Good Times Grimes

When he's up and running he's exactly what we need, and is far from mid-paced. It's a big "if", but if Burgess and our medical team thought they were capable of getting him on the park, I would absolutely take him; he's capable of being one of the best players in the competition.

Where do you propose they would've played in country Victoria where they could have suitably isolated the players while providing adequate facilities? Keep in mind, they would've had to have had enough room there to host multiple teams at a time. When you factor in the quarantine laws of every other state, it would be a logistical nightmare hosting any matches in Victoria. Having matches in a non-footy state like Queensland is perfect for this season as players can walk around with relative anonymity (limiting the interactions that they have with fans, which absolutely could not have happened in regional Victoria), while also working towards one of the AFL's goals of growing the game in Queensland. In terms of crowds being loss makers, perhaps that's true on the surface, but they have been phenomenal for member acquisition and retention for all clubs playing games there.

The season couldn't have continued in Victoria, and probably not NSW either without COVID scare after COVID scare. Every time that happened, players would've had to have gone into isolation, which would've led to further matches being postponed/cancelled and the season being even more compromised than it already is. They gave the AFL warning about border closures before the public so that teams could fly in and the season wouldn't have to go on hold again. They absolutely saved the season.

The last thing anyone needs is another Meth Coast premiership, and I fear that if it's held at Optus there'll be 60,000 booing mutants willing them (and the umpires) over the line. In addition to that, Queensland has saved the season and deserve to host it.

I'm glad these guys have challenged each other to this sort of thing. Both players have had issues with their diets, with Brayshaw struggling to resist soft drinks in his first couple of years and Oliver's noted penchant for parmas (please don't try to tell me that it's "parmis") and chips. Hopefully this challenge will see continued improvement with their fitness.

There’s the confirmation. Happy that McDonald’s pulled out; I have fewer concerns about Fritsch’s durability.

Not sure if this has been posted yet (not overly interested in reading through 16 pages of AFLX discussion), but I've got strong word that McDonald is being replaced by Fritsch.

Thank God! May has an injury, so we don't have to worry about him playing AFLX and getting injured!

I think that injuries dictate a lot of this. Richmond (ranked 12th in 2017) has has a very good run with injuries and this has been reflected on the ladder over the past two seasons. GWS (ranked first in 2017) have had an awful run with injuries and haven't advanced as far as they would be capable of had they had a full list to pick from. I think that if we have a good run with injuries, we do have very close to the best list in the competition. Things change drastically as soon as good players start to go down, though.

Thanks for the reports....always greatly appreciated. How did Natalie Portman go?

It's taken three days for them to determine that's their best offer? What a waste of everyone's time.

I always liked him when he played, but there's no point matching a 3-year offer to somebody who can't get on the park. Good luck to Kent, but I really can't see much sense in this for the Saints.

I don't see much point haggling over deals like this when we've got bigger fish to fry (May, Hogan, Kolodjashnij, Preuss, etc). We were never going to get much more for Kent than that. Edit: I managed to spell Kolodjashnij correctly on the first attempt, but stuffed up the spelling of Preuss...

The Williams/Daw comment was obviously (or apparently not), a bit of a joke. I'm aware that North have some very good players, but I don't think that they're in a position that they can't afford to add a couple more big names. I don't have any knowledge of North's current cap situation or whether they've got players who are signed for unders, but I'm sure that there are ways that they could make it work if they were able to get both Kelly and Gaff to commit. Like you've said, players at Richmond have taken cuts to allow them to sign Lynch and Dusty. Who's to say that Ziebell, Brown & Co. wouldn't sign for unders if North had already reached some sort of agreement in principle with Polec/Kelly/Gaff/whichever other names they're trying to lure over? They also could have front-loaded the contracts of some of their current big names to allow them to sign FAs in the coming few seasons. Anyway, this post is all just speculation. What isn't speculation is that North is in to Kelly, and they're confident of getting him at the end of next season. I don't know how they plan to do it and I don't know what they're offering up, but my source is reliable.

Just passing on what I've heard, but they're very confident that they can manage it. If Richmond can find room for Lynch in a team that has Dusty, Rance, Riewoldt, Prestia and Cotchin, I'm sure North can add Kelly and Gaff to a team that has Marley Williams and Majak Daw.

They've apparently got a lot more room than you'd think. They've had a "war chest" for years now, but haven't managed to secure a big name. Don't be surprised to see them finally land a couple of big targets in the coming years.

One can only hope. If they add Gaff, Kelly and Polec, all of a sudden they're looking pretty good. That being said, if Kelly does come back to Victoria, I'd rather see him go to a club like North than to Essendon/Hawthorn/Richmond/Collingwood.

I've never posted inside info on here before, so thanks in advance for the abuse. I've heard from what I consider to be a very good source that North Melbourne are extremely confident that Kelly will play out 2019 at GWS then head to North on a longterm deal. North were heavily into him last year, but their list management team had the feeling all along that he'd re-sign with the Giants on a two-year deal before coming back to Victoria for 2020 onwards.

There isn't a supporter base that I despise more. As dirty as I feel saying this, if we lose this week, I really hope that Hawthorn go over there and knock them off.

"Boooooooooooooo" - Every West Coast supporter.

When you go to purchase the tickets there's a section there that asks for a code, which is the barcode on the back of your membership card (which is the same number that the club would have emailed you this evening).

Is there a kind-hearted fellow Demonlander that has a barcode that they don't plan on using? I've converted some new Australians into Demons supporters and they are keen to go to the match with me (we managed to get tickets together for the elimination final), however I'd love to avoid the stress of having to wait until the public on-sale. Thanks in advance!

Did all members receive their scarf with their membership pack? I received the membership pack but no scarf, and heard rumours of some people receiving multiple scarfs. Not too fussed about whether or not I get it, but would just like to know what's going on.

How about AOD-9604 McAOD-9604face?