La Dee-vina Comedia

So obvious, there's five?

Really? Adds more weight to my view that the sling tackle is a product of poor rules management (I'm unsure whether it's poor umpiring or the rule itself which is the problem). I'm convinced the sling tackle has evolved due to umpires paying a push in the back when a player is tackled from behind and 'sprawls'. Now I wonder whether a player being tackled being able to just drop the ball encourages more vigorous tackles to force a "throw" as the ball is released. I'll repeat what i've said elsewhere. The sling tackle must be banned irrespective of whether a player is injured or not. Full stop. And the best way to do so is to stop forcing players into it as an option by (1) paying a free kick and (2) rewarding tackles from behind

6. Martin 5. Tapscott 4. McKenzie (thrashed, but never gave up) 3. Rivers 2. Howe 1. Watts (but only just and only for his second half) I've struggled so much to find who to give votes to that I'm gobsmacked we lost by "only" 50-something points.

Watts was completely out of it in the first half. The move to the wing brought him into the game. Tick to Bailey for that one. But there are too many crosses. Why, for example, do we play two ruckman at a throw in or ball up? Why does Gysberts regularly go third man up in a ruck contest which leaves us one short at ground level? For me, outs are Maric, Bennell, Nicholson and Gysberts (only because he looks exhausted) Ins: Davey, Bartram and Jurrah and one of Dunn or Bate (probably Dunn)

He plays a different style of game but he's the same height (or close to it) of Bate and Dunn. I suspect if Morton had the body of Dunn and the footy brain of Bate, he's be a very good player. As it happens, I think he's got the footy brain. But will he ever develop the body? If not, I can't see him being successful. If so, he could be a seriously good player. I'd keep him - I think it's easier to build a player's body than his brain. In fact, I think too many of the pre-Bailey era recruitment decisions picked body over brain (meaning footy brain) so we had athletes who couldn't really play the game. And for what it's worth, while I would have dropped him anyway, I think he's out this weekend because his body is not big enough to play a team like Hawthorn (or West Coast, for that matter). reason for edit: Added last sentence.

Might be the only Power going down in value when a carbon tax is introduced.

My link This is a very moving article which links into two different issues raised on Demonland this year - Daniel Bell and sling tackles. I'm convinced that the rules regarding tackling need to be made clearer and that the result of a tackle (ie, whether it causes injury or not) should not be relevant to whether a player is suspended. Rather, it's the type of tackle which should be the cause of any penalty. Apart from anything else, it's possible that the damage to a player's health may not be noticed in the short term (ie, by the time the MRP considers the matter) but could be significant for the player's health in the longer term. Take the time to read the article.

Is my memory playing tricks with me? Didn't Bail get injured in the same game as Jamar? and wasn't it reported to be the same type of injury? Irrespective of the answers to the above, it's a worry that he's still on the injury list after all this time.

I don't disagree. But it hasn't answered the converse. How can Frawley have had more disposals than possessions? Another poster has suggested a kick off the ground. Perhaps that's the answer.

LOL...well, almost. It seems to me under Bailey MFC has sought players who have both skill and character. Fev had (maybe still has) the former, but fails the latter. Interesting posts throughout this thread, but one option that seems to be missed is the possibility of playing Stef Martin as KPF with Jamar and Gawn filling the ruck roles. I'm not sure it's the best idea, but I'm pretty sure it's better than recruiting Fev, Jesse White or any other unwanted player at another club.

I'm not arguing with you, but why was he playing if he'd been sick? I would have thought 'Watts (ill)' in the team list on Thursday night would have been the way to go. And then perhaps Bate (someone else?) could have played. I guess the club thought he had recovered sufficiently to play.

It might depend on whether the AA selectors decide to pick the "second best ruckman" or the "best second ruckman". If it's the former, Stef is no chance; if it's the second he's in there with a shot. But I think the selectors will, like last year, pick the second best ruckman for the second ruckman's spot.

I suspect you're right about the second. Nice of the AFL website to be so misleading. Who would have though "Goal Accuracy Percentage" actually meant "Time on Ground Percentage".

I don't get involved in Dreamteam, etc, but I still like to review stats of games. But I have a couple of queries I'd like some help with. Query Number 1: According to the AFL website, Nicho had 5 contested possessions and 10 uncontested possessions against PA. My maths tells me he had 15 possessions (unless there is another type). But he had 10 disposals. I can accept that discrepancy if it means there were 5 instances where he got caught with the ball and didn't dispose of it properly, or he got possession at the end of a quarter and the siren went. If that logic is correct, what I can't understand is how the same website says Frawley had 4 contested possessions and 10 uncontested possessions yet 15 disposals. How does that work? How can he have more disposals than possessions? Query Number 2: What is G%, which the wesbite helpfully tells me is "Goal Accuracy Percentage"? Every player has a number yet only 9 kicked goals last night. Is it meant to be each player's longterm accuracy? If so, has James Strauss ever kicked a goal...and if he hasn't how can he have an accuracy rating of, apparently, 84%? Any help gratefully received.

6. Petterd 5. Martin 4. Frawley 3. Sylvia 2. Moloney 1. Garland

Vice versa for mine

Is it? I thought One HD had dropped the footy and it's now just on Ten, which is standard definition.

Can't help myself...surely you mean longtermgevity? (apologies to those who haven't heard the Ox use this made-up word).

It's not just a choice between Davey and Tapscott. I would have thought Davey might come in for Bennell and Tapscott for, say, Morton or Nicholson (although I'd keep Nicholson in if it were up to me).

Actually not new this year but my cringe expressions are: "Ordinary" or "Average" when meaning to say "really, really bad" and any meaningless number above 100%, ie, "I'm going to give it 110%"

Given Jared Rivers always comes out last when the team runs out on the ground, it suggests he might be superstitious. Let's hope coming out first doesn't mess with his mind.

As a matter of interest, anyone know how many goals Lance Franklin had kicked after his first 31 games?

Or around 11.15pm if watching on TV in Melbourne (insert teeth nashing sound here)

Are you serious? Do you think he had a choice? The drafting process did somewhat limit his options.

Three quick Robert Flower stories: 1. He turned up for his first try-out with Melbourne FC under 19s and only lasted a few minutes...because they decided he was too good and took him off the ground to wait for the seniors group to train later that day. I know this because my cousin did the same on the same day...except for the bit about being too good. (In fact, my cousin didn't make it in the then VFL at all - but played about 250 games in the ammos). 2. In one game against Richmond, the Melbourne strategy each time Richmond kicked a behind was to put all players on one side of the ground bar Robbie. He was left one-on-one with his opponent on the other wing. All but one of the kick-ins was sent his way and he won just about all of them. I don't now why the Richmond coach (was it Francis Bourke?) didn't do anything about it, but I seem to recall it might have been the coach's last match because of it. 3. Robbie showed his true class by almost always being in the best players in State of Origin clashes. He relished playing with the quality which surrounded him in those games, unlike most of his games for Melbourne where the standard was, err, disappointing.