Rab D Nesbitt

Well that was a ride and a half. Table now booked at The Rose. Let's hope they have a nice autumnal red ale on tap.

Letting ‘optics’ decide whether the football season commences tomorrow is such a bad look.

Who would have thought that two guys and a dog would have made such a difference at Giants Stadium?

They seem to be using this whole scenario as a trojan horse to introduce all of the daft ideas they want to inflict on the game that would otherwise suffer fan backlash.

I can see the crows getting some traction in North Dakota on the back of this.

Hi. I should have clarified that I meant on the assumption that we’d have the crowds back by that time. A big assumption, I know.

Hi Pates. yeah, they are all fair points. This is where the people at headquarters will have to earn their soon to be reduced salaries. I don't envy them.

This should mean we avoid trips to both Fremantle and Adelaide right? Unless the AFL plan to bin our game in Alice ? From a financial aspect we would really need to keep Anzac Eve on that date ideally, Queen's Birthday and the game in Alice I think (which supposedly reaps us $500k).

It's not an exact science obviously but option two should see the break begin at approximately the same time that the virus is expected to peak here so I'd imagine that would be the better way forward.

If the first four rounds are to go ahead unchanged and everyone plays each other once then I guess it's reasonable to assume that we will definitely play WC round 1 without their boo brigade?

I've been reading that the AFL are giving consideration to playing 4 or 5 games in a three week period at the front end of the season before a potential mini shut down when infections are estimated to peak. These early matches would be of a shortened duration apparently. All well and good but I can't help thinking that the latter could be a litmus test to shortening the length of the game permanently as called for by certain players.

Saw a fair bit of this game and although disappointing that the girls let another one slip through their fingers it's easy to see how the skill level and intensity has improved over the short time that AFLW has been in place. We move the ball so well at times but then it all falls apart once it gets to half forward. Tegan Cunningham might be struggling to stay on the list on her current form.

A lot of water to flow under the bridge yet but if they use the bye weeks to make up any cancelled games then Hobart will no longer be a floating round.

I better check what the capacity of The Rose in Fitzroy is for next Sunday then. And bring my own pint glass just to be safe. In fact it might be where I decide to self quarantine if need be.

For anyone that's interested in the back story behind this and similar viruses appearing in China I came across this little 8 minute video on Vox. (No, NOT Fox!) https://www.vox.com/videos/2020/3/6/21168006/coronavirus-covid19-china-pandemic

Never eat a pangolin past it's sell by date.

Another reason not to touch the nurry so much this year.

Water off a ducks back. Until we play them what he says or does is irrelevant.

Nobody saw the Bulldogs or the Tigers winning a flag at the same time of year so I'm certainly not losing any sleep about anyone's predictions. We're in the process of building a squad that will consistently be in a premiership window as well as an off field operation that can finance it in a competitive market. The key I think is getting all of our current crop of players to understand and be able to execute their role until it becomes second nature. If we can fast track a couple of our younger talents before losing some of our older most experienced players to retirement then that might just be the sweet spot we need to have a tilt at a premiership.

D24? That's Shamrock Rovers territory. Rathmines I remember well. My folks moved here from Fraserburgh in the NE of Scotland when I was younger but I've lived in a few countries over the years, only returning to Australia five years ago. Outside probably a forty mile radius of Glasgow and maybe a wee bit of Edinburgh nobody gives a monkeys about religion. I have family that support Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts and even Morton. I often wonder what visiting team supporters on European nights think when they see our ones waving tricolours or union jacks and singing Fields of Athenry or God Save the Queen. It makes me feel sad.

Well that was a bit rubbish.

I worked at Trailfinders at the bottom of Dawson Street and lived on Leeson Park in Ranelagh. Next door to the sister of Enda Kenny, the former Taoiseach. The ex girlfriend worked at Aware (depression support) on Lower Leeson Street. it was at the height of the Celtic Tiger. Happy times. Just for the record, I might be a bluenose but I'm definitely NOT a unionist!