CSM: Chapter 4.
4. My First Game. I started to watch the replays regularly. Channel 7 had Seven’s Big League on at Saturday night, hosted by Peter Landy, which replayed a quarter from two matches, and provided highlights of another. That’s all the games which were covered. Because of Collingwood’s H&A success and popularity, they were replayed often. Then there was the Winners on Channel 2, with Tim Lane and Drew Morphett. Sometimes they had a different game. Usually, they didn’t. But they might show a different section from the same game, and it was always interesting to get the viewpoint of different commentators. I’d sit transfixed in front of the TV, following…
CSM: Chapter 3.
3. Some ruminations. I was still too young to truly appreciate where Collingwood stood in the grand scheme of things – that they were coming off another grand final loss, and what that meant, or that it was their second loss in three years (or third failure to win a grand final in three years, if you include the 1977 draw). I knew these defeats existed, but was just a stupid kid too young to understand their significance. There’s something to be said about innocence. And stupidity. If I was older, I would’ve understood that the 1970s marked a decade of the grandest failures. The 1970 grand final wasn’t just…