La Dee-vina Comedia

Was he? I have no problem with Viney's efforts, but I thought he was too small to handle Wines. Nevertheless, to Viney's credit, although Wines still got a lot of the ball, I didn't think he was particularly influential overall.

I wondered about that. I remembered him as President but never as a player. Then rather than correcting it, they just made it sound like he was both a player and the club President over the same time period. Nevertheless, on balance, it was better that they made the effort to remember him than to have ignored his passing.

Worked alright for a bloke called William Shakespeare.

The best special commentators on Seven are (in no order) Leppitsch, Watson, Bartel, Pearce and Hodge. They all have one thing in common. They're all only recently out of the game (or still even involved). It shows that the passage of time makes other callers redundant because they don't understand the finer points of the way the game is played today. I like Matthew Richardson as a person. His goofy style is engaging. But he and Carey (who you will notice I haven't said I like) are too long retired to be valuable as commentators any more.

Didn't think he'd ever left I think this is our best team. However, at some stage we might want to get more games into some fringe players such as Sparrow, Melksham, Jones and even Bowey so they are on the pace should we need them in September. However, I don't think the next game is the right time to do so.

6. Petracca 5. Salem 4. Oliver 3. McDonald 2. May 1. Petty A toss up between Petty and Gawn for the final vote. Still not sure I've chosen the more deserving.

I can see a new useless stat being produced by Champion Data: Goals per km. Back of envelope calculation would suggest that a 60 goal season at 15.5 km per game would equal about 5km per goal. Now, all we need to work out is whether a high or low number is better! Then David King can go beserk with his analysis.

I saw the picture before I read the post. I thought it was fluoro green zinc cream on his face and wondered what sort of weather conditions the game was being played in. (Good practice for the World Cup in Qatar, I suppose.)

Makes me wonder whether the forwards with all that running actually end up doing more kms than the onballers? Do I recall reading somewhere that in his North days, Ben Brown ran more kms than anyone else?

My favourite story about Wales and the UK. Made me laugh when I first read it. Now I'm not sure whether to laugh at the ignorance or cry at the implied racism.

I appreciate your comments and on reflection I was probably mistaken in suggesting the people of Sydney were more anti-authoritarian than elsewhere in the country. And you are quite right that Melblurnians have themselves not all covered themselves in glory. Nevertheless, I still think the Sydney-based media is a huge problem for not just Sydney, but the whole country.

I suspect TOG is, in itself, not significant. More important measures are likely to be heart rate (compared with the player's baseline), kms travelled and speed, which are all measurable in real time. In addition, TOG does not tell us how much is onball and how much might be "resting" in the forward line, although I accept that "resting" is probably not the right word to use.

I know we now live in the world of Big Lies and allegedly fake news, but unless people here have facts at their disposal, I suggest they be very careful about claiming specific individuals are biased.

I think "an element of manipulation" equals "rigged". And I don't think it happens in AFL or NRL. (However, I note that Peter V'Landy's idea for NRL splitting into two conferences, one with all Sydney teams and one without, would ensure a Sydney team plays in the Grand Final every year. That's structural manipulation.)

I think it's too late. The people of Sydney (and NSW) have been fed a consistent diet of anti-authoritarianism for so long via 2GB and the Murdoch press that I don't trust the Sydney population to stick to the lockdown and mask rules the way people in other Australian States and territories have done. That may mean AFL games won't be held in Sydney for quite some time yet as the other State and Territories may not allow teams that play there to return home without quarantine.

I find it amusing that every time there is a discussion about days and timeslots, there seems to be equal numbers of people for and against any timeslot proposed. The possible exception is the 4.40 pm Sunday slot when played in Melbourne which I think nobody likes.

What was this thread about? Seems to have been somewhat derailed. Perhaps time to close it.

Where's a maths teacher when you need one? I can't explain it in simple terms, but while 5 heads in a row doesn't impact the next coin toss, over time, the number of heads and tails (assuming an unbiased coin) will eventually revert to the mean, which in this case is 50% heads and 50% tails. If Margetts is impartial, then his performance in the next game he umpires is independent of the previous games he umpired. As such, games in which he is involved, if he's impartial, should over time have a win rate consistent with our long term win rate. If, however, he is not impartial, forget the law of large numbers. It doesn't apply.

I often wonder what the 'S' in GWS stands for. Thanks for clearing that up.

Quote: "James Jordon’s pressure point are down from 63 to 29 per game" This might be because his role has changed rather than fatigue. Earlier in the season he was an on-baller; in the last week or two he has spent more time on the wing.

Thanks RedFox. To clarify are you saying that 1 point is given for no pressure but in open play; 2 points is given for each incident of corralling pressure, closing pressure and chasing pressure and 3 points is given for providing physical pressure?

I think Brad Scott is already at the AFL as Head of Victorian Football (or perhaps something else). His name has been floated as a potential replacement for Steve Hocking but whether there's any substance to the idea or whether some working in the media were just spitballing I have no idea. (Imgaine that. The footy media making things up!)

Sorry Binman. I had to preserve this for posterity before you edit it. I, too, am troubled by being gatgued. And if we're doing training loafs, I hope they're wholemeal.

Plus Brad Scott, Michael Voss, Justin Leppitsch, Matthew Knights and others. Not sure if any of them are interested, but each should be better second time around.

Nicely ambiguous. I assume you mean he's been successful as an asisstant rather than the alternative interpretation that players and clubs liked him better after he left.