La Dee-vina Comedia

We've now seen Smith for two weeks and I don't think he has a position in this side to call his own. Petty had the advantage of being able to settle in over a few weeks and now looks rock solid. Unfortunately for him, Smith doesn't get that opportunity because of the time of year. If Hunt is available, I think he comes in for Smith. However, if Hunt's not ready and it becomes a choice of Hibberd of anyone else for Smith, I'd choose Hibberd but I could see why Smith might be retained. Other than that, while a swap of Jordon for Sparrow seems tempting, there's not a lot in it either way. I'd probably keep Sparrow because I thought his game last night was quite good. So, for me the only change is Hunt if ready, or Hibberd if he's not, for Smith.

6. Oliver 5. Gawn 4. Lever 3. Salem 2. Harmes 1. Petracca Aplogies to May and Langdon

And St Kilda players would have a natural advantage.

It would be a journalist's delight. They could start every story, depending on the result, with either "Player X was crucified..." or "Player X will be able to resurrect his playing career this weekend..." And just imagine the journalist's apoplectic excitement if it happens to be a Lion fronting Christian House...

There's been an unexpected outbreak of apologies and pleasantries in this thread. Most unlike a social network, but welcome nevertheless.

This is very helpful. I understand that the Holden Centre is the old Olympic Pool site which is in the top left-hand corner of the picture. Attached to the original pool building are two smaller buildings. One is in the triangle where Swan St meets Batman Avenue; the other is semi-triangular and adjacent to the Oval and presmuably includes a grandstand. Are they also both part of Collingwood's facilities?

I'm pretty confident that the aspect of the game that he would like the most would be the number of indigenous players involved. On the flipside, what I suspect he would find the most distasteful is the continuing racial abuse by a small cohort of ignorant people.

I keep banging on about this, but anyone waiting for Pfizer instead of AZ should think again. Firstly, read this story which raises the issue of Pfizer's efficacy waning more quickly than AZ. Now, go get whatever's available and don't worry about which one it is. Just get vaccinated!

Somewhat ironically, for a politician who is recognised more for his political nous than his policy skills, Morrison missed an opportunity. If he had agreed to include the Opposition Leader in his National Cabinet, it would have silenced Albanese as once inside that Cabinet, he would be bound to agree with every decision made. That would have strengthened Morrison's position as he would have had no Federal Opposition public commentary to worry about on this issue.

The reasons behind Smith's second half need to be understood. He had zero possessions (although that's not the sole measure of a defender's worth). Whether it was cramping, the collission with Hibberd, or something else, it was two different Smiths out there last week. I agree with this. Not only is Smith being given a second chance, this week he'll have a different role. Last week it was as a key defender; this week it will be as one of the 4 non-key position defenders. This should enable the Match Committee to see how he performs in a different role. I've not been a Smith fan in the past, but I do understand why he's been given a second week to prove he belongs.

If the MFC thought about it a bit more, it could develop a "blockbuster" game on the weekend closest to Tom Wills birthday. That would generally make it either round 22 or 23 (assuming we continue with a 23 round format). It doesn't necessarily have to be played against the same team each year, although (somewhat ironically given who we play this weekend), perhaps Geelong might be the best team to play against if it were to be fixed. Critics will say that a manufactered "blockbuster" played at the end of the season won't work and they might be right. But Tom Wills deserves much more recognition within the AFL than he currently gets and our club should find a way to be involved.

Agreed. It's a terrific book about a very interesting, albeit flawed, individual. It there was ever a list put together of the 10 most influential Australians of all time, his name should be there. Not just for being the inventor of Australian Football but also for taking the first Australian representative cricket team to the UK and for his ahead-of-his-time understanding and positive relationships with indigenous communities and individuals.

Worth some recognition. Without Tom Wills, there would be no AFL and (horror!) no Demonland! Born on this day (19 August) 1835. https://twitter.com/MCG/status/1428239426015035395/photo/1

When Victoria had its peak infection numbers last year in August, did any of it leak into NSW? I can't recall. I realise the delta strain is more transmissable than what was around in 2020, but at the same time, we now have a vaccination program which didn't exist at this time last year. In short, should we be more pessimistic or optimistic about the prospects for containment?

Wasn't sure what to expect from an opening post from someone called Deesigner and about drugs.

Nice bit of obfuscation by Goodwin. He's reported as having said to the media yesterday, that we won't be resting anyone...unless they're sore or carrying an injury.

Thanks to everyone who played along. As far as I can tell, the conundrum was solved by Mazer Rackham, Demonstone, Dee Zephyr, Jjrogan and In Harmes Way. Thanks also for those that played along and provided clues along the way. In fact, before I give the answer, here are all the clues (if I've missed any, please let me know): it's an "irrational" number 16 (Travis Johnstone) can replace 15 in the back pocket due to rounding "pie-eyed" Eureka (for two reasons - because that was allegedly said by the mathematician Archimedes and because he was Greek) 2 people in a 5 km radius (specifically the 2 and the word radius) the only punctuation after 3 is a decimal point the number does, indeed, go on forever (although we only know the first 68 trillion digits - it was this story that gave me the idea, by the way) it is as "easy as [insert answer here]" 4 and 20 "pies" its all Greek to me the picture from Life of Pi So, to state what I now hope is obvious, the answer is that all the numbers are the first 38 digits of Pi (ie, 3.14159 etc)

Speaking of which, it is reported in today's The Age that the inventor of the Sudoku puzle has just passed away. (That's not a clue, or the beginning of a joke, but a fact.)

A stereotypical Collingwood supporter would arguably be the least likely to understand the answer. And when told, might wonder why 4 and 20 weren't the only numbers used.

There may be some people who would like a bit more time, so I'll post the answer sometime tomorrow. By the way, there are now at least 8 different clues in this thread, and counting.

One more clue. The punctuation in the team sheet is deliberate. Definitely on point.

Nicely cryptic answer, and helpfully providing a clue for others.

Thanks for the correction. Thankfully, it makes no difference to the puzzle. Demonstone has also PM'd me with the correct answer. I don't know if Mazer and Demonstone have been communicating with each other. Perhaps the 2 of them live within a 5km radius. (There's a clue in that final sentence, by the way).

CNN has different programming depending on the jurisdiction. Which CNN service was this on?

Yes.