the unique flavour of offal in your footy pie

Denizens of the cheap seats,


Gave the solitary Saints fan on the way back home from the ground on the event bus a bit of lip.
But he refused to take the bait, a rotund melancholy looking bloke he was, the only thing he would say to me was:
“ah well, any win’s a good win, innit?”
Win ugly, win often, win well.
The bottom line was the Saints made the fatal mistake of trying to play the Swans at their own game, producing the ugliest game of the season by far.
The plan was always going to fail.
And that’s why no-one wants to play Sydney in the finals.
After the 13,000 people flooded the paying arena for the Field of Women show, they had to re-mark up the centre and goal squares and the fifty’s with new white paint before it was game on.
The angel flew over the ground early and managed to get my one and only big hooter call away mid-way through the first quarter as the ground fell almost silent, “WAKE UP SWANS!”
Turned a few hundred heads, but doubt that it was heard on the field of play from the cheap seats.
McVeigh’s late goals in the opening stanza saved us early, and it soon became apparent that less than 15 goals would be enough to win the thing.
Stole a Vili’s pie as you do, but came to regret it, as the good lady wife and the children accused me of letting go a “sew-er-age” fart at full time.
Hiding up in one corner of the pastry was surely a bit of ox kidney.
The unmistakable taste, the unique flavour of offal in your footy pie.
Fantastic.
Goes well with a Tooheys New at the self serve bar.
Pity you can’t just slip a plastic schooner of beer past the checkout in the pocket of your jacket.
Along Came A Schneider’s miracle second quarter goal right in front of us certainly got the punters going and managed to get the Swans into the five-all position at the main break.
At half time, as is my wont, found myself having a very quiet number at the service gate adjacent to Gate P in the prevailing breeze so as not to draw attention to myself, next to the tremendous cloud of tobacco smoke that is the designated smoking area out the back of Bay 146 at half time.
Suddenly, saw a surge of security guards running towards me, but before I had time to think “what have I done wrong, this time?”, casually stepped out of the way, and they rushed past me and roughly threw a couple of drunks out of the ground.
The smokers hardly blinked.
A very solid Championship Quarter for a one goal jump at three quarter time was good enough for me, and it was just about time to call ‘game over’.
It’s was a pity the Ugliest Man in Football was ruled out before the match began, along with Leaping Leo Barry, but the Swans backline was never going to be a problem with C.Bolton putting in an outstanding game, almost single handedly locking down Gehrig and Riewoldt, making sure they didn’t go completely out of control.
Forward line lacked structure with BBB Hall having an average, goalless, night, while hardly a mark was taken inside 50 in the first half [admittedly it’s not easy when its completely flooded every time the ball goes anywhere near the Swans goal].
Magic’s miracle final quarter goal to put the issue beyond doubt could not disguise the fact that the bloke is a sad shadow of his former self; not only has he lost a yard in pace, he’s lost plenty of yards, marking is no longer as safe as houses as it used to be, and he can’t rely on his ageing body to outmuscle opponents when the ball goes to ground.
Sincerely hope someone he trusts and listens to is whispering the “R” word in his ear.
For mine, Buchanan was best on ground for the second week running; in everything from start to finish.
The last three games of the season are all tricky ones, but the match against Collingwood at the home of the Grand Final is absolutely critical.
Given that, SC Roos is a very happy man with what appeared to be a forlorn hope just a matter of a few weeks ago – a top four finish – now materialising as a distinct possibility.

SYDNEY: 2.2, 5.5, 9.7, 12.10 (82). Goals: McVeigh 3, Schneider, Fosdike, Everitt, Ablett, O'Loughlin, Mathews, Davis, Schmidt, Malceske.
ST KILDA: 3.4, 5.5, 8.9, 9.11 (65). Goals: Gehrig 2, Riewoldt 2, Milne, Attard, Dal Santo, Clarke, Hayes.
At Stadium Australia, Homebush.
Crowd: 63,369.



When you’ve kicked a penalty goal with Benji on song with the boot to get yourself into extra time you know you are always going to be behind the eight ball.
It was very clever of the Roosters to see the Tigers were looking at the heavens and playing for the field goal, and then make the set play for the match winning try - easy as pie.
None of the Balmain boys played badly, or did anything particularly wrong.
Benji was in everything, and his kicks in play were classic five eighth stuff.
The kiddie desperately wants to be a classic five eighth, but it is particularly sad to see SC Sheens now forced to openly admit that he has to re-train Marshall as a winger, as there is nowhere else he can play him.
The coaching staff has had to come face-to-face with the reality that if the bloke gets another “episode” of the shoulder injury, it would almost certainly be career over at age 22.
That obviously limits the attractiveness of such a hugely talented player, and they would have to pay him less money next season to keep him under the salary cap, given that they have let Whatuira go to Huddersfield in the English Premier League, to be with a few old Balmain boys including John Skandalis, for precisely that reason.
Excellent to see The Great Hoddo play after he had made himself unavailable due to the impending birth of his second child.
But he’s obviously married to a good football wife, as Skye Hoddo duly delivered Christian Blair Hoddo in the early hours of Friday morning, to go with daughter Annaliese Hoddo.
Hoddo played in jersey number 21, and had a blinder to boot.
And oh the injuries!
Some Roosters players appeared to spend more time on the back of Medi-Cab than off it, and Robbie Farah looked gone for all money with a hip injury, but came back in the best Gallipoli style, and soldiered on.
It’s not often that you see steam coming out of SC Sheens’ ears, but that was exactly what was observed after the “pretty ordinary penalty” in the 72nd minute, when the Lawrence toddler was done for obstruction during a Roosters bomb, when he was for all intents and purposes running backwards, and never for a moment took his eye off the ball.
Go figure.
The Roosters scored and took the two point lead on next set of six tackles
SC Sheens on interview after the game gave the Bamford both barrels:
“My chat to [referee’s boss] Robert Finch was a waste of time…we lost the game, I’m not disputing that, but you don’t like stupid decisions and that was a stupid decision. It was a poor decision. You don’t mind mistakes…but a poor decision is not acceptable”.
We can now add Tony Archer to the Ship of Fools.
Beaten in extra time can cruel any team’s chances, and we shall see where it falls into the laps of the stats guru’s come Tuesday.
The Tigers are just the heartbreak team of the year, aren’t they? – impossible to follow.
4 losses to start the season, followed by the purple patch of seven consecutive wins, then this:
L-W-L-L-W-W-L-L-W-L-L.
Perhaps it is time for the first serious visit to the Room Full of Mirrors on Balmain road.
When the season is on the line, it’s always a good look if you take a good look at yourself.

WESTS TIGERS 22 Tries: Farah, Te'o, Fulton. Goals: Marshall (5)
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 26 Tries: Roberts (2), Monaghan (2), Aubusson. Goals: Roberts (3).
At Stadium Australia, Homebush.
Crowd: 25, 166

there has been a miracle!!

Hallelujah

Praise the good lord Joisus!! For there has been a miracle!!
Lewis Roberts-Thompson aka ‘the ugliest man in football’ has made a triumphant return to the Sydney Swans bench for Saturday night’s game against St Kilda at the Western Paddock:


Sydney Swans V St Kilda


Backs: Kennelly, Barry, Malceski
Half Backs: Bevan, C. Bolton, Mathews
Centres: Ablett, Kirk, Buchanan
Half Forwards: OKeefe, OLoughlin, McVeigh,
Forwards: Schneider, Hall, Davis
Followers: Jolly, J. Bolton, Goodes
Int: Everitt, Fosdike, Richards, R-Thomson
Emergencies: Brennan, Dempster, Schmidt

Ins: Barry, Roberts-Thomson
Outs: Brennan, Grundy

Be there and bear witness.
Honour the name…and Cheer Cheer.

a question that will take some pondering

Spectators,

A strong training run for the Swans on a chilly, breezy Sunday afternoon in Canberra.
Not much more to be learnt from giving the hapless Demons an eight goal football lesson, apart from the fact that they shouldn’t have let in the last couple of Melbourne goals, and boosted their percentage even further.
Thought Buchanan had a blinder; in everything from the off, and did a Goodes Train impression, in that he was capable of bobbing up all over the ground with the ball on string.
Rhino Keefe had another great game, Along Came A Schneider is finding some real late season form, Fosdike played well for the second week in a row, Malceski held the back line together as usual, and even Spida made some useful contributions in the ruck.
SC Roos relaxed the forward structure to the point where there were no less than 12 –count’ em – 12 different goals kickers, but against the defence offered up by the Demons, it was a day when virtually anyone could have a pop and be more or less guaranteed a major.
Richmond followed by Melbourne is not exactly a great yardstick for the pointy end, but next weekend’s encounter against St Kilda in the last home game of the season at the Western Paddock will be a better measure of how the Swans are travelling up to the big ones.
Tickets are in hand.
Surely there must have been some discussion at the Monday morning smoko at the magic waters at the Bronte Sea Pool about how to approach the seemingly impossible in the modern game – how to qualify for the Grand Final without having the benefit of a home final early in September?
It’s a question that will take some pondering.

MELBOURNE: 0.2, 3.4, 5.5, 9.10 (64). Goals: Holland 3, Davey 2, Jamar, Miller, Neitz, Newton
SYDNEY: 5.1, 10.5, 14.9, 17.10 (112). J.Bolton 2, Buchanan 2, Jolly 2, O'Keefe 2, Schneider 2, Ablett, N.Davis, Goodes, Grundy, Hall, Malceski, O'Loughlin
At Manuka Oval, Canberra.
Crowd: 11,266.


This is sounding more and more like a broken record – but the Might Tiges wuz robbed – yet again!
Good thing I only caught the radio call on this one, otherwise I would’ve have been trying to reach into the television to strangle the ref
Absolutely caned in the first half penalties, with the Titan’s scoring on almost every subsequent set of six and cruelling the Tigers chances by half time.
And it didn’t help that the first try of the game saw that rat traitor Scotty Prince put in a bomb, only to see it ricochet off the cross bar, back into the field of play, where it was scooped up and run into the in-goal with ease – never mind that half a dozen Titans players were offside!
Even the ever cautious SC Sheens had a go at the Bamford in a subtle way, reminding him that Balmain is the least penalised team in the entire competition.
SC Sheens also reminded anyone who would listen that of the five games the Tigers have had with Steven Clarke as the match official, they have only won one.
Tells you plenty.
Obviously, this particular Bamford, Steven Clarke, along with Paul Simpkins, and to hell with it – while we are naming names – the Chief Bamford, Robert Finch, are all fools to themselves, and a burden on the community.
Didn’t help either that the Great Hoddo was a late withdrawl due to a corked knee [what other injury can he get this year?].
And Titans coach Cartwright also freely admitted that he employed the very sneaky tactic of using the two former Tigers players in his side, that rat traitor Prince, and that notorious enforcer Warren Lanfranchi, to deliberately slow down the play-the-ball in order to nullify the effectiveness of Farah around the ruck.
Worked pretty well by all accounts.
Nothing the opposing coach can do about it, and remarkably, if done subtly, it’s not even against the rules!
Amazingly, the loss didn’t do too much damage to the Tigers on the ladder, sitting comfortable in eighth, and only one win out of the top four.
In fact, there was even some mid-week talk about a home final, and the fact that it should be played at Leichhardt Oval, as Balmain is “a two-try better team at Leichhardt”.
But you can bet your bottom dollar it won’t be.
Any home final will be at the Olympic Stadium, as there’s not near enough capacity at Leichhardt, even if they charged twice the price on the supply and demand factor, and it costs the club a fortune to gear up the ancient ground for a game day anyway.
But SC Sheens would be aghast as such talk, saying we are getting way ahead of ourselves here.
Even so, given that the last four games are all against teams below the Tigers on the current table, it should be achievable, and then as we’ve seen in the not too distant past, anything’s possible from there.

GOLD COAST TITANS 30. Tries: Cooper, Webster, Delaney, Lewis, Laffranchi. Goals: Delaney (5).
WESTS TIGERS 14. Tries: Tuiaki (2), Lawrence. Goals: Marshall (1).

At Carrara Oval, Gold Coast.

Crowd 17,257.

an ornament to the game

Hillites,

Delighted to be able to count myself among the denizens of the Leichhardt Oval hill on Monday night.
An what a game of ruby league it was, at still the best viewing ground in all of Sydney since 1907!
Just a crying shame that it’s only used for three games a year.
Refreshingly old fashioned to spend a night out with like minded people on one of the last of the great mounds in the known universe.
Also, one of the last football grounds in the world where you can actually get a hot pie and an ice cold beer [Carlton Draught in cans for a fiver; none of this mucking about with the plastic cup rubbish, and as a result no beer queues all night at The Scoreboard Bar.]
Everyone on the hill was more or less on their feet for the entire second half, a screamin’ and a yelling’, a hootin’ and a hollerin’ as the Mighty Tiges ran in seven second half tries – for a total of ten – count ‘em – ten tries!
[Don’t think I’ve ever seen the Tigers score 54 points at Leichhardt Oval, although I do distinctly remember a 52-0 score line against South Sydney many years ago now. The day a lunatic Souths fan got up on the narrow ledge around the scoreboard and began loudly haranguing the crowd below. Only fell off after he’d managed to weather the storm of being pelted with thousands of empty beer cans].
Hoddo managed to get on the scoresheet in his 200th, but remarkably the Lawrence toddler was not among the scorers, after having scored a try in every game he’s played this year.
They just weren’t using his wing that much, on account of they didn’t have to.
Everyone lost count of who was scoring anyway and where they were coming from, as the Tigers steamrolled the hapless Cowboys and just seemed to barge over the line at will.
Even the scorers couldn’t keep up, and according to one, Robbie Farah never even shaped up for a place kick all night, while some other scorers say otherwise!
What a coup for the club’s marketing department.
Hoddo’s 200th [nice touch that the club printed up thousands of Hoddo masks to distribute to the crowd, which were put to a variety of creative uses] the annual Laurie Nicholls [a bloke seven years dead and still very fondly remembered] tribute night, and a crowd only a couple of thousand short of a full house, and then 54-10!
It doesn’t get any better than that for the fans.
Good to see that SC Sheens on interview after the game [again in the fetching pink shirt and pinstripe charcoal suit jacket] insisted that there was virtually nothing to be learnt from the win:
“now let’s be realistic, the Cowboys were well underdone, they were nowhere near their best side, Thurston obviously played injured, so we’re not kidding ourselves, but while saying that, you’ve still gotta put ‘em away…they were in front of us, and we needed to win, and win well, and we did.”
Excellent to see Benji Marshall back on the paddock after his long recovery from his dodgy injured shoulder; coming back at just the right time of the season.
But I don’t know about the wisdom of playing him at half back, when you’ve got a perfectly good half back in Johnny Morris who now finds himself playing in the centres.
A few trademark jinks and offloads from Benji and we were on the scoreboard early, and it was really game over by half time.
On the Norm “Latchem” Robinson stand hung a large banner that simply read:
"JESUS WEPT
BENJI STEPPED”
Next thing they will be taking a leaf out of the Geelong book and start calling him “the Pontiff”

On his 200th game, it might be worth reflecting for a few moments on the career of The Great Hoddo
There is a helluva lot to like about Brett Hogdson.
You don’t play 200 first grade games and play for New South Wales unless you are any good.
There’s the apocryphal story of the bloke turning up to training at Western Suburbs for the first time.
“a weedy little kid who thought he could play rugby league”
The first thing he did was wander over to the incumbent first grade full back and enquire from him when he might be considering retirement.
The only problem was that the incumbent first grade full back took him seriously!
All the skills.
Victoria Cross style bravery in defence, to the extent of being foolhardy, almost to the point of lunacy; even if it does mean having your face reconstructed with titanium plates in the most recent instance
Loves nothing more than being bashed from pillar to post while running the ball out of defence after fielding a ball in the in-goal.
Just loves it.
Safe as houses under the high ball, and you could probably count the number of grubbers into the in-goal that he hasn’t rounded up on the fingers of one hand.
Not much in the way of a jink and a step but certainly does have that priceless gift possessed by all the great full backs – the ability to insert himself into the attacking line at precisely the right instant and brush off a defender, put in a searching little run [he has a fantastic turn of speed over 20 yards], and offload to one of his wingers with one man to beat, or take on his opposing number man-on-man, and score himself.
A part time goal kicker, to be sure, but one who nonetheless would have put more over the black dot than ones he’d sprayed away from the posts.
Unlike other Balmain full-backs I could name [but won’t, you know who they are]; not a hint of malice in his play; he’s never been one to play the game filthy.
I’d be very surprised if he’s even been hauled before the Judiciary of a Tuesday night.
As identified by SC Sheens, a good leader of men, and that doesn’t mean that you have to be a traffic cop.
More involves being able to pick the body language of your team mates and putting a word in there, a pat on the head here.
Also, by all reports, a great club man who does the right thing by the sponsors, and as far as I can remember, his personal life has never been mentioned in the press.
And a fine rugby league brain apparently, who works in close concert with SC Sheens on the plans for the set plays.
A legendary stylist, who doesn’t appear to have been born with any particular brilliance, but has over time, perfected his art.
All in all, an ornament to the game.

WESTS TIGERS 54 Tries: Harrison (2), Tuiaki, Morris, Hodgson, Heighington, Fitzhenry, Farah, Galea, Halatau.
Goals: Hodgson (3), Marshall (3), Farah (1).
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 10 Tries: Smith, Bartlett. Goals: Thurston (1).
At Leichhardt Oval.
Crowd: 17,101.

OR:

WESTS TIGERS 54 Tries: Harrison (2), Tuiaki, Morris, Hodgson, Heighington, Fitzhenry, Farah, Galea, Halatau.
Goals: Hodgson (4), Marshall (3).
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 10 Tries: Smith, Bartlett. Goals: Thurston (1).
At Leichhardt Oval.
Cowd: 17,101.

Talk about another case of needing to put a side away.
The Swans performance was clinical, if nothing else.
Keeping in touch with the eight and a nice percentage booster.
Nice to see BBB Hall dominant against some hapless opposition.
A classic goal when he managed to bust out of about four tackles using his strength and imposing physique, found himself just out side the goal square, turned on a five cent piece, and bang!
Snapped it through the big ones.
The Goodes train had a good one and is hopefully at last tuning up for the pointy end, but poor ol’ Magic looks more and more like a passenger every week.
Rhino Keefe had another blinder, while C.Bolton, McVeigh, and Kirk put in their usual sound performances.
Richmond just goes to show you what happens when you field a team that is too small, too slow and too weak – even for a bunch of creaking veterans.
Jeez, you wouldn’t want to be one of those Tigers fans, unless you enjoy suffering!

SYDNEY: 4.3 9.5 16.7 21.12 (138). Goals: Hall 6, Davis 4, Schneider 3, O'Keefe 2, Everitt 2, Bevan, J. Bolton, Jolly, Schmidt.
RICHMOND: 3.2 6.7 9.9 10.12 (72). Goals: Brown 3, Hughes 2, Edwards, Krakouer, Moore, Pettifer, Riewoldt
At Sydney Cricket Ground.

Crowd: 23,199.

lover's tiff in the shire

If Sydney's Daily Telegraph can be believed, [and let's face it, who wouldn't believe the Daily Telegraph?] the great MJ Clarke and the The Bedbreaker had something of a lover's tiff at a Shire nightclub mid-week.
The paper quotes a friend of a friend saying Laura was seen to "run out of the bar in tears after the fight"
"The girl who was with her went and got her and they came back in and started dancing in the corner", the source said.
The paper also alleges that Pup was spoken to by the venue security after a "junior barman" refused him service when he breasted the bar with a drink order for eight.
Pup's manager denied that there had been any argument with the Bingle, but confirmed the speaking to from security, but added that it had nothing to with alcohol, saying Pup was "not the least bit intoxicated".
After the incident he was apparantly offered the use of a private room.
Joisus.
The winter has been too cold and too long.
Stop mucking about and get thee back to the nets, my son.

a bed of specially prepared hot coals at League HQ

Absurdists,

What an absolutely disgraceful showing from the Bamfords.
Must be one if the worst on record, surely?
At least two of the Warriors first half tries contained blatant forward passes in the lead up work, with one according to the radio call, at least a metre forward, right under the nose of the blind touch judge.
To make matters worse, Simpkins – remember the name – pulled the Tigers up for a forward pass that wasn’t forward.
And they were denied a fair try by the video referee!
What on earth is going on?
Never mind that SC Sheens dragged the Captain after the first Warriors try when he found himself out of position and clueless in defence as his man strolled into the in-goal untouched.
Never mind that the Tigers pack was monstered all day by the massive Maori/South Sea Islander units that make up the Warriors forwards.
Still robbed blind.
I turned off the car radio in disgust at half time as the crowd at Campbelltown gave the Bamfords a right bollocking, and the Tigers, at 22-4, had little chance of staging a comeback.
Only later did I learn that Simpkins had a complete brain explosion and sent off a Warriors player in the 79th minute for a knee to the head in a grapple tackle, when there wasn’t even the merest suggestion of a knee to the head!
The bloke must have been dead set tripping on LSD.
As the commentator at League Unlimited put it:
“I think I speak for most people when I say fans, players and coaches are sick and tired of putting up with this sort of rubbish each week.”
Good to see that the fool was skewered on a spit and slowly rotated over a bed of specially prepared hot coals at League HQ on Monday morning.
Still, it doesn’t get back the two premiership points, does it?
It’s a sheer wonder that SC Sheens managed to keep his mouth shut and avoid the $10,000 fine for having a go at match officials, and sensibly limited his post match comments to “we’ll learn from out losses”.
And a very costly loss at that, as the Mighty Tiges slip from third to eighth on the ladder in one fell swoop.
A worry that Robbie Farah left his kicking boots at home, and failed to slot one all day.
There are rumours that he is in fact playing injured, and has been doing so for several weeks.
They should go back to Collis as the goal kicker, and leave Farah with the kicks in play duties.
The wisdom of purchasing tickets for next Monday night’s encounter against the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval must now be called into question, as I don’t want to put the mock on them by turning up to the game.
But, then again, there is a chance The Great Benji and The Great Hoddo could return from injury.
I’d like to see that.

WESTS TIGERS 16. Tries: Collis, Heighington, Lawrence, Tuiaki.
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 28. Tries: Rovelli (2), Ropati, Koopu, Luck. Goals: Witt (4).
At Campbelltown Sports Ground.
Crowd: 14,012.


As I predicted a few weeks ago, the Swans season is being cruelled by injury.
Exactly the same pattern emerged at Subiaco Oval as did at Kardinia Park.
No Kennelly. No Hall. No win.
Given that Kennelly is worth at least three goals saved out the back, and Hall is kicking three goals up front every game, their absence easily accounted for the two goal swing in the final analysis.
Never mind that Ben Cousins played like he’d never left off the go juice, and looked like he was still off his chops on crystal meth.
He’s certainly been to the gym in his time away, but surely that couldn’t explain it.
Get thee to the drug testers, young laddie.
Thought the standing ovation he got on his appearance on the ground was way over the top, but you get that.
For mine, Rhino Keefe had an absolute blinder, but then again, he really had no choice as he was forced to take the entire forward line burden on his own shoulders all night, with a little help from Along Came A Schneider.
McVeigh and Malceski battled manfully throughout
You have to wonder what Spida and Magic were doing with themselves?
Once again exposed as lacking a yard of pace against teams chock full of rising stars, who regularly play four or five rookies every week.
And Nick Davis certainly didn’t Come to Save Us
Swans will have to make better use of their draft picks this year than they have in recent years, otherwise there’s no future.
Will have to shed the image as a retirement and rehabilition home for old cranky players who used to have a lot of talent.
SC Roos should probably rest Kennelly and Hall for the Richmond game, even if they are right, as you’d expected Sydney to win that one in a canter at home even with a depleted line up.
Lewis Roberts-Thompson doesn’t even appear on the casualty ward list, which might suggest that he’s gorn for the season without even strapping on a boot.
Leo Barry has also done a hammy.
Very hard to see them doing much in September from here, especially as the stats guru’s and the fortune tellers are predicting they will just sneak into the pointy end in eighth.

WEST COAST: 2.6, 6.9, 13.14, 16.16 (112). Goals: Hansen 4, Staker 3, Cox 3, Judd 2, Jones, Chick, Hunter, Lynch.
SYDNEY: 2.3, 6.9, 9.9, 15.10 (100). Goals: O’Keefe 4, Mathews 2, O’Loughlin 2, Schneider 2, Barry, Jolly, Schmidt, Davis, McVeigh.
At Subiaco Oval, Perth.,
Crowd: 40, 014.

Pup acquires a pup

It appears that MJ Clarke was spotted doing a spot of shopping in the Lilli Pilli IGA mid-week. It was noticed that in the shopping trolley there were a few cans of dog food. This is no doubt to feed the dog that was recently purchased by the girlfriend. Now that's a very serious worry. Nothing says "domestic bliss" more than getting a dog. It was also noticed that he put the green shopping bags into the back of a Land Rover and drove away. Wonder what his sponsors at Ford think about that?