La Dee-vina Comedia

Someone needs to tell Whispering Jack that he's been wasting his time updating the draft order after each final in the Draft, Trade and Cheese Board section. Unless of course, WJ has been right all along.

If I've got this right (and someone will correct me if necessary) winning the semi-final has lifted us up a spot and into the top 4. And every time we go up a spot on the ladder Adelaide's pick received from the trade of Jake Lever gets downgraded by a spot. If that's right, it's just a bonus highlight. But a very nice one.

It seems inevitable that the AFL will bring in new rules in 2019. My concern is that it seems to be driven by a new AFL operations manager wanting to be remembered for having done something. So let me tell him what will happen. First they will be known as the "Stephen Hocking rule changes of 2019". This will inevitably be shortened to the "S. Hocking rule changes of 2019" and ultimately the "Shocking rule changes of 2019".

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

This. Plus the goal resulting from Frost's kick out from the goal square.

I nearly considered putting Melksham in my votes for his performance because he substantially diminished Sicily's influence. I thought he played a super, selfless game. The two goals in the last were icing on the cake (unless you're a channel Seven commentator in which case, it's "cream on the cake".)

Are you extending medical advice to all the males suggesting our testicles are red and blue? I know we like talking about bleeding red and blue but I think you've taken it one step too far.

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:

This photo has the colouring of a photo taken in the late 1950s. If I'd seen the photo at the time it was taken, I would have said I knew then we were going to win just because of that.

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.

Is that the reason? I thought it was introduced to stop legal action on restraint of trade (if that's the correct term for stopping players from exercising their right to free movement). Perhaps someone with a legal background might know. I guess it could be both.

Another way to look at this is to question why Tom Lynch is going to a club more likely than not to fall from here. Of course, his chances of being in a Premiership team aren't zero, but he'll be joining Richmond after they've peaked rather than beforehand. If he genuinely wants to play in a Premiership he'd be better choosing a team that's still on the way up.

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?

Compare and contrast...

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.

It's time we replaced this thread with a positive one: "Records: Oldies but Goodies Being Superseded". I know that actually seems like a headline from when iTunes first came on the market but I love hearing about how this modern team is making its own positive statement. For example, yesterday's first quarter score was our highest Q1 since ??? (I can't remember. Was it 1972?); When was the last time, if ever, we beat opponents by more than 90 points three times in a single season? etc

Mark Knight is surely Australia's greatest cartoonist. The poignancy of this work is amazing - look closely and you can see Lyle's wife and kids.

The article is, like his coaching, a bit incomplete. It says that Neeld "admitted that in hindsight he should have trusted his own judgment more when implementing the Demons' plan to rebuild once again" but doesn't explain if it wasn't his, whose judgment he did rely on. I suspect there's a fair bit of dissembling going on. I hope he can find a proper future. He's never going to be a senior coach again and he probably should never have been one, but I don't for one moment think that he wasn't trying to do his best when he was with us.