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THE FIREBREATHER
Baby dragons
Long-standing Dragon member, sponsor and non-playing tour specialist Alfie Chown is the proud father of a baby boy. Donna is well and good and the little fella is about two weeks old now and already is already commended with having good use of voice around the stoppages.
Former Dragon and prolific breeder Jarran 'Jazz' Neil reports from Melbourne that child number four is expected in about 5 months time. Early signs suggest he or she is pretty useful with both the left and right boot.
End of season gala
Keep tonight free for the Dragons end of season dinner and awards night, to be staged at the Peel Bar in Soho (21 Elgin St above Wildfire). The evening competes with the Brownlow Medal as one of the most glamorous events on the football calendar. Don some dapper threads, attach a trophy bride and strut on down.
Website monthly top 10
A quiet month for the website, with the Dragons off-season and the festive season combining to distract our loyal readers. January saw 636 visitors pop in about 1000 times to record 14,000 page views, about half the normal volume.
And here's a glimpse of just who is tuning in around the globe:
January top 10...............................December
United States...............................United States
Great Britain................................Singapore
Singapore....................................China
Thailand.......................................Germany
Germany......................................Great Britain
Japan...........................................Thailand
Netherlands.................................Philippines
China...........................................Netherlands
Taiwan........................................France
Indonesia....................................Canada
(Big-hitting Hong Kong and Australia not included)
Back to the Dragon
The Dragons this weekend tackled the mountains with a run to Big Wave Bay up, down and along the scenic Dragons Back trail. A dozen guys conmpleted the arduous journey and then topped off the hard yards by powering through a 12-hour session that went from suburban Skek-O to neon-lit Lan Kwai Fong. It was the second such run and is fast becoming a favourite on the Dragons training schedule. To take a look at the terrain check out the pics in the Photo Gallery from the run on October 30.
El Tel hangs them up
The Bearded Lady, Badly Drawn Boy, El Tel, Chelsea Dave or just plain Dave Hardy. Call him what you will but call him quickly because the big man who claims he was once a little man is leaving Hong Kong and heading to London. Missed will be those low-flying cameos in the ruck, dashes - nay, charges - from the backline and storytelling prowess around the beer stool.
Like most, he swears he will not be lost forever to HK after taking up a new engineering role in Blighty.
"Naturally, with Hong Kong situated on a nice little stop-over between London and Melbourne, we may well be popping in from time to time... Like, you know, on our way to and from our wedding in April...maybe...".
Assertive and poised as always.
End of season 2006 dinner
Sexier than Juddy's Brownlow missus and always a glamour event on the Dragons calendar, the end of season dinner is looking set for Friday February 9 at a venue to be announced. Aside from honoring the best and worst of 06, it is also a good time to look ahead to season 07. With that in mind, all offices in the administration are up for renewal and contenders for coach, captain and committee can start their election campaign at this night of nights. (All previous club honours are listed on the website under 'History', then 'Club Honours'.)
Club man tieing the knot?
Speculation abounds that Club Man of the Year 2004, Dave Riall, may soon be about to tie the knot with his girlfriend Bea (sister of Ai, the wife of fellow-Dragon Tim Keogh, who you'll find mentioned in the Past Players section). No word yet on who Cee likes in the Dragons line-up.
Manila Flashbacks
The Firebreather ventured into the dusty vaults of the Dragons annals this week while he was looking for a Nerf footy he lost when he was a kid. And lo and behold, while the Nerf ball remained lost, there wedged behind the two commemorative bottles of Dennis Lillee port and Pure Steel port, and under the Ripsnorter LP were the long lost photos of the Manila tour of 2004. Head to the photo gallery and scroll through to 2004 to take a look at the newly unearthed pics. There's some cracking action shots.
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Old and New Dragons talk
Two Dragons, old and new, have taken some time out with the Firebreather over a few dozen vodkas at the Big Bamboo in Shanghai and slurred their highs and lows and backgrounds. Take a gander at the Player Profile section to check out the profiles from Junior Burger and The Wooster.
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It's all bucked up
Burbs endured his Bucks night dressed as Mr Incredible last month. The Firebreather awaits confirmation of his leaving do which is expected to follow his wedding, set for the last weekend in January.
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Firebreather archive
All Firebreather columns are now archived every now and then. See News menu for all previous stories and columns.
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