La Dee-vina Comedia

Who amongst us would have had Sam Frost in seventh position at this time of the year? Well done, Frosty. And great work from Marty Hore, too. On the other hand, it's symptomatic of our season that there are only two forwards (Melksham and Hunt) who have scores that are not in the truly embarrassing part of the Demonland ladder.

Last year many of his marks were uncontested because he'd got away from the defender; this year he's not holding marks because most of them are in contested situations. I assume that this means he's not getting separation from his opponent and I therefore presume that the problem is with his feet/ankles, more than his hands.

I think we've had some players in the past who might have watered into wine. Not sure they're the type of players we need, though.

Anything but. We've played all of the following this year who have played their first games for the club - Lockhart, Keilty, Preuss, Baker, Hore, C Wagner, Sparrow, Koladjashnij. Most (I think all but Hore?) have played wing or forward. In addition, inexperienced players such as T Smith, Kennedy-Harris, Spargo and Petty have had games and players such as May and Lever have played, but not often. With so much change it's hardly surprising that there is a lack of cohesion (to use Goddwin's favourite word this year). the only thing predictable is the result...and the poor kicking for goal.

On what basis can you say this about either CEO? (I realise you've said you "don't know about Pert" but clearly written in a negative form.)

There's good news in this. It would seem to suggest the defence (after a very rocky start to the year) and the midfield are at least getting the ball forward. Quality of that forward movement seems to be a problem which is surely easier to fix than teaching players how to actually get the ball in the first place.

It shouldn't need stating but Fritsch plays in the backline because we haven't anyone else. Against Adelaide, he started there because five of the nominal starting back seven (May, Lever, Hore, Jetta, Salem) were out injured/ill. Yesterday it was because Frost was concussed early. We should remember how valuable he is in that (1) he so far has not been unavailable due to injury and (2) he is a reasonable option to push back when necessary. I imagine both the Match Committee and Fritsch himself would rather that he play on the wing or forward, but needs have required that he play in defence.

Problem is, he should be taking leaps and bounds, not steps. He started well, but I felt went missing for long periods in the game.

6. Gawn 5. Harmes 4. Oliver 3. Brayshaw 2. May 1. Salem Salem would have been higher but for some inefficient disposal. Fritsch would have been in the votes but for the same reason. In some respects the whole back seven could have been considered for votes. How we were only 20 points down mid-way through the last quarter with such a putrid performance from the forwards was due to their excellent work.

Is Clayton Oliver working part-time as a barista?

Not sure I can agree with this line. How many members actually vote in football club board elections? While supporters are passionate at the ground I think they are generally extremely disengaged in anything beyond watching the game.

That can work if Fritsch moves to the forward line in place of Spargo and Hore takes Fritsch's position in the backline. Alternatively, Fritsch could go to the wing and JKH from the wing to the forward line.

In all seriousness, I think there is another related issue that needs to be resolved first. What is the name of the sport? Is it "Australian Rules Football"? or "Australian Football"? or simply "AFL"? In recent years there seems to have been a drift to calling it "AFL", but in so doing it becomes confused when referring to the sport itself in other circumstances. For example, does Casey, a VFL team, play AFL? What about the Essendon District Football League? or TAC cup (or whatever it's called now) or school footy? What game are they playing? Is it logical to play a game called by an abbreviation which means "Australian Football League" when the League is actually the administrative body? If I were at AFL HQ I'd want the question of product name resolved before worrying about a fresh, new logo.

I like this argument. It also allows us to blame the AFL for the decrease in accuracy due to its incessant mantra that the game needs to be "sped up". It's not that long ago that forwards were given more than 30 seconds to take their set shots.

I can help them out. Here's a logo they can use for AFLX:

Presumably the Carlton members can vote for a change of President. I am quite surprised that there hasn't been much conjecture about a Board putsch, either.

I expect he might have 7 kicks this week. Hope I'm wrong.

You should expect a call from Matthew Richardson's lawyers. I think he's claiming copyright over that expression which he uses as his most stringent form of criticism without actually being critical.

There's another former Melbourne player who I can't believe isn't in the Hall of Fame. How Brent Croswell has never been inducted astounds me.

Made me laugh. I know what you mean, but I think most of us would prefer if Frost didn't return to his old self. While the current version still has one nervous every time he's near the ball, the 2019 Frost is far superior in overall output to the earlier version.

The sad part is that there are many others at Carlton from the President down, who have failed at their jobs more than Bolton but either won't stand down or won't be sacked. It's the club that has failed, more than the coach.

Not sure why Hibberd is on this list. He's 186 cm and generally plays on smaller forwards. However, I agree with the other four, although I think the answer is "yes" as both Hore and Frost should be able to play on smaller forwards.

Either this is next level economic theory or you're just doing my head in. In essence, you're complaining that if Max wins, instead of winning $81 x $10 = $810 you're only going to win $67 x $10 = $670, a difference of $140. If you're concerned that you'll be "down another $10", aren't you saying you expect to lose altogether...which would mean you would be down $10 whether you took the $81 or $67 on offer?

Did I see somewhere that Grundy might be injured and not playing Queen's Birthday? If that were to be the case, it would help us significantly but be a real shame for football. Having Gawn v Grundy is my idea of the best head-to-head match up going around. Two superb ruckmen.

I don't disagree with your thesis, but should we end up at Casey (which I doubt will happen), we do have something else to sell to prospective players...playing roughly half our games each year at the MCG.