La Dee-vina Comedia

Is the floating fixture combined with inconsistent starting times a reason for poorer attendances? I'd like to say so, but that could just be confirmation bias on my part. One thing to keep in mind is that hard core footy followers keep a track of what's going on with their team. Similarly, football media, because it's their job, know what's going on. It's the occasional footy goer who might be finding it all a bit too hard at the moment to keep track of when and where their team is playing. As to Andrew Pridham's point, I disagree. The CEO is the CEO until he leaves. He needs to make decisions until the day he's out the door.

Is it safe to point out that if your younger brother is over 160 years old, that makes his older sister, well, older than that.

Wow. The club is over 160 years old. I dare not make any further comment. It might be seen as impolite.

I was at the game and don't recall hearing any booing of Hogan. He showed his trademark body language when the ball wasn't delivered properly...but that was the story of the night. GWS looked more than competent with their disposal between the 50m arcs but their final disposals into the forward line were woeful all evening. Neither Hogan nor Himmelberg (or even Haynes when he went forward) could get the ball because the delivery to them was so poor.

Will we have more or fewer at the St Kilda game than at the GWS game? It's a 1.10pm game at the MCG on Mothers Day. Dreadful timeslot.

I was at the ground and haven't seen the TV replay, but at the time I thought the spoil was perfect. Watching the replay on the scoreboard I thought Petty's arm might have given Hogan an ear massage, although it was not possible to be sure. If a review system similar to cricket was in place, I think it would have been "umpire's call".

You shamer, you

Shout out to cricket which allows illegal bowling actions to be called legal if the player who throws happens to be good at it.

Based on last night's performance, he might have decided to make a run for the Coleman, too.

As far as I can recall there have been six Abletts: Gary Sr, Kevin and Geoff of the earlier generation; Gary Jr and Nathan of the next generation plus Luke. And the surname goalkicking total gets a good head-start with Gary Sr having kicked over a thousand. There are a few more Johnsons to add to your list, though including Wayne, Paul and Tassie.

I am in no doubt the AFL scheduled us against GWS last night precisely because it was in the middle of Easter when they would have expected a lower attendance.

What about Ablett? Or Matthews?

My opinion is that it's a bigger issue than just last night. Footy crowds generally seem to be down this year. I don't see the usual emotion around football as a must-see, must-talk about event. I wonder if this is something to do with more people working from home and thereby losing the social contact which generates enthusiasm? In addition, I have no doubt that many people have taken the opportunity to travel out of Melbourne for this Easter break. I know a few die-hard Demons who usually attend home games who are interstate this weekend. Finally, there are too many night games on free-to-air TV. In particular, I think Thursday night football is diminishing the appetite for the game so by the time Saturday night comes around, people have had their fill already for this particular week's consumption. I've said it before, Channel 7 is a corporate mess and does not appreciate the economic value of scarcity. The AFL should be much more resistant to Channel 7's demands and if it costs money in the short term, the product will be better in the long-term. The AFL is the guardian of the product and needs to ensure its sustainability, something Channel 7 does not care about.

Jake Bowey now holds the record with 12.

6. Gawn 5. May 4. Petracca 3. Spargo 2. Oliver 1. Harmes

I'd rather see Laurie than Dunstan. I want us to give the newbies opportunities. If that means Jordon, ANB and Harmes spend more time in the midfield while Laurie stays forward, I'm fine with that.

Chris Daws. And like Lewis and Cross, added credibility to us as a destination and appeared to improve the professionalism of the club. Although wasn't a great on-field performer.

The other advantage for Petracca not playing this weekend (or anyone else who might be sore) is that because our previous game was a Wednesday night and our following game is a Sunday night (ANZAC eve), there are 17 days between those two. Missing this week provides a longer than usual break to aid recovery.

Correct. Look at it the other way around. Look how many games sons have played whose fathers' played zero games. That's most of the competition, after all.

Petracca has had two quiet games (by his standard) the last two weeks. It has been easy to put that down to intensive tagging by the opposition, but perhaps he's been playing with a troublesome knee. If so, I'd like to see him rested to get his knee right. I think we have sufficient options available to do so, such as moving Brayshaw or Jordon into the midfield and then filling the gap that creates with Smith (if we need a defender) or maybe Laurie if we need a wingman (even if Laurie plays forward and Neal-Bullen moves to the wing. Alternatively, Jordon could remain on the wing and ANB could be a mid-fielder for a week). It's nice to have some options.

What do you do with the jumpers? Do you wear them? Frame them? Store them in a safe place to eventually hand over to grandchildren? All of the above?

That is a pathetically contrived, tortuous headline, though.

Bump George Christensen channelling former Melbourne President, Joe Gutnick

You've asked a reasonable question. The best answer I can give is that what I really want is consistent starting times. If it's always on the quarter hour, there are only four times to remember, on the 10 minutes only six. The five minute option has 12. (I did say it was a minor gripe.)

I suspect it has a lot to do with it. A 2.35pm start in Perth makes it a more premium time than it might seem here in Victoria. Interesting that people are referring to the 4.35pm Saturday timeslot as "graveyard". On a Sunday I can understand, but why do (some) people think it is that on a Saturday? My gripe is a tiny one in the overall scheme of things...why 4.35pm and not 4.30pm or 4.40pm? To my way of thinking, either all games should start on the quarter hour (ie, xx00, xx15, xx30 or xx45) or all games should start on the 10 minute mark (xx10, xx20, xx30 etc). And every night game should start at the same time whether it's 7.15 or 7.30 or whatever.