La Dee-vina Comedia

Apologies if this has been asked before, perhaps in a different thread, but by beating Brisbane, we beat someone who was above us on the ladder. When did this last happen? I remember all those dark years when beating someone above us was a rarity and to be savoured. It's now seemingly just as rare but for a completely different reason. Still worth savouring, though.

Just curious. Can any manager make such a decision? Or is it always the player that has the final say? I can appreciate that a manager can advise a client on a particular course of action, but surely the decision has to be that of the player, not a unilateral decision of the player's manager.

I have wondered for some time whether any of the players who have had Covid have had any lingering symptoms. I'm not sure who had Covid and who just had to stay in isolation under the rules at the time. Thus far I've been spared from having Covid (unless I had it asymptomatically), but from talking to those who have, some have taken much longer to recover full energy levels than others. This could be an explanation for the form levels of some players, particularly those who have appeared more lethargic than others. Of course, this could affect players across the whole competition at different times.

Or the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Although given the games will primarily be held in regional Victoria, our home base and social club might end up in Bendigo.

I always thought that the original was Roy Orbison. If Wikipedia can be believed, turns out that the Everly Brothers were first but didn't release it as a single. Roy Orbison was the first to have a hit with it. It seems that there are as many versions of "Love Hurts" as there are versions of Kossy, Kosi, Kozzy, etc. (Who else said to themselves 'Oi! Oi! Oi!' after reading that last sentence?)

To me it just reinforces the point that the free kicks (for and against) are systemic in the style of football they play.

Two points - I thought the AFL Players Association wanted a bye to allow players to rest. How does a "heavy training block over the break" make sense if the purpose of the bye is to allow players a rest? It reinforces in my mind that the bye is really about lengthening the season for the broadcast deal. What does Collingwood do over the bye? We know de Goey went to Bali for a few days. How does that fit in with the idea of heavier training? Or does Collingwood not believe in the "heavier training block" idea over the break?

Herald-Sun reported on the weekend that Martin Pakula, one of a swathe of retiring Victorian Ministers, was seen chatting to Gill McLachlan in the last day or so. Being the Herald-Sun, that lead to an immediate jump to the conclusion in that journal of record (written in sarcasm font) that Pakula is in contention for the job of AFL CEO.

No changes unless injuries or illness require. Salem was hobbling badly in the first but played on. I presume it was a corky. Hopefully he pulls up OK and is right to go. However, if he's not, I would have thought Hunt to replace him rather than Rivers. (It's nice to have genuine choices, though.)

That's better than the diseases one can usually contract from a Collingwood supporter.

Currently workshopping in my mind a joke about Brisbane being Queenslanders and therefore nicknamed bananas, who are battered by Fritsch and somehow we get banana fritters in batter. (Clearly the joke is a work in progress.)

A barometer has one job. And that is to take pressure. The one Brisbane has is faulty.

I understand your point, but the one thing he didn't do was curtail the influence of his primary opponent. That is why I marked him down and didn't put him in my votes.

6. Viney 5. Lever 4. Oliver 3. Jordon 2. Harmes 1. Brayshaw I understand why others have Jackson in their votes, but his opponent was also very good, so he just misses out. Also, Petracca's game was so much better than his last few, even though I think I probably gave him votes last week. Last night he was back to one-grabbing the ball and kicking with real penetration.

I still remember Gerard Healy on radio last year complaining when Thursday night games were not being scheduled by saying, "Thursday night games should be on every day of the week". It was a humorous, although I think unintentional, way to emphasise his view.

I want to go, but won't know until late in the day (and possibly too late) what my work commitments will be tomorrow. Thursday night games are a terrible timeslot. (I know it's been said often, but the rage needs to be maintained to ensure the Commission gets the message). Others will have their own view, but if this game was Saturday afternoon, I'd expect around 50,000. Tonight we'll be lucky to reach 30,000.

Normally I would prefer Hunt from the four choices of sub because a medium size player provides the most versatility. However, this week I would choose Tomlinson. Obviously, he can replace any of the tall defenders but if we lose any of Brown, Jackson or Weideman we're very small up forward, particularly if one is on the bench having a rest. However, if we lose one of Brown, Jackson or Weideman I wouldn't necessarily put Tomlinson forward. I'd push Petty forward and add Tomlinson to the backline.

So, someone quite different from Andrew Demetriou, then.

It's always interesting to consider the counter-factual. Remember that around the time Graeme Samuel joined the then VFL, the Commissioner for Corporate Affairs in Victoria had written to the VFL advising of his intention to wind up seven clubs who were all technically bankrupt making it illegal for them to trade. (There's an old thread on this somewhere.) If Samuel hadn't joined the VFL, perhaps there would be no Fitzroy and six other clubs - including ours - before the end of the 1980s.

I hope when the AFL Commission appoints the new CEO the incentive payment structure in the CEO's contract makes attendance numbers more important than TV ratings, revenue, and broadcast rights combined. That's the sort of incentive which might produce action.

The height difference suggests only one of them could look the AFL in the face.

I think the issue is that the heavy use of interchange keeps changing who is playing on whom. In the "olden days" when interchanges were far fewer (or even before interchange) most defenders would play on the same forwards for every minute of each game.

Mind you, I think half the people sitting near me at the football don't understand the game, either!

I'm a firm believer that it can work today. The new CEO just needs to ensure that s/he has people with the necessary experience working for her or him and that those people are listened to.

The best person ever involved in the AFL was Graeme Samuel who was the prime mover in turning the AFL (then the VFL) from an amateurish, bankrupt code to the professional business it is today. When he joined the VFL, he wouldn't have known one end of a football from the other.