1/ Do those at HQ have any idea how lucky they are to have inherited the perfect game AND stakeholders the envy of most codes the world over?

They are merely custodians of the game, guardians of it, and I’m sick and tired of the persistent speculation about what needs to change. https://twitter.com/quartermain10/status/1265578711648092160

2/ Look, I think the Grand Final should be played under lights. I believe the current draft model doesn’t best serve the teams who most need the help. But the game itself? They’ve fallen ass backwards into the best sporting spectacle out... but it’s never enough.

3/ Remember when starting positions/capped rotations/revised kick ins were going to open the game up and improve scoring?They wouldn’t share the modelling or explain the rationale with anyone except media insiders. Spoilers: It didn’t work. At all.

4/ This year it’s shorter quarters/more players on the bench and heavens knows what else.

They’re going to compromise the attritional nature of the contest - the very thing elite sport is built on - to satisfy... who? Players and coaches who want to work less?

5/ the AFL brass is lucky they’ve a game with a profound cultural and cross-generational footprint, a footprint that makes it pretty much impervious to the astonishing mismanagement they treat us to yearly.

We keep coming back - in record numbers - because we LOVE it how it is.

6/ oh, btw, they’ll shorten quarters - which will lower scoring - only to pause the game for an additional 15 seconds after every goal so broadcasters can run an extra ad; this is, of course, to make up for shorter quarters leading to less scoring, leading to fewer ads...