Red and Bluebeard

We were sitting in level 2 behind the goals at the Punt Road end, so had a great view of it. That is a clear highlight I will remember for a long time. We thought Maxie's goal was going to be the highlight until that came along. Astonishingly quick thinking and a lesson in keeping going until the ball is actually out, not just likely to do so.

Or flatulance!

One of the wiser things I have heard Nathan Buckley say is that the indigenous players just see the game differently and play in a way that others don't seem to be able to. This is a great example of what he was talking about IMHO.

Because the head is sacrosanct, OD, unless it is Max in a ruck contest, in which case anything goes ...

Not at all. If anything, that is under-ambitious. I want us to win this year and the next three, so that we can match a certain unnameable clubs 'cakewalk' and sing about it in our song. The main issue for me is whether it is better for us to beat said club by less than a kick each time, [censored] then by 100+ points each time, or have them finish in the bottom four each time. I would settle for a mixture of these outcomes, though.

Keep up the great work fellas. Disco Turner forward was a move that none of us saw coming. Does he keep his place when BBB is fit again? Or does Petty make way, possibly to find some form? Assuming we don't play all of Disco, BBB, JVR and Petty in the same forward line, what is the best mix of forward talls? And for that matter, is Petty a better 2nd ruck than JVR?

Another great analysis Binman. I think it is also worth remembering that there are always unpredicatable factors at play as well --- an injury, a burst of form (or a sudden loss of it), a bad bounce, an umpire's call or a spilled mark. One of the key attractions of Aussie rules as a sport is that it is played with a ball that does not always bounce predictably, and that seems to keep an element of randomness in the outcomes. When I go along each game, I always want the Dees to win, but at another level, I know that it will not always be the case. If you like, I know we will lose some games each season, but never the next one :-) While we tend to win more than we lose these days, I can vividly recall times when that was not the case, and so when we won back then, it was always against the odds. I think there are always going to be some occasions which defy analysis despite your excellent work, ie "that was just the way the ball bounced". FWIW That is why the 2021 finals series was so special -- not just the drought-breaking aspect, worthy enough in its own right, but also because we handed out three drubbings, seemingly getting better each game. That is stuff of dreams!

I have to say that I find Thursday night football ridiculous. It not only plays havoc with the schedule, like this, but while I go along when it is here in Melbourne, it is not my favourite time for a game. I would be happy if we only ever play on Thursday when it is Anzac Eve. Otherwise, stuff it!

The ticketing process for this is much more circumurination than is necessary. I have three memberships in the family (youngest son, daughter and myself) and a fourth counting my brother-in-law. Anzac Eve is always a big night for us, with several others coming along for the occasion. So we now have a party of 10 including 4 members. The best I could book last night was Q52 row HH (ie almost at the back). This is okay, but I am sure it will be annoying on the night to think that we could easily have found better seats by waiting longer. We would have been happy to turn up early and take what we could find, so for us the whole ticketing process is just [censored].

Probably got them from ChatGPT for all the sense it makes ...

"His 207 games suspension-free puts him in a very small minority … only 668 players of the 13,125 who have played the game at the elite level have played 200 games," Gleeson said. "Almost half of those have been suspended for one match or more. Mr Cameron is clearly in the unusual category in this regard. Even by the "standards" of the Tribunal, the above doesn't make any sense. Gleeson's own words state that more than half of the players who have played 200 or more AFL games have not been suspended. So Charlie is somehow exceptional, along with at least 51% of 200+ game players (some 300+)? It would make far more sense to say "We just make up rules to suit, and we like Charlie, so he gets off because that's the vibe and that's the way we roll".

It will be great to see the Kolt in action, and being school holidays should help increase the crowd. But Thursday night football is still [censored].

Good stuff WCW. Keep doing what you do. Crankers gonna crank ...

Well, you wouldn't want someone to provide evidence that contradicts your foregone conclusion reached a long time ago, would you?

Is it just me, or does that mean the AFL is a totally irony-free zone? Or just proof that they don't get it at all, and make up whatever [censored] suits them ona case by case basis? If Gus Brayshaw or anyone related to him saw the above, I don't think the reaction would be pretty ..

Laurie Fowler says hello, and Carl Ditterich grunts on the way past ... 😁

Because then it was a big club in a final, and in that case nothing else, including common since, matters.

Great stuff as usual guys --- please keep up the good work! Assuming May is out for the Adelaide game, where does Petty play? Having him forward in the second half seemed to work better for us than having him back in the first half. So do we start him back and swing him forward if need be? Or start him forward anyway (which I presume is what will happen once May returns).

Injuries to May and Lever would normally make us panic. What will be our approach now? In the longer term, what should be our succession plan?

"You either love or hate it, depending on the score ..."

You know what they say -- never complain about growing old, as many don't get the chance.

I am with you Binman. Webster deserves a penalty. But it seems 4-5 weeks is par for what he did. For me this stinks of the AFL going hard in the pre-season on minnow clubs. I'll know they are serious when they dish out the same penalty for a Carlton or Collingwood player in a final. By about round 5, they will have forgotten all about head bumps and concussion, unless another player unfortunately cops one. It seems likely that if the order of the Powell-Pepper and Webster bumps were reversed, then Webster would have got 4 and Powell-Pepper 7.

Is that like a banana but from the opposite pocket? 😆

Good thanks OD. Keeping out of trouble. Looking forward to the game this week. And you? The grand-daughter must getting taller by the day!

You have zen-like explanations like "You must unask the question" and "Embrace the essential nothiness" and "It is in asking the question that you will find your own answer". Perhaps you can ask "What is it about this thread?" rather than "What is this thread about?". Or, like most of us here, you can just shrug your shoulders, accept it is a mystery and join in the fun! Note that this is the only thread on Demonland that can't be derailed, by definition ...