dust anyone? ...celestial dust? lol

well  what a weekend that turned out to be. yes viewers gotta admit i put my hand up, i confess, i admit....yes i was one of those getting well ahead of myself at the tail end of last season believing that premiership glory was merely a formality. shame on us all, we only have ourselves to blame for frustration, anger, rivers of tears, oh why? oh why footy gods did you do that to us? what is gonna happen to all those fans who bought renaults? are they going to drive them at high speed and eject themselves before they hit the brick wall and blame it on the steering? talk about heading for a crash...bam, bam bam...KAPOW, down we went but last friday night we rose to the occasion, just didn't we? and how frigging awesome was that? truly it was beyond our expectations. team unison, (ok we fluffed a few) but four quarters of football played the port adelaide way. although perhaps too late, still a revelation and proof that we have what it takes. imagine when we are back to full strength and have polec setting the grass alight as he runs out of the back half. and why should anyone really be that surprised? just double, triple drats we will have to watch the finals from the sidelines...boo hoo!

     we booked this trip in january buoyed by the end of 2014. we left no room for the possibility that our beloved team would crash and burn. playing off for top position was our prediction but what did we face? we faced the prospect of most people believing we were ripe for yet the second flogging of the season. were you predicting a disaster? did you take down your fluffy dice form the rear view mirror so you would not be identified? aren't you so glad they were wrong? are you jumping for joy and hopeful that the season shall not go to waste but serve as fuel to reignite an assault for the 2016 premiership? ( omg stop for a pause) i am, ruthless is back and i had the pleasure of witnessing it for myself!!! and yeah sucked in hodge. we put the hawk on the fork.

     i just love a quick trip over to melbourne, a mummy escape where i can saunter around melbourne town ( after a win) flaunting my scarf and engaging in impressive football chit chat with young men working in womens shoes. is this some kind of ploy to lure us mature ladies in? ha ba ha ha...well it might work for some but for me, once i get them chatting about football and finding out what team they barrack for i have walked out with a nice big discount. i am away before they can chase me down and say it was a mistake, my boss is going to kill me! where did she vanish they think...OMG is she related to constentino? meanwhile i am hiding behind the rubbish bin until the coast is clear. (apart from footy i have to say shoes come close but not close enough...actually add chocolate to that too... hee,hee).

     yet to those who wished me luck and rolled their eyes and muttered under their breath (no chance) it was like a dream come true. i have to confess and no disrespect, i did request a good game and a gallant defeat at the most but as the game wore on (ok i prayed for the butch) i sent out a universal request for some celestial dust to rain down upon our players and it did! i suppose now most teams in the eight will breathe a collective sigh of relief that port aren't playing in the finals. of course we hoped for the miracle to come; well actually my football fantasy to come to fruition which would have been worthy of a film in the making. but alas the roos put a halt to that. and as ken says we got what we deserved, and that is a timely lesson that football is a tough, competitive, brutal game and one cannot afford to rest on their laurels. week in week out ruthless pursuit must remain because you don't get into finals on potential and talent alone. if only, if only...ok i will stop that now coz it is only torture and there is no chocolate left in the house to console me.

     we may be out but we are certainly not down. the proof is in the fact our team has risen to the challenge to rise above their disappointment to show that every game still counts. bring on freo i say. if we manage to knock them off the top perch, well then at least we would have avenged our first round loss and perhaps upset the balance of the finals positions which may just work in someone elses favour. first to extinguish the suns and then to send freo adrift. a big last home game and a special one at that because lovie will be celebrating her birthday. so come on guys make it an extra special one for her because if anyone epitomises the never give in mantra, it is our mum, our own heavenly angel.

lovie and her gals

     

can someone lend me a baby or toddler?

well that was a much better effort don't you think? not that i saw the bullies thrashing. fortunately for moi i was at an arts conference serenely printmaking until i saw the score and accidentally stabbed myself with the linocutter. oh dear. and a big oh ouch, damn you guys don't you know i carry the scar of your out of form effort drenched with printing ink as my reminder?...Ok time to move on, i have seen worse but i ain't heading down that pathway, i refuse, absolutely refuse, although some were obviously trying to bait us. weren't they? you would think that no team had experienced a fall from grace before they hit their target of premiership glory? and that is what we have to suck up folks. but we are a strong, loud and proud bunch and will turn up even when we are suffering the ill effects of the flu. i wonder who that could have been? hee,hee.

     i watched the game enthused by the first quarter effort and overall toughness that permeated the field to wash away the doubters. well done lads. and through my flu infested coughs i still managed to reach record decibels. just ask white lightning aka matty white whom acknowledged my loud efforts with a wave and indeed the lady army loved that. achee had a fabulous game. he is a big bodied midfielder that can add some grunt to our engine room. and what about that handball folks? oh my frigging footyballs that is surely a secret weapon. overall a better performance but i for one was struggling to work out who number eleven was. and lo and behold i could not believe my eyes when i saw the butch. one great goal which i praised the footy gods for ( pity he couldn't repeat that effort) but he works hard, crashes the packs and gets the ball to ground. just a gentle reminder butch, you were actually in the forward line not the backline so no more punching the ball away when you can mark it. good to see him get a dose of confidence.will he stay or will he be gone? time will tell.

     my only complaint besides having the flu is those darn pesky kids who always seem to score the footys at the end of the match. so can someone kindly lend me a child, preferably a cute one and of toddler size so i can hoist him/her upon my shoulders and be in the running for a much coveted football. i know...triple shame on me. until  the next game viewers, which will be in melbourne (and incidenatlly i will be there) i don't know whether to be afraid, really afraid. tough assignment but as my little sista tweeted last round, i expect to see no running away and 22 pairs of hardened balls on that field. embrace the opportunity men and play like you haven't missed out on the finals.

time to make a stand...

omg time to make a stand power fans and support as one. are we going to allow the media to ridicule our great club and supporter base? if you are like me you definitely will not. flu infected i go dragging my aching body and weary mind to the game. despite being sick i am sick of all the crap i have been hearing. and as my sister said...i want to see twenty two pairs of hard balls on that field today stand up and be counted regardless of the fact we will not see the light of finals. yes it certainly hasn't gone to expectation or plan but perhaps this will turn out to be blessing in disguise ....to send a bit of a shockwave and reality check into our team so that they come back bigger, better, stronger and hungrier in 2016. all is not lost. the road to premiership glory doesn't necessarily follow a straight line. and to think just two wins, carlton and crows come to mind and we would be in the eight right now. personally i would rather that we weren't because our form doesn't warrant it. is she for real? (you must be thinking).damn right i am. i would rather miss out and do a freo and come back with determination and fire to turn things around and aim for that premiership cup. we certainly don't want to be reminded of 2007 do we? suck it up guys, cop it on the chin and make it your mission to prove the doubters wrong.

#weareportadelaide#disappointedbutnotdefeated#22hardballsonthefield...that's it from me, sick but soldiering on, boo hoo...FFFandF XX

how much worse can it get?

well season 2015 over folks, how much worse can it get? well for one thing ed sheeran has joined the cast of summer bay and i had to perform the heimlich manouevre on lovie . poor lovie she was so depressed by saturdays effort she was choking on her haighs chocolate!!! omg like you and many others  i am somewhat bewildered dwelling in the realm of what could have been or should have been, taking residence in the world of footy pain. how long i stay there i do not know, let us hope that it is short lived...

     ok i'm out...what you gasp in disbelief. that was the shortest stay on record, and how on earth did i manage to achieve this miraculous recovery you may wonder? well it is pretty simple folks. despite this disappointing season i have faith that the team will actually benefit from this deviation to premiership glory. the line to the grandfinal does not always run in a linear fashion folks. if this season had been hinkley's first then no-one would have much to say. if this season had followed 2013 many would have not been surprised. it is a bit hard to swallow that only two games have kept us out of the eight and there are certainly a handful of games that we could have won but simply didn't. but has our form warranted it? to be brutally honest...as much as i am pained to admit it, the answer is no. as ken famously once said, " you get what you deserve." and quite frankly that sums it up precisely.

     so many ifs, if we hadn't lost polec...if we hadn't lost ollie for those weeks...if we, if we, if we. in the harsh reality of the football world, if we's stand for nothing. when someone exits, then somebody else has to stand up. so for these last four games i suspect that the fringe players may get their chance to prove themselves and give the club a  reason to keep them for the future. if not, adios, time to get tough, be ruthless and have a springclean of stocks and replenish with a few who can add more depth and strengthen our back line for a start. in my opinion we need a defender, a forward and some grunt in the midfield. i will be interested to see what path ken, the coaching staff, the players and the club follow. we may be surprised by some of the changes but football is also a business and the dollar has a very loud voice.

     if it is mental then it it will be time to toughen up and dig deep and do some footy soul searching to see where they're at. yes potential, potential, potential but that ain't much good without action and discipline to back it up. ask me, i'm a teacher and i should know. i have seen students squander their potential because psychologically they just can't for whatever reason seem to get it together. and i have seen students with far less potential who have far more motivation and incentive to suceed. so who is the easier to teach? no guesses for the second. however, the first is the one who can have the greatest influence if they can tap into that potential of gold and turn it into something usable.

     so how much worse can it really get viewers? the answer is when supporters stop supporting because of one season that hasn't quite gone to plan. when i the self appointed commandress ( teehee) of the lady army and her troops throw in the towel and give up. but that ain't about to happen now or in the near future. when the going gets tough the tough get going. so listen up guys, play the season out to the best of your ability and press reset for 2016. come back, bigger, better, stronger and hungrier and make that your mindset. we know how tough it can be when the weight of expectation becomes a burden so now you can set yourselves free...well in four games time you can, hee,hee.

ta ta for today,

love FFandF XXX

the lady army plus others...ps we have some members missing