.) Here at The Four Points we are delighted that History is Coming, which although it confuses us somewhat as a concept in the metaphysical sense, clearly was good enough for some marketing guru to earn a poultice of cash making up, so we're happy with it.
To make life easier for all the devoted fans of afl.com.au – and greetings to you, Mick and Bluey – we are going to put every little skerrick of finals-related news and views in one easy to find spot on what we call in the trade our Home Page.
Go to the History is Coming clicky-bit and you will find that not only is it Coming, it is also Here. Or perhaps There. Or bits of it are. Anyway ... that's the place to be for the rest of Septopia ... umm, the month.
2: Tunnel, by any other name
DEAN Laidley's nickname, apparently, is Tunnel. Not sure why; probably best not to ask. How ironic then – certainly more ironic than "rain on your wedding day". Alanis Morrisette, we're looking at you – that he should accuse the Swans of 'tunnelling', that arcane business of taking out some part of a player's limbs while he is airborne in the hope that he will land on his noggin and be removed from the field in the Medibank Private golf cart.
It just makes us sad that the Tigers didn't make it to the finals, because Terry Wallace could accuse opponents of 'ploughing' his lovely lads. 'Ploughing', of course, is the arcane art of having a chartreuse-coloured neck in the middle of winter. It's now up to 'Bomber' Thompson and 'Rocket' Eade to do their bit for vaguely appropriate nicknames during History is Coming.
3: Lethal injection
THE BRISBANE Lions, of course, didn't make it as far as History is Coming, which is a pity because we would have enjoyed Leigh Matthews demanding that opponents stop 'lethalling' his players, which sounds altogether more dangerous than tunnelling.
And Lethal shocked the world by announcing his departure as Lions coach despite having a year left on his contract, which makes a change from the usual situation of being dragged kicking and screaming by security guards through the trademan's entrance.
But there was good news, withJonathan Brown signing a contract that would apparently ensure he remained a Lion 'for life'. It's sad to think of the big fella passing on in just four years, but there you have it.
4: A right royal affair
IN HONOUR of the gracious royal presence here in our fair land of Her Royal Highness The Princess Mary of Denmark, and her hubby, Prince Whatsisname, as well as the participation of the Denmark team in the International Cup, we present the following item in Danish*
Det är skönt att se att de håller den verkliga vid West Coast Eagles. Daniel Kerr kommer inte att erbjudas ett långsiktigt behandla - verkligen inte en som kommer att hålla honom ett Eagle för liv eller död - och klubben förväntar plockar ett och tre i NAB AFL Utkast om den är övertygad om att handla med den midfielder.
Det skulle ge West Coast plockar en, två och tre i 2009 utkastet. Outrageous! Vem anser de tycker de är? The Gold Coast? Minnas. Historien är på väg.
* Okay, Swedish. Near enough. Go here to see an approximate translation of all this rubbish.
What to look for this Tuesday on afl.com.au
Another week, another team
Matt Burgan has spent another sleepless night with his abacus, a pencil and a bunch of DVDs he picked up in Thailand and come up with his Team of the Round. Good lad.
The young and the restless
A whole bunch of little tackers who reckon they might be in the running for the NAB Rising Star will gather for a chin-wag.
