Despite what some surf magazines would have us believe make up surfers' key interests out of the water, I would like to present the case for Australian Rules Football as the perfect companion past-time to surfing. It is our only indigenous sport, that may have its roots in a game first played by Aboriginal Australians long before European settlement, called Marn Grook and played with a stuffed possum skin. Lots of great AFL players have been surfers - Dermott Brereton and, um, that guy from West Coast who quit to go surfing, what was his name, and ... lots of others. I have been thinking about starting a cross over magazine for people like myself who love surfing and Aussie Rules, called ... wait for it ... The Drop Punt. Get it? The Drop ... You know, like dropping down a wave, and Punt, like a kick? Oh, never mind. In the mean time, I have begun contributing to a wonderful website called the Footy Almanac. Here any old clown can contribute stories about recent AFL matches and even other sports events like the Stawell Gift (a running race) and golf. Brilliant, I have written a piece about my beloved Hawks sad capitulation to the Swans in Round two. But fear not the Hawks are on the way back. If anyone was wondering about their poor form in the first two rounds, coach Alistair Clarkson provided the explanation in a post match press conference: "We were just leaking too much at the back end." That explains it then. Must have been something they ate. I suspect it was the salmon mousse.