In Harmes Way

The NT decision will also be driven by the broadcaster who may not have enough time to setup all the required camera equipment around the ground etc. given it's a non standard venue. I recall last year they played Alice Springs and Darwin in back to back rounds and the Channel 7 team drove between the two grounds with all the gear and setup in the week in between.

I thought this was an interesting observation from Justin Leppitsch in an SEN article evaluating his Top 3 Premiership contenders https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/07/27/justin-leppitsch-breaks-down-the-top-three-premiership-contenders/ "Leppitsch went on to say Melbourne’s good fortune with fitness could leave them vulnerable when the finals blowtorch is applied to their tactics, not having been forced to experiment. You don’t have many variations, (and) you often become a bit of a sitting duck, which I think Richmond was a little bit in 2018,” he recalled.

Whilst it's only a week, it's long enough that the players would start to acclimatise to their time zone (and then reacclimatise coming back). At least our last two games would be in Victoria.

My analogy for this is missing putts playing golf. It puts pressure on the rest of your game and decision making to try and hit the ball closer to the pin to make up for the critical part of your game that isn't working.

Is that where scrubby creek is?

This is a good warm up opportunity for finals and I hope our guys treat it as such

I love Jack Viney at his best. IMO, he hasn’t built back to his best form yet and looks to lack a bit of pace. If you look at his stats on AFL, he is above average/elite in tackling and pressure acts, but average to below average in most other stats areas. His season average possessions are 20 (10 kicks) and 5 of these are turnovers; 60% disposal eff overall (a further 3 possessions not effective). Not intended as a slap, as you say he bleeds red and blue like us, but we really need him to build for finals. Maybe I notice him more because I hold him to a higher standard.

I’m happy with our team but Viney needs to play a blinder.

I hope, however unlikely, that the AFL put some thought into our finishing with three away games in a row, with two of those on opposite sides of the country. I’m happy to play the teams, a rethink of the venues is warranted.

How many frees did the umpires pay to Hawthorn inside forward 50? Jesus wept. It was unwatchable.

Two baby birds waiting for a worm from their mum

I thought it was position they were taken in the draft - until I got to Trevor Barker.

Is there a "you can show yourself out" emoticon?

Got someone in mind Colin?

Exactly why Tasmania doesnt have a team in the AFL

Chris Scott laments that the best 22 should be out there playing every week. What he’s ignoring is that he should be trading some of his dinosaur aged best 22 to have a balanced age profile. As an example, the Hawks made some difficult decisions over the last 5 years to do exactly this. You can’t change the rules to suit the list you’d like to have.

With Steve Hocking moving to Geelong CEO and his brother as Geelong coach, there’s two conflicts of interest for Brad Scott to be given the AFL footy boss role. On this basis, lock it in

* Jordan. Just saying……

Maybe give Rivers/other 1-3 Yr players a rest for the Darwin game. Essentially remove 2 long haul flights from the accumulating fatigue on younger bodies on the eve of a finals series. It’s also a good chance to reward those at Casey on the cusp of a game.

Only one of about 20 howler umpiring decisions on the night Jimmy

I’m sure we’ve had some teams bad enough that the President has thought to pull in the boots and bring us a win. God knows I have.

I agree there are some good full backs out there, but it's no coincedence we're the stingiest defence in the league. That's got to see both May and Lever in key defence roles IMHO.

Great insights from TMac in this post game video on the MFC website. Another fine intervew from Ben Gibson. https://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/974597/rd-17-tom-mcdonald-post-game?videoId=974597&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1625751396001

That may be absolutely true faulty, but his calling of the Hannan goal in the Geelong 2018 final totally offsets all the garbage he's come out with since.

And I would like to think it makes us more likely to get marquee time slots with the best umpires. And that is not even sarcastic. Looks like your bread got wet