From Windy Hill to Sincil Bank.

Sport has always been part of my life, though the shape of that connection has changed over time.

As a kid, my uncle played for our local soccer team. He even helped coach, I think. I’d tag along to matches when I could. For a while, I trained with one of the junior teams, but circumstances beyond my control meant I couldn’t continue. Slowly, my interest in soccer faded.

But football, Aussie Rules, was different. I fell in love with it around the age of five. I chose Essendon, the Bombers - my uncle and aunt’s team - as my own, and sometimes he’d take me to matches. Those outings were wonderful, and they’ve stayed with me. Years later, I bought a season membership and went to every home game for a few seasons. It was a ritual, a rhythm.

Eventually, though, commitments made it difficult to attend. AFL games are long, and the travel to and from the stadium made each match a five-hour affair. It became harder to justify, even though the love never left.

I visited Lincoln a few years before I moved here, and went to a local derby. It was cold and damp, and about 1,500 people turned up to watch a draw. I enjoyed it, but the mood was subdued. It was the kind of grey afternoon that leaves its mark long after the final whistle.

After relocating to the UK, I started following Lincoln City more seriously. I read match reports, kept up with club news, and went to a few games. It turned out to be a good time to get involved. New managers arrived, the club reconnected with the city, and results began to improve. The energy shifted. Attendance grew. Optimism returned.

I didn’t have anyone to go with, but I started going anyway. At first occasionally, then more regularly. Last season I went to quite a few matches. This year, I splurged and bought a season ticket.

Lincoln is a small city, tucked among farmland and often overlooked. Getting here isn’t always straightforward, though the new direct trains to London help. It’s not a place people pass through, you come here on purpose. But that’s part of its charm. It’s a place with its own pace, its own pride. That distance also fosters a kind of fierce local pride. The football club is more than just a team; it’s a symbol of the city’s identity. The fans don’t just support Lincoln City. They defend it. There’s a territorial edge to the loyalty, a feeling that the club belongs to the people in a way that’s deeply personal.

Match day has its rituals. A sausage in a bun. A quiet ale. A chat with fellow fans. And then, inside the ground, something shifts. I become part of something larger. The chants, the songs, the shared celebrations - and, as I said, football here is deeply tribal. It's us against them, the home fans against the visiting fans. It’s not just about the game; it’s also about belonging.

There’s something else,  something oddly poetic. Lincolnshire is known as Bomber County, a legacy of the many RAF bomber squadrons based here during the Second World War. Lincoln itself is closely tied to that history, especially the legendary 617 Squadron, the Dambusters. On match day, that legacy comes alive. When Lincoln score, fans stretch out their arms like Lancaster bombers and sing the Dambusters theme. For corners, they wind up an air raid siren. The ultras call themselves the 617, and the stand bears a mural of bombers in flight, along with the slogan “After me, the deluge” in both English and French.

It’s tribal, yes, but it’s also mythic.

And strangely, it echoes my other footballing love. Back in Melbourne, my Essendon Bombers also play the sound of aircraft engines and an air raid siren before matches. It’s theatrical, stirring, and deeply rooted in identity. Two cities, two sports, two teams - half a world apart, both shaped by aviation history, both rallying behind teams associated with Bombers. It’s a coincidence, but one that feels meaningful -  a thread running through my sporting life, tying together past and present, Australia and England, memory and belonging.

I still love my AFL, my beloved Essendon Bombers. That will never change. I stream as many Essendon matches as I can. But there’s something irreplaceable about live sport, about watching two teams battle it out, surrounded by people who care just as much as you do. It’s a connection to the city, to the crowd, to something bigger than yourself, and to the person you’ve always been, shaped by sport, place, and the people who shared it with you.

Such a Silly Season.

Yes, I know. It's always some kind of silly season somewhere.  But for me, specifically, it's silly season in the world of AFL fandom.

As many know, I am a huge fan of Australian Rules football. I am a diehard Essendon supporter, who has suffered for more than 20 years with a team who seem to aspire to mediocrity. We are the butt of many jokes, and there are even webpages counting up the number of days since we have won a finals match. It is a ridiculously high number, and one that frustrates all Essendon fans.

Brad Scott, our coach, has just completed his second year at the helm. At the beginning of the year he cautioned against getting our hopes too high. It didn't help that for much of the year we were sitting high in the league ladder - higher than we deserved, especially when you looked at our percentages. But then we completely collapsed at the end of the season to fall outside the top 8, and miss the final series once again.

I was disappointed, but not surprised. We finished roughly where I had anticipated.  We won some close games, and lost when we played better teams. And faded badly at the end of the season.

While many fans are angry and upset, I understand that changes take time, and recognise the cultural changes being brought into the team. A slow change, but one that I believe will reap rewards.

And the silly season?  Why, that's the trade period that is currently happening, and finishes on Wednesday.  It runs for about ten days and the fan forums are either laughably funny at insanely delusional suggestions made (trade "this player who can barely get a game" for "their champion") or just downright frustrating at the negativity and hostility.

The media is no better.  One day Essendon is criticised for not being active enough in trades, and the next reminded we have no real trade capital and should go to the draft. You simply cannot win.

I'm sticking with Brad. It takes time to turn a team (and a club) around after years of complacency.  AFL is not like other sports where you simply buy in players.  We have a draft system for rookies, but then players in the system already need to be traded - either for other players or draft picks and so on. It provides some equalisation across the league, but means it is difficult to change things quickly when you need to.

So I do think the future is bright, despite the calls in forums for Brad to be sacked and everyone at the club to be replaced. We will get there, and I think it will be in the next few years.

But this season still hurt, though.

Why Are Fans So Awful?

It doesn't matter the fandom, so many fans are overly-critical, negative, and generally awful. If something isn't exactly how fans want it, then it is torn to shreds.

Late last year, The Beatles released Now and Then.  Many of us fans loved it, but you should have seen the discussions and comments which were simply negative - many of them before it had even been released.  Last week, the Beatles announced they were finally going to release the Let It Be film. This has been rumoured for release for many years now, and fans have been calling for it. And yet, once it was announced, fans started writing about how terrible this release would be, how it won't be this or that, won't have extras and so on. "we'd rather have a copy of the Shea Stadium show", they said. Never mind the fact as Beatles fans we have more outtakes and more unreleased material than virtually any other fandom, barring Bob Dylan.

But no, this release is going to be awful.

And talking of Dylan, the negativity towards the biopic is astounding. Timothee  Chalamet is a couple of inches too tall, the back pack he is wearing in the photos is not exactly the same as Dylan's. I even saw one comment today that said he didn't want to see this film because it will be terrible.  "My daughter hated Dune 2", he declared.  Yep, I have been wondering what his daughter thought of Dune 2, as that is how I base all my film reviews.

And then in Australian Rules football. My team, Essendon, played the biggest game of this year against last years Premiers. And it ended in a draw. Both teams played well, and my team, who has vastly underperformed for many years, were fabulous. Never gave up, chased and maintained the pressure right through the match, and were hard. Last year these fans were saying they just wanted effort.  Today, despite the pundits saying that no Essendon fan would be disappointed with the result, these fans were screaming because we didn't win.

And I'm not going to even look at the crybabies who announce often and loudly how much they hate any Star Wars film after the mid 1980s.  Sigh.

For the record, I loved Now and Then, look forward to Let It Be, think Chalamet will be a fabulous Dylan, and was thrilled with the efforts and result from today's match.

I don't care whether you (or your daughter) didn't like it.  I'll be over here making up my own mind.

Red and Black and Murky Grey.

I love my Australian Rules Football. I hold an international membership, watch every game I can through a streaming service and am happy to discuss the game with anyone who cares to join in. In this part of the world, this is not something that occurs very often.

I've supported my team, the Essendon Bombers, since I was about 5 years old. My uncle and aunt were Essendon fans, and they took me to a couple of games. Those were some lean years, but I had a life size poster of Des Tuddenham, and was proud of the red and black. 

When I returned from Japan in the late 90s, I started attending matches fairly often - usually with my cousin and her then boyfriend (now husband). And we were a powerhouse. A strong team who played with determination, aggression and skill. Somewhere after 2001 it all went wrong, and we've occasionally risen to mediocre since then.

This year we had high hopes, which once again were dashed as we floundered in the bottom half of the ladder, missed out on the finals, and heard the same old excuses from our coaches. And , like many other supporters, I'm tired of it.

Seriously, how can the players be adjusting to a game plan after three or four years?

At this present time I don't hold much hope for the next few years. But give it a few months, into trade period and the pre-season, and I'll probably return to my optimistic football self. And hopefully next year will not be a compromised season due to Covid. 

What Kind of Fan?

No doubt there are degrees of fans.

I consider myself a pretty big Beatles fan. I collect Beatles stuff, and can instantly tell you the difference between different mixes of their music. I know how many takes of I Saw Her Standing There were recorded, which ones were complete and how the released version was constructed.

I also love Essendon, my football club. I watch almost every game live - even if it means getting up at 4.30 am. If they play on a Thursday or Friday evening, that's a touch more difficult as it's usually daytime here in the UK and I'm at work. I don't think my managers would be too pleased if I had the game running on my PC in the office. Those games, I catch up in the evening. And I'll stick by them through good and bad.

But recently, in several online forums and groups to which I belong, I've seen fans putting down others because they aren't as fanatical. They don't go to as many matches, they don't have as much vinyl, or they don't know the names of every song McCartney ever recorded.

Lincoln City Football Club, my local team, has recently risen from years in a slump. Some fans in one Facebook group seem to yearn for the days when attendance at games was a fraction of what it is now, and rather than celebrate regular victories, sell-out games and more people in town wearing Lincoln shirts, they disparage those who are new supporters as being "Plastic Fans".

And the snobbery.

One Bob Dylan forum to which I belong, recently had a post stating that "When I put a post on here I forget it will probably be read by non-musicians."

What?  You mean your posts are so incredibly meaningful that those who don't play an instrument will never understand them?

I also saw one proclaiming that we all agree Dylan is the greatest musician otherwise you we wouldn't be in this group.  Umm, I belong to several music groups, not just Dylan's.

Another post declared those who don't "get" Dylan are obviously less intelligent than those who do. No, it wasn't meant to be funny, it wasn't a troll. Possibly the funniest part of it was that it was misspelled.

Guess what? We're allowed to like different things to different degrees. We're also not allowed to like other things. And not everything speaks to everyone in the same way. 

I'm proud of my Beatles knowledge, but I'll happily discuss them with people who know far more than I do, and those who just like some of their songs.

And, for the record, not everything they recorded was a masterpiece. You have no idea how little I listen to What's The New Mary Jane?

Happy , Happy Thoughts.

Three times I've written this blogpost. Three times I've deleted it. Each one has been on a different topic. And then common sense got the better of me, and I begged off.

There seems to be a lot to be negative about at the moment. I see it on social media on a daily basis. Writing, publishing, awards, work, health, relationships, the environment, politics. And football. Mostly football.

Oh yeah. Something is definitely wrong at my beloved Essendon.

And no, all those categories above apply to me and my life. But I made the decision several years ago, when I was reluctantly dragged into the twenty-first century and Facebook, that I would only share happy thoughts, honest thoughts, and not permit my voice to become negative.

I've seen it happen. Negativity only leads to a downward spiral from which a return can be difficult.

So happy thoughts this week at Chateau Cameron. I have a job. I have a home. I have great family and friends. I have books. I have music. I have film. I have art.

Life is good.

Think Professionally, Act Professionally.

Jobe Watson won the Brownlow Medal this week. For those who don't follow Australian Rules Football, this is an award given yearly for the 'best and fairest' player in the league - the MVP, if you like. It's voted for by the umpiring team after each game (3,2,1 points) and players who have been suspended throughout the year are automatically disqualified.

Jobe plays for my team, the Essendon Bombers. He just happens to be the son of a fantastic player, Tim Watson, who played for Essendon in the 80s. So Jobe won the award. But of course he's a champion. He was always going to be a champion, wasn't he? His father was a champion, he was raised in that supportive football environment, he had the genes, he grew up around the club.

Kevin Sheedy, the previous coach, recently revealed that if he'd stayed at the club he'd have either traded or de-listed Jobe. You see, Jobe was simply sailing along, not working anywhere near his potential and not taking the game seriously enough to succeed at that level.

Jobe revealed this week that it was his father, Tim, who took him aside a few years ago and had a chat with him. It was OK if he didn't want to play AFL, but if he was going to play then he needed to be make an effort. Jobe says he was angry with his father, and didn't speak to him for a few days. But then he took the words to heart and now he's become the player on which legends are built.

It's time for me to become more serious in my writing.

I don't know how far I can take it. I'm not even sure I know where I'd like it to go, but I know I have some short term goals that I want to achieve, and in order to do so I need to take my plan to the next level.

• I want to SFWA qualify within the next year. For the first time ever, I have stories out at four pro-markets. I've never really targeted these markets much, as I knew I wasn't yet at that level of writing. But now I know I'm getting closer. I'm getting regular personal rejections from pro-mags, and I'm understanding what is needed to sell there. 

• I have a couple of semi-pro markets that are on my hit list. The editors (and slushreaders) there have played hardball with me so far. But again I've gotten very close and had personal rejections. 

• I'm allocating more regular time to my writing, and I have a chart up next to my desk with stories, markets, goals and deadlines on it. 

• I've taken, am taking and will take workshops and courses in order to learn more about the theory of writing and the structure of stories. 

• I'm immersing myself in reading short fiction from the markets I'm targeting.

I'm feeling optimistic about my writing at the moment. I'm productive, I'm seeing improvement and getting great feedback.

What are your goals? What are you doing to achieve them?

Onwards And Upwards.

I know some people who wear their rejection slips like badges of honour. They brag about how many they received 'last year' and talk about how they're getting closer to 'making it'.

To an extent I think they are right. Being rejected lots and lots shows you're working, and subbing - and if you are starting to receive personalised ones over form ones, then it shows you're developing and getting that much closer.

But gathering piles of rejections doesn't necessarily mean much at all in and of itself.

There are a whole lot of writers who start by subbing straight to the top markets. They send everything they write to Asimov's and Analog, and therefore pile up mountains and mountains of slips. And so yes, they can claim to have gathered hundreds of rejections last year.

It doesn't mean they're about to start selling.

I'm not criticising them for doing that but it doesn't work for me. I know that I'm not at that level yet, and I have better things to do than have stories sitting at markets that won't yet buy my work, wasting both the editor's and my time.

If I'm not selling regularly at semi-pro markets, why would the pro markets grab my stuff over their regular contributors?

If I start playing football (and believe me, there are good and valid reasons why I write and don't kick footballs), I don't start by running down to Windy Hill and try to break into the Essendon team. What makes me think I'll get a spot alongside Jobe Watson, Paddy Ryder, David Hille and Angus Monfries?

No, like young Dyson Heppell, you play for the smaller country teams, working your way up until you're ready to speak to James Hird.

It seems to me that writing is one of the few places where lots of people try to start at the top. And I suppose it costs nothing to send your work there, and there is always the chance you'll sell something.  And by all means, if your writing is already at a professional standard then send it off to the big ones. I wish you well.

But if you're trunking pieces just because they didn't sell at the big markets (and I know of a few writers who do this), you may be depriving the world of some good, solid writing. I've found some of my favourite pieces in small press anthologies and magazines.

Me? I just know my abilities  and my level at the moment.  And that's firmly in the world of the small press. I'm not selling there as regularly as I'd like, but I am starting to make sales, and frequently getting personalised rejections.

But don't worry, the day I regularly send things off to Analog and Asimov's is approaching.

Who Will It Be Now?

We wake up this morning in a world of uncertainty.  We don't know whether we'll be 'moving forward' with Julia Gillard, or whether we will get 'real action' with Tony Abbott. When I arrived at the polling office yesterday, (office? OK, school hall) I asked the official there who I should vote for.  He laughed, and told me he had no idea as they were both stinkers.  This really has been the 'who really cares who gets in' election.

There are more pressing matters.

It's another morning where I still don't know who will coach Essendon next year. We've had enough of the whole 'Matthew Knights has a contract and has the support of the board' rhetoric - which in football, as in politics, often indicates he's not long for the job. And then the whole James Hird announcing his interest, only to completely backflip two days later.  Did someone at the club tell him to keep quiet because plans are afoot? James on board as assistant for three years with a seasoned coach before he gets the main gig?

And on top of that Essendon fans, and myself personally, have been accused of a number of things this week.  We've been told that:

1. We're so used to winning we just can't handle losing.
2. We're not getting Sheedy back, so get over it.
3. We had it in for who-ever replaced Sheeds, so grow up
4. We need to give Knights time.

OK, I'm game - I'll respond to those.

1: In many ways, the 27 years under Sheedy was very frustrating. OK, we won four premierships  - which fans at other clubs would consider successful, but with the teams, money and talent we had, we should have won at least two more. And we don't think losing is the end of the world. After all, we had ten years of being stuck two-thirds of the way down the ladder. We fought to remain there. Maybe we should have tanked, and had a better playing list than we have now.

2: We weren't happy with the way that Sheedy was dumped, but many of us felt that he should have left five years or more before he did. I was rather pleased he went. And no, most of us don't want him back.

3: I've been told they interviewed Hardwick, Harvey - even Bomber Thompson was spoken to - but for whatever reason they decided to rush and give the job to Knights. (I am quite glad they didn't get Voss.) Someone who had been underwhelmingly unsuccessful as an Assistant at AFL level, and as a coach at VFL level. No, we were mystified by the decision, but the results (or lack of) have spoken for themselves.

4: Knights has had three years.  His win ratio has fallen, he still alienates the fans (and, I believe a number of players too), and still seems to have no real strategies or game plans. He hasn't proven himself, hasn't shown any leadership, hasn't shown the least bit of hope, and seems to be in complete denial about his lack of vision. "Score enough goals and we won't have to defend" is not a game plan.

Who will be in charge next year?  Mark Williams doesn't excite me, James Hird (prove yourself as an assistant first) is unknown, and great players don't necessarily make great coaches),  I don't know much about Laidley and I'm not really sure who else is available.

But it's time for Knights to go. And for us to get an experienced coach with leadership.

Hard Days, Knights.

I'm in pain.

I was at the ANZAC day game and watched Essendon lose.  Badly.

For the longest time I've given Knights the benefit of the doubt, but no more.  It's time to go. And I'm not one of those that thinks Sheeds should still be there.  He was past his date at the club and should have left in 2001 or so.

We've supposedly been rebuilding the team for about 9 years now. C'mon - the pyramids were built quicker than that.  Although I suppose those ancient Egyptians didn't have a draft and a salary cap. (They did, however, have large whips.)

But Knights has had some success. He successfully ran McPhee, Lloyd and Lucas out of town, got rid of Lovett (which was acceptable as his off-game antics are more trouble than they are worth) and set about creating a game plan that is so cunning it doesn't actually have a plan.

To me, and many other fans waiting patiently, the plan appears to consist of... wait for it ...  (should we have a drumroll?) ... here it is ... "kick as many goals as you can and don't bother about defending because then we'll be so far ahead they'll never catch up."  Wow! Pure genius!

Except for one small point.  We don't kick many goals, and in fact were goal-less at quarter time last Sunday. And then went on to lose by 65 points.

Ouch.

I have another cunning plan.

Let's get rid of Matthew (it's not so much a plan, as a 'vibe') Knights, and bring in someone who actually  has a plan.

The Horror, The Horror...

My wife and I had dinner with a close friend last night. He was, as always, a wonderful host. Not only did he prepare a delicious lamb dinner and kept our wine topped up (very important), but he planned an evening of DVD entertainment as well.

We held our regular discussion on football and the current state of the AFL. This basically consisted of us both agreeing that Hardwick was a good choice of coach for Richmond and that the umpiring in the Essendon - Hawthorn game was extremely poor. We then returned to our oft repeated attempts to understand the wacky and zany plans Andrew Demetriou dreams up for our beloved game while hiding under his desk. Like adding new teams to an already crowded league (and thereby diluting our talent more), increasing the finals to include the top 10 teams (thereby rewarding mediocrity), ignoring the tanking that occurs (thereby being the only person in the country that can't see it happening), and pushing for a fixture that is only set until round 17, with games after that to be based on ladder positions. Yeah, that guy is really in touch with what the fans want.

Then we went through to the living room to watch an old Hammer vampire film.

My friend is a film buff. He especially loves his old horror films. At one point in the evening our topic of conversation turned to horror. Recently, I wrote a ghost story which my friend has read. I told him I was considering submitting it to a horror market. He seemed surprised by this as he hadn't considered it to be a 'horror' story. And I suppose by certain definitions of horror, it probably isn't.

I tried to ask someone in the writing world if it was a horror story, and they told me that if it contained ghosts then it's dark fantasy. Is that right? It's not particularly scary, but it does have death, it has a ghost and it has a haunting. It's a gentle ghost story.

Is it horror? Would a horror market accept it? I'll send it off and we'll see what happens. If it sells, then I guess it is. I'll keep you informed.

In the meantime keep an eye on what Demetriou attempts to do to football. That's a real horror story.