La Dee-vina Comedia

Any reason given for the sudden retirement? Has he reinjured his ACL, for example? Although, if I recall correctly, didn't he nearly give the game away mid-career?

There was also no larger plastic ziplock bag holding all the contents together. Instead, the membership package came in a cardboard envelope that opened up into a letter. I have made good use of the ziplock bag in the past, but must admit that reducing the total amount of plastic being used is a good idea.

That's a very good question. I'm not sure which of these two options I prefer: that for the next ten years we play finals every year, winning many of them but never winning a Premiership; or in the next ten years we win one Premiership but spend the other nine years in the bottom two or three on the ladder. I suspect I'd prefer the first. That would mean we would be winning more than losing every week, whereas the second option sees nine years of relative misery for one extraordinary year.

Umm, no, we can't. Not even one of them. The proof is all around you for the last 55 years. And that's why I agree with SWYL, get the "winning" bit right first. The rest will follow.

The Gold Coast Suns are the Canadian cricket team. A long way north, irrelevant and many people, even in their own jurisdiction, don't know they exist.

Does anyone know if half time breaks have always been 20 minutes? It would be ironic if the half time break used to be shorter but was extended to 20 minutes under pressure from the TV rights holder who wanted to pack in more ads.

I think mediocrity is about right for the last few years. It's the first half of the decade where we could just dream of reaching the heady heights of mediocrity.

Not the worst metaphor going around. After all, one of the best dancing partnerships of all time was Fred Astaire and his sister Adele.

We are getting excellent reports this year. A big thankyou to everyone who describes what they've seen. I note DeeSpencer referred to Marty Hore's kicking and (paraphrasing) mentioned him using his trusty left boot. A question for our trackwatchers...is there ever any specific training to make the players improve their kicking on their non-preferrred side?

Also an old school teacher. Taught at Richmond Tech in the early 80s

Firstly, I admire you courage in going to Chadstone in December. I wonder whether NB not doing more is related to the agreement between NB and the club? Is it possible if we wanted more in-store exposure we would have to pay for it? In sponsorship terms, that might mean less cash from NB in return for that exposure. It might have been discussed and we decided to take the cash rather than the contra.

Not sure I agree with this. Some of the best kicks in the history of the game "leant backwards". For example, Mark Browning and Jordan Lewis. I also think Salem "leans back" when he kicks. Perhaps it's just a trick of perspective in still photographs.

Old dee, you've officially moved from pessimistic to maudlin. Cheer up...there is a bonus to be found from poor performaces. One can rock up to the G late on gameday and still get a good seat.

I hope for your sake that the offices of Demonland aren't raided by the ATO and your true identity given up.

Can't tell if you're pleased or disgusted.

Love your work, Luci, but you've said "We have the 2nd highest number of players in the age group 'sweet-spot' of 22-26yo. Second only to Bulldogs who have 22." By my reading of the table, St Kilda is top with 24 and we're second with 22. Or am I reading it wrong?

Maybe for Day 1. If I were coach I would give Brown pride of place on day 1 to make him feel appreciated. I wouldn't want him to feel like he'd been banished to the sidelines because he's a journeyman/rookie. (I appreciate others might have the alternative view that understanding he's a rookie might make him work that much harder.)

Not quite. OMac was pick 53.

Movember is over. No excuses. Someone needs to tell Brown (and Lever) that moustaches are not enhancing their appearances.

My goodness. That's wonderful writing.

Which raises another question. What's the point of rookies? Why not just add the player to the main list? I suspect the answer might be either (or both) minimum contract length or minimum pay level.

The Herald Sun article says he "has been charged with causing serious harm, recklessly endangering serious harm and fraud." Serious charges. The story behind the story will be fascinating.

What are the rules around playing rookies these days? Do we still have to have a longterm injured player or can we nominate one or more rookies to play for us just because we want to?

I'm not sure I ever thought I would ever see the word "craft" attributed to a player the size of Preuss. It just seems wrong.