BLWNBA

That sure is a lot of words to say very little.

I personally don't mind him, I think he's far more engaging than a lot of other AFL media personalities out there. He clearly has strong opinions and he generates a lot of attention and discussion. He's fairly similar to KB IMO, although not exactly as rambunctious as KB when he used to be on with Patrick Smith. On the subject matter, I don't necessarily think it's that inflammatory either. If I was an opposition club I'd absolutely be seeing if I can get Oliver out of Melbourne (and as has been pointed out, Morris hasn't implied or explicitly stated that is the MFC's intention at all).

It's absolutely beautiful watching Cornes et al. make adult fanboys have an absolute meltdown.

I could be wrong on this, but I recall reading that replays are compressed and aren't displayed in true HD.

I have the same issues with the F1. Strangely, I only ever seem to have issues with the stream when it's the F1 - including poor syncing of audio to stream or heavily jittery frames.

‘Genius’? Wow.

Dear Straight Set Simon, I look forward to only having to lose one final this year.

Can I also have a bowl of that moral outrage?

If Petty isn't a forward, he's even less of a ruckman.

Is that you, Steven?

I agree, but Goodwin won't go while he's protected by Roffey et al. The fish rots at the head and there are issues from the boardroom down, all the way down to the playing group. Arguably there's been issues since at least 2021, but the Premiership plastered over a lot of cracks.

As a Dees supporter I’d love Windsor to win it, but theres no way he’ll displace Wardlaw or Owens - and fair enough too.

If Port are a fake Top Four side, Melbourne are a fake Top Eight side.

The ol' good bloke discount?

I'm just looking forward to us playing a forward who actually holds overhead marks!

Gold Coast (with no certainty) Sydney Pies GWS Freo Brisbane Essendon Port (could see an upset with Hawks winning) Dees Agree with you on results, but personally think that tonight is the only true toss of the coin game in the first five IMO.

Could we see a return to the TMac pinch-hitting strategy for this week?

There was some commentary on SEN this morning regarding Dusty and some callers suggestions he'd suit North. I tend to agree with the Sam Edmund and Josh Jenkins (I know, I know) take that he wouldn't suit North as he is seemingly not in the mould of the Hodge, Lewis, Cross category of a 'vocal' leader. Sure, leadership can come in many forms and I do acknowledge that, but Martin seems to be extremely reserved and insular. You might get some cash injection from a marketing perspective, but given his output over the last two seasons, and his apparent on-field disposition, I don't think I'd be chasing him and hope to get the Luke Hodge educator/general role. From a Dees perspective, it's also a categoric 'no' in my opinion. Even if he came cheaply, I think we have far greater needs with our current list and I don't necessarily see him filling a role in a meaningful capacity, as it stands.

Thrilled to see McAdam in the side. I wouldn't be surprised if Kolt is one of the inclusions for this round either.

I was completely the same. Albeit it's a long season, but for the most part I have far more confidence in our team this year as opposed to the previous two seasons. I wouldn't go as far to say that I'm completely happy, but we're trending in the right direction and very impressed that we've gone down the path of bringing in some youth to the 23 each week.

Yeah that's interesting, in light of your comment I looked back at the results and they're vastly different from what I remember, weird how they've left that mark on me. Seems like my memory is relatively based on the 2006 results as opposed to the overall results writ large. Some of those larger wins by the Dees I actually struggle to recall. Although from memory the win against Carlton at their farewell to Princess Park was a lot closer than what the margin suggested. I have to say the 2000 Qualifying Final is etched into my memory, definitely good memories of that one!

That's a fair call and you could be very well correct. Three losses out of their previous four games isn't something that you'd say exudes confidence in a top four finish, at least at this stage and on exposed form. But it's a long season as you said and the Blues have previously shown an ability to turn around a season very, very quickly. For what it's worth, I think the Blues can be too reliant on too few to win a game. But they have some good role players - albeit they can be too inconsistent. If anything, I think their defensive structuring leaves much to be desired with reference to other top four teams and that could be the difference come end of season.

I'd also add that Carlton coming off a loss makes me very nervous. I expect they'll come out firing and think that most of their errors and sloppiness which were seen last week won't be seen against us.

I was cautiously optimistic last weekend against the Catters. I can confidently say that I am far more nervous this week. Being in my early 30s, Carlton have traditionally troubled us. Vivid memories exist of us needing to beat Carlton several times in the 2000s in order to secure our place in the top 8 or top 4 only to falter, from memory once this happened twice in the one season - and let's not forgot Mitch Robinson and the infamous "bruise free football". But, that's all one for the history books. As is last years semi-final result. The head says Melbourne get it done tonight despite our shorter turnaround, but the heart isn't so sure. On a final note, despite growing up with a strong affiliation to Carlton due to family dynamics, my dislike of the club has grown over the years. I'm not so sure this is personally directed towards the team per se, especially in it's current form, but for the life of me I can't stand their supporter base. The pinnacle of bandwagon supporters; at least the Tigers and Pies always have strong support. But Carlton? They go very bloody quiet after a loss.

My first thought was 'Mickey and The Mousepack'.