La Dee-vina Comedia

Mazer has solved the conundrum. He's also identified the clue in the subject heading. I should add that his answer was in a PM, not above.

Quite incredible that with all the randomness of two competitions and the unexpected impact of Covid, that Melbourne plays Geelong this weekend, may well play Geelong the following weekend and their two reserves teams are scheduled to play each other in the first week of VFL finals.

A hyperhypothetical hope. And (b) and (b)

Demonstone has been doing the heavy lifting producing entertaining puzzles. Here's one I prepared earlier. What links all these Melbourne players? FB 3. Christian Salem 14 Lynden Dunn 15 Paul Hopgood HB 9 Alan Johnson 26 Glenn McLean 5 Neil Crompton C 35 Luke Tapscott 8 Glenn Elliott 9 Brian Dixon HF 7 Jamie Bennell 9 David Neitz 32 Barry Vagg FF 38 Jeremy Howe 4 Norm Smith 6 Luke Jackson R 26 John Meesen 43 Guy Rigoni 3 Henry Coles IC 8 Tassie Johnson 32 Cameron Bruce 7 Brian Wilson 9 Jack Trengove Medisub 50 Ben Brown Emerg 28 Ted Cordner 8 Graeme Yeats 41 Peter Rohde

Equalisation measures introduced since the mid-1980s (eg, draft, salary cap) should make it far less likely that Essendon and Carlton supporters should have to wait as long as we've been waiting. Where was this assistance when we needed it from the mid-60s to mid-80s? Once again we've been stitched up by the AFL! Mind you, Carlton is currently providing a masterclass on being dysfunctional.

Joel Smith - proved many wrong (first half) Joel Smith - proved many right (second half)

I wouldn't mind adding "Umpires" to the 18 clubs listed in the Opening Post. I know there will be people cheering at some retirements (as there will be with some players), but it would be a way of Demonland showing respect to umpires and thanking them for their service. A small gesture, I know, but nevertheless I think it would be appropriate.

If we make the Grand Final, I absolutely hope we use the medi-sub whether we need it or not. That player needs to be able to share the joy of winning (or feel the despair of losing) along with the other 22 players. Imagine being given a Premiership Medal without actually having run on to the grass at all.

Surely it's no more improbable than: the moon landings were fake Covid-19 is caused by 5G Covid-19 vaccinations include tracking software Clive Palmer

Like all of us, players have egos. How would Petracca or Oliver feel about the possibility of the club denying them a chance to win the Brownlow because they missed this game? I know it's a team game, but it would be hard for them to swallow. So, would resting them (unless they're genuinely injured/sore) be counter-productive to our finals chances if Oliver and Petracca are disappointed at missing a game?

Channel 7 are the big winners with 3 v 4 on Friday night and 1 v 2 on Saturday night with half the country in lockdown. I'm waiting for the conspiracy theorists to claim that Covid, the AFL's draw released way back whenever (in late 2020, was it?) and the results of 189 separate AFL matches played throughout the year were all deliberately manufactured to generate this outcome.

Which is somewhat ironic given the AFL itself is following what the clubs' all claim, which is worrying about one week at a time.

"looked cooked". I'm not sure how anyone can judge such a thing based on a TV broadcast. I just can't see how resting him from 120 minutes of football next week would make any difference. By all means, give him a lighter week on the training track if the data available to the club suggests it's necessary, but playing for 120 minutes, approximately 150 hours after the previous game doesn't seem to me like it would make much difference to any player (unless they're carrying an injury).

If asked whether I'd take this as the only option to see a Premiership any time in the last 50+ years, of course I'd say "yes". Who wouldn't? So, let's hope we do get to celebrate!

Thanks for correcting me.

I love your passion for the Dees. (However, if you consider it impartially, three goals in time on, including one after the siren with a kick of about 70m with a heavy ball, to win a game really is a better achievement than three goals in 3 minutes for a game already won. But you're right...today it should be all about Fritsch)

Kudos to the Polish president. That's leadership.

I seem to recall Malcolm Blight did something similar. It was the game where he kicked that monster goal after the siren to win the game. I think he kicked two other goals before that one, perhaps all in time-on, but perhaps not in 3 minutes.

He can have a rest in October.

I assume you're asking about whether it's a record for us? (Clearly Essendon achieved this feat in 2000, given they only lost one game for the whole season.)

Did we? And are they? Three more questions: How do you know? Has it been stated somewhere? And most importantly, does it matter?

I've never been a fan of Smith, but I thought his first half was very good yesterday and his second half non-existent. Perhaps that was the result of the heavy collision with Hibberd(?). However, I saw enough to see that if he's fit he could be a useful medi-sub because of his versatility. Nevertheless, assuming May and McDonald are both fit, they should both come in for Smith and Melksham respectively. Viney is a condundrum. At his best, he's an upgrade on Sparrow and Jordon, but in his last game he seemed to be struggling with pace and strength as seen by him being caught with the ball so many times. I hope the enforced break has been good for him, so I'd pick him, probably in place of Sparrow, who should become the medi-sub.

Such an even perfromance it was difficult to find 6 out of about a dozen possibilities. In addition, you could take the first 7 names and throw them in the air and whatever order they landed in would still look OK 6. Gawn 5. Langdon 4. Salem 3. Jackson 2. Fritsch 1. Petracca Others in the top dozen: Lever (7th), Spargo, Rivers, Oliver, Petty, Bowey

Respect. Seven different predictions (including the win which is unstated but implied by the Crows only kicking 6 goals while Brown, Fritsch and Melksham kick 11 between them). It's not guaranteed, but I suspect if any one of these six other predictions proves to be correct, we win.

There's an excellent article in today's Sunday Age about Brandon Jack's autobiography, simply titled '28'. The title refers to the total number of games he played for the Swans. The story explains how Jack has used his autobiography to describe how difficult it can be living in the shadows of, in his case, his famous father and brother, Kieran. Especially when you can't achieve the same levels of success. It should remind us of how hard it must have been for Tom Flower, Brian Stynes and so many others. Similiarly, there must be enormous pressure on sons of great players, too. Let's all remember that every player that makes it onto an AFL list has achieved far more than most of us. Every game they play is a bonus. And let's stop using silly epithets like "spud" when describing a player who won't be the superstar we want him or her to be.