Diamond_Jim

Makes sense... will they do it ? Australia’s second busiest gateway, Melbourne Airport, wants COVID-19 testing requirements for inbound international travellers relaxed, arguing they do little to protect public health at a time Australia is recording tens of thousands of new cases a day. https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/no-higher-risk-melbourne-airport-pushes-to-covid-19-test-rules-20220118-p59p3r.html TBH incoming tests for most countries are of little use. Plays well however to the local citizenry

Not without merit FT. Would love to see it trialed in say the amateurs. Mind you with best handballer in the league let's wait another three years.

The ball rarely re-appeared if kicked into the Collingwood fans at the Yarra Falls end.

Fremantle is a possibility. They should beat WCE twice which is always a help in the Derby cities. Mind you I think they are most likely a 6th ranked team and would need a stunning finals series a la Bulldogs 2016

A few years back (Goody was coach so it wasn't that long ago) I went to watch Frankston V Casey. It's a beautiful setting and the sausage sizzle at a dollar a snag was fantastic. The Frankston supporters however (luckily on the other side of the ground from me) were a real throwback to the old days. Have seen glimpses of it at the Port Melbourne ground but otherwise the crowds these days are almost genteel.

In my rewatch of the season I am just on the last game (Bulldogs) of the period in which we went 4-1-4. Three games out from the end of the season many had us ending fifth. Strangely enough I thought that one of our best quarters was the final quarter in our loss against GWS. A furious attacking quarter but we just couldn't get the ball through those middle posts. As the season went on you occasionally see flashes of that last 45 minutes of the GF but you would have to be kidding yourself to think that it will become our norm. To win a premiership you need to finish top 4 which will require us to almost match last season's wins and then you need to have a good finals series. I'm very hopeful for season 22 but it's certainly no given.

Remember the WWII US military signs stenciled around the old Southern Stand. TBH you have to wonder if other than the row of superboxes whether the new Southern stand was an improvement on the old one.

Perhaps Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture replete with canons to remind us of.... Bang Bang Bang !

Hard to judge what is an adequate crowd in the present environment but going forward I can't see Punt Rd Oval as a good venue for this comp. It simply has almost zero spectator space between the oval and the perimeter fence. There's some room behind the goals at the railway end but otherwise it's the one lovely old stand. Princes Park is a better venue perhaps.

That's definitely worth further discussion. I wonder who has control of the play list? And of course a big thanks to you and PF for a great report

TBH I don't see much of a net benefit to WA opening up pre April/May. If they can keep the Big O out for the rest of January why do a Queensland in February. There's no perfect time to open up but as Qld, SA etc found out now wasn't a good idea. Everything points to Omicron burning itself out by mid March (just in time for the next variant) WA teams moving to the east coast for 2 months is a small price especially if those games were designated as non home games allowing a string of home games later on.

Lynden Dunn at 50 surprises me. A solid team player in the 10-15 ranking of a season's 22... 50th best player over the last 50 years though ?? Great list though !

In a round about way they already have the "extra" players in the form of the VFL listed players. The issue is when would a club be able to access the top up players. Do you first have to exhaust your AFL uninjured list. Can you top up by reference to positions etc. Fixed rules could be a nightmare. My suggestion would be to use an MRP type body to make individual decisions based on "overall fairness". From left field should clubs have to lend players to other clubs as top ups. (Ruckmen come to mind)

I had wiped that Essendon debacle from my mind. Thanks for resurrecting it. It's one of those games where we can all remember where we were at the time. Personally my line these days is 36 points up five minutes* into the last quarter. *That's five mins on the timeclock or about ten minutes on the groundclock. Carlton (2018?) was a fun game

Having never been to the Whitten Oval I would be very interested in a food report and in particular a burger report from those attending. A wide range of food and beverage options will be available including the Bass Strait Beef Burger Bar, Pancake Parlour outlets and food trucks.