La Dee-vina Comedia

There are plenty of academic papers which discuss punishment versus rehabilitation. Clearly the AFL prefers the latter. And for the long-term good of the AFL competition, that's probably the right call.

Not at all. Just in time for a joyful delivery at the end of September.

I will miss being able to turn up to the MCC members late and still get a good seat, though.

I suspect in hindsight the single worst idea the MFC has had this century was sacking Dean Bailey instead of Cameron Schwab after the 186 debacle.

13 free-to-air matches. Anyone know off the top of their heads what it has been in previous years? Mind you, I'm only interested in a sub-set of free-to-air matches being those when we are not playing at the MCG. As an aside, it amuses me that the way someone has put together the graphics that it looks like in Round 13 we're playing the AFL. Not sure if it's home or away, but these days I think we'd win.

A delightful analogy. So much better than calling it a "meat market".

I do. Not because of any lingering concerns about the foot but because that's his second bone-related problem (that we know of) which appears to be stress-related. That suggests to me that he is player that comes with a higher risk of acquiring a future bone-related problem than someone who has never exhibited any bone-related injuries. It's a bit like ACLs. The data shows that if a player has torn one ACL they are a greater risk of having another ACL injury than a person who has never had such an injury. I hope Hogan plays completely injury-free for the rest of his career, but if I'm in the business of managing a playing list, I believe that he has a higher risk of injury than players who have not had the same injuries than he has had to date.

Which reminds me of Michael Voss's famous sledge when he tried to put his brother Brett off when having a shot for goal: "My Dad slept with your Mum last night". (Although I don't think he used the words "slept with").

Completely agree with you.

Your post is a little ambiguous, so, just to be clear, while the article was written by Robbo, I suspect its re-release probably had nothing to do with him but was more likely an editorial decision by the publisher.

Yarra Park Reserve is created through its own Act, called the Melbourne (Yarra Park) Land Act 1980. Because it's a 1980 Act it may as well have been written in Old English (which is my way of saying that it is harder to interpret for a non-lawyer like me than a modern piece of legislation). Within that Act, though, is the following provision: 22 Punt Road Oval Agreement (1) Nothing in the amendments made to this Act by the 2009 Act is to be taken as having the effect of— (a) making the Trust a party to the Punt Road Oval Agreement; or (b) giving rise to any duty of the Trust or liability or other obligation on the Trust arising out of the Punt Road Oval Agreement. (2) In this section, the Punt Road Oval Agreement means the Funding Agreement for the Redevelopment of Training, Administrative and Community Facilities at Punt Road Oval entered into between the State of Victoria, the Melbourne City Council, the Richmond Football Club, ABN 25 679 793 340, and the Australian Football League, ACN 004 155 211 on 29 June 2009 in respect of the land described in the Schedule. The Schedule has a rather crude drawing of a roughly circular plot of land with Punt Road drawn on its right and Brunton Avenue below it which would seem to match with what we would expect would be the Punt Road Oval. So, I think that means the Punt Road Oval is within the Yarra Park Reserve but is managed by a separate arrangement allowed for by the legislation. [PS: If there are any planning or land-use lawyers out there, feel free to correct any misconceptions I may have about this.]

Good question. Something else for me to research!

I was curious about the origin of the surname Sylvia so looked it up. It's apparently Old English but most interestingly (and pleasing) was that Colin is named in the article as one of the "Contemporary Notables of the Name Sylvia (post 1700)".

While I can see the resemblance between Nick Reiwoldt and the animal (an alpaca?) I can also see where Sam McClure got the inspiration for his hairstyle. (Sam, if you're reading this, it's time you grew up and got a proper adult's haircut).

I agree that Carlton would have been happy the first couple of years. But they shouldn't have been. Having Judd just papered over serious cracks and gave a short-term sugar hit. Not Judd's fault but Carlton were naive if they thought one superstar player is all that is necessary to be a success.

Seeing as you asked, I've had a look at the enabling legislation. I've summarised it so as to explain the relationships. This is a longish read but it may be of interest to some: Summary of the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s management and control arrangements Excerpt from the Preamble to the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009: “By an Order in Council dated 9 December 1861 land known as the Melbourne Cricket Ground was permanently reserved as a metropolitan cricket ground. By a Crown grant dated 17 June 1862 the Melbourne Cricket Ground was granted to the trustees of the Melbourne Cricket Ground upon trust that the Ground and the buildings on it be maintained and used as and for a place for playing cricket and for related conveniences. … Under the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 1933…Land described in the Fifth Schedule to that Act and known as the ground was granted to the trustees of the Melbourne Cricket Ground upon trust that the Ground be maintained and used as and for a place for playing at cricket and for conveniences connected therewith and when not required for cricket for such other purposes not inconsistent with the foregoing as the trustees think fit and for no other purpose whatsoever.” In 2009 the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 1933 was replaced with an updated law not surprisingly called the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009. Key features of the new Act (for the purposes of this discussion): · The law establishes the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust which is given responsibility to “manage, control and make improvements to” the MCG and surrounding land and to be the committee of management for the Yarra Park Reserve (hereafter just called Yarra Park) · The Melbourne Cricket Club “is entitled to occupy the Ground to the extent and in the manner enjoyed by it at the commencement of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 1933” subject to certain conditions (such as not changing its constitution without the consent of the Trust and that it doesn’t persistently breach the Trust’s regulations, etc) · The Trust can call for tenders for the management of the whole of a part of the MCG · Notwithstanding the previous point, the Trust may appoint the Melbourne Cricket Club as Ground manager and while the MCC is Ground manager, the Trust can’t enter into a contract with anyone else to manage the Ground · While the MCC is the Ground manager, it receives and retains all entrance fees and revenues arising in the course of its management of the Ground (presumably this includes ground advertising). The agreement it has with the Trust to be Ground manager (see previous point) may mean that the MCC shares this revenue with the Trust · The Trust can delegate to the MCC any function or power that relates to the management, control, improvement or use of the Ground or to the Trust’s role as committee of management for Yarra Park; · similarly, the MCC, with the approval of the Trust, can delegate to any person (which presumably would include the Melbourne Football Club) any function or power which relates to the use of the ground or Yarra Park (this may be handy should the new facilities mooted for Yarra Park ever be built).

What happens on Friday 9 November which warrants there being two separate free agency periods on either side of that date? Can anyone explain what the difference is between free agency period (1) and free agency period (2)? I can understand free agency period (3), because it's held immediately after the draft and allows teams to fill any remaining spots with delisted free agents, although why they just don't draft them the day before I don't understand. Perhaps it's something to do with negotiating player-specific contracts.

Aren't we also a tenant? My recollection is that the ground is "owned" by the State which has put a trust in place to be the ground manager with the MCC the major tenant.

Maybe someone can answer this without Demonland asking him, but does Mahoney personally negotiate and agree to trades? Given he's given praise and criticism on this site for our trading, I want to be sure he's the correct recipient of those opinions.

I can imagine he was very good at collecting drinks for everyone but when he went to pass it to you, did it miss you by some distance?

Agree, if you mean great players don't always make great coaches. Some great players have been outstanding coaches, such as Ron Barassi and Leigh Matthews.

Just out of curiosity, I've looked at other coaching records to see how Neeld compares. It is interesting that of all coaches to have coached 33 or more games (33 being the number coached by Neeld), four have a worse record, measured as percentage of games won. More interestingly, three of them were unquestionably great players - Royce Hart, Brian Dixon and Kevin Murray. The fourth is Allan Hird Senior.

Hemingway writing in the style of Shakespeare, rhyming couplets and all.

I would suggest that the synergy of linking Hames with Harmes should be a marketing opportunity made in heaven. Would it be appropriate to ask contestants at the quarter time break to do something with their r's?