La Dee-vina Comedia

Are you thinking there might be a bigger story? If I were an Essendon supporter, I'd want to know why McKenna, Daniher, Saad, Fantasia and now Walla all wanted to leave in a relatively short period of time. Each may have had a personal reason for leaving, but losing 5 players like that in a short period of time might also hint at a bigger problem. I hope Walla lands in a happy place for the rest of his life.

I worry that those well connected friends might relieve him of any excess cash. For that reason, I hope he allows someone else to manage his money for him after he's retired.

I assume he's made plenty of money as a footballer, but would it be enough to live off from hereon? He's unlikely to have significant earnings capability once he's retired. He almost certainly won't work in the media or go on the public speaking circuit (although he'll receive plenty of offers) and I'm not sure he has the personality to be or any interest in coaching.

I'm a bit nervous asking this question, but what does ED stand for? Also, what's ITC? As to ANB's role, he's been at a few centre clearances this year. I don't recall him having that role at any stage last year. That may affect some of his numbers.

Has he? At least, has he made clear he wants to play for a Sydney-based team?

I wouldn't have thought so. There's a lot of red in ours. Also, we'll be the ones with the ball. The others will be chasing.

Not even the best in his own family. (Seriously, Ablett Jr was magnificent, but his father was better. Odder, but better.)

Maybe. But if Bedford is selected, I hope that it's solely on merit and that he is told as much. It would be horrible for Bedford if he thought his selection was tokenistic.

There's been a bit come the other way, some of the ones I remember were well past their prime when they arrived. Players such as Steven Icke, Brent Croswell and Alan Jarrott come to mind. But also Brian Wilson and, of course, Ben Brown. And we also lost a player to North who I think is the footballer with the greatest combination of names ever: Peter Patrick Pius Paul Keenan.

I could see the second half of this happening, that is, Brayshaw taking Harmes's role. He can do everything Harmes does (onball, wing, marking forward etc) and probably better than any of the alternatives. But with Salem, J Smith and Hibberd all unavailable, who would take his place in the backline? Would Tomlinson make us too top heavy? So, while Brayshaw seems a perfect replacement, I can't see how the Match Committee can make it happen.

They'll also think getting Viney would solve all their problems. In reality, they're already well served with smaller bodied midfielders. Viney would give them much needed grunt...but they'd still have a very small midfield group.

Worth adding to the discussion how gracious Hardwick has been in his comments. It might be self-serving (ie, Hardwick knows Richmond has to re-build and that Martin leaving might help that process), but Hardwick is also correct in that Martin owes Richmond nothing and conversely, Richmond has to thank Martin for being the key to winning three premierships.

I'm wondering whether I actually had greater feelings of joy when those miracles occurred than I'm getting right now when we win week after week. Does anyone else have a similar emotional response? It's quite disconcerting.

I'm starting to think people given the name Max at birth have been given some sort of psycho-physiological boost that makes them grow above 2 meters tall. Max Gawn, Max King, Max Lynch, Max Ramsden, etc. (And didn't we also have a draftee called Max King who was a ruckman but never quite made the big time? Or have I remembered incorrectly?)

The two feelings don't have to be mutually exclusive. We can smash the team while at the same time sympathising with their supporters. Or not.

It's unrelated to the Chandler matter, but I don't think the AFL should have the power to appeal. It's their MRO and Tribunal. If they don't like the decisions, change the model or the people engaged to be the MRO or Tribunal members, but don't cherry-pick which decisions to appeal and which ones not to.

McGovern had a go at Todd's brother? I didn't know that!

And that's due to his hard work. And some good coaching, too.

I think the opposite on all three.

Agree. Very impressive. Strikes me as a future coach. I believe he's one of those players who knows he has had to work hard to achieve success. It's the sort of background which he can draw upon should he choose to coach others.

I've always been a fan of the simple designs of traditional jumpers such as our navy blue with the red triangle, Carlton's solid blue with the CFC logo and Richmond's and Essendon's solid black with coloured sash. I've never liked the messier designs of the Eagles or the paddle-pop Lions. However, indigenous art is inherently "busy" with its use of pontillism and animal motifs. These busier designs work brilliantly for indigenous themed jumpers.

It's somewhat ironic that the MRO position was created as a single person operation intended to remove the inconsistencies which occurred under the previous model when different people made decisions as to penalties. What I suspect the MRO process has shown is that the inconsistencies derive from the model, not from the decision makers. However, I doubt that there will ever be a model which does not produce inconsistent outcomes. It's a result of every situation being a unique set of circumstances.

This post could be inserted in any thread about any topic and still be correct.

I think I'd be happier, and I suspect Mazer would too, if ding's statement was modified to say "I want Jake Bowey to play over 200 games for Melbourne and go his whole career undefeated".

So, at least once in every decade since the end of the 19th century.