La Dee-vina Comedia

I'm OK with Melksham playing. There could be many reasons for this selection but perhaps he got the nod over Dunstan and Bedford due to a concern that we're not really kicking large scores, even though we're winning. Melksham provides a better forward target and a better forward distributor than either Bedford or Dunstan. The latter two provide better on ball work and probably better defensive pressure, but perhaps we use Neal-Bullen more on ball this week to compensate for that part of Harmes's game that will be missing.

Peak viewing time on TV is between 6pm and 8pm. When more people are watching, the TV stations can charge more for advertising. When advertising revenue is higher, broadcasters pay more for TV rights. And if more is paid for TV rights, clubs get a bigger financial distribution from the AFL. That was the essence of Eddie's argument on Footy Classified. He just had trouble articulating it because Caro kept interrupting.

Thread title needs a change.

What about the reverse? Could he now be picked by another team in the MSD?

Correct, but not going to happen, unfortunately.

Do you think this year is particularly different from others? Don't you think there are "cheap wins" every year?

Matthews is probably the best player I've seen while Jezza was up there with Robert Flower as the best to watch. (I did see the tail end of the careers of Barassi, Whitten, Nicholls, Polly Farmer and Skilton but don't count them as I didn't see them at their best). My ranking of the best I've seen would be 1. Matthews 2. Carey 3. Ablett Sr 4. Ablett Jr 5. Flower (but I concede that I may be biased and others in contention would include, in no particular order, Jesaulenko, Bartlett, Judd, Hird, Goodes and M Voss. N Buckley and Ricciuto are just a bit further behind.) (Late edit: Dustin Martin belongs with that group on equal 5th and probably Peter Daicos, too.)

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.