Grand final day: you never know what to expect (pic - GF 1972)

The 2008 Dragons-Australian Association AFL Grand Final Day promises to be bigger than ever, with a professional memorabilia auction, QANTAS prizes and much more, together with the usual ballroom, big screen atmosphere.

About 400 people are expected to fill the Nathan Rd Holiday Inn ballroom on September 27. A string of giant screens will bring you all the action, beer, wine, softies and chapers will flow and fates will be decided.

This year's event brings the added excitement of a monster memorabilia auction. With a professional auctioneer taking the stand from events company Helping Hand, fanstastic sporting and entertainment memorabilia will be up for grabs in both live and silent auctions. Proceeds will aid charity so bring the wallet and avoid the disappointment of missing out some some truly historic pieces.

Door prizes, raffles and lotteries for the Simpson medal and other milestones will also give punters the chance to fill their pockets with cash, prizes and air tickets.

This is the Day of Days on the Australian sporting calendar. Book your tables or individual tickets without delay as a sell-out is expected.

FULL RESULTS
PRELIMINARY GAMES
THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Game Time Group A Pitch 1
1 8:10 China 4.2.26 d Jakarta 3.4.22
3 8:40 Singapore 4.2.26 d Malaysia 2.1.13
5 9:10 Jakarta 2.3.15 def byBali 7.2.44
7 9:40 China 1.3.9 def by Singapore 5.3.33
9 10:10 Singapore Junior Wombats d Hong Kong Junior
Dragons
11 10:35 Bali 3.3.21 d Malaysia 2.4.16
13 11:05 Jakarta 1.1.7 def by Singapore 9.3.57
15 11:35 Jakarta Bulldogs (U 16) d Singapore Junior Wombats
17 12:00 Malaysia 2.5.17 d China 2.3.15
19 12:30 Singapore 5.6.36 d Bali 1.2.8
21 13:00 Singapore Junior Wombats d Singapore Gaelic Cubs
23 13:25 Malaysia 2.1.13 def by Jakarta 11.2.68
25 13:55 Bali 8.4.52 d China 1.3.9

Game Time Group B Pitch B
2 8:10United Arab Emirates 5.3.33 d Laos 2.1.13
4 8:40Thailand 3.2.20 d Vietnam 2.3.15
6 9:10 Laos 0.0.0 def by Hong Kong 7.6.48
8 9:40United Arab Emirates 6.5.41 d Thailand 1.2.8
10 10:10Singapore Gaelic Cubs def by Jakarta Bulldogs (U16)
12 10:35Hong Kong 3.2.20 d Vietnam 2.3.15
14 11:05 Lao 5.5.35 d Thailand 4.6.30
16 11:35Hong Kong Junior Dragons d Singapore Gaelic Cubs
18 12:00Vietnam 0.0.0 def by United Arab Emirates 8.6.54
20 12:30Thailand 0.2.2 def by Hong Kong 5.3.33
22 13:00 Jakarta Bulldogs (U16) d Hong Kong Junior Dragons
24 13:25Vietnam 2.3.15 def by Laos 3.3.21
26 13:55Hong Kong 1.6.12 def byUnited Arab Emirates 6.3.39

Game Time Pitch 1
27 15:10 SF1 - UAE 6.2.38 d. Bali 3.2.20
28 15:50 SF2 - Singapore 6.4.40 d HK 3.1.19
29 16:30 U16 GF Jakarta d Singapore
30 17:00 GF UAE 10.0.60 d Singapore 3.6.24

Auskick HK at Champs
The 'Hong Kong Junior Dragons', our U/16 Auskick team, will be in Singapore to support the Dragons and indeed compete in the inaugural U/16 Champs. This is quite an effort for the young lads and their families who are very proud to be there. The Dragons will be on hand on the sidelines to reciprocate their support of the senior team. The club's future is right there.

Record eyeballs
August was the second-biggest traffic month since website statistics were compiled. More than 2200 visitors came to the site, recording more than 117,000 hits (55,000 page views).

Sunday August 23 was the largest ever weekend visit, with 130 visitors to the site checking the progress of typhoon Nuri (and its effect on training) and the previous evening's Ladies night event.

The US regained top spot, ousting the Brits as our biggest source of visiotrs outside HK and Australia. India made a rare foray into the top 10.

Views by country:

August Top 10............................ July Top 10
United States...............................Great Britain
Great Britain................................United states
Macau.........................................Macau
Singapore...................................Sweden
Thailand......................................Canada
Canada........................................France
India.............................................Thailand
Switzerland.................................UAE
China...........................................Netherlands
UAE.............................................Malaysia

(The list excludes Hong Kong, which attracts about 60% of traffic, and Australia, which this month clocked up almost 10,000 page views)

File footage of the Dingbats in action

Singapore show some form
Singapore regained the Changi Cup with an 8.7.55 to 2.8.20 win in wet conditions at the Alice Smith Ground in Malaysia on 23rd August.

The Wombats also beat the Jakarta Bintangs recently, 19-13- 127 to 11-12 - 78 in Jakarta.

The Changi Cup is a best-of-three matches competition between Malaysia and Singapore and is one Asia's older football competitions having been played every year since 1997. Historically Singapore have been dominant, winning every year until 2007 when the Malaysian Warriors triumphed over the Wombats on November 3rd, 10-7-67 to 6-4-40 to win the rubber 2-1 and take the Cup for the first time.

At the University of Laos the Vietnam Swans overcame the Laos Elephants 80 points to 55. A good win for the Swans with a depleted team but given that this was only the second international game the Laos boys have played, the Swans were expected to win.

The Beijing Bombers have affirmed their status as the number one Aussie Rules team in China with a comprehensive defeat of old rivals the Shanghai Tigers 143 to 21 for their third successive China Cup victory.

New tour destination - Timor
Timor-Leste, better known to Australians as East Timor, is one of the newer sovereign nations in the world, becoming independent from Indonesia in 2002.

It also has one of the world's newest Australian football sides, with the Timor-Leste Crocs taking their name from a local legend about a crocodile who rescued a boy stranded in the ocean. When the crocodile stopped swimming, its body became the island of Timor, and the boy the first of the Timorese people.

While footy has had an on-and-off-again presence in the country since around 1999, the new-look Crocs look like being here to stay, with plans for a development officer and recruiting underway to send a team of Timorese nationals to the Northern Territory FL's indigenous footy carnival in Darwin in October.

Is it Ben Cousins?

Profiles, galleries and more
Check out the latest photo galleries under Dragons in Action section of Photo Gallery menu. All new pics are in from game day in Manila and Pattaya. Game write-ups are also found here from these matches and all the others played by the Dragons over the years.

The last couple of tours have also seen some new faces and nicknmaes emerge. New player profiles are in for Simon Phillis, PK, the Mongoose, Wigger, Carlos, Deano, Woodsy, Ralphie, (the unfortunate) Boy Bum, Cozza and our Skipper. Check them all out. A few old faces have also shuffled over to the Past Players list.

And keep abreast of our opposition. the websites of all Asian teams can be found under Club Info, Links, including websites for the Beijing Bombers, Malaysia Warriors and Laos Elephants.

About town
Some eagle-eyed photogrpahers have been on the prowl spotting celebrity Dragons going about their business away from the prying eyes of the media - or so they thought.

It is arguable which of the these two players cuts a more forlorn figure, a leading player shamed into hiding his face as he is caught wheeling along his trolley dolly in Disco Bay, or this lonely individual running around a sodden Happy Valley on his pat malone.

Typhoon warnings mean little when beer is at stake.

THE FIREBREATHER

Junk trip and photo gallery
The Dragons junk trip saw 40 players and WAGS and sponsors set off into the teeth of the typhoon, unperturbed by anything other than the contents of the esky. A great day was had once club Social Coordinator Bowski turned up to his own gig 40 minutes late. Two hefty sculls of glasses of warm red wine duly sorted him out. The junk sailed to an island off Sai Kung, where half the team swam to the beach for a game of Frisbee Ultimate. Was a great day, hugely successful and the photos are now up on the website - Photo Gallery/Dragons in Action section. Check them out.

Manila Cup photo gallery
A handful of photos of the Manila tour are up on the website's photo gallery. We are still awaiting the promised delivery of a disc of professional photos taken at the ground by the event's photographers and will hopefully be able to add those soon.

New committee member
Mark Corrie has joined the Dragons committee, taking on the role of Merchandising Manager. Cozza will be responsible for ordering, selling, storing and managing the club's new playing gear, tour shirts and accessories.
With the departure of club treasurer and merchandiser Nico from Hong Kong, and the stepping down of committee member Byrne early in the year, the club was very much in need of another hand on deck.
Cozza was only selected after undergoing a rigorous selection process that involved begging, cajoling and false promises of fame and glory. He passed the interview under the palm trees at Happy Valley training ground and met the advertised criteria for the position: Able to use phone, email. Preferred candidate will have a small cupboard.

Dedication - it's enough to make you ralph

While his dedication to the game cannot be questioned, his lack of mates is a little humbling. Ralph Wheeler, take a bow.

So has Ben Cousins come to HK? Is Baby Blanket in the trolly dolly? Perhaps not - but you will have to ask club captain Matty Baron all about it.

Please forward all contributions to About Town to president@hk-dragons.com

Latest profiles
Woods has a bit to say about some teammates in his player profile, the newest one added to the section. Big Fat Gav (BFG) also makes a long-awaited return from the past players section after living up to his promise of the past four years to don the boots. His hulking frame will be lurching around the paddock on the Pattaya tour. Taking his place on the past player section is Greg Tait. Taity has left Hong Kong and gone to Sydney.

Traffic jam
June was the second biggest month of web traffic recorded in the site's two year history. More than 2000 visitors came to thew site, recording more than 100,000 hits (43,000 page views).

International visits saw the European audience slip and Asian nations lift, with Macau soaring up the charts.

Views by country:

April Top 10.................................May Top 10
United States...............................United States
Philippines...................................Singapore
Macau.........................................UAE
Canada.......................................Great Britain
Singapore...................................Netherlands
Great Britain...............................France
UAE.............................................Macau
China...........................................Spain
Thailand.......................................Philippines
Japan..........................................Canada

(The list excludes Hong Kong, which attracts about 60% of traffic, and Australia, which this month clocked up almost 6,000 page views)

His heady ascent within the club has caused a nose bleed

The committee now comprises:
Boges - President, Media/Website Manager, Sponsorship Manager
Stoochy - Tour Manager, Treasurer (Boges/Stooch now the club's registered bank signatories).
Baby Dragon/Bowski - Co-organisers of the Social Ministry.
Cozza - Merchandising.