Rab D Nesbitt

The hermit kingdom has proven to be very fertile ground for us lately.

M54. Right on the 50m arc in the Northern Stand. Get in!

Got my free ticket and plan to head to the G early doors on Sunday morning to try and avoid a long queue as I just want to get in and out with a photo to show for it. I wonder how early that will have to be though.

I like that we're trying to be the club that represents our city. If you call Melbourne home then we represent your city in the AFL and if you've just moved to Melbourne then we should be your team of choice, like they were for me.

Hi Waverley. I stopped over in Berlin for a few days when I moved back here from the UK in late 2014, renting an airbnb near the old Tempelhof airport that they had turned into the most amazing public park that incorporated the runways and old terminal building. I think they converted the place into a refugee camp for a little while recently. A fantastic city that had been on my list of places to visit for a long time.

I can see this all playing out again in six months or so when booster shots are required once the effectiveness of the initial shots begins to wane. Rather than lockdowns being the cause of suicides I think the virus has just magnified areas of our society that have been chronically underfunded or ignored as a result of bad political policy for a long time. Private nursing homes and suicide rates are two that have stood out.

Sixteen minute quarters and a seventeen game season helped get them to that final game of the season where they went missing after half time. Overall they are still a very capable side but I wonder how they will fare when the likes of Danger, Selwood & Hawkins hang up their boots. Not just because they are quality players but they're arguably the three most driven individuals at the club and help set the high standards Geelong have been known for. I went back and watched our first game against them early in the season and we could have won by fifteen goals. Outwith a crazy ten minute period in round 23 we've completely owned them this year.

Kozzie Ardiles.

Still got the flag flying from the front porch. It’s easier for passers by to see since the cherry blossom tree on the nature strip blew down on Friday. I think I’ll do what that fella in East Melbourne does and fly it between our first and last game each season.

If they're expecting a near full house I wonder if we get to sit in our designated tridents seats and if the bar on level two of the northern stand will be open? Back to The Tippler for espresso martinis afterwards if not.

Hi Mickey. Oh, I get it now. It's specifically if we were to play on the following Thursday night as Carlton will be the only side with the required minimum break between games. My brain has already started winding down before the weekend.

Why would Collingwood playing Carlton in round 2 last year mean we're likely to play them in round 2 next year? Even if we did it would probably be their home game if we play Footscray at home in round 1 so we'd gain nothing from the gate takings.

Why hand putrid clubs like Essendon or Collingwood a marquee round 1 match up against the premiers? I'd much rather give a leg up to one of the smaller Melbourne based clubs like the Dogs. Sorry to bore everyone with another anecdote from my native home but back in the first half of the 1980's Aberdeen (managed by Alex Ferguson) and Dundee United (with the likes of Richard Gough) swept all before them domestically and punched well above their weight in Europe. The former beat Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners Cup final in Gothenburg and the latter made a couple of UEFA Cup semis beating the likes of Barcelona along the way. Anyway, they were dubbed the 'New Firm' to rival the traditional 'Old Firm' of Rangers and Celtic. Perhaps Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs are our city's 'New Firm' and everyone else needs to get used that fact.

Well, we gotta play them sometime so let's get it done so we can own them for another 3 months. It'll also mean that we'll be all over the media in the lead up to the new season with our game likely to overshadow the warm up act on the Thursday night.

I doubt the club have it in mind to rookie Marty Hore as they have already farewelled him on social media.

Hi Cassie. Yeah, I saw that when it arrived a couple of weeks ago. To be honest I'm not as blown away with the poster as I was initially and it's still sitting in the tube it came in. I'll sure I'll end up getting it framed though at some point and place it in a prominent place in the house.

I'm not overly fussed about opening the season on the Thursday night but can see the financial advantage in playing the Dogs round 1 along with another big home game a couple of weeks later to offset being the away side next year on Anzac Eve & QB. My only concern would be that unfurling the premiership flag against our GF opponents would have an element of rubbing their noses in it. Maybe they could unfurl Bayley Smith's hair on the same night to give their fans and the commentators something to fawn over.

A fantastic look under the bonnet of our 2021 season. It felt a little bit like when they revealed the winged keel of Australia II after winning the Americas Cup back in 1983. In contrast to the Bulldogs which was more reminiscent of pulling back the curtain at the end of The Wizard of Oz.

Less is more? As a bit of a minimalist I like your thinking LDVC.

We have peers?

Ooooh I love it when a new piece of footage drops. It's a pity they had to spoil it with the Bulldogs goals but I guess they had to give some context up to the point just before we obliterated them.

At those odds it might be better to put a few $ on the threepeat instead.

I was at those games in '87. Through the club the AFL covered the cost of two of us to fly and stay with the team if we made the run throughs for each of the competing teams. We stayed at the Westin Bayshore near Stanley Park. The second game (the world championship final) was to be played in the Coliseum in LA against the winner of the North v Carlton game at The Oval in London. During the week however there was a 7.1 earthquake in the Los Angeles area and the game was moved to Vancouver. The line given to the media back here was that there were structural issues with the venue in LA making it potentially unsafe but in actual fact they had only sold 800 tickets for the game.

Capturing a creature like Powell - Pepper should require an actual lure.

Should we be looking to draft a replacement newshound to put pressure on Benny Gibson or promote from within the ranks?