My goodness. It’s been a while since anyone posted here. Don’t worry, we haven’t given up football. If anything football has taken over us so much that this blog became an afterthought.

A lot has happened from my point of view. From the lows of the cats losing to the Bombers and Eagles in successive weeks and had to sit through a humiliating loss to Beno’s Swannies at the Pineapple Hotel just 2 weeks from the finals. On the extreme upside I witnessed a flickering football on Matty P’s plasma TV go through a Geelong goal 22 times to Collingwood’s 8 in the last round of the home and away series. I was so happy with that win. So many people put it off to be a nothing game but it was the win we needed to have and I honestly think if we didn’t win that game the way we did we may not have won the premiership this year.

So from that demolition of Pies all us boys flew down to Melbourne for the first week of the finals and saw 4 finals in 3 days, all in Melbourne. First time it has happened for a long time. Hawks/Cats was first up and it was unbelievable. The 3-5 goal burst (sorry my memory is a bit blank here) in the 3rd quarter was incredible. The other games were pretty good. Best finals intensity was definitely the Pies/Eagles clash. Lots of congestion, intense tackling. It was a pure finals game.

After that to sit through a comfortable open prelim was just what the doctor ordered. I had made a pact with myself this year that if the Cats made the Grand Final – I’m going. It didn’t matter what it would cost me I’m going. At the very least I would fly down to Melbourne for the week.So at 3-quarter time or about 5min into the 4th quarter with the game in the bag I booked my flights and accom to Melbourne. No grand final ticket as of yet…

Sunday came around and I was tossing up between gambling on a cats member that had succeeded with the GF ticket ballot that was not going to attend (I’m an interstate member, I can’t enter the GF ballot) or put some pretty pennies down and get one of those ridiculously expensive corporate packages. I think I was still a bit drunk at the time after celebrating hard the night before  (the cats are in ANOTHER grand final!) I was feeling great and was very happy. I just bit the bullet and bought one of those corporate  packages. I didn’t want to gamble. I wanted to fucking be there and after deciding not to go in 2009 I didn’t want to make that mistake again.

So I make the call to AFL ticketing offices and ask if they’ve got any tickets available. The lady on the phone, surprisingly didn’t sound as if she’d been getting calls like mine all day, said that I’d have to order my ticket and package online – there was no way of knowing what seat I would get. I told the lady on the phone if they had any premium seats left as online it seemed they were sold out. She said they did due to some cancellations and I just had to wait 10 seconds, refresh the page and it would show up. Again, I didn’t want to gamble on my seat. I figured if I was paying $1400+ already on the standard corporate package I may as well pay $300 more and guarantee myself about the best seat in the house. So I splurged and probably paid the most or equal amount of anyone that was at the G for my ticket. But it was totally and utterly worth it.

Sorry, this is turning out to be a bit of a Grand Final story. I’ll cut it short. The actual Grand Final story will come eventually. Went to the footy show, grand final parade, grand final function (GF eve), grand final – obviously. You can see Grand Final week videos and photos I took from the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/user/footyhighvideos#p/u

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29433163@N05/

I really wish I went in 2009. I’ve thought about it a lot and I still rank that grand final higher than 07 and 11. I think because in 2007 it was over early and we were clear favourites (apparently, I can’t really remember at the time). I know I was at 2011 but I was quietly confident we’d win, so to win wasn’t as big a surprise as 2009 was. 2008 hurt me so much – just ask Matty P and Beno. To beat the Saints who were in red hot form, they had NO excuses whatsoever on the day. They were favourites (I’m pretty sure) and to win in a close one was incredible. 2011 I was there and it was incredible. It all sort of built up though. I went into the year not really knowing what would happen but slowly near the end of the season we started gaining the momentum and it seemed the pies were on the decline. Especially after that round 24 game that no-one seems to rate but I really think it was significant. Not the margin so much as it seemed obvious they shut up shop after half time but they just didn’t seem to be able to beat us, just like in round 8. That prelim final from last year was a long distant memory after that round 24 game. I knew that the ‘prelim 2010′ wasn’t going to happen to us again, not this year and if we were going to face them at any stage in the finals that it was going to be a tight game and at the very worst we’d only go down by a couple of goals, not feel like we’re getting hammered by 10+ goals like in 2010. Chris Scott built Geelong to beat the Pies in 2011 and it worked perfectly, facing them in the Grand Final.

It’s hard to say really all the premierships have their pros and cons. 2007 was the first in 44 years or so, 2009 was our redemption and 2011 well they called us too old too slow, we were just too good on the day.

There was just more on the line in 2009, more to lose if we had have lost that game than if we lost to the Pies in 2011.

Having said that, I start to look at bigger and better things now. There’s been lots of comparisons with Cats and Lions being the greatest teams of the modern game and people asking which was better? Historically 3 in a row will always look better looking back on it. But I’d want to be living through the way the cats have done it. Obviously I’m biased but we’re not done with yet, we’ve had a better win/loss ratio than the lions. Our ride has been so up and down. Again, this is why I rate 2009 so much that loss to the Hawks was the worst, to bounce back and win a premiership the year after felt so good. I honestly would have content with the Cats not winning another premiership for 10+ years but now they’ve gone out of their way, surprised us all, even supporters of the Cats and won another one in 2011. As I said before I’m looking for bigger and better things now and would love to be compared if not eclipse that of the hawks from the 80s and to win back to back premierships in my lifetime would be awesome. I’m looking forward to 2012 with much more ambition than I did in 2011.

The Cats have shown me that no matter what anyone says or what the current trend says that if you make a few slight adjustments, manage your players well, have the right people working at your club that already has a great culture than anything is possible. Losing Yablett and Bomber was the best thing that happened to the club. I said it when Bomber decided to leave that him leaving now was the best thing that could happen to Geelong than him sticking around to complete his contract when his heart wasn’t in it. I just didn’t expect a premiership right away. I thought maybe a year or 2 down the road.

I keep writing but I’m not going to edit this mega post. The main reason I started writing was to review my goals I made from earlier this year and start drafting out some goals for this year.

So what were my goals for 2011?

• Attend the first week of the finals in Melbourne – Did it, 4 games in 3 days. Cats blitz in the 3rd quarter was unbelievable.
• See a blockbuster Cats game – I saw my team win the Grand Final AT THE MCG! Can’t top that.
• Get a Geelong membership – Got an interstate membership
• Post on Footy High once a week (at least) – failed. I got off to a good start though.
• Pick a clever dream team and have good reasons why for each player chosen – I did that and wrote a post about it. I came close but Matty P once again is too good lucky
• Reach $150 in the $100 Challenge – total fail. Will have to be smarter next year. Too many exotic bets and not enough big bets on sure things.
• Complete Tipping Comp – did this. I won the tipping comp out of us boys. Actually tipped every week and reminded the boys to tip. No excuses. I’m the fucking back to back tipping champ!
• Get a full dream team this year – We had a full league this year! No strangers. Next year though we might look to make our league a bit more challenging.
• Write a TON of prediction posts – I think I wrote quite a few? More than last year I’m guessing.
• If Cats make a Preliminary Final or even Grand Final I’M GOING! – I didn’t go to a prelim but I had my reasons. I went to the Grand Final though! YOU BEAUTY!

So a bit of a draft on some of my footy goals for next year?

Go to Geelong for a game, in Geelong – maybe the unfurling of the flag. Will go standing room. The game I went to in 2006 I think it was when Stokes came of age was unreal once we got in the standing room. Pity we were sitting in the Fred Flanagan room for the first 3 quarters.

I also really regret now not going to Geelong on Sunday after Grand Final day. Although I probably wouldn’t have seen much at the park where all the Cats guys went on stage, being around Geelong and going to the pubs would have been pretty awesome.

When in Geelong visit Billy and Ling’s pubs, stay the night in Geelong. Visit the Beach. I really haven’t done much stuff in Geelong

Go to a new city – Perth or Adelaide or somewhere else (canberra, NT but I doubt we’d play there). Obviously only if Geelong are playing there but no doubt we’ll play someone there.

Maybe buy an AFL membership (maybe). I need to toss up if it’s worth it and how much it is. It all rides on what the fixture looks like for next year. I am counting down the days till fixture day (9 days to go!). I’m seriously as excited about the fixture coming out as I am about week 1 of the finals. I just want to be able to plan what weeks I go to the footy and see if Geelong have a good draw or not. Will be very interesting to see which teams play Gold Coast and GWS twice next year also. Will the AFL put the money making games away (ie cats vs gold coast twice) or will they make it fair? Very keen on the draw for 2012!

Go to a Prelim if the Cats make it - I didn’t go this year as I was hanging out for a Grand Final if we made it. They say prelim week is the purest supporter week in football so I’d really like to experience. If Cats aren’t in it but the games seem good and I’m into the teams that are in it, I’d still consider going and maybe staying the week and living up Grand Final week in Melbourne again but not go to the game (unless I can for $300 or less). Go to fed square and watch.

Buy a good cats collar shirt that fits - Hopefully they change the logo or maybe I can find an old GFC logo collar shirt. I’m really not a fan of the current Cats logo.

Take more photos/videos – I took heaps on Grand Final week but I didn’t take much the other Melbourne trips. I’ll put more effort in.

I worked out that I’ve roughly spent $5000+ on football related things in 2011. That includes memberships, tickets to games, merch, flights, accom, some spending money if I’m away on a footy trip etc, drinks, online betting etc. Note that I blew $700+ on betting against the cats and spent $1700+ on my grand final ticket alone. 6 flights, 10+ nights accom + spending money, total of 16 attended AFL games, it doesn’t seem all that bad.

I’m not going to make any Footyhigh.com goals. Apart from enable Winchy to post here I don’t want it to feel like a chore to post here. I won’t badger Matt and Beno to write here if they don’t want to. Just if you feel like talking footy like I am tonight, post here. We’re just mates that enjoy footy. I just like the aspect of having something to look back on. See the silly bets we make, see the photos/videos memories of the footy years gone past. I know I’ll probably look back on this post or especially my Grand Final 2011 post if I ever make it in a few years time.

More competitive Dream Team League. Sorry Philby, you’ve been demoted down a league. I think we’re going to implement a new policy for next year. You need to at least spend 10minutes on your dream team each week or you’re out. If you’re not going to pick a captain for the year and don’t really know who players are then you’re not worth being in our league. We need more competition!

Final one. Pick a new sporting bet site for the $100 challenge in 2012. The current one we use. Sportingbet.com.au is a bit limited it seems on what other sites offer. So we’ll see what else is out there in the off-season and give another site a go and let you know. There’s nothing wrong with sportingbet.com.au . In fact they got themselves a mobile site during the year which was ever so helpful when we were at a pub or game.