La Dee-vina Comedia

I think it maybe even more sophisticated than that. I remember a game when Mark Williams coached PA and Simon Godfrey was on our list. Godfrey kept getting free and as such, we kept sending the ball to him. After the game someone from the PA camp (possibly Wiiliams, but I can't remember) admitted that they had deliberately allowed Godfrey to run free hoping we would use him because they knew his disposal was poor. So, not only could a gun player not bother about defending against a tagger such as McKenzie who can't hurt you, the instructions may be deliberate not to do so to encourage that tagger's team to get the ball to the tagger as the free man. It's another reason why a tagger has to have some offensive capability and reasonable ball use skills. I guess that's a reason - amongst others - why Geelong's use of Cameron Ling as a tagger was so effective. Why would an opponent let Ling free knowing he could create damage when he had the ball.

I love what they are saying about the fringe players. Maybe I remember incorrectly, but in previous years when you'd read a summary of our VFL players performances it was full of platitudes and you'd wonder why they weren't playing in the seniors. Now each seems to be given a message in that public forum about a particular weakness which tells the player, and us, why they are still in the VFL and what they'll have to do if they want to be promoted.

Why? Did you have a particular candidate in mind? As long as the AFL conducted a thorough process which resulted in McLachlan being the best candidate, I'm happy.

You have a wife?

Sorry, Machsy. I misunderstood your original post. But is there scope for clubs to "trade" timeslots? Of course, it would require four clubs to agree to any change. But imagine, for a moment, that Melbourne v Bulldogs is scheduled for Easter Monday afternoon and Geelong v Hawthorn for an early game on Easter Sunday. I could see Melbourne and the Bulldogs being willing to consider an offer from Hawthorn and Geelong (presumably financed, at least in part, by the TV rights holder) to swap. We wouldn't agree for $1 and I'm sure we would for $5 million. So somewhere in between those two values is the market price.

Interesting concept and something the AFL could explore as part of its equalisation strategy. It's not dissimilar in a commercial sense from clubs selling home games to far flung territories prepared to pay, such as NZ, NT and Tassie. I could imagine another "trade week" being put into the off-season schedule for clubs to negotiate their deals.

Leigh Matthews fears no-one or nothing...except having to call Jeremy Webberly's name during a broadcast.

I think you're confusing floods and deserts. It was 40 years that Moses spent in the desert; 40 days and nights that Noah spent in the ark while it rained (plus another 40, just to be sure).

Most of this thread is discussing the Roos gameplan and systems as they apply on field. However, when Roos is talking about "locking in a system and gameplan" my suspicion is that "system" refers to off field issues such as fitness, development, recruitment, relationship with the VFL team, culture and player professionalism (ie, not misbehaving in public places). That's a lot of stuff to get right. He's already spoken about the development role of Casey in terms that suggest he's not happy with it as it currently stands. If my suspicions are correct, I 100% support him. It doesn't matter how sophisticated a gameplan is if the foundations upon which it is built are flawed.

Wasn't the draw one of McLachlan's responsibilities?

Or, "It is interesting that he has the support of both Eddie (the Nine Network) and Brayshaw (the NIne Network)." TV rights will be important. I would have thought both McGuire and Brayshaw would appreciate that a good relationship with McLachlan may not help the Nine Network to regain the football broadcast rights...but a bad relationship may make it more difficult.

P-man, you've got way too much time on your hands. And I'm so glad that you have. Thankyou.

He may be a big supporter of the blazer. Seriously, it seems like the sensible choice. He's had an extensive apprenticeship. I expect he'll be less dictatorial than Demetriou (although I probably would have said that about anyone appointed to replace Demetriou except, maybe, Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin) but that doesn't mean there will be any significant change in direction. There has been a media push for Mike Fitzpatrick to move on, too. I'd like to see the Chairman remain for at least one more year to allow the new CEO to get settled first. A settled AFL executive is the second most important issue for the MFC right now (the first being a settled MFC executive). Any major shocks at AFL level can't be helpful to the MFC's position.

Can't we just continue to blame Bohdan Babijczuk for everything?

Happy now?

Good, but doesn't come near the Galloping Gasometer (Mick Nolan) or the Flying Doormat (Bruce Doull).

Use the glass half full approach instead and compare him with the many others in their first games who look lost and never found their way. (I was going to name some players as examples - there are plenty to choose from - but no need to rub it in).

Not to mention "could be anything" and "deck chairs on the Titanic"

OD, it's one of the easiest jobs going around. All you have to do is compare something - virtually anything - with 2012 or 2013 and there'll be some "good news". And thank goodness for that.

In every game last year the opposition scored 90 points or more against us, with there only being three games where we kept the opposition to below three figures. In comparison, after 6 games this year, only one team has scored over 100 points against us with the other five falling between 58 and 86. That tells us two things - as supporters we are watching games where we can have a belief we are a chance of winning, irrespective of how badly we might be playing, because the points we have to score to win appear achievable. And, secondly, we are involved in some really ugly games of football. That latter point is possibly more damaging with respect to our 2014 membership levels; but the prospects for increased membership in 2015 are heightened by the first point (as long as we don't go backwards from here).

What caused the puncture? In other words, did he also get a broken rib (a common cause of punctured lungs)? If so, I suspect the rib damage might keep him out of the game longer than the lung puncture. Either way, I hope he recovers quickly.

And he's got pace and runs hard.

Don't think Brian Taylor got the memo; and whoever at 7 thought Wayne Carey should be re-incarnated seems to have forgotten that women have consistently shown they don't like him because of his misogynistic behaviour and domestic violence (see the Scandals section of his Wikipedia entry for a summary. I'm male and don't like him for any of this, either).

I'd love to agree. But I can only do so if there's evidence he could have gone to another team but chose us instead. If we were his only option, it's also a possibility he chose us because it was the only way he could do what he loves doing (and get paid for it). Please point me in the right direction - show me some evidence - because I really do want to agree. It would make his outstanding performances to date seem even more meritorious.

I'm ambivalent about Terlich. On the one hand he shows great courage and reasonable ball nous so he regularly gets to where the ball is. Once he has it in hand, though, it's a bit of a lottery as to what he'll do next. If he was a 19 year old in his second year I think we'd be happy with his progress. Perhaps we mark him harder because he's older. However, I'm not convinced he plays tight enough to be a defender. I'd like to see him tried as an on-baller. He's got pace, his kicking is generally OK (apart from the occasional howler) and he has shown he knows where the goals are. Perhaps Clisby or Strauss can take his defensive spot and he could move up the ground and replace Byrnes (with JKH or Salem effectively moving to Byrnes role).