Mazer Rackham

Tough game because North really believed they had it over us. (With good reason.) And belief goes a long way. Whereas we were in choke territory, where according to champion data, we are ranked #1. But another step taken on our long journey ... 18 15 to 13 8 shows how all over them we were. In the game day thread it seemed like NMFC were always 2 seconds away from a withering blast of goals to humiliate us for another year. But on the ground we were clearly better. After the initial onslaught, which surely we must have expected ... how else were NMFC going to win? ... we pegged them back and they never looked like getting in front again. Could so easily have been a 10 goal win. Some players were down but that's okay. Good teams can cope with that. If you need every player firing to win, you’re probably in the bottom 4. Gotta hand it to Goody. Doesn't act the goat in the coaches box, which leads some to believe he has no idea. But who wanted Wagner in for round 1? Wagner hasn't disgraced. Who wanted Bugg in? Hasn't won Brownlow votes, but hasn't blown it either. He has a way of chiming in when it's really needed. Kent? Frost? Bombing it long inside 50. Crazy stuff. Somehow the chaos it created led our smalls to boot the lion’s share of the goals. Maybe this Goodwin guy has a better handle on things than he lets on. Oh, and ... Go Demons!

Does that come in the 4 litre or the 5 litre cask?

If you get tired of the life you're living and need someone to take over, let me know

He means, some humans with asparagus don't get to bite it. But he loves banana fritters.

Don't forget we still owe Carlton for last year. Also Essendon, Collingwood, Richmond, Hawthorn, .... well just pencil in the whole comp!

really dull game with both teams coming away disappointed would be ideal so far not too far off it entertaining for the lol factor pies up but anything to keep bucks in the job

Elephant stamp for improved effort. For them, that's really good.

If the AFL could manage to follow their own "interpretation" of this, it wouldn't be an issue. But who am I kidding ...

In the match fixing thing, Warne and Waugh were careless and thick-witted and were 5 minutes from being sucked into Hansie Cronje territory. They deserved to go for stupidity if nothing else. Can reasonably be seen as a F$&@k up. In the diuretic thing, after Warne missed games with a shoulder injury, his mum didn't tell him to back off the baked beans and chips and maybe hit the jogging machine. No, she (renowned sports scientist that she is) advised him to take a "weight loss" tablet which "just happened" to be a masking agent for steroids, which just happen to be great for recovering from shoulder injuries. I don't buy that that was a F$&@k up.

Not sure I see where the "mess" is. It's supposedly not on any banned list and looks like it's being tested by actual scientist/medicos. It seems to fit more into the pain relief category than the performance boost category. If it's suss the AFL can ban it. Whateley's nose for this kind of news is way off anyway. He tried to wave away the EFC drug scandal, and don't try to talk to him about Damien Oliver. You'll hear a whooshing sound from how quickly he changes the subject.

Embrace it. Enjoy the spectacle wherein each round we will learn that Jack is an unappreciated star / an eternal dud. Make your own worm, AFL score style, of the oscillation between star/dud. Correlate it with Port's win/loss record. Thrill to the flow on effects about Hinkey's genius and Goodwin's flubbery. (And vice versa.) It's going to be a 23 week (+ finals?) ride, so make the decision to enjoy it.

So, to sum it all up ... Watts is a star, and a good ordinary player. He has the complete set of skills, and major deficiencies in his skill set. He is the best kick for goal in the league, and doesn't kick many goals. He will tear it up at Port, and he will fail at Port. He will humiliate the MFC, and he will vindicate the MFC.

If the AFL ran international cricket ... Demetriou would have called Lehmann and Smith telling them they were about to be nailed Bancroft would have been made to swallow the sandpaper There would be no charge of ball tampering. The whole thing would be put down to governance failures Smith would be sent to France for a year on a management study course Lehmann would score a gig with a management consultancy firm Warner would spend a year in New York learning to be a barista Smith would eventually present the Alan Border medal Everything would be the fault of the media. The players would all be brave, hard done by, Some numpty would sue the ICC

It's only trying to keep pace with the modern game!

Seconded, for same reasons

At a minimum Smith & Warner should be sent home, serve out bans. Others should have to pay a price too. But the actions of the cricket board and/or ICC will be telling. Do they really want to root this out, or will they (try to) wriggle out of it? The game of cricket may be done and dusted before we live this one down.

Bancroft-gate was a stupid, reckless folly which should be quickly put to bed by cutting out the rot. Primarily, Warner. But Smith also has to be stood down. The EFC drug thing was a club-wide systemic attempt to subvert the entire competition. And the competition managers got involved to cover it up. It's like the difference between a robbery at a 7-Eleven and organised crime. The Aus cricket board now have a say in whether they are complicit and just as rotten.

You underestimate the power of the MFCSS! It is your destiny!!

Playing lists change but whipping boys don't. We can't sit around doing Jack. Watt's a DL poster to do? Wouldn't be right if there wasn't one of our own to lay into.

This guy should have been in the Richmond Focus on Footy mob. They needed quality minds like his. I still don't get how he's got any standing to do this. What harm or suffering has he experienced from the drug saga? Apart from being p!ssed off. The case seems to be based on things Gil and Fitzpatrick were alleged to have said, but part of this case is for him to go on a fishing expedition to find out if they did or not. Seems strange. Any lawyers can explain? But ... anything that causes embarrassment to the AFL can't be all bad.

waited til his teammates were doing rehab, would go through their wallets tried to crack onto his teammates girlfriends, told them the teammate said it was okay told people he had cancer so they'd buy his anti cancer recipes cookbook ran a horse race betting syndicate which was actually a ponzi scheme stole millions in crypto currency after he hacked a japanese exchange fought for ISIS developed a new nerve agent poison for Putin he had to go

Vlad would have shut up and let it pass. Gil should do the same, but couldn't stop his reflex reaction to someone having any hold or sway over the AFL. He resents ASADA and would like to stick it to them. In olden times, we called it cutting off your nose to spite your face.

This is the mental damage caused by supporting Essendon. Guy probably spends all his time giggling uncontrollably. Reckon the ancient Greeks already did it. It's the one where everyone dies in the end.

OK, this intrigues me. But can you elaborate. What are the bonds we are building with the AFL and other clubs. I can see the ANZAC game with RFC could be part of this. What else? I don't follow this at all. Can you give examples so an old slowcoach like me can understand who are the key stakeholders and what are the strong bonds we are working towards. Again, this sounds very promising, but what are the concrete things that are re-invigorating our brand, and what does re-invigorating our brand look like? Bigger membership? Merch sales? Again, I'm finding this hard to follow. What does a coach say (or is it the FD, the board?) to players to give them perspective. What do players do in response? Win games? Looking forward to some elaboration.

Horse racing is more legit