La Dee-vina Comedia

Quite right. I have admonished myself appropriately.

I also hope he's full recovered, but we need to remember that every concussion does not necessarily heal following a standard timeline. The 12 day compulsory time off is just a minimum figure. The clubs have a responsibility to make sure all players are given all the time they need to recover, however long it takes.

You've gone back about 30 years and suggested football was better then. I'd suggest that in the mid 80s and 90s, football watchers thought the game was better 30 years before that when there players like Ted Whitten, Bob Skilton, Ron Barassi, etc. In other words, the MAGA approach (Make AFL Great Again) is pretty much in the eye of the beholder. And one serious improvement over the 1980s and 1990s which shouldn't be ignored is the attempt to protect players' health and in particular their mental health.

The premise of the article is that a lack of top level AFL playing experience is a bad thing. But is it? I remain unconvinced that playing at the top level is somehow necessary for any role within the AFL. The only two positions where it might be helpful are the old Brad Scott role and the MRO. But I still don't think it is essential for either.

That's us, right?

The ability to make money by businesses in Adelaide is what the Gather Round is all about. It's why the SA government is prepared to pay the AFL a handsome premium. I don't begrudge the Adelaide businesses cashing in. I just don't like the concept in the first place. And a special note for the AFL. For 2024, is it too much to ask that every team play a team in Gather Round that they also play a duplicate match with? Surely it's not that hard.

Interesting. Forcing the player to kick straight instead of snapping around the corner. I like it.

SEN's tweet says, "the hugely popular Gather Round". Was it hugely popular? I didn't get the sense that it was at all popular, let alone "hugely" popular, at least, outside SA. Or is that just my bias coming through?

Is it correct that Geelong is the second oldest club in the AFL? If so, why aren't Geelong and Melbourne finding a way to create a blockbuster game built on that rivalry? If there's one thing we should have learned over the last 30 years, blockbusters don't just happen. They need two clubs to work together to build a reason for people to attend. ANZAC Day and ANZAC Day eve are good examples. The time to do so is now, while the teams are the two most recent Premiers and regularly in contention for finals over the last 5 years (admittedly, even longer for Geelong).

I didn't even know manikin was a real word. Even so, I still read it as "mankini".

I guess limiting the analysis to home and away results presents a better story line.

Easy on, Kev! I thought you wrote, "They had the mankinis out..." A most troubling image. I assume you meant they had mannequins out. At least, I hope so.

How the days are counted are more than mere semantics, given the concussion protocol requires a 12 day break. I'm quite pleased that we have the invisible bye. We need to build on the momentum of having just beaten the competition leader. If the team had been given a "real" bye, we may have wasted that opportunity. Of course, if we'd lost last week, I may have thought differently.

Yes, there really is a Bye Street in Wagga Wagga, and, according to Google maps, others in Queensland, SA and the UK. So, with apologies to Lucifers Hero, what are they saying about us this week? The MRO has done us no favours by not finding anyone to suspend for not actually having caused any physical harm last week We’ve got them at a good time….they’re still scared and scarred from the 186 point thrashing by Geelong I’ll bet none of their supporters will be at the ground this week…they’re all up at the snow We’re meeting them at a bad time …they’ve never lost a game during the bye All camembert and no dinner Feel free to add your favourite. The more stereotypical, the better.

I'd be very surprised if the coach and match committee were blind-sided by Gunston's and Rich's decisions. I think it's more likely that their decisions were made after each had had a discussion with the coach about what their immediate future holds. That doesn't necessarily mean that Gunston and Rich jumped because they had been forewarned they may be dropped, though.

This is a record we have to wait for someone else to break, but we have the worst losing streak at any venue this century with 22 at Marvel stadium between 2008-2015. It's also the worst losing streak in the AFL era. We'll be waiting a while for someone else to take the 21st century mantle, too. The contenders are Adelaide and Brisbane at Kardinia Park (13), Brisbane with 12 at the MCG, and St Kilda (11) also at Kardinia Park. Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-16/brisbane-lions-afl-issues-at-the-mcg/102482294?utm_medium=social&utm_content=sf267399962&utm_campaign=tw_abc_news&utm_source=t.co&sf267399962=1

I'm tossing up whether you mean apostrophe or whether it's a subtle dig at Queen Camilla, given her surname was the hyphenated Parker-Bowles.

Pretty safe strategy overall during the last 15 years or so.

Get into any mischief? Get involved in off-field punch-ups...? (When was the Entrecote fiasco?)

Genuine question: Has David King ever coached?

Agree, but it's very hard to notice if the only opportunity to view games is via TV. What the hard runners like Neal-Bullen do isn't really observable on TV. On the other hand it was very noticeable at the ground on Monday, particularly in the last quarter. At one moment Neal-Bullen is in the back pocket and the next on the wing; he's chasing an opponent and then is suddenly providing an attacking option. It's actually quite enthralling watching him play, just for the way he switches so quickly from defence to attack and back again. And he's not the only one.

For all the ANB haters, I note that in a theoretical State of Origin team for South Australia presented in today's The Age, he's been picked on the bench. That team was selected by Kane Cornes.

Jack Gunston's late father was highly regarded when he worked within AFL circles, both at Essendon and within the AFL itself. He was known as a man of high integrity. It doesn't surprise me one bit if Jack G has inherited that streak of honour and taken the initiative and, in effect, dropped himself so as to make life easier for his club.

We essentially have an invisible bye. It was 10 days between the Carlton and Collingwood games and will be another 10 days between the Collingwood and Geelong games, even though we have our nominal "bye" in between. As a football watcher, I've never liked byes, so I quite like the breakdown (even though I detest Thursday night football). But what does it mean for the players? Physically, I suspect it's quite a good arrangement. They get longish breaks between three games, but not so long that they might lose any condition. But do they get the mental break they might need?

There were times during the Collingwood game where I wished McVee and Salem were doing all the inside 50 kicks. Both were so far ahead of every other Melbourne player for consistently good and effective disposal.