Ron Burgundy

Sidebottom to Dunn at the start of the night: ‘I am going to have three fingers of Glenlivet with a little bit of pepper and some cheese. I love poetry and a glass of Scotch, and of course my friend Baxter here.’ Sidebottom to the cops at the end of the night upon being bundled into the paddy van wearing nothing but someone else’s underpants: ‘Scotchy scotch scotch. I love scotch.’ Eddie to the world at large: ‘Absolutely nothing to see here. He had the wrong scotch.’

Okay - I’m cool with that. It’s all calm in the farm once again.

That’s B.S. He’s a gun. There’s no way we’ll regret this trade.

Despite playing for a boring/tedious club for several years before joining the mighty fighting Demons (Adelaide Crows), Bernie quickly became my favourite MFC player. He also became my little boy’s favourite player. (Henry’s favourite player is now our number 5, which I have endorsed, fyi.) This said, I just watched a promo for the Bounce with the usual tools on Foxtel and Bernie was proudly sporting an Adelaide Crows guernsey. I had thought he was still involved with the MFC and was passionate about the club. What’s the lay of the land here? If he’s no longer a Dee, I need to know. I’ve got a young human here who needs to know who to trust and in whom he can invest his beating heart. In fact, so do I. Feedback is appreciated.

He’s a good player. Something’s not right though (and it’s not his attitude). He was unreal in 2018 yet he’s been super ineffective ever since (but for that one game last year in which he re-discovered his form, and then got injured). For us to be good this year, McDonald simply needs to become more effective again. I can’t see Weideman holding down FF without some other KPP in the forward line, whereas I reckon Tom can. As as aside, I really like Melksham and Hunt in and around our forward line. They’re decent mid size forwards.

Same here. I’m glad we have Fritsch though.

Exactly. Garry Lyon has tipped the Blues. Carlton were much better than we were in round 1. But I think many experts continue to underrate our list and our coaching staff - essentially based on our abhorrent performance in 2019. They’ve conveniently ignored the reasons for our performance in 2019, and what we’ve done since to address those issues. GoodwIn is a better coach than most people think (I reckon he’ll be our senior coach for the next decade), and the additions of Burgess, Richardson, Langdon, Tomlinson and certain others who have filled the gaps which were horribly exposed last year. Dees to win - but not by much.

I haven’t felt this level of excitement about a game of footy since I was a kid. And that was a long time ago. C’mon Harley - you’re our rockstar. No pressure of course - all positive energy. That said, my family is seriously emotionally invested in this game. There’s a Netflix doco in this.

I rate, and like, Jack Watts. Gubby Allan told me a few years ago that the majority of clubs had him at number one. I wish him all the best.

I’d conservatively offer him a 25 year extension.

The closest I came to this was Adem Yze. But Jamie Bennell did actually cross my mind - and not because of his surname. But ultimately I don’t reckon Yze or Harley Bennell are that similar. They both have smoothness and skills but not do not share the same physicality or presence. Harley Bennell is a really special player. He has no ceiling and can play anywhere. I hope the MFC has been filming his journey to the Dees and his progress since joining us - because, if he makes it, this rivals Rocky as a movie script.

Yep, I reckon that’s it - I can’t recall seeing another player like that in the red and the blue. It’s a smoothness with authority and purpose - coupled with super silky skills.

Travis was one of my all time favourite players. That said, Bennell seems to be a different type of player. He’s more powerful for a start.

Serious question - have we ever had a player like Harley Bennell on our list?

I’m already over-excited about the game on Saturday. To see Bennell on the team sheet will escalate my excitement to levels I’ve not experienced since I was a kid. Make. It. Happen.

Thanks - it's tempting. But I think the masses here have come to know Ron Burgundy as being associated with this very basic, and possibly extremely unflattering, self portrait. I like your work though. It's clean.

If true, this would be epic. The world needs a good news story at the moment - we are literally being hit by one tres ordinaire event or story every hour of each day. And Harley Bennell could be it. This is potentially the stuff of dreams - a broken but talented potential superstar is given lifeline by a classy (albeit an underdog, ridiculed) club whose glories are in the distant past - and greatness then results. Make it happen world. At a minimum, it’ll be the next big thing on Netflix.

Nice avatar/picture thing Grr-owl. I reckon it’s BOG.

That sucks. I hope the club finds a way to keep Crossy connected with the club and the player group.

This is an accurate assessment IMO. The concerning aspect for me from the game was however that the poor forward half conversion rate (inside 50s and accuracy in front of goal) appeared not to have been fixed over the pre-season.

Burgess was the best recruit by any club in the off season. He’ll be ahead of the curve in the post COVID-19 world when it comes to training and preparation i.e. the world we’re now in. Competence always shines through in broken water.

So, are we still on track to win this thing this year?

That doesn’t make sense.

I was led to believe that we picked the two standouts from this draft.

You stay classy too ding! I hope you get to see your wife in the very near future.