Saw this article in The Age this morning http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/real ... 19333.html and brought back great memories of playing, coaching and umpiring country footy in Tassie. The heart and soul of our game is in the small valleys and and sloping ovals of country football throughout Australia.
Loved the ones about the "fever" and the tiger snakes in the changrooms! Any other stories out there?

Yup...was thinking only yesterday how great grassroots footy is. People sitting in their cars watching...the food...balls being lost in the bush behind the goals...kids running around all over the place with footies...hard tough footy.

Lot to be said for sitting in the back of the ute backed up to the fence, listening to the footy on the radio and watching the game. (with a couple of cold ones as well!) This is about as far removed from where I am now that I could imagine!!!!

i played in the mid gippsland league until 2 years ago and it was exactly that. cars pulled up to the fence...the boys from the reserves and the thirds running the boundary....a couple of slabs waiting in the rooms when you come off the ground after the game...the senior coach is also the local mechanic and players and their families get massive discounts...footy really brings a community together....look at mildura earlier in the year...footy...words cant explain it.

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Back like a raging case of pubic lice

There was nothing better than kicking a goal at the city end at Deakin Reserve with the thirds sitting in their customary position behind the goals going apeshit.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa