Aussie Rules

I said in my profile that I am an avid fan of Australian Rules Football. I support Geelong, nicknamed the Cats and have done so ever since I can remember. It is a family thing. My great uncle Les Laver played for the Cats in the 1920's and coached the reserves for a few years. We have a clipping from the Sun - the morning newspaper back then - showing a photograph of him on the playing field wearing the same distinctive blue and white hoops that they still wear. Everyone was so proud of him.

Geelong has had its share of lows but is currently at the top of the AFL ladder. So much relies on super stars. But more relies on the ability of the champions to form the hub of the team. There have been two Gary Abletts playing for Geelong. Gary Senior was a man possessed of extraordinary skills. Exceptionally strong and able to leap for the ball and kick goals from any angle, he attracted the fans of all ages and thrilled them with his prowess.

But he was a flawed character. When his stellar career ended he seemed to lose his place in life. He featured in the media in stories involving women, alcohol and drugs. In the worst and most tragic story he spent the night with a young woman in a hotel where they shared a cocktail of drugs and alcohol. By the morning she was dead. He escaped a prison term but was shattered and has spent the best part of his life in recent years as a reclusive figure, undergoing rehabilitation and displaying a fragile, tormented personna only on rare occasions.

It is a moot point as to whether he should have endured a prison term. I think that it would have been the end for him. I doubt that his distressed mind could have coped.

Now his son Gary Junior has captured the imagination of the football fans. Not as tall as his father, but faster and fitter and equipped with exquisite skills, Gary Junior is now at the top of his game. Last year he was at the top of the list of favourites to win the Brownlow Medal, the annual award for the fairest and best footballer in the competition. He is also one of the favourites this year.

What a great event it would be if he won the medal this year. For him, an outstanding achievement. And a stunning moment for his father. And in a way a form of redemption for Gary Senior. He was good enough to have won that medal. It was his temperament that was so tragically flawed. And it just might help neutralise the taint of criminality that has dogged the family.

I want the young man to win this award with all my heart.

It will be a medal for both of them.

First post

This is my first post. The idea of blogging really appeals to me,as it seems to have the potential to open up a whole new level of communication. I have lots of friends and family to communicate with, but getting some fresh ideas from strangers is really appealing. Wonder why it has taken so long to get started. Probably because I'm always doing something. I'm really interested in crime and the factors that create the criminal mind. Does anyone know much about Paul Denyer? He is a serial killer currently in Barwon Prison in Victoria Australia. I have been reading some stuff on forensic psychology and will post some info on him latter today.