La Dee-vina Comedia

Interesting to see if the lower paid GWS players play the same way in 2012.

Wow. Thought you were me for a moment (I was born in November 1957). Then realised what a stupid thing to think...my mother has never seen a game of football in her life.

Sorry, mate. Strongly disagree. Neeld has gone out of his way not to comment on the past, thereby avoiding any commentary on Bailey. Certainly his comments for the future reflect on Bailey's time (eg, the team isn't fit enough) but I believe he's done so with good grace with respect to our former coach and his regime as, by the way, I think Bailey has similarly behaved since his departure.

I hope you don't have to wait as long to see your second game as you did your first.

I don't agree. I believe they were picked on the quality of their performance compared with others on the list and available at the time. Lack of team success was due to the level of performance of the team being insufficient - not because players were picked for the wrong reason.

Sure you weren't watching the cricket?

I was going to list the players that I thought seemed lost because their role seemed undefined. But it's easier to list those who had a clear role: Jamar, Moloney, Rivers, Frawley, Garland and McKenzie (and to a lesser extent Watts). Everyone else seemed to be chopped and changed - and they are the ones who I think will benefit.

I have a vague memory of Ron Barassi and another player, possibly Bluey Adams, running toward the city end in front of the old Members' Stand (which to me at the time probably seemed like it was full of very old members) and hand passing back and forward to each other. But that's it. I could say I remember Gabo's run and Froggy Crompton's goal...but alas I don't. But, a bit off topic, I do have a memory of the 1988 GF. I remember sitting near a box in which the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke was sitting in the front row, and the Opposition Leader, John Howard, was sitting in the row behind. Hawkie was his excitable, ebullient self. And John Howard was asleep.

A lot can happen in a generation. If we go back just 25 years to 1986: the AFL was called the VFL and had 11 teams in Victoria and one in Sydney most clubs were broke no VFL football on Sundays in Victoria Jack Hamilton was the CEO and John Cain was Premier when Jack Hamilton wanted something (eg, approval to play football on Sundays) he'd ask for it in the Sun News Pictorial in the morning; John Cain would say "No" in the Herald later that same day So just imagine what changes could occur in the next 25 years. Hopefully for the good of the game. And hopefully I'm still not waiting for a premiership!

GF 1964. I was 6...so I don't really remember it. But at least I was there.

But would you be watching or have your hands in front of your eyes?

You question as posed doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a past event. So I'll mention my great fear... Final Round 2012, Clint Bartram lining up to kick a goal after the siren to get us into the finals. He comes in to kick and...

Chook = quack? (meant in a complimentary way)

Or, you could have written in the early 1960s..."I tend to agree with this. How anybody could think that the USA are afraid of Japan's push into car making is beyond me. The USA are the incumbent and their brand there is strong." I suspect David Gallop (who I think has the hardest job in Australia) would be worried as much about the AFL's aggressive approach as he would be concerned about the inability of his superiors to realise what the NRL has to do to protect its position.

Not a great visual image. Although great sponsorship opportunities for the wimple (is that the right word? I mean the head covering)

DC, great work, but James Strauss is missing. While it looks pretty poor, particularly prior to the late 1990s, I suspect every club looks something similar overall. Clearly Geelong did well when it recruited Bartel, Corey, Enright, Johnson (and Ablett) all around the same time, but they will also have had a swathe of misses. Biggest surprise to me? That Brad Miller was drafted in 2001. I thought 2001 was a complete wipe-out for us. And i didn't realise he's been around this long.

That's a whole new topic. Valenti, Bate, Dunn, Johnson (P and C)...we've had our share Reason for edit: doubled the number of Johnsons

Win for the AFL. If the AFL gets a low crowd, it can "blame" the competition and everyone in Sydney will accept that. If the AFL gets a bigger than expected crowd, the NRL will be embarrassed. Or, to put it another way, if the NRL crowd is bigger than the AFL, the NRL gets no credit because a bigger crowd would be expected; if it gets a lower crowd, it's embarrassed.

Actually, for the first time ever, I thought Morton didn't look skinny.

I'm up for the challenge. How about, "He should, of course, been willing to kick more often" (Yes - I know, I cheated by inserting a comma.) And seeing as we have moved onto hated media expressions, can I please add to the compendium: Stephen Quartermain saying "He shorts it" meaning he doesn't kick it very far. And any person who talks about an individual having to do better next time by stating that he must "re-group". How does an individual "re-group"?

The Zuckerberg and Saverin of 1858. Personally, I think the social networking value of football is better than Facebook.

Good detective work WJ. When Tom Wills moved to Ararat, did his father get offered a 'special' job to come too?

Not quite. Misson from Saints, who I understand are said to sit at God's right hand.

Please clarify. Do you want 'lol' banned as a cliche?

Thanks. And look at the muscle definition in Davey's upper thigh! (7th photo down)