moomba
TheBrownDog
I am guessing that Mike Sheahan isn't Carlos' favourite journo at the moment 
. I don't know how Blakes will feel now that he isn't the bloke that Denis wants his daughter to come home with.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,4444397^20123,00.html
Take a bow, Colby
04 June 2002 Herald Sun
EVERYONE'S favourite whipping boy is making a stand. Ever so quietly, yet ever so resolutely.
Leigh Colbert is in his best stretch of form since his highly controversial move from Geelong to the Kangaroos after the 1999 season.
He extended the run to five games, it might even be six, against Essendon's Scott Lucas at the MCG on Friday night.
No Brownlow votes, mind you, just another gritty, solid performance, despite one or two errors of judgment that resulted in Essendon goals.
Even at 26 (27 on Friday), Colbert's days of big stats, like his knees, are gone, yet, finally, he has fashioned a role for himself with the Roos.
He is playing the stopping role on the opposition's tall, hardest-working forward.
He had nine kicks and two handpasses, with three marks and four tackles; Lucas had 14 possessions, took six marks and kicked 2.1, roughly his averages for the season.
Given the absence of Matty Lloyd, Kangaroos coach Denis Pagan happily would have conceded Lucas a couple before the game.
The coach said yesterday: "We do a written critique on all the players, and Leigh's got 'goods' or 'very goods' in the last five games."
His performance against Hawthorn in Round 6 is the coach's favourite.
The Roos went under by 68 points, yet Colbert held Nick Holland to two kicks and three handpasses, and one goal.
The Roos' stats said Hawthorn made 74 entries inside the forward 50 that day -- it was an avalanche, says Pagan.
Colbert has played nine of 10 games this year. While he is averaging a modest six kicks and three handpasses, the stats sheets don't record his work ethic and courage.
He deserves his moment in the sun. There isn't a reporter or commentator in town who hasn't taken a free hit at him in recent years.
Even an old Geelong teammate, Paul Couch, ripped into him in his column in the Geelong Advertiser a couple of years ago.
His future looked grim late last year when a chronic knee problem kept him out of the last six rounds.
He hobbled through 13 games the previous year, plagued by hamstring and knee problems.
In the words of Pagan, an unavowed supporter, "he's been to hell and back".
"If there's a criticism of Leigh, he sometimes doesn't listen to what his body is telling him," Pagan said.
Even after the Hawthorn game, Colbert was the target of more negative press.
"A few of the scribes still slated him," Pagan said.
"I thought, 'Gee, that's really unfair'.
"After reading the papers, I rang and left a message on his phone. I just said, 'I was just so pleased with your performance, and you should be very proud of yourself'.
"If anyone has copped more than his fair share of sprays, Leigh has. Everyone's got an invisible sign round their neck that says 'make me feel important'."
Colbert is the latest player to earn Pagan's ultimate accolade -- "he's the sort of boy you'd love your daughter to bring home".
The coach says Colbert never complains about his injury problems, works so hard it's a fault, and is totally fearless.
"There are times you shudder when you see him attack the ball. He's right up there with the Anthony Stevens and Glenn Archers for courage," Pagan said. "If everyone was as courageous and brave as he is, it would make the coach's job so much easier."
Colbert never will be the player he was when Geelong appointed him captain at 23 with 105 games to his name, but, just as certainly, he will go as far as his wonky legs will carry him.
. I don't know how Blakes will feel now that he isn't the bloke that Denis wants his daughter to come home with.http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,4444397^20123,00.html
Take a bow, Colby
04 June 2002 Herald Sun
EVERYONE'S favourite whipping boy is making a stand. Ever so quietly, yet ever so resolutely.
Leigh Colbert is in his best stretch of form since his highly controversial move from Geelong to the Kangaroos after the 1999 season.
He extended the run to five games, it might even be six, against Essendon's Scott Lucas at the MCG on Friday night.
No Brownlow votes, mind you, just another gritty, solid performance, despite one or two errors of judgment that resulted in Essendon goals.
Even at 26 (27 on Friday), Colbert's days of big stats, like his knees, are gone, yet, finally, he has fashioned a role for himself with the Roos.
He is playing the stopping role on the opposition's tall, hardest-working forward.
He had nine kicks and two handpasses, with three marks and four tackles; Lucas had 14 possessions, took six marks and kicked 2.1, roughly his averages for the season.
Given the absence of Matty Lloyd, Kangaroos coach Denis Pagan happily would have conceded Lucas a couple before the game.
The coach said yesterday: "We do a written critique on all the players, and Leigh's got 'goods' or 'very goods' in the last five games."
His performance against Hawthorn in Round 6 is the coach's favourite.
The Roos went under by 68 points, yet Colbert held Nick Holland to two kicks and three handpasses, and one goal.
The Roos' stats said Hawthorn made 74 entries inside the forward 50 that day -- it was an avalanche, says Pagan.
Colbert has played nine of 10 games this year. While he is averaging a modest six kicks and three handpasses, the stats sheets don't record his work ethic and courage.
He deserves his moment in the sun. There isn't a reporter or commentator in town who hasn't taken a free hit at him in recent years.
Even an old Geelong teammate, Paul Couch, ripped into him in his column in the Geelong Advertiser a couple of years ago.
His future looked grim late last year when a chronic knee problem kept him out of the last six rounds.
He hobbled through 13 games the previous year, plagued by hamstring and knee problems.
In the words of Pagan, an unavowed supporter, "he's been to hell and back".
"If there's a criticism of Leigh, he sometimes doesn't listen to what his body is telling him," Pagan said.
Even after the Hawthorn game, Colbert was the target of more negative press.
"A few of the scribes still slated him," Pagan said.
"I thought, 'Gee, that's really unfair'.
"After reading the papers, I rang and left a message on his phone. I just said, 'I was just so pleased with your performance, and you should be very proud of yourself'.
"If anyone has copped more than his fair share of sprays, Leigh has. Everyone's got an invisible sign round their neck that says 'make me feel important'."
Colbert is the latest player to earn Pagan's ultimate accolade -- "he's the sort of boy you'd love your daughter to bring home".
The coach says Colbert never complains about his injury problems, works so hard it's a fault, and is totally fearless.
"There are times you shudder when you see him attack the ball. He's right up there with the Anthony Stevens and Glenn Archers for courage," Pagan said. "If everyone was as courageous and brave as he is, it would make the coach's job so much easier."
Colbert never will be the player he was when Geelong appointed him captain at 23 with 105 games to his name, but, just as certainly, he will go as far as his wonky legs will carry him.
