La Dee-vina Comedia

and loses.

Even if every player who played one or more games in the season was awarded a Premiership medallion, do you think those who miss out on playing in the Grand Final would still be called "Premiership Players"? I think it's unlikely.

Brayshaw's not smiling. Clear evidence he's heading off to Freo.

Maybe, although I suspect it's more likely a requirement from the WA Chief Health Officer. Either way, I'm quite comfortable with our players staying away from any potential infection sites. Unfortunately, that includes staying away from fans.

I feel the same way.

Not the best looking turf. I'm not suggesting it's dangerous, or anything like that, but I had visions of us training on immaculate grass. And are they irridescent mini-goal posts on the RHS of the picture? Quality.

Do you think it would distract the players? I wouldn't have thought so.

You are quite correct that my comparisons were not of equal merit. But if the boot had been on the other foot and we'd been the club caught up in an ASADA scandal, I would have liked any ex-Demon from that era to continue to feel a bond with his former team mates. And i would be even prouder of him for saying it publicly.

Keep in mind what was written may not include everything Hibberd said. He may have made very positive comments about our club and supporters but those words might not have made into the published article. And it may not even be the journo's fault. If those words had been written they may have been cut by the editor.

I thought we liked players speaking honestly? And not with endless cliches. I'm more than comfortable with Hibberd's comments and his personal motivation. I look at it this way...if a former Melbourne player who'd been with us in the dark days and ended up playing for another team in a Grand Final had said he was motivated by the thought of all his former team mates caught up in the "tanking scandal" I would have said, "good for you".

Warning - I'm about to come across as a curmudgeonly old fool. I like everything about this thread except the use of the word "hero". A hero is someone who fights in a war, rescues a baby from a burning home or puts themselves at risk of catching a disease by assisting others who are sick. Footballers are not heroes for being footballers. Now, having got that off my chest, I'd like to nominate Harmes as the "unsung" player who will do something extraordinary on Grand Final Day. Whether it's a Heath Shaw rundown smother or a Dom Sheed kick for goal, Harmes strikes me as the player who best typifies the player who can pull something special out of the bag when it's most needed.

I'll guess that the redback jumper was being used simply because we need our players to be in clean club gear every day and on this day the property steward had a spare set of redback jumpers to use.

I think it's already been reported somewhere that each team will wear its traditional strip, with the Bulldogs in white shorts. Edit: https://www.afl.com.au/news/676720/looking-good-what-the-dees-dogs-will-wear-in-the-2021-grand-final

If it were a brain buster, it would be on the Training thread.

Always enjoy these challenges.

Two NFL teams now require fans to be vaccinated. I imagine the outcome will be the same here for season 2022, but whether it's made mandatory by the club, the venue manager or Government remains to be seen. https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/572337-two-nfl-teams-now-require-fans-to-be-vaccinated

"The learnings we learnt" made me laugh. And the rest of your post not only made me smile but made my day. Thanks for giving the rest of us our necessary fix.

Add to the coincidences, in the movie Contagion, Vaccine #57 successfully protects the lab monkey from infection. (That's about the only fact I understand from the Wikipedia entry for the number 57.)

Captures the "skiing" and "leafy green suburb" stereotypes perfectly. Just a pity there's not a Range Rover parked adjacent.

I'm pleased we were able to get him to 300 games. It's an interesting aspect of the club over the last 50 years that even when not in contention to play finals, we were unable to be appropriately respectful to so many players. His loyalty deserved to be rewarded and that we as a club were able to be loyal in return says as much about how we're now travelling as does the position we find ourselves in with just one game to go.

I'll be shocked if Lever gets any votes. He should, but umpires seem incapable of giving votes to anyone who doesn't start in the middle of the ground.

I'm just trying to think this through. Do you mean "middle finger" as in the traditional name for the third finger, or "middle finger" as the one half way between the two Goody is using which would be the...err.

As far as I can tell, the club gives 10 awards for players each year starting with the Bluey Truscott Medal for the B&F. Of the remainder, seven are named after players who had all finished playing for us by 1964 (Sid Anderson, Ron Barrassi Sr, Ivor Warne-Smith, [censored] Taylor, Harold Ball, Ron Barassi Jr and Ian Ridley). The remaining two are the James McDonald Esprit-de-Corps Award for Best Team Player and Troy Broadbridge Award for best VFL Player. I don't wish to remove any of the above, but there's a lot of living in the past with these. I think we should freshen up the awards with an award (or two*) named after a more recent player. And I think that player should be Nathan Jones. But what should such an award be for? Any ideas? My first thought is for the team's Most Consistent Player, which would have to be a subjective assessment by the coaches or Match Committee. It could be awarded to anyone, including the same player who might also win the Bluey, but, equally, it could be to a role player who does his job, week in, week out. Any other ideas? (*And there should be an award named after Robert Flower, too.) Edit: The censored word is the common abbreviation for Richard. Given the sensitivity of the auto-censor I'm quite surprised the next surname on the list made it through unscathed.

I'll give this post an 81/2.

Craig Kelly (the pollie, not the ex-footballer) probably has a cure for that.