La Dee-vina Comedia

Does the paper explain the ranking formula? Is it their own subjective assessment or another Champion Data derivation? Or generated by AI? (It has been claimed elsewhere that a significant proportion of the Herald Sun's "stories" are now generated by AI.)

I have no idea whether you'll be proven right or wrong. But, gee, I love your enthusiasm.

Yes, really (if you can believe Wikipedia): "The children's choir singing toward the end was sourced from an archive recording of a WWII Hitler Youth choir singing "Die Jugend Marschiert" (Youth on the March) and the song concludes dramatically with the children's choir shouting "Sieg Heil!" immediately followed by the cataclysmic sound of an atomic bomb explosion."

And with a Hitler Youth choir right at the end (well, just before the atomic bomb explosion)

I was sure you were going to include Snakes on a Plane in your pop culture references

For the literalists out there, I know 7 is an odd number. But, it seems odd as much figuratively as literally. I can't get my head around why there are going to be 7 periods of play.

I reckon we'd be better with some onballers, too.

With Salem running laps with Oliver, I wonder whether Salem is really rehabbing something or just being used as company for Oliver as he continues with his re-integration. It would make sense to me if the club was helping Oliver by making sure he wasn't always doing the boring stuff (running laps) on his own.

Bad list management. Presumably salary cap problems.

I'm very pleased. I had thought "decimated" meant reducing something by 90% to leave one-tenth. Having checked I'm pleased with the better definition of it meaning only one in ten rather than nine in ten. (On the other hand, the historical, literal interpretation is that decimate meant "to kill one-tenth of a group as military punishment in the Roman army." But let's just ignore that detail.)

I'd rather name him after a piece of clothing than a Nazi sympathiser.

I'm not in favour of it at all. But if it is to be introduced, it should not take effect until all traded future draft picks have been used. Trading is inextricably linked with draft picks. And given future picks are already "in play", the mid-season draft should only be introduced after they have been used.

If the AFL changed the rule to a 5 person interchange bench, within one season an AFL coach will complain that it's unfair when a club has a player removed from the game because of concussion. That coach will call for a sixth player to be on the bench as a "medical substitute". Nothing surer.

That seems like a risky strategy by the clubs. If the trade isn't agreed, they're stuck with a player who doesn't want to be there (albeit in these two examples, two very good players). Nevertheless, it obviously worked out in these instances.

Throw in Dustin Fletcher in 1993. He was still at school.

Has a club ever matched a Restricted Free Agency bid? I can't recall any (but it's not something I follow, either).

I know we'll be better off with a new purpose-built training venue, but how beautiful is it seeing the green grass, the established trees, and Government House in the background? (Oliver in the foreground is a nice bonus, too.)

In fact, you could replace "BBB" with any one of a number of players..

Who are the Port Melbourne Colts? The Port Melbourne I'm familiar with in the VFL (formerly VFA) have always been known as the "Borough". Is this a different club, and, if so, in what league do they play?

Ben Brown's switch has been good for both clubs and the player, too. North knew they were not going to be genuine contenders and wanted to refresh their list; Brown was a bit of the jigsaw puzzle that helped us win a flag. Would we have won the Premiership in 2021 if he hadn't been playing with us? Maybe...but you could say that about most players at any club in any year.

Well said, Macca. I just want to add one extra point. How the club treats its players at the end of their careers will be noticed by other players (and their managers) when contemplating changing clubs. It would be much harder to attract quality players to join us if we didn't show we cared about them in their declining years.

Why not? They work in an industry that "works" on weekends and public holidays throughout the season.

Probably would have helped if Ginger Baker was still on our playing list.

*I thought it was Clark not Aaron or Paul

We're all grateful for your reports. Thankyou.