La Dee-vina Comedia

The link asks more questions than it answers. For example, who knew that "than" could be either a conjunction or a preposition?

Which is the most courageous decision? Picking one KPF or two? If one, is it more courageous to pick B Brown, Weideman or van Rooyen? If two, which combination?

What's the correct use here: "I am tall, but my brother is taller than..." Is it "I am" or "me"? I'm not being tricky - I don't know the answer. That's why I'm asking Demonland. It seems to better at grammar and spelling than any other available resource. And what about Viney? (Added solely to include a football reference to ensure the thread remains allowed on this board.)

This gif should be in the lookalikes thread beside a picture of Petracca

Does it say words for numbers "less than 10" or "lower than 10" or "fewer than 10" (or "less than ten" or "lower than ten" or "fewer than ten")?🙂

It's time for Werridee to put together his team of average footballers who seem to play exceptional games against us. Or Demonstone could make it one of his brainteasers.

What's the Demonland consensus view on the past tense of the verb dive as in "Clayton Oliver dived into the pack" or "Clayton Oliver dove into the pack"?. I prefer "dived" but I'm just biased against the use of American English. Note: Not to be confused with the noun, as in "Matthew Lloyd took a dive".

I wonder if B Brown comes back in for someone other than Weideman? We won a Premiership with two KPFs plus two ruckmen and it may be that the Match Committee wants to get back to that structure again. For that to happen, though, a smaller forward needs to miss out and that might mean Melksham is omitted after having probably played his best game in a couple of seasons.

The closest thread I could find on the Collingwood fan forum was one which discussed the benefits of false teeth. On the Richmond one, they have a thread on the attributes of various knives. There's an old thread on the Geelong site which refers to handbags, but it's been superseded by one about aged care facilities.

I suspect there's another joke embedded here about sodium and hydrogen both being cations.

Yes, this thread is full of learnings.

I've never heard it before. Do you happen to know whether it is just in the US that it has been used since the 1970s or in other countries where, unlike Americans, they speak English properly?

Interesting article, but I remain unconvinced. For example, I find it hard to believe that somehow Bendigo had better talent available than Ballarat. I suspect the capability of clubs to nurture their zones was a significant issue. In other words, I suspect if Carlton had been given Ballarat and St Kilda had Bendigo (ie, the reverse of what they had), Carlton would have produced more talent from Ballarat than St Kilda would have from Bendigo.

A synonym of "podium" as a verb.

I watched the 6 minutes highlights package on Friday night before knowing the final result or had seen any stats. My impression then of Weideman was that he appeared to bring the ball to ground a lot (admittedly, a polite way of saying he didn't take contested marks) which then resulted in goals to our smaller brigade. On that basis, I thought Weideman might have had quite a useful game. Having since watched the game, I'm not so sure. However, on a wet night, maybe he played his role. Nevertheless, if Brown is fit, he should replace Weideman (unless Jackson is sore and needs a rest). As well as Brayshaw played on-ball, I suspect he'll return to the backline to allow Harmes back into the side and one of Rivers, Hunt or Hibberd will make way. None deserves to miss out, but that's the great thing about having a strong team.

I'm still trying to work out which of the five nominal small defenders (Hunt, Hibberd, Rivers, Salem, Brayshaw) won't play in defence. The most versatile in that group is clearly Brayshaw, but he's also been our best small defender all year. Is it Jordon to the midfield for the Harmes' role and Brayshaw to the wing? Or Rivers to the wing? Is Hunt going to play forward with ANB playing Harmes' role? It's quite intriguing.

Haven't beaten Freo since Round 1, 2021. If we lose again, might have to dig out the Embarrassing Records thread. (Seriously, isn't it great that we're not talking about a losing streak of 8+ games, or whatever?) Go Dees!

To be honest, I'd be satisfied if he just gets through the game unscathed with or without any goals. If anyone on our list deserves some luck go his way, it's him.

I think Brayshaw is one of very few players that is preparing himself in a way to give him flexibility for his working life after he retires. I suspect he will want to stay within the AFL industry in some capacity and is yet to decide whether he wants to do so on the football side (coaching, for example), the business side (player management or club admin, for example) or in the media. It's a route followed by Luke Ball, Nick Maxwell and Jimmy Bartel but few others.

I've always said and still firmly believe that the umpires do not cheat. I also believe it's time the AFL did a wholesale review of the complete set of rules to rewrite them to remove as much ambiguity as possible. It is fundamentally a game that has become too hard to umpire. In my view, the rewrite is a 5 year job, not a tinkering between seasons. I avoid the gameday thread for two reasons. Firstly, I'm too busy watching the game and don't need the distraction. And, secondly, it's the gameday thread! It's too emotional and a dangerous place. It's like QAnon meets the collected works of Mark Robinson.

I assume they replace the damaged turf with a fresh square. I would have thought those squares are so big and heavy and fitted so tightly that there should be no problems. But what would I know? Just as Webber is our go-to for medical matters, do we have a turfologist out there who can provide a professional opinion? (And, no, not Dr Turf. He might be a Melbourne supporter but his credentials do not include turfology.)

I'm prepared to argue that Brayshaw is a better kick than Salem or Bowey because he has penetration and relative accuracy with both feet. I can't remember ever seeing Salem or Bowey using their non-preferred. I assume they do but the fact that I can't recall seeing them doing so suggests it's not a weapon like Brayshaw's. I should add that my interpretation of a person's kicking skill includes the benefit to the team from the player being able to turn either way so that the opponent finds that player so much harder to play on. By my assessment, Brayshaw is the best kick in the team.

That aged well. Not.

I assume you mean Weidermann, because Macdonald is still injured and Browns not playing.

As I've made clear above, I don't think playing for frees is cheating. On the other hand, subbing players out of the game because of injury and then having that player available to play the following week surely and sorely tests the sub rule. I see Adam Treloar was subbed out last week and is apparently going to play this week. That's an abuse of the rule as it gave the Bulldogs fresh legs in Q4. The AFL should either get rid of the sub altogether or make it a hard and fast rule that a player subbed out must not play again for the next 12 days.