La Dee-vina Comedia

A bit of Seasonal confusion here.

Great list. I'd like to add: 1. That Viney (and others) improve their ability to kick on the "wrong" foot. Viney made good progress in that regard this year but off a very low base. I'd like to see him become even more comfortable when forced to kick with his right foot. 2. That Jetta remember for 100% game time and for a whole season that there's no reason for him to go 4th defender up (or even 3rd) in a marking/spoiling contest. Again, he improved this year and remembered to stay down more often than not. But there were still times when he forgot that he would be the shortest player in that pack and more importantly, his man was waiting on the ground for the ball to come to him.

Tough training or a love-in?

Wow. The culture wars have now pervaded Demonland. Let's leave that to the silly politicians in Canberra, shall we? Bollocks. On the logic (or rather, illogicality) of that post, Donald McKay wasn't murdered because nobody was ever charged with that crime.

One advantage of having Preuss which I hadn't thought about previously is that Gawn now has someone decent to train with. In the last couple of years he's had beginners who didn't make it and a retired ruckman against whom he could hone his skills. Now he has to contest at training with someone his size which, I would think, should be good for his continuing development of both ruckwork and contested marking. And thanks Saty for the photos. That's what made me realise that Preuss's value might be more than just gameday.

They're Richmond supporters. They're used to roaches in their space.

The converse, of course, is that opposition defences may be able to clear the ball more quickly because what they might lack in height they may make up for in speed and ground-ball play. That's not to criticise the strategy of playing three talls. It just reminds us what we'll be up against.

The line I found interesting was the quote that says"so there would be no fencing or no structures in Yarra Park" If that is referring to the fence that quite properly protects people from falling into the railway viaduct, it would be a massive boost for the people living in East Melbourne as it would genuinely open Yarra Park up with much greater access from Wellington Parade. Conversely, though, I don't understand what he means when he says "no structures in Yarra Park". How can there be admin and training facilities without structures? Perhaps they will be built "underground", meaning with the parkland on top, but that sounds like a horribly expensive option.

Knowing the way the AFL seems to prioritise things these days, they'll probably fund a rectangular oval for us to share with AFLX.

Has Peter Jackson been made a Life Member previously? If not, I hope it is offered to him sooner rather than later. I think we are all indebted to him.

Undocumented food?

I'll just leave this here...

This is one of the main reasons I want to see interchange rotations reduced. In the current game, Tom isn't going to have to outrun one defender. He will have multiple defenders each having some time on him. If interchange rotations reduce further, clubs will use the bench primarily for onballers leaving key defenders and forwards one-on-one for more of each game. It's something previously raised by Nick Reiwoldt and I think he has a very valid point.

Please sir, I want some more.

Just to clarify, do you mean not one supported Dangerfield or not one supported the AFLX concept?

I would be interested in regular updates as your younger family members grow up to see whether AFLX retains their interest and/or whether you believe their support for AFLX diminishes their support of the traditional game. That last point is, to me, the biggest problem with AFLX. I still think for all its support, cricket's BBL may ultimately damage the main product.

True story related to me just last week. A waiter working in a restaurant (thankfully in Los Angeles) used to send an order to the kitchen for a steak occasionally with the words "step on it" included. She wasn't requesting that the meal be prepared quickly. Rather, she was responding to rudeness or physical harassment (bottom pinching) from the customer and asking the chef to drop the steak on the floor and step on it before cooking it.

I love the MCG, but sometimes it's worth not thinking about what goes on behind the scenes too much. This article is about US sports stadia, but could it be the same here? Warning: For those with a weak stomach, you might want to avoid opening the article.

That's a tautology, isn't it?

Good point. We don't see enough numerology on Demonland.

I think the bottom right is Team Fallopian

No. Which is why AFLX doesn't work with AFL teams. It's meaningless. And the AFL needs to be very careful that the meaningless product doesn't drag down the premium product with it. That's cricket's big risk with BBL cricket. I still think there's a role for the AFLX game. But not with professional AFL players. Just like there's a role for Auskick. It can be used to introduce non-AFL jurisdictions to AFL.

It's taken me a while to come to this view but I reckon we should just let Andy do whatever he likes with the banner. He maintains the site for us and as such I think he should be given carte blanch to do whatever he wants with the banner. It's not like he's going to do something stupid and inconsistent with a Demons supporter site. Go on Andy, do your best. PS: Obviously he doesn't need our permission to do it. I just want the rest of us to respect his efforts and leave him alone to do what he wishes.

Care factor? Below Collingwood. Here's the point of it all...I suspect "super hero theme" is code for players linked to the Marvel franchise. What a surprise.

Who would have believed just two years ago that the players named above would have even been able to do this?