La Dee-vina Comedia

How very Carlton. (At least, how I imagine that club is run.)

I assume it was Adelaide that got the third round pick for Jake Lever, not Essendon.

A Tale of Two Seasons. Charles Dickens knew what he was talking about. This opening line is like he's comparing Melbourne 2021 with Melbourne circa 2012 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

I didn't see Caro on "Offsiders" where she apparently raised the tanking issue. But isn't that a relevant point to make when discussing the rise of the Demons from a team that was not just bottom of the ladder but also bereft of any moral leadership? It seems to me that by raising the issue she's expanding on the praise given not just to the team that had just won the GF but also to those who had been through the worst of times, just to get there.

Double peanut penalties for offences in Grand Final Week would be consistent with AFL MRO penalty scales.

The Herald Sun souvenir magazine available with last Saturday's paper has an excellent ground shot taken from behind the goals at Optus Stadium. What is striking is the scoreboard which shows that at the 25.17 minute mark of Q3 the scores were Melbourne 9.10.64 to Bulldogs 9.5.59. That photo sums up for me the most extraordinary aspect of the game - that it was so close up until a minute before three quarter time.

What a tease. Who did they end up saying were the best set of twins? The Rittermans?

So if you had a choice of one every 10 years or 6 in 10 years but with a 57 year gap between successful periods, which would you choose? I'd go with the one in ten. Mind you, I know this is what you are all thinking:

I'd also capitalise the P. Makes it more emphatic.

Caro generally gets more right than wrong. However, she has one substantial failing and that is an inability to acknowledge when she's got it wrong. Nevertheless, I can live with that because she's really the only journo who holds the AFL administration to account.

I thought the next premier after us was going to be one of Penrith or the Rabbitohs. The Government of NSW might beat them to it. (How would you like to be heading into a Grand Final at the same time as that hot mess in NSW?)

Tell us what happens.

Is it too soon for the Jake Bowey autobiography? The title is obvious: "100% success".

One reason might be that trade discussions pique the interest of supporters of all 18 teams. Talking incessantly about Melbourne's victory appeals to supporters of one club only.

Is it possible to have a veil of positivity?

It's been a long time since a true ruckman won a Brownlow medal. Is that because of flaws in the voting system, or has ruck play become less important? There have been excellent ruckmen win the medal, such as Len Thompson, Graeme Teasdale (albeit, dominant for just one year), Jim Stynes, Gary Dempsey, Barry Round, Graham Moss and Scott Wynd. And plenty of other ruckmen who dominated their era, such as Polly Farmer, Carl Ditterich, John Nicholls and a couple of Maddens. While teams can have success without a dominant ruckman, I think the chances of success improve if you have one of the best ruckmen in the competition as part of your side. That can hardly be a controversial statement though. Similarly, if you have the best full forward, or best full back, your chances improve. We just happen to have the best ruckman in the competition supported by two of the best half dozen midfielders in the competition right now.

I suspect that's exactly how Chris Scott feels. And Beveridge. And many others. Apart from his own attributes, Jackson's value also came from us not having to run Gawn into the ground throughout the year. That enabled Gawn to be a dominant force for the whole year rather than an exhausted workhorse.

Your TV doesn't come with volume control?

I love reading about clubs supposedly copying the current Premier. When was the last time a Premier was lauded for having adopted someone else's gameplan and just executing it better? My recollection is that every Premier appears to have introduced something unique. It might be the gameplan; or it could be supreme fitness levels. What doesn't happen, though, is that one team successfully adopts another team's modus operandi.

Wouldn't Turner and Declase be on contract? Surely we can't draft someone during season 2020 and then delist them at season's end.

Why is it that some left footers look graceful when they kick, but right footers never do?

I think you'll find that what he means is that people are prepared to talk about a hard challenge but aren't always prepared to do what is necessary to achieve a successful outcome when hard work is required.

I'd choose ANB. He seems to understand his limitations and is better for it. For example, he's become a reliable short kick spotting up players in the forward line with deft 30m kicks. But when a longer kick is needed, such as shots at goal, he's not too bad at that either. I also think Petracca improved immensely so that his best was more often on show. He's always had that ability, but now delivers it more consistently.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I seem to recall Fritsch played in the back half out of necessity because we had so many injured defenders at the time.

Had a conversation with a Collingwood supporter today who wanted to bask in some of our glory by pointing out that Mark Williams and Alan Richardson had played with Collingwood. I told him that our best ex-Collingwood recruit may well be Jason Taylor. Not sure if that made him feel better or worse.