La Dee-vina Comedia

I'm sure I speak for all Demonlanders when I pass on my condolences to you and your family.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. In my view, a journalist is a professional occupation which requires formal quals (or relevant experience over many years) and an understanding of concepts such as public interest, ethics and protection of sources. A part-time sports commentator can be a journalist, but most are not. Dermott Brereton and Daisy are definitely not journalists under my definition. we're not the only ones who disagree. The definition of "journalist" is a sensitive legal area right now. Just ask Julian Assange or those wishing to extradite him to the US.

The 200 GF? That is a long time ago!

If the stereotyping is correct and the titans of industry are primarily Melbourne supporters, then I fear for the economic future of this country. Productivity amongst all Melbourne supporters is likely at an all-time low given the distractions caused by the team actually being good.,

Daisy Pearce is definitely not a journalist. She's a midwife who commentates occasionally at football matches. Journalism is much more than that. And I can't think of one journalist who "hates" Melbourne (or any other team).

Which weather app is that? The BOM app says "Medium (60%) chance of showers along the coastal fringe, slight (30%) chance elsewhere, during the evening and at night." I assume Giants Stadium being at Sydney Olympic Park wouldn't be considered to be "coastal fringe".

I would have thought if Langdon were playing, he'd be on the same wing as McLuggage. I've always thought Harmes was the player most like Langdon - that is an aerobic beast with moderate to good, but not sublime, disposal skills. Perhaps it makes sense, therefore, to play Harmes on McLuggage and Sparrow to take Harmes's lockdown role in the midfield.

Love this. The first five words are absolute, followed by the next six which equivocate. So, Jaded, are you sure or not? I expect it to be one of the best games of the season, and I don't mean one of the best that we've been involved in. I don't want it to be so, but I think Brisbane will win.

Good article in The Age today about our boy Trent. Backman to the future: Young Demon Rivers getting a kick out of footy (Note to mods: might want to change the thread title to "Trent Rivers in the media")

We know, because we can see, that winning increases the gate, membership numbers and Channel 7's appetite to seek more prime time games with us involved. What is less transparent is what it does for sponsorship revenues, although we can see if we gain any new sponsors. What I'm curious about, though, is whether the agreements we already have with sponsors have some sort of trigger clause based on performance which generates extra income for the club. For example, does Zurich, or any others sponsor, pay us more when we win more? Or if we get more prime time TV exposure? Is there anyone on Demonland who works in this area and can explain how these major sponsorship deals are structured?

Connolly makes clear in his article that his rating is based not just on performance (that's what the ladder tells you) but incorporates subjective assessment against pre-season expectations. I don't think before the season began anyone expected Essendon to be as advanced as they are.

Craig Jennings was speaking with Gerard Whately on SEN today on a regular segment where Jennings provides an extremely interesting insight into coaching strategies. I only heard part of the segment, but the topic of the importance of role players came up. Jennings said that ANB is the ultimate role player, so much so, that even if people might believe he's the 22nd best player in the team, he's still the first player picked each week. (Bit of hyperbole there, I would think. I somehow think Gawn, Oliver and Petracca and a few others might all get picked before him.) He went on to explain that ANB's role is to free up Petracca so he (Petracca) can "do his thing" and leave it to ANB to block, stop and otherwise clear a path.

I'm pretty sure the first row of the MCG Level 1 was cordoned off for our first few games. I thought at the time it might have been more about keeping the fans away from the footballers, rather than the other way around, though, given the stringent protocols in place to protect the players.

Sensible advice. These are Collingwood players after all. Who knows what you might catch from them.

"All politics is local". SA will allow AFL games with crowds once the Government there determines that the voting public prefers AFL games to be played at the Adelaide Oval to their fear of another Covid outbreak.

If you think I've dissed Parke too much about his kicking let me add that I still believe he was the best contested mark I've ever seen in red and blue. I remember a game at Moorabbin where it seemed like he took 16 marks on a muddy ground and almost all of them contested. (This is back in the days when statistics on "contested marks" probably weren't collected.) I also appreciate that memory plays tricks - so his kicking might be better than I remember.

What's Ken Emselle doing these days? Taught me maths in about year 10 which would have been in the early 1970s.

It's hard to see on TV but I think the gameplan requires the defensive wingman (ie, the one not in the play) to run back hard when required to allow Lever to get off his man. Whether than means Brayshaw/Langdon go to Lever's man or whether they go to the nearest forward and the defender on that forward (ie, Hibberd/Hunt/Rivers/Salem) goes to Lever's man I'm not sure. In fact, I'm not even sure I'm right with this suggestion in the first place.

Thankfully he kicks much better than Greg Parke

So, one in ten played the next week. It will be interesting to see if that number increases as the coaches keep pushing to change the medical sub to a 5th interchange. I'm not against the concept of the medical sub. However, I don't trust coaches not to use it to their advantage. I would change it so that any player subbed off does not play again until the 12th day after being subbed out. (Still doesn't stop the medical sub rule being abused in a Grand Final to replace a poor performer on the day.)

Ironic use of the word "spell" given some of the words in this sentence!

10 posts all saying it's got something to do with "confidence". That's really a metaphysical concept, rather than a practical problem. What does this actually mean? His lack of confidence makes him timid? His timing is off? His hands are too hard? He's too upright? or not upright enough? I'm not criticising the suggestion that it's his confidence. But if that's the problem how do coaches fix such an ethereal problem?

Well done, @Timothy Reddan-A'Blew. Others may have been affronted and ascended their high horse. You've taken the more mature approach.

Confirmation bias. Plenty of people say sorry for things that are accidents. It's what we do in a polite society.

This makes a lot of sense.