The day I took this photo of Melbourne ruckwoman Georgia Campbell being tackled at training by key forward Tayla Harris, the configuration of elbows, heads and hands caught my eye as something special.
Together, the two players looked like a Lotus Flower – the Buddhist symbol of purity, spiritual enlightenment and rebirth.
I asked Tay if she’d like a song to be written about it and she said she’d prefer a rap. So I tried (without huge ability in the art form) to make one. (click here)
In Melbourne, Aussie Rules football is often called a religion.
On the field today at the MCG, we saw Australian footy at its hard fought, free flowing best.
The magnificent Orange Tsunami almost beaten by a team with 5 debutantes.
But on the other side of the fence, only 23,278 people attended. In the three previous days at the same stadium, crowds of 80,000 twice and then 60,000 showed far more support for other clubs.
Meanwhile today, on Sunday, 131,000 went to see a car race.
The magnificent idea of Jim’s Game, honouring an Irishman who was not born into the game but came to be a true legend, had no traction.
As someone who was a health professional for thirty years, what I see in Melbourne Football Club is a lot of very decent, very good people bullied and ignored in a very cruel society.
Delighted by the footy, but deeply worried about the beautiful Dees.
In December 2023, I met Angus Brayshaw and his profound human decency was overwhelmingly obvious. Also I got a sad sense that he wasn’t quite functioning at full capacity.
After much soul searching and agonising over the following 6 months, on King’s Birthday 2024, I found myself barracking against Collingwood for the first time in my life and for Melbourne. So recently I have seen a few Melbourne games.
I love the theme song and it’s American origins. The caring people I have met at Melbourne leave entrenched systemic Collingwood bullying for dead.
Gus was the start of that but Trac and Gawny are also profoundly decent people.
My other favourite Melbourne players are in AFLw: Tay, Banno and Fitzy. To my photographer’s eyes there is no better sight in footy now than Fitzy on the fly.
The club of John Wren, Duncan Wright, Stan Magro, Brayden Maynard and Darcy Moore got what was coming to it today in 2025’s Opening Round against Greater Western Sydney. Score doubled. Too slow. Too old. And far too much recent blatant physical and psychological violence on and off the field for me to support them.
Go Dees.
Goodbye Pies.
Football free of systemic bullying and violence is the only footy I want to support.
Ronald Dale Barassi was a very important Australian Rules footballer at 4 Australian Football League (AFL) clubs.
He played in six premiership winning sides for Melbourne and captained two of them.
He lifted Carlton from their lowest ever finish at the time to a premiership in four years and in 1970 won a second premiership in a grand final in which his halftime instruction of “Handball. Handball. Handball.” was a key moment in the development of the faster modern game.
He coached North Melbourne to their first two premierships.
When the Sydney football club looked like going out of existence, he changed the direction, image and mindset of the club in a 3 year stint as coach which was the foundation for Sydney’s consistent success in the modern era.
I fully support the idea of awarding a Ron Barassi medal to the captain of the AFL premiers every year.
But the truly unique greatness of the man is his importance at four clubs.
I propose that as soon as possible a Ronald Dale Barassi Trophy be awarded every year to the best performed club in AFL clashes between Melbourne, Carlton, North Melbourne and Sydney. The winner would be the club which averages the most victories in games played between them including finals. In the event of a tie it would be decided by percentage.
you and your dad now stand together in a grassroots arts display at a national heritage site in the fourth biggest country in the world, the Republic Of Indonesia. The site, Air Kaca, is sacred to the memory of General Douglas MacArthur, sometimes known as The Saviour Of Australia.
I find it absolutely amazing, Mark, that 75 years after your dad started his senior coaching career at Port Adelaide, you are still a vital development coach at Melbourne Football Club, the oldest professional football club of any code of football in the world
This amazes me almost almost as much as the fact your dad achieved everything he achieved in football, after starting his senior career at the age of 24, because for five years he sacrificed playing sport to join the fight against European fascism and Japanese imperialism in WW2.
Mark, please consider supporting my suggestion that Melbourne and Port Adelaide compete next year for the Williams-Barassi Cup on Sunday the 15th June at Adelaide Oval in honour of the footy giants, your father, Foster Neil Williams, and Ronald Dale Barassi. (In future when the two teams clash in Melbourne, it could be possibly called the Barassi-Williams Cup.)
I think this suggestion works now because of the astonishing fact that you are still coaching, 75 years after your dad started his legendary coaching career with the original Magpies, Port Adelaide, in 1950.
The story of Ron Barassi and his dad makes the two names, Williams and Barassi, a fitting pair.
In 1940, Ronald Senior was a premiership player for Melbourne Football Club, but lost his life at the WW2 Seige Of Tobruk less than a year later. Ronald Junior went on to become a legend of the game as captain of Melbourne and dual premietship coach of both Carlton and North Melbourne.
The world can still learn from patriotic champions like Fos Williams and both Barassis.
Can you help, Mark?
Geoff Fox, an old man finding his way in a world that forgets too many heroes of days gone by.
FOOTY FOR FREEDOM 