Lucifers Hero

The AFL has asked Richmond to spend the next 3 weeks playing interstate, moving the blockbuster Dreamtime game to Perth. The AFL would not surrender that game from the G lightly. One could be forgiven for thinking they have a 'heads up' from the Vic gov't that this time the covid lockdown might go on for a while. That we have gone straight to Stage 3 lockdown, which wasn't the case in the last two 'mini' lockdowns, also hints that this time lockdown might be prolonged.

Agree, tag Mcrae (Harmes). We could play Bont like we did Dusty: have a midfielder 'stand him' (a big ask for Jordon; maybe Melksham) when in the middle and let Hibberd close tag him when he goes forward. Those moves won't stop the Bulldogs entirely but they may be enough to stifle their forward forays and slow down their ball movement, giving our defence more time to structure up when they do get the clearances. Bevo is not shy about making in game changes so if our tactics work he will make moves to counteract them. We need to be very alert to his tactics. Not give it a quarter to see how it pans out like we have in the past, by which time they will pile on a bunch of goals and the game is gone.

Agreed rjay. Its just that people (not necessarily DL's) are demanding them 'now' and not all state governments want them. Lots of water to go under the bridge before or if state governments can agree on the way forward. I've read that the fed gov is working with Vic gov to build a centre at Mickleham, much to the angst of local residents, which is a start. But in the meantime...

Both the Adelaide game and the Dream time game were to be at the G. Now they are interstate and spend two weeks on the road. Three weeks if they stay in Perth, as is likely, to play Eagles the following round (and delay their bye for a week). Karma for whingeing about playing games at Marvel!! No point whingeing again as they won't get any sympathy from the AFL. A fox footy report saying the AFL isn't happy with their Marvel comments and trying to whitewash the Bolton punch up. Fox footy quoted Caroline Wilson as saying the large Bolton and club fines were because of the whitewash attempt and the Marvel and umpire whingeing. That should keep Hardwick quiet for a while.

I think there are lots of options. The dedicated facility is one but unfortunately that is not an option in the short-term. In the meantime it would help if they took +'ve people out of the quarantine hotels into a medi-hotel so that it doesn't spread thru the ventilation system of the quarantine hotel. And, fix the hotel ventilation systems. Neither Vic nor NSW have had a hotel outbreak since they fixed them. WA didn't learn from the Vic and NSW hotel outbreaks and failed to upgrade the hotel ventilation systems. The WA government had been warned by its own investigators there were problems with the ventilation system of the hotel that had their recent outbreak. While not yet stated it seems SA didn't learn it either so the Wollert man caught it there. And how good is SA's covid testing that someone with it is allowed to leave the hotel. Complacency by WA and SA, perhaps? Until there are better facilities, all states need to learn from each other and implement changes that will improve what we have in hotels.

The Dees/Ess Sunday game last year was postponed because McKenna tested positive on the Friday and the Saturday. It was a new situation and no time to develop contingencies. iirc McKenna had been in the weights room and attend meetings with his 'group'. The health department ticked this off as being ok and other Ess players did not need to isolate for 14 days. Unless one of our players or officials tests positive I see no reason why tomorrow night's game should not go ahead.

True, not yet and it may never be proven. This comment: "I don't think this error has had any bearing on this outbreak" didn't allow for the possibility that they are connected or that the 2 week delay might be detrimental to preventing an outbreak.

I don't wish to become the 'defender of the federal government' here but context is important. I believe you are correct in that they have direct responsibility for quarantine and border security. I'm not so sure of their powers on how far that is identification of infectious diseases vs treatment and implementation of solutions. It is a grey area where those quarantine obligations end and where state governments responsibility for Health administration start. It is my understanding that is why States undertook to implement the hotel quarantine program - the fed gov has no health administration capability. The States control all the health industry staff. The feds supplied some defence staff for Howard Springs but that is being handed over to NT who are having serious difficulty in finding the right type and the quantity of staff needed. But lets assume the feds did build quarantine centers in each state where do they get the doctors, security, cleaners, drivers, chefs, check in/out staff etc etc. The virus is getting out of hotels through staff or human error in administration. I'm not saying we should not move quarantine out of hotels. Simply saying that the feds taking over quarantine management or moving to purpose built quarantine centres will not stop the virus escaping from them. Workers take it out and spread it to colleagues, families and friends. Unless workers live in the quarantine centers it will still get out. Even then there are the drivers etc to and from airports that can catch and spread it. I just think there is no simple fix and fed managed remote centers isn't the panacea people (not saying yourself) suggest it is.

This outbreak is linked back to SA. SA have said they don't want a Federal quarantine center and will keep using hotels. The federal government has no constitutional powers to direct state governments on what they should do. A change of geography won't stop this happening again.

Perhaps he didn't wait because our Prime Minister and Opposition Leader are classified as 'essential services' so were early receivers of Pfizer. I prefer they both had Pfizer early than risk our government falling into disarray because they fell ill. Anyway, I've said my piece so I'll move on.

The geonome testing has directly connected the current outbreak to tthe Wollert man. He went to the Epping North Woolworths. Instead, the Epping Woolworths was listed as an exposure site so people who went there went for testing and were found to be negative. Those that went to Epping North weren't required to be tested for the two weeks until the error was discovered. Now we have many positive tests. All roads lead back to the Wollert man.

Technically, yes. But supermarkets and shopping centers were in the 'recommended' use category rather than the 'mandatory' category like restaurants and cafes. Also, there was no obligation to use the Vic gov QR app altho I believe this has recently or is about to change with this new outbreak. I'm afraid it is a 'closing the door after the horse has bolted' situation.

Just a small clarification. It started with a man in his 40's who contracted covid while in quarantine in South Australia returning to Victoria. Unfortunately, the Vic contact tracers identified the wrong Epping Woolworths as an exposure site for him. It took two weeks (May 21) for them to realise the error by which time the virus had spread to others. Contract tracing really need to lift their game in this state.

This is what you wrote: Apparently Scomo feels differently FD. Over 50 yet still went for Pfizer. Do as i say but don't do as i do! Hardly great leadership is it and might explain why there's a reluctance in the over 50s to take up AZ. How does one extra candle on the birthday cake apparently make you blood clot free risk free or substantially so anyway? Ridiculous call by this Govt and it's flakey leader. It only has itself and himself to blame. Stop blaming the masses.... https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.9news.com.au/article/000380d5-c386-428b-a234-5170af611307 https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.9news.com.au/article/d9114b7f-2bce-4204-9793-dcd109e67f11 Then the backflip on Sunday.... https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/two-million-pfizer-doses-a-week-from-october-enough-for-everyone-by-christmas-20210521-p57u25.html I was simply clarifying why Morrison and Albanese had Pfizer and that Morrison, his family and the Opposition were following the rules. Can't see how that falls into the Do as i say but don't do as i do category. My clarification was to state some facts and my 'political persuasion' should not be assumed. .

I've heard on the ABC that at some 'mass vac' sites, if younger people turn up there late in the day they will get the AZ vac's if there is a surplus on that day. A few 'ifs' there but may be worth checking out in your area.

Browne hedging his bets as usual. This is a time when being 'first' with a story can be damaging to the well being of AFL families who would be affected. Browne needs to chill.

To be fair at the time, he had the Pfizer I'm not sure the AZ had been approved by our authorities. Even if AZ had been approved it is worth noting that Albanese also had a Pfizer shott and has now had his second albanese-gets-his-second-pfizer I'm happy for our country's leaders to be vaccinated as early as possible. Btw, Morrison's wife, mother and mother-in-law have had the AZ. His daughters haven't been vaccinated as they are not age eligible. Balanced posting on such a critical subject would be useful.

Fortunately rounds 12 to 14 include a bye round for each club. So there is a fair amount of wriggle room for the AFL to reschedule games without jeopardising the second half of the season. For us the impact of the current covid outbreak doesn't look too bad: It looks like tomorrow night's game will go ahead. If the Lions game isn't at Alice or the G it will be i/state and if in Qld most probably at Metricon as the neutral ground. If we need to temporarily relocate we will have time to prepare. Hopefully, it is all sorted by the QB game at the G. Then we have a bye. Being 2 games and % ahead of 3rd and 4th on the ladder holds us in good stead. Given we are a top two team we should get the benefit of favourable travel and game intervals, if there is a condensed fixture in the future. So overall we are well placed and much better placed than a lot of other teams to deal with whatever covid brings. As fans we need to accept covid is beyond our control and be happy of where we sit relative to other teams.

Brendan Mccartney discusses WBD and the Dees dogs-are-better-but-so-are-the-dees-says This is what really caught my eye. “And Christian’s closer connection to (Clayton) Oliver has been good,” he said. “He’s dragged him along with him. There’s healthy competition between them. They’re not cutting each other out of the game, but they’re drawing inspiration from each other.” Clearly Petracca is quite influential with teammates. Wouldn't the young players really love him for washing the milk of Chandler's face; the impression for a young player being: ' he will look after me'. I don't think we will lose Oliver or any players we want to keep while he is with us which is the next 8 years! I mentioned it a few weeks ago in another thread: Petracca is captain material and wouldn't be surprised if he succeeds Max or is a co VC in the next year or two. His leadership qualities are more apparent as each weak goes by. Back to the thread title. Oliver and Petracca may not be the best midfield yet nor reach the heights of the Lions/Eagles midfield in their day. But they will certainly be at the top of the tree for the rest of this decade.

Key Position Forward . Similarly, kpd is Key Position Defender.

Oliver has another perfect 10! And taken the lead!! One of these days he will get the recognition he deserves from the media and the rest of the industry. And, hopefully from umpires when they do their Brownlow voting. The votes for Keays and Seedsman show where the damage was done by the Crows Votes 10 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 7 Ben Keays (ADEL) 7 Paul Seedsman (ADEL) 2 Jake Lever (MELB) 2 Taylor Walker (ADEL) 1 Christian Petracca (MELB) 1 Ed Langdon (MELB) Coaches Split: 5/5 Oliver 4/3 Keys/ Seedsman 2/0 Lever, Walker 1/0 Petracca, Langdon. Leaderboard Surprisingly, Petracca has dropped off the leaderboard. 52 Clayton Oliver MELB 50 Marcus Bontempelli WB 50 Hugh McCluggage BL 44 Samuel Walsh CARL 39 David Mundy FRE 38 Darcy Parish ESS 37 Jarryd Lyons BL 37 Touk Miller GCFC 36 Zach Merrett ESS 36 Ollie Wines PORT 34 Max Gawn MELB 33 Jacob Hopper GWS 33 Jack Macrae WB 33 Christian Salem MELB 32 Tim Kelly WCE 32 Dustin Martin RICH 30 Travis Boak PORT 30 Mitch Duncan GEEL 30 Cameron Guthrie GEEL 30 Taylor Walker ADEL

Richmond quietly slipped out of the 8 this week...may they stay there!!

More likely his info is from reading DL.

Being one of the teams that adapted to the kick in change and the general 'stand' on the mark rule it helped us early in the season. It certainly helped us transition the ball end to end. How many times did we see Langdon and Hunt speed and overlap down the wing. It was a joy to watch. We are still going end to end but (without checking stats) it doesn't seem so frequent . There were a few teams that also made the most of the extra distance at kick-ins and the ''stand' rule in general: Bulldogs, Port and Sydney. However, most clubs have now developed tactics to defend both the kick in and the territory around the man standing the mark in general. And learnt how to use the new rules to their advantage. These are key reasons why Cats and Lions have improved so much in the last 4-6 games. It is no coincidence that those teams that adapted to the new rules in the season so far, are the top 7 on the ladder Not sure Richmond have adapted but they are the 'Bradbury' team at the moment in 8th spot. They will adapt. We had a head start but we need to keep refining our tactics and adapt to counter tactics. The tests will come vs Lions, Port, Bulldogs (x2), Eagles, Cats (again). They will be fascinating games to watch as they have the best and smartest coaches. They will put a lot of work into us and our game plan. From now on I don't see the rule changes giving us an advantage.

Can't comment on any issues in his youth at Wang but the issue at the Dees was very minor. iirc it wasn't an accident. He had a + alcohol reading while on P plates (should be zero). He was not over .05 which means he could not have had many drinks. I'm not condoning his mistake, just giving more context to your statement. There was no police action. The club asked him to get education and he apologised to the team. His behaviour since the + reading has been exemplary on and off the field. He is one of our hardest trainers and takes his football very seriously. I'm sure you don't intend to cast dispersion on his character but claims about 'issues' need a bit more substance.