La Dee-vina Comedia

On the upside, at least we're not accusing the Herald Sun of plagiarism.

Mind you, Magner might appear in another media outlet within the next 24 hours claiming he was taken out of context. The story did appear in the Herald Sun, after all,

If his mind is in the right place (and that's a big "if" which includes a willingness to relocate to Melbourne again and stay off the grog), Liam Jurrah

Mind you, he's the poster boy for hindsight. Hawthorn was considered to have stuffed up their drafting when they "gifted" Tambling to Richmond at the time he was drafted. I think we can all now accept that Hawthorn got it right with Roughead and Franklin. http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/burgatrons-phantom-draft-2004.142915/

Are you suggesting we pass at pick 9 and only enter the National Draft in the second round?

Nice blazers, too. And someone needs to explain to one of them the importance of not going to ground.

Don't bring these friends, though. Will just start another tanking investigation.

I guess we'll find out whether anyone else rates him if he gets picked up as a delisted free agent (assuming delisted rookies are eligible for that process).

I'm somewhat meh about Nicho. But is it just his disposal that's the concern? He's got pace, can run all day and both ways and he can get the ball. I appreciate turnovers undo all the good work but if disposal is his only significant problem, can it be fixed? The opposite to Nicho seems to me to be Maric. Supposedly great disposal (though I was never convinced about that, either) but never got the ball.

So, how many players are still on the list from the time Dean Bailey left?

Is that allowed? Can anybody choose to skip the National Draft and then be allowed into the PSD?

And you could add in Tom Flower and Brian Stynes as brothers who weren't as successful as their more famous siblings.

Interesting approach. What would you think about an overall Captain and then four vice-captains to take on the roles you have suggested?

"Fitzy takes leaps and bounds"...I know you meant something else, but what a great description of how he plays.

Apart from abstemious

As a matter of interest As a matter of interest, have other father-sons (at other clubs) worn the same numbers. I know that Gary Ablett Jr and Jobe Watson are different. But can anyone recall any examples where they were the same? Seems like an added and unnecessary burden to saddle a player with their father's number. The inevitable comparisons make it hard enough already without adding to the weight of expectations.

Three problems with this suggestion: Can get a bit hard with players with the same name. And before someone says "just add their first initial", how would you separately identify Gerard and Greg Healy? Can also be difficult for long names such as Cockatoo-Collins. My eyes (numbers can be hard enough!)

i have a vague recollection that the AFL imposed some draconian rule about numbers having to remain low (ie, below about 55) after Robert Mace wore 60 for a while.

I accept that club history is important. But each of the above numbers became famous because of the player(s) who wore the number at the time. I'd like to see our players create their own history. So far we (arguably) have 31, 9, 2 and 11 accepted as numbers of historical value. I'd like to see more numbers valued in the same way by current players making a name for themselves in whatever number they are randomly given. I'd be just as delighted if Jack Viney could make No 7 famous for all time as Jack Fitzpatrick in No 48. In short, I'd like to see players given one number for their whole Demon career; and I'd like new players not to be burdened by the expectation which comes with wearing a legend's former number.

What a great name. Sounds like a Puritan from 17th century Massachusetts. Mind you, here's a better list of Puritan names.

I'd rather a home game in Darwin than Etihad. The former has a strategic and financial benefit. The latter is an insult.

While I prefer a single captain I seem to recall Paul Roos favoured multiple captains when he was at the Swans, so I suspect we should anticipate something similar here. I don't know who should be captain because it needs more, much more, than the ability to be the team's best player (although being a regular starting 22 player is a necessity). That doesn't mean Nathan Jones shouldn't be captain. It depends on all the other aspects which the club considers important such as media capability, glad-handling sponsors, controlling off-field antics of immature players, training professionalism, on-field behaviour (can't have someone as captain that spits the dummy on field) etc. From what I've seen it probably means James Frawley shouldn't be captain as he doesn't appear at all comfortable in front of the camera and that's one of the captain's key responsibilities.

We should go into Round 1 with a mindset that any game is winnable. By round 2, though, reality may have settled in.

Query. Can teams trade PSD picks like they do national draft picks? I don't recall it ever happening before. And I'm a bit disappointed that no-one has suggested Liam Jurrah for the PSD. I thought it was compulsory that his name be suggested in any thread that discusses the PSD or rookie drafts.

While I like your logic, I'm not sure the AFL and Channel 7 will want to open with an Essendon game if there's a risk that the Bombers will be without a swathe of players. Of course, the AFL might already know, but can't publicly say, that such an outcome won't happen.