Mazer Rackham

Let's face it, we're far too good for these second rate chumps

And we'll get to play all our games in Hobart!

Okay, but what about ... co-coaches!

Spider-man will adjudicate depending on whose supporters have bought more merchandise

The concept of interpretation of the rules is pernicious and I can't think of any other sport where it is a "thing". Every AFL media commentator has happily and unwittingly bought into this bogus concept and will discuss the ins and outs of the "interpretation" of this or that rule til the cows come home, all the while ignoring that "interpretation" means the "rules" (properly known as "laws of the game") are not the same from week to week, depending on the whim of the AFL .... commission? CEO? SHocking? Who, exactly? Any or all, it seems. "The chair umpire awarded an ace to Mr Federer on match point although the serve was technically a 'double fault' because, according to the current interpretation of the fault rule, Mr Federer did not intend his foot to be inside the court as he served." "The umpire ruled Smith was out LBW, even though the ball pitched outside leg, because according to the current interpretation of the LBW rule, in the umpire's opinion, Smith would have missed the ball even if it had pitched in line. Further, the match referee declined to censure the umpire for high-fiving the bowler, as it was decided that harmonious player-umpire relations are good for attendances and TV ratings." It's absurd and wrong and I can't understand why the commission hasn't stamped out this bogus concept. Except I can. "Actions speak louder than words." They don't give a flying [censored].

Imagine that Aussie Rules is an international sport. With test matches between countries. New Guinea are playing Denmark. The umpires are Japanese. Should the players be able to understand the refereeing? Should the umpires need to do anything other than blow the whistle, indicate the frees (with the usual arm gestures) and shout "play on" (which hopefully any player could learn to recognise)? If the umpires need to be saying "Back two, Bjorn. Back two steps, mate. Back two." or "Hold! Hold, Mekere! Hold!" or "Fifteen gone" or any of the other instructions we hear every single match, then something has gone wrong. Umpires coaching players is one symptom that the AFL have lost control. The very idea of "interpretations" of rules is another - an admission that rules are ambiguous and/or badly thought out in the first place. So many areas pointed out in the posts above where things can be tightened up dramatically (throwing, ruck nominations, OOB, etc). How did things come to this pass? To me, any attempt by the AFL to address even these obvious flaws are doomed unless they first revise their basic thinking on what the umpires are supposed to be doing. They're not coaches. They're not mind readers. They're not peers of the players. They're not part of the entertainment experience. First step is to adjudicate to the rule book as it is written. The AFL don't even need to do this to live games. Just watch replays and for every game situation, run to the rule book to see what the rules actually say and what the decision should be, or if any decision is needed at all. Step two, which hopefully would quickly follow, is to rewrite the rule book to eliminate the many ambiguities and omissions thereby exposed. It's amazing how many rules are poorly worded.

That's what Barassi was saying way back in 81 or 82. The more things change ... We were in the front group in the marathon for once, and we were so pleased with ourselves we decided to enjoy a little nap. Woke up to find everyone km's down the road. Surprise!! But what does it take to get back to the front group? Is it automatic that we get back there just by running hard? Everyone else is running hard too. We may have set ourselves back more than one year.

Before there was Nickelback ... there was Bon Jovi

Any mention of Bon Jovi must mean the world is coming to an end

Day after day High in the box The man with the foolish grin Is finding he's losing lots But nobody wants to tell him They can see that his game plan sucks And he never has an answer But the fool in the box Sees his guys running round And the fans of his team See the club falling down

"Mate, I was 2 metres from you and not in a better position, plus I was surrounded by swans so I could have blindly kicked it so high it brings rain and given the defenders lots of time and a good chance to punch it .... jeez!!!"

Where were the goals coming from? Nowhere. That much was obvious. This rebound ... is it an automatic thing? It's just going to happen, simply because this season has been too bad to believe? People are looking for some small sign, some spark, in the short time left, that our coaches know what is wrong and are addressing it already and not waiting for the pre season. Something to signal that this imminent rebound is based on something concrete and not on blind hope. Meanwhile on the Richmond wikipedia page ... "After a Preliminary Final appearance in Frawley's second season, Richmond overestimated the strength of the list and settled for trading for established players rather than drafting youth. Over the next three seasons, the team managed just 18 wins."

So what happens to membership numbers when all the supporters from the 50s and 60s drop off the perch? It'll be like Wall Street 1929

Freakish coincidence: a number of D'land accounts have been hijacked by Jaguar executives and all the posts on the first page of this thread were actually made by them.

Summary: the players don't know what they're doing and are led by coaches who either also don't know, or do know and can't teach it

Fair go. She can't get on the park! Maybe with a solid pre season ...

It's a bit like when Sheedy finally managed to finagle all four Daniher brothers into the one team. (In reverse) It's like when all the planets line up. This is the dawning of the age of A-god-help-us A sure sign that this is where we've hit bottom and it's all up from here. That, or a giant comet will strike the earth during the match.

SPOILER: it's about a girl who puts on SPF 50

"Hmm ... Tasmanian Demons ... I like the sound of that. Tasmanian ... Demons ... Hey! Where are the betting ads? There hasn't been one on the scoreboard for over a minute! And can we turn up the volume on the ground announcer doofus? I can still hear myself think! Sandra, get me Channel 7 on the red phone. I'm going to apologise, just in case."

Grass roots footy, gambling everywhere you look, umpires department directionless, pointless & misguided rules changes. Cheaper pies and chips but! Well done Gil.

It's clear. Work ethic, great on the training track, good club man, encourages others, sacrifices own game ... ANB for captain and Stretch as vice

Surely it depends on your definition of "success". If "success" to you means winning, flags, etc, then yeah, okay. Maybe.

First they didn't know where to get costumes. Then they ordered them in the wrong sizes and had them sent to the wrong address. Meanwhile 8 players went to the bottle shop to pick up the booze. They couldn't get in coz they all tried to crush through the door at the same time and fell over. While picking themselves up they saw players from another club strolling off with their booze. Only one slab was left. The stubbies got passed around but each one was dropped on a player's foot and broke. Everyone got covered with fizzy beer foam. Then they all lost interest and went to another club's Mad Monday where they watched on like sad puppies. The coaches were invited but none could find their car keys or remember where they parked their cars. Those that eventually did couldn't remember how to get to the venue. They were last seen arguing about a multi car pileup which involved every coach's vehicle.

Sidebottom with the ball. Draw a circle around him with one Pies player in it, and six Demons, before you get the next closest Pie. All year we've heard oppo players & coaches talking about this and how they plan to exploit it. And here we are literally months after it first came to light and we are still setting up very obligingly for them to do exactly that. Pert talking about sustained success over 5+ years before we're taken seriously. Last year was the first of those. That's been thrown away and we're back to square one. If we do this again next year we'll be at square zero! Yes it is, and next season has already started for us. We should be working towards next year and practicing that. Trying out new ideas (assuming we have any, ha! ha!). We should have started that 10 rounds ago. Pulling off some stirring wins to give some hope to demoralised supporters and to get other teams looking over their shoulders. As it is, every other club knows exactly what we're going to do, how to counter it, and we hold no fears for any of them.

They do it every rubber no matter what suit is trumps. Also Viney also bids 7 hearts regardless of what he's dealt. Such a tough nut! Goodwin himself always leads with the highest card in his hand. Other coaches enjoy playing against Goodwin.