La Dee-vina Comedia

Yes. Father-son stories in the off-season.

I hope you're right.

I think the psychological effect of jumper numbers could be more problematic than we might think. It's quite clear that our earlier picks (eg, Hogan, Watts, Salem) and "glamour trades" such as Jordan Lewis get numbers closer to zero. So what impact does it have on a player like McKenna who is given #40? It's almost like the club saying to the player, "Look, we're not convinced you'll make it, but why don't we just give it a shot and see what happens". I'd much rather a random distribution of jumper numbers.

This tweet of training today pretty much sums up the changes between last season and now... 0 replies0 retweets0 likes Reply Retweet Like More Melbourne FC ‏@melbournefc 4m4 minutes ago The coach reporting for duty @Starlight_star #myheartbeatstrue 0 replies0 retweets0 likes Reply Retweet Like More

Melbourne FC ‏@melbournefc 34m34 minutes ago When you challenge your idol to an arm wrestle Andrew and Wes: 2 @jackviney7: 0 #myheartbeatstrue 1 reply2 retweets10 likes Reply 1 Retweet 2 Like 10 More

Sunlight? Are you in Melbourne?

If Stephen Silvagni was SOS, I assume Josh Daicos will be SOFYROMM (Son of Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonian Marvel*) *With thanks to 3AW's Ross Stevenson who gave Peter Daicos the "corrected" nickname.

Perhaps we need to stop using the word "rehab" group and call it the "some might be recovering from injury and others are on individual programs group" or, more simply, "the other group".

Do you mean (or did they mean) up, out or developmental?

For technical reasons I couldn't add my own text to the above quote. What I wanted to say is that if the election of Donald Trump has taught us anything, we shouldn't just believe something to be true because it is said often enough. (There was a similar experience in Europe in the early 1930s, too). Is there actual, confirmed, real, factual evidence which supports the AFL's claim regarding (1) viewer confusion and (2) player difficulties?

There's a risk, though, that the longer a kid has to wait to be drafted the more likely he might be tempted by another code, such as soccer or basketball.

Apparently Grimes chose not to nominate for the national or rookie drafts. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-11-29/former-demon-jack-grimes-accepts-his-career-is-over

I guess this is where we draw the line which closes off the Roos era. Who remains that was brought to the club before the Roos era began? In no particular order: Jones, Garland, Watts, Gawn, Hogan, Viney, Spencer, Jetta, Kent, T McDonald, Pedersen, Trengove. I think those 12 players are the only ones (corrections are welcome). If nothing else, each of the above should be congratulated. Each has offered enough to convince the footy department that they should be kept.

Filipovic is 18, right? I wonder if he's still growing.

I think you're letting your cynicism roam on a long leash. It's been widely discussed that Jobe, if he were to play another season, would relinquish the captaincy in favour of Heppell. Really, there's nothing to see here.

Makes sense. No point taking him at Melbourne as the O Mac nickname has already been taken.

No surprise... SEN 1116 ‏@SENNews 10m10 minutes ago JUST IN | The AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal has dismissed Stephen Dank's appeal against his life ban, after failing to lodge documents last week 0 replies0 retweets0 likes Reply Retweet Like More

Didn't the club say we were only going to draft two players in the rookie draft?

So, half Scottish, half Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian or Montenegran

Wow. Such excitement... Callum Twomey ‏@CalTwomey 3m3 minutes ago All set for the rookie draft... 0 replies1 retweet2 likes Reply Retweet 1 Like 2 More

And: Melbourne FC ‏@melbournefc 2m2 minutes ago Straight into it! First day for Dion Johnstone! #myheartbeatstrue 0 replies0 retweets0 likes Reply Retweet Like More He's possibly the youngest looking footballer I've ever seen.

I don't know where or when, but from MFC Twitter: Melbourne FC ‏@melbournefc 7m7 minutes ago Some new faces at training this morning, welcome @mitchhannan! #myheartbeatstrue 0 replies0 retweets2 likes Reply Retweet Like 2 More

Dean Kent has stolen Lynden Dunn's identity (or, at least, his beard and haircut).

I'll take a punt and suggest we're picking one fewer rookie than expected because we "blew" the salary cap space needed for the third rookie on the unexpected acquisition of Jordan Lewis. If that's the case, I'm happy with the decision.