La Dee-vina Comedia

It's not that long ago we had no obvious captains. I actually don't think Petracca is "captain material". I'm happy with him being the best player in the competition which is what I think he will be for the bulk of the next 5 years (unless it's Oliver!) I see Lever as the next captain. He is clearly the leader of the defence already and just exudes leadership when he speaks.

Um, no. Dame Nellie Melba probably has him covered.

I'd like Nathan Jones to be invited to unfurl the Premierhip flag at our first home game next year.

How many times have you watched it so far? I've only had time to see it three times (live and twice replayed).

This is poetry. Should be published in a wider read journal. With respect to Greg Parke, he played an extraordinary game at Morrabbin which is the only individual performance I remember from that period. I don't know if they kept statistics of "contested marks" in those days, but even allowing for the inevitable inflation that bedevils memory, I'm sure he took more contested marks that day than any player I have seen since.

Brings back great memories. A couple that I can recall from that era: "He slipped at the psychological moment" "He's fallen for the three-card trick" "He's shown him a clean pair of heels" I think the first two were Mike Williamson and the last one was from Peter Landy. And while we're on old sports calls. My favourite of all time was Merv Williams calling the boxing on TV Ringside when he described a boxer who was KO'd as "He's lost interest". (I can't believe I ever watched boxing. In my defence, I was about 10 years old).

Smart posting dworship. Allows everyone on Demonland to assume that you're thinking of ourselves as one of the "one or two others".

Two things about the Caleb Daniel/Max Gawn matter. Full credit to the much-maligned Brian Taylor for the "Daniel and Goliath" line. Secondly, imagine it the other way around. Not only would it remind everyone of a St Kilda post season party, but Daniel might have ended up 10 rows back in the grandstand.

You've got the dream quinella. A Premiership and a visit to an office while many of us are in lockdown! I'm not sure if this is a fair guide, but there are still plenty of homes around me that still have black and yellow fences, gates, etc. I'm not sure if that's because they won three of the last four or because being Richmond supporters, by definition they are just a bit stupid.

3.9 million* people watched the game on TV. Surely that's the biggest audience Melboure has ever played in front of. *Excluding the billions of overseas viewers that the AFL used to claim would watch the Grand Final because it was being shown in markets with total population in the billions, but with a likely viewing audience of, perhaps, thousands. This may be in one of the other 3.2 million threads started on Demonland in the last 36 hours, but is our total winning margin of 190 in the three finals a VFL/AFL record?

Let's start a bit smaller. Should Gawn be ruckman in the Demon's best team of all time? I didn't see Cordner play, but I did see Stynes. I think Gawn should be our best-of-all time ruckman. I saw all of Flower's career and I'm not willing to replace him yet with any of Gawn, Petracca or Oliver as the best Melbourne player that I have seen. By the end of their careers, that may change. One thing that Flower and Gawn both have, though, is almost universal support from non-Melbourne supporters as their favourite player other than players from their own team.

6. Petracca 5. Salem 4. Oliver 3. Fritsch 2. Brayshaw 1. Neal-Bullen Difficult not to put Jackson in the votes because his going into the centre in Q3 changed the game. But I can't see whose place he should take.

"Ball magnet" is a beauty

Also meant to include: "He came into the match under an injury cloud" (any or all of May/Spargo/Keath)

If you were putting together a bingo card of words and expressions you expect to hear tomorrow, whether on TV or radio, which are you hotly anticipating or dreading? Here's a few: "Melbourne hasn't won a Premiership in 57 years " (no kidding!) "They'll want to get the ball in Salem's hands" "They'll want to get the ball in Daniel's hands" "Rising Star winner, Luke Jackson" "He's got a great engine" (Langdon) Please add to the list

I suspect there's a bit of that interview which didn't make the final cut where he admitted that his real reason for staying was that after six years, Demonland posters now spell his name more often correctly than incorrectly. He couldn't face waiting another six years for the supporters of another club to get it right.

Surely Melbourne colours and collateral is consistent with any heritage requirements.

Actually, there's a second thing. Because we finally recahed rock bottom in the Neeld era*, the AFL intervened and gave us Jackson and Roos. *To be fair, it wasn't Neeld on his own. the club was a shambles off the field, too,

I agree with this regarding Hibberd v Smith and Hunt v Bowey. With respect to the Hibberd v Smith choice, I suspect Schache playing is the reason Smith isn't. If Schache (or another player in his stead) was considered to be a genuine tall forward target, rather than a defensive forward, Smith (assuming fit) might have got the nod because of his height and spring. As to the Jordon v Hunt choice, I would choose Hunt. If a midfielder needs to be replaced, Brayshaw can do that and Hunt can go to the wing. Hunt can also play back or forward if required. Having said that, Jordon is no slouch and I'll be more than happy with him as the sub.

There is no doubt that other non-human animals have some way of knowing an event such as an earthquake is to occur before it happens. It would therefore not surprise me if humans might be able to as well. Perhaps our cognitive processes supress belief in what otherwise might be considered to be unbelievable. Any, I can understand that your experience may not have been "just" a coincidence. We have knowledge gained from insights over thousands of years. We didn't always understand gravity until Newton saw an apple. And whoever worked out that ocean tides were related to the phases of the moon was probably first thought to be a lunatic (pun intended).

Should have painted a '10' on it and passed it off as an Angus.

And I keep thinking there's an 'R' missing in your name, too. I think the Matt Stevic thing also extends to some footballers. For example, have you ever heard Riley Knight being named without his first name? Conversely, some less than informed football commentators struggle to understand that Neal-Bullen is a complete surname.

I was shocked to see a home near me this morning decked out in Bulldogs gear. Most disconcerting. Might need to speak to the council about introducing a policy which bans displays which include white.

I believe I should be awarded some sort of prize for having provided an excellent clue, even though I didn't know the answer.

Hunt, subs...this thread really should be called the Hunt for Red and Blue September. I'm also concerned that the French might get even more upset if they think the decision as to an appropriate sub has in any way lead to a breakdown in French-Australian relations.