mrjonesandme

Good luck to him indeed. Kent nailing that set shot from 50 against the Eagles to put us into the finals is a good memory to have of him.

It's the triumphalism of Collingwood supporters that bothers me. I remember watching the 2010 Grand Final parade on TV. Once the captains had their photo taken holding the cup together it was time for each captain to speak. When it came to Riewoldt's turn to speak the Collingwood supporters started to sing their stupid name in that nauseatingly slow chant they do. It drowned out much of what Riewoldt had to say. That to me encapsulates something very immature and unpleasant about their approach. They don't simply enjoy their team's success and celebrate their win, they need to turn it into something else, something more, like someone natural order has been restored. Like there is no room for anyone's else. It's a collective immaturity that's hard to tolerate - I've given away my GF seat because of it. That being said, when I ignore each team's supporters, each side has so many players who are good to watch and play the game terrifically well. It might just be and I hope it is, a classic match of the hardest and most skilled footy we've since all year. Here's hoping anyway.

Hey Filter - I rang the club last week and the person I spoke to confirmed that I will have access to a ticket with the same membership as you. In fact access is equivalent to the premium MFC/MCC membership. Good luck.

Last week I rocked up at 4.40pm. Line was very long. I got into the ground at 5.12 and found a seat a few rows back behind the players' race.

Gaff deserves some leniency. It is not at all clear that he intended to strike Brayshaw in the head. And, Brayshaw's head naturally lowered at the time Gaff went to strike - Brayshaw's knees bent and he lowered his head slightly. I think it is plausible at this stage that Gaff's intention was to whack him in the upper body. I think his good record is a relevant consideration in understanding the offence.

The 'more to play for' argument goes both ways. Clearly the significance of this game for the MFC wasn't well handled. Collingwood on the other hand had no pressure to manage and played like it.

He knocked himself out because he ran so hard into an opposition ruckman (Jacobs) to tackle him. Says it all really about how he attacks the ball and player.