La Dee-vina Comedia

I could see this incident turning our season around. Positively. I can just imagine the leaders (coaches, Gawn, Viney, Pert, etc) coming down hard and using this to shake the team out of its lethargy. It should remind everyone that it's time to pick up their game. Passengers won't be tolerated and they all need to get back to the selfless mantra they espoused last year.

Perhaps they thought QB stood for Queensberry Rules

Before last year came along I wondered whether we'd ever win another flag. Now I'm optimistic. Another one will come along in 2078.

Not sure I've ever seen the Herald Sun and fact checking in the same sentence before. It's not the way that particular newspaper (for want of a better word) usually operates.

I'm convinced William Shakespeare is a Melbourne supporter

Gawn got top votes everywhere that I've seen. Except from Mark Robinson who wrote in his Monday "Likes/Dislikes" column that Sam Reid would have got the three Brownlow votes. (In Robbo's defence, who, generally speaking, doesn't want to see more Brownlow votes being awarded to non-midfielders?)

This might come as a shock to some, but the umpires are only human. And accordingly, I think the opposite is more likely to happen. The human reaction to an accusation of bias or unfairness is to protect previous behaviour so as to avoid having to admit that mistakes were made. I think it's therefore more likely that should the umpires respond to the accusation, it's likely to be defensive and therefore not in Collingwood's favour.

I hate to say this, but football is entertainment. It's Petracca's and his teammates' job to entertain us. It's not our job to gee them up. If the team can't play the way they should because of quiet crowds or small numbers of spectators, the coach needs to work out a way to re-focus the players. They should play to the same standard whether there's 60,000 or 60 spectators watching on. That's what being professional means.

Did my plea work already? Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think there was music played after goals were scored on Saturday night.

Couldn't the breakdown also be: 5/5 Gawn 3/3 Reid 4/0, 4/0, 2/2 McCartin, McDonald, Mills 1/1 Viney? Edit: I'm assuming the coaches splits weren't provided. If so, I apologise.

I get so much value out of Demonland. Until today I had thought all truths, by definition, must be absolute. But apparently not. There's all sorts of truths like this in Wikipedia, or this or even this. Seems to me WCW, you can state you are whatever age you want and you'll be able to find a way to claim it's the truth.

Make of it what you will from the following facts: Melbourne v Sydney Saturday 4 June 2022 at the MCG starting at 7.25pm - 32,753 Melbourne v Sydney Saturday 8 May 2021 at the MCG starting at 7.25pm - 35,567 Going into the game in 2021, Melbourne was top of the ladder, Sydney was fourth. In 2022, Melbourne was top and Sydney seventh. On 4 June 2022, very cold and some showers. On 8 May 2021, the day had reached 19.8 degrees and there was no rain. Arguably 2021 would have been more "Covid-affected" in the sense that I suspect more people would have been avoiding activities involving crowds.

I haven't done any analysis, but is it possible that we player better opponents at the MCG?

I prefer to take the glass half full approach. That means there's a whole group of people prepared to outlay money for membership whether they attend or not. I'm more interested in getting more non-members to games. Firstly, the best chance to convert them to members is if they become invested in the club and attendance is the best way to do that (although winning would help) and secondly, it's additional revenue. The bigger issue here is not about MFC members, MCC members or non-members attending or not attending Melbourne games, though. It's what is the AFL going to do about it? What process will they undertake to identify why, exactly, numbers have dropped across the board? And how do they fix that? Is it the game? Is it the umpiring? Is it the scheduling? Is it the floating fixture? Is it Covid? Is it the ticketing process? Is it the cost? Is it competition from other sports and events? Is it the effect on consumer attitudes of streaming TV? Has the AFL given too much to its broadcast partners at the expense of those who might otherwise attend games? I think this is the biggest task facing the new CEO of the AFL. By far.

Has it been confirmed that May will be back? Concussions aren't always resolved with one week's rest, after all.

6. Gawn 5. Brayshaw 4. Viney 3. Jordon 2. Oliver 1. Salem And a Purple Heart medal for Petty. I'm astounded at the love for Fritsch. Three goals is nice, but that's just a cameo. He needs to be exerting pressure when he hasn't got the ball and just isn't doing enough.

Surely Petty will be needed in defence to play on Cox. Who else has the height to do so? Our backline will also look better, whoever is playing, if the forwards and onballers improve their pressure. Hunt was exposed last night not just because May's not there but because the ball was coming in regularly under minimal pressure. Brayshaw has been excellent in defence. He's probably (with Gawn and Oliver) been in our best three players all year. But I wonder now that Salem is back whether we can make better use of Brayshaw back in the midfield in place of Sparrow. (I'd keep Jordon on the wing. He's doing fine.) Rivers could be added back there. If McDonald is out for the longer term, I would bring in Weideman for M Brown. If we're to be any chance at the end of the season (assuming McDonald doesn't return) we need to have B Brown and Weideman as our key forwards. Therefore, they need to be playing together as much as possible to ensure they gel. If McDonald is not out for long, then I'm in favour of B Brown being dropped to get some form and confidence back at Casey.

Coincidentally, I have literally just completed an online survey for the MCC which, amongst other things, asked for the one improvement of the match day experience I would like to see. I pleaded for a stop to the music being played after goals have been scored.

I clearly had a sheltered upbringing as I never attended matches at Windy Hill, Western Oval (as it was called) or Victoria Park. And I expect I'm a better person because of it!

Great to see a genuine curtain-raiser at the MCG. Equivalent to a reserves match, just like the good old days.

This sums me up. I can't hate other teams or supporters because I need them to allow me to enjoy this great game. We should never take this game for granted. Our enemy is not the other 17 teams and their supporters but those who try to prevent AFL from being a success.

One of the things that astounds me is how many posters on Demonland describe how they "hate" particular clubs. I just don't get it.

This is where we (partially) disagree. One person's "bias" is another person's "knowledge". Only the people within the board truly know what gaps they have and which skills they are missing. "Partially" disagree because it's the Members who should ultimately decide, but, in my view, with guidance from the board. If the board appears to be incompetent, then their guidance should be disregarded. If the board is doing a good job, then I'm happy to support their recommendation(s).

Don't say that. Some online nut-job is going to question whether this deception is a sign of black magic and before you know it we'll have our own Salem witch trial.

The Nominations committee should be a sub-group of Directors only. If the Nominations committee does its job properly, it should hire an outsider to do a skills and gap analysis of the Board membership. That outsider could then recommend names for potential appointment to fill identified gaps. The Nominations Committee should then recommend to the Board who it thinks best fills any vacant positions. The final decision though, should be made by the members themselves, but based on the recommendations of the Board. Whether we like it or not, the Board should know more than the members about what its needs are. Of course, the above assumes a smooth operating Board not riven by factions and capable of making sound decisions. When that's not the case, it's time for wholesale changes.