La Dee-vina Comedia

It might be game of the week but it's two teams based in rugby heartland and probably not likely to have the viewer numbers it deserves, whenever it's scheduled. Hence, Channel 7 was always unlikely to want it in prime time.

These decisions were made by the Board?

I thought what Dunkley did - by deliberately leading with his head - was already in the "illegal" category. I would have thought paying a free kick against him was what the current rules require. Having said that, I don't wish to blame the umpire. In real time, it might be hard to recognise this action for what it was. And if I'm mistaken, what Dunkley did absolutely should be made illegal for the very reason you have explained. Side note: Did the Adelaide player on the mark give away a 50 metre penalty for shaking his head as a sign of "dissent"? I hope not.

That can't be right. We're the Melbourne Football Club. We don't have common sponsors. We have up-market, classy ones befitting of our status.

Missed by the length of a finger, I suspect.

Not sure about T Mac, only because it's forecast to be very wet on Saturday with between 15-35mm rain. It might be better to use Weideman as Gawn's little helper and replace Jackson with a smaller player. Opportunity here for the "move Smith to the forward line" proponents to argue that Smith could be moved forward to ruck/forward just for this game to see how he goes.

Nice work. Pity there hasn't been a past player with the name Terry Dactyl.

If he turned up. He'd probably miss the game cavorting with Kim Jong Un in North Korea.

Is B Brown having had Covid confirmed? I know he missed a week (which became three weeks for other reasons) for "Health and Safety Protocol" reasons, but that doesn't necessarily mean he had Covid. He may have been living with someone who had. And I know (or at least hope) we all think this, but let's hope anyone who has Covid gets better quickly with no lingering symptoms. That's much more important than whether we win or not on Saturday.

With 15-35mm rain forecast for Melbourne on Saturday, it wouldn't surprise me in the least that if a tall player misses (eg, Jackson) he's replaced with a smaller player.

According to Wikipedia, last ex-Melbourne player to coach was Todd Viney in 2011 (5 games) and, before that, Greg Hutchison in 1997 (13 games).

At least Oliver (and everyone else) won't need sunscreen.

Firstly, I hope Goodwin recovers quickly and isn't too unwell during his period of infection. I also hope that he discovered it early and didn't spread Covid within the team. As a matter of interest, with Goodwin sidelined, does the win/loss result against Hawthorn added to Goodwin's coaching record? Or Yze's? I could see arguments both ways, given that coaching is not just a 3 hour job once a week, but what's the standard that's being used?

In today's The Age https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-lot-ten-and-paramount-afl-broadcast-bid-will-be-for-everything-20220426-p5ag88.html Mind you, if I owned channel 10 or 9, I'd be putting in a serious bid if for no other reason than to make 7 pay overs.

It seems to me that Channel 7's owner might be in a difficult position. Both 9 and 10 are owned by companies that also own a subscription streaming service (9's parent owns Stan; 10's parent owns Paramount+). However, 7's parent, as far as I know doesn't own a subscription streaming service. Seven could still do a deal with Foxtel, but the natural synergy of 9/Stan and 10/Paramount+ seem like options that can make the AFL a better offer.

I thought Dunstan was OK, but nothing more. It will be interesting to see if he remains in the side for the Hawthorn game. Goodwin and the Match Committee have regularly given new players two games to show what they've got before sending them back to Casey. Circumstances are a bit different now because of the Covid rules, so perhaps Dunstan won't get that second game if we assume Viney is good to go next week. (Although it has been suggested in another thread that Dunstan may have suffered a concussion which makes the decision both easy and automatic.)

70,000 on Sunday night was a marvellous turnout but surely about 10,000 short of what should have been there. The more I think about it, the more I believe people's technology habits are affecting crowds. The arrival of TV streaming services have people more readily paying for what they used to get for free. Whereas Foxtel struggled for customers, the uptake of Netflix, Stan and others has nomalised subscription services. As such, I wonder whether Kayo has large numbers of subscribers, and, if so, whether many people who used to attend games now prefer to stay home and watch it via that service?

Now 13 games without a loss.

Perversely, though, every dollar Geelong generates at Kardinia Park helps us. The more that Geelong is self-sufficient, the more money the AFL has available to subsidise those that don't have advantages such as their own home ground. You can dress it up any way you like - whether it's an equalisation payment or improved stadium deals - it's all money that the AFL can give to the poorer clubs that it doesn't have to give the Cats.

I can only imagine what it must be like to be 201cm at the age of 17. I wonder if he's still growing?

I'm not sure about differentiating between Langdon's role and the "defensive wing" role being played by Brayshaw last year and Jordon this year. If we truly differentiated them that way, I would expect our kick outs from the oppositions' behinds to always go to either the "offensive" or the "defensive" wing. In reality, 90% (or more) of the kickouts are to the left, even though Langdon remains on the same side of the ground for the whole game. As such, half the time, the kick outs are to the "offensive" (Langdon) wing and half to the "defensive" (Brayshaw/Jordon) side.

Purely business. Foxtel needs to get some benefits for paying for rights. By giving Foxtel some exclusive vision, it encourages people to consider paying Foxtel so they can see it. If the AFL gave it away for nothing to everyone who wanted it, Foxtel has less it can offer to encourage people to sign up. I have no problem with this business decision.

Might need to keep Sparrow away from Gosch's until the seeds get going.

Dale Lewis is a good example, thanks. However, I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to the "common knowledge" you refer to.

Makes for nice hyperbole. But, seriously, are there any examples of this having happened?