hemingway

We may well find that the internal candidates who missed out would be considering their options. They may have to wait another 5 or more years for another opportunity at MFC. That’s a lifetime these days. Perfect opportunity for another club to chase Mahoney. Collingwood? Eddie would love the [censored] for tat.

May have missed it but what has Pert been doing since he left Collingwood?

In a nutshell.

Reckon Jack might find that Adelaide is a cold lonely and unforgiving place in winter. For family and friends need to head south east. Unfortunately no footy club.

Don't worry, just buy a nice bunch of bananas for your physical and emotional well-being. However, you could further indulge. Perhaps try watching some repeats of Bananas in Pyjamas. You could take the opportunity to improve your knowledge on the banana. Its nouns, adjectives, synonyms, derived terms, foreign language meanings, pronunciation, racial significance, freudian relevance etc. There is also the banana's significance as a figure of speech, its allegorical meanings, not to forget its relevance as a metaphor or analogy. Really a limitless subject. Just think Red of all that time you will have researching, talking about and writing about bananas. Engage your analytical mind. You don't need to worry about footy or searching for salacious stories contained in case law and the ratio decidendi or obiter dicta of your extensive law library. We have enough salacious [censored] bits from other posters on this thread. That just lowers the standard and of course the tone. Wrong side of the tracks and all that.

Agree, one can only imagine what the number will be with a period of sustained success.

Interesting comments with a positive spin. I suspect Petracca is always going to be judged against the high expectations that people have of him. We may have to lower those expectations and see his future a little differently. He strikes me as a footballer that will never have high disposal count, unless he spends his time in the midfield, and even then he seems more of a burst type of player than someone who will run all day. Whatever the reason, he does appear to tire quickly and easily, more so than others. This means that he is not fit enough, restricted due to injury or does not extend himself. Watts is very similar. Jack after a brief burst is always seen with his hands on his knees sucking in air. Unlike Watts, Petracca is prepared to commit himself to the contest, can break tackles and have an impact on the game. However, the game has reached the point where you can't afford to have a player who can't run for sustained periods of time. So Christian has some work to do. Bobby, getting back to your point, it would be interesting to see his 2017 and 2018 stats in order to form an objective opinion. Are his stats in 2017 very good, good, satisfactory or poor ? He may be on target to better his 2017 stats this season, but by how much and is the improvement satisfactory given the interpretation of the 2017 numbers ?

Port have simply lost patience. Not going to gift Jack any more games.

No just folk with a different opinion. Would you prefer unanimity? Make for a boring site. And you would have no one to criticise for a taking a contrary view from your own.

Thought Febey's comment was not bad, but beware The Banana Thought Police. The barbarians are at the gates. They will take you down if you dissent or question the purity of the line.

This is footy, sport and life. Some make it, others don't, and even that can be subjective. Some have the mental and physical attributes to maximize their talent and potential, others don't, sometimes they try, sometimes they just make other life decisions. Often, the goal or sport and individual and team success is just not as important as it it with others. If you look at footy, most of those who make AFL lists either don't make it or never reach their potential. From my observation, those who make it have more natural ability than others, but more importantly, have the will, desire and ambition to strive to reach their own mountain tops. They are obsessive, perhaps compulsive, but most importantly, single-minded in their preparation, training and standards. They are not distracted from their goal and are willing to sacrifice what the rest of us seek, enjoy or consider normal things, Above all, their natural instinct is competitive. You can't simply pick up this competitive instinct, its inbuilt or part of you. In a sense, these ""successful"" people can be regarded as abnormal or unusual even anti-social, and the Jack Watt's of this world are like the rest of us. They are the normal ones.

Fair comment. Needs to either use his bulk to advantage in the packs or get some weight off and work on his aerobic and anaerobic fitness to improve both pace and sustained running (unless he is carrying an injury or other physical problem that restricts his ability to improve fitness). Folks make comments about his attitude, but this is speculation. He did not appear to have a big head on the footy show. Indeed, the reverse, quite shy and modest. I would not drop him, at least not yet. I don't see anyone else that would be a better option.

Agree, really struggled with the pace of the game and any sustained run.

we agree to disagree.

Must admit, I get a little sickened by the talk about trading in and out. I don't say don't do it selectively, but every time a name is mentioned, folks start talking about trading out players like a meat market. If a player like Tyson comes to the coach and wants out, that's another thing. However, if the mateship and culture is as good as is being stated, then it is important that we keep as many as our existing group as possible. We have a talented list and we will always need depth. Loyalty to the Club and to your mates is an important ingredient of any successful club.

This is pretty banal Red. Surely you can provide more detail. As a legal eagle, I thought you would have a more inquiring mind! The banana lovers are crying out for more. To engage us on this topic, we need a bit of titillation. What type of banana's were they? There are hundreds of varieties, all with different taste, texture and feel. Red Jamaica's, Cavendish, Apple, Dwarf Cavendish etc etc. Perhaps the boys enjoy Lady Fingers? I know I would, particularly post game. I could go on and on. How many do they devour? Just one at a time or an orgy of bananas? Are there any risks of enjoying too many? Do the boys feel satisfied after one or do they prefer having a couple. I am told that three can be enjoyable and beneficial for one's health and well being. Can be a cultural thing of course.

I know what you mean. Went to the game and even though I watched Oliver intently, he took my breath away. Literally magical. How does he get into space, find the ball, and dispose of the ball by hand in a few seconds? Has anyone seen another player with his unique skills? Flower was sublime and we will not see his like again, but this kid is unbelievable.

Oliver and Hogan are something to behold. Their work rate was something to behold. Absolute stars and match winners. Oh I almost forgot. They actually play with Melbourne!

There are two possibilities : That ABLA (no, not my favourite Carlton restaurant but the banana brigade), is no more than a front for the marketing of Bananas. It has nothing to do with love, it is about profit. Better put, the organisation is a loosely knit brigade of profiteers. One rumour doing the rounds is that the head of this shell organisation is one of the Rakes of Melbourne's legal society. Apparently, there is also a well known entrepreneur (lets just call him Milo) who is making megabucks by shifting bananas around the country. The second possibility is that the organisation simply consists of a bunch of neurotic banana lovers who have become self important , obsessed, a little paranoid but with delusions of grandeur, and, who increasingly exhibit a strong authoritarian streak. They are not prepared to accept difference but are endeavoring to squash support for all other fruit and squash all opposition and dissent to their belief that the banana reigns supreme. It is about colour, body shape, taste and image. It is about deep seated prejudice. These people want all bananas to look the same. The bad bananas never make it to the supermarket shelf. They are simply eliminated along the way so folks only see the perfect banana. Indeed, when have you seen a misshaped banana in the supermarket? However, I am concerned about legal action and indeed much worse as sometimes legal action is accompanied by threats to the person. The fruiterers from the Footscray fruit and vegie market know all about the stand over merchants. It is possible that true banana lovers are being mislead and influenced by the propaganda from undesirables that have infiltrated ABLA. Apparently, secret banana parties are being held in the suburbs, where bananas are worshiped, devoured and often misused in all sorts of unmentionable ways, except to say that there are rituals with sado-masochistic overtones which have only recently emerged following the involvement of an undesirable character from Romsey. As everyone seems to be apologizing these days (politicians, heads of public sector organisations, police, footballers, banks, actors, film producers, and anyone else who gets caught out), I will take the opportunity to "say sorry"" and offer my apologies to the banana brigade and ABLA.

No perhaps not your Honour, but it’s definitely weird, perverse and even kinky. I see no evidence to suggest that the banana is superior to other fruit. It’s a fit up job, to keep up the morale of the banana or the banana industry. Perhaps even the consumer. With the greatest respect to the banana fanatics, it has got a little passé even tiresome to those with a broader and a more holistic view of the fruit industry. However, I do appreciate that it has Freudian significance but personally I detect a feeling of inadequacy from all the banana lovers.

Lacking imagination or creative writing skills. Sadly, the art of conversation is dying. Particularly, the art of making conversation over nothing. The on-going conversation over bananas being a case in point. As a good criminal barrister knows, you don’t need facts or evidence just very good imagination and the capacity to [censored] for days.

He is something else. He now looks happy, and happy to be playing his role. The consummate team player. That’s the big difference. Is it just age, developing maturity, the change in game plan, team success, mentoring, coaching, coming to terms with where he is at in life?? But he has become a star but one that has his ego in check who is playing a team role.

harsh but probably true.

Some good points Buck. My comment was a just a general philosophical view. Part of the problem seems to be that AFL exercises its largesse along discretionary lines rather than established principles or rules, giving rise to argument over fairness etc. .

We have no reason to complain about other clubs getting a helping hand. Without AFL assistance we may not even be around.