THE SWITCH...POWER ON...POWER OFF!

footballs of fire, OMG what a first quarter, what an unexpected but welcome first quarter folks. and yes i was at the game with the lady army to enjoy it. i was at the game to witness the introduction of the lobbe/ryder duo...they can only get better folks! it felt like it was richmond all over gain. we looked at each other, we grabbed each other for joy, we cheered in jubilation, high fived, rubbed ganesh, etc etc, blah,blah,blah... i worried throughout the day about the rain but the only rain to be felt was the raining down of goals. WOO HOO what an incredibly spectacular start. and how rattled were the hawks? if only we could have sustained that for four quarters, ok perhaps unrealistic but come the tail end of the season, let us see if Burgo's masterplan has come to fruition and we see it happen. anyone care to have a friendly bet?

     man it was like a wave had been unleashed, spreading across the ground....the ripple effect. the pressure was on and by the seventeen minute mark port had powered on to kick seven unanswered goals...purely magnificent! what more could you say or want? ask for more and the footy gods will accuse you of being a pure glutton but hey i'll still take that! the power had definitely short circuited the hawks in that explosive first quarter, damaged their wings so there was no time for them to lift off. and we couldn't have been any happier with the siren sounding and a very damaging  42 point lead. and who would have thought that, without robbie gray and ollie wines?

     the second quarter saw the hawks add another 16 points and port extend their lead to 51 points. by half time it would seem impossible that hawthorn could comeback from that far down and snatch victory. a victory which the power desperately needed and  deserved after a first class half of footy. weather conditions were kind. my request for no rain had been heard. the crowd had definitely transformed itself from the sydney game because i could hear them...or was that just me? hee,hee. the atmosphere was fabulous and by the end of the third quarter we had kicked an additional 22 points but the hawks were far more productive that quarter outscoring us. still too far away but as we were to find out not even 41 points could quell an impressive comeback. what i noticed in the change was that in the second half the hawks pressure began to pay dividends. they forced the boys to kick into a contest. they slowed down the game, shortened the kicks with deadly accuracy and found the space that seemed to have eluded them the first half. unbelievably they booted another 34 points, five goals, four to one measly point. another thriller, another heart stopper but none the less a deserved victory and much needed one at that. first half power switch on, last quarter, power switch off, thankfully that first quarter set the foundation which was strong enough to withstand that final assault! hip hip hooray. siren goes and the power outlast the hawks by eight points.

     i bet there were a few who were on the verge of collapsing in disbelief. not me, although too close for comfort i knew we would win. just a shame we couldn't have gained more percentage wise. i am sure there will be much to learn from that last quarter display and fadeout. but with such a tough beginning draw it is not surprising the power have already used up quite a bit of fuel. what did you love most viewers apart from the atmosphere and anzac game day experience if you were there? personally i love being part of the lady army. i love to cheer the boys on loud and proud but i love it even more when i see them synchronised and playing a game that is harmony in motion. OMG where did that all come from? lol. have to say i was looking forward to our ruck duo. paddy is getting better week by week. lobbe has been missed without a doubt but i can tell you i am more than impressed with krakoeurs efforts. so glad to see him getting back into form. his skills, his composure, his footy smarts, his added height and bigger body is an asset to our defense. can't wait to see him pick up more pace and start scoring a few goals of his own. and kudos to schulzy, what a legend, what a beautiful kick for goal, five in the bag...outstanding!

     and what is the lady army to do after such a glorious victory? pay our respects and go and celebrate of course. some had to leave which was understandable but the backbone of the lady army remained intact and were able to offer our congratulations. and we were able to tell a few of the boys ourselves and get a pic with the krack, just awesome. and even doubly awesome for our lord howe member who almost didn't make the game. poor lovie had to vacate her seat because it was getting too much those last few minutes. but she wouldn't be alone viewers. ( BTW she tied with lovie for the anzac day supporters medal, lovie cried at the final siren which helped boost her ratings, hee,hee)

     so how did your tips go? foolishly i changed my tip from the blues to the saints...what was i thinking? i did tip port though and admit that one was more from the heart because even i thought it was a stretch, not impossible but a big ask. thanks to the crows rubbish game i ended up with an ordinary five for round four. but hey considering it is the showdown this weekend i shall put in another request to the footy gods and ask that the crows bring that rubbish game this week! hee,hee, cheeky i know...can't help myself. so until round five, hope you are feeling footy and fabulous.

love FFFandF XXX. 

time to do battle...lady army get ready to tough it out!!!

it was bad enough to know that ollie wines won't be playing for a few weeks. then the whispers began....polec, white and then another blow...the wizard robbie gray has been sidelined. man it could have been enough to tip me over the edge but to be truthful folks i had a niggling feeling magic roberto gray was not 100 percent. hey such is footy life. personally i would rather have injuries now and come full strength and in perfect momentum come finals time. and of course many won't give us much of a chance either after these setbacks. but i say soldier on, regather, refocus and garner your supporting forces. in fact the lady army has succumbed to a few blows itself. we have a few not quite 100%, ( i am suffering soreness fromm a yoga class but methinks that perhaps that one doesn't count) a withdrawal (who incidentally gave her membership to her hubby who is a hawks supporter...mm, this once could be going straight to the tribunal viewers!) and to top it all off feralina could be in doubt. i have sent a request to the footy gods in her honour, (besides her hubby has premium tickets and if it rains we intend to kick him out and their son so we can be near  the POWER coaching box, hee,hee).

     next thing...the weather. a big DRATS! to that. oh how we were blessed last season with clear skies even if some of those games were rather chilly. i can hack the cold viewers but like some of you i am not a fan of the rain. this game calls for comfort, not high heels and faux fur or makeup that kind of reminds me of calisthenics leg tan. ( or perhaps that is a tanning salon experience gone wrong, hee,hee....STOP IT! ok i will.) i shall be ensuring that i am not only dressed comfortably but that i will be warm as well. i will aslo be taking my homemade bacon bone and bean veggie soup, along with my viva paper towels to keep our seats dry. added to that will be my port power polar fleece blankie, so i reckon i just about have it covered. ps i also have power ponchos purchased from coles in case of any raining emergencies.

and talking about emergencies...we narrowly avoided a lady army one which could have really depleted our forces. two sisters, one of which resides on lord howe island were in danger of having their flights cancelled due to the bad weather in NSW. fortuntately for us ( even though i did request a battleship be diverted off course to collect them...they declined, hee,hee) they made it back to good old adelaide town last night. thankyou footy gods. i also do hope you will overlook my sleeping in on ANZAC day too, pretty please...thankyou.

     Ok so to round four and my tipster for the week. it is none other than niece number one who is an avid POWER fan, my oh my how did that happen? LOL. 

she has tipped these teams for round four...tigers by 20, carlton, essendon, port, freo, westcoast, roos, gws and adelaide. me,, myself and i made the mistake of tipping the tigers not realising they had three outs and then changed my other tip from the blues to saints, boo hoo...double drats! i went tigers by 24, saints, essendon ( who are currently losing, triple drats!) port ( i followed my heart but am still feeling optimistic) freo, adelaide, west coast, roos and gws. (this week am already two down maybe three). so if you off to the game like me folks, rug up, bring the noise as well as your homemade soup.

love FFFandF.XXX

the game...

was that a heart stopper or what folks?

well i can say that my football watching strategy was an epic fail. of course i could not resist having a little peek at the scores via my mobile phone. yes we were up. i was feeling confident but knew this was gonna be a very tough game. after all... the kangaroos are our bogey side. and yes my cousin was already telling me that we were gonna lose, that other sides had figured us out, blah,blah,blah ( but of course he is a crows supporter so what do you expect? hee,hee) and if we had went down 0-3 then we would never hear the end of it. powers premiership hopes short circuited, power failure, premiership chances electrocuted and the lame headlines could go on. ( or maybe i am just rather creative? lol) unfortunately our team lends itself to that with our name but hey there are plenty of other good ones i could make up about some of the others but that is not my concern. after all the hype and misplaced fear i was more than confident that ken and the team had made the right decision in not taking a gamble on lobbe and banking on some run, smart, very smart. if they had followed mcdermott's advice it would be akin to selling off our assets don't you think? a short term solution which seems like a great idea at the time but in hindsight proves to be an expensive mistake. glad that kenny didn't fall for that one but why would he? he more than anyone knows there is a long way to go and he believes in his boys and so must we if we are to endure the weeks ahead.

     well where on earth was i when this epic and brutal battle was taking place? on the dancefloor amongst others who were there to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of my oldest friends daughter. ( no she is not 80 folks but i have known her for 48 years!!! some of my friends weren't even born then...OMG i had better lie down and have a bex, hee,hee) my strategy was that i was not going to jinx the game by watching it. my strategy was to invoke divine intervention from the spirit world. my strategy was that once i knew we had won i would make myself at home at my sisters place and watch the replay on foxtel...mm, yes still haven't got around to being connected yet. my strategy was once we had won i would give myself permission to invoke the powers of alcohol to assist me with my dance moves! but no everywhere i looked there was a TV. in fact three of them. i attempted to distract myself with some pita bread and dip. i even tried drinking my champagne through the penis straw. (yes viewers nothing much as changed during these hens celebrations apart from the fact brides to be now get to wear a sash with flashing lights!) in the end i got rid of the penis straw, hee,hee. i danced but in the end i was drawn into the game and my true colours emerged, suffice to say not one bloke asked me to dance and to be honest i was firmly glued to the screen, cheering, screaming, gesturing until the final siren when i could be relieved of my footy watching duties. and then it was champagne, a lot of champagne that somehow seemed to make me far more alluring to the male species. ask my wingwoman ( she's married).end of story. still i thought it was my dancing, lol.

     and to tips. yes a perfect score for moi but way off the mark when it came to the collingwood and saints margin, who would have thought? the freo game looked like it was evolving into a complete bloodbath by halftime but yet the final score did not reflect anything of the sort. at least son number two was very happy and was quick to ring and let me know. so after round three it looks as though my asessment of freos chances for a top four finish may need to be edited. i still say it is too early to tell. i am happy with the win but not happy about ollie. a big drats to that. still i loved seeing krakouer get the opportunity and ahchee remain composed enough under pressure to handball it off to young...GOAL and that is probably the exact moment my champagne intake skyrocketed!

     so until round four which will be a big one for some and of course us. (sydney/freo to just name one) we have got the hawks, a tough assignment but the boys must rest, refocus and get into the mindset of taking the game on, being fearless. the hawks will show no mercy but we must also believe we can match it with them and absorb the pressure. yes,yes,yes...and another yes to signing off. so until the next blog viewers keep your footy on and POWER supporters remember to bring the noise!!!

love FFand F XXX

     

post mortem...my tips went to crap but a fan i still am...

my vehicle is fitted with deluxe dice, lol.

well what can i say viewers? how many of your tips from last week went to cuca? and like me were you at the game watching us get smothered and smashed? not a fan of the swannies style but i suppose one must give credit where credit is due. all i can say is thank goodness for our defence because they were the ones who held franklin and tippett. but the biggest footy crime we were to committ cannot be ignored...52 points in turnovers...ah ya ya ya! oh how i wish the big lobster would return sooner rather than later. redden well so much time out of the game, he will only get better. 

     so what is a fan to do folks? go on a road trip and distract one self from the fact we are 0-2 and calm the footy down. for footy sakes mcdermott advising port to play an injured ruckman. WTF? ( what the footy? hee,hee) for footy sakes media carry on as if this is to be the demise of the team with your statistical analysis. i say big crapola to that and will reserve my verdict come closer to the end of the season. (BTW port lincoln is rather a lovely place to visit. i have already written a letter of recommendation to the crows advising them to take the entire team on a shark cage dive...ba ha ha ha ha...i wonder why i would do that?)

     and now i have just returned fom driving seven plus hours straight (coz my companion didn't know how to drive a manual, bah humbug...) to find out finally that krakoeur is going to be given another crack. now that i am looking forward to see, as well as an injection of run and youth. the pressure be on but i say they need to just ignore the critics and continue with the story they began to sell the previous seasons. yep that is my advice and i know they just want it, lol.

     ok now to the tipping part of ther blog. for round 3 i shall consult son number two and see where his 11 year old brain is at. son number two is a die hard freo fan. his greatest weakness was getting too emotional and having a meltdown when his team went to crap last season. but he proved me wrong in the opening round, so a big well done to him. his strengths include a very knowledgeable understanding of the game and a good dose of intuition. but he hasn't tipped port this week...so how very dare he!!!

so here they are...PIES by 7, FREO, ROOS, BOMBERS, CROWS, SWANS, CATS, TIGERS and HAWKS. myself on the otherhand have tipped, PIES by 11, FREO, PORT, ESSENDON, CROWS, CATS, SYDNEY, HAWKS and have gone PORT to bounce back. yep a fan i still am and wishing nathan a cracker of a game, how exciting folks.

love me who is about to pass out from driving exhaustion, well not really it just sounds better, triple hee,hee. XXX

OMFF...the home game is near...

oh my friggin footballs the home game is near, so close i could almost touch it. well no, not really but one more sleep. ok viewers were you happy with round one? any surprises? must say  i was surprised by the roos lack lustre effort and a little by the demons but good on them. looks like i might have to reassess some of my predictions. are you fearful of round two? the only thing i am fearful of at the moment is the big,fat dead rat making its grave in my chillies. OOOOOOOH ginormous YUCK! thanks to son number two who informed  me this morning and no thanks to him it was still there by the end of the school day. he refused to pick it up for five bucks so i had to enlist the services of son number one who charged me ten...outrageous don't you think? surely there must be a vermin disposal authority i can complain to?

     back to round one. not having loebbe hurt us that was pretty obvious but for a first round effort it ticked some boxes. however, i would expect more of those shall be ticked off as we move deeper into the season and the boys refine their game. wishing redden a great first game and return to afl footy. smart choice, definitely need the two rucks. how loebbe managed that last year was really an effort that didn't get him the full credit he deserved. let us hope he recovers speedily and is back in the side for round three.

     well the biggest excitement for me is the reunification of the lady army plus others. finally lovie returns to take her rightful place beside us ( although i am not allowed to sit next to her because as she puts it...i am too loud. fancy that? hee,hee) we have a few new members and others scattered throughout the ground. a huge welcome to mrs pardon me who was granted her membership for xmas. and another big welcome to my cousin all the way from london (who admits to feeling rather apprehensive). she will be joining us for her first match at adelaide oval and an induction to the POWER. yes i got in first, double hee,hee.

     i finished with five tips last week viewers, a bit mediocre and this will need to stop if i am to make any assault upon the competition this year. well at least lovie and i are on level pegging at this stage. however i am going to have to watch her. so this week i have invited her to be the round two guest tipster. we have tipped exactly the same apart from the demons/gws match. so here are her tips folks...do you agree? west coast ( i have tipped them by 11), richmond, gws, crows, suns, power, freo, hawks and roos.

     well at least i know my voice is in good order viewers. i had to use it rather loudly yesterday and have been practising on my students. some even put their hands over their ears but personally i take that as a good sign, hee,hee. so loud voice and me shall be there eagerly anticipating the first home game of the season. and what a game it will be. lovie and i are going to get in first to ensure our customary spots will still be available. can't have what happened last season when i had to ascend mount everest and be stuck at the top of the stand, no thanks. i like to be where the action is right close to the boundary near the old scoreboard. in fact we all do, that is lady army plus others territory. so to all of those going to round two i won't wish you good luck coz i want it all for the power. hopefully we won't need any of that and the boys will let their footy do the talking they gotta come out strong. they need to be relentless and they need to find that damaging speed that was the turbo boost of last season. enjoy and may all the other teams i don't mind win but not by too much!!!

love FFFandF XXX

PS BTW according to some rumour, the official footy husband season is also open. come on ladies, don't you know if you want to meet men then you gotta hang out where they are gonna be in droves. and no better place to start than the footy, hee,hee.

round one done and dusted...no disgrace

well how was that for round one viewers? 

are you happy or were you drowning your sorrows in leftovers from easter sunday lunch and stealing your kiddies easter eggs??? hand up- guitly!!! hee, hee. 

well i can say i did manage to watch a few games, some more closely than others. let me start with the tigers and the blues. have to confess i was thinking more about the state of my tips than the play. i tipped the tigers and eventually they changed gear, stepped it up and won respectably in the end. is that all? yep, lol. the only other games i watched in detail were crows vs roos and wasn't that a big surprise? indeed i did tip the crows as i expect with an easier draw, new coach and resolve that they will make their way back into the eight. gotta give credit where credit is due. thought the texan was formidable and should have kicked ten but obviously captaincy is sitting well on his shoulders. but seriously what happened to the roos? did not predict a flogging. they were pitiful apart from a third quarter resurgence which looked as though it may end up a better loss but that it was not. still the crows flew high and if you are a fan ( which i am not, teehee) you should be feeling optimistic but smart enough to not get ahead of yourself. only first round folks. some teams will take a few games to get into rythm but unfortunately if some of those are losses it may come back to bite those teams on the bum when it counts. as we have seen before every win counts and can make the difference when it comes to percentage and ladder position.

     so to my beloved POWER. after a very tasty seafood sunday we were settled at my sisters. last years ban was lifted and myself and youngest son included were allowed to enter the premises. anyone who knows us does in fact know that these games last year were incredibly stressful and emotional. but i gotta give son number two a huge pat on the back because he was an incredibly good sport and did not lose the plot once. i on the other hand was running from kitchen to lounge doing the goal sign...mm, yes who is the child and who is the adult? lol. knew it was going to be a tough, tight contest. not having loebbes hurt us as i was hoping to see some ryder magic in the forward line. neade and johnson was a complete mismatch. someone should have given him a pair of stilts but hey his goal was classic. (personally i think he should be sent to lovies to bulk up with her cooking) you would hope they will learn from this loss and move quickly to rectify and rebalance the team for next week. thought butcher had a good first quarter but apart from polec, ebert and impey, throw in jasper minus that holding the ball, they were the most noticeable, oops add ollie to that combo too. some just seemed to be missing in action. that is just the way it looked but maybe that was how freo's pressure made it look. we had our chances but poor kicking, some turnovers and carlise going off didn't help us. i did scream to the footy heavens at one point and we were rewarded with a goal but obviously all that easter egg stealing did not go unnoticed...DRATS! (can't help myself folks chocolate is my performance enhancing drug). no point talking about the umpires, yes some suspect frees but in the end freo got the easter chocolates, a big BOO HOO...still seven points, no disgrace. but hey it is only the first round. it is not a sprint but a long distance race to the finals and i say I BELIEVE IN YOU BURGO and expect that your genius shall shine through yet again.

PS and yes it was a brutal game...you would have thought you were at a finals match.

     and hey viewers are you already worried about playing the hawks? OMFG how good were they after the first quarter? they skinned those pussycats. they certainly will have to be premiership favourites with that clean, clinical and ruthless win that could have easily blown out to 100 points. secretly i was hoping it would, not that i have ulterior motives viewers...( soft hee,hee) and as much as i wanted so much for the POWER to win that was out of my control. emotionally i had invested in a win for my little brother. but with every game come win, lose or draw i will think of him because i know if he was here he and i would be talking about the footy. so until round two keep footy, funny and fabulous whoever you are. next blog lady army preview. have a groovy night viewers and if it is as cold as it is here, put on your ugg boots and keep warm.

love FFFandF XXX

PPS special mention to melbourne but no thanks for ruining my tips. they won't be the easybeats this season; some young talent with some thoughtful recruiting. could be the big improvers this year.
PPPS note to self: be wary of getting ahead too early in the game, long way to go before the final result, ha ha ha...i should be a footy expert!

round one...the day has arrived

finally the day has arrived and what a game to kick off the powers season. on paper we look good, apparently a few underdone but they are taking this seriously and to get off to a win would be an ideal start. personally i am feeling a little emotional today viewers. i am hoping the boys will bring it home in honour of our youngest brother who passed away unexpectedly in december. i miss him and i miss our footy chats. coz just like me he was a passionate supporter. and just like me he felt the power were on the rise and destined for bigger and better things. but i know the game will be what it will be. i must say am surprised to see chad playing. i suspected it might be a mind game thing but who knows everything could change at the last minute. 

i must say i am looking forward to seeing how ryder slots into the side. good to see we have a lot of big blokes which we will need against a tall side like freo with some big bodies. let's see how they tackle sandilands. i have friends representing the lady army today, awesome effort guys and many friends who are passionate and devoted freo supporters. may it be a great game to watch and may we just take a moment to remember those passioinate footy supporters whichever team they followed who have left us. RIP little brother, with every win i will think of you. XXX

predictions from a footy psycho...OOPS! i mean footy psychic, LOL!!!

goodness gracious can you believe it? footy is just a hop away viewers and btw have you come up with any predictions for season 2015? are you going to be part of any footy tipping comps? i am rejoining the infamous ri-industries, sorry folks can't let you join that one but if you like i will be looking for guest tipsters every week. just message me and provide a short footy bio and i might grant you this esteemed privilige, hee,hee!

      well if  i am going to follow any kind of mathematical pattern then port have jumped two spots the past two seasons. so if this is true then we should finish third. i am predicting a top four finish, i would like to say second but tough draw and third is better than fourth. as i much as it distresses me to say this i also predict the crows will have a much improved season due to a quality operator in phil walsh...damn you walshy why did you have to leave us? but more glaringly obvious is that they have a far softer draw but then that is to be expected when you can't even manage to make the eight, OUCH crows friends, make that double OUCH and a triple ha ha..sometimes the truth just hurts, OWEE KAPOWEE.

     so folks tuning into my crystral footy ball i shall lay down my predictions for 2015. the top four will comprise hawks, port, north melbourne and sydney. as much as this will upset my freo friends and son number two i say freo shall be outside the four this year. five to eight shall comprise cats, freo, crows and goldcoast ( if ablett remains injury free) with possibly richmond, west coast or essendon being the only other teams to crack the eight. it will be tight from eighth to twelfth. the pies will continue their descent and it will be some time before they resurface, the bulldogs are in for a season of pain. wooden spoon goes to the saints unless something miraculous happens. i think brisbane will surprise us and improve. i can't see gws doing that much better as they are still too far behind the rest of the competition. carlton, mm, don't fancy their chances either. so to be more specific i shall give you my 2015 ladder as i see it right now: 

hawks, port, north melbourne, sydney, cats, freo, crows, goldcoast, richmond, westcoast, essendon, brisbane, carlton, collingwood, gws, melbourne, bulldogs and saints. 

      and if you don't agree and want to punch me in the guts well then i warn you i have a niece who has a brown belt in karate and will protect her favourite aunty...so sucked in!!! hee,hee. (of course as the season progresses one must revise. the reality is a few key injuries like we experienced last year and a teams footing can slip quite easily...i just had to put that in.) so to round one WOO HOO. as usual i will do the honours and put in my tips for the first round unopposed, lol. and for those who would like to join me you can put your hand up for the following weeks...

round one: richmond by 23, suns, swans, lions at home, westcoast away, will give the giants the win but um not sure, crows for a big first game (although secretly i want the roos to win), port to get off to a good start with a tough win but not by much and hawks to assert their dominance. so there you have it folks...

BRING ON 2015.

love FFFand F XXXX 

PS lady army you will be called up for duty shortly!!!