Bendy Crowd Statistics

Posted on January 17, 2013 by theholyboot

People just love to go to the footy, support their team, vent their spleen, and become one with the action on the field for a couple of hours a week, much like WEG’s depiction below. And attendances at AFL matches are at an all time high. Though the figure dipped slightly the past two years with new franchises the Suns and Giants, this was to be expected. Add to that the large sections of redevelopment occurring at the SCG and Kardinia Park, and the dip in attendances is merely a blip on the radar.

In the year 1980, with football yet to go national, the total attendance figure for VFL home and away matches was 3,280,129. From 2005 to 2012, it hasn’t been below 6 million, meaning in effect, league attendances have doubled with the introduction of the national competition. Case closed, Australian Football goes from strength to strength, and they all lived happily ever after. The end.

…Oh, you’re still reading? Well perhaps that’s not exactly right. There are a few questions now you mention it. Is the AFL (that’s the Australian Football League, not a reference to the sport; Australian Football) more popular than it’s ever been as the attendance figures suggest? Is the AFL an ever expanding juggernaut which will never stop? And just how accurate are these figures? Can they be bent to appear more impressive than they actually are?

Let’s look at some obvious differences between the years 1980 and 2012, and how they may have impacted the attendances.

-In 1980, games were played simultaneously on Saturday afternoon at two o’clock. If you wanted a second footy fix in 1980 then it was to the VFA on a Sunday! Come 2012 and it is rare to have any matches played at the same time, with Friday night, Saturday arvo, Saturday twilight, Saturday night, Sunday early, Sunday arvo and Sunday twilight filling each round. The point? You can attend 2, 3 or even 4 matches a week if you’re particularly keen.

-Round 1,1980. The previous years grand finalists, Collingwood and Carlton, were matched in a blockbuster fixture. However only 29,593 could cram into Victoria Park. The return match saw 43,903 shoehorned into Carlton, giving the fierce rivals an aggregate of attendance of 73,596 for the year. Fast-forward to 2012 and the two clubs boasted crowds of 84,259 and 75,890. The moral? In 1980, Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon played at suburban grounds, severely limiting their attendance figures. In 2012, more people can go. Simple. Crowd figures are becoming bendier!

Now we get serious…or silly, I’m not quite sure. There’s no doubting that footy now has a presence in rugby league strongholds NSW and Queensland that could only be dreamed of in 1980. Weekly footy, multiple premierships to Brisbane and Sydney with state of the art stadia. But what about the traditional footy states-Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania? Sure, attendances in the Apple Isle have risen 100% since 1980, but that’s yet another bendy stat.

Top level footy in the SANFL, WAFL and VFL brought plenty of people through the gates! Left to right, Sturt’s Rick Davies, Claremont’s Warren Ralph, and Footscray fans, I might need your help with these two!

In 1980, the top level of footy you could watch in South Australia and Perth respectively were the SANFL and the WAFL. In Victoria of course it was the VFL, precursor to the AFL. The average attendance figure for a weekend of SANFL matches in 1980 was 40,928. The WAFL, 37, 356 and the VFL 149,096. Combined, the three states on average attracted 227,380 per week.

Fast forward to 2012, and South Australia’s average weekly AFL attendance is 28,369. In Western Australia it is 35,516. Only Victoria has seen an increase to the weekly attendance of top flight footy, now averaging 171,836 patrons.

Interestingly, the weekly average attendance in 1980 for the three states combined, 227,380, has risen only slightly in 2012 to 235,721 patrons weekly. The table below will hopefully shed some more light! Suffice to say, perhaps the current figures aren’t as healthy and as amazing as they seem.

But let’s take things up a notch and get a little crazy! In 1980, Perth’s population was 898,000. With 37,456 on average attending the WAFL weekly, this meant that 4.17% of Perth’s population was heading to the footy. Perth now has 1,832,114 people, meaning that with an average of 35,516 attending AFL matches weekly, just 1.93% of Perth residents attend top level footy weekly.

Adelaide’s population in 1980 was 943,000, meaning that 4.34% of Adeladians went to the footy of a weekend. With the population now sitting at 1,262,940, just 2.24% of Adelaide’s population attends the AFL weekly. Finally Victoria. 1980 population was 2,806,000, and 5.31% of the population would attend the top level footy on a weekend. In 2011 it sits at 4.12%, still a large number, yet still a lower percentage.

So the three strongest footy states in Australia combined saw 4.8% of their combined population going to the footy in 1980, and just 3.24 in 2012? Where’s the growth? What happened to the record attendances the AFL often beat their chests about?

For some longer term perspective, 1965, a momentous year for Australian Football, saw just 2,458,697 through the gates in Victoria for home and away matches. But with just 18 rounds played, it still saw 141,594 Melbournians attend the VFL weekly, and with the population sitting at 2,068,000, this meatn that nearly 7% of the population were at the footy on a Saturday! (6.84%).

Even further back to 1924, a year before the VFL’s expansion from 9 to 12 teams, and the VFL, with just 4 games a weekend, still averaged 81,974 patrons each round. The population of 800,000 meant that a whopping 10.24% of Melbournians attended the VFL weekly, a most remarkable figure. I’d go back further except that reliable records have not been kept prior to 1921.

Ok, so I’m going way over the top and am now bending stats to say just what I want, but that’s the point of this piece, to show that figures can be manipulated to say what you need them to say. The AFL themselves have said on numerous occasions that they fixture games to maximise attendances, and I’m not saying this is a bad thing (unless it compromises a fair fixture.) But it should be taken into consideration when we hear that the game is more popular than ever due to record attendances.

(The author does still acknowledge that AFL crowds are somewhat a phenomenon when compared world wide)

With a little help from my friends – Image of Rick Davies from bigfooty, while images of Claremont and Footscray games from ‘The Australian Game of Football-since 1858’

And as per usual, thanks to http://www.aflstats.tk for your comprehensive VFL/AFL stats!

Farewell to Footy Park

Posted on January 6, 2013 by theholyboot

c/o Football Invective-Commentary with Balls

West Lakes and Waverley. Football and VFL Park respectively. They are 100’s of kilometers apart, yet the two are so close in many ways. They’ve even been referred to as ‘sister’ stadia. While VFL Park is long gone as a league venue, the last match for premiership points played in a previous millennia, upon entry into 2013, Football Park is too on the cusp of sharing the same fate. Next year, Footy Park will become a former league venue.

Image courtesy of Adelaide Now

Both grounds were built by respective football leagues, the VFL and the SANFL, looking to break away from their respective ‘home’ bases, the MCG and the Adelaide Oval, which were both controlled by local cricketing authoriteis. Waverley opened in 1970, West Lakes 1974. The move for the SANFL was described as the “most exciting and momentous since the SANFL was formed almost a century earlier.”

Both grounds were built ‘out of town…’ VFL Park some 23 km’s from the heart of Melbourne, and Football Park 14km’s, in the much smaller city of Adelaide. Both also began with grandiose visions, the VFL’s original plans catered for 166,000 patrons and a stadium ‘equal to any in the world.’ The capacity reached the mid 70 thousands, although 92,000 did cram in on one occasion. Similarly, Football Park was designed to cater for 80,000 patrons. It too, never got close.

Plans for Football Park on the left (80,000) and VFL Park (166,000). Looking quite similar!

The ‘sister’ stadia shared the same basic design; concrete and bench seats all the way around, with an elevated stand opposed to ‘the outer.’ VFL Park ‘boasted’ wooden plank seats, Footy Park aluminum, a feature of many Adelaide football grounds. The plastic bucket seat has however won the day.

Aluminum seating-still alive an well in Adelaide! Unley Oval image from austadiums.com

The West Lakes oval shape is less rounded and not as expansive as Waverley Park, which could comfortably host little league matches between the fence and the boundary line. Here are the two grounds under construction, can you tell which is which?

Image on the left courtesy of Adelaide Now

Here is what ringed (I’m referring to Football Park in a past tense I know) the outer of both grounds. Whilst Football Park is clearly smaller, both share near identical features; larger lower section, smaller ‘upper’ sheltered section with the same roofing/advertising hoardings.

Here’s an aerial shot which gives a clear look at the similar set up of both stadia.

Both grounds even had a gap between their stands where a small scoreboard was situated. While VFL Park boasted the notorious ‘Big V’ scoreboard, this ‘small’ one was Football Parks main board until recently.

Well it’s nearly curtains for West Lakes, both it and Waverley conquered by the very cricket grounds they sought to replace. But they have played their roles admirably, and football now resides at the MCG and Adelaide Oval (as of 2014) in a more powerful position. I hope the South Australian footy people can send the old girl off in style. Ugly as she was, she had character.

And in a final twist of synchronisation, Football Park will join Waverley in becoming both a housing estate and elite AFL training venue…..together forever.

Nice Statistic #9 The beauty of a rounded figure

Posted on December 11, 2012 by theholyboot

Here’s a nice and even statistic to keep you going in the off-season, though not being quite the ‘blow your socks off affair’ of this little nugget! For round 21 of the 2012 AFL season, the 5 matches played in Victoria had the following crowd totals.

38,179 – 59,381 – 44,956 – 19,396 – 23,098

This gave us the beautifully round total of 185,000 on the dot, with an average crowd of 37,000 precisely! This is as rounded-off, neat and even as the Subiaco crowd figures which have been historically either a) guessed b) rounded to the nearest thousand or c) the actual number of people in attendance! I’ve always felt the answer lies somewhere between points a) and b). If you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask me. I’ll find some evidence!

Even Stevens to you all!

The Footy Almanac, 2013

Posted on December 10, 2012 by theholyboot

The festive season is upon us, and whilst the organised among my loyal readers have finished buying or making presents, there are those of you like me, who are only just beginning to think about starting such a task. Well this may help, as it has helped me. If you happen to be wondering what to get for your footy-obsessed family member or friend as they suffer the withdrawals the off-season brings, look no further for the answer is here. The 2012 Footy Almanac.

So what just is the Footy Almanac I hear you ask. Great question. In essence it is a yearly summary of the AFL competition, with all match reports written by people like you and me, lovers of football. No routine newspaper style ‘match reports’ which merely appear to cut and paste the teams and players names from week to week, in the almanac each match has it’s own unique narrative. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and all that jazz. It’s a far deeper look at the game of Australian Football.

The great thing about the Almanac is that the match reports bring to life the dullest of fixtures in a way that Fox Footy’s obsession with off-season repetition cannot, because they focus not just on what happens on the ground, but also the historical implications, the pub talk, the walk to the ground, the characters in the outer. To me, it’s a more complete picture, lovingly put together by John Harms and Paul Daffey.

You can also become a member of the footy almanac website where you can share your football writing, or any other sport should you wish. Check it out, there’s some brilliant content on the site. If you’d like to order the Footy Almanac you can pick it up at good bookstores, probably some bad ones too, or you can purchase it off the almanac website.

Oh, and make sure you flick to the round 17 Richmond v North Melbourne match. Another glorious Richmond loss penned by yours truly.

Happy Snap #19 Punt Rd, Dan Minogue & some pencils

Posted on November 10, 2012 by theholyboot

My five year old daughter the other night asked whether the olden days were in black and white. I think we may have all had that moment as children, our only links with the past being the old black and white photographs we peered at curiously. Well sifting through some old things at my parents the other day, I came across this drawing I did as a teen, and was reminded of my reasons for drawing it. I wanted to bring to life an old black and white photograph of a Richmond v Fitzroy match from 1922, with captain Dan Minogue taking a mark in outstretched arms.

Whilst I’m not particularly pleased with the ‘trees of Yarra Park’ (I clearly had lost interest by this point, a common theme with myself and drawings) I made amends, in my mind at least, with the detail on the old grandstand, when my interest in the project was clearly at a peak. Below is the original snap, photographer unknown.

The result that day was Richmond 5.10.40 to Fitzroy 3.14.32, an aggregate of 8.24! Perhaps goalkicking accuracy isn’t so bad these days. Richmond having won the previous two VFL flags, and Fitzroy claiming their 7th later this year, it was fair to say the two clubs were a big deal at the time!

I took a photo from the same spot-Williamstown v Coburg, mid 2000's

Note: The grandstand…since renamed the Jack Dyer Stand, was opened in 1914, with a substantial addition in 1927. And Tiger fans…look out for my upcoming post on the Punt Road Oval! The more recent photo shows where the stand extenstion begins to the left.

Around the Grounds – Moorabbin

Posted on November 8, 2012 by theholyboot

Moorabbin Oval: League venue: 1965-1992. League (VFL/AFL) matches: 254. Record Attendance: 51,370 St.Kilda v Collingwood, round 1,1965 (league debut)

Painting of the decaying Moorabbin stands by David Hurwitz.

1965: a watershed year for the Victorian Football League. It can be argued that this year was the birth of the modern game. Barassi threw the long held ideal of loyalty into disarray, while three teams vacated their traditional homes in search of greener pastures. While North’s venture to VFA side Coburg’s ‘City Oval’ was short lived, Richmond’s move to the MCG propelled it to it’s most successful period, as did St.Kilda’s move from their home by the sea to Moorabbin, another VFA ground taken over by a league club, another glimpse into the future.

St.Kilda grand final training, 2010, photo by Jason from http://www.stkildamatchwornguernsey.com/ (Saints fans will enjoy his site!)

The Moorabbin Football Ground was previously home to VFA team the Moorabbin Kangaroos. Cutting a long story short, St.Kilda saw that the south east of Melbourne was in effect, unclaimed territory, and decided upon the shift. Though the move to Moorabbin brought with it heartache, all was quickly forgotten as St.Kilda made back-to-back-back grand finals, winning their one and only flag in 1966.

You can track St.Kilda F.C’s movement’s in the below diagram I put together.

As you can see from the recently demolished stands at Moorabbin, the intention appears to have been to gradually morph St.Kilda into the Moorabbin Football Club, but this clearly never eventuated.

Whilst the ground’s league lifespan was short, less than 30 years, it truly found a place in the heart of St.Kilda fans. Though not quite to the level which Victoria Park has entered football folklore, Moorabbin has still spawned it’s fair share of paintings and literature, holding a certain dreamtime quality for fans of the red white and black.

On the left is another painting from David Hurwitz, painted in a very similar position to which I took the photo on the right! Great minds think alike I guess.

This post isn’t about the Animal Enclosure, the old Moorabbin nightclub or the muddy centre square. Heck, it’s not even about the Jeff Fehring goal from behind the centre! (However if you want a sneaky look, here it is!)

This is a collection of pictures I took of the ground in 2006, in a desperate bid to photographically archive all the old league grounds in Melbourne. As it turns out, much of what I captured has since been demolished, and many links to the past now gone. It seems a number of footy fans shared my vision, and some of their photos and paintings have helped shape this post.

My dad always said that Moorabbin seemed odd to him as it jutted out of the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne; most other grounds were flanked by old hotels, old train stations and old terrace houses. Moorabbin was surrounded by the cream brick veneer housing of an ever-expanding city.

As I circled the ground before entering, I snapped one of the old entrance gates. On closer inspection, it became quite clear that it was occupied, and though I was keen to document all that I could, I decided to continue on.

And what this above photo makes me realise? That modern football stadia is severely lacking in barbed wire!

As I entered the ground from the Linton St side, I couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of St.Kilda’s gymnasium of the time. Even though this was six or so years ago, it was severely behind other clubs and their advanced setups. This was open to the elements!

What struck me about Moorabbin was the size. The stand which stretched from the wing to behind the goals (below) was very large for a suburban ground, and the terraced outer was rather expansive. It begs the question of why the club actually moved to Waverley Park in 1993. Geelong’s Kardinia Park is nearly three quarters through a long-term redevelopment, the club reaping the benefits of being able to sell reserved-seat tickets to their matches. It is a shame that a ground such as Moorabbin has not shared the same fate.

The grandstand offered plenty of cover and very good views. However, the photo at the bottom left is what I love about the old footy grounds…if you needed a coaches box, you built it on top of the stand, creating a haphazard atmosphere which brought with it great character. A combination of weatherboard, tin, steel and brick!

Now to the outer. This is where the majority of footy fans have watched the action for the best part of 150 years. It’s now all but a relic of the past. Moorabbin’s expansive outer bore many a story, tears of joy and despair, the odd laugh and a round of fisticuffs or two. To illustrate, here’s how St.Kilda diehard Matthew Hardy’s remembered his first experience of the outer at Moorabbin from his wonderful (and highly recommended) book ‘Saturday Afternoon Fever‘

I love this shot taken by supporter and photographer Berk McGowan of the overgrown mound behind the outer, the scoreboard still erect and the iconic red iron work. It really captures both present and past. (Check out www.berkmcgowanphotography.com)

photo supplied by Berk McGowan Photography

On my explorations, I found my own bit of Moorabbin to take home with me, 2 inch tubular fencing tee piece coupling, with red paint peeling. This was well captured again by Hurwitz’s painting on the left.

Here’s the outer side of the Moorabbin footy ground; the wooden seats on the fence for those early enough, looked down upon by the now demolished scoreboard and timeclock. In a great piece on the Moorabbin scoreboard, Vin Maskell looks at it’s history, and where portions of it are now scattered!

Old footy grounds were not just protected by barbed wire. Officious and over-zealous signage adorned many on old venue, and it’s hard to imagine it not been written by a gnarly old stallwart. Consider the following examples…the second is from the collection of Tim Best, a Saint fan who used to sell the footy record outside the ground!

And what post on Moorabbin would be complete without at least a view from one of the most notoriously vicious and parochial patches of terracing Australian Football has know, the old Animal Enclosure. The name says it all, it was not for the feint-hearted! Here’s a wonderful piece on the Animal closure by Paul Daffey.

Photograph by Tim Best. For more of his photographic take on Moorabbin Oval, click HERE.

While the Saints now train at the Seaford version of Linen House Oval (I liked how ‘Linen’ was so close to ‘Linton’) they still maintain a presence at Moorabbin. Only the Huggins stand remains, yet where terraces and stands once stood, there are now grassy embankments, maintaining the feel of how it once was. With light towers erected for baseball in the 1990’s, Football Victoria could do worse than considering it as a home for VFL football, however I can’t see this eventuating.

The Saints now play at the Docklands, which is far closer to their birthplace, St.Kilda, than Moorabbin, Waverley and Seaford combined. Yet a ‘home ground’ in Melbourne is nothing more than a token gesture these days, and nothing will match the days at the Junction and then Moorabbin. But that’s progress, progress which can be traced back to the Saints pioneering move to Moorabbin in the first place. Leaving wasn’t easy in 1992. There was much supporter angst, yet to no avail. Again consider the words of Matthew Hardy when it came to the last match at the ground in 1992.

And here’s a great clip from the last day at the ground.

So to sum up the Moorabbin Football Ground as a league venue, I will simply say this…

HERE FOR A GOOD TIME, NOT A LONG TIME

With a little help from my friends…

As always….http://stats.rleague.com/afl/venues/moorabbin_oval.html

Artist & Pies fan David Hurwitz. Please contact him if you are interested in any of his remaining Moorabbin works. They’d make a sensational addition to the Saints fan collection. You can visit his website and contact David. http://www.davidhurwitz.com.au

All photographs by John Carr unless otherwise stated.

Home and Away Glog!

Posted on October 16, 2012 by theholyboot

Just what is a glog? Great question. It’s kind of like an interactive way of displaying….oh heck, just have a look at one!

Home and Away Glog

Unfortunately it is ‘un-embedable’ at this point, so a screen shot will have to. Below you can see what I’ve done, it’s a map of the rail network in Melbourne (adding in the defunct train lines in MSPaint) with a little footy on all the stations of the traditional Melbourne league venues. Great. But once you’re in the gloggy thing, click on the footy and you get taken to my post on that particular ground.

I haven’t gotten around all of the grounds as yet, so if you click on a station/footy and nothing happens, then just sit tight, I’m getting through them. There’s a Moorabbin one brewing as we speak!

Once I’ve finished my series on the old VFL grounds, it’s then to the VFA and beyond!

May Glog bless you one and all

Nice Statistic – Hawthorn’s Premiership Gold

Posted on September 27, 2012 by theholyboot

History. Records. Come Saturday afternoon at the MCG, the players won’t be giving these two words a thought in the world and rightly so. It is the now that they must live in. But alas, I am not playing in the AFL Grand Final, and therefore wish to delve into the past.

Should Hawthorn win the 2012 premiership, they will break a long held, little know record. It has been well documented that Hawthorn has won at least one premiership in every decade since the 1960’s, which equals Melbourne’s record of 5 straight decades with at least one premiership (1920’s-1960’s.) Should Hawthorn overcome the Bloods on Saturday, they will become the first VFL/AFL team to claim premierships in six consecutive decades, a truly remarkable feat of sustained success.

To illustrate, the three most successful clubs, Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood, have at best managed just four consecutive premiership yielding decades, giving an idea of just how successful the Hawthorn Football Club has become since John Kennedy took a hold of them and since they changed from Mustard Pots and Mayblooms into predatorial Hawks.

What makes it all the more astonishing is the meagre beginnings of the club. Formed in 1902, the club unsuccessfully progressed through the Metropolitan league, the VFA and into the VFL, all with a bare trophy cabinet. Once in the VFL, they spent the 1920’s-1950’s as a cellar dweller, and along with the other 1925 inclusions to the league, Footscray and North Melbourne, didn’t look like winning a premiership.

Footscray was the first of this trio to break through for a flag in 1954. But just seven years later in 1961, as both Hawthorn and Footscray met on the big day, it was the ‘underdog’ Hawthorn who were the sentimental favourites, winning their first flag and beginning an astonishing run of success.

But they come up against a formidable foe in Sydney, also once the easybeats of the league. In fact the Swans (continuation of the South Melbourne into the Sydney Football Club) have undergone a transformation not unlike Hawthorn’s in the 1960’s. After six fruitless decades, surpassed only by St.Kilda’s 1890’s-1950’s drought, the Swans shed their easybeat image, internally rebranding themselves as the Bloods, leading to premiership success in 2005.

She’ll be a grand old game come Saturday.

Thanks as always to http://www.footyjumpers.com/ for the Hawthorn logo images!

Happy Snap #18 Me, Lamby and Sis

Posted on September 18, 2012 by theholyboot

The year was 1991, and Craig Lambert had just taken out the Richmond best and fairest award. This is long before the current day glitz and glamour of club Best & Fariests, complete with live streaming on the club websites. This was pretty much a sausage sizzle under a tent with 100 or so people around.That’s me on the left, Lamby in the middle and my sister Mezz on the right. Contrary to the lies I told my sister, that is not David Cloke in the background!

So that’s me in my dorky early 90’s Richmond attire… I would’ve worn Tiger jocks had they been available. Note my sisters Trent Nicholls badge atop her hat, her favourite player at the time, while Flea Weightman’s badge is close to my heart. The following year saw me don Lamby’s number 4, and as I had a long sleeve jumper, this felt authentic. It was with sadness that another Tiger hero of mine left at the end of 1993, but I followed his career with interest, much as I did with Stuey Maxfield in Sydney.

Best & Fairest 1991 style…Nev Crowe presents a double-denimed Scott Turner as Cameron Schwabb stands extreme left. Le far left players are Jeff Hogg, Lamby, Flea Weightman, old man Cloke and I think Craid Smith.

Barassi – The Stage Show

Posted on September 14, 2012 by theholyboot

Ronald Dale Barassi. His name is intrinsically linked with Australian Football, as player, coach, media performer and visionary. And what better way to celebrate Barassi’s contribution to football and life in Victoria than in the form of the Stage Show! Barassi the Stage Show is nearly upon us, combining two of Melbourne’s great passions; footy and the arts. I was lucky enough to be invited for a sneak peak at rehearsals and a quick chat with some of the cast, but before I had even entered the building, I felt that this show would be a success. Why?

Well in a quiet backstreet of Collingwood, the majority of the cast was involved in a glorious game of kick-to-kick. This is what they do in their breaks. Parked cars were at risk of damage while the possibility of the footy lodging itself in a tree loomed large. It was beautiful.

On entering the main rehearsal room it was as if being in a football museum, with old photos, Sherrins, Premiership cups (I think they were fake) and even newspaper clippings lining the walls. As a stickler for detail, I could see that much thought and research is going into putting this show together.

But just how do you bring the rough and tumble game of football to the stage? I didn’t have to wait long, as the fist scene we were treated to was an artistic impression of Jesaulenko’s famous mark from the 1970 grand final. Here’s the thing…it was done in slow motion! I won’t go through the mechanics of how, you can see for yourself in the video below.

All of the best choreography in the land would be futile however without someone who could pull off the role of Ronald Barassi himself. Enter Chris Asimos and Steve Bastoni, playing ‘young’ and ‘older’ Barassi respectively. When meeting the young Barassi, Asimos, I was struck by his appearance. He has the Barassi mouth, the strong jaw line, while also pointing out that he was Greek and not Italian like Barassi’s heritage. Originally from Adelaide, Asimos noted that “you need to have a team to follow in Melbourne,” and as such he now follows the Dees.

Chris Asimos portrays a young Barassi. I like that his Melbourne jumper has a collar!

While I didn’t get to see the young Barassi in action, Bastoni too has the strong jaw line and presence to play Ron. The legend of Australian football is not the most eloquent of speakers. Even he once famously said after adressing a player that “you probably don’t even know what I’m talking about!.” But both the script and Bastoni combine to bring Barassi’s sharp and at times clumsy manner of speaking together in a most enjoyable way.

Ron Barassi, young and the old…er. Asimos on the left, Bastoni on the right.

An interesting aspect of the show is the teaming up of former high flying Melbourne star Russell Robertson, a performer in his own right whether taking a hanger in the square or behind his guitar, with the experienced Sean McGrath and Glenn Maynard. The inclusion of Robertson for his first acting role appears to be far from a token appearance of a footballer.

The three work as a team throughout, portraying a multitude of different characters relevant to the stage of Barrassi’s career being depicted. Remember, Ron was in footy from the 1950’s through to the 1990’s, so there is much ground to cover.

“This is all new to me so being with Sean and Glenn has been great, I’ve just soaked up as much as I can form them” said Robertson of working with McGrath and Maynard, himself familiar with footy. “It’s different to footy, that just takes up your whole life, you can’t drink, you have to watch what you eat… whereas these guys work hard but then go to the pub every night for a couple of beers!”

Ron The cast go through their paces, Jane Clifton with her enthralling narration while the ‘boys’ await their turn.

Having a professional footballer on board certainly has it’s benefits in a project such as this, and in a search for authenticity, Robertson has been able to give some ‘footballing direction. “Chris (Asimos) was too balletic and clean in his movements, I had to dirty him up a bit” Robertson said with a cheeky grin, well aware that he was a novice of the theatre but looking for a bit of playful leverage. “All I’ve really helped in has been movement…to make it more realistic.”

Maynard, who among other roles depicts indigenous star Syd Jackson, pointed out that it’s a show for everyone, “not just Melbourne supporters” added Robertson. Barassi once said that “loyalty was doing the right thing by the club you were with for the time you were there,” and as such spent time at 4 different clubs. However Barassi transcends club, he represents Australian football, and has been patriotic about spreading it around this land. “It’s a history of VFL/AFL football, everyone should see this play” Robertson concluded.

Richard Sutherland playing North administrator Albert Mantello, attempting to lure Barassi to coach the only club without a premiership.

Rehearsal hours are long, but with the show opening in little over a week and a noticeable increase in media coverage, there is a great sense of enthusiasm amongst the cast. Bastoni was sporting a Marngrook Footy Show top, no doubt a memento from his recent appearance on the show to plug ‘Barassi.’ It seems apt as the Margrook footy show mixes live musical performance with footy talk, much in the way footy will hit the stage with this production.

September in Melbourne is more than just finals time, it’s also a celebration of Australian football. There’s no better way than to make sure you catch ‘Barassi.’ Check out this quick video of how rehearsals are coming along.

For more information, please visit the comprehensive Barassi Play website. Ticketing and cast information can be found along with plenty of other interesting features.

You can also follow the Barassi Play on twitter by following @BarassiShow and check out the Barassi show on facebook for the latest updates http://www.facebook.com/BarassiTheStageShow

Young Ron Barassi image from http://gameplans.tumblr.com/post/549942291/ron-barassi-jim-stynes-and-the-mcg

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