La Dee-vina Comedia

I agree with this. Reminds me in this of Steele Sidebottom - regularly seems to get to a spot where he can be found. I noticed his play as the "link man" during the season. Just needs to improve his disposal to ensure he becomes a valuable link rather than an occasional weak link in the chain.

Probably also worth noting that Richmond had something like 40+ players to choose from each week during the Finals. I don't recall them having much in the way of injuries during the year either.

Is there a formal link between the Melbourne AFLW and the Casey VFLW team? In other words, will the Casey VFLW be like the "Reserves" for the Melbourne AFLW team just like occurs with the men?

Well written, Mazer. I still believe it's more incompetence than anything else, but I respect your view that with so many issues it becomes hard to tell the difference.

I remember the days when mixed metaphors were as rare as hen's teeth and posters needed to be as hard as a cat's head to withstand criticism for using them.

The advantage of expansion will be an increase in support as supporters of the men's AFL start to follow their women's team. I know my interest level in the AFLW is increased by having a team to follow. Increased interest will then flow through to increased player numbers. I don't know what the correct pace of expansion should be but given how well the AFL has managed the creation of the AFLW so far (and let's face it, there are plenty of examples in other areas where the AFL has managed things badly...or worse), I'll give the AFL the benefit of any doubt here and accept that they might actually know what they're doing.

I think you summed it up in the first line. In previous years at this time, the most exciting period for the club was about to start. Now, instead of salivating over the trade period and draft time, we've got our priorities in order and again realise that the best time of the year is late March to late September, not the other way around.

I wish we could combine his effort with Jack Watts' skill set. If the 179 cm height is correct, I suspect that makes him the shortest player to have nominated for a ruck contest in the centre circle all year. What was great about that (obviously due to a mix-up, none of our designated ruckmen were there) was that he took on the responsibility in a flash and did not shirk the contest.

I am grateful for Willmoy and ProperDee giving reasoned responses. I hope their love for the Dees can continue without the sport itself being damaged. As I've said many times before, though, I'm a firm believer that one should never assume conspiracy when incompetence will suffice.

I just don't understand why people who believe there is massive corruption and conspiracies involving the AFL are still watching it. What would be the point? If there are posters out there who genuinely believe the AFL is corrupt, can you please explain why you still (a) watch it and (b) participate in this forum? I'm not trying to be critical, I just don't understand.

Has Demonland shifted to the "dark web"? That's where I thought conspiracy theories like this resided.

Can someone please clarify...are the Mark of the Year and Goal of the Year chosen by the public? (I don't mean the weekly award - just the annual award taken from the weekly ones). If it is, Howe not winning MOTY is astounding as I would have thought the Collingwood masses would have been enough to get him over the line. And if it's not public voted...I still don't understand why he didn't win it.

Defenders generally get few votes as the work they do isn't eye-catching (like scoring goals) and while often valuable it's not creative (eg, spoils). Tom Lonergan has just retired after more than 200 games without a vote to his name. I'm not concerned that Jetta didn't get a vote under this system. I'd be much more concerned if the club's match committee didn't rate him in the voting for the Best and Fairest. Oliver will struggle to increase his vote tally if he continues to complain to the umpires. His constant whinging must be really annoying. Overall, I think the Brownlow voting was consistent with our year.

This clip shows the Hunt punt from two angles - the behind the kick view most often shown and the wide angle view which gives a much better perspective on the distance of the kick. In my view, it looks like he kicks from about 12-15 metres behind the 50 metre line and the ball travels 5-10 metres over the goal line. That would make it a 67 to 75 metre kick.

I agree that this thread has transitioned away from the original post (which, believe it or not, was about Max Gawn and any role he might have with the AFL) and that it's time it was either locked or moved to the General Thread.

Are we? Ignoring for the moment our international supporters, those of us who live here aren't necessary "all Australians". Many are recent immigrants who have not been "naturalised" (terrible word to use, by the way). Nevertheless, I suspect what you are saying (again, ignoring international supporters) is that we all live in Australia. Your main point, that we don't need a "whites" round and therefore, by extension we don't need a round that supports other social issues misses the point that minorities - whether by race, religion, gender or any other categorisation - are continually under-represented, under-supported and, in many instances, abused. Or, to put it another way, only a white male of an anglo-saxon background in this country doesn't understand what it's like to be part of a minority and prefers the status quo.

Of course, he wouldn't have had to do that if the then VFL had taken on the issue of racial abuse prior to Winmar's magnificent gesture. Unfortunately, not everyone had the courage of Winmar. I suspect there were many victims too scared to stand up for themselves who are forced to suffer in silence. That's why organisations have a responsibility to take a stand when they believe something is wrong and should be corrected.

You've said that you're glad that racist, homophobic and other prejudiced ignorance has gone. As a matter of interest, how do you think that happened?

I'm not sure if you're trying to state a fact or make a point. If it's the latter - that the AFL shouldn't be given credit for something being done by the MFC, the point in this thread is about whether organisations should be supporting social causes. Whether it's the MFC or the AFL supporting Reach and reading in schools, both are organisations. It's just a question of which organisation is supporting these social causes.

We agree. Except that I believe that as an organisation is a collection of individuals, an organisation has a right to express an opinion, too. Whether you want to agree with that opinion or not is entirely up to you.

So, read this and tell me whether you prefer the way the AFL handles social issues or the way the Australian Olympic Committee goes about it (and they had two chances - the 1972 and 2000 Olympics).

Actually, not different at all. An organisation is just a collection of individuals.

An alternative possibility would be that if North went to the Gold Coast, there would still have been expansion to 18 teams with new teams in Western Sydney and Tasmania.

The AFL has just published a tweet which supports same sex marriage. It includes a photo with various "AFL identities" including Gillon McLachlan, Dyson Heppell, Alistair Clarkson and Max Gawn. I assume from this that all those in the photo support same sex marriage. But does Max have a formal role with the AFL? (Hopefully the picture from the tweet is included. If not, I'll try to copy it and include it). Note: As part of the respectful debate we should be having on the issue of same sex marriage, I'm not proposing that this thread argue for or against the issue. I'm just asking the question about Max's role. If you want your voice to be heard on the same sex marriage issue...fill in the postal survey and return it to the ABS. The AFL is committed to equality & diversity, & we support the rights of all Australians to live, work & play free from discrimination.

You've forgotten all the "anyone but Richmond" fans. There should be plenty of them about, but whether they're interested in actually attending is a different issue. I used to be an "anyone but Collingwood" fan but one of Eddie's great failings is that rather than Collingwood being despised as they used to be, they've now just become a bit meh. Instead, I've switched allegiance to "anyone but Richmond".