La Dee-vina Comedia

Bush Demon, I think you're dreaming of glory days which had died. By my reading the only reason the Commissioner for Corporate Affairs didn't wind up the seven clubs was because of the expansion plans. If the expansion (read: extra licensing dollars) hadn't happened 7 clubs, including Collingwood, would have been terminated. And with that, so would have football.

I haven't seen this topic covered elsewhere (but if it is, please merge or delete as necessary), but there was an interesting article in The Age yesterday which showed that Melbourne nearly went under in 1986. In fact, as the article shows, seven clubs nearly died because they were all "technically insolvent" and only survived because the VFL expanded interstate. Worth a read and a watch of the video, too.

For a moment there I thought Dunn had kicked 22 goals.

I'm glad he's happy with it. As a matter of interest, was it a contested mark?

Do we actually play a "contested grinding game"?

Pretty fair effort from a guy my iPhone app (Footy Live) tells me is out for the season with a knee injury. And it must be true, because the same app says Mitch King is out for the season with a knee injury, too.

Skuit, basically all you've missed is that Demonland has transmogrified into Sexyland.

And an indictment on the Richmond fans. Fully agree with this point.

Yet more improvement, this time by 25%. What a metric!

It's not great that they have concussion. But it is great that they're not playing for their own sake. I've said it before: no player who is concussed should play the following week under any circumstances.

While I agree, I suspect that saying it's a difficult decision is easier than answering "no comment".

If you do all that, I suggest you also change your name from Biffen to Bernie Vince van Gogh.

While the AFL is not a court or law enforcement agency it would be wise in this instance to follow the rules of procedural fairness and natural justice (what Americans call "due process" with the "o" pronounced as in "job" not "Jobe"). That would require that the AFL not prejudice its decision-making responsibility by pre-determining the matter without all the facts and without Jobe being given an opportunity to present a case, should he wish to do so, for keeping the medal. Therefore, until the appeal process is concluded and Jobe has been given a chance to mount any argument he wishes, the AFL should not only not make any decision it should also not be perceived to have made any decision.

Disagree. McLachlan has to say it's a difficult decision to protect his reputation whichever way the decision goes. There will be complaints whatever decision is made so to say it was a "hard decision" insulates the Commission and McLachlan from criticism. (Actually, to clarify, he may be an idiot, but this particular statement is not idiotic).

Nutbean, you might want to re-think this ambiguous language. The image of Oliver playing at Picket's standard is a bit frightening. Hopefully Picket can agree this time.

I don't think "posh vs bogan" is excusable (and I'm not saying that you said it was, by the way). But every person is entitled to have their name pronounced as they wish it to be. For example, anyone who speaks Italian knows that Scott Camporeale, Leigh Montagna and Daniel Ricciardo all have names which would be pronounced one way in Italian which is different from the way their families have chosen to have them pronounced in Australia. We should pronounce the names in the way the individuals want, not what we might otherwise believe to be correct. It is disrespectful to do otherwise. So, however Petracca himself pronounces it is the way we should also say it, irrespective of whether we consider ourselves to be posh, bogan or Italian-speaking pedants.

So said [insert name of any St Kilda onballer]

Credit where its due. Great turnaround by Pendlebury.

I continue to be surprised that Frost isn't used a bit more in the ruck. This seems to suggest that Pedersen's place is secure as without him Gawn has no apparent back-up. It seems the rotations on and off the ground of Gawn-Pedersen-Frost-Watts-Hogan are working well, so I can't see Petracca coming in for Frost or Pedersen. If he is to come in, it's more likely to be for a player playing a similar role. All of M Jones, Oliver, Petracca and ANB seem ready to play (assuming Jones is over his soreness) . So, one niggle or one bad game might be enough for a player to lose his spot. If no-one is sore, I think Brayshaw and Kennedy were our worst on Sunday night. Neither played badly, as in Neeld-era badly, but both might find that their relatively poor performances are enough to see them miss next week. So, I can see Oliver and Petracca in for Brayshaw and Kennedy, both of whom can consider themselves unlucky.

6. Gawn 5. Viney 4. Tyson 3. Kent 2. Vince 1. McDonald (even with those heart-in-mouth disposals)

50! Already? Wow - I hadn't realised how much time has passed since he last played. RIP.

We need to keep building "big" games which "belong" to us. I am in no doubt that the Queens Birthday holiday will disappear not long after Her Majesty passes on. That will kill off the Melbourne v Collingwood blockbuster. I'd like to see us turn the Melbourne v Bulldogs game into an annual "pink lady" game with the women's teams playing the curtain raiser. What we know from the ANZAC Day game, the Melb v Richmond ANZAC eve game, Dreamtime game and the newly formed country game is that they don't turn into "blockbusters" just because someone says that's what they are. They need full club and supporter commitment and a reason for being beyond just the two teams turning up.

I wonder how many and who of the Tigers' emergencies played in that game. If Deledio is in any way doubtful, you'd think they might need to keep 2 emergencies up their sleeves for tomorrow night.

Thanks for the pun apologies, but you should really have started your post by warning us to prepare for the cliches which followed.

I've often wondered whether your name is suggestive of your nationality or your relationship with food. I'm now persuaded it's the latter.