Friday, August 30, 2013

Swans Review - Hawthorn (30 August 2013)



Swans defeated but not disgraced in narrow loss to Hawthorn


HAWTHORN 2.2 7.5 11.6 17.10 (112) SYDNEY 5.2 9.2 13.4 16.4 (100)
Goals: Hawthorn: J Roughead 4 J Gunston 2 L Breust 2 L Franklin 2 B Lake D Hale G Birchall J Anderson J Lewis P Puopolo S Mitchell. Sydney: J White 3 L Parker 3 G Rohan 2 S Mumford 2 B McGlynn J Bolton K Jack M Morton M Pyke T Mitchell.
Umpires: Brett Rosebury, Shane McInerney, Dean Margetts.
Official Crowd: 37,980 at ANZ Stadium.


Well, wasn't that something? If you ventured out to ANZ Stadium tonight for your first game of AFL footy, you'd surely come back again and again and again, because it was a value-for-money contest of the highest order: two of the best two - maybe the best two? - teams in the competition going back and forth, momentum swinging this way and that, clutch goals at one end, desperate defensive lunges at the other, two gun midfields, physical contests, tackling machines...AFL footy at its' absolute very best.

If there's such a thing as a 'good loss' then the Swans had their best loss of the season. I wasn't sure how this game would go - Hawthorn have been very good, and they were coming in off a nice-tune up against Collingwood (who beat the Swans two weeks earlier) and form for Sydney hadn't been great, after an insipid and largely uninspiring loss to Geelong in Geelong last Saturday. With injuries piling up, I just didn't know how the red-and-whites would go.

As it turned out, all was not lost, and, indeed, there is great hope heading forward, for a team of largely young kids ran with the best team in the league, the minor premiers, and, at times, ran over them. After a general lack of discipline and effectiveness last week, the Swans were back to their best this week. They showed, despite losing by two goals - and, let's be honest, there were chances to be had in that last quarter, chances which were sadly squandered - they can definitely be a force to be reckoned with in September action. How many people would have said that after last Saturday's clunker in Geelong? Not many, that's for sure.

A blistering Hawthorn assault, five goals in 13 minutes was the difference for the Swans, who tried as best they could to hang tough in the last quarter, and did fight hard. Their competitiveness was probably the most encouraging thing of all tonight. And it was a brilliant game to watch. A little more veteran presence would have helped, particularly in the last quarter, but there are plenty of positives to be gleaned: Tom Mitchell, Luke Parker, Ryan O'Keefe, Mike Pyke and Ted Richards were all outstanding. Jarrad McVeigh was his usual dependable self. Dane Rampe recovered from his worst performance of the year last week.

Once again, unlikely forward target Jesse White played strong footy, but the potent combination of four Jarryd Roughead goals and another impressive effort from Sam Mitchell were the difference, and propelled Hawthorn to the 2013 minor premiership and sets these two teams on a collision course in a qualifying final next Friday night at the MCG.

For that game, there is a lot of hope, if you're a Swans fan. The Hawks can be beaten, and Sydney can be the ones to do it. Spearhead Kurt Tippett will be back after his hamstring soreness (which might've been more about the Sydney brains trust not wanting the Hawks to get a preview of the gun forward than any real injury) along with, you would assume, Nick Smith and Dan Hannebery, too. Even better news: Lewis Jetta will play in the reserves tomorrow, so there's every chance he might return, as well. Imagine a team with Jetta and Gary Rohan in full flight. That'd be something to give opposition fits. Rohan pulled off some incredible chases tonight. He's back to his pre-injury best.

Meanwhile, the AFL world watches and waits for a decision on Buddy Franklin. The Hawks star was reported in the first quarter for a suspect high bump on Nick Malceski, who was momentarily taken from the field. There's every chance that Buddy will be suspended for at least next week's return clash - and maybe longer still. It wouldn't be the lead-up to the finals without some controversy, would it? Lots of pressure on the Match Review Panel over the next few days, and some work to do for the Swans ahead of a trip south to the MCG and another crack at the Hawthorn cherry.

NCAA College Football 2013 - Rapid Reaction - North Carolina at No. 6 South Carolina

The No. 6 Gamecocks lived up to their billing in the first half with both quarterbacks, Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson, recording TDs on their first throws - that's gotta be some sort of record. Turnovers have not helped North Carolina's cause one bit, either.

20-7 score line at the half (and a hundred yard differential in total yards gained) pretty well indicates that it's basically been one-way traffic so far for Spurrier's team. I can see SCAR really putting a beating on the Tar Heels in the second. 

***

Surprisingly, it wasn't theJadeveon Clowney Show that everyone assumed it would be. The menacing South Carolina DE didn't record a sack, and seemed to be on and off the field with some regularity in the second half. Of course, the Twittersphere unloaded on the Heisman hopeful - unfairly, for mine - but it's early days, and the hot night in Columbia, SC was never going to be particularly conducive to big men doing big things. The fact that North Carolina probably had months' worth of a game plan to combat his presence wouldn't have helped, either. Here's an idea: wait until October, and I'm pretty sure that, by then, Clowney will be up and about as we all expect him to be. Calling him out after the first game of the season is as silly as it is childish.

#UNCvsSC

Monday, August 26, 2013

Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown: #16 - Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Welcome to Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown!

These may not be the twenty greatest films ever made, but they are my favourites. I started with 35 of the movies I love the most for various reasons, and had a tough time narrowing the list down to just 20 films. Even harder was putting them into some sort of order. It's an eclectic list - as those of you who know me well know, I like a broad range of films - but, all in all, the twenty films that have made the most impact on me over the years.


#16 - Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves



Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Alan Rickman & Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Writer(s): Pen Densham
Year: 1991

The Story: Beginning at the end of King Richard's Crusades, Robin of Locksley (Costner) escapes Jerusalem and journeys home to England, bringing with him Azeem (Freeman), a Moor who helped facilitate his escape. Robin's best friend Peter dies in the attempt, and Robin promises to protect Peter's sister, Marian.

But trouble is brewing in England. With King Richard away, the cruel Sherrif of Nottingham (Rickman) rules the land, and does so cruelly, relying on his cousin, Guy of Gisborne, to keep his "subjects" in line. Nottingham also has support from a witch, Mortiana, who sees her death at the hands of a "painted man" and from a corrupt Church official who helps Nottingham kill Robin's father.

Returning and immediately making himself an enemy in Gisborne, Robin and Azeem venture into the Sherwood Forest, where they meet up with a band of Merry Men led by Little John (Nick Brimble) and Will Scarlet (Christian Slater), which begins a campaign of stealing from the rich - i.e. Nottingham - and giving to the poor. The Sheriff, determined to quell the uprising, recruits mercenary Celtic warriors and a battle in the forest ensues.

Meanwhile, Marian is betrayed by her priest and is forced to marry Nottingham. His gift to her will be the hanging death of some of Robin's men, captured at the end of the battle in the forest. Of course, Robin isn't dead, and after a heart-to-heart with Will Scarlet that reveals the connection between the two, a plan is hatched to save the day.

Watch it if...: You don't mind a film that's not particularly historically accurate, but is a good fun - especially Alan Rickman's scenes as Nottingham - blockbuster with plenty of great action scenes, and a particularly memorable soundtrack song. And for a sneaky Sean Connery cameo right at the end.

Why I Love It: I'm an unashamed fan of this movie. I know people panned it - and even I can admit that Kev's attempt at an English accent failed horribly - but the story's always resonated with me for whatever reason. It's in my Top Twenty because I can watch it over and over and still find great enjoyment. The set pieces are impressive, the English countryside beautiful. 

I've always thought that the filmmakers might've found someone a little more strikingly beautiful to play Maid Marian, but that's a minor qualm. As for the lead role, well, (horrible attempt at an English) accent aside, Kevin Costner brings a touch of humanity to Robin Hood. His relief at being home, grief over the loss of his friend and his father, love for Marian, and desperation to see King Richard back on the throne. He's serious most of the time, in direct and interesting contrast to the inspired comic cruelty of Alan Rickman as Nottingham, who basically steels the show. Is there a better 1980's.90's action film villain than Rickman?

I liked the inclusion of scenes in Jerusalem to start, as they lend the film a darker edge and set up some of the back story that the film explores later on, and give the film a darker edge to what we're used to in previous incarnations of the famous old tale . Plus, another good action scene or three never goes astray. Prince of Thieves was brimming with them. It's such a fun ride! Yeah, Kevin Costner's done some bad films, but this fun and uncomplicated. People trash it unfairly. I enjoy it every time.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown: #17 - The Lighthorsemen

Welcome to Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown!

These may not be the twenty greatest films ever made, but they are my favourites. I started with 35 of the movies I love the most for various reasons, and had a tough time narrowing the list down to just 20 films. Even harder was putting them into some sort of order. It's an eclectic list - as those of you who know me well know, I like a broad range of films - but, all in all, the twenty films that have made the most impact on me over the years.


#17 - The Lighthorsemen



Stars: Peter Phelps, Jon Blake, Sigrid Thornton, John Walton & Gary Sweet
Director: Simon Wincer
Writer(s): Ian Jones
Year: 1987

The Story: Based on the true story of the Australian Light Horse unit in Sinai and Palestine in 1917. The early part of film traces the fortunes of a section of four Australian horsemen throughout the final stages of that Middle Eastern campaign. Frank (Sweet), Scotty (Blake), Tas (Walton) and Chiller (Tim McKenzie).

After a fight with Bedouin, the section loses one of it's own, and Dave (Phelps), a replacement, fresh-faced and inexperienced, is attached to the section. Hard-nosed Taz takes an immediate dislike to Dave, and it only gets worse when the new arrival freezes on a number of missions, completely unable to fire his weapon. Eventually, Dave is moved to the Ambulance Corps, where he will not be required to kill men, and around the same time meets Nurse Anne (Thornton). A British intelligence officer concocts a scheme to draw enemy reinforcements away from Beersheba, aided in that enterprise by Taz. Tony Bonner appears as Lieutenant-Colonel Murray Bourchier and Shane Briant of The Anzacs fame plays a too-smart-for-his-own-good hotshot German officer.

The final stanza of this film - and it's most impressive moment, by far - is the charge for Beersheba. A triumph for Australia, but a little-known campaign in comparison to the battles taking place at the same time on the Western Front, the light horse brigade (who were really mounted infantry, and who normally dismounted to fight, a fact illustrated often in this film) galloped against the heavily fortified town in a last-gasp effort to avoid an all-out disaster for British forces, who had crossed many miles of desert and needed the wells of Beersheba to slake the thirst of both horse and man. It was a desperate gamble - indeed, British commanders demanded that any charge should be made by proper cavalry - but one that opened up the war in the Middle East. 

In the end, the last great cavalry charge in history became an incredible if unlikely success, with the water secured, and, most importantly of all, very few Australians losing their lives.
 
Watch it if...: You enjoyed similar films like Gallipoli, Breaker Morant and the TV miniseries The Anzacs.

Why I Love It: Another great Australian war film, this one about the little-known light horse campaign, which was a minor blip on the nation's radar compared to the battles on the Western Front in France and Belgium at the same time. Following in from the success of Gallipoli on the big screen and The Anzacs on the small screen, this is a stirring tale of the continued coming of age of Australia as a nation, and of and the very Australian ideals of mateship, courage in the face of great adversity and larrikinism. 

From ground level and from above, perfectly utilising helicopters, Simon Wincer, with able assistance from wizard cinematographer Dean Semler, perfectly and urgently capture the thrill, fear, adrenalin and terror of a charge across miles of open ground (he South Australian desert stands in for Palestine), into the setting sun, and into the teeth of Turkish rifle, machine gun and artillery fire. It's a gripping scene, a perfect climax to the slow build of events previous. It's brilliant film-making.

Mostly because of the happier ending - though there are still some dreadfully sad moments scattered throughout The Lighthorsemen - I like this more than Peter Weir's Gallipoli, but it's a close-run thing. Both are incredible brilliant films, but the hellish, unforgettable frozen ending in Gallipoli has always haunted me. If I had a Top 25 Countdown, Gallipoli would slot in at #21.

For mine, Jon Blake steals the show. His performance as the Irish trooper is equal parts heroic and brooding - on par with his star turn as the first-nameless Flanagan in The Anzacs mini series. Based just on those two great performances, it wasn't at hard to see why Blake was destined for such great things, and why he had drawn comparisons to Mel Gibson. Some said he was better than Mel.

Alas, and tragically, we never got to find out, for The Lighthorsemen turned out to be Blake's last film. He was driving home from wrap celebrations when he hit a parked car after being forced to swerve to the wrong side of the road to miss an oncoming one. He sustained permanent brain damage and was unable to speak or move for the rest of his life. He died, tragically, at age 52, in 2001, from pneumonia. His celebrated performance as "Scotty" was the  final chapter in an all-too-short career.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Swans Review - Geelong (24 August)


Swans outclassed at the Cattery

Turnovers kill. Speed kills. Unfortunately, on Saturday afternoon at Simonds Stadium in Geelong, the Swans coughed up the football far too many times and weren't nearly fast enough for a Cats outfit that, you get the feeling, are locked and loaded for a really deep run into September. If this 44-point win was a tune-up against the sort of opposition they're likely to face in the Finals series - it's still theoretically possible that these two teams will meet in either Sydney or Melbourne in the first week of the Finals - then the rest of the AFL should take huge notice.

At times, that's all the Swans did. They seemed completely in awe at times, watching the Cats machine as it went into over drive. Lead by their inspirational captain, Adam Selwood, Geelong had complete domination of the midfield at times. Thankfully for the Swans, they could not, for the most part, covnert that domination on the scoreboard. In fact, if there is one chink - based on tonight's effort - in the Geelong armour, it's that they had trouble kicking straight. By all rights, the Cats should have one by far more than they did. Some shots were rudimentary and were missed. Of course, Swans spearhead Kurt Tippett had a howler in the first quarter, too. Fair to say, goal-kicking was not particularly sharp at either end. Getting the ball into the 50m arc with any fluency or direction proved difficult for the Swans.

The Swans just didn't get enough of the football. When they managed to scrap the ball out of the attacking 50m, it seemed to come straight back more often than not. Pressure was intense. Normally steady hands like Jarrad McVeigh seemed flustered. It was a disease on Saturday night not limited to our inspirational captain. Too many players just didn't answer the bell, too many players had that deer-in-the-headlights look about them. It was one of those nights where veterans like Goodes, Bolton and Roberts-Thomson were sorely missed. Those veterans in the line up - I'm looking at you, Ryan O'Keefe - didn't have nearly enough impact. Bad misses in front of goals, poor decisions, not enough of what's gotten him to where he is in a glittering career. Nick Malceski seemed under siege all night, too, though he was often devoid of options ahead.

It would be quicker to mention those in red and white who did: Ted Richards did, as he always does, Dan Hannebery (injury and all) did, Ben McGlynn chimed in with some trademark toughness, Jesse White tried his hardest, a pleasant surprise, for it's normally against elite opposition when White goes MIA. Kieren Jack was somewhat subdued. Mike Pyke did what he could, taking exceptional marks, and kicking goals when not many others did or could. Kurt Tippett, with limited opportunity against standout Geelong defender Harry Taylor, did what he could, but when your big-time spearhead is roaming the defensive 50m, you know things aren't going well for your team.

Getting pumped is one thing, and it was always likely at Fortress Geelong, but the worst thing for the Swans, going in, was getting pumped and sustaining injuries. Bad news when Rhyce Shaw, who kick-starts so much of the Swans offensive thrusts from half back, went down with a knee injury, which, by the looks of his tears, is at the very least season-ending. The game seemed to be lurching from one disaster to another when Hannebery looked like he'd done a serious injury. Thankfully. #4 was back after not too long. But it scarcely mattered. 44 points was about the difference between the two teams.

And so, the Death March to Geelong has claimed another victim. Truthfully, the Swans weren't really in the contest at all, save for the Cats' inconsistencies in front of goal. At the end, the siren couldn't come quickly enough, and was made worse by horribly biased TV coverage, during which Dwayne Russell openly fawned over Geelong as a whole, and Paul Chapman and Harry Taylor especially. It was uncomfortable, but not a surprise because Melbourne media is still talking about how the Hawks lost the 2012 Grand Final, rather than how the Swans actually won...

But I digress, and rapid improvement will be the name of the game this week for the Swans, because the road doesn't get any easier next week, when Hawthorn roll into ANZ Stadium for a Friday night game. Thankfully, the Swans are in no danger of falling from the Top Four, which is probably just as well, given their unimaginably tough run home.

The Bloods have work to do.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Review: Jimmy Barnes (August 22, 2013)




Thursday 22 August, 2013
The Enmore Theatre
Sydney, NSW, Australia

Jimmy Barnes rolled through Sydney last night in the midst of his first full tour since the last Cold Chisel jaunt back in 2011, and if the Working Class Man has any thoughts about slowing down, he certainly doesn't show it. This was a blistering gig, Barnesy in fine form, belting out all the hits - and just a sprinkling of new songs, which held up well in comparison - that people buy tickets to hear. Of which there are plenty.

The classic Jimmy Barnes look
The band is tight - a special shout-out to lead guitarist Ben Rodgers, who has all the chops in the world - and they roll through a set list chock-full of classic Cold Chisel tracks, alongside Barnes's solo work, with great energy. As well they should now, a number of shows into what has been a successful tour of rural locales across Australia. Make no mistake, in small towns the length and breadth of this country, Barnes is still King.Two of Jimmy's daughters Eliza-Jane sings backing vocals in the band, as does Mahalia, some of the time - when she's not out front, sharing duetting with her father, particularly memorable on the Cold Chisel classic When The War Is Over. And, as if that wasn't enough, she opened the show with her own music.

Father and daughter
Listening to them, you're reminded - well, I was - of just how many great songs Jimmy Barnes had sung over the years, solo stuff and Cold Chisel songs. Lay Down Your Guns, Ride the Night Away, No Second Prize, Flame Trees, Last Frontier, the sprawling music-epic Driving Wheels and the aforementioned Chisel masterpiece When The War Is Over...great songs, and all a part of the fabric of rock and roll in Australia, as is Jimmy himself. He's rock royalty in Australia, and I'd rate him in my Top Five as far as great vocalists that this country has produced over the years, right there with Bon Scott, Michael Hutchence, John Farnham, and Stevie Wright, though in no particular order. The new single Pleasure House has a hugely infectious hook to it, too, and should do good business for Barnesy. (The E.P. is already out!)

The hugely impressive Ben Rodgers on lead guitar
Of course, Jimmy can't leave any venue these days without playing his two signature songs, the Cold Chisel classic Khe Sanh and his just-as-popular solo anthem Working Class Man, two songs that could both lay pretty decent claim to being a kind of unofficial Australian national anthem, and listening to him sing these classic songs with such gusto is incredible. This double shot of classic Aussie rock closed the main set in rip-roaring fashion.

Greeting the faithful
When those first signature notes of Khe Sanh ring out through the Enmore, there was scarcely anyone not standing, belting out the words along with - and, sometimes, over the top of - Barnes, and you can tell he's charged up because of it. And so, the concert becomes a special moment, just like when you're singing along to "You're the Voice" at a John Farnham show, or "Highway to Hell" at an AC/DC gig or "Dancing in the Dark" at a Springsteen concert. The show goes from excellent to epic, and you feel like those two songs are alone worth the price of admission, which was a very reasonable $89 for an evening of great Aussie rock.

From there, the show then proceeded to pretty much blast through the roof of the Enmore with the riotous closer, a searing cover of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke's Resurrection Shuffle (a version of which Jimmy recorded with The Living End on his album on Double Happiness) complete with bass, drum and guitar solos. It was a double punch to end the show, two hours worth of great rock that went far too quickly!

He's going strong, is Barnesy, and long may that continue!


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown: #18 - Olympus Has Fallen

Welcome to Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown!

These may not be the twenty greatest films ever made, but they are my favourites. I started with 35 of the movies I love the most for various reasons, and had a tough time narrowing the list down to just 20 films. Even harder was putting them into some sort of order. It's an eclectic list - as those of you who know me well know, I like a broad range of films - but, all in all, the twenty films that have made the most impact on me over the years.


#18 - Olympus Has Fallen



Stars: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Rick Yune & Aaron Eckhart
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer(s): Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt
Year: 2013

The Story: A national security epic, in which a band of North Korean terrorists led by Kang Yeonsak (Yune) masquerade as South Korean diplomats in order to get into the White House and the Oval Office, before they take President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart) hostage. Unbeknownst to the terrorists, is Mike Banning (Butler), a Secret Service agent who has personal history with the President, and just happens to be close by 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when the North Koreans launch a daring - and not out of the realms of possibility in real life, either - raid.

As Banning sets about killing terrorists, rooting out the traitorous Americans who got Yeonsak's men into the most protected building in the world, and saving Asher, Speaker of the House Alan Trumball (Freeman) is elevated temporarily to commander-in-chief, and must figure out what the North Koreans hope to gain from such an event, as dead hostages pile up. 

Watch it if...: You liked the 90's action blockbusters or you need a thought-free Friday night movie!

Why I Love It: Non-stop action, and a lead character who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, hostages in the White House (including the President), a touch of political entanglement, some killer one liners and a body count bigger than in most films, which strive for a lesser rating than the MA15+ that this film was rated in Australia. Honestly, what's not to like? This film is like the pages of so many books I love - by Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, to name just two - come to life. It was an epic film, reminiscent of the older Die Hard films, or Steven Seagal's Under Siege movies.

The idea of the White House being overrun by hostages isn't a new one. It's happened in a few books that I've read, by way of - and, the trailer for Olympus Has Fallen made me wonder, at first, if I was watching a movie adaption of Vince Flynn's blockbuster novel Transfer of Power - either a full-scale terrorist assault or moles within the administration and close to the President. Olympus Has Fallen combines both, and. when you're not reminded of a younger Bruce Willis when watching Gerard Butler wisecrack and cut a swathe through innumerable bad guys, it gives everyone a chance to consider just how awesome a President Morgan Freeman might make.

It's a visually exciting film, too. Loud and bright, there's always something going on. The set piece, of course, is the White House and by the end, there really isn't much left to salvage. Not after the combined efforts of the terrorists and the good guys, and the famous white-walled building is brought to it's knees in spectacular fashion, imploded, crashed into by helicopters, and generally turned into a bloody and broken battlefield. Not even the interior is safe - and nor is the Washington Monument, which is sheared in half early on in a memorable scene, worth the price of admission alone.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown: #19 - Cool Runnings (1993)

Welcome to Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown!

These may not be the twenty greatest films ever made, but they are my favourites. I started with 35 of the movies I love the most for various reasons, and had a tough time narrowing the list down to just 20 films. Even harder was putting them into some sort of order. It's an eclectic list - as those of you who know me well know, I like a broad range of films - but, all in all, the twenty films that have made the most impact on me over the years. 



#19 - Cool Runnings (1993)




Stars: Leon, Doug. E Doug, Rawle. D Lewis, John Candy
Director:
Jon Turteltaub
Writer(s):
Lynn Siefert, Tommy Swerdlow & Michael Goldberg
Year: 1993

The Story: Based on a true story, Cool Runnings chronicles the rise of the Jamaican national bobsled team, from it's inception to an unlikely debut effort at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Led by two sprinters, Derice Bannock (Leon) and Junior Bevil (Lewis) with a wise-cracking pushcart driver, Sanka Coffie (Doug) and mentored by Irv Blitzer (Candy), a washed up bobsled champion, caught cheating at the 1972 Olympics, and living in Jamaica as a mostly-failed bookie.


Watch if if...: You like sport, underdogs, classic Disney films and want a good laugh!

Why I Love It: Because it's funny, inspiration and unflinchingly positive (even when things get rough) and in amongst having a great time laughing at the antics of the hugely unlikely Jamaican bobsled team - you have to keep stopping to remind yourself that this is based on a true story, that there really were a group of men from Jamaica who competed in bobsledding at the Olympics - you are treated to a bit of an Olympic history lesson. 


The Miracle on Ice, this is not, but it is a wonderful story of perseverance, of beating the odds. The underlying message here is that despite being viewed as outsiders and given no chance at making actual Olympic competition, they have as much right to be there as anyone else, including the traditonal super powers.

Then there are the hilarious one-liners that permeate the film - "Do you want to kiss my lucky egg?" - and will have you rolling in the aisles. Most of these come from Sanka, but director Jon Turteltaub does a solid job balancing laughter with more poignant moments, and you can't help but cheer want to cheer when Jamaica qualifies and although their shot at an unlikely, the film does it's job in showing that the Jamaicans, rank outsiders, had a victory of sorts in simply getting to the Olympics, and, eventually, earning the respect of their competitors.

It's easy to get caught up in this film - trust me, I have, and always do - and that's perhaps why it stands out so prominently amongst the crop of mid-1990's Disney films. And that's saying something, because some great films were produced in that time. Sadly, they don't make them quite like this anymore!!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown: #20 - The Man From Snowy River II (1988)

Welcome to Kitch's Top Twenty Movie Countdown!

These may not be the twenty greatest films ever made, but they are my favourites. I started with 35 of the movies I love the most for various reasons, and had a tough time narrowing the list down to just 20 films. Even harder was putting them into some sort of order. It's an eclectic list - as those of you who know me well know, I like a broad range of films - but, all in all, the twenty films that have made the most impact on me over the years. It starts with Tom Burlinson's triumphant return to the Australian High Country...

#20 - The Man From Snowy River II (1988)



Stars: Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton, Brian Dennehy, Nicholas Eadie
Director: Geoff Burrowes
Writer(s): Geoff Burrowes and John Dixon (film) & A.B. Patterson (poem)
Year: 1988

The Story: Years after the events in the The Man From Snowy River, Jim Craig AKA The Man (Burlinson), returns to the Australian high country, which he left at the conclusion of the first film to forge a beginning for himself and Jessica (Thornton), the women he loves. But many things have changed in the mountains whilst Jim has been away. His mentor, Spur (Kirk Douglas in the first film) is dead, Jessica's father (Dennehy) still dislikes him and Jessica herself has caught the eye of Alistair Patton (Eadie), the son of an influential bank officer. In the mountains, someone has shot at Jim's prized brumby and men in the low country are seeking to claim the drought-free grazing of the high country for their own, wresting control of it from the mountain men.

Why I Love It: Quite simply, there's more of the same drama, action, breathtaking alpine scenery and spectacular cinematography that made 1982's The Man From Snowy River, based on the immortal poem written by Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Patterson, such a roaring success both in Australia and overseas. 

The sequel, almost a certainty after the critical acclaim and giant box office numbers of the original, ticks all the boxes that you could want, as far as a sequel goes. All the things people loved so much about the original are present in The Man From Snowy River II. It completes the story arc of Jim and Jessica, and gives Tom Burlinson another chance at donning the Akubra hat to portray one of the most iconic characters in the history of Australian film. Bruce Rowland's soaringly majestic score makes the events unfolding on the screen seem even better, particularly the climactic scenes that bring the film to it's conclusion. And with a feel good ending, that you just know is coming, there's not much to dislike. Sure, it's predictable at times, but it's a lot of fun, too.

Those who know me well know how much I love the Snowy Mountains - that place is a part of my family now - and I'm yet to see anything on television or at the movies that does such a tremendous job of capturing the rugged beauty of the Aussie high country. The sweeping shots from helicopter of characters riding along towering ridges or plummeting down steep hills are nothing short of epic. Scenically, it's a spellbinding piece of cinema. There's no more beautiful part of Australia than the mountains, and the way Burrowes captures it for the audience, it's no wonder the film - both films, really - was wildly successful not just here in Australia, but overseas.

it's damned near un-Australian to have not seen this film and it's predecessor and I don't know that there'll be another movie (or series of movies) that will do such justice to the Australian countryside, nor to the image that we all have of Australians at the turn of the twentieth century: that resilient, funnily sarcastic knockabout larrikin rogue style of character, which as became so popular since.

Monday, August 19, 2013

NCAA Football 2013 - Week One Australian TV Guide (Updated: 27 August)

Finally!! The 2013 season is upon us and there is so much up in the air - can Johnny Manziel play as well as he's partied in the off-season? Will Notre Dame repeat their success from last year? Will Alabama be the Gold Standard of college football again? How will Oregon go in the post-Chip Kelly era? Will Lane Kiffin survive the season at USC? So much to be decided, and it all starts this week!

A big slate of games to open twelve weeks of NCAA football. As per usual...all times AEST

Friday 30 August

College Football Live - Kickoff Special (7.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
North Carolina vs. No. 7 South Carolina (8.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Mississippi vs. Vanderbilt (11.15am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Saturday 31 August

College Football Live (9.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Texas Tech vs. Southern Methodist (10.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Sunday 1 September

College GameDay - Clemson, SC (12.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Buffalo vs. No. 2 Ohio State (2.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Rice vs. No. 7 Texas A&M (3.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
College Football Scoreboard (5.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Syracuse vs. Penn State (5.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
College Football Scoreboard (6.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)  
ESPN Goal Line (6.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 1 Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (7.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Syracuse vs. Penn State (8.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 8 Clemson (10.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Syracuse vs. Penn State (10.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 12 Louisiana State vs. Texas Christian (11.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
College Football Final (5.00pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Monday 2 September

Ohio vs.  No. 9 Louisville (5.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
MEAC/SWAC Challenge: Florida A&M vs. Mississippi Valley State

Tuesday 3 September

College Football Live (9.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 11 Florida State vs. Pittsburgh (10.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Swans Review - St Kilda (18 August)


Swans see off a determined first half St Kilda challenge for a comfortable win

SYDNEY 2.3  6.6  13.9  18.10 (118)
ST KILDA 2.3  4.4  5.6  8.11 (59)
Goals: Sydney: K Tippett 5 J White 3 B McGlynn 2 J Bolton 2 J Lamb 2 K Jack 2 M Pyke 2.
St Kilda: J Steven 2 N Riewoldt 2 D Minchington T Curren T Hickey T Lee.
Best: Sydney: J Kennedy L Parker R Shaw K Tippett K Jack J McVeigh.
St Kilda: J Steven N Riewoldt L Montagna T Curren D Armitage.
Umpires: Ben Ryan, Jacob Mollison, Jason Armstrong.
Official Crowd: 26,730 at SCG.


The Swans got what they really needed today: a nice, confidence- and percentage-building win over fairly poor opposition heading into the final two, very tough weeks of the season (next week, at Geelong, and the following week, home against Hawthorn) before reloading to defend their 2012 premiership.

Even so, the win didn't come easily for Sydney, and that was entirely due to a very plucky St Kilda side who made life difficult in the first half, maintaining close contact on the scoreboard through a combination of experienced old heads like Nick Dal Santo, Nick Riewoldt and ex-Swan Adam Schneider, and a fleet of kids who look like they'll be the (fairly promising) future of the St Kilda Football Club, like Jack Steven, who fought hard with Sydney's Josh Kennedy for best-on-ground honours this afternoon.

It was a different story in the second half, where the Swans kicked clear, producing a blistering display of hard-running and well-executed ball movement, spearheaded by Kennedy and his midfield cohorts, chief amongst them, Jarrad McVeigh, who, it seems, cannot play a bad game. He's the steadying presence in the engine room, and the lightning rod for so much of what the Swans do offensively. Behind him, Ted Richards battled Saints spearhead Riewoldt to a draw, with able assistance from Dean Rampe and Rhyce Shaw. The Swans are an infinitely better team when Rhyce Shaw is running and carrying from the backline. There are few who can do it as well as he does.

In the third quarter, which blew the game wide open, the Swans played breathtaking football at times, and ruthless, too. In every facet of the game, they put the Saints to the sword, showing glimpses of form which the Sydney faithful really hasn't seen for two straight weeks, after the majority of the team had sub-par performances against Collingwood last Saturday night. Kieran Jack was his usual self, Luke Parker returned to form, Jesse White looked menacing once more (and will be tough to drop as the run to the finals commences) and Ben McGlynn, fresh off of perhaps the worst performance he's ever put in as a Swan, returned to form, a very pleasing thought for the Swans Nation ahead of September action.

Generally, the Swans acted as though last week's game was but a speedbump, and they would want to hope so. It took a while to happen, but the Sydney machine was up and rolling smoothly by three-quarter time, the dreaded Magpie cobwebs blown right out of the water. Swans fans, remembering last week's effort all too well, can only hope that they don't reappear throughout the next six to (hopefully) eight weeks of football still to come in Season 2013.

With five goals to his name before the bell for three quarter time, impressive spearhead Kurt Tippett was subbed by John Longmire in favour of Gary Rohan, whose return to the Swans line-up - and, indeed, to the field - was warmly welcomed by the SCG crowd of more than 26,000 people. Few can forget the horrible vision of Rohan breaking his leg early last season. It's been a tough road back for the red-headed youngster, but, ultimately, a rewarding one. He will be better for a quarter's worth of footy.

It was a smart move both ways for Longmire. Player management is absolutely key at this time of the year. Tippett will be well-rested for Geelong next week, and Rohan was given a chance to find some form heading into the finals, when he will, without a doubt, be the sort of wild card option that could turn momentum at crucial moments in big games. Tippett has looked unstoppable over the last few weeks (and was arguably the only bright spot in last week's loss to Collingwood), but Jesse White, in career best form, impressively stood up and shouldered the load late in the game.

A fifty-nine point win was about a fair indication of how the game went, the Swans doubly better than St Kilda, who noticeably faded late. Next week: a much tougher test, against Geelong in Geelong. It's the hardest assignment in footy, and will be a very good litmus test as to where the Swans are at.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

The Game - A Short Story of Gallipoli 1915 (Part Three)

Contents: The Game - A Short Story of Gallipoli 1915 

1. Part One 
2. Part Two 
***

Chapter Three 

Satisfied by that guarantee, Hadley stepped closer, as though about to confess a great secret to the two men – and, indeed, he was. “There are plans afoot to evacuate Gallipoli,” he said. “The campaign has stalled. You have undoubtedly noticed that yourselves. Constantinople isn't a realistic goal now. Currently, we – that is, intelligence officers and planning officers – are looking at the best way to evacuate the Army.”

Jim’s jaw dropped and the word, simple yet so dramatic and important, seemed to explode from him: “Evacuate?”

“Exactly,” Hadley confirmed. “I don’t mind telling you that it won't be an easy operation: either to get men away, which will have to be done under cover of darkness, or to continue to convince the enemy that there is a full complement of men manning the trenches, even when there is not. To that end, we wish to have the enemy get used to strange occurrences.”

Now, it was making sense to Jim. Lunatic sense, but at least he could see what the brass hoped to achieve. “And the cricket game – that’s your first idea of a ‘strange occurrence’?”

Hadley nodded. “That’s correct.”

At that, Jim let out a long breath. “Good God!”\

“I would pray for His assistance during this endeavour, Sergeant Barnes, for it will not be an easy task,” Hadley said. “The evacuation can go one of two ways. One way is that things occur as we hope that they will. The other way is that the Turks get wind of what’s happening and launch an attack that would land us all in a great deal of trouble and leave a great deal of your countrymen dead. Need I ask you which you prefer?”

Jim shook his head slowly as he considered what Hadley had just said, and the unimaginably high stakes. The idea of leaving ate at him. He was a proud man, like so many other diggers, but the idea of hanging around wasn’t too appealing, either. There was no way they were going to win this fight. The odds had been stacked against them from the very beginning. Sometimes, he wondered how they’d managed to last as long as they had.

As galling as sneaking away in the night would be to just about every Australian and New Zealand soldier fighting on the peninsula, the smart move was to escape, sneakily or otherwise, and live in order to fight another day, and, not so deep down, Jim knew it. Perhaps they would get a shot at the Germans on the Western Front. The supposed back door into Germany – via Turkey – hadn't worked. Now, Jim wondered about kicking in the front door, through France and Belgium. If they stayed on Gallipoli, eventually, there would be no ANZACs left at all. That was a worse alternative than being beaten: being slaughtered like lambs.

“I reckon you don’t, sir,” Jim said finally, exhaling. His mind was made up.

Hadley judiciously held back on his smile. “So we are agreed?”

“I don’t see that I have all that much bloody choice in the matter, sir, but yes, we’re agreed. I’ll help,” Jim promised. “But, sir, if I’m asking for volunteers for this stunt…what I mean is that I can’t lie to them. I won’t do that. If they’re going to do this, they need to know why.”

“Tell them only what you must,” Hadley ordered. “Is that understood? Operational security is paramount here, Sergeant. I don’t doubt that your men are trustworthy, but the less people who know the truth of what’s going on, the less that can go wrong.”

“Fair enough,” Jim agreed. He turned to Angus, who had remained silent during the recent exchange. “What do you reckon, Gus?”

“Bloody crazy idea,” Angus replied. “But you can count me in.”

Captain Hadley clapped his hands together, satisfied. “So, it’s decided, then. Sergeant, I’ll leave you to put together a team, and Major McCaskill will arrange for some opposition for you. I must communicate this news to the commanding general. I thank you all for your assistance in this regard.”

When the British officer headed out into the sun, so did Jim. Beyond the sandbagged walls of the headquarters structure, the war continued as normal, but it had changed for Jim. He looked around, watching the never-ending job of unloading supplies, realising that there was only so much time left here, before the Gallipoli campaign would be resigned to history: a bloody and unsuccessful footnote, buried deep amongst the horrendous losses sustained in many failed battles on the Western Front.

Yet, for the families and friends of those who had been killed at Lone Pine, The Nek, Quinn’s Post, in Monash Valley and so many other places that would perhaps be forgotten over the years, it would be more than just a footnote, Jim knew. He couldn’t imagine that Australia or New Zealand, would want to celebrate what would go down in history as a lost battle. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that, when so many men – friends amongst them – had fallen in pursuit of a victory that, in the end, had been lost on that first day. But that hadn't stopped the Australians and New Zealanders from trying. Perhaps that would be their legacy from this place, Jim thought. In the face of insurmountable odds, none of the diggers had given up.

All around, the battle continued, thousands upon thousands of troops unaware that the end was nigh. A machine gun rattled, it’s harsh sound reverberating off the cliffs. But so many men were so immune to the sound that life went on as normal. A shell burst close enough to the ridge that smoke and dust drifted lazily down towards the beach, though, for the veterans, it was barely worth them looking up from whatever they were doing. 

At the far end of Anzac Cove, Jim could see men kicking a soccer ball around, as though there was no war whatsoever, as though they were enjoying a sunny day out at the beach. They were, of course, just with the added presence of the Turkish guns. The biggest of them all was the monster that the diggers had nicknamed Big Bertha. It was the only gun capable of targeting beyond the beach, right out into the water, putting the Royal Navy fleet in peril.

Suddenly, Angus was standing alongside. “Hell of a plan they’ve cooked up, isn't it?”

“Yeah.” Jim snorted. “It isn't the dumbest one I’ve ever heard – that’d be sending our blokes after The Nek, but it’s right up there. Evacuation, Gus! Can you believe it?”

“Not really,” Angus admitted, shaking his head. “I wonder how long they’ve been thinking about it?”

“Knowing the morons the poms have in charge, one of the buggers probably woke up yesterday morning and realised that we weren’t going to win. Like it was some new piece of knowledge his little mind had latched onto! Bloody English, wouldn’t know their arses from their elbows. We couldn’t even trust them to land us on the right beach!”

“Yeah, well, I don’t like the idea of sneaking off like a thief in the bloody night, mate,” Angus replied. “It’s un-Australian!”

“Not too bloody crazy on it myself, but Hadley’s right, Gus. I – hell, we’ve all said the same thing, most of us since the first night we were here. There’s no way we’re getting to Constantinople, and thousands of our blokes have died proving that. The Turks are too well dug in. We’re not shifting them. About time the bloody poms worked it out. But this business of a cricket match on Shell Green? Christ, that’s one from the left field. You didn’t have to throw your lot in, mate.”

Angus shrugged his shoulders and grinned. There was no way known to man that he’d let his friend shoulder all the responsibility on his own. “Nor did you.”

“Not at first, anyway,” Jim allowed. “When Hadley told me the whole stunt’s to try and get our blokes off in one piece, I couldn’t very well say no, could I? If there’s even a small chance that we can keep the bloody Turks looking in the other direction long enough to get away, it’ll be worth it. Besides, it’ll be something to tell the missus and kids about.”

“If we don’t get blown to kingdom come up there, you mean?” Angus asked morosely.
Jim nodded, and couldn’t avoid an involuntary shiver as he thought about the shooting gallery that Shell Green had become. 

“Yeah, that’s what I mean. Look around, Gus, and remember this. I’m the least sentimental bastard you know, but, I reckon this is all going to be history in a month or so.” No matter what happened, be it a successful evacuation or a failed one, the Battle of Gallipoli was winding down to it’s conclusion: a resounding Turkish victory.

“You reckon they’ll send us to France and give us a crack at the Hun?”

“I hope they bloody send us to somewhere to get a few good nights of sleep and some decent tucker before they pack us up again!” Jim responded. He’d never known such complete exhaustion before, and on that, he wasn’t alone. “Honestly, mate, after that, I don’t care. I thought we’d all be bloody old men before we left this place. On a full stomach, and with some decent generals leading the way, I’ll go just about anywhere.”

Angus looked up towards the ridge, following a group of shirtless diggers carrying supplies towards the front. “I just wanna win the war so we can go back home. What do you reckon now, mate? Back up to tell the lads?”

“Good a time as any,” Jim agreed. He could already imagine the reaction from the men in the trenches when he asked them to volunteer for, of all things, a cricket game.
But it was not to be, for Major McCaskill approached at that moment, wearing a rather sheepish smile. “A moment, lads?”

“Of course, sir,” Jim replied, saluting – laconically, as was the Australian way.

“I wanted to explain that the idea presented to you in there wasn’t mine. Personally, I don’t think it’ll do anything but put you men in the sights of the Turkish gunners, but captains from the staff of the commanding general carry far more weight in the grand scheme of things than mere battalion majors. Essentially, I was powerless. As for how you came to be involved: it so happened that Lieutenant Evans was present when Captain Hadley first revealed his plan, and Lieutenant Evans volunteered you, Sergeant.”

That knowledge didn’t surprise Jim at all. “Thanks for letting me know, sir, but it doesn’t matter much anymore. We’re in – and we’re not going to back out. I just hope it does what the brass hope it will do!”

McCaskill looked up, watching an artillery shell streak through the sky, and land twenty yards offshore, scattering a group of swimmers. Then he looked back to Barnes and nodded. “I hope the same thing, Sergeant.”

Friday, August 16, 2013

Bruce Springsteen Australian Tour 2014



Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Australia 2014

Legendary Bruce Springsteen and the hard rocking, heart stopping E Street Band are returning to Australia - and heading over to New Zealand, as well - in February and March of 2014! 

Unbelievably, these dates come less than  12 months since the incredible and critically-acclaimed Wrecking Ball Tour shows in March '13. That's almost unprecedented for such a big-time act returning to this part of the world. Tour dates are as follows:

Perth: February 7
Adelaide: February 11
Melbourne: February 15
Sydney: February 19
Hunter Valley: February 22
Brisbane: February 26
There are some gaps in between most of those shows, so that, potentially, second (and maybe even third) shows can be added. You can safely assume that all of these shows will sell out, so Frontier Touring and Springsteen's people might pull the trigger on additional dates, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, where there were multiple shows this year.

Apparently, Springsteen loved Australia so much that, on a handshake deal with promoter Michael Gudinski, to return here. The promoter said, "I am seriously knocked out to get him back, I didn't expect it to happen even though they were so excited after the shows in March but it all came together last month."

That there's to be a second Springsteen tour so soon (and especially after a 10-year wait between The Rising and Wrecking Ball tours) is beyond awesome. Perth, Adelaide and New Zealand get in on the party - the Boss was apparently impressed that so many West and South Australians (estimated at about 5000 people) traveled to the east coast shows this year. Many Kiwis came across, too, so both sets of fans have been rewarded for that dedication.

Key Points

1. This will not be a part of the mammoth and hugely successful Wrecking Ball Tour, but a special set of shows added on because of popular demand (and probably because of such amazing reviews) in Australia this year.

2. AAMI Park in Melbourne will be an outdoor gig. Springsteen will only be the second artist to play that city's newest sporting event, following on from the Foo Fighters.

3. According to Gudinski (and this article), both Stevie Van Zandt, who was absent filming the TV show Lillyhammer in March, and Tom Morello will be in the E Street Band. Morello, of Rage Against The Machine fame, was a revelation in March. Great singer, incredible guitarist. His duet with Springsteen on "The Ghost of Tom Joad" was exhilarating! Morello and Van Zandt on the same stage for the entire show as never happened before. If Patti Scalfia tours, too, it'll be just about as perfect an E Street Band line-up as can be, with the obvious and notable (and sad) absences of The Big Man Clarence Clemons and Phantom Danny Federici .

4. The iconic and much-celebrated Hanging Rock show in rural Victoria is substituted on the 2014 tour for an outdoor show in the Hunter Valley of NSW, at the picturesque Hope Estate. It should be just as spectacular as the Easter weekend shows were this year at Hanging Rock.

5. TICKETS ON-SALE FROM AUGUST 26!!

Cannot wait! Roll on February!!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Game - A Short Story of Gallipoli 1915 (Part Two)

Contents: The Game - A Short Story of Gallipoli 1915 

1. Part One 
***

Chapter Two 

“What do you reckon’s going on, mate?” Angus asked as they left the front lines.

“Nothing good, I’ll promise you that,” Jim replied gravely. It was always the way, because Lieutenant Evans only ever appeared when something bad was about to happen. “We’ll be getting shot at, for sure and bloody certain.”

Amongst the platoon, the conflict between the sergeant, who was well regarded, and the lieutenant, who was not so well regard, was well-known. The two men see eye to eye on anything – they had been at loggerheads since training in Egypt, so Evans spent little time in the section of trench where Jim was in nominal command, preferring the solitude of his dugout further down the line, where he filled up innumerable diary pages. With what, exactly, Jim had no idea.

That suited Jim just fine. He didn’t like Evans one little bit, but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, and wondered what idea Battalion had come up with this time. Actually, he suspected that, like on most occasions, whatever was being put forth now, by way of a plan – it was always the next plan that would break the stalemate, or so the diggers had been told again and again – had come from General Birdwood’s General Headquarters.

Down on the beach, and further afield at the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force headquarters, they were experts at thinking up lame-brained schemes that did little more than get Australians killed. No one who had spent any time at Gallipoli had been immune to the stunts and strategies that the British generals who ran the campaign had thought up.

Popular amongst the Australians was the thought that it was the British planners who posed more of a threat to their lives than the Turks. Also popular: the guarantee that if the Australian generals had been in charge of the campaign, then perhaps they might have reached Constantinople after all.  

As far as horrible decisions went, the one that always came first into Jim’s mind, the most glaring of all examples, was the madness of charging Turkish defences at The Nek. That costly action, on the same day as the successful attack on Lone Pine, had cost a lot of light horse troopers their lives – completely unnecessarily, as the British landings at Suvla Bay, for which the attack on the Nek had been a diversion, had finished. Whilst the Australians had died charging across a No Man’s Land of less than twenty yards against dozens of machine guns, the British had sipped tea on the sand. No Aussie had forgotten about that stunt.

“At least we’re away from the lieutenant for a spell,” Angus said, trying to swing his friend’s mood around as best as possible.

“Yeah, you’re right about that. Still, I don’t like it. This stinks like the work of some bloody fool pommy staff officer,” Jim opined, turning to offer Angus a grimace. “I can smell the stench of it from here.”

‘Here’ was a hundred yards from the beach now known as Anzac Cove. The two men were now in the network of trenches that ran along the very top of the ridge that had been the first defensive position established by the Australians and New Zealanders on the first morning – the first morning when their objectives had been miles inland. It seemed a long time ago when they had been clinging to the cliffs, gouging and clawing for survival, yet the line hadn’t advanced much more than a third of a mile in some areas.

In the following nine months of fighting, no digger had come close to capturing what they’d been asked to try and capture on the first morning, the plan concocted by staff officers in a room somewhere falling completely apart. Only those who had been taken prisoner had come within a stone’s throw. Constantinople for dinner had been the cheerful saying before the landings in April, and a lot of men had believed that it would be a quick and easy campaign. It had, of course, become the opposite, and now Jim was certain that the only way he’d ever see the Turkish capital was if he were taken prisoner and jailed there. Needless to say, that wasn’t how he wanted to end his war.

In the early days of the campaign, the steep ascent from the beach to the first ridge line had been one fraught with great danger. It had taken many months to clear all the Turkish snipers and machine guns from along the length of the beach, and it hadn’t happened until many Australians and New Zealanders had been killed. The snipers had been particularly troublesome, especially for the diggers on fetch-and-carry duties. Loaded down with supplies, negotiating goat tracks up a steep hill, with snipers in the area was a disaster. Clearing the way just to get necessary supplies to the front line had been a herculean task, and it had cost the many men their lives.

A herculean effort, too, had been securing this last line of defence as the front line had slowly crept forward, with the loss of many Australian and New Zealand soldiers, but the immediate danger of one line break pushing the entire expeditionary force into the ocean had come and gone, though there was never a moment that went by in the front lines where the spectre of a massive attack didn’t hang over the Australians and New Zealanders. The difference now was that there would have to be multiple line breaks to fold the ANZAC house of cards in. Back then, one would have done it.

For men who were adept at scrambling up and down gullies – and by now, there weren’t many who weren’t – the trip down to the beach was easy enough. As usual, the narrow strip of sand was a haven of activity: everything from Navy sailors unloading boxes of supplies to pens of barbed wire for Turkish prisoners and soldiers swimming offshore, an event that always attracted the attention of enemy guns. Everything on Gallipoli was hazardous to a soldier’s health, but that didn’t stop them from chancing their luck. Everyone loved a swim in the brilliant turquoise-blue ocean.

Battalion Headquarters was a sandbagged hut with a corrugated iron roof, dimly lit and jammed hard against an outcropping in the cliff. The way it had been built, nothing but a direct hit – or perhaps a series of them – would bring it down, and being in the shadows of the towering cliff made that almost an impossibility. Typical of the staff officers and powers-that-be, Jim thought. They were seldom in danger, whereas the men on the front lines were seldom out of it. Such a was what ensured the diggers had a less-than-favourable opinion of the ‘brass’.

“This should be interesting,” Jim muttered to Angus as they were ushered inside.

Major Arthur McCaskill was the only officer present whom Jim and Angus had seen before. It was a large gathering, considering the relatively small size of the headquarters building. Looking around, Jim saw a knot of four staff officers, quite recognisable due to the red bands on their uniform caps, and noticed that they’d all turned to appraise the newcomers. Most had thinly-cropped moustaches, as was the apparent fashion amongst British staff officers. Jim didn’t get it. He’d either been clean shaven or had taken to wearing a heavy beard, nothing in the middle.

“Barnes, Laidlaw,” McCaskill said by way of a greeting, his words barely distinguishable underneath a thick Scottish accent. The major was very popular amongst the men he commanded. “How are things on the front line this morning?”

“We’re keeping the Turks honest, sir,” Jim replied. He didn’t add that they couldn’t hope to do much more after being sold down the river by the English from Day One of the campaign. If there was one thing that the Army didn’t appreciate, it was insubordination – and particularly the British Army.

“That’s what I like to hear.” The major turned and gestured to one of the staff officers, who now stepped forward. “This is Captain Hadley , joining us here from General Sir Ian Hamilton’s headquarters. The captain is here at the behest of the commander-in-chief.”

Immediately, alarms bells went off in Jim’s head. He absolutely knew that something strange was going on, because majors didn’t normally introduce captains. It was the other way around, unless the captain in question – in this case, Hadley, the Brit dispatched here on behalf of the commanding general – was someone of great and unusual importance. A few things were starting to add up, and Jim didn’t like the total.  He knew he’d been right before, and he hated it when he was right. There were too many staff officers here for nothing. He knew what was going to happen: he and Angus were definitely going to get shot at.

Hadley, a youthful-looking man, nodded stiffly, and was quickly underway with the business at hand. “Major McCaskill and Lieutenant Evans lead me to believe that you, Sergeant Barnes, were a handy cricketer back in Australia.”

Of all the questions Jim had been expecting from the British intelligence officer, that was the furthest from left field. Even so, he nodded agreement. “I was alright, sir, Better boxer, but I could roll the arm over a bit if someone needed a little spin late in the day when the pitch was starting to break up.”

“Good to know,” Hadley said before he turned to McCaskill and nodded, having made up his mind almost in that instant. “Major, this man will do splendidly, I think.”

McCaskill nodded. “As you wish, Captain.”

Like he was back in the classroom, Jim half-raised a hand. “Sir, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here.”

“I am of a mind to detail to you a special mission, Sergeant Barnes. That is, if you are willing.”

Jim exchanged a wary glance with Angus, and glanced around the room. He hated being the last to know. “Seems to me, sir, that we’re the only blokes at this party who don’t know what’s going on here. Are we going to get let in on the secret?”

“Indeed,” Hadley answered. “The good news, Sergeant Barnes, is that you’ll get a chance to show us your cricketing skills – and you as well, Corporal Laidlaw, if you are indeed in possession of any?”

Jim stared hard at the British officer, scarcely able to believe what he’d heard. He wasn’t even sure that he’d heard right, wondering if the constant thump of the big guns had played havoc with his hearing. He thought he’d heard Hadley say that there would be some time for a cricket game... “Begging your pardon, sir, but what on earth do you mean?”

“We’d like to keep the Turks busy for a little while – tomorrow, in fact,” Hadley explained, his slow reveal gaining speed. “So, you and some of your fellows are going to hold a cricket game. The catch is, Sergeant, that this will be a game on Shell Green, in – “

“In full view of the bloody enemy,” Jim finished, growling the words. He knew very well what Shell Green represented, and didn’t need some Johnny-come-lately British intelligence officer to spell out the facts. He was seething with anger. “Sir, forgive me for saying so, but this is madness. It’s sheer bloody madness! Every Turk gun worth two bob’s got all of Shell Green sighted down to individual blades of grass. We’ll be sitting ducks up there.”

“Come, come, Sergeant Barnes,” Hadley chided lightly. “You don’t strike me as the sort of man to shirk a little taste of danger!”

If the comment was supposed to have calmed Jim down, it didn’t work. He felt his temper rise and was uninclined to keep it in check. “I’ve never backed down from anything in my life, sir, but there’s a difference between taking your chances in the trenches and even during an attack, but standing out there on the only flat bit of land on the whole peninsula playing cricket whilst the bloody Abduls drop shells all over the place? That, sir, is inviting death. I’d be best off shooting myself in the head with your revolver here and now. Save the bloody Turks some ammunition.”

“Strikes me as a bunch of us asking for a bit of trouble, sir,” Angus commented, dryly observing the understatement of the millennium.

“A whole bloody lot of trouble, more like,” Jim replied more forcefully. “Sir, is this an order?”

Captain Hadley shook his head. “No, Sergeant, this isn't an order. We’re asking for volunteers and you were suggested, by Major McCaskill as someone who might volunteer. Is that not the case?”

McCaskill, who had been thinking along the same lines as Jim concerning danger and futility, now looked at Hadley and made a none-too-subtle noise. “Captain, if you’re asking these men to take such a risk, volunteering or otherwise, perhaps they would be more likely to be acquiescing if they are armed with some understanding of what this is meant to achieve.”

For his part, Jim had no idea what ‘acquiescing’ meant, but if McCaskill’s request meant that he would get an explanation as to why anyone wanted to hold a cricket game on Shell Green, then he was happy to feel like the least-intelligent man in the room. He couldn’t work out what the plan was. It wasn’t as though a mere cricket game would act as a diversion for something else.

“Very well then,” Hadley agreed after a minute’s awkward silence. “As long as you two men swear to not to breathe a word of this to anyone.”

“Won’t tell a soul,” Angus promised.

“Yeah, cross my heart,” Jim said tersely, completely unable to imagine what sort of explanation would make him feel any better about what he was being asked to do – to volunteer to do, which was the same thing as an order when delivered by an officer from the commanding general’s headquarters. But he would listen, anyway.