Poetry in Reflective Motion

The People's Game

There's a footy shaped hole in our hearts, so the boys from "The People's Game" are here to try and fill it each week of lockdown, with a retrospective look at our great game! On the agenda this week: "THE UNWATCHABLE MATCH" - Round 2, 1908: University v Richmond JB and Gordo deep dive into the almanacs to explore the circumstances that saw the VFL host the first ever "expansion" clash. The Boys then explore the quirks around these clubs including: •Are university students naturally "smarter" footballers? •Why were clubs so against University entering the VFL? •Why weren't inner north clubs against Richmond joining the VFL? •What the f*** is a "wreg-lar ankipootus"? •Should the VAFA version of University be so very proud of their (epically unsuccessful) VFL heritage? "THE REWATCHABLE MATCH" - Round 3, 2004: Essendon v West Coast This Saturday Night at "The Dome" has been dubbed Hird's Fairytale, but there's more to the game (and story) then just Essendon's lost son's performance. The boys deep dive on this famous shootout including: •What were their gut responses to during the rewatch? •Did Hird's 4th Quarter performance deserve Brownlow votes? •Where is Hird currently on his "redemption" arc? •Did anyone actually coach in the early 2000s? •Did they miss the Ch 10 commentary team? FOOTY BOOK CLUB: TWO PARTS! PART 1: Vale Bruce Dawe - Australia's "Poet of Suburbia" passed away recently, and like many JB spent his youth poring over his laconic poetry, cramming details into my head for his Year 12 English exam, but did you know that Dawe also wrote poems about footy? The Boys read they're favourite "Life Cycle" and reflect on poetry's place in the footy media landscape. PART 2: "'Razor' Ray Chamberlain reveals highs and lows of umpiring" - In another of the Herald Sun's long Q & As, the AFL's most renowned umpire Ray Chamberlain chatted to Hamish McLachlan about his umpiring career. The boys breakdown the interview and discuss: •Is Razor relatable to footy fans? •Why does he operate outside the usual anonymity / namelessness of other umps? •How bad is umpire abuse in the AFL? •Does a piece like this have the potential to change footy's view of umpires?