Barrackers,
Jeffery Smart - the well known Australian artist who shuffled off the mortal coil this week at age 91 - was remarkably precient in an interview he did ten years ago which was featured on the radio news to mark his passing.
He was asked why he had lived in Italy for so many years, not bothering to return.
He replied "Oh, I much prefer Tuscany. You have to remember, I come from Adelaide, and that's no laughing matter, and it's not funny."
So, when you are asked to go to Adelaide twice in the space of three weeks, who could blame you for never wanting to go back?
Perhaps the highlight of the game was the sight of Malceski, with the massively impressive, angry, feirce bushranger beard arguing with the Bamford, giving him a heap of lip, while the umpire just kept telling him there was no point in it on account of he had the whistle and was the one in charge of interpreting the more than 100 rules in a game, that to a casual bystander, appears to have no rules at all.
Full marks for trying to change officialdom's mind, Nick.
Swans fielded what looked to be an unbalanced side, for mine, with a couple of injuries and bringing in youngsters, and Tippett's debut game, well.
Of course, Tipsy kicked a goal in the first minute according to the script, and then did nothing for the rest of the day.
The Good Lady Wife remarked during the Champo, where the game was undoubtedly lost, "Is that bloke Tipsy actually playing?"
Went walk about and was that missing in action just when he was needed.
My spy at the Crows has been telling me for months that Sydney have bought a pup.
He describes Tippett as "flaky" who has "one good game in five" and is "high maintenance" and "one of those players who has all the talent in the world and could become one of the all time greats, but the lack of committment will see him not being able to quite pull it off, on account of the fact that he's essentially lazy, and has that attitude problem that tells him "I'm Number One, so why try harder?", and will then spend the rest of his born days as a card-carrying disappointment."
"That's why we let him go!", my spy cries.
Obviously persona non grata in town, with most of the Adelaide management suspended also until this week, on account of him.
And there were enough twisted Crows fans who actually deigned to go to a Port game for the sole purpose of jeering Tipsyy from the bleachers.
At least with all the salary cap nonsense, the Swans got him for next to nothing - didn't need to trade Jesse White and a couple of draft picks for him - and the jester is on far less money than he tried to rort out of Brisbane.
Alright then, we will see.
The proof in the Tippett pudding will come around about the first week of September.
Port even surprised themselves going by what their skipper said on interview after the game "we never expected to beat a seriously quality side like Sydney"
But boy, can they tackle.
They put some huge hits on Swans players that they'd specifically targeted, so they'd be so sore it would be a major league struggle just to get out of bed on Sunday morning.
Power has to be the best tackling team seen in the comp this year, along with an excellent backline.
Little wonder they beat Sydney at their own game.
The sight of the Great Goodes Train subbed off with a proppy leg at three quarter time, and put on the back bench with the help of a few trainers, where he reclined as if on a chaise lounge, wrapped up in a fully branded Swans dressing gown with red fluffy slippers, and a large red & white granny rug over his knees, with that look of bewilderment on his face that only Goodesy can do, summed up the afternoon perfectly.
It was as if he was saying to himself "I'm cold, I'm hurt, and I can't believe what I'm seeing".
Yep, that's about it
PORT ADELAIDE: 1.2, 3.5, 5.6, 10.12 (72). Goals: Wingard 3, Monfries 2, Broadbent, Neade, Schulz, Gray, Westhoff.
SYDNEY: 4.1, 5.2, 6.4, 8.6 (54). Goals: Tippett 2, Goodes 2, K.Jack 2, Mitchell, Morton.
At Football Park, Adelaide.
Crowd: 16,096.
The miserable ground attendance [probably the lowest for any league game in any match between any teams this season] only goes to show that the Western Suburbs die-hards have followed their former board members out the door, lost belief and faith, and now have no interest.
Such a shame.
But, in the final paralysis, it's hard to be sympathetic, and really, more fool them
Love to know what the blokes from ZZ Top in their magnificent waist-long beards wearing the 1970's vintage Magpies kit who were regulars, and even travelled as far as Leichhardt, think of the whole shabby affair.
You'd be thinking they'd be unimpressed at the very least.
Even though the city and the inner suburbs were being hammered by howling winds and flooding rains, not a drop had fallen at Campbelltown Sports Ground, which gives you a fair idea of just how far away it is from anywhere.
With the Tigers gorn, the crumbling "stadium" will be a derelict ruin with a couple of years, then demolished and covered in blocks of flats, no doubt.
There's certainly nothing of any heritage value out there.
Benji's very clever field goal sealed the deal with eight minutes to go - caught the Canberra ruck conmpletely by surprise.
As SC Sheens always used to say "it's better to get a field goal early than late, you don't want to be clinging to the cliff edge in the finish"
Never mind that they scored another try before full-time to put the issue beyond doubt.
And after all that, comes news filtering in on the bush telegraph in the corner of the loungeroom that the Great Benji isn't very happy; is in fact quite frustrated and dissatisfied with the current state of play, given that the new board is prepared to pay him more money next year when the salary cap increases to account for inflation, but they won't extend the deal beyond it's current duration which expires in 2015, as he'd hoped for.
So, his manager is talking about his client taking the well worn path down to the highly lucrative Japanese rugby union, where he's be an undoubted smash hit, to pick up a bloated stipend to invest in a very tasty lifetime pension, when it's all said and done.
The Club Secretary has more work to do there.
As one of the more disreputable fishwraps said, despite the win, in an editorial "the Wests Tigers season is in intensive care'.
Yeah right.
Tell us something we don't already know.
Ducked my head around the front door of the Front Bar down at The Local on Monday morning just to see what was shakin', and was surprised to find The Philosopher wasn't in.
The barmaid said, as she mopped his usual corner, that he'd told her that he was going to The Bahamas for a couple of weeks during the bye weeks in both codes, given that not much would be going on here, and the weather would be much nicer over there.
She wasn't doubting him, although millions would, and imagined that he'd be stretched out on some banana lounge on the pool deck at the Nassau Hilton, nursing this week's favoured tipple.
But, she did say she hasn't seen him since.
WESTS TIGERS 17. Tries: Nofoaluma, Reddy, Simona. Goals: Marshall (2). Filed Goal: Marshall (1).
CANBERRA RAIDERS 12. Tries: Earl, Milford. Goals: Croker (2).
At Campbelltown Sports Ground.
Crowd: 7,833.
