La Dee-vina Comedia

Too much politeness and respect starting to break out on this thread. Doesn't fit with the Demonland ethos at all.

Irrespective of what people might think of their respective performances, Dawes has played 50 games for Melbourne, Pedo 45; Dawes has kicked 47 goals for Melbourne, Pedo 31. I suspect one thing we'd all agree is that neither has set the world on fire. Hopefully, most people appreciate that both players have probably brought more to the club than raw stats and performances on gameday.

Where I live we only put our clocks forward one hour on the weekend. Do they go forward by a whole day in the Western Suburbs? I must get over there more.

Is he "just" a pure ruckman or someone who can play forward (such as David Hale)?

Of all the players on our list, he strikes me as the one most likely to go on to a successful post-playing career still involved in football. I can see him forging a successful career either as a coach or on the administrative side. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him follow in the footsteps of Luke Ball and try a few roles before settling on a particular path.

Which Melbourne players have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since 2000? I suspect very few. And Garry Lyon should be one of them.

You may be right. But the "rush to get him repaired" may have simply been because whatever it was that afflicted him was painful. I know when I'm in pain I prefer the speedier solution.

This is not really about either Pedersen or Dawes, but just on the question of post-season "repairs", wouldn't all clubs have an obligation to "repair" players injured through the season whether or not those players were going to continue? I would have thought it was an EBA or Workcover obligation. If so, I wouldn't draw any conclusions from some players having post-season surgery and others not.

I'm pleasantly surprised there's enough material for a boxed set.

You might be thinking of the club's decision to cease any relationships with online bookmakers. That was announced during this year.

Well, that's an achievement in itself.

I'm sure I read somewhere (The Age perhaps?) that the highest rated games on TV this year did not generally include "traditional" favourites, such as Carlton, Collingwood and Richmond. If that's correct, that's a welcome change from past experience. It will encourage Channel 7 to seek more games on free-to-air premium spots from teams like the Bulldogs and others expected to do well. On that basis, expect to see more Friday and Saturday night games including the Bulldogs and possibly St Kilda and Melbourne at the expense of North, Fremantle and Richmond. If Essendon v Melbourne is Round 1 on a Friday night, we should rejoice. It is likely to be one of the highest rating games of the year. All we have to do is play well and we'll be big beneficiaries, whether it's a home or away game.

The club hasn't used the word "delisted". That's been used here and I assume by the media. What the club said was that there were list changes and that the three players were not being offered new contracts. I'm not sure what else the club can say or do to make it any more dignified.

That's an interesting point. However, I think what is more likely is that players now can't have one grossly weak element.

I should also have said that I thought Dunn was the second best player on the ground after Oliver.

This article published today adds some flesh to the bones. In summary West Coast and Hawthorn are super strong; St Kilda is precarious and we are OK, but need to be careful. And like it or not, as it stands, we need that pokies money.

The other thing I noticed with Dunn on the weekend was a continuation of the predictable kick-in from the opposition's behinds. The little kick to himself, three or four paces outside the goal square and then a long kick to a pack on his RHS. Exactly the same as most kick-ins when he was in the seniors. It may have been under instructions, but whether or not, it was awfully predictable.

You don't actually need to include those last two words.

I'm sure Satyr can speak for himself, but his statement is no more or less relevant than the alternative view espoused by others on this forum that they could see that the Essendon players were "juiced up" and noticeably bigger during the first half of that season. As you say, neither view is relevant to the issue.

This is going to be a bit hard for anyone to answer on an online written forum, but how do you pronounce his first name?

Where's the evidence for this? It may well be true, but I haven't seen it.

On this point, do the payments to Category B rookies, or whatever it's called, get included in the salary cap? I expect in the overall scheme of things the amount these rookies get paid wouldn't be much, but I'm curious nevertheless.

I was serious. And I was wrong. I misinterpreted something that I read which referred to the football department people and the former CEO being no longer at the club.

Keep in mind that the EFC of today is a completely different organisation from that which caused all the problem in the first place. Players who have decided to stay will return to a new coach, new CEO and new President. I'm sure I've read somewhere that there is no-one left from the 2012 era in any position of importance at the club. Players could be staying because it's a "new" club which just happens to have salary cap space to pay them what they want. I really think it's time we stopped looking for conspiracies when simple logic might explain circumstances.

Not necessarily. Theoretically, extra payments by way of compensation could be made to enable a lower payment to be made for salary cap purposes. However, this might not be as easy as it sounds as I imagine Essendon's insurers would be involved somewhere in this process.