La Dee-vina Comedia

I agree that Jones doesn't have to be vaccinated, but by breaching the mandate he has to wear the consequences of that decision. I admire him for standing by his principles, but believe he's made a poor choice in doing so. Not because it ends his career but because he's put his health and the health of those around him at unnecessary risk. And that's why the mandate exists.

Then let me blunt and give my opinion. I see nothing wrong with the vaccine mandate. It's not like we don't have other mandates under which we live, even in this democracy. Are any of these other mandates matters we should now abolish: driving on the left side of the road? stopping at red traffic lights? using passports to leave and enter the country? fluoridation of the water supply? making murder an offence? paying tax? free speech (albeit qualified)? voting rights? not discriminating against people on the basis of their gender, sexuality, religion, disability (amongst other things)?

I'm not sure whether this question might be better posted on the Trading and Drafting thread, but as it relates to the impact of Liam Jones's retirement it's also logical to ask it here. What impact might Liam Jones's sudden and unanticipated retirement have on the draft? Will clubs have to reconsider their strategies if they believe Carlton may now be looking for a key defender early in the draft? Might a better player who is not a key defender be overlooked by Carlton and become available for others?

She might even come if we can convince Meghan Markle to participate in the Freeze MND slide.

Having waited so long for a 13th Premiership, I had forgotten that we're still high up on the ladder of premierships won. Only Carlton and Essendon (16 each) and Collingwood (15) are ahead of us, with Hawthorn and Richmond level with us in fourth spot with 13. That's pretty rarified air and quite amazing given the 57 year drought. It's the challenge of rising up this ladder to overtake Collingwood and then Carlton and Essendon which should motivate the current team.

This post assumes Liam Jones doesn't like injections of any type and therefore won't be vaccinated. That is almost certainly not the reason for his refusal. I don't know his reasons for not wanting to be vaccinated, but I think he's making a big mistake. Not because his football career has come to a premature end, but because the vaccine is the best protection for his health and for those around him. Current data suggests that nationwide about 95% of the population (16+) will end up vaccinated. Hopefully more. But 5% of approx 720 AFL male footballers is 36. Given those number we shouldn't be surprised that there's at least one footballer not wishing to be vaccinated. I just hope he's the only one (and that he subsequently gets vaccinated, even if it is too late to resurrect his career).

If he changed teams once, there's no reason to believe he didn't change teams again. It's not like loyalty is ingrained in his character. He may not have been a Richmond supporter by the time they won their three Premierships.

I keep wondering whether it's that important. If we were able to keep winning premierships, if not every year, but on a regular basis, under current arrangements, does anyone care? Of course, one premiership in 57 years does not mean there will be regular Grand Final wins in the future, but I just wonder if the whole issue is overblown.

I wonder if it's an insurable risk? Particularly when it's "on the road".

On Rohan Connolly's excellent Footyology site, Ronny Lerner has redrafted the 1986 Draft. Three of the players we drafted ended up in the top 10. But there's a catch...one of them was Darren Jarman who actually never played for us. The other two were the Febey's who we drafted at 3 (Stephen) and 16 (Matthew). Was it a good move to draft a player who was always unlikely to play for us? On the other hand, we drafted him at pick 55, so it might have been worth the risk if we had a strategy in place to try to convince him to come. Still, getting 2 of the top 10 (even though it's a subjective assessment) is still pretty good drafting. Three would have been so much better.

For a while after his retirement, Joel MacDonald was flying high with a delivery company called GetSwift. The company was listed on the ASX and considered to be a market darling with Joel's net worth for a short time around $200 million. Yesterday it all came tumbling down with GetSwift found guilty of various ASIC breaches. Penalties are yet to be imposed, but it appears Joel may be banned from managing corporations. Sad to see.

Good work Demonstone. Thanks for the challenge. I admire your restraint in not including James McDonald in your team.

I expect that's quite common. However, I suspect those same people have watched the replay from halfway through the third quarter many, many times.

St Kilda and WCE are using the "individual privacy" line to avoid answering the question. But given the obligation, that's not going to hold up forever. If a player remains unvaxxed by whatever their specific state's deadline is, the clubs won't be able to avoid the question because any players missing from training will need to be explained.

I don't think any team is ever more than 4 years away from winning a Premiership should everything go right for them. It is because everything rarely goes right, that clubs are forced to revisit their strategies, their recruitment and their coaching talent every few years. Having said that, if you are a betting person (and I'm not) by all means back the option of neither Essendon and Carlton winning a Premiership in the next 5 years. They are just as likely or unlikely as any other teams, except Melbourne (not said out of loyalty but because we're the current best team in the competition).

I notice from Demonwiki that Brent Croswell played 48 games for us. Was his son, Tom Kavanagh, recruited under the father-son scheme in place at the time? If so, what rules were in place about eligibility for selection? After all, if Kavanagh was eligible to play for Melbourne he must also have been eligible for Carlton and North Melbourne as well.

Bingo...

I know that it's the off-season and the Herald Sun is scrounging around for AFL stories. I also appreciate that it's November, so the Herald Sun is desperately trying to find stories with a link to the up-coming draft. But re-ordering a draft held less than 2 years ago is fatuous. At least, that's what I would have written in any other year to justify why no Melbourne players made the top 10 or moved upwards in their personal ranking. (Let's be honest, it's a meaningless exercise given the brief opportunity these players have had to show their talents.)

I've often wondered whether clubs who have had considerable success through the father-son recruitment process, such as Geelong and Essendon, were just lucky or whether they actively helped develop the sons from a young age knowing full well that the club may be the ultimate beneficiary? A long, long time ago I remember Melbourne making a big song and dance about putting on contract one of Ken McKaige's sons when he was still very young. (Was it Andrew, who subsequently became a TV soap actor?) But apart from that story - and I'm not even sure it was anything more than a PR stunt - I can't recall the club actively monitoring or developing sons of fathers until Chris Johnson.

Three languages in one 5 word sentence. Impressive.

If Howe had stayed at the club and been coached by Roos and Goodwin, he, too, might have been just as selfless and disciplined as the rest of the current team. We'll never know. He made the choice that he did and lives with the consequences. In the dark days, he was one of the few players who made watching football a joy. I hope he's happy with the decision that he made.

While it is a precedent, there is also a significant difference. AFLW is not the main job of AFLW players. In Varnhagen's case, I believe she's still working as a registered nurse. For the men, AFL is a full-time, professional career with a lot of potential earnings at stake. In other words, while I hope all the AFL men are vaccinated, if one or more don't want to be, get ready for an expensive legal challenge.

Part of the script was written about 425 years ago. Just look at the parallels in Richard III. It starts with the line, "Now is the winter of our discontent...". The murder of the two nephews in the Tower is an obvious reference to the destruction of Grimes' and Trengove's careers by making them captain too soon. And the immortal line, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" is clearly Roos asking his recruiters to draft a stallion called Petracca.

I may have missed it, but has anyone said what it was that Burgess said to Goodwin during that discussion on the boundary line during the Grand Final?

On the other hand, the club hasn't prepared me to deal with success. I don't mean that flippantly. I enjoyed the game and I'm still thinking about it, but I'm not sure whether I'm making the most of what might be the makings of a dynasty or perhaps just a once-in-a-lifetime experience.