La Dee-vina Comedia

Why do so many people believe we didn't review the Preliminary Final loss? Surely we all know by now that everyone in the AFL system doesn't always tell the truth. (To put it more bluntly, everyone in the AFL lies.) Just because it has been said, doesn't make it so.

I'm surprised that you consider Oliver has a good technique. It seems to me he swings his kicking leg across his body, that is, at an angle, rather than straight through. That technique requires pinpoint timing, otherwise the likelihood of the kick going exactly where you want is reduced.

Oh! My money was on "eternal".

It's possible we got him not to play in the same team as Max but: As insurance for when Max is injured or needs a rest. To replace Max when he retires. [For what it's worth, I think this is the main reason] To give Max someone decent to train with. It must be hard for Max to get better at his ruckwork and contested marking when training with smaller players or a retired ruckman with a padded bag. To take some heat out of Max's manager's pay expectations for his client. A threat to "walk" isn't as intimidating when there's a ready-made, albeit not as polished, replacement.

Well, that didn't age well. (I'm so glad I added "if the polls are correct".)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was a US band from the mid-1970s onwards and Ginger Baker was a drummer with the band Cream which he formed in 1966 with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. Cream is generally considered to be the first successful music "supergroup".

We're going through a season from Hell. However, if anyone should be able to cope with hell, it should be the Demons. But it still won't be enough to win. I'd be surprised to get within 40 points.

I hope the Saturday headline is "Cream for the Dees" rather than "Heartbreaker for the Dees". PS: If you don't know what I'm getting at, ask your parents, or perhaps your grandparents.

How Picket Fence imagines himself differs from how the rest of us imagine him. Guess which is which:

Viney has just done a presser in Perth and confirmed that Lewis won't play.

A question for Perth folk. This game is scheduled to start at 6.10 pm Perth time, being 8.10 pm on the east coast. Are you pleased to have a Friday night game which starts at this time or is the time inconvenient and you would prefer that it not be scheduled at this time?

I'm sure we could get a priest, rabbi and imam as well as an exorcist to work together to cleanse the area. Might need some heavy duty steam cleaning as well.

I think you're mixing up events. I was talking about the football on Friday night. You seem to be referring to Scott Morrison's chances the following day.

Isn't that our Standard Operating Procedure? I'd be gobsmacked if we did it any other way.

He might sit behind the glass at Marvel, but I saw him at the Richmond game sitting on outside seats on level 2 in the Richmond members area at the MCG. At the time I thought (quite seriously) that it's a fine thing that a public figure can sit in a public area at the footy without the need for security.

Has it been conclusively proven that J Smith's injury was made worse by going back on? Initially that seemed to be correct, but as Saty in the training thread for today (14/5) has referred to J Smith having OP, I now wonder if that is necessarily the case. I admit I don't know what causes OP but I'm also not sure that being asked to continue playing with a sore groin would make it worse.

Geelong is smart. Getting the promise from the party most likely (if the polls are correct) to form Government.

I hope the players aren't as pessimistic as the supporters! Even if some of the players would not be considered to be in our top 22, those who will be playing are being given an opportunity to show they belong at the top. I expect nothing less than a spirited performance.

Weren't we complaining 12-18 months ago that Oliver didn't kick the ball often enough? Seems somewhat ironic that now he's kicking it we're not so sure we want him to.

According to Wikipedia, Gary Lazarus kicked 206 goals in 132 games. Not bad from the back pocket!

Love child of Paul Roos and Daniel Cross? PS: Love your work, Saty. Particularly the photo of Lever training without knee strapping. I believe (with no evidence) that strapping is probably physically useless for rehabbing ACLs and therefore more a sign of psychological fear. I think no strapping suggests a high level of confidence in his recovery. At least, I hope so.

I understand the Match Committee is checking to see if we have anyone on our list by the name of Lazarus.

Is it time to dust off the anti-Vietnam war slogan, "Suppose they Gave a War and Nobody Came"?

What might be different is what other rights (if any) Disney bought that the others didn't. For example, was the Bulldogs 'Marvel' jumper part of the deal? What other Marvel ideas will be introduced to the game day experience? etc.

While there is some value in this statistic, it's the equivalent of the truth without the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If my team retains the ball 25.6% of the time in its forward 50 while the best team keeps it in 36.6% but my team gets the ball into the forward 50 twice as often as the team that retains it 36.6% of the time, which team is doing better? Of course, if my team gets it in there twice as often and retains it more than anyone else but doesn't score, etc. I could go on. In other words, the value of this statistic only goes so far. Sometimes stats are useful. And sometimes their value is grossly overstated.