knoxville

How will the game survive? There is speculation he is off to NMFC. On the thread topic, I don't think we do ourselves any favours using words like "trollop". Just the facts should do us in this instance.

It's had me stumped for several years how Walls keeps getting fed. As it happens I didn't think it was a great win -- I was disappointed we didn't put the foot down after setting up a match-winning lead in the first, especially given their injuries, but it was nice to have an afternoon at the football without any danger of defeat. But to pot Green for celebrating ... please. Six weeks ago it looked like the bloke would be ending his career at Casey. Do we now begrudge him for enjoying his football again? On a slightly different topic, I don't agree with the earlier poster who lumped Johnson with McLean re their tanking comments. I don't think Johnson said anything out of order. McLean is no rocket scientist, but should have known better. Gardner was the most infuriating, I thought.

And speaking of Age journos in London, have a read of Saturday's Caro interview with Demetriou. It is a new benchmark for arrogance. AD finds it "faintly ludicrous" that anyone could question him having seven weeks off in the middle of the footy season. "My family deserved some time," he says. Why, Andy? Do they pay you $2.2 million a year as well? Having been a guest of AFL sponsor Australia Post for week one of the games, he is now a guest of Foxtel. No wonder he's looking "tanned and relaxed" while having a coffee on top of Harvey Nicks. Any danger of dipping into your own kick? "He believes the games have been beneficial ... commercially for the AFL in ways he does not detail." Perhaps because they don't exist? Almost everyone in the game gives the bloke a free pass based on $1.2 billion for the media rights. The NRL, which has never had as big a following as Aussie rules, is a relatively unattractive game and has been woefully mismanaged for at least two decades, will easily get $1 billion when its deal is signed. The fact is that media rights for popular spectator sports are extremely valuable and getting more so. You don't have to be Don Draper to sell them. Connolly's criticisms of the AFL are entirely valid, but Demetriou and his cronies will continue to mismanage with their current levels of arrogance and smugness until someone tells them to pull their heads in. Doubt that it will Mike Fitzpatrick. A perfect example was the buffoon Anderson's indignance at criticism of the MRP. It was like, how dare anyone criticise a body headed by Mark Fraser? Well, let's see ... he's a failed player and failed umpire. So of course he'll be a successful MRP chairman. The entire AFL judicial system is a joke, apparent to all except Andrew Demetriou, Gillon McLachlan and Adrian Anderson. Someone in the media needs to launch a concerted campaign to explode the myth of AFL competence. I'm tipping it won't be Caro.

Absolutely. Exhibit A: Jon Pierik (who?), author of this week's compelling series of Age back pages on Melbourne tanking. In Thursday's yarn alone, he: - reported "there were calls for" MFC to be fined $1 million and banned from the draft, but neglected to elaborate on who had made these calls. Internet peanuts, mainly, one suspects. - said we made 47 interchanges v Richmond (against season average of 92) "even though" we finished the game with three blokes unable to take the field. In other words, he's suggesting a team with one fit bloke on the bench should make MORE interchanges than a team with four fit blokes on the bench. (I am, however, putting this down to illiteracy.) - claimed Robbo had declined to comment "because he is now employed by the club and feared being sacked". If Robbo told him that on the record I would be extremely surprised. I realise many of their real journos are in London, but there's no excuse for that rubbish.

Where the AFL has lost its marbles is on its insistence on light v dark. Thus, Hawthorn had to wear their hideous white jumper against Carlton last Friday. I thought they had chosen to, in a bid to sell the horrible things, but apparently it was an AFL edict. Who has ever confused gold and brown stripes with all navy blue? Very few people watch football on B&W TVs these days, so if "dark" colours are sufficiently different, they can be distinguished. I for one would like to see us use the "Irish" jumper for genuine clashes (ie away games against Carlton, Essendon, St Kilda, Brisbane and Freo). Same design, but white with a green yolk instead of blue with a red yolk. Before you howl me down, consider that Arsenal wear yellow as their away strip, Man Utd wear blue, Man City wear red and black stripes. Doesn't seem to detract from their heritage all that much. The reason we've never had a decent clash jumper is that the designers have never applied the KISS principle.

On a slightly related topic, did anyone notice Melbourne fans getting a pay in the Age match review for the second game in a row. Last time it was for cheering the injury to slimy Didak (if we're not too soft, we're too hard apparently). This time it was for "staying away" on "a nice winter's Sunday". Thanks, Martin Blake -- whoever you are. Forecast all week was for showers and 13, it's 16th v 17th and the visiting team has NO supporters whatsoever, we're playing in the second-worst timeslot known to man with the match finishing in darkness on a school night, it's live on free-to-air TV ... I was gobsmacked that we pulled 20,000. On the opposite page there's a report on North v Adelaide. North still in finals contention, Adelaide playing for top spot, significant travelling support, game played indoors ... crowd: 18,866. Oddly, no mention of North fans staying away.