This week’s historical anniversary:

Yesterday was 20 years since the Western Bulldogs, courtesy of Terry Wallace’s fabled super-flood, came from 15 points down at 3/4 time to end Essendon’s 20-game unbeaten start to the 2000 AFL season, with Chris Grant snapping the winning goal from an out on the full free kick with 90 seconds remaining.

As everyone knows, that was the Dons’ only defeat of 2000, as they finished 24-1 and won the flag, the closest any team has come to an unbeaten premiership-winning season in living memory.

What many people forget was Grant didn’t kick the last goal – Rohan Smith kicked a goal after the siren to make the final margin 11 points…. something the AFL’s own YouTube channel forgot, probably because Brad Johnson ran 100m and gave the finger to John Barnes for hitting him.

Enjoy Channel 7’s half-time coverage about the brawl at half-time, featuring a young Anthony Hudson, and the post-game coverage, featuring Loose Bruce, Dermott Brereton, and Jason Dunstall, shortly before the rest of his hair fell out.

Don Scott and Hawthorn’s Tasmanian bank account

Tasmania – Australia’s Cayman Islands.

Obviously right now it’s the perfect time to rip shreds off Hawthorn, and it’s nice to see NewsCorp pick up on something that Don said TWO YEARS AGO on 3AW, and Mongrel Punt covered in a massive story about historical salary cap breaches of Premiership teams in January of last year, and claim it as some fresh bombshell.

Sums up their attention spans perfectly.

Don seems to be just repeating it like Polly Parrot on his new podcast to get attention, probably so that he (With Mike Sheahan and Sam Newman) can cobble together enough money to pay that $100,000 settlement with Nicky Winmar, which he’s managed to deflect attention from already.

All things considered, there is a chance some dodgy business like using a secret bank account is true, and referencing something Don also says in the podcast, everyone was doing it, given clubs regarded the salary cap as more of a suggestion instead of a rule when it was introduced in 1985, up until 1994, when the AFL had the so-called amnesty period for clubs to come clean on their dodgy underhanded deals and sort out their Salary Cap.

Obviously a club like Essendon didn’t, and they got absolutely smashed by both the AFL and the ATO for it – True story, they officially were OVER THE CAP IN A PREMIERSHIP YEAR.

It also once again confirms that for all the bluster about him saving Hawthorn with Operation Payback in 1996 (Hint: Scott was the figurehead, Ian Dicker did the financial heavy lifting), Scotty simply doesn’t give a shit about Hawthorn anymore, something we’ve known for bordering on 15 years.

I think the root cause in the 21st Century was 2004, when the Hawks were an even bigger basket case than they are now, and Scotty resigned from the board, then came back to take out Dicker and the Hawthorn board in something resembling a coup, and before the vote, the ticket meekly backed down when they realised Hawks members were siding with the-then board.

So after that, Scotty took his bat and ball and added it to his list of grievances with the club, like David Parkin leaving for Carlton in 1980 and having to play a year under Allan Jeans, and his son Doug’s injury lawsuit against the club.

Yes, Scotty is an on-field legend at Hawthorn, and his record as a 2-time premiership captain & 302 games will hold water forever, but in 2020, Don simply couldn’t give a shit about the club, and you know what, there would be people at the club & supporters like myself who hold him in similar regard.

A perfect piece of symmetry

Wests Tigers – 9th on the NRL Ladder

Richmond Tigers – 9th on the AFL Ladder

Hehehehehe, Ninthmond.

Today is the last day without an AFL game for 20 days

You know which game I’m looking forward to?

That random North Melbourne vs Geelong game at the Gabba next Wednesday that starts at 5:40pm AEST, the first game of a midweek double header, simply because it’s the most random timeslot imaginable.

And on Thursday, the only game is a Collingwood-Sydney at the Gabba that also starts at 5:40pm AEST.

Ah, remember the days when fans used to complain about getting Sunday Twilight slots….

It was a simpler time.

Pistol Peter V’Landys and the shifting goalposts

What Peter wants, Peter gets, and you’re all in for the ride:

Who’d have thought a plan to get Gus Gould involved at the NRL Front Office would be Peter’s most sane suggestion already this week.

Bending the rules about dual contracts in the Sonny Bill scenario was apparently not about showing bias and helping the struggling Roosters, but apparently all about exposure for the game, with the mere presence of his name in the NRL providing some kind of increase in interest from Union fans.

Yep, that was something that worked very well for the Toronto Wolfpack.

Union also ties in to the Joseph Suaalii situation, given he apparently did the biggest backflip seen since Matthew Mitcham’s Gold Medal winning dive at Beijing to reject Rugby Australia’s entire financial reserve to sign on for Redfern, where he presently has to wait until August of 2021 to debut for Souths, which could be changed for the ARL Comission, then Souths would have to write a submission for an exemption

Sharks captain Wade Graham, who would know all about debuting at age 17, and is of the opinion he was too young, made a good point – Changing the underage rule would open up a can of worms, with some teenagers being good enough to stand up to First Grade (Israel Folau & Greg Inglis are cited as recent examples), but for every gun teenager, there’s always the inherent risk of a young player getting physically ruined by 120kg meatheads relishing their physical advantage.

At the end of the day, it’s just two codes using a young man’s future for their own selfish needs.

My favourite moment of the 2019/20 Australian racing season

Obviously there were so many classic moments, like the Four Corners report about retired racehorses going to die (What a great slap on the wrist those Caboolture knackery owners got), the Japanese carving us to pieces in the Cox Plate, Vow And Declare becoming the first Australian-bred horse to win the Melbourne Cup, the shirtless bloke at Cranbourne, but I think there’s one moment I’ll never forget.

That bloke getting run down in the shadows of the post on Canberra Cup Day.

The Mitch Manners description:

“150 to go, Shores of Avalon a neck clear, Eltham Palace coming out after it, and, uh – THERE’S AN IDIOT THAT’S COME OUT ON TO THE TRACK! – It’s Shores Of Avalon in front, Shores Of Avalon beats Eltham Palace!”

(After calling the finishers) “What a lunatic, fair dinkum!”

Marc Marquez tried riding with his arm looking like this on the weekend

And that wasn’t even 4 days after it looked like this on an X-Ray:

Yeeeeeeep.