La Dee-vina Comedia

Glass half full approach: We only play as Narrm for two games a year. If that's the reason for losses, there are 21 other home and away games for which we should be fine.

Well, that was unexpected. I was sure it was going to be Petracca.

It's an interesting article. It's disappointing that there are apparently only 3 indigenous coaches in the AFL system at the moment. According to the article, the other two are Xavier Clarke at North and Jason Williams at Port. Has there ever been an indigenous senior coach? (Barry Cable? Polly Farmer?)

And yet Peter Ryan in The Age decided that Petracca was the fifth-best player on the ground and gave him 7 votes (with Reid, Waterman, Kelly and Barrass each getting 8 votes).

Sorry, but that's not true. This year we've added/tried Neal-Bullen, Salem and Pickett (for more centre bounces than in previous years). We've also tried Langdon nominally forward at centre bounces with Neal-Bullen on the wing. As to my opinion on changes for next week, given the assumption that Lever will only miss one match, I can't really see how moving Petty to the backline for a one week stop-gap role will help him regain form. In my view, he should either continue forward and relief ruck (unless its not good for his foot) or play at Casey. Tomlinson should come in for Lever. Langdon should replace Billings, unless Windsor needs a rest. Van Rooyen for Brown is the only other change I would make. (If Petty goes out, I'd play Tholstrup for a bit more mobility forward of the ball and to give the kid more experience.)

6. Neal-Bullen 5. Salem (the only "clean" Melbourne player all night) 4. Oliver 3. Petracca 2. Gawn 1. Viney The top three deserve their votes; the last three were just the best of the remainder.

I assume the number of flights is actually double...that is "there and back". Is that correct? Which raises a separate question: Do any clubs play a triangular (three flights) trip, such as Perth to Melbourne to Sydney then back to Perth, for example?

Which one is the myth? That we moved him on or that we offered him a three year deal? (Or neither of these options?)

One thing that has changed substantially since 1988 is the crowd. Notice from this still shot that no-one is wearing any gear that identifies who they support.

If the goal was to reduce congestion and/or speed up play (which I think are the same thing anyway), I can think of many other ways this can be achieved. Here are some suggestions which have been mentioned on Demonland many times before: get rid of the ruck nomination obligation don't wait for the ruckmen to arrive at a boundary throw-in before tossing the ball back into play severely reduce interchange numbers to tire players out more enforce 50m penalties when players hold on to their opponents unnecessarily after a mark or free kick is paid.

Apologies if you thought I was having a dig at you Old Dee. I was actually trying to say that "no Brain" meant the same thing as "no Brian Taylor".

I just misread your last word as "brain". Doesn't change the meaning one bit.

An interesting development in the US with Netflix to stream some NFL matches. It's apparently Netflix's first entry into live sport. I wonder whether Fox/Kayo will finally get some competition here? Would that be a good or a bad thing, if they did? https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/15/netflix-to-stream-holiday-nfl-games-for-three-years.html

Everybody is different and I'm not being judgmental. However, some people might find it restful and refreshing to be away from the family for a couple of days.

Bumping this thread solely to allow Zurich a bit more credit for taking a backseat.

Hey Demonland, for those whose memories aren't so good...could you also include the scores?

We need to remember that 12 days is the minimum time required to be out following a concussion. If it takes longer, so be it. Nevertheless, I hope van Rooyen only misses the one game.

I'm not convinced we need to replace van Rooyen with a tall if Petty and Turner both play. Tholstrup didn't look too off the pace in his sole appearance. I wouldn't mind seeing him given a second game. If Turner is out with a calf injury, though, we definitely need another tall to come in.

If Salem is fit, I'd bring him in for Chandler. Salem would play as a midfielder and Petracca forward in Chandler's place. And I'd definitely persist with ANB at centre bounces.

It depends entirely on the day of the week that the loss occurs. The earlier it is, especially if it's a Thursday night, the more I curse the AFL. Mind you, I detest Thursday night football (other than ANZAC Day eve or on any Thursday before a public holiday - which means the Thursday before Good Friday), so I'm already angry with the AFL anyway, whether we win or lose.

6. Petracca 5. Neal-Bullen 4. Sparrow 3. May 2. Gawn 1. Langdon Next would have been Windsor. What a great beginning to what I hope will be a long career.

Are you saying Frank Dunnell and Aaron Francis are mates of yours?

It's all in the way its counted. After all, Easter Sunday is the third day after Good Friday, yet there's only one day between them.

I'm not convinced about the "expected scores" stat because (apart from shots at goal after the siren at any quarter), the result of every kick for goal changes the next play. Every time a team kicks a behind, they give the ball back to the opposition. A more impressive analysis would point out that Melbourne is still trying to work out what its best forward mix is while all the while having won 6 out of 8 games. (Credit where it's due: This was stated by David King after round 7, obviously when it was a 5 out of 7 score line).

I was at the ground and it didn't look like that to me. Most of the time I thought it was Petracca or Pickett who lined up on Stewart.