La Dee-vina Comedia

Stop the presses! It took a Melbourne supporter to find Jimmy Hoffa. And there was a clue in his disappearance all along: "Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975, from the parking lot of Red Fox restaurant."

It's so bizarre that it's 26 August and we're talking about a three week injury rather than whether someone will be ready in time for the pre-season. It's a strange feeling that I'm willing to get used to. I can't see why we'd tinker too much with the team. If there had been no injuries, Viney would have come in, possibly for one of Kent or Spargo. Given the injuries, it seems logical that Hannan is the other one to come in, if he's fit. Although, J Smith might be an option instead of Hannan with Fritsch moving up to the wing. And I think Kennedy-Harris will likely remain. I thought he was an important player today and after a long time finally looks like he's caught up to the pace of the game.

Surely leaving out Harmes is an oversight, right?

6. Gawn 5. Harmes 4. Brayshaw 3. Salem 2. Frost 1. Lewis

After 9 pages, I'm still not sure whether Joeboy's OP was intended to be taken seriously or whether he was just pulling our collective legs.

It is one stat that matters, but others also matter. Large numbers of "passing interest" folk who watch their nominal team on TV encourage advertisers which converts to interest from the free-to-air TV station to show more of their games. So, Sydney get more FTA games because there are a lot of non-member Sydney supporters who will watch their games.

I'm struggling to keep up. Are we still talking about Brendon Goddard or have we moved onto a Federal politician?

I suspect he's only unlikeable to opposition supporters. Furthermore, I also expect he's quite well liked by his team mates at both St Kilda and Essendon. I assume he'll stay in football either in the media or coaching, and I expect he will do very well at either.

Is that right? Isn't the "pressure acts" stat used for this?

Whose time? And whose money?

Family?

Dunn also has the misfortune to hold the record for most games played without playing a in a final for current players. Cruel that he's missing out now. I was not a fan of Dunn as a player for us, but I've nothing but respect for the way he's behaved and spoken since he left.

My problem with the opening post is why the AFL might think Melbourne winning is a "feel good" story. I would have thought if the AFL wanted "feel good" they would have wanted a South Australian team to make the 8. For that to happen, Melbourne losing would have been, if not the easiest way, certainly an option. So, if I can't find the motivation for the AFL, the rest of the OP fails the logic test.

I'm not sure I understand this. Wagner is very slow. While moving Fritcsh up the ground is certainly desirable I don't see how that helps us with pace if it means Wagner returns.

If we have a winning percentage for the game higher than the annual percentage, our percentage goes up; and vice versa. The percentage of yesterday's game was lower than our year-long percentage so the yearly percentage went down.

I'm not sure I can agree with this statement. Generally I think Goodwin has given players at least two weeks to prove themselves. There have been exceptions (White last year and Petty this year come to mind, but both looked well off the pace in their single game).

Heart in mouth when he played on yesterday and kicked with his left when he didn't have to which resulted in a goal. I suspect that means he is brimming with confidence (which I didn't share at the time).

I think Oliver might provide some good support. I thought he whole team responded well to what I assume was a targeted coaching message during the week. Gone were the "long bombs" into the forward line and instead there was much more precision, low kicking. It was probably overdone a few times when players perhaps should have had shots for goal instead of looking for someone else, but overall, the change in tactics seemed obvious to me and well executed most of the time.

I'd be disappointed if the MRO didn't look at every incident that caused a concussion. That being said, once it's looked at I can't see how O Mac would be penalised. If Hibberd is in any way sore, he should be rested. Would Joel Smith be ready to come back? If not, I assume that leaves Wagner as his replacement. I don't think Spargo is adding enough for a full game at the moment, but I can't see Garlett coming back for him. Maybe he could be replaced by Kennedy-Harris who I think can offer more. Finally, if/when Viney comes back, I wouldn't be opposed to him starting off in a small forward role. I suspect small forwards still run a lot but probably not as much as midfielders, so it might help him through the game in his early one back. So, if Hibberd is out - in J Smith or Wagner. And I'd replace Spargo with JKH (or Viney in the unlikely event that he's ready).

Well said. And I'd like to add my personal thanks to our track watchers, too.

I suspect Petracca is being named because he hasn't yet delivered consistently what we hoped for so we are now hoping for occasional glimpses. I think our X-factor player might be Garlett, except that I don't think he'll get a chance to show it. And that's possibly a good thing as it suggested we can trust the rest of our team to get the job done.

So, which club now has the longest streak of not playing in finals? I'd just like to know who I can look down on.

I've done that. Have checked and confirmed that it is not 1 April.

6. Harmes 5. Brayshaw 4. Gawn 3. Melksham 2. Jetta 1. Oliver Honourable mentions: Lewis and Tyson

It's all a bit hard for me to work out but is it still possible we could boost our percentage enough with one huge win and lose the other game by a point and miss the finals and get the record for the team with the highest percentage ever to miss a final?