La Dee-vina Comedia

If the umpires have a duty of care, has the AFL empowered them by giving them a rule they can use for this purpose? For example, hasn't the AFL been saying for some time that they will be clamping down on off-the-ball incidents? I detest the off-the-ball niggle whether it's pushing and shoving or something worse. I'd rather it was stopped at the source thereby removing the need for some players to feel they have to retaliate.

I agree with that, but I just thought there were others who played better. But for the avoidance of any doubt, I absolutely concur that Viney was one of the best players on the ground.

Or just a different person as the MRO. I'm not judging the VFL MRO's decision, but the process is always going to be very subjective and different people can come to differing views on the same incident even using the same process.

Genuinely surprised that one of the coaches thought Viney was the second-best player on the ground.

It could be the second night game telecast by Fox/Kayo. Whether we like it or not, Fox will expect to be given some Melbourne games to show in prime time, even if it is scheduled against a theoretically more tantalising the free-to-air game. Who knows, by Round 11 it is conceivable that it could be teams 1 and 2 on the ladder.

Wouldn't a night game in Melbourne be a better time slot for WA viewers than anything earlier?

We're still playing Brayshaw in defence. That's one spot that can be "freed up" for a defender with Brayshaw going back to the wing. But would we now do that? Brayshaw is playing excellent football off half-back and Jordon played his best game of the year, if not his career, on the wing as Brayshaw's replacement, against Port.

Conversely, where's the list for the last loss-less teams? I like the look of "2022 - MEL"

Or, he's being very smart. Knows he can't beat Gawn and Jackson so finds a way to avoid that embarrassment.

And #69 reads to me like he's absent without leave ("AWOL"). As an aside, isn't it great that our Senior players wear their MFC jumper number when playing in the Casey side? It really annoyed me when they didn't .I assumed it symptomatic of the old arrangement which showed that integration between the MFC and Casey Scorpions wasn't smooth sailing.

dee-tox - Son of Joeboy

Jake Bowey now holds the record with 11.

6. Gawn 5. May 3. Langdon 4. Jordon 5. Harmes 6. Sparrow The last vote could equally have gone to Neal-Bullen, Brayshaw or Viney.

I think Tom McDonald was our most influential forward last night. He got to more contests than Weideman and Fritsch and while he didn't take many marks, he brought the ball to ground when he was in the vicinity. It appeared to me that Port was able to defend more easily when the ball was kicked to any other forward. We should have kicked at least 15 goals last night. That we didn't was because of poor quality forward entries which was partly due to a propensity to bomb the ball forward, but also because of a lack of movement by the deep forwards which didn't give those bombing the ball better options. McDonald seemed to be the only one prepared to run around. On that basis, I'd bring back Brown for Weideman. At the other end, no change is required so even if Smith, Hibberd or Petty are ready, they'll have to cool their jets. When Salem is ready, he'll be an automatic in and should replace Brayshaw who will return to the wing. Who actually goes out will have to wait until Salem is ready.

Doesn't he own a farm as his "day job"?

Interesting article in today's The Guardian complimenting (yes, praising) Channel 7 for recognising the past limitations in its commentary teams and style and how it has recruited some new talent to refresh their product. I hope Jason Bennett, Alistair Nicholson and Daisy Pearce continue to be regular commentators and not just occasional fillers-in.

I don't mind night games on Fridays and Saturdays. But I absolutely detest night games on Thursday or Wednesday (except Anzac eve). I think the AFL is damaging football with Thursday night games because (1) there's too much football on TV overall and (2) it weakens the appeal of Friday night football. Surely someone will explain to the AFL Commission the concept of scarcity and how it adds value to any product.

Just think of me as a stats nerd.

I remember hearing that we won last year's GF with no 200-game players in the side. If that's correct, is it unusual? When did that last happen?

*cough* (and look who Liked the post, too)

We were much lower than that. Down in Hades (which, some might argue is the natural home of Demons)

That jar of Magic Beans should be tulip bulbs.

Non fungible tokens has to be the worst name since fracking.

I'm not taking a stand either for or against May or Smith. But it is relevant to point out that our defence relies on all defenders doing their bit (and the midfielders and the forwards, too). So, if a player kicks a goal on one particular defender, it may have been because another defender wasn't doing his job properly. For example, should Peter Wright have been able to take those leading marks or should another defender have blocked his space to prevent the lead? I realise that the defensive group can't stop every goal, but it's also unfair to say that every goal kicked can be linked to the defender who was nominally on that player at the time.

5 Premierships in 6 years is a record. (Hope we break it.)