Mel Bourne

I said it was an “incident”. Do you know what “incident” actually means? It’s something “incidental”. Would you have liked me to call it a “happening”? An “occurrence”? A “whoopsy”? It was a slightly-newsworthy incident (and remember, incident doesn’t have to mean “big deal”) of a captain publicly potting (twice, mind you) an ex-player for changing clubs. That’s all. I wasn’t “outraged” by it. Just another dumb-arss feather in his dumb-arss cap. But as is typical of you lot (people who think anyone who has a problem with Tex Walker is an “activist”), you’re far more eager to be outraged than anybody, but the hypocrisy is absolutely lost on you.

He may be capable of redemption, but I don’t want it to happen at the MFC. A comment like the one he made? As an adult? Nup. It wasn’t a “dumb kid” moment. It was as an adult, as the ex-captain of a club. This is precisely why it gets the extra scrutiny, and the harsher judgement as compared to other similar incidents. And then you’ve got the Lever stuff, the defence of “the camp”…. The guy is made from the purest of [censored]. Edit: the word that was censored was “flag” with an “o” instead of an “a”. Just want to clarify that it wasn’t something cruder.

Yeah, at age 31 he finally discovered racism. Sure.

Sorry, who’s getting outraged by trivial stuff?

His two public admonishments, CYB. Which is what I mean when I say that this guy doesn’t exactly seize opportunities to learn from mistakes. And no, I’m not stoked about the prospect of LJ leaving but I’m talking about the way a captain should behave, not a supporter. I would be shocked if LJ left then two days later Max Gawn is appearing on radio talkback venting his spleen about it.

This doesn’t get said enough. People here saying those opposed to him are opposed to second chances, forgiving mistakes etc… Come on. With the Lever incident, he potted him publicly once, than rather than learning that this was deeply uncool (especially as a CAPTAIN, mind you) blew his “second chance” and potted him again. With regard to the other incident, are we seriously to believe that this was a rare “mistake” that he deeply regretted? Or is it the far more likely scenario that at age 31, this was the first time he was caught being a thick-headed racist and spent the previous nineteen years (y’know, the ample amount of time when you’re supposed to learn that you should not ever call indigenous people “black c$&@s”) not bothering to learn these incredibly basic things. Second chances? Mistakes? Societal-rehab at the greatest club currently in the league? Gimme a break. He can get his second chance elsewhere, and I’ll be incredibly disappointed with the club if this d-bag is allowed in

Look ultimately I wish the kid well. I certainly don’t feel any genuine malice, just find it a bit hmm…soft. And I do think it provides yet another cautionary tale for recruiting youth from the west. WA’s a funny place. I played in two bands with WA folk at their core, and it seems people from there fall into two pretty distinct categories; “I don’t want to ever live here again” or “I don’t want to ever leave”. The folks in my bands were very much the former, but whenever we played over there we’d meet up with their mates in the latter camp. There was always a bit of a strange underlying tension. There seems to be a lot in those two extra hours on the plane. But you’re right, it’s part of the game (though I agree with a lot of posters who’ve pointed out that it seems a bit more prevalent in the AFL than other major international leagues), and yes, one door closes etc etc.

Won’t lie. I find “homesickness” to be a pretty feeble reason to cut and run on a club that has given a person so much in so little time.

Aside from everything else, I’m not sure confidence is found on the other side of removing yourself from a team, mid-match.

Really solid take. Brayshaw has been outstanding for us this season. His intercept-marking across half back has gone next-level, to the point where Lever must be getting genuinely itchy out there (in the best possible way). Losing Gus would be a bigger gut-punch for me than LJ. But it would be great to keep things as they are for a couple more years.

Isn’t he just two years into a mega-contract? How does he wriggle out of that one? And if he can, what are the point of these mega-contracts anyway?

Tell me if I’ve got this wrong, but I’m imagining (hoping) that if the club were serious about enlisting him, there would have to be consultation with our indigenous boys (and probably Jake Lever) before proceeding. Can anybody else see this as putting those players in an incredibly unfair position? If any of them weren’t ok with it, would they speak up? Or would they see speaking up as getting in the way of the club’s supposed progress? Wouldn’t it be better to just avoid this scenario entirely? It’s not like Taylor Walker is the answer to our prayers

I’m curious as to how anybody who values club culture could also be onboard with recruiting Taylor Walker. I just can’t reconcile how the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

I guess it’s a balancing act. Though there are a disappointing amount of times AFL umpiring should face stern criticism from the media, I can understand the desire not to let the narrative get out of hand. Both because of the need to make Australian Rules umpiring a desirable vocation despite the low pay and general thanklessness, and also because if the overriding sentiment becomes “Umpires are useless”, it can trickle down in insidious ways to the suburban/country leagues. Obviously we can thank Toby Greene’s incident for the increased level of protection we have this season (ie the remonstration rule), but unfortunately it is warranted. Respect is always a two-way street though, and it will be a harder thing to mandate if more displays like we saw today occur.

I think an official complaint has more merit/power after a win.

Gawn/Jackson to be replaced by Spargo on Trac’s shoulders. Moving on….

Yep, inflation’s a [censored]. Regardless, I’m off to write a bunch “dEaR LOoK” cards with my left hand.

I agree that regrettably, the ice BBB is skating on is getting thinner and thinner. However I do think the delivery to him has just as much room for improvement. There are many times when I get frustrated that he’s so often caught out of position. But I’m not convinced he’s the one solely to blame for that.

Trac will return in excellent form after the bye. I can feel it in my waters. Dude’s been getting over a flu and those things can knock you around for a while without sufficient rest. He’s got enormous mental strength and when the physical catches up, he (along with Langdon who also will benefit hugely from the bye) will take us back to the top.

Really unlikely given the nature of the injury and the treatment required. Recovery is 3-5 months, then factor in having done no running in that time.

The statute of limitations should render any comment made in the ten minutes proceeding a loss to the filth as inadmissible in the court of Demonland.

Petracca, Smith, Langdon. Nowhere to be seen. Petracca in particular has been a shadow of his former self the past three weeks, or even more. But our forward line is a joke at the moment. A joke.

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. No connection. No composure. No forward line. No Grand Final. Forget it.

Mitch Brown is a very average footballer

Blaming Hunt and Tomlinson for our two recent losses is akin to blaming you for the decline in quality of the written word. Or to put it another way, THEY’RE not solely responsible for that.