binman

Agree you can't compare the two in terms of budget, and for that reason there's no way the AFL half time show could ever be as spectacular. But there's plenty of things the AFL could learn from the NFL to improve our routinely woeful half time without increasing the current funding envelope. For a start they could contract an artist to create and produce an actual show (instead of the glorified Rock Eisteddfod Challenge the AFL puts on) - Jay-Z's Roc Nation has produced the Superbowl half time show since 2019 and are contracted for another few years. That means that unlike the AFL's halftime show, each show has a distinct theme - and performances and staging are structured around that theme. This year's theme was love, unity and an expression of Bad Bunny's pride in Puerto Rico and his heritage (by the by, it is shocking how many Americans appear not to know that Puerto Rico is territory of the United States and Bad Bunny, like all other Puerto Ricans, is an American citizen). A notable thing about the Super bowl headliners is they are usually homegrown (the exceptions in the last 15 years are The Weeknd, Shakira, Rhianna and Coldplay) whereas our headliners are always B grade artist from overseas that are past their prime. The other big difference is, as you correctly note, the NFL do not pay their headliners - much, if not all of the $20 million budget goes to the production company (Roc Nation atm). The AFL, on the other hand, spend almost all of its $5 million budget on washed up B graders from overseas, usually America. We have plenty of uber talented artist/festival organisers/theatre producers etc etc that could produce an awesome show with a $5 million dollar budget, particularly if done in collaboration with the performing artist as Roc nation has done since they started producing the Superbowl half time show in 2019. With a $5 million dollar budget and a focus on using Australian musicians and performers, a top notch producer collaborating with an artist like Flume, Kevin Parker (ie Tame Impala) or Amy Taylor would put on a killer show.

Why?

At least the games aren't on at the same time!

Love it - Saturday 21 March wil be a banner footy day for me. Catch the dees v dog at Whitten Oval (when not windy an awesome ground to watch footy at i reckon), a 20 minute drive from my place. A saturday arvo game at Whitten Oval starting at 2:10pm is just perfect - real old school vibes Home by 5:30. Rustle up a quick BBQ dinner and then settle in to watch us knock off Freo in Perth, triggering a discussion about where the dockers are at. Life doesn't get much better.

Yep, awesome, awesome lineup. It's been a bit hit and miss for the last few years, but they've got it spot on this year. Djrum won't be everyone's cup of tea, too experimental, but right up my aural alley and is one of the acts I'm most looking forward to seeing. Assuming we get our normal spot, we'll be on couches under a gum tree on the slope to the left of the mixing desk (not far from the right corner of Eric's bar). Here's a recent picture of me:

I can promise you i won't - despite my very best efforts I will stick with Latrelle

I thought so, but perhaps I'm imagining it

I think its part of the agreement with fox and 7 to protect their investment. Not that VFL games would be a deal breaker for somone umming and aahimg about getting a Kayo subscription, but if for example you could cast the coverage of vfl games (or the preseason games) you don't need Kayo to watch it on a TV.

See below (crazy to think this song, one of my favourite who tracks) was released 61 years ago in December 1964.

That's weird. Two of my comments were combined - first para was supposed to be against in response to your comment that 2 of your posts had disappeared. Wasn't funny so didn't post. Second was a reply to Brownie. But on new music ive been loving cali band upchuck (think combo of the minutemen, early chilli peppers, circle jerks and black flag - would not look out of place in the film repo man). And also loving Chicag/new york ban Water from your eyes. Not sure of a comparison but they remind me, more sensibility wise than sound, of erudite late 70s new wave bands like Talking Heads. The Gnomes are a young Frankston band playing early sixties, Beatles style power pop. Great fun. All three are playing at Golden Plains on Labor day weekend so probably playing gigs in Melbourne.

Sorry, did you say something? When is Big sound?

"I think most of us are pretty confident that Harvey Langford will turn out to be a Fairstar." That's harsh - his turning circle will surely improve.

Yep, tend to agree. And as much as i hate to say it i think tracc is a perfect fir for them and won't surprise me if he get back to his AA best. And they looked super fit last year. A really interesting thing about the Suns, at least to me, is their game plan. Hardwick has them playing a style not a million miles from that of the Tigers under him - contest, defence, and most notably bucking the trend of short and medium kicks to transition the ball and instead doing what the Tigers did under Hardwick - kicking long and focus on winning the subsequent ground ball or aerial contest. As evidence of that, in 2025 the Suns were number one in the AFL for metres gained per kick - diametrically opposite to the Lions who were 17th for metres gained per kick.

Does anyone know if we are at Gosh's tomorrow? (i did look on our website, no doubt it's there somewhere but i couldn't see it and i dont have an hour to look!)

Agree (pre-season predictions are generally of little value), and that's particularly true of the dee's 2026 season. And i'd argue that it's even more difficult these days to predict how teams will go because the collective fitness of a team has become one of the most significant determinants of success - i'd argue only behind injury and the strength of the list in significance. It of course all but impossible to gauge a team's collective fitness during the preseason, particularly of teams you don't support and to a lesser extent in the first third of the season (the phase where teams are still getting the full benefit of the preseason). The analogy i think of is baking a cake - all the ingredients are mixed up; it goes into the oven and looks great as it cooks and comes out looking delicious. But you don't know how it tastes until you try a piece. That said, I'm pretty confident the Lions will once again be a premiership contender as their list is so strong, they list is settled and they clearly have one of, if not the best, high performance programs in the AFL that has mastered the art of being in optimal condition on Grand Final day (look at vision of their players in the last 2 grand finals - they all look incredibly cut, and clearly more so than even a few weeks prior. And they have run over both their opponents, the Swans and the Cats and clearly look fitter and stronger). As for Melbourne, I think it's great that the consensus seems to be that 12th is our ceiling as it means the team can go out about its business without the weight of expectation and fans will enjoy the wins more and be less likely to jump on the club after losses. As I've noted before, there are too many variables this season (eg new senior coach, tweaked game plan, impact of Claz and Trac going, new players, new CEO, new Prez etc etc) to make an informed prediction of how we might go. That said i'd be very surprised if the club did not think the finals were a realistic goal - and i will not be surprised in the least if we do make finals, I think we have a very underrated list, even among dees fans, with some serious talent under 25 years old. In Koz, Bowser, Roo, The Duke, The Bison, XF, XT, Latrelle, Jeffo and the Kolt we have ten players under the age of 25 who were first round draft selections. And I'd argue that Riv (24 - and taken at pick 32) and Disco (23 - mid-season rookie draftee) both would've been worthy first round draft picks. The jury is still well and truly out on Jeffo and the Kolt, and of course two of those players are yet to debut, but still, that is some serious young talent spread between 19 and 24 years old. We have obviously lost some top end talent with the loss of Claz and Tracc, and it's not unreasonable to argue we are a bit thin for talent in the 25 years and older bracket. But we have the best ruck in the competition, in Fritter one of the most consistently productive forward in the AFL and if Lever, who is still only 29, can stay injury free he is a top line defender (i'd love to say ditto for Steve May, but I'm not convinced he'll get back to his best). We didn't have great first half of the preseason in terms of the number of players in rehab. But against that most players in rehab have had relatively minor injuries and have been able to continue build their aerobic base. Bowser's injury is no good, but he is the only long-term injury we've had thus far. If we have decent Jan and Feb i think we will be in pretty good shape, pardon the pun, come the season in terms of our collective fitness. The other factor is, as i have argued previously, i just don't think the competition is particularly strong outside the Lions and perhaps the Crows. There isn't much separating 10-12 teams IMO, and i think there's a chance we will beat some teams that at this stage pundits have us well ahead of us (eg the Dogs, Freo, Pies and Hawks)

That's great as one of my big frustrations with the team over the last couple of seasons is how many times we fumble - sometimes it felt like Koz and Bowser were out only one touch players.

Every era has great live bands, and nostalgia can colour assessment, but geez it's hard to go past the 80s for live rock music in oz, particularly Melbourne with its symbiotic relationship with the Seattle grunge scene. As an example of how brilliant the 80s were for great live pub rock, the first three bands I saw live (all before i was legally allowed in the venue) were: The Hoodoo Gurus in 1983 at the Lizard Lounge in Perth (pre Stoneage Romeos - they all had huge, Leningrad cowboy style quiffs, tight jeans and pointy boots) Hunters and Collectors in 1983 at a pub in Kew that is closed now, can't remember its name - the pinnacle? (crazy gig as hunters were still in their industrial noise stage - lots of banging and clanging steel pipes with big chains, discordant horns and Mark Seymour in ultra testosterone mode) Paul Kelly (I can't recall if it was Paul Kelly and the Dots or not - I don't think so as i think they had broken up by that time, but it def wasn't the Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls) in 1983 at a pub on Church Street in Richmond that has also since closed (can't recall its name). Three great gigs. Three legends of Oz rock.

Blimey, what a gig! Two of Australia's Best ever rock bands, both legendary live acts, at a pub. And in the Oil's case right before they went next level huge. Wow. The closest I've got to that us seeing Nivrana at the palace in St kilda a few weeks after Nevermind was released. That gig was off the charts amazing.

I loved Midnight Oil, but never saw them live (I started regularly seeing live gigs in about 1983 - by that stage they were huge and ive never liked going to stadium gigs). But i saw Rob Hirst play with The Backsliders (who i love) and The Break. Amazing drummer.

I just read that Rob Hirst passed away at 70 from pancreatic cancer. Devastating. Vale Rob Hirst. A phenomenal drummer and force of nature.

Melk and Max last season make my point - which when a player has to rehab during the preseason alot depends on the nature of the injury in terms of how much of an impact the injury had. IIRC both Max and Melk were able to keep running and cycling- ie weren't off legs. So coukd maintain their aerobic conditioning. Whereas kolt and mcvee I think had injuries that impacted their ability to run. And never got close to optimal fitness, particularly kolt (who by the by I think needs to pull his finger out if he wants to make it as AFL player- from what I glean from track reports he seems to have a good preseason thus far. I hope he doubles down I'm the next 2 months).

It's not about Maxy not being able to work on ruck craft, it's the extent to which his injury impacts his physical preparation and conditioning during the preseason and therefore his season. Players get one opportunity to build their aerobic and strength base - their preseason. Each player has a bespoke, granulat conditioning program with specific kpis that is planned to the minute. Any injury disrupts that program. So whilst Max's broken finger isn't a massive deal in the scheme of things as he can still run and maintain/build his tank his program has been disrupted - eg he likely missed a session for surgery, can't do things like swimming and his weights/strength program will have been disrupted (ie can't do any weights or strength work requiring both hands). The Premiers set up their flag in the preseason.

Awesome. At some point over the weekend I always wear my dees guernsey I'll make sure I'm wearing it during Marlon William's set. I can almost guarantee that if you look out at at the crowd and see some wacka in a short sleeves dees guernsey it will be me!