La Dee-vina Comedia

Great stuff WCW, although according to some, by posting on here you might be compromising the "sport and politics shouldn't mix" issue.

At least subs this year are virtually guaranteed game time. Under the Medical Sub rules, that wasn't always the case. Having said that, I'm not in favour of a player's first game being as a sub, although I agree that any young player may be delighted.

You're saying it's possible that Hardwick could end up at Essendon? If that's the case, surely possible he could end up at any other club, ours included.

I was surprised when I saw it was Harmes in rather than Jordon. However, upon reflection, I wonder whether the Match Committee was worried about the relative inexperience of Sparrow and Jordon compared with the combined experience of what we lose with Oliver and Hunter both being out. Especially given the continued inclusion (which I am not criticising) of McVee, van Rooyen and Bowey. It's a fascinating watch this weekend to see how we line up. We have selected 8 potential defenders (Brayshaw, Salem, Rivers, Bowey, McVee, Lever, May and Hibberd) so who out of that lot plays midfield, wing or somewhere else?

Me too. Took me a while. It's also highly distasteful if you think it through. (Hint: Did Essendon really kill Hardwick?)

I've seen one poster on this thread state that Woewodin will debut with no attribution to anyone or anything official. I've then seen other posters say that he's playing but don't know whether they're basing that on the statement in that post or whether something has been announced. So, simple question: Has the club stated anywhere that Woewodin will be playing?

I wonder if there were two versions? It's usually pre-recorded. The one that was shown on Nine's main channel in Melbourne addressed the Hardwick resignation and may well have been live (at least, the bit about Hardwick). I suspect an alternative version, recorded before the Hardwick resignation news broke, may have been broadcast in other markets.

Doesn't the Pope have twice the responsibility of most given that he has to worry for people both now and in the afterlife?

Joins a very select group - AFL coaches who left without being sacked. I think he's adopting a very smart strategy. He wants people to say "Why did he leave?" rather than stay too long when people will instead say, "Why didn't he leave?" I admire him for what he's doing. I'm sure it's good for his own mental health and reputation. It's also good for Richmond as it gives them enough time to adopt a thorough process to have a new Senior Coach on board before decisions are required for trading and drafting later in the year.

Kyah is an alternative spelling of Kiya, one of the wives of Pharoah Akhenaten. And Farris is likely the anglo-saxon spelling of Pharoah*. *Not necessarily factually correct

Bollocks If I need to use three words consistent with the thread: Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks

I'd be very surprised if McDonald is dropped after one game played in terrible conditions for marking forwards. The selection I'm most interested in is Hunter's replacement. Does Brayshaw return to the wing? or Jordon? or someone who usually doesn't play there (Spargo, Harmes)? or someone who's never had a chance to play there (Woewodin, Laurie)?

I think Kev will be arrested if he attempts this.

Sort of on topic, involving weird suspensions and St Kilda players, was Tony Lockett once suspended for striking a team mate in a practice match?

The "Footy Live" app is showing the AFL ladder with most teams having been given indigenous, or perhaps pseudo-indigenous, names. However, I was not aware that all clubs are using these names. Here's the ladder as published in Footy Live. Note that I've added the traditional name in brackets for convenience. Have I missed something regarding these other teams? 1. Yalla-birr-ang (Collingwood) 2. Naarm (that spelling is how it appears in the app) 3. Meeanjin (Brisbane) 4. Yartapuulti (PA) 5. Youruk (St Kilda) 6. Maribyrnong (Western Bulldogs) 7. Djilang (say it out loud and it's obviously Geelong) 8. Tarntanya (Adelaide) 9. Quor-nong (Carlton) 10. Tullamarine (Essendon - since when was "marine" an indigenous word?) 11. Karara (Gold Coast, of course) 12. Walyalup (Freo) 13. Quo-yung (Richmond, although it sounds a bit like Kooyong so I would have thought it might have been Hawthorn's name) 14. Warrane (Sydney) 15. Ngurra (GWS) 16. Yern-da-ville (North, although sounds a bit French) 17. Boorloo (West Coast) 18. Boorondara (Hawthorn)

Uncirculated, perhaps? Otherwise, who, exactly is "putting out"? And what?

Answer: A potential TV audience of 5 million in Sydney. The AFL needs to keep Sydney (the team) in the sight of Sydney (the people of the city), especially when both Sydney (the team) and GWS are having poor years.

You do realise that it may not be a question of cost. Not everyone is comfortable around big crowds, especially as they get older.

Seem likely that Brayshaw or Rivers will take on the Sparrow role. Brayshaw is the safe option in that we know he can do it. However, I would rather see Rivers in the role tonight to see what he makes of it. With no disrespect to Sparrow, it's better to find out now whether Rivers can do it than be forced to find out when one or more of Oliver, Petracca and Viney are missing.

And Thursday nights are even worse given work the next day.

Always 2nd Monday in June, not Tuesday.

When you said "us", I thought you were referring to Demonlanders. You are quite right that we're a small subset. However, I'm still not sure about your 99% claim. I suspect it's true that certain timeslots get bigger crowds, but can we be sure that's not because the better games are put into those timeslots? Anyway, for what it's worth, if 99% of supporters like the 1.10pm Sunday slot, count me as being part of the 1%. It's my least preferred slot because it essentially means that the match ends up being the only thing I can do that day. (My preference is 3.20pm Sunday, but I recognise, as I said before, that as we all lead different lives, it won't be the preferred slot for everyone).

99%? Really? I don't think so. If I've learned anything about Demonlanders and their scheduling preferences, there is absolutely no uniform view. And why should there be? Every person's circumstances are different. The opinions of a person with a young family can be different from a single, unattached person. An older person might prefer daytime; a younger person a night game. Some people work weekends while others are fully retired, etc.

I like the idea of playing AFL night games on any night before a public holiday. However, why doesn't the AFL be a bit more creative and reserve these slots for teams who currently don't already have "blockbusters"? Carlton and Essendon already have their fare share, as does Collingwood, Richmond and us*. It should be used to build crowds for teams like St Kilda, North Melbourne, Freo, GWS, Bulldogs and Gold Coast. *We already have King's Birthday and ANZAC Day eve. As I've said before, we should be creating an annual Melbourne v Sydney game making use of the inter-city rivalry that's existed for over 100 years. It could alternate between each city and if developed properly should be able to generate a large crowd every time eventually creating rivalry in a similar fashion to NRL's State of Origin.

I don't think that's the point. After the A-League pitch invasion, all players of all sports will be worried about something similar happening to them. Or worse (remember what happened to Monica Seles?) That may make some players over-react when confronted by something unexpected. If players lined up at the interchange gates try to get into an opponent's head (as long as it's not racist, etc), that's OK because players can reasonably expect that to occur at that part of the ground. There is an argument that a fine may be inappropriate or in this case, too large. However, if the AFL has warned clubs previously about this type of behaviour (and I don't know whether they have or not), a $1,500 fine is surely the next incremental level of punishment. Anything less would be too inconsequential.