Sensational SEN

A couple of years back, before the station went sport, I was presenting the morning program on Radio 1116 3AK. Radio 3AK is now SEN, the home of unadulterated sport. Last Wednesday night I was a guest on Bruce Eva's VFL Hour. A longtime lover of the VFA, Eva's allocation of twenty minutes every Wednesday night to hear from VFA 'heroes' of yesteryear shows how much people love the old VFA stories. Umpire Frank Vergona, Channel 10 calling great Clem Dimsey and cult heroes such as Jamie Shaw, Paddy Flaherty, Harold Martin and Alf Beus have all appeared, in a segment my colleague Paul Amy simply adores. Amy was only a boy when Dimsey and Phil Gibbs brought the VFA to life in the 1970s. Sadly, the harnessing of the VFA's history to market our game appears to be a way off. Mention VFA history and the boys in at the AFL think you want to recreate the biff and bash or are trapped in a time warp. Not so when Collingwood is celebrating Nathan Buckley's 250th match and reviving memories of Bob Rose. It's no secret that the biggest and most publicised AFL clubs - Essendon, Collingwood, Richmond and Carlton - are the ones with history. A longtime journalist and lover of the fabric of Aussie Rules, Bruce Eva revels in the opportunity to wander through, what is a fascinating history.

A few years ago and I hosted an ABC series on 'Great VFA Grand Finals' with former colleague Bev O'Çonnor and over the past years VFA luminaries such as Vic Aanensen, Bill Swan and Gary Brice have been guests at finals time. Without the ABC, given the dearth of copy devoted to the VFL in the mainstream press (Inside Football excepted), the coaches and players who make VFL football tick would be virtually anonymous. That Bruce Eva and SEN think there's mileage in a VFA/VFL history segment on commercial radio should be food for thought. At the end of 2006 the VFA/VFL will have completed 130 years (wartime cessation aside) of football. It took an email from a passionate supporter, George Paras, to start people thinking about this milestone. If it had been the VAFA or some bush club, would it have taken so long for the penny to drop? When Port and Williamstown recently celebrated their Centenary Teams more than 1 000 people attended each function. The time for a celebration is now. And surely the AFL, in the interest of football, can find the money for the production of a VFA DVD and a book. Over to you Andrew!

They're history mate

Whilst every generation of players needs to carve out its own history, there's not a club in the world that doesn't cite history when searching for success. Go to the websites of the two oldest and currently most financial clubs, Port Melbourne and Williamstown, and you'll be taken by their respect for the past. It's no surprise that Williamstown is still one of the greatest crowd pullers in the VFL and can draw an array of celebrities - Ricky Ponting in May and premier Steve Bracks last Sunday - to president Trevor Monti's Sunday luncheons. It took my old club, Coburg, 51 years to win a First Division premiership after a trio of flags between 1926 and 28. Yet the 1979 and 1988/89 flags rate only a perfunctory mention on Coburg's website. No photos and no commentary. No stories about David Fisher's unbelievable run from the centre of the Junction Oval to the goalsquare to put us in front in time-on in 1979. No mention of Tim Rieniets' breathtaking performances in 1988/89, Bob Pratt's 183 goals in 1941 or 1967 Liston Medal winner Jim Sullivan's legendary drop kicking. No mention of last Sunday's Past Players function. When I recall how hard it was to win that game in 1979, in front of 20 000 people, and to fashion a team capable of defeating Williamstown in '88/89 it's enough to make you cry. When I remember how proud we all were to have Bob Pratt at Coburg in 1990 - at an official centenary year luncheon - I can only wonder why.

Sydney or the bush

It's official. Port Melbourne will not be aligning with Sydney. It didn't really work last time and it wouldn't work this time. Who else but president Peter Saultry would utter such words? On Sunday, against a Coburg side containing 8 Richmond players, Port hit the front in the last quarter, before losing by 5 points. That's probably enough, especially given Frankston's victory over Box Hill, to have the boss convinced his boys can stay unaligned.