Skuit

Was at that match Walking. Kiwi fans had a field-day, rightfully. But then this:

So embarrased. Derp.

Who on earth is Tom Clurey? I don't have a clurey.

I hate planking too: idiots

Never met Craig McDermott. But I once bumped into Michael Bevan at the Darwin trots and unfortunately said how much of a hero he was of mine and how I was really sad when he broke his knee bumping into Mark Waugh running between wickets. He said, I think you're thinking of Michael Elliot mate. Derp. So embarrassing. So many Michaels though. Fun fact: Michael Kasprowiks and Michael Elliot debuted in the same test. And nowadays even our training sessions are 'miked-up', lol, although I'm pretty sure Michael Hussey would never complain about planking. Mr. Cricket!

Fanatique Demon is right ProperDee. You should probably take that stuff to the Trengrove vs Dustin Martin thread.

What's there to figure out? It does what it says on the can.

So I noticed something peculiar on the weekend, and especially so in the first quarter. The players kept losing complete track of the ball. Or were otherwise slower to the ground-ball contests, or not coming to meet it at its furthest point when marking. I think it bounced off May’s head at one stage, and someone even looked like they may have stepped on it (a la Glenn McGrath in that fateful warm-up calamity before the 2005 Ashes test at Edgbaston – or ‘No-edge-baston’ as I now like to call it, considering Kasprowicz didn’t even get any bat on it).* Anyway, it’s been kind of bugging me since, because I couldn’t work it out. Like what, are half the players suddenly going blind? And then finally it hit me. I checked the BOM’s light-meter readings for Melbourne for the afternoon of Saturday the 3rd of July and sure enough, they were 22 percent below the annual average. To make it worse, in typical AFL fixturing favouring their pet expansion sides, we were coming off a night match under lights, while GWS had the 1pm fixture the week before – just six days this side of the hibernal solstice. Basically, we were doomed by the gloom before even the first bounce, and it obviously took us three quarters before our eyes could fully adjust. My question is, why weren’t the lights put on at the MCG for the match? Like I get global warming and all, but surely it’s preferable the league find emissions savings elsewhere rather than undermine the integrity of the competition with one team clearly more disadvantaged by the poor visibility than the other. I dunno, maybe somehow melt the old balls down rather than deflating all that used air back into the atmosphere? The second thing I want to know then – who is responsible for sending us out in that blurry indigenous round guernsey when all you have to do is look out the window and realise our players are going to have trouble seeing each other in the dark and would be crying out for better contrast? I’m guessing it was Alan Richardson rather than the AFL on this one, or at least he should be the one to take responsibility. Already the week before we kept handpassing it straight to Essendon players due to the red flash of their sashes, like some bull in a Chinese shop. The thing is, how can we be expected to consistently perform if our colours aren’t consistent and the AFL keeps scheduling us in overcast day clashes against teams whose pupils have already had the chance to adjust in a match environment the week prior? Have you ever walked from the bright sunlight into the shade before? Now imagine that, but while also trying to pick out a dark-coloured egg-shaped ball bouncing through the air while Shane Mumford’s coming at you, possibly the most fearsome enforcer to ever play the game? All in all, we haven’t won a day match since back in Autumn, and it’s clear our form slump is related to having to play football in winter and likely some issues around melatonin loads (we should maybe tap Clarry for any management suggestions?). The upside though, while we can’t expect any fairness from Gillon and his cronies, this year’s Toyota AFL Finals Series in scheduled to commence in the first week of spring, with historical light-meter reading data for Melbourne suggesting that time of year to be generally brighter than in winter. *By the by, I met Michael Kasprowicz once when he was a celebrity judge at a regional charity cooking contest. I tried looking for a suitable opening to deploy my ‘no-edge-baston’ pun, and seriously mangled it when I said ‘no-eggs-basting’ when one of the contestants made a crème brule. It’s true in a sense, traditional Italian recipes usually don’t call for basting the eggs, but he didn’t really get how it related to him and then kind of silently indicated that as a judge he had better concentrate on the competition.

Probably complained that time the club nearly drowned him as well. Mentally soft.

I think you're thinking R2 2012. Margetts didn't umpire that day.

After 15 seasons it's hard to tell if Demonland has finally jumped the shark or is delivering the sharpest satire around.

This is a highly creative way to have your opinion on the team's recent losses stand out from all those other opinions in all those other threads about the team's recent losses. Not even the biggest trolls on here would disagree with your bolded premise.

Just watched the replay. Jack received on his left at around 55 out (Langdon is awesome btw, so good at halving the aerial contest but keeping his balance with his body ball-side), ran five meters to straighten up and unloaded. It was a low-percentage shot, but Trac was around 20 out at the time hidden behind traffic, and there were no other obvious options. Jack didn't appear to look inboard, but it would have taken a special play to see and spot up Petracca. He really wasn't in the frame yet. (19.54 if you have Kayo).

I think of myself as a fairly decent and considerate human being. But if I've been playing the same stupid game day in and day out since I was five and there are millions of people watching with £2 million up from grabs, I probably wouldn't be spending too much time thinking about the feelings of the ball-kids during and in between points. But I can't say that for sure, because I've never played off for a Wimbledon title before (although I do know people who have). I've also been a ball-boy before in matches featuring some of the biggest names to have ever played the sport, and never took it personally when they didn't acknowledge me during the contest. They were almost all appreciate after though.

Can't tell if serious.

If he didn't see Trac then he didn't really burn him. I only noticed Trac in the frame at the last moment - he was coming in from behind Jack's ordinary scope of vision. Not the worst crime. Also, I want our players to back themselves in and take the open shot on occasion. It's such a fine line, but might have worked out different on Saturday if Hunt had done so for example. Viney nailed at least one of those from the same spot earlier in the year.

This was covered extensively last year - both as to potentially trading out an insider and our best midfield mix, and at the time of Viney's re-signing. We know what he brings (although I think some can't appreciate what he does off the ball) and his deficiencies, and we all assign different values to those things. I don't think the OP getting worried about his form two games back from an extensive injury is going to add much to the conversation. He looked pretty decent at the start of the year. Above all though, as noted, he also recently signed a five-year extension, so we'll likely just have to live with the full Jack Viney package. One thing though, and it's minor - he cops a fair bit of grief as being a 'rugby player'. Yet, when I pin-point the loss last weekend - the exact losing moment, not the overall reasons behind the loss - it was due to Clarry releasing the ball by toe-poke while tackled about 70 out in defense, which led directly to Whitfield's goal to put them back up by 16 with around 10 minutes to go. There was no prior, Oliver could have just wrapped the ball up. I hate to criticise them, as I love them both dearly, but he and Trac do it all the time - unnecessarily release the ball to disadvantage. I wish it was Jack who had his hands on the ball at the time.

As mentioned, second spot can often be better than first, in playing a likely weaker team in the knock-out stages. Yet, with the pre-finals bye nowadays, fifth could also end up better than fourth depending where other teams land. There's five fairly clear and evenly-competitive front-runners this season. Take this (admittedly unlikely) scenario: Brisbane Geelong Port Melbourne Western Sydney GWS West Coast Would you prefer to travel up to Brisbane in the first round against the top-placed team, and then in the event of a loss play a follow-up fixture against the Dogs who didn't travel and played an 8th-placed interstate team? Or potentially the reverse?

Friend: are you okay? Me: Yup, fine. Friend: Are you sure? Me: Yes. Friend: Because you seem kind of quiet. Me: Just give me a moment please. Friend: are you sure you're okay? Me: Not anymore goddammit. No one should be disrespectful to anyone else in the workplace, or any space really. But we have to acknowledge an AFL football field isn't an ordinary workspace. We want our players to get a three-quarter-time bake from the coaches in public when they underperform, but also wouldn't accept anything like that in an ordinary workplace. These are professional sports-people - who need to be able to get in a special mental zone of concentration - and the trainer is part of the support staff. Do you get annoyed every-time a tennis player doesn't outwardly express gratitude to a ball-kid when they toss them the ball between points or hand them a towel?

Weid only played the one match together with Brown - when neither kicked any goals against Carlton. Jackson then came back in and Brown was dumped in favour of Weid for the Adelaide match. While it was evident Brown wasn't in top form despite his 5 goals over the previous two weeks, he wasn't given the opportunity to build back into it. His omission then and since has been down to bad timing and a number of issues effecting selection. We were 9-0 at the time with two KPFs having been knocking down the door, and one too many talls. Jackson was providing ruck relief. Brown had a block of three games and wasn't performing to optimum level. Weid comes in for his turn and then the VFL gets shut down. They probably saw it as an opportunity to build some extra fitness into Brown. I believe that Brown and Fritsch with TMac is our best set-up. Brown's running patterns alone will create the space that Fritch thrives on. But we need to back in a set-up and let it build cohesion. This could have been the case by now if only Weid was initially selected to come in ahead of Brown - the latter who was given less of a chance than usual due to surplus.

Tmac and Fritsch combined for 16 goals when Brown was in the team, with Brown also contributing 5 of his own. Sounds pretty helpful to me. He draws the number one defender, and will capitalise if given any space.

Anyone who wants to sell their MFC premiership bets, I'll pay them out and take 'em on. PM me with your offers. .

Unfocused from the get-go. I don't mind if we have an eye on September. Don't think top two is as important as others. We've stood up against all of the top teams. Next week is the real match. Still, Ben Brown please.

Yes, I note how we had to play an extra game in an already compact season compared to everyone else bar Essendon.

AmDamDemon would know. Was quietly sitting on the canal having a beer one day when all of a sudden more than 35 large and heavily-armoured 'divvy' vans come flying down the road (Weesperplein). I thought there had been a terrorist attack. No, a friendly between Holland and England at Johan Cruyff Arena. Over 100 arrests, including ugly earlier mob behaviour in the Red Light District. Such behaviour isn't exclusive to English fans (there was also an incident between Dutch and German fans on Spegelgracht near my house a few months later), but the hooliganism is such an ingrained part of their culture. I abhor violence, but do get a small kick out of seeing these Neanderthals get the baton treatment. The Poms taunting police and then running like cowards in Porto a couple years ago is a personal favourite. Unfortunately they see it as a badge of honour.