Mazer Rackham

How can ANYTHING cost $2.7 bil? Someone somewhere in construction is making an absolute killing, while governments and councils are busy trying to distinguish their elbows from their [censored]. The Hoddle Street upgrade a few years back was delayed and its budget blew out by some $60 mil (and this was not the only delay or blowout) because someone somewhere had underestimated the amount of crushed rock required. So they had to get in an extra $60 mil worth of crushed rock. SIXTY MILLION You could build a row of luxury houses along that same length of Hoddle Street for $60 mil. But they needed $60 mil of crushed rock. SIXTY MILLION It's like developers watched "Utopia" and took notes, while govt people watched it and said "gee, maybe we need MORE sensitivity training!"

Well well well what a surprise this is. What a shell game, all this siphoning of money for women's teams/junior teams/dog walkers/locals who want electric BBQs, etc. When the whole time it's going to facilities for the men's team. Dogs, Blues, Pies ... most Vic clubs seem adept at playing the game and pretending to tick all the right boxes. Apart from the Cats who don't need to do a thing except point out what a marginal seat they're in. And of course the Might Demons who don't even seem to realise there's a game involved and play a straight bat as if the whole thing is awarded on merit. "What ... us? Oh no! We want the money ... I mean, the community wants the money for better facilities for the womens' teams ... and junior soccer teams ... and we'll plant a few trees to save the planet while we're at it ... have an off leash area to placate, I mean, enhance the experience for local residents. Us? Why, it never crossed our minds! But now that you mention it, an extra oval the same size as the MCG might be of use to us ... plus a plunge pool, hypoxic tent. grandstand, social club (with bar) ... gee, these things the community are crying out for ... well, we might be able to use them too ...." [*back at the club*] "Yeah, I snowed 'em pretty good. They bought the lot. Sit back and wait for the cheque."

So an amateur soccer club wants to play games at the race track? Should be plenty of land to go around. I can't see any proposal getting off the ground without support for local sport.

Seagulls? Albatrosses? Huntingdale? Maccabee?

In any match that year, if at quarter time the score wasn't something like 8 goals to 1 at quarter time (for the oppo, obvs), you'd say to yourself "we might have a chance to lose by less than 10 goals. We're in this!"

MFC: "we'd like to develop Gosch's as a state-of-the-art training fac--" Minister: "public land, cutting down trees, limited use, etc etc etc, don't call us, well call you" CFC: "got an idea for something on Gosch's" Minister: "OMG Collingwood just called me, get my signature stamp ready"

leave your paddock field behind, the horse track calls for you ♪ forget the far flung fields, they will not follow you the black and whites who recently were crowned will soon be training on your cricket ground ♫ strike another match, go start anew coz it's all over now, red and blue

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Hmmm yes, but Lennon also said that the north side of his town faced east and the east was facing south. Also that he was born in a crossfire hurricane. Also that Mrs Brown has got a lovely daughter. Not the most reliable witness!

No need to jump to conclusions. We may be strategically partnering with the dog food and glue industries.

Port Melbourne is a bastard to get to, by any means, from anywhere.

Shouldn't be too hard to orchestrate ... dog walking tracks or off-leash areas, a few BBQs, new soccer grounds for local clubs ... TICK

So Maynard couldn't help it. IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!

They could make it easy and just say "the head is sacrosanct", but I think that may have been tried and somehow found wanting (although not sure how).

I think we already have the answer to that

The meaning of "all reasonable steps" will depend on whether the player is from a big club, and/or is a star player, and/or is a "good bloke who wouldn't have meant that". More long winded court cases coming up, involving lawyers hijacking a sporting tribunal and turning it into a criminal trial, quibbling over the meaning of "all", "reasonable" and "steps", until the tribunal members' heads are spinning and they don't know where they are or time it is, or indeed their own names.

IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE????

Hang on. They can talk about any subject under the sun. "The cricket world cup is on. How many AFL players have played cricket? Give us a call, the lines are open." "How about those Matildas? We'll talk about the AFL draft right after this short break." "Coaching drama at Melbourne City. What are some of the biggest coaching dramas in the AFL? Give us a call, the lines are open." "Spring carnival comes to a close. We'll discuss Carlton's chances next season right after this short break."

As long as I get my Bertocchi ham before the doors are closed for the last time ...

Yes, not so much rigged, as corrupt. I mean, it is rigged. When did we last play WCE twice in a year? When did we last play them not in Perth? How many times in the last 20 years have EFC, CFC, RFC played Geelong in Geelong? Follow the money. I understand the AFL has to run at a profit in the interests of stewardship of the game. Ask grass roots footy how well that's going for them. As for corruption, I take it as meaning "polluted, corroded, impure" rather than "brown paper bags under the table". Only have to look at the recent Cripps & Maynard tribunal farces for examples. Not to mention the calculated looking the other way in the EFC drugs, sorry, supplements scandal, sorry, saga. The complete arbitrariness on any and every issue. The list goes on and on. If it wasn't for my deep seated but irrational love for the mighty MFC I don't think I would give any attention to the AFL. This last season I watched more NRL than AFL!

Still remember that. The "affirmation of noise" is very real. The "funny" (or disturbing) part of that Crows game is that every round of footy these days brings howlers every bit as bad.

This is like trying to compile a list of Bucks Fizz's greatest hits. They had hits? There are "best" umpires? As long as the entire umps department is compromised by the fickleness and arbitrariness of their bosses ... as long as they are encouraged to umpire by this week's rule-du-jour [*] ... as long as they are confronted with a poorly-worded rule book ... as long as there are rules that require "interpretation" (unique amongst sports) ... as long as they remain amateur ... as long as they do not form "squads" that always umpire together and learn each others' style and idiosyncracies ... then the umps' quest for excellence will be akin to wading upstream against a flash flood of incompetence. Sounds great until tested in the heat of battle on game day. See 3rd para above. We are probably doing nothing wrong with our tackling or ball handling. [*] I am aware of the contradiction in terms.

They won us a flag, gave Daisy a fitting send-off, won us a bunch of supporters and and helped win the McClelland, so all upside. Go girls!

It was important to them as a club at that time to ensure the worse possible outcome for every issue, whether big or small. And by God, they succeeded at that, at least.

Wow, couldn't have said it better myself. This is what the AFL has reaped from their sowing of unrestricted interchange. The other reaping we're in the middle of witnessing is the slow death of ruckwork. All because of the AFL's insistence on perfect bounces. They don't need to be perfect! The ruckmen don't need to be opposite each other! In olden times the umps bounced the ball all day, all over the ground, on mudpatches and bowling greens alike, and the ruckmen used their skill to anticipate and manouvre this crazy oval ball. But some coaches said it could affect the outcome of a grand final. Oh. Okay. The coaches, final arbiter of all things, have spoken. Newsflash! It already has affected a grand final. 2010, Steve Milne, crazy bounce, and no one had kittens. It was all accepted as part of the game. The AFL is killing ruckwork in the name of a perfection that doesn't and can't exist.