Mazer Rackham

I'm afraid that's in the hands of Jesus now.

It's the first Friday after the first full moon after the equinox. Legend has it that on that day, Jesus emerges from his cave, and if he sees his own shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. (Obviously in the southern hemisphere that does not apply. Down under, if he sees his shadow, there will no more barbeques until Melbourne Cup day.)

Oasis also fits. AC/DC. Jackson 5. INXS. The Rolling Stones, if you stretch it, would fit. The Everly Brothers would fit. But the Righteous Brothers would not. Nor would the Walker Brothers.

Cripps is such a reliable player. Close in with little space to manoeuvre, he can be relied on to throw the ball. He actually got pinged for it, once. Now for the other 9 times, please umps.

Someone high up at Channel 7 is a Essington supporter

They think we're Mexicans so clearly their grasp of geography is limited at best. Maybe they think they can see Russia from their front porches.

It's incredible how he gets a game week after week, year after year. He's good for one (1) decent football act per match (eg. a contested mark, sometimes a goal). The rest of the time he just takes up space.

Awwwwww. Did Collingwood lose? Well, there goes Easter. Only chocky to look forward to.

No coach can be entrusted with the care and well being of the game, not even ours. Silvio Foschini?

Gosh, would they do a thing like that?

"An important player got injured. I should be ALLOWED to replace them! (You may note I didn't scream and shout about this when our rival's important player got injured.)" "Our recruiters and list management got the balance wrong. We need another small forward/KPD/ruckman/whathaveyou. We should be ALLOWED to fix that and not live with the consequences of our actions." I WANT IT. I WANT IT. I WANT IT. IT'S NOT FAIR. The coaches' collective track record of making changes to the game is not inspiring. They don't know what's good for the game. They only know what's good for them, right now today. And that could change tomorrow. They are the last people who should be "contributing" to the rules of the game.

Here are some things these delightful people said on reddit a couple of days ago: Melbourne were dog[censored] in 2019 after we demolished them in the 2018 prelim God what a [censored] day that was, was almost as good as winning the grand final. I just remember all the media saying Melbourne were the favourites, they were so desperate for it to be melbournes year and for us, the team predicted to not even make finals, to absolutely blow them out of the water was just chefs kiss It was also made more delicious by them wanting to be able to beam in video of Melbourne supporters to negate our home crowd advantage. In retrospect I kind of wish they went ahead with it

Caulfield is the better location. As soon as we get something happening at Gosch's (dream on!!) another training facilities arms race will break out and our shiny new Gosch's playground will seem old and tattered before it's even finished. We don't want to catch up to the rear of the pack, we want to leapfrog it, and Caulfield has a zillion times more potential than Gosch's.

Such a good speaker. Rarely ums and ahs, no "yeah nah", no cliches, entertaining, and actually gives genuine insight that we mere observers would not pick up. Such as his comments about what it's like to play on Buddy. Can see a future media career for him (once he's finished as MFC defensive coach).

"I've seen you before. Do I know you?" "Yeah Dogga, I used to play for the Dees." "What? Nah mate. *I* used to play for the Dees." "Yeah, so did I. Hunty. Remember?" "Hun-- what did you call me? Youse fuggen ..." "Never mind. Enjoy the win."

So now he's playing mind games with MFC supporters? He really is a piece of work, this guy.

Caro is not a football commentator. She is a gossip columnist whose speciality is football clubs.

Correction: final piece the four-peat! (I hope you don't mind my nit-picky amendment.)

Most teams below 50% Not surprising when again and again, a bloke 25m out on not much of an angle believes his best bet is a sideways kick. And how many players find it impossible to run in on a straight line without veering out to the right or left at the last second. They simply cannot kick while moving in a straight line. Amazing skill deficiencies for "top level" players. (Very pleasing to see the new Melb no 2 moving in a straight line for all 3 snags.)

This sounds like the rd 2 Brisbane game, but describing only Brisbane.

I like this rule. MFC gets to choose the best King brother, the best Curnow brother, and (hack ptooey) the best Daicos brother. In exchange for 3rd and 4th rounders.

Flashback to 2021! All our ingredients were back. Hard at the ball, sorely lacking against Bris. I suspect it was "their grand final". (Brisbane's, that is.) That ferocity might be maintained for a whole match but certainly not a season. Something about the MFC sparks them up. Choking the oppo. They work to get the ball and lo and behold, there's nothing to kick to. Cue chipping back and sideways. Good movement around the field, constantly making options, even fake ones that the oppo must cover just in case. Comparing to the other games played on Sunday it was night and day, the amount of clean ball handling and kicks and handpasses to advantage. Picking our way through their defence. Not taking the easy short option, but the longer, more penetrating one. Rarely chipping sideways, but choosing the direct option with a precise kick. More than anything else, to me this is the key to "the Melbourne way" of playing. Sadly lacking in the rump end of 2022. Great example in the clip posted earlier in this thread of JVR's second goal (the kick to Tracc). Good finishing. Not exactly a strength of ours in the past handful of years, but an avalanche of 50 entries can add up to an intimidating score. Kick straight on top of that .... "we were only a goal down and .... what happened???" A wake up call to the rest of the comp and only one or two teams won't feel put off by it. And ... how refreshing to see new faces in the 22. Renewal essential for continued health. Some nervous boys at Casey & on the injury list wondering how or when they might make it back into the seniors.

At half time the old man buys an enormous cup of chips, but seagulls keep swooping down and stealing them one by one until the cup is empty. The man's dreams are ruined.

Not getting all the hagiography of these enemy club players. I wish "the Blues" had had a camp just like Adelaide's, with a similar outcome.

This is quite thrilling. On the surface, a small web site in some far flung corner of the internet, being fixed by a maintenance technician. But in reality, an existential battle for control of the world order, between good and evil. James Bond versus the supervillain. Will he cut the red wire or the blue?