La Dee-vina Comedia

Make Melbourne Great Again (but in blue letters instead of white on a red cap).

I don't know if I'm speaking for all MCC members...but the feeling's mutual.?

Maybe I'm cynical, but that's why I assumed we announced our intention to get out of the gaming business. But I would have thought that's not in itself going to be enough and we should find some other genuine community benefit.

It's also why Geelong does so well. The good news is that just about every Liberal held seat in Victoria has become marginal so, who knows, maybe some pork barrelling in East Melbourne between now and the Federal election might be a possibility.

I agree that the question becomes "Why?" But first I wanted to see if my interpretation is correct. One potential reason would be to slow the game down by deliberately creating the opportunity for more congestion. Having said that, I'm not sure if it would be a strategy that a team would wish to adopt.

Could a team try to grab the ball from the ruck at a centre bounce when the 666 rule is in effect to deliberately cause a secondary ball up? That would then remove the 666 rule when the second bounce occurs. Is that a correct interpretation?

You're cynical Demonland. But that doesn't mean you're wrong.

Recognising that now the tennis is over, footy ramps up, Melbourne's Herald Sun has a puff piece today of 50 things to watch for in season 2019. The most interesting one for me was the comment about Gill McLachlan having a "shocker" in 2018 and that he would need to perform better in 2019. My own view is that, whether it's fair or not, he might be on shakier ground than the public realises with the AFL Commission expecting better than he's been able to deliver to date. The obsession with AFLX and its promotion ahead of AFLW is one example where I think he's misread the market. And while he deserves credit for what he's done with AFLW, he now risks reputational damage with the changes made (such as the conference system) and losing all the deserved praise. If the new rule changes are considered to have "failed", I expect this time next year to be commenting on a new AFL Chief Executive.

Easier to tear up should things go pear-shaped.

And here's the sign on the road to tell you you're getting near:

Moonie, step away from the screen. And if you're at home, go and have a cold shower.

This is an outstanding photo. Similar facial expressions which show an imminent intention to act and each with muscle definition showing not just the effects of hours of training but also how they are ready to pounce like a cat that's just seen a mouse.

It's so easy to look at a single photo like this and take it out of context. Unless we know what his right hand was doing, I'm sitting on the fence and making no judgment.

Probably using the same pocket calculator they used when finalising Kurt Tippett's contract.

Well said.

It would be ironic if pursuing with this concept may mean that AFLX turns either Stephen Hocking or Gil McLachlan (or both) into EX-AFL

The knee bone's connected to the... something. The something's connected to the red thing. The red thing's connected to my wristwatch. Uh oh.

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.

I'll just leave this here...

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.