La Dee-vina Comedia

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?😀

What you might be missing is that the WA Premier makes decisions based on what he believes the community wants most. If the people of Perth would prefer a Grand Final with crowds instead of keeping out interstate travellers who might bring Covid into WA, I could see McGowan allowing crowds. (By the way, if what I've just suggested is the case, perhaps before we criticise the WA Premier for being so populist, we should consider whether a Premier doing what the people want is just an example of democracy working. In which case, Winston Churchill was right when he said, “democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.")

Agree with this, although there can be exceptions. For example, I suspect Viney will benefit from his enforced break. In his case, I felt his getting caught with the ball five times was an indicator that he just wasn't ready and consequently couldn't break tackles the way he thought he could. With more time, he may get back whatever strength or speed has temporarily deserted him.

You won't have to worry about Margetts "treating us badly" any more. he's announced his retirement. As an aside, I'm fascinated that people can identify which umpires they believe treat Melbourne worse than others. Apart from Nicholls standing out because of his lack of hair, I don't know one from another. And even if I did, I can't see who pays, or doesn't pay, the free kicks. Is there data somewhere that people refer to which shows this?

"It [vaccination] clearly works, so just go and get it." From a man whose son caught Covid-19 at the MCG but didn't pass it on to his vaccinated parents. See here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-11/melbourne-covid-delta-outbreak-vaccination-message/100366434?utm_medium=social&utm_content=sf248432453&utm_campaign=abc_melbourne&utm_source=t.co&sf248432453=1

Nintendo knowledge is only necessary if you're too young to remember his father playing. Those of us old enough to remember Brett Bowey, know it's pronounced Bough-ey. (Unless we're too old and have started to forget things...) Having said that, I find pronouncing the name as "Bough-ey" to be unnatural. Maybe I grew up listening to too much David Bowie.

Has Hunt been officially ruled out? Or, at least, has the club publicly stated he's unlikely to play? It seems to be a foregone conclusion here, but I've not seen any news from the club that confirms this.

I think it's more positive than negative. With the greatest respect to those who have Covid (I imagine it's no picnic for them, both from a health perspective but also because they need to remain isolated for 14 days at least), the bigger picture is that there are fewer people spreading this horrible disease. That leads to a reduction in risk of further transmission, a pre-cursor to being released from restrictions such as lockdown.

If we ended up playing Geelong in the GF, I'm confident we won't be playing at Kardinia Park/GMHBA Stadium in 2022. The AFL will want any game between us played at the MCG. Especially if full size crowds (remember them?) are allowed.

That's weird. Your post quotes a Jaded comment but attributes it to me. Puts me in illustrious company but I can't take credit for what I didn't actually say.