It's been a long season... but here's Damien Hardwick!

It has indeed been a long time between drinks folks, but unfortunately the Gods of media have been unkind and have showered meIt has indeed been a long time between drinks folks, but unfortunately the Gods of media have been unkind and have showered me work. I've travelled to the far corners of the globe and written about things that I'd never thought anyone would have bothered wanting to know about.

All I can say is that my footy tipping season has been mixed - from the Bombers stunning the Hawks early in the year, to a disappointing loss to the Magpies at Pampers Stadium (or Etihad, whatever that stadium is called). Now they have a shot at the finals, again up against the Hawks who are also up for a spot. Saturday's game will be a cracker.

One note I do want to share - has anyone else noticed that there are now four ex Bombers players as coaches? What next? Hirdy at Port? O'Donnell at Melbourne?

Oh, what a Victory...

Well, they did it. Victory got up and won their second Championship in three years. A wonderful 1-0 win was all it needed to send Adelaide Utd home without the 'silver toilet' seat trophy.

It was a tough game, a great outcome and was a fantastic result for the A-League. Brilliant attendance levels and a great crowd - though the flares were a little too Euro for my liking).

How the AFL can saying anything against the A-League now is beyond me. I may sound biased (being a 'real' football fan) but it has the potential to do very well in Australia and it seems the AFL is threatened by that - why can't they coexist? Why I follow Essendon AND Victory? Me thinks a bit of paranoia reigning from Demetriou...

I was a little disappointed in Allsop being sent off from something that from my vantage point seemed so trivial (that's minus all the curses that followed the event), but what can you do - if we mulled over every bad refereeing decision I'd still be arguing with my grade 4 sports coach over a low foul. Good work Victory - now get ready for Asian Cup, which no Australian team has won before.

Also, if you're wondering why it has taken so long for me to post about the final, let's just say it's taken me this long to recover from the excitement (ie, beer intake). Oh what a night...

Here's some footage I procured from the match. As you can see, we were pretty close to the action...

Journalists behaving badly

Nuff nuff journos of the week. What the hell? Turning a bushfire tragedy into an excuse to further your career? It's tantamount to doing a Kochie and jumping into the back of an ambulance with two miners (which by the way is a great example of the 'ambo chasing' journo, which lawyers perfected). You douchbags.

If you are going to do something like that, at the very least, don't get caught. It seems to be a case of pure laziness - contact the Police Media centre and get accreditation. It's not like you're from an obscure blog that rants about crap... uh... yeah...

You better hope that the locals don't catch up with you - they don't take kindly to your folk around there...

The V matches up against Adelaide - blood will be shed...

We are waiting with bated breath, have slept out for tickets or set up our grand final party - and the wait is coming to an end. Spectators for Saturday night's clash between Melbourne and Adelaide will trigger memories of the Reds falling down at every turn. Who could forget the 07 final? What shamble.

The Victory boys will have to be mindful that the Reds are playing with nothing to lose - their reputation is mud and they're out to prove that they're not the shitty team that people think they are.

But I'm cautious to be yet another journo who has nothing better to add to the debate than 'Victory will have to be careful that they don't get too cocky, blah blah blah...'. I'm sick of that rubbish. Yes, we KNOW that is a concern. Yes, the players KNOW not to get cocky. Instant fail for being boring.

In a sense I hope that the game isn't a one-sider. I want Victory to win of course, but when Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez start fluffing around the forward line I get nervous. Everyone says that a close game is a good game, and as long as there's a lot of goals then that's true. I'll be willing goals for one team only.

As long as they play tight, keep defense active and play for the good shots, then it will a Victory of no doubt. Unless the Reds pull off something special then it'll all Victory's way, good night Adelaide, thanks for coming, don't let slap your arses on the way out. Arrivederci Vidmar.

Let the gladiators enter the ring. Let the blood flow. Let the game begin.

AFL tries evicting A-League from Telstra Dome

Anyone would think that these two are the Ferntree Gully soccer and football clubs fighting over one field!

The notion that the big boy AFL would be snobbish enough to crack the shits over Australia's A-League final being played at the Dome, interfering with its 'popular' NAB Cup standard game, is laughable.

Not only is the NAB Cup the AFL's preseason competition that no-one gives a fat rat's about (you don't see NAB Cup tipping comps, do you?), it's not even a finals game!

Don't get me wrong, I love footy as much as the next man - and I love the A-League just as much - but I object with Andrew Demetriou's sucking the life out of the AFL, and now he's interfering with the A-League. The AFL are having a cry because the Dome's lawyers won't release a copy of its contract with the A-League, and have had a go at the league's attendance levels.

According to Real Footy's report on the Age website "The AFL has expressed bemusement at how the soccer club can profit from matches staged at the ground with lower attendances than loss-making Bulldogs, St Kilda or North Melbourne games."

What a load of complete manure. It really thinks that an A-League grand final won't get more than 30,000 people? (and I think I'm being generous there).

Where do I start? How about the completely different fan base? Completely different market? 150 years vs 4? The AFL can huff and puff all it likes, but the fact it feels threatened by a league that's so new to Australia should be laughable - but is it? Why is it making a big fuss over a NAB match? Could it be that it has never had to share before (except for one day cricket, but very rarely).

I guess the A-League should feel flattered that the AFL should feel so threatened. Is it so worried that NAB may pull its sponsorship from the preseason competition that it will do anything it can to take the A-League out of the equation? My feeling is yes.

Good luck to you AFL, because come World Cup season (being next year) Australia will be alive with REAL football fever.