pitmaster

Just remember who votes for the Brownlow and you'll have some idea of its worth.

10 and 10 with no luck on the wild guesses. Damn tough some of those questions.

29,426. As one who can remember former rover and premiership player Ian Ridley, later in his life speaking as president and warning us that in future clubs would need 20.000 members just to survive (I think we at the time had about 8,000 members - TOTAL) to this pre-Christmas result I can only respond: Wow! The club has performed remarkably to keep this number rising in the past couple of weeks when most of us are winding down from work and gearing up for Christmas. Anyone disappointed in not making 30,000 before the break should console themselves with this context. It really is a tremendous result and offers great hope.

Think sharp variations from outright 100% sprinting for 100-200 metres to "recovery jogging' then back up to speed then back into recovery over and over and over. The unfortunate "fart" element has less to do with digestive issues than the northern european language of the dudes who devised the method.

He had four daughters.

Hey Iv'a, did Rodrigo explain how he came to settle on the Demons as his team?

Nice write up. Paul Amy could be upgraded too.

Of course there is healthy debt. When governments borrow to build schools, roads, and telecommunications systems and many other things the debt is creative because it enables people to be educated and a workforce trained and an economy to function. Those things are paid for over many years because many generations benefit from their creation. The problem is that conservatives who want every activity to be an opportunity for their mates to make a profit have created a stink around government debt. It all depends on what the debt is for...like your mortgage (if you're lucky enough to have one) puts a roof over your head. PJ means the Bentleigh Club is a constructive asset for the club generating income and forming a base for members, hence it is healthy as long as it continu

Apart from the financial gains I doubt we get much out of these games compared to what Hawthorn and North get from their Tasmanian games, yet dropping them could involve walking away from a significant sponsor. Do we want to do that just when we are building some solid relationships?

Ditto. I grew up with that book as one of my first readers.

When I think of the things I was up to at his age and later I can't judge him. If it was in season that would be different but as bad boy behaviour goes this is at the lighter end.

I'm OK with this. We win...and it's very possible...and we're off to a flying start. The Saints are overly reliant on a handful of ageing champs and Stevens. We can do this.

Come on, it's a typo. Let up. I don't necessarily rate him either but the keys 5 and 6 do sit beside one another.

That sponsorship seems to be working well.

This is beautiful to watch. Kardinia Park heroes ha ha ha...

I have avoided commenting until now but his agent's comments don't bode well. Saying publicly that he is "torn" is setting the scene for departure and hoping to avoid recriminations for dudding the club. Why say anything at all? This way if (when) he goes it's for whatever reason he cites but "he was really conflicted because we said so with a year left on his contract". Very sorry if he does go but the tea leaves are dark.

Hill is going. He was one of their best against the 'Dogs. They have stuck with those old blokes...so they add O'Meara. That's a huge gamble. I'd be deeply worried if we'd picked up O'Meara. Maybe he will recover and play to his potential. Maybe won't. If he doesn't then in 12 months time the Hawks are really looking down the barrel. Say they pick up Mitchell as well this year...they still miss Hill's run. And Roughy, we all hope he recovers his health but he is something like 29 years old - actually will be 30 before the next pre-season is over - and will have missed a year...may never hit the heights again even if he becomes match fit. I like their outlook. Because I hate them.

Cyril's not a leader though. He manages comparatively few possessions but usually makes great use of the ones he has. He is a highlight reel able to pick up three goals and some goal assists from a dozen possessions, but he is more icing than the cake. I agree, though Sue, that he was ordinary last night. And long may it be so.

Not an idle boast. They laughed us off at the time but all the signs that day were there again last night - the loss of skills under pressure, miskicks as they tried to control the ball in their back half and overrun late in a game. We finished all over them just as the Doggies did but for that late let up that enabled Hawks to score some junk time respectability. We looked similar to the 'Dogs but with more skill errors. Hopefully we can work on eliminating them. As for Hawks...I am so glad they have kept those old blokes because they aren't getting better. And if the future is Sicily, then they're rooted. His skills disappear as quickly as he is pressured. He was lucky with a couple of uncontested marks early when others misjudged the ball but once the heat was on he melted.

The sting for current people on the waiting list is the $600 "joining fee" which makes your first year very expensive. When I joined there was no joining fee but it was introduced to help pay for the "new" stand on the northern wing. So there is your nomination fee to begin, and when you join, at whatever level provision, restricted or full, there is the joining fee. It is a good deal eventually. Finals are free unless you want a reserved seat which can be had for $20. I like to hear of Demon fans joining up because it's part of the heritage - for both clubs, that is. It doesn't stop me buying multiple football memberships yearly. The vote about a year ago was about introducing provisional memberships - getting more people in - because the wait is so long right now.

Big farewell to Roos. Salem the bright spot. Frost OK. Hogan, words fail me.

No one's done that that I have seen. Read the OP carefully and you'll see I blame our blokes for the result. The interesting thing for me is not one game but the trends that emerge over a season and the Dogs' treatment is extraordinary along with a few others that get a good run.

It was Nick Graham. That's one of the dodgy calls I was referring to that resulted in an umpire's goal.

This week's free kick count was outrageous, not so much for the frees against us that were paid - although two Carlton goals resulted from seriously doubtful calls - but for the ones we should have had but which were not paid. But I was not even especially enraged by those three clowns since we were the architects of our own demise with lousy kicking for goal, dumb decision making, excessive reliance on handball even in the wet and a surprisingly docile midfield. But still, I have been inspired to check the stats and it confirms for me what I have seen for years, that the Bulldogs for some reason get the softest run in the comp. So here they are folks, the current free kick differentials by club. For mine the surprises are that Norf rate as positively as they do - surely Lindsay Thomas can't duck that often - and that West Coast are not ranked even more positively than they are. And look at Collingwood: even in a rubbish season they get a soft run. There goes my theory that the struggling clubs generally cop a harsher judgement from the umps. The Giants defy that too. Hawthorn, for all their thuggery do pretty well too. Carlton, courtesy of yesterday are doing pretty well. Western Bulldogs +84 North Melbourne +58 Collingwood +40 West Coast +35 Hawthorn +23 Adelaide +22 Carlton +22 Essendon +14 Brisbane -12 Fremantle -16 Richmond -20 Melbourne -23 Sydney -26 St Kilda -33 GC Suns -34 WS Giants -38 Geelong -40 Port Adelaide -57

Any one else enjoy Frawley copping a bath? Great to see him floundering ineffectively against Kennedy in the first and then getting clean bowled in the last. Not missing him at all.