La Dee-vina Comedia

I would, too. But we'll likely play a team in Alice Springs that wouldn't draw 45,000 to the G anyway, such as Gold Coast, Fremantle or a poorly performing team, such as St Kilda is now.

To be fair, it was just a "sound grab" for the news, so I don't know everything she might have said. But the one line that made it to air was about Yarra Park being a park for the community to use.

Presumably you mean free-to-air TV coverage, preferably on a Friday or Saturday night. And I agree with that.

The local member for the State seat of Melbourne, in which Yarra Park resides, is Ellen Sandell (Greens party). She's already been on radio complaining about it. It would be good politics for Gosch's park to be restored as "proper" parkland when we leave. My suspicion (with no evidence to back it up) is that getting out of poker machines might have been a pre-condition to getting State and/or Federal funding for the project. The Western Bulldogs got federal money for the redevelopment of Whitten Oval on that condition. It's the perfect time to be seeking State and Federal support with both governments heading towards elections within the next 11 months (or sooner).

In that case, I'm impressed. While it's obvious to us that a solid, accountable board which can maintain confidentiality is beneficial, for him to actually say what he said means he has absolute faith in the ability of his Board members to keep a secret. If he had any doubts, he wouldn't have said it.

Did Bartlett actually say this or was it a comment from whoever he was speaking with at SEN?

Presumably that might affect the sponsorship dollars we get from the NT Government. Nevertheless, I'm in favour of extricating ourselves if we can afford it. And presumably we wouldn't be doing this unless we thought we could.

"...understood to have beaten" isn't quite the same as confirmation, though. It may be true...and it may not. The writers (Peter Ryan and Jake Niall) have clearly hedged their bets with that language. If they were certain, they would have written it with less ambiguity, such as "He beat a field of internal candidates..."

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but do we know for sure that any or all of the internal candidates applied for the position? I would be pleased if they had the confidence to do so, but equally, not disappointed if any of them believed they were not ready for the job yet.

He was also a Director of Pacific Star Network (owners of SEN) for a while. Pert's job is to make sure Goodwin has the resources he needs and a stable back of house, both things denied to every coach from Norm Smith to Mark Neeld. If you think it's just the coach's responsibility to help us win games you haven't really been paying attention.

I know Pert's not taking over as CEO until October. But is it possible he may commence with the club in another role (let's just call it deputy CEO for now) which allows a smooth transition? And for the media know-it-alls who claim that this isn't a "succession plan", that's just bog-ignorance. A "succession plan" doesn't mean it has to be an internal appointment. It just means the CEO leaves with a new CEO already selected to take over. The alternative is what happens when the CEO leaves not at a time of his choosing or when a replacement CEO hasn't been selected before the CEO actually leaves, neither of which apply in this instance.

I genuinely no nothing about why Pert left Collingwood, but I could see that the review that Collingwood undertook came to the conclusion that there needed to be a change at the top which could have meant the President or the CEO...and the President made sure it wasn't him. Pert had spent a long time at Collingwood, so it was probably the right move for both him and that club for him to move on. And Mick Malthouse has apparently today slammed the appointment of Gary Pert as our new CEO. In my opinion, that just confirms the club has made the right decision!

Excellent point. All coaches have to learn on the job and I hope yesterday was a useful learning experience for Goodwin.

I think Viney and Jones fell over more than anyone else. Do we get rid of them, too? Such hyperbole on this thread!

Actually, I used to admire DeeSpencer's comments. But I'm done with DeeSpencer's cheap comments. I'm done with his know-it-all approach. And I'm done with his vitriol. Move on.

Maybe we should change the word "demoted" in the thread title to "promoted".

Just hope the caller wasn't referring to Max and Mitch King.

I like the way you've covered up the real reason for crying into their porridge by claiming it's a dental issue when everyone knows the real reason is their incarceration in prison.

I'm not sure if he had any sons, but Robert Flower combined with the zero games played by any sons he may have had was still a better combination than most of the father/son combinations we've had to date.

Fitzroy definitely did it...against us. They kicked a then record score of 36.22. 236 to our paltry 6.12.48 out at Waverley in 1979.

Thanks, that's helpful. While media often "beat up" (or sometimes even "make up") a story like this, you'd have to assume Tim Watson knows more than most given he was part of the 1993 premiership team.

That little bit of data is completely meaningless without context. For example, what's the usual number who might turn up for any other club's 25 year reunion? What were the reasons behind why the seven didn't go (illness? travel? work commitments?, etc) Frankly, without additional information the point that 7 didn't go is a fact in search of a meaning.

You're quite right. I should have said that the evidence before it was contaminated might have helped clear or damn the defendants.

I don't disagree with your concern about the flawed process, but it's equally possible from where we stand that without the contamination, the evidence could have damned or cleared the defendant.

That's where we differ. I don't think poker machines are evil. I don't play them but have no problem that other people who wish to do so can have that choice. Note: I find it ironic that it's someone called Beelzebub that is concerned about the facilitation of evil.