Chook

Woot! Party like a muppet on Endor.

You can take comfort in knowing that there's a special place in football hell reserved for guys like that. I have a feeling the ones who live down there don't take kindly to demon-bashing. Besides, this fool now has the pleasure of watching an even worse rabble go at it every week, instead of just once.

I'm almost with you. But I do want to see, at least once, how Rivers, Warnock, Garland, Macdonald and Frawley all go in the back-line together. I'll concede that even if this works, it won't work every week, so unless one of them can play another position, one is almost always going to miss out.

"Jack Watts played up the ground and got some classy touches." Wow. What a surprise. It's certainly better than getting no touches, though.

No, Sylvia.

I think ours is eclipsed (just) by the song of the team we played yesterday. I reckon it's the Tigers', then ours, then maybe the Bombers'.

God, this song gets so boring after you've heard it two weeks in a row.

I watch a lot of footy and I reckon he's the best young player this year by an absolute street.

I read an article last year in which similar was said. Obviously Matty Whelan was the other.

You were pretty much spot on with your predictions, so well done to you.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up.

It really is ridiculous that some people don't get better at things they love doing. Even if you are by yourself, simply thinking through the things you are doing and then changing one aspect at a time if it isn't working, can fix your problem in no time. I spend about an hour every day on the oval by myself practising stab passes and goal kicking and I've improved out of sight. You'd think these AFL players, with all the advantages they've got, would be nailing them from everywhere. Their field-kicking is usually outstanding, so why can't they apply the same practice principle to getting the ball through the big sticks?

This begs an interesting question. Does anyone actually know roughly what percentage of people who live in Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Footscray, North Melbourne, Richmond and Hawthorn actually barrack for those clubs. Would it be like 50% or more like 95%?

Richmond's, right?

I had a horrible dream last night that Colin Garland had to retire because of his foot. I was devo, but then I woke up, so it was okay.

There's nothing better than an unexpected Seinfeld quote.

Exactly. And even then, Jack's going to have to wear a pineapple on his head to get as much recognition as Nick, Nat an' Nui. It's unfair to compare one player to three anyway (don't blame me for that joke, blame Cometti).

Bupkus. Sorry. But ten points is better than zero.

It's not about the voice, it's about the incessant catch-phases reeled out one after another. I'd mute the TV, but Tim Lane and Malcolm Blight are on, both of whom actually think before they speak.

Why should it matter? Clubs consistently say that they don't take any notice of media speculation, so why would our players care what our odds are, or whether the majority of tipsters will be backing us?

Yes, but if you want to be taken seriously on this forum, it's Trengove (no 'r') Petterd ('e,' not 'a') and Moloney (not Maloney) - and never, ever use any Watts-puns. But on topic, Jack Trengove is definitely good enough to at least get a nomination for the Rising Star, but considering players usually only get nominated in weeks where their team wins, he may have fewer opportunities to get the nod than other players.

^Ten points to anyone who actually reads all that.

Will it last the season?

The biggest evil in any sporting competition is inconsistency. Whether it be with umpiring, player performance, rules, fixturing, tribunal decisions, drafting, salary concessions or anything else, the only thing that should separate the good teams from the bad are those who know the rules and are able to play to them. We, Carlton and other clubs did this with regard to the draft, but Richmond did not. I'm all for changing the rules to benefit Richmond - who will be incredibly disadvantaged in the coming years - but those rules must remain in place long enough for other clubs to benefit from them, otherwise any benefits granted cannot reasonably be argued to not constitute bias towards one club.

Good thing he's there, then. Perhaps he can change some young minds before it's too late.