La Dee-vina Comedia

There's an excellent article in today's Sunday Age about Brandon Jack's autobiography, simply titled '28'. The title refers to the total number of games he played for the Swans. The story explains how Jack has used his autobiography to describe how difficult it can be living in the shadows of, in his case, his famous father and brother, Kieran. Especially when you can't achieve the same levels of success. It should remind us of how hard it must have been for Tom Flower, Brian Stynes and so many others. Similiarly, there must be enormous pressure on sons of great players, too. Let's all remember that every player that makes it onto an AFL list has achieved far more than most of us. Every game they play is a bonus. And let's stop using silly epithets like "spud" when describing a player who won't be the superstar we want him or her to be.

This won't be the answer, but I've noticed that 10 of those names end in -on. Are they all the names of criminals? I hasten to add (to avoid defamation proceedings), that I don't mean the footballers themselves. Peter Foster (not the footballer!) certainly is.

I read that as "pecking" his hand. Maybe that's my mind thinking that "pecking" is the logical verb to follow on from the word "Sparrow".

Interesting stuff. If I tune in next week will you have one explaining how cryptocurrencies work, whether they impact on the money supply and whether paying players in Bitcoin is outside the salary cap?

I'm not sure if this will cheer up Old Dee. But I found it both incredible and heartwarming (although also a little bit weird).

So have most Carlton supporters

Perhaps your auto-correct is equally as pessimistic as you are. I think my task for the rest of the day is to find something in the news to cheer you up. And anyone else feeling maudlin. Perhaps we can start a new thread which is a "Cheer up Demonland thread" with optimistic and heart-warming stories only.

Poor Perth, missing out again. Here's some evidence that some types of crimes worldwide have reduced during the pandemic. And here's some more, although it does point out that some crime types (online fraud, for example) have increased.

I hope that's not the case. If he doesn't play because he's distressed, it will embolden those weak-minded trolls to go after him again.

To be fair, isn't crime down overall, allegedly because of lockdowns? Maybe the state Police have more capacity than usual. Nevertheless, if people are able to board planes knowing the person next to them has been checked and isn't carrying a weapon, they should also be able to assume that the person has appropriate approval to travel.

This isn't your main point (which I agree with) but I'm not sure it's umpiring standards that have dropped. I think the rules have been over-complicated making it nigh on impossible for the umpires to do the job we want them to do consistently. The AFL has been gifted an opportunity by Hocking's departure to Geelong to do something to fix both the rules and the MRO/ Tribunal/ Appeal system which Hocking ended up making worse, rather than better.

Yes and no. Apart from defence and border control, the Federal Government is not a service delivery agency. Most services (think housing, public transport, education) are delivered at the State level. Hence, the Feds aren't really set up to provide these sorts of services. However, if we've learned anything over the last 20 months, it is that the Feds must improve their capability to deliver services (vaccine purchase and distribution, for example).

Normally at this time of year this would be the most active thread on Demonland. By a long way.

Not just border rules but also cost and, if it's in Perth, flight capacity. While the airlines would love an excuse to fly lots of planes from Melbourne to Perth, realistically it won't be that many, keeping in mind they will only fill those planes in one direction (unless they just hold them in Perth for the return trip - an expensive opportunity cost).

Airports are on Federal land, so the States should be speaking to the Feds about the problem of people without permits travelling through Federal airports to get onto planes. How were these women caught? Was it State or Federal authorities at Melbourne airport? Or something else?

Mark Alvey isn't quite right. Certainly if concussed in the preliminary final and if there is no bye a player definitely wouldn't be able to play in the GF. However, if there is a bye a player might be able to play but only after passing all the necessary medical tests. The 12 day "rest" is just the minimum time away from the game.

I'm impressed. Not just that you found the event when most of it is cut off at the bottom of the screen, but also the quality of that still photo which must have been taken from the other side of the ground.

I still think Hibberd for Hunt is the logical change in the backline. But I don't discount the possiblity that instead of Hibberd, the Match Committee decides to play Brayshaw in Hunt's role and puts Jordon on Brayshaw's wing. Brayshaw has been used as a defender during the season, for example, when Tomlinson was injured and was very effective in the role. Jordon has played wing and looks comfortable there.

Still have questions about the vaccine? You should speak to your doctor. But in the meantime, read this article from fivethirtyeight.com. It provides a lot of answers to the most common questions and links to various sources if you want more detailed answers. Five thirty-eight is essentially a group of data nerds making all sorts of predictions, best known for US politics, but also covering various sports.

Agreed. A very good reason. And a fourth reason might be that the Chairman of the AFL is Western Australian. I would hope this is irrelevant to the final decision, but who knows?

Yes, unless he has developed the footy smarts that I've not yet seen to date. I've never believed Smith was AFL ready when he played previously. Terrific athlete but lacked learnable skills. If he has now learned what was missing, he could be helpful. If he hasn't, I'm afraid he'll continue to be a liablity.

Two possible reasons come to mind: 1. SA has a rather bizarre approach to dealing with Covid. Witness today's story about Olympic athletes quarantining twice before being able to get out and about in SA. Or the state's Chief Health Officer concerns about spectators attending matches but avoiding the ball. 2. Dollars. I suspect number 2, above, is the primary reason. Bluntly, WA government is likely offering the AFL a better financial deal than SA. And given the financial circumstances of the competition, I could understand why that might be attractive to the AFL.

You need to see video. A single shot doesn't tell us anything, other than to check the video. It may have been an instantaneous positioning of the arm with no intended force. Or, apparently, the arm could have been behind the neck.

Was this from Monday's game?

I don't want to delve into your private life, but didn't you get married in the last year?😀