Wednesday, May 14, 2014: A genuine test...

There's few things in the world The Smother loves more than idiocy. Maybe red wine, maybe Jack Frost... still, we love idiocy. Especially when it comes in the form of a Goal Line Review System that just doesn't work.

The AFL's Operations Manager, Mark Evans, is nothing if not inventive. His innovative score review system has been criticised. Perhaps the way in which a decision that was contentious to a highly-trained human being less than 2 metres away, is then deferred to a less talented person 100 metres away who has access to obscure and blurry footage from even further away. Perhaps it's the way that the only time two groups of football fans are united, other than cheering on a streaker, is in their mutual enraged booing of an umpire making the TV symbol in the goal square. But Evans is a man with solutions...

No, it's not simply referring to the old system which worked perfectly well for a century before we started messing with it. The answer is, obviously, more cameras.

Evans told the AFL-owned AFL Media that he was "delighted" with how the system had worked this year, a statement so ridiculous that only someone with a stake in its success would report it without criticism. But he did concede that if a few cameras were delightful, more cameras would be even better.... so long as those cameras work. "We need a system that's robust, that doesn't drop out" he said, ruling out the use of Vodafone as the official provider.

He then went on to prove his credentials as a technological genius by speaking like a NASA employee in the early 90's. "I'm happy to tell you that in three or four weeks time the two venues in Melbourne will come online and we can genuinely test to see whether there's benefit in that system".

It will be a genuine test, for all involved....


In the news....
In news every banner-maker associates with fear and panic, Brenton Sanderson has dropped Brent Reilly on the eve of his 200th game. "He's had some goals kicked on him... he won't be out of the side for long" said a conciliatory Sanderson.

In better news for the pride of South Australia, Collingwood's Nathan Brown won't make the trip to Adelaide for tomorrow nights clash, as he recovers from a shoulder twang. Nick Maxwell and Alan Toovey will return to combat Adelaide's returning forward Taylor Walker.

Following a long and disappointing tradition of famous Collingwood names, Dylan Buckley has re-signed with Carlton until the end of 2016. Team mate Mitch Robinson will sit out next week after accepting a one-match striking ban.