Sunday I had an under-18 Gaelic Football semi final with the Rangers and we won comfortably against good opposition.  I won’t be there for the final so I’m wishing them all the best and hopefully they can win what will surely be a tough contest.

Monday night I had a hurling game and it may have been the most frustrating loss I have ever been a part of.  We were down by 9 points at halftime, which is not insurmountable in hurling, but definitely a comfortable margin.  In the second half we fought back really hard and our physicality clearly lifted.  However, in the end we lost by just one point and were left to rue missed chances throughout the game.  I had two misses myself that were very close, so I was fuming after the game.  Even my dad who was just a spectator was venting with me after the game to my mom who stayed home.  Luckily, I’ll be back in time for the final if the boys can get there so that is something to look forward to.

Tuesday was a really special day for the New York Magpies.  Brett Kirk came to our training session to run drills and impart on us some of the football knowledge that he accumulated in his 12 years with the Swans.  Our skills were actually pretty good for the whole session so it was a productive night.  Afterwards Brett was willing to take a few pictures with me and I tweeted a few of them and put them up on Facebook.  Even better, he retweeted one of the pictures to his 6000+ followers so that was pretty special.

Wednesday I had my flight at 6:45 in the afternoon, so naturally my mom and I finished packing at about 2:15, only 45 minutes before we left.  Not too much else to report about Wednesday except that the flight to LAX went smoothly.

Thursday is lost somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.  I watched 3 Boys Dreaming on the flight over which is a documentary about 3 promising young Indigenous talents who are trying to chase the dream of AFL football.  Chris Yarran is one of the boys and he obviously has become very successful.  The other two were caught in difficult situations or did not quite have the commitment to make the grade.  I think a main message that can be taken away from the movie is that making it to the AFL really does come down to commitment, and perhaps more universally, anything worth doing takes a lot of hard work and desire.

Friday morning I arrived in Melbourne and was picked up by New York Magpies and US footy legend, Rob Oliver.  I will be staying with Rob and his family for the next two weeks.  I basically spent the day getting settled in, trying my first Australian latte (which was delicious), and trying to stay awake to adjust to the time difference.  In an impressive effort I stayed up until 10:30 watching the Adelaide and Bulldogs game up to halftime.  I’m glad I didn’t stay up because I’m a Crows supporter and the television would have gotten some terrible abuse.

Saturday I got my first taste of footy down at Prahran Assumption Oval to watch Rob’s club play Ivanhoe.  The reserves won by about 120 and Rob’s son Lachie got Best on Ground.  The 1’s went on to win by about 50 so it was a great day for Prahran.  The standard was pretty quick in the second game and all the boys go at the ball hard.  Later on, I went to Rob’s daughter Hannah’s basketball game.  Her team lost, but they definitely heard me cheering them on.  I was really impressed by the skill level of the girls and the guys before them.  American universities are looking at some of them, so there is definitely talent here.

Sunday I watched almost 3 full games of footy and talked footy for 3 hours with Kerryn’s (Rob’s wife) nephew Liam.  He is an umpire so he brought an interesting perspective to some of the talking points including ducking the head, the advantage rule, and sling tackling.  We also argued for about a half an hour about which is more difficult, baseball or cricket.  In baseball, the ball comes at the batter at 95+ m.p.h.  Plus, the surface area of the bat is smaller than in cricket.  Plus plus, they score hundreds of runs in cricket where as reaching double digits is a pretty high score in baseball.  I rest my case.

Thanks for reading about my first week in Aus, and tune in again next week as I have my first training sessions coming up.

In the traditional annual State of Origin match the Victorians fielded a powerful team and were heavy favorites with the bookmakers. However, the Allies were determined not to let the Vics win 3 in a row.  Both midfields traded in hard to start the game and neither team could gain a mental each. The Vic’s was backline was on top and they went into the first break with a handy 3 goal lead.

After some positional moves at quarter time, the Allies got their running game going and piled on a few quick goals. With the Aliies backline in control, they piled on a few more goals and were looking like taking a lead into the main change. However, the Vics kicked a couple of late goals against the run of play to go into the halftime break with a 3 point lead.

Both teams took advantage of the break and came out full of running. It was an arm wrestle for the first 10 minutes as the the game hit a frenetic pace. However it was the Vics who broke the deadlock and in a 10 minute span kicked 5 goals. The Vics big names were living up to their reputation, however the Allies fought on and got a couple of late ones to keep the contest alive at three quarter time.

In the last quarter the Allies threw everything at the Vics but they couldn’t penetrate into the forward line and the Vics kicked away to a comfortable lead and controlled the rest of the match. In the end the Vic’s just had a little too much class to make it 3 in a row but they Allies certainly proved they will be a force in the coming years. There were a lot of new faces in the game and this only bodes well for the club overall.

Thanks to Arne Pulle for a terrific solo umpiring effort, showing he has really developed his skills. The Rob Oliver medal, awarded to the best on ground as judged by the umpire, went to Jack Taylor (Victoria)

The Magpies first game of the day was against Philadelphia. The Magpies were keen to start strongly, and did so through Farrell in the ruck and his onballers of McIntrye, Taylor and Kerr. Injuries in the opening minutes to boom recruit Spiteri and Spielman caused issues with the Magpies rotations, however young guns Lehane and Curran gathered plenty of the ball, showing maturity beyond their years.

Schieb and S Smith provided strong targets up forward and Murphy, Keefe, and Donner all were able to make an impact in the first half. First gamer Hine was a surprise packet with a few first half goals and additional 1st half goals to McIntyre, Sani and Blandford saw the Magpies go into the major break with a handy lead.

The second half was more attacking football from New York with the run and athleticsm of Didan, Sani and Miller proving telling. Steiner and Mcmahon were rock solid in their first outing for the year and Gluck 1 and Gluck 2 managed to win their fair share the ball. In the end the Magpies appeared to have too many options and sailed to a comfortable win.

Assistant coach Brett Smiley was happy with the overall team effort, saying “It was hard to single out any matchwinners today, it really was a full team effort where everyone played their part and that was great.”

With Baltimore coming off a big win against Boston, New York knew they were in for a tough game. The coaching staff put the challenge to the playing group to produce under pressure and it set the scene for the start of the match. The first 5 minutes was what we have come to expect from a NY vs BWE clash, tough and unrelenting.

Both teams were trying to gain ascendancy with a fierce attack on the ball and NY struck the first blow with a goal to Brennan. The back six of Oui, Curran, Caldwell, McMaster, Smith and Miller stood tall and repelled multiple BWE attacks. This enabled NY to kick clear with goals to Hine, Blandford and McIntyre and go into the half time break with a solid lead. Things may have been closer had Baltimore kicked straighter.

The second half saw a similarly committed NY outfit continue their attack on the ball, led by Brennan and Blandford, the likes of Thompson, Gluck, Miller and Collins also continued the theme and gathered plenty of the ball. Whilst undersized in the ruck, New Yorks duo of Homer and Buckets toiled manfully all day and that allowed the run of Lehane, Overall, Kerr and Toby to continue the drive the ball forward which resulted in goals to…X, X and X. In the end NY ran out comfortable winners by 7 goals, however the scoreline flattered NY and didn’t represent how tough a match it was.

The second half saw a similarly committed NY outfit continue their attack on the ball, led by Brennan and Blandford, the likes of Thompson, Gluck, Miller and Collins also continued the theme and gathered plenty of the ball. Whilst undersized in the ruck, New Yorks duo of Homer and Buckets toiled manfully all day and that allowed the run of Lehane, Overall, Kerr and Toby to continue the drive the ball forward which resulted in goals to…X, X and X. In the end NY ran out comfortable winners by 7 goals, however the scoreline flattered NY and didn’t represent how tough a match it was.

After the match Coach Ormsby said “I was particularly pleased with the form of the new guys. This match was real test for them, and the team in general, and everyone stood up under the pressure so that will hold us in good stead. BWE always gives us a good contest with this one being no exception, and congratulations to them on holding a great tournament.