La Dee-vina Comedia

Spencer? Is he injured, resting or just too good for the others?

I just hope Paul Roos doesn't again coach a team in a Melbourne v Sydney game that loses by 12 goals.

If it proceeds it might protect us from the potential of losing the Queen's Birthday game should Australia ever become a republic and that public holiday disappears.

Machsy doesn't need my help, but let me answer anyway. To be a leader you need to have followers. Hodge has followers; Nick Reiwoldt has followers. I'm not sure Chris Judd has. And this is not a criticism of Judd. As I've said before, it doesn't matter whether you're intelligent, courageous or highly skilled. There are plenty of examples of footballers with those qualities who wouldn't have, or didn't, make great leaders. And, conversely, others who become terrific leaders even if they're not anywhere near the best player in their team. For example, Nick Maxwell. Or, in another sport entirely, Mike Brearley.

However, should we become a republic there would be no such holiday as Queen's (or King's) Birthday. I would expect the Government of the day would create another public holiday to commemorate something, but it may not be on the second Monday in June. Keep in mind, that the Queen's Birthday holiday is not the second Monday in June in every Australian State and whatever the new public holiday is to be it would likely be a national holiday held on the same day or date throughout the nation.

Not sure I agree with this. Terlich is OK until he's under pressure and then he seems to panic. And often he seems to put himself under pressure. It's like he's committed to doing something before he's worked out exactly what. Then, he realises it's the wrong option and his game falls apart. That's not to say his problems aren't rectifiable - Nathan Jones played the same way in his early years. But right now, I'd take Grimes over Terlich.

In a way you don't need 'match simulation'. With where we are at, as a non-finals contender, every game is an opportunity to learn how to execute under pressure. Each match as the players execute whatever they are being told to do at training they should be getting better at doing it under pressure. Those that don't get better will find themselves falling behind and eventually dropping to Casey and eventually off the list altogether.

Grimes may also improve if he had a better midfield as well as better players around him in defence. I keep thinking he's trying to do too much...mind his own man, intercept, be the distributor off half-back, plug a hole in the midfield on occasions, lead the team, etc. Overall, I think he's doing pretty well. Yes, his disposal is inconsistent (rather than consistently bad) and he does give one palpitations when he has the ball in hand because of it.

Well, whatever your reason for being a 'leaver', I hope that you end up doing what you want to do, wherever that may be (but for whomever it is - please make sure they understand your need to attend Demon's training for the benefit of the rest of us).

If we believe the Queen's Birthday game shouldn't continue to be a Melbourne-Collingwood event (and I think it should continue as it is fixtured, but we should do more with the day itself) then we should be strongly campaigning that any new 'blockbuster' timeslots such as, potentially, Good Friday, should not be locked away for two teams only.

I think it is unwise for Melbourne supporters to bemoan the Collingwood-Essendon ANZAC Day 'tradition'. It has more going for it than the Collingwood-Melbourne Queen's Birthday 'tradition'. Be careful what you wish for.

Hey, Satyr, as much as I enjoy your training reports, I'm starting to get even more interested in your workplace. Can you tell us more?

Why did you leave out the second bit? The bit where Daisy goes on to say "Cos I'm sure I'm not going to get another one here at Carlton."

Whispering Jack's report says Jamar had 40 hitouts. Someone's got it wrong.

Quite a few times on Sunday Dawes and Frawley got in each other's way. That's to be expected when they're not used to playing together at the same end of the ground. And it's a practical example of why teams take a while to gel. If Frawley stays forward (and I hope he does), he and Dawes will get a better understanding and there will be fewer instances of each getting in the other's way. And for what it's worth I'd rather they got in each other's way rather than neither being anywhere near the ball.

He looks like a completely different player from how I thought he played at Collingwood. Either I'm much mistaken or he wasn't able to play like this due to the Collingwood style of game at the time he was there. I don't recall him having the agility he has shown. OK, he's not Cyril Rioli, but I always thought he was a straight line player unable to kick around his body. he looks like a genuine CHF.

It's not appropriate to compare disposal efficiencies of players in different parts of the ground. Defenders, on average, have much higher disposal efficiencies than players in any other positions on the ground. I'm not sure why, but kicking towards a ground becoming wider instead of narrowing might be a reason as it provides more space to hit a target. Given all the players you compare Terlich with are not defenders, I'm not sure this is your best argument.

I believe it's his busy season, what with Easter and Passover, so we're going to have to rely on Paul Roos. I don't blame Dunn for the kick ins. I'm confident he's just following the coach's instructions and sticking to the game plan. I don't like the instructions, though.

Interesting. I couldn't get to the ground so watched on TV which doesn't provide a full picture of any game. I had thought Bail was very poor - but if he was playing a purely defensive role, perhaps that's why I didn't notice him.

Where's JKH from? I vaguely recall he played in a Victorian TAC side, but where is his home? In other words, is there a "go home" factor that needs to be nullified by a longer contract?

I think there's too much discussion on this thread about individuals and not enough about team balance. Next week Sydney is likley to play a monster forward line with Franklin, Tippett and possibly also Reid and Goodes. I can't see how Pedersen can help out in the ruck given the duties he'll have in defence and quite possibly Frawley will be needed back there as well. Similarly I can't see how Jamar can be a straight swap for Spencer without any realistic backup. So, I think a small has to give way for a tall. In should come one of Jamar, Gawn or Fitzpatrick, or two, if Spencer has to go out due to injury or the need for a rest. I also hope Garland can come back in and if he does, he could take Grimes' position with Grimes taking McKenzie's (I thought Grimes was quite good on Ablett). A small has to go out for the tall, so one of Terlich or Jetta. Jetta was virtually unsighted but I'd keep him in for two reasons - firstly, to give him some continuity and secondly, because I thought he got marginally better as the game progressed. Maybe he just needs more time to adjust to the pace of the game. (That's an optimistic thought - I doubt he'll ever be good enough). I'm not averse to dropping all of Terlich, McKenzie and Jetta if there's another obvious small replacement. In short, in would come Garland and one of Jamar, Gawn or Fitzpatrick Out would go McKenzie and Terlich.

I got in with the 2013 AA statement before rpfc. So blame me, not him.

On this point (and apologies if it's commented on elsewhere), the difference between the style of game we played against St Kilda and WCE on the one hand and Carlton on the other is stark. All that kicking backwards and to the fat side which drove supporters nuts in the first two rounds just about disappeared against Carlton. Was it (a) because of the addition to the structure of marking forwards in Dawes and Frawley, (2) better adherence to Roos' game plan or (3) a Carlton-specific tactic to take advantage of their weaknesses or (4) all of the above? Whatever the reason, it reduced our possession count but improved our performance. I'll take it.

Perhaps the change of coach makes a significant difference. Undoubtedly players respond differently to different coaches - perhaps Jetta responds better to Roos than his predecessors.

Even more likely, Riley told his Manager who then shopped Riley around to any other club who might show interest on putting him on their primary list.