autocol

He's not afraid to absolutely smash a pack in the air when he needs to, either.

Keep up the good work, Chook.

Melbourne prides itself on being the sporting capital of Australia, if not the southern hemisphere. We can justifiably make claims to that position by hosting the F1, the tennis, the Ashes, the grand final, etc. Being able to say that the centrepiece of Melbourne sport - the MCG - is the most checked-in stadium in the world, would be an enormous boon to the people marketing Melbourne to international visitors. Just as Fenway Park and Wrigley Field legitimately help draw people to their respective cities, so too should the MCG attract sporting enthusiasts to Melbourne. With the title of "most checked-in stadium in the world" genuinely within reach, they'd be crazy not to try.

Cam Pedersen - 27 years old, would have been delisted last year by 99% of the people on this site. This year playing as a monstrous, mobile CHF who is destroying midfielders bodies and clunking marks all over the ground. Jake Spencer - 24 years old, would have been delisted last year by 99% of the people on this site. On that measure alone, I expect Roos to turn him into the AA ruckman by 2016 (and we've already seen his willingness to destroy midfielders bodies. That horse-collar tackle on Chris Yarran was a sight to behold).

You know Jazza, for a hopeless misogynist, the plan you laid out for expanding women's footy just now is quite comprehensive and rather brilliant. Kudos to you, sir. Nasher, I know, and I figured you weren't kidding last time. To be honest, it's not swearing that I think destroys forums like this. It's the small group of usual suspects who steamroll every single thread with the same droll, disingenuous drivel which interests no-one but themselves. Every. Single. Thread. It frustrates me no end, because there's info on these pages you can't find anywhere else, but the time it takes to wade through the c-r-a-p makes it difficult to enjoy, sometimes. I'm certainly not putting up my hand. I'm actually the administrator of a popular special interest forum of my own, so I'm intimately aware of how challenging it can be. (My forum has a very similar crew of steamrollers too, but as I make a profit from it, I'm never shy to put them in their place when the need arises).

Are you serious? There's everything wrong with censoring the word g a y. G a y people exist, and they have a right to be able to refer to themselves in public. It's not like f a g g o t which is only used to discriminate. G a y is a completely normal word to describe a completely normal thing, and censoring the word just continues to marginalise it. This site is woefully moderated anyway, so I don't know why I'm acting surprised.

My favourite bit so far is the physical stuff. Strong shepherds, etc. He made Ebert look like a kid.

MODS: The letters "g", "a", and "y" in a row should NOT be censored on this site. That is not a derogatory term. The fact that you're censoring f-l-o-g is rather laughable, but censoring the word "g-a-y" is DOWNRIGHT OFFENSIVE. I am not kidding. That is totally unacceptable.

You know, posts like this (and the "I'm gay, so what?" article post on Bigfooty) give me hope about our social future. Firstly, however, let me acknowledge Peta Searle on an incredible achievement, lifting the glass ceiling steadily higher. It's something to be truly admired. What I also admire, however, is the way in which our society now leaps out to defend these sorts of people, and not in a reactionary "shoosh we have to be politically correct" kind of way... but actually pointing out the logical fallacies utilised by those making these mistakes, and helping to educate them (from their almost universal position of white, anglo-saxon, christian-derived, heterosexual male) about the difficulties of living in a minority. Congratulations to all of you. If a bunch of mongrel footy fans can be this compassionate, then the human race has a bright future. Jazza, your argument seems to be "I'm not sexist, but the football industry is". None of us are arguing that the football industry ISN'T sexist right now - it plainly is! I get the sense that if you personally truly weren't sexist, however, you'd be celebrating Peta's achievement of bringing the industry a step closer to equality. Clearly, you're not. Perhaps you should ask yourself why. Whether it takes more or less than 20 years, I believe that there will be a female senior coach in the AFL in the not-too-distant future. As for this whole "hasn't played at the top level" argument... who would you prefer to be your race engineer? Sebastian Vettel, or Christian Horner? Being a good "doer" and being a good "teacher" are entirely different skills, and the former does not automatically beget the latter.

Well, no, the assumption is if we'd kept West Coast to the same average score as we have kept everyone else. It's an interesting point, I think. Other than one (spectacular) lapse, we've performed a total flip defensively.

You're trying to tell me the recruiting department of a multi-million dollar organisation is going to make hiring decisions based on the love life of their mentally-suspect colleague's daughter...? Riiiiiiiiight.

Huge mistake? He's sounding happier and healthier than he has in at least a year, possibly more. His decision to retire cannot in any way be construed as a mistake.

Dunn was fantastic last year. Read back through this thread* and you'll a couple of us trying to convince you fellas but you wouldn't listen. Now you're all crediting Roosy, which is pretty unfair on Dunny himself I think. Yes, he's flourishing under Roos because the whole team is functioning as a unit, but he was well and truly committed (and playing well) long before Roosy took over. * Machsy in particular will love that thread.

He's still an utter [censored]. (Oh fine, auto-censor, he's a terrible journalist with no insight, no expertise, and worst of all, no integrity. I'd say that's more offensive than calling him a f-l-o-g, but there you go).

Errr, wut? The draft picks you'd have to add to Jake Spencer to secure Nat Fyfe are picks 1 and 2. He's likely to be the best player in the game for the next 8 years! He's worth pick 1 and James Frawley.

Wut? .... No. We couldn't be 7-2. You can't say "we should have won" this game or that game and chalk them up as a victory when assessing the coach. We're at 3-6, which is a super, super improvement on last year. Vince and Cross were both great players already, you can't give Roos all the credit for them continuing to play how they always played. Adelaide had to move someone on to cover their draft sanctions, Crossy was still excellent at the Dogs, but they have an embarrassment of riches in young, hard-nosed midfielders so they were able to move on the old warrior. Has Roosy been absolutely brilliant? Yes, but you're adding sugar on top where none is required, the reality of the situation is amazing enough as it is.

Whilst I agree that Grimes' disposal is pretty bad (I believe I yelled "turnover specialist" in the third quarter), what I noticed from the replay is that Dusty's influence on the game was almost entirely quelled when Grimes took the job. He'd been absolutely feasting on us up to that point, and Grimes took him (for the most part) out of the game. Roosy also singled Grimes out in the presser as having had a great game, so I'm not sure that he deserves worst-on-ground billing.

I think - whatever happens - we'll always look back with fondness to his "horse collar" tackle on Jeff Garlett earlier this year. That was a sight to behold.

Great observation Machsy. Very similar build, very similar impact. Pedo is probably a few cm shorter than Brown, but his efforts in the ruck are pretty serviceable anyway, I think. I reckon he plays a bit like Jarryd Roughhead when in the middle of the ground too, like a huge midfielder. I'm thinking we picked Gysberts with the pick we got for McLean.

I reckon Spencer has enough physical gifts to combine with his prodigious work-rate to mean he'll get there. I'm still backing him. We need him to step up in time for Jamar's retirement.

Having listened to him speak, I don't see any reason why his articles wouldn't be his own work. He's an articulate, intelligent guy.

Based on what? On the fact that he starts every game as one of the 18 players on the ground. Last I checked, that makes him "Starting 18". When was the last time he was omitted from the side due to form? (Has he ever been omitted due to form?)

With a list of 40 players, average contract length of 2.5 years, every year 16 come out of contract. Those blokes coming out of contract at the end of next year isn't some grand disaster waiting to happen. It's business as usual.

Assuming we keep Roos in a Director of Coaching role (which means we maintain his excellent man-management skills, which I think is his key ingredient), I'd love to see Ratten back at the club. He coached a Carlton list to finals that Mick Malthouse has done absolutely nothing with, and our midfield looked sharp when he was their coach. I think he's a good strategist and footy brain, just doesn't have the calm head and people-skills of Roos. Combine the two... good as gold. I reckon Carlton made a major mistake giving him the arse.

That handball was absolutely sublime. 25 metres, and put it WAY out in front so that Jones could run onto it, at full speed, without breaking stride. That was a handball even Sam Mitchell would have been proud of. If Jones had kicked it and we'd won, we'd have been watching highlights of that on Youtube for decades.