La Dee-vina Comedia

Let's not confuse science with myths, irrespective of how popular the latter are. Science deals in facts. I'm not sure what "so-called science" is intended to mean, but I would happily put my faith in science if it is used properly.

More fine work from AFL Media. Look at the date at the bottom left of the photo.

The AFLX trophy is beyond compare

Absolutely this. It was obvious how he completely changed his style when he moved from Saturday night to Friday night. On Saturdays, he was clearly being asked to impose his blokey style to suit that particular format. On Fridays, he is much more "straight" albeit without losing his essential style. I don't think he's a particularly good caller, but he's also not particularly bad and he's certainly not biased towards or against any team. The style of commentary is very much dictated by the expectations and requirements of the program's producers and always will be. And I give him credit for two things. He's very good at promoting (and sometimes critiquing) the umpires, rather than allowing them to be ignored. And he put in a surprisingly good acting performance as a fictional NT footy coach in the movie "Last Cab to Darwin".

Great article, although I have to admit I can't remember some of those games. A more challenging story might be identifying which games we lost which were also drivers leading to this year's Premiership. Surely, as much as we would like to forget it, the 186 debacle kick-started the process by shaking up standards. And there's probably a key Neeld era game which lead ultimately to his demise and the recruitment process which resulted in Roos' appointment. I'd also throw in the 2018 Preliminary Final which served as a reminder as to how much more we needed to improve to go further.

Even before this year, I've always thought that the VFL/AFL Premiership Cup is the best looking trophy in world sport. It's got just the right amount of gravitas along with dimensions that make it look weighty (literally) and worthy. The horse racing Melbourne Cup, on the other hand, has tradition on its side but always looks inferior to me, probably because of its size. It almost looks like a toy.

Impressed with the veggie patch

For years I've been travelling from the south-east to Melbourne airport along CityLink past the Toyota Melbourne HQ where they have 18 flagpoles with the team flags flying in ladder order. I've been used to us being toward the western end of the flagpoles. This year I haven't been on that road once so missed seeing us positioned most of the time as the first flag you see when travelling west. I hope our team flag is up there now and still there until at least Round 1 2022, and hopefully longer.

You're expecting him to play in another 19 premierships?

I'm somewhat disappointed that Dante and me - given the relationship of our names - aren't quite communicating. We should be like brothers in arms, rather than heading towards a Cain and Abel situation. In fact, we all should be. Let's move on from this pointless back-and-forth and be grateful that here in Melbourne at 6pm today we leave the inferno. (Did you see what I did there?)

I understand what you're saying, I'm just not sure I agree that we don't want those types of goals.

Um, yes. I'm interested in knowing what your parameters for success and failure are. For example, if Victoria is the worst State in Australia but still better than 95% of the rest of the world (and I'm not saying that it has been), is that still bad?

Isn't there an argument that taking the ball 80 metres from goal may reduce scoring? It helps the team kicking in from a behind, but the team that scored that behind has to work harder to get another scoring opportunity. I'm not convinced the rule does what's intended. I am convinced, though, that having precise kickers, such as May and Salem, can make great use of the benefits that rule gives them.

I've just remembered George On The Outer. Clubhouse leader as our most famous George (apart from George Gawn, of course).

How do you think Victoria has managed Covid compared with other non-Australian locations?

It's a given that the middle name is named after one of our modern greats. But who is George? Who is the most famous George associated with the MFC?

I'm happy to keep the rule although it makes the game seem a bit unnatural at times because the man on the mark is so static. However, I've often wondered whether it was ever really necessary. I would have rather seen a crackdown on the player who lost the marking contest or gave away a free kick (who I'll call Player B for the sake of this discussion) from impeding the player with the ball (Player A). How often do we see Player B holding on to Player A to stop them from moving? How often does Player B stand or crouch over the ball to stop it being returned quickly to Player A? Fix that with 50m penalties and the "stand" rule may not be needed.

You would have laughed at which bit? That we'd have a Premiership within 3 years or that ANB would be a part of it?

To be fair to Sky News, I think most news services would have reported it in the same way. Our media always likes to go with the most extreme version of events. Says as much about the susceptibility and gullibility of the audience as it does about those who determine what we see and hear as "news".

I note that McGowan didn't actually say June. Rather, that's how Sky News reported it. He actually said first half of the year, so it could open on 1 January 2022.

My magic moment is just a little later when Jackson plants a handball so perfectly in Oliver's grasp that he doesn't even need to change his rhythm as he runs towards goal. That is as precise a single piece of play as I have ever seen.

Your wife is confusing Matthew McConaughey with Heath Ledger:

I seem to recall Jim Stynes claiming the move by Jurrah from the outback to Melbourne was a bigger culture shock for Jurrah than Stynes moving from Dublin to Melbourne. And I don't think the media took that comment seriously.

I'm interested in a couple of the bigger picture parts to this story. There's a reference to a requirement that all AFL clubs have an indigenous liaison officer. My questions, which are really quite simple for anyone in the know are as follows: is this the role Matthew Whelan has? if so, for how long has he been doing it? I gather Jetta is now doing this at Collingwood. Did Collingwood have someone else doing this role before Jetta, or is he that club's first indigenous liaison officer? The answers to the above might shed some light on the relative values of Melbourne and Collingwood.

And I suspect that extra burden isn't helping Silvagni III. (Although it clearly didn't hinder SOS).