Why is it that the British Bulldog crowd (Rugby League) and the mobile wrestlers (Rugby Union), with, arguably, more in common than Gaelic and Australian Rules football, don't play against each other? We've seen an increasing number of high-profile bulldogs (not just Canterbury/Bankstown!) cross to wrestling recently, mostly successfully it seems, so there's not an insurmountable gap between the codes skills wise.

On the other hand, we have only Jim Stynes, Tadhg Kennelly and Colm Begley who’ve succeeded at the highest level in aussie rules, the younger Stynes and two O’hAilpins who’ve stumbled and struggled, and a few more around the fringes. Have any Aussies gone to Dublin to tackle (;-)) Gaelic Football?

I’m sorry — I’m about to utter another heresy. The Internation Rules series is a crock that advances neither sport and only enriches, ever so slightly based on ratings, television channels. The chance that a team, in either code, could lose a crucial player for a season as a result of an injury sustained in a meaningless confection of a sport is too great. Let's just knock this unfortunate 'bastard' on the head and get on with our respective codes.

A report in The Age on possible rule changes is most disquieting.

While there is considerable argument on the necessity for a change in relation to intentionally rushing behinds, some of the solutions being touted are definitely worse than the disease.

Other proposals include:

• the provision of two substitutes on the bench in pre-season games
  do we really want to make Aussie Rules more like gridiron?
• Awarding a free kick and 50-metre penalty for players who put down, tackle or unreasonably retard an opponent who has disposed of the ball, which prevents them from reaching the next act of play or next contest
  I can already see the umpires getting stooged on this one
• Introducing a fourth field umpire to provide greater scrutiny at stoppages
  and yet another interpretation of rules on the ground — JUST what we need
• Increasing the legal kicking distance from 15 metres to 20 metres and possibly as much as 30 metres
  Huh? Where on earth does this come from?
• Making the goal line level with the back of padding around the goal posts
  clearly one of the most important issues in the game! This is a nonsense run up the flagpole to take scrutiny away from things that are important.

I'm with Glen Archer! Dean Laidley's floating of Hamish Macintosh as trade bait was tawdry in the extreme. I wonder what reaction there'll be, sometime next season, when Laidley implores Macintosh to find an extra ten percent? What about “F**k off”? What damage has Laidley, perhaps unwittingly, done to the invisible fabric of his team? Will the famous Shinboner Spirit be as weak as Pimms in ’09?

I remain convinced that the Bombers’ slide after 2001 was hastened by the way that Hardwicke, Caracella, Blumfield and Heffernan were seemingly disposed of. I don't think that team ever recovered their trust in the coach, match committee and club.

Back on Laidley's turf, the matter of Daniel Harris, if media reports are accurate, is a totally different scenario. Cameraderie and group cohesion is a fragile commodity, but Premierships are NOT won without it.

From the Great Southern Stand, the sight of the Carlton Draft hot air balloon drifting across the ground had bets being hurriedly laid on its chances of taking out a light tower, or perhaps a couple of beamers in the car park. One of the better moments from the pre-game 'entertainment'.