La Dee-vina Comedia

Impressed with the veggie patch

For years I've been travelling from the south-east to Melbourne airport along CityLink past the Toyota Melbourne HQ where they have 18 flagpoles with the team flags flying in ladder order. I've been used to us being toward the western end of the flagpoles. This year I haven't been on that road once so missed seeing us positioned most of the time as the first flag you see when travelling west. I hope our team flag is up there now and still there until at least Round 1 2022, and hopefully longer.

You're expecting him to play in another 19 premierships?

I'm somewhat disappointed that Dante and me - given the relationship of our names - aren't quite communicating. We should be like brothers in arms, rather than heading towards a Cain and Abel situation. In fact, we all should be. Let's move on from this pointless back-and-forth and be grateful that here in Melbourne at 6pm today we leave the inferno. (Did you see what I did there?)

I understand what you're saying, I'm just not sure I agree that we don't want those types of goals.

Um, yes. I'm interested in knowing what your parameters for success and failure are. For example, if Victoria is the worst State in Australia but still better than 95% of the rest of the world (and I'm not saying that it has been), is that still bad?

Isn't there an argument that taking the ball 80 metres from goal may reduce scoring? It helps the team kicking in from a behind, but the team that scored that behind has to work harder to get another scoring opportunity. I'm not convinced the rule does what's intended. I am convinced, though, that having precise kickers, such as May and Salem, can make great use of the benefits that rule gives them.

I've just remembered George On The Outer. Clubhouse leader as our most famous George (apart from George Gawn, of course).

How do you think Victoria has managed Covid compared with other non-Australian locations?

It's a given that the middle name is named after one of our modern greats. But who is George? Who is the most famous George associated with the MFC?

I'm happy to keep the rule although it makes the game seem a bit unnatural at times because the man on the mark is so static. However, I've often wondered whether it was ever really necessary. I would have rather seen a crackdown on the player who lost the marking contest or gave away a free kick (who I'll call Player B for the sake of this discussion) from impeding the player with the ball (Player A). How often do we see Player B holding on to Player A to stop them from moving? How often does Player B stand or crouch over the ball to stop it being returned quickly to Player A? Fix that with 50m penalties and the "stand" rule may not be needed.

You would have laughed at which bit? That we'd have a Premiership within 3 years or that ANB would be a part of it?

To be fair to Sky News, I think most news services would have reported it in the same way. Our media always likes to go with the most extreme version of events. Says as much about the susceptibility and gullibility of the audience as it does about those who determine what we see and hear as "news".

I note that McGowan didn't actually say June. Rather, that's how Sky News reported it. He actually said first half of the year, so it could open on 1 January 2022.

My magic moment is just a little later when Jackson plants a handball so perfectly in Oliver's grasp that he doesn't even need to change his rhythm as he runs towards goal. That is as precise a single piece of play as I have ever seen.

Your wife is confusing Matthew McConaughey with Heath Ledger:

I seem to recall Jim Stynes claiming the move by Jurrah from the outback to Melbourne was a bigger culture shock for Jurrah than Stynes moving from Dublin to Melbourne. And I don't think the media took that comment seriously.

I'm interested in a couple of the bigger picture parts to this story. There's a reference to a requirement that all AFL clubs have an indigenous liaison officer. My questions, which are really quite simple for anyone in the know are as follows: is this the role Matthew Whelan has? if so, for how long has he been doing it? I gather Jetta is now doing this at Collingwood. Did Collingwood have someone else doing this role before Jetta, or is he that club's first indigenous liaison officer? The answers to the above might shed some light on the relative values of Melbourne and Collingwood.

And I suspect that extra burden isn't helping Silvagni III. (Although it clearly didn't hinder SOS).

You've got me thinking. Which commentator (of any sport) would I like to have heard commentating on the last half of Q3? Maybe Murray Walker from F1 for excitement? or Phil Ligget for precision?

I was hoping for different commentators.

Why? There have been plenty of successful father-son combinations across the competition where the son has not worn his father's jumper number - such as the two Gary Abletts, Tim and Jobe Watson and Ken and Dustin Fletcher, just to name a few. (I actually can't think of a combination where the father and son wore the same number.) I suspect it's hard enough to follow in a successful father's footsteps at the same club without being burdened with the same number.

Indeed, the Cardinal of Manila was Cardinal Sin. I still remember that at the same time there was another public figure in the Philippines by the name of Miss Concepcion.

In AFL media speak, this is one of the expressions that doesn't have an opposite. The media will regularly tell us who the "good clubs" are but never who the "bad clubs" are. Similarly, we regularly hear when someone is lucky because they play with a team with a "good coach" but we never hear about a player being unlucky to have a "bad coach". I suspect the same media types don't believe in Isaac Newton's Third Law, either.

Everybody's different. Some will need a longer break than others, either to allow for physical recovery or a mental recharge. Hopefully, those that need a bit longer don't feel compelled to cut short their allowable break.