La Dee-vina Comedia

And he mightn't get into the midfield if he doesn't do something to improve his disposal on his non-preferred. This was also a problem for Viney and Tyson, but while neither are particularly good on their right foot, both seem to have improved significantly in the last 12 months.

Having thought about this further, I can understand they wanted to get rid of the "kick-to-self" because it looks (and is) pointless. But I think the better option would be to ban it by requiring the designated kicker to kick the ball from within the goal square a minimum of 15 metres. A failure to do so would be a free kick to the opposition.

Ignoring for the moment whether it's actually Josh Mahoney's call, I completely disagree. Trading (plus free agency) is not about individual deals but the final outcome. By any measure the overall result of our list management in the last few years has been outstanding.

But he wasn't, couldn't and therefore wasn't.

I think supporters place players into two categories. Those who were drafted with early picks are considered not to have had a choice about who they play for and are therefore not deemed to owe the club that drafted them anything. On the other hand, players selected with late draft or rookie picks are considered to have been lucky to be drafted at all, and therefore expected to owe something to the club that selected them. In this particular instance, I'm impressed with the mature way the club handled his personal situation. They didn't threaten him or cast him aside when he wanted to consider his options. Instead, it appears they made him feel that they cared for his best interests which may well have encouraged him to stay.

While I prefer players who can spread and withstand pressure, my taste in cheese is the opposite - I like it hard and crumbly, like a good cheddar. PS: And if it comes out of a spray can, it might spread, but it isn't cheese. It's just emulsified fat with some form of yellow colouring.

I wonder if North supporters would be arguing the opposite? I know Tyson played more games than Preuss in 2018 but on a needs basis, I think it's arguable that we need Preuss more than they need Tyson.

Now that's a novel description, although I have no idea who you are referring to.

There's too much sense in this post.

I'll bet Brayshaw wasn't in Robbo's draft top 50 prior to Brownlow night.

He's one of those hybrid ruckman/forwards, is he?

Hopefully that will be just about every other team in 2019.

And it's never just about a single trade. There are other longer-term reasons to be "nice" to clubs we deal with. If that means we sometimes don't do as well as we like in one trade, it will inevitably even out in another. And Kent and Cyril have four Premierships between them.

Reminds me of the old joke about the guy who went to have a haircut while at work. The boss told him he couldn't do that. The employee said, "Why not? My hair grows on company time". The boss replied, "But you only work 8 hours a day". The employee said in response, "That's why I only asked the barber to shorten my hair by a third."

Actually, I edited my own post before I finalised it. I was going to say "Are you thinking the journalist Mark or the former footballer Russell" but thought describing Mark as a "journalist" was really stretching it.

The more I hear Josh Mahoney, the more impressed I am with him. It's a good strategy to hint that we are looking at other options, even if we're not. It keeps the pressure on Preuss's manager to keep his salary expectations down and also discourages North Melbourne from asking for too much compensation in a trade. That being said, I suspect we really are looking at others. With young Bradtke on the list as a project player, we should also be looking for a serviceable ready-to-play back up option (a Pedersen replacement).

Are you thinking Mark or Russell?

I would say we have no chance of getting any State Government or Opposition support for the proposal before the State election in late November. But every chance in the 13 months after that election (ie, up until the end of 2019), whoever wins. It's in the first 13 months after an election that Victorian Governments make decisions which might prove to be unpopular or which might provoke outrage, whether widespread or from a noisy minority, and whether that outrage is genuine or contrived.

You got it, although Geelong (the city) actually has a number of (maybe 5?) swinging seats.

One of the great things about the English language is that sometimes it can mean different things to different people. For example, for politicians, "community benefit" actually means "electoral benefit". If you read the opening sentence with that interpretation it makes perfect sense.

Not sure about that. The media who cover AFL regularly claim that the best two clubs for the media to deal with are Melbourne and North Melbourne. That's an important job, particularly for clubs with low prime time free-to-air coverage. I don't know if that was Burgo's role, but if it were, he may well be a big loss unless his replacement ensures that the club retains that status.

My faith in the Colliwobbles has been restored. Collingwood has not won a Grand Final in September since 1958. (In 1990 the Grand Final was played on 6 October; in 2010 the Grand Final Replay was played on 2 October.)

It was a wonderful Grand Final played under today's rules. Makes you wonder if rule changes are even necessary. To answer my own question, the reason is possibly the way poor teams are coached to play. To be defensive at all costs. Still, wouldn't mind the AFL dumping all the major proposed rule changes and just stick with the following: abolish the "hands in the back" rule clarify the "slide tackle" rule so it only applies when the sliding player takes out the legs of his opponent, not when that player falls over a player going for the ball enforce the 50 metre penalty given when players on the mark deliberately impede the player with the ball (this was allowed to creep into the game this season) reduce interchanges to 60 per quarter abolish runners altogether

I'm not being pedantic, but just trying to clarify. Are you saying he doesn't have the necessary acceleration to get to "fast pace" quickly enough?

I worry that Demonland groupthink might have labelled JKH as "not fast". Having watched him this year, I'd say he does have speed. Not sure, though, about his tank or his smarts but what I saw this year suggests he's worth persevering with. He's now ahead of Garlett (although that could change) and I expect Spargo will eventually transition to a midfield role so there may well be a small forward role waiting for him to grasp with both hands if he's good enough.