Ron Burgundy

And, as an aside, we've pretty well cracked the nut on the age of planet earth - it's widely considered to be 4.54 billion years old. But if I were on a blog in Kansas and I stated that such an estimate is utter b.s. and that the age of the world is actually 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs didn't exist, I would get 50,000 likes for that post. Doesn't mean I was correct in espousing that view.

Thanks for stating the superficially obvious, Barry Prendergast. For a start, certain people at the MFC did think Rockcliff would be good - he was training with the club at the time and many rated him highly. The point with each of those players I mentioned that the club overlooked is that the club had committed to them PRIOR to the draft, ie, if they were available at certain picks, we would pick them, ONLY for the club to then go against its word and pick someone else at the last minute. Unprofessional stuff. And it's cost us. Big time.

Might be time for you to stop putting the glove into Toumpas at every opportunity. He might very well have you eating a picket fence by the end of next year.

Me too. He looks like a great kid. And I'm absolutely going to enjoy watching the hard core nay-sayers having to qualify/distance themselves from their earlier opinions about him.

He looked like a surfer.

Col always had the ability. Everyone knows that. Should have done so much more with his AFL career. Probably bagged a lot of chicks though. And I suspect those stats are pretty important to Col. May come to regret that in a few years from now though. What's Tony Modra up to these days?

Rockcliff would've delivered more value to the club.

Tappy was hardly a controversial selection at pick 18 in his draft. Some had him going higher than that. Strauss was a shocking pick at 19 in his draft, and Blease picked just before Shuey in the same draft - well, that was a disaster. And not to forget Gysberts at pick 11. Bennell over Sloane, and Jurrah over Rockcliff. We could've set up our list quite nicely if we didn't stuff up our picks in 2008 and 2009 so badly.

Serious?!

Watching TJ slot that goal after Matty Whelan ko-ed the cheat reminded me how enjoyable it was to watch Demons during the period from about 2000 to 2006 (except 2003). TJ had class. In spades. Anyone know what he's up to these days?

Geez I liked Whelan. Nev Jetta can become Matty Whelan 2.0.

Scully did the right thing for himself. Ironically, it was also the right thing for this club. Dodged a bullet here.

I reckon Brayshaw will captain this club. Not next year though. A bit surprised that no one sees Watts as a potential leader at the club. I think the players respect him, he's articulate and he strikes me as having many of the qualities that are needed in such a role. The added responsibility would be good for him IMO. Same for Vince.

It seems that there will be some changes to the leadership group for next season. I expect players like Lumumba, Vince and, possibly, Watts and T McDonald will be in the mix. I expect Garland might be at risk and, as we all know, Chip Frawley has left the building. Nathan Jones seems to be a lock for Captain. Dawes for Vice? I expect Grimes would still be in the mix. He's just so professional, articulate and dedicated to the club. I'd be interested in people's views on this.

What an excellent article - thanks for posting it. It reminded me of the book 'Friday Night Lights' - the type of journalism that interrogates the underlying human aspects of professional sport.

Saty - thanks for your excellent training reports. I really appreciate you posting them after each session - living in Sydney, they are simply unreal to read every second day or so. Who's in the forward group at the moment? I assume the definites are Hogan, Dawes and Garlett, but it seems to me that the rest of the set up is not entirely certain. Howe? Watts?

Always enjoy a win against the other Melbourne clubs.

September actually.

Yep - I've been absolutely delighted with our bottom two finishes for the last 8 or so years.

We're on the way up. Make no mistake about that. And it's because of the stability and quality we now have in the coaching ranks. And increasingly also in our back office, led by Peter Jackson. That we're also building and developing a better list will help too.

I like Mahoney. It's good that he's actually played footy at the highest level. And has a brain.

No nutbean - you are merely suffering a form of 'confirmation bias', through which you seek to construe all comments as either supporting or going against your own personal prejudice on this issue. I think everyone here viewed Frawley as one of our most important, required players. But the subtleties and nuances of the debate (eg, his leadership role at the club, the likely compensation etc) seem to have been lost on you, and conveniently you've blended it all together to assert a position that doesn't actually reflect the comments that various posters made in relation to this issue.

I thought it was a really good interview and that he asked the questions I would've wanted him to ask. McCartney - what a complete balls up by the Bulldogs!

If only. Better have another drink.

His grandfather is the astronaut guy, right?