La Dee-vina Comedia

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.

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).

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.

Just following on from the earlier post which referred to a hint in a story in The Age which suggested that Vince will have a role with the club next year. He virtually confirmed it on his appearance on "The Front Bar" last week. He was asked whether he was going to be a real estate agent post-retirement. He confirmed that he had planned to do that after he had retired but it might not happen just yet because he might still remain at the club. He still didn't say in what role, though.

With all the talk of potential rule changes, the one that I've not seen discussed much is a further reduction in interchange rotations. Should that happen (and I still think it will), it will discourage clubs from giving their key position players and ruckmen time on the bench so as to reserve the quota for the hard running players. That would mean resting a ruckman in the forward line might return. That, in turn, means developing ruckman as true forwards so instead of spending about 5 minutes off the ball in each quarter on the bench (as Gawn did this year) they would spend more like 10 minutes off the ball but in the forward line instead. Under this scenario I can see why we might want Preuss and why Preuss might come to us. In essence, everything old would be new again perhaps best described in this thread as "Remembrance of Things Past".

Not a year of notable retirees. Cyril is the standout superstar and Brendon Goddard (if he retires) was also a star. But the next best are good, but hardly greats of the game, such as Waite, Vince and arguably Tippett.

Congratulations, Jaded. I like your direct, yet subtle, matter-of-fact announcement.

If it's true Preuss wants to come to Melbourne, he's taking the alternative option to Kent...come to a successful club but possibly not play too many games in the seniors. I'm not sure that's a wise plan for him (but good for us).

While money and length of contract might have something to do with it, surely any footballer wants to play football at the top level. Going to St Kilda gives him a much better chance of playing consistently in the seniors than staying with us or going to another strong team. I see this as a sensible move by him and I hope we can facilitate it for him. I have found him to be a frustrating footballer. Has shown some excellent cameos but too often has also "gone missing" for extended periods. He's also held back by his inability to kick on his right foot.

There's a strong hint in today's Age newspaper that he will take up a role within the club although it doesn't say in what capacity.

He's already had the longest first year for any Demon since at least 2006. That's a fine start to what will hopefully be a long and illustrious career. And for what it's worth, I think in the last couple of weeks he has looked like the long season has finally caught up with him.

Anyone know how Neil Crompton got his nickname of "Froggy"?

And it would mean we play each final at the MCG rather than having to go to Perth.

It's worth reminding people that there might be more to coincidence than meets the eye. While you might be right, as this chart shows causality doesn't always correlate with outcomes:

If those stats were presented out of context as those of an unnamed KPF, you might think they belonged to Reiwoldt (either of them), Roughead or Goodes. That's my way of saying he belongs in the big time.

Another enjoyable way to beat Collingwood in a Grand Final would be to see Harmes knock the ball back into play when it is arguably over the boundary line in the forward pocket in front of the members which then leads to the winning goal.

Chicken or the egg. I wonder which came first?

Are you saying he's buried next to Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera or Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano?

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."

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).

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.

We should keep this thread going until the positive thread has more posts than this one. It will remind us of the dark days and what we've had to survive to enjoy going to the footy again.