La Dee-vina Comedia

The draw as it currently stands recognises the positions of teams in the previous year. The top six teams from the previous year have a nominally tougher draw than the middle six, while the bottom six from the previous year have what should be the easiest draw. On that basis, the AFL could improve the equity of the draw by limiting the finals to the top six teams. I know it will never happen, though. And as to the wild card round? What a waste of time it will be.

I'm surprised Daniher got three votes from Fagan. Daniher's lack of defensive efforts and the way he was out-manouvered by van Rooyen in most of their rucking contests was, frankly, appalling. I'd go so far as to say for all the good Daniher did, you could also argue that his laziness cost Brisbane the game.

Also worth adding that having Grundy means Max isn't worn out by the end of the year from having to ruck 90% of every game he plays. Also, we want to have chances of winning premierships every year, not just this year, and especially while we have generational talent like Oliver, Petracca, Pickett (and others) in the side. Grundy's recruitment doesn't just have to be looked at as a success or failure in its first year. Having said that, if both parties accept that Grundy should move on after this year, it's not like he'll move on without some form of compensation, such as players or draft picks of commensurate value.

I assume Ashcroft and Sheezel will be two of the top three. Who would be the other one on the podium? Mitch Owens? Jye Amiss? Is McVee a chance?

Hi from Nathan Buckley, Chris Scott, Adam Goodes, Ben Cousins, Joel Selwood, Dyson Heppell, Callum Mills, Byron Pickett, Nick Reiwoldt...

6. Gawn 5. Petracca 4. Brayshaw 3. Viney 2. Melksham (not just for the winning mark and goal) 1. Neal-Bullen

You're not on your own. In fact, with one exception, I've never noticed any bias by any footy commentator against any specific club. There are plenty who exhibit bias toward the team(s) they used to play for, but that's understandable. The one exception is Dermott Brereton's bias against Essendon which he has publicly admitted to.

My thinking exactly. (Although it wouldn't surprise me if Smith was asked to ruck to enable JvR to continue as a forward with some relief rucking.)

I realise our key defenders may switch from player to player, but I would have thought May would start on Daniher with Petty taking Hipwood. It will be interesting to watch the defensive match-ups, particularly when Gunston is on the field at the same time as Daniher and Hipwood. As anyone in Melbourne knows, it's been blowing a gale all day. I know the MCG is reasonably protected from the wind, but if this keeps up, it may be a very messy game.

No wonder Oliver's hamstrings are struggling. Looks like he's trying to play Rugby for Australia as well.

Replacing a ruckman with a genuine forward changes the balance from last week. It will be very interesting to see whether this means Petracca spends more time midfield or whether we use the opportunity to keep him forward to see how well he melds with Brown, van Rooyen and the others. From the nominated emergencies, I'd be shocked if anyone other than Smith is the sub.

It would be an interesting exercise to break the season into four parts (ie, approx 6 game blocks) and see whether there's any uneven distribution of votes for Brownlow medallists within each block. In theory, there's no logical reason why a winner should necessarily get more than 25% of his votes in any particular quarter of the season. However, if there's a statistically significant number of Brownlow medallists getting more than 25%of their votes in the same quarter of their winning season, it raises a question as to whether umpires are somehow being influenced in their decisions.

If we're going into the game with one ruckman and JvR as backup, I expect one of Smith or Schache to be the sub. Edit: Or Tomlinson

The poster who points out that teams lose their next match after playing West Coast adds fuel to the argument that playing the Eagles this year is equivalent to a bye.

I wonder what your ex's version of events might be? Would he argue that he was just exercising his free agency rights?

Can't agree with this. In his prime, Max was the best tap ruckman I have ever seen. He had a 360 degree range with either hand. And his prime was for many years - it's not like he had one stunning year out of an average 10 year career.

Apologies. I wasn't expecting anyone to take me so seriously. That's why I referred to the numbers being able to be diced and spliced every which way. I was just enjoying seeing teams like Carlton and Essendon being premiership-less this century. (I'm surprised no-one picked up on the fact that I'd selectively limited the premierships to having been won this millennium when the list itself went back a further 10 years).

It would be nice to think that football clubs are more sophisticated in their decision making about a coach's future than a win or loss at one particular ground. I fear, though, that you are probably right that it might hasten a decision one way or the other.

I still believe this issue is an overrated concern. You can splice and dice the numbers any way you want, but the five teams that have played the most games there have won 4 Permierships this century while the bottom five have won just the one between them.

Serious question: Has hypnotism ever been used to assist an AFL player?

An appropriate choice. The Suns are used to misery.

None of us know, though, whether that's something to do with the players or the coach. Did those players only work hard enough to be selected when they reached their second club?

If a newspaper ever used the headline "Petty problems" on the sports pages I'd have no idea what to think.

Really? I thought you'd prefer to be takin' care of business with the Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Or maybe attending a tea party with Michelle.

I think that's most unfair. Who knows how he would have gone if he'd come to the MFC? Different players, different recruiting set-up, different board, different supporters. For all we know (and we'll never know, of course), he might have coached us to three Premierships by now.