Copuchas

21 degs forecast, sunny with low humidity. But the strong westerly is still forecast (32kmh gusting to over 40). That is slightly diagonally across the ground at Metricon. Probably not a great day for Naughton and a fair bit of ground ball to be won.

Actual Dimwit quote: “Because I guarantee you a few players out there making comment, mainly David Schwarz, I played a Grand Final (in 2000) against that bloke and within 20 minutes of the game he was crying, so (he should) have a look at himself at some stage.” I have always hated every one of the thugs from that 2000 team of scum: Wallis, Hardwick, Long to name a few. Indeed, it has carried over to the point where I abhor Richmond more than any other team in the AFL and I am hoping like hell there's an Adelaide oval elimination final coming up. If I was Goodwin, I'd get the Ox to address the boys during the week.

It's worth keeping in mind that VandenBerg has had two quite significant head knocks in his last outings. It would be abnormal if this didn't impact his output. I'll be watching intently this afternoon to see how he goes.

Whilst I'm completely aligned with the thrust of your thread Nasher, I'm really surprised not to have read any analysis on the near elimination of biased umpiring performances during the Covid crisis and the obvious conclusion that the "noise of affirmation" phenomena is an irrefutable reality.

All MCC members are required to nominate the club they support. Tickets should be made available to the Full members of the competing clubs in the first instance, with a ballot process if necessary.

well I guess he did have a brother so there's some evidence....

Silvagni out with gastro so it's one apiece on the withdrawals front...

The biggest concern I have with Jack is that he's stopped pivoting on his feet when laying tackles. I think they concluded that the driving action in his aggressive tackling was conveying too much pressure through his feet and exacerbating his injury. His tackling has fallen away dramatically and lost its impotency as a result. A great shame as it was his one wood.

One aspect of our post season surgery count that warrants further investigation is the extent to which they were collision related injuries attributable to an aggressive contested game style. I liked the contested brand the Dees played last year but found myself wondering what the physical toll would ultimately be. It would be an interesting analysis for someone to undertake a very crude cut of contested footy ranking versus non-soft tissue injuries. I also wonder how sustainable it is to have contested footy as your one wood....or even worse, your only wood. You need look no further than West Coast to see it's not natural to be able to bring that level of commitment week in, week out.

You and CBDees and others keep referring to the oval as if that was the only component of the proposal. It was the six storey building over the railway line that fundamentally alters the Wellington Pde streetscape and vista that was the fatal flaw.

I'm heading along Hells Bells, also for the first time.

I agree Chook but I suspect the plan would call for the ball to be put in the hands of Hibberd, Salem and Lewis whenever possible (in much the same way as is the case for Frost and Omac). The key issues here are the height of the West Coast forwards and the bigger bodies. Smith with his leap and bigger build is better placed to contend in the air than perhaps Fritsch is. It's a very tough call but I'll certainly understand the thinking if it goes that way.

Do you mean Stevic or Rosebury? Meredith wasn't umpiring HAW v MEL last Fri night.

Saw a dead cat bounce of a rebuild last Friday night and looking forward to returning to the G to witness a second tonight. Bury these smug, arrogant pissants Dees!

Good call @BigFez

Good call @BigFez

some speculation on the Hawks Big Footy board that O'meara might not come up.....

there is incompetence when it comes to AFL umpires and....well....then there's Nicholls and his officiating of MFC games. His sustained bias against Melbourne rules out incompetence (which is random) and leaves you with the unpalatable options of corruption or hatred. I haven't to date been able to postulate a credible theory around corruption so I am left to conclude it is a deeply rooted hatred of the MFC that has a conscious or subconscious manifestation in his match day officiating of MFC games. But make no mistake, it is REAL and he is a cheat. On the flip side, it was pleasing to see Rosebury tell Howe to get up after the push from Caddy. Clearly it should've been a free kick but Rosebury is an experienced umpire who was clearly aware of the niggle being deployed by Howe so let it go. That augers well for Friday night as there'll be plenty more of that from Howe and Sicily as they try it on our young Dees. I hope Aaron smashes the pair of them Jordan Murdoch style....

Margetts was dropped for not paying the foot fend off by Greene..... And I just read on Hawks Big Footy that Stevic is one of them.....so solve for 23!

You forgot Harmes!!!! It will be Harmes v Dangerfield I suspect....he's been in the best form for them and he's possibly a bit quick for Jack.

Are you just being contrarian to seek attention? Or really haven't thought your way through it? Viney is not returning from a soft tissue injury with the concomitant risk of breaking down in-game if returning too early. He's returning from a stress / hot spot in his foot (toe actually) for which there is a long term implication should he continue to play in defiance of ongoing soreness but which will not be a factor for a four week finals campaign. His core skill set is around the contest for which touch is not a factor. So where's the risk?

easier to envisage Hawthorn going out in straight sets than the Tiges so am hoping for a Tiger victory tonight....

only Richmond / Hawthorn tonight

Preliminary final even, semis are this weekend.

As a frustrated MCC member who can't get MCC visitors tickets, I'll be buying a few kids tickets using MFC memberships that haven't seen a shot in anger all year and then getting pass outs from the MCC reserve in to the public reserve so that we can keep our group together.