Category: Local Football

THE JOY OF FOOTBALL #1 – Seeing A Teammate Kick A Goal

I think that men and women should be treated as equal in everything except the three female spheres of activity of being pregnant, giving birth and breast feeding.

But I think that there are subtle differences in abilities and tendencies between men and women such as a slight tendency for women to be more empathetic than men.

Overall, empathy is also a very common quality in men, but, as a man who was a midwife for 30 years, my life experience has been to see a little more empathy in women than in men.

To me there is an emotional beauty in the way that the Fitzroy footballer pictured below celebrates a goal by a teammate in a grand final played last year that you wouldn’t see as often in a male player.

Women tend to be better at expressing this sort of joy than men are.

Our culture teaches men to hide emotions not to let them out.

Do women bring more joy to the game of football or is that joy gender neutral?

Is women’s football more fun?

I look forward to respectful and open discussion of my ideas with anyone anywhere who loves sport and the non-dogmatic pursuit of truth and fun.

Geoff Fox, 16th May, 2025, Melbourne, Australia

A TEAM GOAL

Individual excellence in footy is great to watch but it is more often team efforts that produce success.

In this footage the two are combined.

One North Footscray player (red and white) smothers the kick of his Albanvale opponent allowing a teammate to take possession of the ball and goal.

Geoff Fox, 11th March, 2025, Australia

SEEING IT THROUGH LIKE HAMLET COULDN’T – LONG LIVE AUSSIE RULES

For people like me, the Australia I was born into, was a meritocracy where one wage could get a family a home.

Times have changed.

The forty hour week is gone for far too many people.

But endeavour still inspires me.

Youth brings me hope.

As in my above poeticised image from a Maribyrnong Park Football Club match last Saturday.

Today we need young men to be lions.

But we don’t make it easy.

Reminds me of Shakespeare:

“To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: ………”

I love to see young guys having a go.

But my heart bleeds for them, and young women, when I see what they are up against in modern Australia.

Geoff Fox May 2, 2025, Melbourne Australia.

CODY CONNECTS

Cody Brand is a key forward with Keilor Football Club.

He topped the club’s goal kicking last year in a premiership team.

He did a great job to connect the bottom of his boot with the football for a goal under pressure in the goalsquare in a match last Friday against Strathmore.

Geoff Fox, 20th April, 2025, Melbourne, Australia

Is This The Fastest Freedom In World Sport

I have been watching Aussie Rules Footy seriously since 1967.

It astonishes me now just how much fun it can be to watch local football. Now that there is no free to air football from the AFL professionals on Saturdays, I urge other people in Australia to consider shifting their allegiances to local clubs. Its cheaper, its friendlier and it can be just as good to watch.

For instance, I cannot remember seeing more scintillating evasion of tackles in any code of football at any level than the play of number 68 for North Footscray in yesterday’s game against Wyndham Vale.

First of all a “Don’t Argue.” when not in possession of the ball. Then four blind turns in four seconds. 180 degrees clockwise. 90 degrees clockwise. 90 degrees clockwise again.. Then 90 degrees anticlockwise.

Geoff Fox, Melbourne, Sunday, April 13th, 2025