La Dee-vina Comedia

Gawn 5. Petracca 4. Melksham 3. Rivers 2. Bowey 1. Lindsay

I'm always amazed at this time of year when discussing player trades, we fall into the trap of only looking at player and draft pick swaps between the two clubs in discussion. If we want Jackson, I'd expect a more complex trade with, for example, two of our fringe players ending up at two other clubs for a couple of second round draft picks which we then on-trade to another club with another of our fringe players for their first round draft pick. Then we have something we can go to Freo with.

You might as well argue that our inability to clone Robert Flower cost us premierships from 1988 onwards.

Caro has really let loose...but her scattergun approach weakens the story. The stuff about Tanya Hosch is all over the shop, but Caro is on stronger ground when she moves on to writing about the apparent inadequacies of the three most senior people at the AFL (Goyder, Dillon and Kane).

This would be a lot more fun if that ginger Baker was still on our list.

No. It was British Prime Minister, Benjamin D'Isreali.

I think it's worth adding that he wrote every word in his articles. I can't recall the backstory, but about 10-15 years ago there was some suggestion that various opinion writers were claiming works as their own when, in fact, they had been ghostwritten. Walls was quite indignant and wanted everyone to know that he wrote every single word of his own pieces.

Or, as Robert Walls might have said "8, 9, 10 out of 10"

There's no direct Melbourne connection that I am aware of, but Robert Walls was a seminal influence on the game for many years. Robert Walls death: Carlton AFL great dies, aged 74, using Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying laws to end cancer suffering

Could have been worse...

There have been a few at other clubs, including Gunston and Ablett Jr. Trent Croad and Paul Salmon come quickly to mind. The only players I'm aware of that left Melbourne and subsequently returned after a stint at another VFL/AFL club are Carl Ditterich and Crackers Keenan. I'm keen to know if there were any others, though.

I know playing a game of soccer is not the same as kicking a soccer ball, but can anyone tell me whether there is a benefit to kicking a soccer ball for the purpose of looking at a player's kicking technique? Given we have persistently poor goal kicking accuracy, would kicking a round ball in practice help identify flaws in the biomechanical process which may not be seen when kicking an oval ball? Of course, this would mean holding the soccer ball and dropping it as if it were an Australian football and not just kicking it off the ground.

Good to see the future well represented in the votes with players such as Langford, Windsor, Lindsay and McVee being mentioned.

Arguable. Simon Madden was not only a great ruckman, but he also kicked 575 goals. Nevertheless, Gawn is definitely in the top few.

As a matter of interest, does anyone believe flipping the bird is offensive? If not, why are players being fined for doing it?

Did he write the article on Star Wars Day (ie, May the 4th?)

I suspect Oliver gets more media coverage for the simple reason that he is, and has been for a long time, a much better player than McKay, Allan and all the others. As to the idea that Oliver might be upset at playing less game time, I wonder if the journos writing these stories have heard of the concept that correlation doesn't necessarily reflect causation? None of us know why Oliver is being given less game time, but just maybe it relates to Goodwin's tinkering with the gameplan with Goodwin wanting Oliver to play in shorter but more intense bursts.

Clearly you don't work at Channel 7. They take the opposite view. I'm not fussed - good commentators will always be good; poor commentators will always be poor. It doesn't matter which games they call.

Given this is a Joeboy thread, I'm surprised the opening post wasn't simply: Ox - son no gun

This post should be disqualified because it's a four-word analysis. And all you had to do was say "Laser like feet"! (Agree, by the way).

Gawn 5. Petracca 4. Chandler 3. Rivers 2. Melksham 1. Turner Unlucky: Langford, Windsor

If you look at all the AFL training ground upgrades over the last 20 years, I suspect you'll find Government funding is reliant on the facility being multi-purpose. As an example, I recall the Whitten Oval upgrade received Federal and State money because they opened up the ground to allow locals to use it when the Bulldogs weren't, installed one of Victoria University's divisions (sports science maybe?) in one of the buildings and included a public use child care facility.

Tom is still winning this one.

Please keep your hands off the players!

I assume you mean "not purely profit focused". Having said that, I disagree with your points that the AFL has regressed and that the pursuit of profit is compromising the quality of the product. It's a necessarily evil that if we want the best product we need to have the revenues to pay the players, the coaches, the support staff and to have great facilities to attend games.