Americans Watching The Footy

If a genius is the one most like himself, who was the foremost genius of this past week of footy? Perhaps it's Mason Wood, for his game-winning shift forward for the Saints. We'll also nominate two noisemakers from WA squads: Harley Reid for reasons obvious to everyone, or Jye Amiss for his bounce-back with a notable blemish. …Or the answer might just always be Sam Frost, because Frostball...

We turn to our friends at Quahog 5 News to help us recap the seasons so far for the four clubs on bye this round. Just because they aren't playing this week doesn't mean their season stops!

The bye rounds are here, and so too is some of our most tangent-filled content of the season! Alastair and Alice inspire discussions of a forgotten college football saga and the pros of regional venues in major American sports. …Oh, and seven games are scheduled — it's actually a very cracking round. Even the least-hyped affairs have real Sickos potential. *Sections* 0:00:00 Intro / News, Everyone...

Why is there smoke coming out of this episode, Benjamin? Well, the Thursday nighter will provide some answers to that. Or maybe it's you form your frustration with the Eagles… or Ethan fuming about a game the Cats easily could've won… or Rossball being ugly and ineffective again? In a round that could be seen as somewhat typical, there are a lot of things about which we can get heated. Sec...

Mad Libs strike again (even though libs are always mad) as we continue through the Sir Doug Nicholls Round! Watch for deadly talent to shine through again, and also keep an eye out for a couple players going up against their old clubs for the first time. We've also got standalone Dreamtime at last! …oh, right, all the Tigers are hurt. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:02:18 WB v SYD 0:14:19 FRE v COL 0...

Seriously, what the hell were the scriptwriters on when they drew up Round 10? The sheer range of scores and outcomes against what we expected lent itself to one of our longest episodes of the year. Ethan is ready for a Chris Scott axe-swinging, Benjamin is saying “I told you so” about some young Eagles, and we’re both still reeling from how the Adelaide clubs ended each of their fixtures. Section...

We finally have our first guests on the show… in a way! With these extra voices in tow, we celebrate the arrival of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round. This weekend is another front-loaded one, but don't sleep on a couple referendum games later in the round. Plus, there's potential for an All-Time Footy Names Derby. Sections 00:00 Intro 03:53 GC v GEE 15:38 SYD v CAR 21:11 COL v ADE 26:15 GWS v W...

Humid Darwin footy inspired this title, but the real interest of the round was in the games we knew would be cracking. Join us as we discuss the Rich Guys Derby, the Aliir effect (or is it the McKay effect?), apology videos, and… a dude cuddling a player's head? Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:02:26 CAR v MEL 0:09:20 GEE v PA 0:19:50 FRE v SYD 0:24:35 HAW v STK 0:32:25 ESS v GWS 0:40:18 RIC v WB 0:45:18...

The out-of-pocket titles continue! Round 9 brings with it a substantial divide — the top eight all play each other, leaving just one truly compelling matchup among the other five fixtures. The others… welp, guess we're in for a critical dose of Sickos footy this weekend! Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:01:54 CAR v MEL 0:13:34 GEE v PA 0:21:15 FRE v SYD 0:26:21 HAW v STK 0:34:18 ESS v GWS 0:41:49 RIC...

It's not that this "rivalry round" underwhelmed… it's that it threw us for so many loops that we hard a hard time knowing how to feel. Our clubs' losses don't sting as much, the Bulldogs remain extremely conflicting, and QClash made things plain weird at the end. We don't even know who the main character is — check Twitter for our poll! Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:02:47...

Rivalry Round is upon us! Ethan tries to make fetch happen with a new nickname, Benjamin calls his shots on debutants, and we both continue with our cracking talk from last week. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:03:29 ADE v PA 0:12:17 CAR v COL 0:20:08 SYD v GWS 0:29:12 STK v NM 0:37:15 MEL v GEE 0:45:23 WCE v ESS 0:50:09 RIC v FRE 0:56:53 WB v HAW 1:03:07 BRI v GC 1:13:34 Main Characters / Conclusion

What a cracking Anzac Round we witnessed, highlighted by an "even-up ballgame" on Thursday. Elsewhere, "defensive harmony" took center stage for the Demons, while a lack thereof hindered other expected contenders. Ethan bitches about one club and gets bored with another, and Benjamin reiterates his concerns about multiple club's ball movement trends. Sections 0:00:00 Intro...

Nine games over five days is a beautiful thing, even if it puts us on a tighter schedule! We play Wednesday Mad Libs for the first time and see how we ranked our interest in each of the Anzac Appeal Round fixtures. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:04:20 RIC v MEL 0:13:41 ESS v COL 0:18:33 GWS v BRI 0:26:34 PA v STK 0:36:15 NM v ADE 0:43:28 GEE v CAR 0:51:09 FRE v WB 0:59:57 GC v WCE 1:06:09 HAW v SYD 1:13...

Up the Burgers in multiple ways! Benjamin and Ethan both have lots to celebrate, thanks to their AFL and VFL clubs of choice all winning. More ticks for the Bulldogs (whether or not it's because of their coach) and the depleted Blues, but the crosses and question marks pile up for Dimma and Longmuir. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:02:31 STK v WB 0:11:39 ADE v ESS 0:23:37 COL v PA 0:28:13 CAR v GWS 0...

We wouldn't call this preview irreverent, but it's definitely on the less serious side at times. In this episode, a whole lost of list speculation intersects with a host of cultural observations and takes spanning both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Sections 0:00:00 Intro / R5 Awards 0:06:22 STK v WB 0:12:10 ADE v ESS 0:21:30 COL v PA 0:28:52 CAR v GWS 0:33:32 BRI v GEE 0:41:53 WCE v FRE 0:52:27 SYD...

Round 5 was a round of surprises — but which was the biggest? Conventional wisdom would suggest 0–4 beating 4–0 out of state, but Ethan begs to differ. (And amazingly, the spooners getting off the mark was not considered by either brother.) Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:02:57 MEL v BRI 0:11:41 WB v ESS 0:20:49 GWS v STK 0:31:02 CAR v ADE 0:41:52 GC v HAW 0:50:49 PA v FRE 0:59:47 GEE v NM 1:09:50 WCE v...

We're back to multi-state rounds, back to byes, and back to a likely underwhelming Sunday slate… but at least the round starts off hot! We also hope Victorian audiences are as keen about the Saturday night twin fixtures as we are. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:04:07 MEL v BRI 0:12:11 WB v ESS 0:18:08 GWS v STK 0:29:02 CAR v ADE 0:36:50 GC v HAW 0:43:56 PA v FRE 0:54:11 GEE v NM 1:00:45 WCE v RIC 1:...

Gather Round has come and gone again. The week in SA brought with it a strange batch of drama and seriousness, with umpiring and player conduct both under heavy scrutiny for multiple reasons. Thankfully, the quality of play and the overall experience did carry the day — particularly on a fantastic three-venue Sunday. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:03:59 ADE v MEL 0:13:55 BRI v NM 0:20:17 PA v ESS 0:26:5...

Gather Round brings out that SpongeBob clip over and over again — as well as some of our deepest list analysis yet! We reverse roles for Thursday Team Mad Libs, try to predict who makes way for three Gold Coast debutants, and end with a big build-up to the Sunday twilight finale. Plus: an aside on our growing love for the IPL. 0:00:00 Intro 0:07:48 ADE v MEL 0:17:39 BRI v NM 0:23:24 PA v ESS 0:31:...

Amazing how much of a toll a five-day round takes on even the most ardent footy fans' memories… Even with the winless Holy Thursday clash, we've got more to say about the actual weekend's fixtures. Which game would we show to virgin footy viewers? What did Ethan think when he actually had to watch the Eagles? And who should've gotten more praise on Easter Monday? Listen and find ou...

Another preview means another slate of sound bites, terrible puns — and, because of when we record this, Thursday Team Mad Libs! The spread-out nature of Round 3 also means we can really focus on each games as it happens. Benjamin is most excited for Port and Melbourne, but Ethan has another game on his radar aside from Easter Monday… Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:05:21 BRI v COL 0:19:01 NM v CAR 0:23:...

Our title was the joyous reason why multiple players missed action this past weekend — and their clubs still won! In terms of those who did play: a milestone man stole the show in multiple ways on Friday; the expected names came to play on Saturday at the 'G and in Sydney; on Sunday, an eclectic cast (finally) rose up in the Central Highlands. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:02:12 STK v COL 0:12:36 A...

This preview takes a dramatic turn when the Thursday night teams drop in the middle of the recording session! Ethan tests Benjamin on just how the Saints and Pies changed their lineups. Along with further game previews, we discuss the Tasmania announcement and jumpers, as well as Australians in the NCAA Tournament. Sections 0:00:00 Intro / Devils 0:09:00 STK v COL 0:20:34 ADE v GEE 0:26:26 NM v FR...

It’s a size XL episode for our first full-round recap of the season! Ethan presents his newest and greatest invention yet, while Benjamin checks in on his sleeper picks, and we both do better lineup analysis than Luke Beveridge. Sections 0:00:00 Intro 0:05:22 CAR v RIC 0:16:53 COL v SYD 0:23:51 ESS v HAW 0:31:46 GWS v NM 0:39:06 GEE v STK 0:54:08 GC v ADE 1:03:02 MEL v WB 1:14:13 PA v WCE 1:21:16...

The first nine-game slate of 2024 is here, and we jump into all our selection and positioning questions. One overarching point we hope to follow: how will the clubs who played last week fare against those who didn't? We have four such games coming up in Round 1.