La Dee-vina Comedia

You're classifying Pickett as an on-baller?

Yes, you do!

Selection integrity means different things to different people. For some, it's about trying to win here and now; for others it's about building a team for the future. In that latter example, players need to be tried to see if they are worth persevering with. They may not be ready yet, but if they show enough potential, then it's also important to give them game experience now, even if they are not yet fully ready. Hence, I agree with DeeSpencer. I've seen enough to know that Billings is not the answer, even though he might be a better prospect than some others to help us win a game in the short term.

It's definitely a no-win situation. If we had come out at the beginning of the season saying we were "rebuilding on the run" every loss would have been viewed through the prism of tanking. (Not only that, what would such a statement have meant for the playing group? Why would they have had any incentive to try their hardest? And why would supporters bother to attend matches? or take out memberships?)

I know it's a shadow, but at first glance James Hird looks like he's stacked on junk in the trunk. Or he's wearing a bustle.

So would I. The three week penalty suggests a lack of certainty in the mind of the MRO/AFL. It should be either a 5-6 week penalty because it was a reckless action or nothing because it was an unfortunate footy accident. Three weeks smacks of a compromise trying to please all parties and effectively pleasing no-one. I suspect the appeal will be successful.

Do you mean the battle or the war? I'd like to think our club is playing to win our next premiership and not solely to win next week. With that in mind, the club should be balancing the importance of including experienced players with the value of developing the next generation.

I thought the consensus in the footy media was the opposite to this.

With thanks to the statistician Swamp, Melksham is the first Melbourne player since David Neitz in 2006 to kick 4+ goals in three straight games. That's a long time!

Petracca 5. Gawn 4. Langford 3. Salem 2. Melksham 1. Fritsch Gawn wasn't as dominant as he has been against lesser opponents. But his nullification of Xerri in a fascinating battle was a significant win for the team. It's nice to be able to give votes to a couple of the forwards, too. And Langford - wow!

So close!

My brain hurts. Demonland is in a muddle. Do we want to "play the kids" or not? If we do, then playing Jefferson, Windsor, Tholstrop, Langford, Lindsay, van Rooyen and Henderson (if he plays, which I doubt) makes sense. Yet Demonland is full of mixed messages about this week's team

State of Origin is NRL's biggest...problem. Why? because (1) it disenfranchises every supporter of NRL who is not from NSW or Queensland and (2) it has turned the NRL Premiership season into a second-tier competition. NRL is about to establish a team in Perth. How can there be proper engagement with the people of WA when the competition will continue to promote State of Origin between Qld and NSW as its premier event leaving Western Australians to be "second class citizens"? And relying on State of Origin so much is like Cricket Australia promoting Ashes Cricket and leaving every other form of test cricket withering on the vine. The AFL Commission would be wise to consider the negatives of NRL's State of Origin as well as the positives. I happen to think the long-term effects of the negative outweigh the positives.

Is that official?

For a moment there I thought Clarrie had three hands - his right hand free, his left one holding the ball, and another one holding a phone!

Presumably the 12-day concussion protocol also prevents players from participating in any form of physical training. Petty and Howe were concussed on 28 June, so are still within that 12 day timeline.

Should we play Petty and van Rooyen in the same forward line, I'd rather see Petty undertake the relief ruck role. I don't think he'll be any better than van Rooyen - he may even be worse - but I'd just like to see van Rooyen playing all his game time permanently as a forward.

Cricket and boxing immediately come to mind!

Bowey 5. May 4. Viney 3. Pickett 2. Turner 1. Langdon Was also really pleased with the games of Langford and Lindsay. And Melksham. Once again, though, too much was left to too few.

He was also a cartoonist drawing the "Ben Bowyang" comic strip for the Melbourne Herald for many years.

Final teams are in. As I suspect most expected, it's Lever and van Rooyen in for Petty and Howes. Billings, McDonald and Adams are the emergencies.

Like Shakespeare you've invented a new word: "stragedy" defined as a tragedy caused by a failure in strategy!

In 1916, Fitzroy won the Premiership from last place on the ladder. 1916 VFL season - Wikipedia

Too old. But I've got a great memory!

If my memory is correct, about 100+ years ago Fitzroy was both bottom of the ladder and Premier in the same season. I think that it was during World War I when there were only 4 teams in the competition.