La Dee-vina Comedia

Having Luke Beveridge in the WhatsApp group might have been a bit awkward in September last year.

If the umpires are paying free kicks that should be paid and not paying the ones they shouldn't, they are not influencing momentum within games. The players giving away the free kicks are.

At least Dunstan has seen the example of Ben Brown. Brown had to work hard to get his fitness level up and spend a lot of time at Casey in 2021 before settling in to the senior team. From that experience, Dunstan should understand what he needs to do to have a chance of playing senior footy. He would also have seen what happened to Hunt. Played all year until injured late and couldn't get back into the side for the GF. That could happen to any of our midfielders, so Dunstan needs to be ready to take his chance should it come his way.

In your team, we only have 8 backmen if Hunt plays if Brayshaw remains at half-back. have you considered moving Brayshaw back to the wing in place of Sparrow, who could go to the bench in place of Bedford or Jordon? The question really becomes, should Hunt play instead of Bedford or Jordon?

Grinter talked on The Front Bar about a WhatsApp group of 100+ former Melbourne players. I wonder whether ex-players actively involved with other clubs, such as Luke Beveridge, Neville Jetta and Shannon Byrnes are in that group?

I was at the MCG. I must watch the replay to see what I missed with Spargo's game. Given the comments here, he must have done a lot more than I can recall seeing.

Salem spent less time on the ground last night than Ron Barassi.

I'm guessing 640MD meant Bedford.

Seemed to be playing half-forward for much of the night. Whether that was to change their on-ball mix (a polite way of saying whether he'd been demoted from that role following the pasting they received in the GF) or he had a particular role, such as tagging one of our defenders, I couldn't tell.

Irrespective of the disparity in number, I was more concerned about the inconsistency. I thought, overall, the umpires had a poor night. To be fair, the quality of the football was inferior to last year's Grand Final, too, with a lot more fumbling and poor disposals. Hopefully, both the quality of umpiring and football will improve next week.

Wouldn't that mean that most people wouldn't know which variant they've caught? It might be different for footballers, though, with the presence of club doctors and access to all sorts of medical specialists.

How do you know, if you have Covid, which variant it is, let alone know if you've had the same variant twice? I haven't had Covid, so don't know what I'm looking for.

Why do you have that picture of Chris Scott as your avatar?

I've never heard him speak before. He was highly entertaining, without being at any way buffoonish. Clearly a solid Melbourne man. I have great respect for all footballers, but those that played for us in the dark days between the mid-1960s and mid- 1980s and have stayed loyal to the club ever since deserve special credit.

Welcome back Joeboy

What was his role last night? That's not being flippant, but he seemed to be doing more than just playing "small forward" but wasn't really on-ball either. He doesn't seem to have a strong enough body to be anything than a small forward. As to team selections for next week, if Lever doesn't play, does Tom McDonald remain in defence (where I thought he was more than serviceable) and Weideman play forward? There were time last night when Brown was off the ground that we had no talls in the forward line.

6. Petracca 5. Oliver 4. Neal-Bullen 3. Brayshaw 2. Langdon 1. Brown It was the best game I've seen Smith* play, but am surprised to see how many people gave him votes. I would have a few others not in my votes (Gawn, May, Jackson) ahead of him, too. *Best game I've seen Bailey Smith play, too.

Just looking at that photo, did Max have to pay extra for excess baggage?

It's a little thing, but what's going on with the font changes in the article? Old-fashioned typesetters certainly earning their money.

His bright red hair might help him stand out. And expect media commentators to refer consistently to him as having "won a Premiership in only his seventh game".

How quickly time passes. I couldn't believe it when I read he was 27 years old.

Gawn, Pendlebury and Martin are automatic AA selections until they're not. That is, until they're past it. My prediction is that neither Pendlebury or Martin will be AA this year.

For reasons I don't understand pre-season tips for Rising Star winners invariably seems to be one of the best credentialled first-year players. I'd choose an eligible second year player every time. More likely to get consistent game time and will be significantly fitter and stronger than first-year players. Luke Jackson is a perfect example.

Your reports always have bite. (And, seriously, they're much appreciated).

Drove past Gosch's paddock over the weekend. I know it's meant to have some similarity to Marvel Stadium, but I think they've taken it too far with the sandy surface very similar to Colonial Stadium circa 2001.