La Dee-vina Comedia

Sometimes it's culture and sometimes it's business. Put yourself in a Geelong supporter's shoes for a moment. For the last decade, even though Gelong hasn't won a premiership, they've been in serious contention most years. That means Geelong supporters have been able to enjoy the football for most weeks for about 24 weeks of every year for 10 years. True, there hasn't been the ultimate reward in that time, but for most of every footy season, Geelong supporters have been kept happy because more weeks than not they have seen their team win. As a business model, that's a sound practice. It generates memberships and sponsorships.

I reckon there are two slighltly different questions: How many times have you watched the GF replay in full? (My answer: once) How many times have you watched the GF replay from halfway through the 3rd quarter onwards? (My answer: lost count)

There's one called The Histories of Pliny the Elder

And they could lose their livelihoods. Both work in industries which need licences (or perhaps registration). One holds a liquor licence which requires the holder to be a fit and proper person. I believe the other is a financial planner. Ignoring or deliberately evading regulatory rules is the sort of offence which licensing and regulatory law enforcement agencies don't like.

I get a bit sick of people blaming Kennett for the problems Victoria faces today. He was voted out of office 22 years ago - before we last played in a losing Grand Final. There's been plenty of time for subsequent governments to fix whatever they thought Kennett had damaged. However, I can completely understand people blaming Kennett for the problems Hawthorn now faces. Nevertheless, it's completely within the power of the Hawthorn members to overcome that problem should they have a mind to do so.

Which reminds me of the Goon Show and one of the characters, an undertaker, mangling the metaphore by saying, "You've hit the nail right into the lid". See The Moriarty Murder Mystery here

I suspect he's smiling not just because he's in Melbourne gear but because he's had a legitimate excuse to leave home .

Are coffin nails tougher than ordinary nails? I'll have to add this to the list of life questions that I'm putting together from Demonland statements, including: do fish really rot from the head? do cats really have hard heads? are snakes more likely to be mad if they are cut? is the statement "could be anything" always a compliment? I'm sure there are others, too.

It may not make him a better coach, but Mitchell has at least had assistant coaching experience at another club as well as Hawthorn.

I think you'll find Champion Data decided on review it wasn't a handball...

This implies you think Jackson won't be the number 1 ruckman. What role do you see Jackson playing after Gawn retires?

An interesting analysis of Dunstan's and Melbourne's motivations. Amusingly, towards the end, the article states, "By the end of 2022, Dunstan’s at least given himself a chance to earn being mentioned in the same sentence as Jarryd Lyons." This is the seventh time in the article that Dunstan and Lyons are mentioned by name in the same sentence.

My first recollections of Oliver, which would have been via pictures posteds on Demonland, were (1) that he was so fair that he looked like he'd turn into a lobster during pre-season training and (2) he looked like he had eaten his own body weight of said lobsters before he trimmed down.

I'll just leave this here

To be clear, if you have the Services Victoria app, you don't need to log into it. But you do have to make sure you have the latest version. You can tell if you have it because the lastest version includes a new box next to the green "check-in" button. The box has within it a graphical representation of what looks a bit like a piece of paper with three lines and a tick next to it. If you have that, click on it and it will download your digital certificate from the Medicare site. (I am unsure whether you have to have the Medicare Express Plus app downloaded first, or not. It's the Medicare Express Plus app which provides the digital certificate to the Services Victoria app, and the Apple Wallet.)

This thread should be preserved for the benefit of historians. It's a great example of two completely different lines of thought ending in the same conclusion. The first is that Hawthorn should keep Clarkson and removing him is the dumbest move a football club could make since the MFC parted ways with Norm Smith which will lead inexorably to long periods of pain for Hawthorn supporters. The second is that Hawthorn's list management in the last 5 years has been so diabolical that keeping Clarkson on as coach is the dumbest move a football club could make since the MFC parted ways with Norm Smith which will lead inexorably to long periods of pain for Hawthorn supporters.

Bing, this was very helpful and also comforting to know. But can you please explain a bit more about the bolded line? Is this the French (or EU) equivalent of a digital certificate that confirms vaccine status?

I agree. Although, if it were to be done it would stop the possible alternative of a commercial sponsorship arrangement which may have it described as the "[Insert company name here] AFL Premiership Cup". The question is: Does the AFL have the courage (or the budget flexibility) to withstand the huge financial offer which may come its way?

Was there something defamatory in the middle square you decided to delete?

Giving up a first round pick to get into this year's first round might be quite prescient. Surely there's a chance that next year's draft becomes compromised should Tasmania be granted an AFL licence. I could see all sorts of priority selections being given to Tassie when its licence is awarded which will affect at least one draft. Whether it is next year's or not remains to be seen.

PSA - you can now download your vaccine certificate to the Services Victoria app (the same app used for logging in to shops, etc) I've got an iPhone so I've already got it in my Apple wallet. If I understand correctly, though, there is no equivalent to a "wallet" in android phones, so I assume downloading to the Services Victoria app overcomes this dilemma. I don't know the mechanics, but i suspect you'll have to show this certificate to get into the MCG, along with other places, next year.

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” - Leo Tolstoy

I assume from Dustin Martin's omission that this list is of the best 50 performers in 2021 rather than 50 best players in the competition now. That's fine...but I still think Martin should have made the top 50. And I obviously missed too many Sydney games. Was Buddy really that good this year? I appreciate he made the All-Australian squad, but I didn't think he was a particularly impactful player.

He learned it first hand when he was on the receiving end pushed out of the captaincy in favour of Luke Hodge.

While I agree, he may have been saved precisely because the lack of lower level football means that clubs have less knowledge on potential replacements for fringe players. He may have had his contract renewed because any alternative is a greater risk and even less developed than ususal.