Round Fourteen: Living in the Seventies

In recent weeks (and months...) this column has bagged the AFL on many an occasion, albeit for generally good reasons. But it is important to be positive too when the opportunity strikes. And so, let me say without qualification, that whoever's idea it was to have the annual heritage round deserves a pat on the back and a bar card at the Spearmint Rhino nightclub- it's a cracker of an idea. As I recall the original heritage round was a one-off during the 1996 centenary season featuring the original eight teams wearing old timey colours and faux-lace up jumpers, and the other johnny-come-lately teams just wearing their regular jumpers I believe. The concept then appears to have laid dormant until 2003, when it came bursting back with a vengeance. The AFL made a probably sensible decision to introduce a theme for the heritage round recently, given that having for example Carlton in a 19th century replica playing Brisbane in the original eyewatering Bears jumper was a bit of a trippy experience. So while last year we had the '80s round, this year we were all living in the '70s, as the song goes.

One of the real benefits of having a theme for the heritage round is that it allows for a focus on a specific time period, as well as allowing the players to run around in lairy strips. With the exception of Essendon, who were rubbish for the entire decade, the '70s was a bit of a halcyon era for football. Some of the alltime greats plied their trade during this period (Jezza, Blight, Matthews etc), some of the most historic matches took place (70, 77 and 79 Grand Finals), and some of the most iconic moments with accompanying classic commentary occurred ("Oh, Jesalenko (sic), you beauty!"; "Matthews has snapped the point post! Talk about a he-man!"; "Harmes snaps it back to Sheldon...it's a goal!". Media coverage during the week saw many of the old players, coaches and commentators reminiscing about the old days and the old grounds and characters, it was great to hear some of the stories about a bygone era when the money was less but the passion was every bit equal.

This was also the decade that saw colour television come into play, and with it garish shorts and jumper shades for a number of teams. Mercifully by the '80s most teams had quietly gone back to the slightly less aesthetically offensive lower garments, but for one round a year wheel them out I say! So we had Essendon and the Bulldogs in red shorts, Richmond in yellow shorts and Melbourne in a most fetching royal blue shade which had the bonus effect of removing the colour clash with Carlton. The Dees were able to give interim coach Mark Riley a winning start with a win over the Blues, pride being the only thing at stake for these two clubs now in 2007. The other team out of the running, Richmond, put up a brave show against North but the Roos proved too strong and kept their unexpectedly good run going for another week. Pre-season favourites Fremantle were desperate for a win up at Sydney to keep their fast sinking 2007 hopes alive but the Swans, inspired by Michael O'Laughlin's games record and Adam Goodes' 200th, took the points and significantly boosted their own chances of finals action. How many weeks left until Chris Connolly becomes the latest member of the sacked coaches club?

I wrote last week about the Big Occasion game- Essendon came into their clash against high-flying Geelong welcoming back two-time cancer survivor Adam Ramanauskas and celebrating 250 games for favourite son James Hird. But the Big Occasion turned into a stinker for the Dons with Hird and young gun Alwyn Davey going down injured and key players Dustin Fletcher and Mark McVeigh going into the umpire's book as the Cats continued on their merry way. The possible finals rivals for the Cats had mixed results- Collingwood deservedly prevailed in a dour struggle in the wet against St Kilda, if only because the Saints refused to join in the '70s theme and turned up in all-white- very helpful to avoid a colour clash against a team wearing black and white. The Western Bulldogs came through against Port Adelaide. Curiously there was much pre-game hype and excitement that this was the first time Port had worn the old "prison bars" outfit that they had worn in the old Uncle Toby's SANFL prior to joining the big boys league- it clearly wasn't, the invaluable footyjumpers.com website shows undisputable evidence that they wore that jumper in the heritage round in 2003. Short memories, people!

The Power's crosstown rivals the Crows delivered what should have been the big shock of the round by thumping previously resurgent Hawthorn at Football Park. But less than 24 hours later the biggest upset in years- at least since the Saints beat the Eagles some weeks ago- occurred in the West. Once more West Coast were the fall guys, perhaps lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that while they were running around in the 1977 WA State of Origin jumper, the opponents Brisbane were sporting the old Fitzroy colours. Halfway through the first quarter the odds on a Lions win were 21 to 1- not a bad bet as it turned out as Brisbane romped home to stun all and sundry. The win was the first at Subiaco Oval ever by a team wearing the Roys jumper (although they did once win at the WACA long ago) and the loss consigned the Eagles from third to... second, courtesy of Hawthorn's belting and subsequent percentage loss. Strange things happened in the Seventies!

Apologies for the delay in this week's wrap, I joined the ranks of the nation's homeowners over the weekend. Finally I have an opinion on interest rates! Round 15 to come quicker I hope.