Dear AFL Fan,
Welcome to the long list of commentators who have joined the popular Summer sport of “write off the Sydney Swans” only to have egg on face come September. Looking at “THAT Eliminatiom final”. It’s true Franklin played poorly. With the injury he had, lesser mortals would not have even got out of bed. Tom Papley was in the sane boat. Both have had restorative surgeries and are training the house down. as are long term injured players Sam Naismith, Darcy Cameron, Lewis Melican, Matthew Ling and Callum Mills.
We lost fringe players in Cunningham, Marsh, Towers, Newman and the gifted but perennially underperforming Rohan. Losing Hanners was sad but his body is just not as strong as his huge heart and is falling apart. I hope he has some great games and a top salary at the Saints. Replacing them are ex Cats Thurlow and Menzel, a tough nut in and under mid in Clarke, a first round pick in Blakey and highly credentialed draftees Rowbottham and .McInerney. It is a good mix of experience, positional versatility and talent.

Yes, I am a Swans member and fan but I don’t get carried away. If I thought they were in for a poor year I’d say so but I honestly. Don’t. We may not win the flag or top the Ladder but I have no boult at all we will make the finals.

Josh, that is one of your best articles so far and I agree with it all. Richmond/Melbourne fixtures will be blockbuster viewing over the next few years. The Dees are behind but catching up.

My beloved Sydney has known this secret for a while now. We have “see ball, get ball, kill opponent in the process’ players like Hannebery, Parker, Mills, Franklin and Heaney who are scared of nothing human and our latest to enter the leadership group, Tom Papley, has more gravel in him than a quarry. Players like these have brought our decade of success but that very success has been our downfall in some ways; our draft positions let us draft the gravel but not the gravel with talent available in the earlier picks. Oliver Florent against Martin, Lever, Bradshaw, Petracca – just bury him where he falls. Rohan, Towers, Cunningham, Foote – anyone want to trade a Tomas Bugg type who will die trying to get the ball for their ‘superior’ talent.

With kids like Mills, Heeney, Hayward, Papley, young academy draftee Bell and a small handful of others to go with them and the experienced Parker, Rampe, Lloyd, Smith, Kennedy, Hannebery and Franklin the Bloods will continue to be there or thereabouts at the pointy end each year but with so many on our list who need bodies or minds wrapped in tape marked “Fragile” it will be a while before we climb the mountaintop again unless we fluke a couple of overlooked runaway gravel trucks; something Kinnear Beetson and our draft team are admittedly good at doing. I live in hope.

Until then, go Dees and Tigers. You’ve both earned it and my hat is off to you. Enjoy the ride; it’s great fun I can tell you

Thank you Matt, from everyone of us in Hannah’s position or the families and friends of people born with this condition. Your article is compassionate, decent and sadly necessary. No doubt you’ll be attacked but please know there are many of us out here thankful for your words.

You’re right, Maggie. I do apologise but slowly going blind will do that to you. I give thanks to audio books ans TTS (text to speech /STT (speech to text) software . It gives be what reading I still have. I’m sorry if my disability upsets you but there you have it. I’ll try and do better just for you

Hannah, this article raises some excellent points.
The disparity in player payments in each gender was perennial, especially in the premiere sports of tennis and golf. The comparisons with Olympic athletes receiving identical day payments and medal bonuses (though not pregames funding and training support which, in fairness, is a different issue) was only resolved when the champion athletes in each sport threatened to boycott discriminating events, finally saw such matters end when the marquee athletes United with a threat to boycott discriminatory events.. In sports such as horse racing it was common for female jockeys to be paid according to the standard payment schedule. In most cases in the USA the death knell for pay discrimination in the Collegiate sporting system was the passing and enforcing of legislation where it was made unlawful to have differing payment schedules to fund sports based on gender. Outside the Collegiate system, most Professional sports in the USA will always be privately funded and market driven and so the share of the market – and marketing revenue – determines the payment distrIbution to the athletes. As female sport grows in attractiveness to marketers, the division of the payment pie will undoubtedly equalise, though I think it is accepted they will never become equivalent.

I agree with you that the AFL has been distinctly lacklustre in its marketing of the 2018 season. Perhaps they have fallen into the trap of simply expecting the success of 2017 to continue without need for further external impetus. If this is their plan it is ill considered. One good crop can never predicate the success of subsequent crops and there should have been a substantial increase in ptomotion seen. Like you, the understatement of promotion has been surprising. It is difficult for me to wonder if this has anything to do with AFLX as this Latter format has had virtually no free to air media advertising at all – I cannot speak as to its coverage of Foxtel. There would seem ample room in the sporting calendar for all three formats, each of which brings to the table a distinctly unique product which both requires marketing and would provide viable fiscal return to sponsors. In the event the issue has been lack of marketing staff then hire morse staff or subcontract out the AFLX.

Here’s hoping all three formats have bumper years and, especially, that our women athletes are rewarded appropriately for their input. $10000 is not enough to justify giving an employer half a years work and be at risk of injury just to line the pockets of the most profitable football code in Australia further. Parity is too much to ask but, surely, equity is not. Fair pay for fair work is a mantra dear to Australian hearts and should be the aim of the AFL to ensure.

It’s a very fair question Cat.

I have close friends based at either end of the Apple Isle and all are diehard AFL fans. They would take a team – new or relocated – tomorrow but each group is adamant that it would refuse to support their team through intracity travel; the enmity between the two regions is simply too strong. Although this is not a disqualifying factor for a new club the need to have two fully equipped training bases could well be. The deciding factor would be where in the state the players chose/were directed to reside. If they all live in Hobart they could play every game in Launceston and would still be viewed as ‘the enemy’ by a sizeable number of locals. The reverse holds just as true. Sadly, the perfect situation – a team at each end – is not economically viable rhanks to the small population base. The only possibility would be for the AFL to select and nominate one city – Hobart, if only for population – and tell Launceston/Devonport to either get behind it or support someone else as they saw fit. I think the ‘losing’ side would warm to the one state one team result, though my Tassie friends vehemently disagree with me

I’d rather see new markets opened than established markets further consolidated, Perth and Sydney are easier projects to sell to the football public economically but Tasmania is an AFL heartland and whilst it may not immediately set the fiscal pages alight would always at least break even financially whilst adding one more state to the AFL family. It will take more initial effort but will never wane in support and I feel Tasmania has earned the next available slot. As much as I’d like to say “….and Canberra too” I feel that, for the moment, the far smaller population could not justify the enormous costs in creating a fit venue with adequate seating and club infrastructure. I hope their day arrives but, unlike Tasmania, they aren’t ready just now

Time to “out” myself.
I’m in the same boat as Hannah, having transitioned nearly 20 years ago, and for eleven of those years played competitive women’s sport – in my case, field hockey. I ended up playing in the Victorian State League and was eligible, but not good enough, for selection in the Victorian or Australian sides. I’ve played with and against former Olympians and can say with complete honesty that there was never a game in which I had any advantage at all due to my medical history.
Unlike Hannah, my story attracted no headlines simply because there was no story. The only time anyone hears of or cares about hockey is during the Olympics. All my teammates and the vast majority of my opponents knew my past and it is to their credit that they simply didn’t care. I was just one of the girls playing the sport we loved. For those basing their answers on physical criteria I’m 180 cm, stocky and so slow you time me with a calendar. I had teammates who towered over me, some who were heavier and fortunately none who were slower. My medical history was neither a benefit or a detriment; it was just how things were. For the vast majority of athletes of transsexed background this will be the case.
Hannah, you have gone up yet again in my estimation and your courage is inspirational. I’m part of Caroline L’s FB group if you ever need someone to speak with and I support your right to play the game you love without question.

The Swans don’t get a look in at the top tier so all the classy mids will be gone – a blessing in a way as we have ample stocks in that area. Other than some outright speed it seems to me that we have most areas on the ground well served with talent ant that our most pressing need is a Rance-type KPD. Last year we saw Aliir go off the boil – and I’m not sure he will come back given his off field concerns which might make him head home at the end of 2018- and Rampe get attacked by that vicious fence chain and despite the efforts of Dawson, Melican and co., plunge us to O-6. before we got our act together.

Josh, if we elect to use pick 14 on a quick, agile key defender to prepare for Grundy’s retirement, whom would you be recommending/hoping slips through as the best likely to be available? If we chose another player type who would you be looking at, and why?

I’m looking forward to big years from Wil Hayward, Tom Papley, Darcy Cameron and Toby Pink as well as a much stronger and wiser Oliver Florent; your thoughts there would also be appreciated. Do you agree? Do you see any medium term holes we need to address?

Thanks for your input

Jacko, firstly, I apologise for being so strident and I should not have answered in those terms.

To answer your question though, a panel of the best and most knowledgable medical experts and sports scientists researched this question on behalf of the International Olympic Committee and concluded that men and women of transsexed and intersexed background experience a condition which is a wholly medical one, not some imaginary nor bizarre lifestyle choice, and created a Criteria of Assessment under which such people be permitted to compete in any sport overseen by the IOC.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights held a seperate inquiry into the matter, called on the expertise of a different but similarly qualified panel of professionals in the field and, amongst many recommendations supporting the rights of transsexed and intersexed people, completely upheld the IOC code in every respect, This issue should have ended there.

I agree with those decisions, resolutions and Codes. Given the depth to which these bodies investigated the situation, the calibre of the people conducting the reviews and the years of research which was examined as part of the Committee processes involved, I feel justified in saying that those who disagree with the rights of a transsexed woman who has met the criteria in place to allow them to compete, are demonstrably wrong.

This was a terrible decision by the AFL and one which I believe will haunt them.
In old speak, Hannah Mounsey is 6’3. Australian Opals centre Liz Cambage is 6’8. Cambage is also physically heavier and, quite possibly, physically stronger than Mounsey and a very fine athlete indeed. Both Mounsey and Cambage meet the IOC guidelines and the AFL Gender Policy guidelines for competing as women in women’s sport yet whereas Cambage would be welcomed with open arms and considered a coup for the AFLW if she were poached from basketball, Mounsey has her application denied.

Mounsey has no demonstrable advantage over any other woman of similar size and background. Someone as physically strong as Australian Olympian and discus champion would make mincemeat out of Mounsey given her years of intensive strength conditioning yet, again, Samuels would be welcomed with open arms by the AFLW.

This is not an issue of relative strength or size. It is simple, blatant and unsupportable discrimination levelled at a woman because of the medical condition she was born with, could not avoid and did nothing to deserve. She dis not choose to be transsexed – it is not a lifestyle choice – but has chosen to try and make the best of her life, including playing the sport she loves. She has every legal right to do so. The AFL has no legal or moral right to prevent her.

This decision has been made, I believe, purely in the interests of Television ratings. Unwilling to do anything which might possibly have negative impact on their fledgling women’s flagship, unwilling to take a position as a societal leader in the cause of equality, they have folded and decided to hang Mounsey out to dry whilst they wring their hands in a manner befitting Pontus Pilate. How else can they justify their decision when they have stated Mounsey is free to play in any and all other leagues as a woman? Obviously there are no safety concerns or failures to meet guidelines involved or the ban would cover all leagues at all levels. Even if you feel all transsexed women should be banned from sport I defy you to justify the hypocrisy of that decision – and if you do feel that way, wake up and welcome to the 21st century, where medicine is slowly replacing bigotry

I don’t think the culture is gone but it has certainly been forced to undergo revision and I am certain the Club accepts the responsibility for some, in hindsight, questionable recruiting decisions. The important thing is the players there, with the few exceptions noted, still want to be there. The retirement, delisting or trade of players such as McVeigh, K Jack, Grundy, Tippett, and others at the end of next season will see a very cashed up Club used to success front and centre come Trade time. They have not lost my faith just yet.

Dear Gwen,
It’s great to see a new author but sad to see this as your first article.
I’m a Sydney tragic and I can promise you out losses in 2014 and 2016 had ZERO to do with the MCG. It can be said fairly that the Umpires did us no favours in ’16 but in both games we were out coached and, ultimately,, bested by better, more desperate teams. If we had played each game at thr SCG and played at the same standard we would still have lost because that standard was simply not good enough to win! I’ll let WCE fans comment on 2015 and Crows fans on this year but I doubt either will blame the venue.

Of course the AFL wants the game at the MCG. 100,021 fans were there on Saturday; any two of SCG, Adelaide oval and West coast’s home ground at full to bursting capacity could not have equalled that. Multiply that by three years and the answer is patently obvious; the game must be played where the maximum number of people can attend for the continued growth of the game nation-wide. That isn’t bias, it’s basic economics.

Home ground support is important and there are good arguments to be made that home team crowd accessibility to the game is influential but any player who has been in the big one will tell you all they hear is noise and the energy generated by the crowd is there for both teams to feed from. The ball bounces the same, the Umpires get it right or wrong, some players on both teams are lifted and some can’t handle the pressure. None of that would change wherever the game was played.

Some traditional tules have been changed over the years. Others will change as time goes on but I, for one, hope the Grand Final stays at its traditional home forever. The best team will win, wherever the game is played. Both teams seek, get and move an identical ball on identical grass in identical weather with the identical aim of kicking the ball between identical goal posts. It just doesn’t get fairer than that.

My Grandmother’s favourite saying was “In 20 years time no one will even remember, let alone care”
Nan was a wise woman; here it’s been not much more than 20 hours and I already don’t care!
Do we really have nothing better to discuss?

I’ll simply revisit what I said on here yesterday.

Did his conduct warrant a suspension? No.
Did the MRP RULES demand he got one? Yes.
Would the inconsistent MRP give him one? No one knew because they can’t even follow their own rules

As the article says, and says well, no unbiased football fan wanted Cotchin to miss, yet the rod the AFL MRP had made for its back, especially in light of the Dangerfield decision, demanded by any fair application of precedent that he do so. When faced with the popular but inconsistent choice compared with the unpopular but inconsistent choice not supported by the rules they themselves had created, they chose ‘popular’ over ‘correct’, made a mockery of themselves and have sent the whole system back to a ‘your guess is as good as mine’ step one.

I give up. Next year let’s forget law and precedent, scrap the MRP completely and decide everything by postal Plebicite. Make it a popularity contest and be done with it. The crowd votes for more blood? OK then, more blood it is – unless it is someone like a Toby Greene or Hayden Ballantyne who no one really likes all that much; they can have five weeks for being them. Allow each Club to nominate five unreportable players, with right of veto over players like Greene who we don’t like much, and let the fun begin. To really get in the mood, every game could begin with the band playing Skyhooks’ “Living in the 70’s” and instead of nominating a ruckman we could nominate a behind the play sniper for each play so the cameras are ready to capture all the ‘good, hard Footy action’ we used to have.

Yes, I’m being silly here, but why should the MRP have the monopoly on silliness? They want no rules? Bring it on!

Does Cotchin, in the eyes of an average, unbiased supporter, deserve to miss a GF for this act?
Of course not.

Does Cotchin, under the rules in place for the MRP to use, deserve to miss a GF for this act?
Yes; they have no other choice they can make if they are to be consistent under their rules.

Will Cotchin miss the GF?
Who knows? I gave up expecting logic and consistency from the AFL decades ago.

I like Gary Rohan as a person very much. I worked in Cobden for a few years in the early 80’s and knew his dad and uncle very well, so I was absolutely stoked when we drafted Gary – having seen dad Jimmy and uncle Peter tear up the Hampden League here was a bigger, stronger verson of them coming to play for us, and I could not have been happier.

Then came Lindsey Thomas’s actions, resulting in the single worst broken leg I have ever seen on a football field and, for those with long memories, that includes Nathan Brown and Jason Snell. Brown was never the same, Snell never played again but it looked as if the Football Gods had smiled on Gary – yes, he had and always will have muscular issues but the speed, balance, step change of direction and kick penetration were all intact, which is why articles such as this are written; why does this superbly talented athlete consistently fail to produce?

The answer, I believe, is between his ears.

I believe Gary goes out onto the field scared, waiting for his leg to fail. Anyone here who calls him a coward for that is a fool – the courage he shows in going out to play each week is inspirational. It is a completely natural, reasonable and expectable reaction after a trauma that severe. Sydney is a great club and I know that they have professionally assessed and managed this aspect of his recovery but I don’t believe they have eliminated it and I wonder if it CAN be eliminated. You can almost see him playing a burst, feeling the leg cause pain and then losing focus whilst he fights his demons. The bigger the stage the greater the fear of failure, the less effective he becomes and the more upset the crowd gets; it’s a vicious mental circle.

I don’t think a positional change would help and a Trade is not the answer for him – his legs go where he goes. The biggest issue is that his fears are reasonable and have a sound basis for existing; the leg could, literally, break again at any time. If I haven’t made it plain how big a supporter of him I am by now then I’m doing something wrong. Gary has only two choices. Retire, or deal with his issues as best he can and use the Club psychologist or whoever to minimise his fears. He has chosen the latter and so I support him wholly in that. The good is so damn good that it negates the bad and I’d keep him at all cost. You can add ten times a game where his smothers, spoils and simple error causing because of his closing speed to his disposals and his goals and he starts looking a whole lot better as an assertion on field.

He,ll have bad days. So will Buddy, Hanners, Luke Parker, Heeney and Mills and Jones and every other player out there. Rohan will give everything he is able to give every time he plays. It’s good enough to get him a game and for me, that should be enough to get other Swans supporters off his back. It’s enough for me

In the original version of the film “The Karate Kid” Mr Miyagi, played by Pat Morita, comments on an all or nothing move saying “If do right, no can defence”. Sydney oozes with gifted players but they, like every player, have flaws. If they ‘do right’ then no one beats them. If anything goes not quite perfectly – a bit of rain, mental pressure, lack of focus, poor umpiring, injury to a key player or whatever – the ‘no can defence’ goes out the window. The lack of speed of some players, by foot and in thought, becomes obvious. The skills vanish under pressure and it becomes evident that some who are excellent flat track bullies fold when they need to step up, to the extent that they should have their papers stamped ‘don’t pick in finals again’. Some names have already been raised. They are not alone.

The coaching panel has similar issues. They know that, all things being perfect, their Plan A will beat anyone. This has led to a situation where no plan B has been created, as why train for less than perfection. The problem is that it is unrealistic to constantly expect perfection. Lesser teams can still be dispatched because of an imbalance in inherent talent levels. Teams of comparable skill level who are more reactive and adaptable beat you; it is really that simple.

To paraphrase Cam, until this mindset changes, nothing will change. If this necessitates changes in playing or coaching personnel then be decisive and change them. This is a critique and not a criticism and the Club must face the perceived needs for change with honesty and courage. It will be interesting how the Club chooses to respond..

Eddy, believe it or not I an not being bitter nor speaking from pain. By far the better side on the day won, I am still proud of the boys and will be first in line for my forty-somethingth year of Membership next season.

My issue is the idea that we don’t know where we went wrong. We DO know and the rest of the league knows we know. Hawthorn showed us twice and other teams have sat up and taken notice. It is pointless to say we have ‘x’ months to review and reload. Be it a personnel issue, a game plan issue, a coaching issue or a combination of them all, there is a flaw in our structures which must be addressed and a solution agreed upon well before the draft silly season arrives. We need a clear future direction. “We don’t know” is safe, simple throwaway fodder for the media but it is also patently untrue and both the media and the members are well aware of this, so why bother with it? No one expects the Club to come out and say ‘this is what is wrong and this is how we fix it’ tomorrow but they are aware already of the challenges they face. What I AM asking is they come out, say they are already reviewing every aspect of the season and the list and get on with it. We have a flag to win next year; planning for it should start now.

“I’m just very disappointed with the way we showed up as a team”. Josh P Kennedy

“………… or didn’t show up, as the case may be.” Dissapointed Sydney fan for life, still shellshocked and cat clawed

I’m very proud of the boys for getting so far but really, no one could take any pride out of Friday’s inept excuse for an effort.
No excuses – the better team won and all credit to them – but we fans deserve a better explanation than “we don’t know what happened”.

Bring on 2018. We’ll be up there again and this time might even remember to play football when on the field

What point would be served in sending yet another tall forward to GC and then taking from their midfield pretty much everyone capable of getting the ball to him? The GC midfield is already crumbling under the pressure and, one way or another, Ablett will be less and less a factor, so things will only get worse. Swallow is good but not great and would bring little to the WCE table, whilst Martin – who I rate highly – is not a bullocking inside mid in the style of a Dangerfield, Dusty or Hannebery. He would improve the Eagles, no doubt, but can’t carry them.

A trade for Kennedy is worth exploring, but not with Gold Coast. The Bulldogs might be tempted and have some talent to offer, but would any of them move west? The same goes for a few other teams too – no one available with value as trade bait. Frankly, I think most teams would look at his age and the need he would create to funnel the ball through him and say “no thanks”. Brisbane, Richmond, both Sydney teams, Adelaide, Melbourne, Geelong, Saints don’t need him and others have need but nothing to trade. Hawthorn though – they might be interested and willing to give up a Duryea or Sicily or Langford or Hartung and a draft pick for a proven forward.

We’ll just have to wait and see. I don’t really care; Sydney doesn’t need him and has more important things on its mind, like winning this years Grand Final

Hi Birdman, and thanks for your question on Canberra v Tasmania.
My reasoning goes like this.
Having spent a lot of time in the Apple Isle, one fact quickly becomes obvious. Launceston/Devonport despises Hobart and the feeling is mutual. Unless you were willing to split the new team between north and south equally, it would fail. If you think the Crows and Power hate each other you’ve seen nothing until you see how split across the middle Tasmania is.

As for the ACT, Aspley, Queanbeyan, Ainslie, Manuka and the other teams in the region will each always despise each other but, as with the Crows, would unite behind a new entity created to represent the entire region. That unity would potentially allow them to succeed where the divisions in Tasmania never would. Fo that reason alone, and although I passionately support a Tasmanian team, I’d tackle Canberra first

Very harsh words. jay, but I couldn’t disagree with one of them.
From their inception the GC were handed every advantage and opportunity to create a solid team capable of growth and development. Their ‘siblings’ at GWS were given the same chance and made a singular and fundamental different choice – they made their priority the creation of a stable, innovative and experienced club set up to bring players into, rather than adopt the GC model of pick players and hope a club somehow coalesces around them. In the short term there was little difference results wise but whereas GWS was able to use the experience gained to tweak their model, GC continued along their same path. Fast forward to 2017 and we can see the result of each approach clearly.

GC is learning, but all too late, the old adage that a champion team will always beat a team of champions. Gary Ablett has wasted his career at GC despite being one of the best I have ever seen. Tom Lynch and Stephen May must get their management to move heaven and earth for a transfer and go basically anywhere else before their careers are likewise blighted. A test for the neutral supporter; name five up and coming GC kids who are potential 200 game champions, then pick any other club you do not support and do the same. You’ll find the latter to be the easier task by far because those other clubs have structures in place within which to grow and develop football talent, whereas GC have discovered that even the most beautiful rose cannot grow in a desert but have no answers to offer on how to make a desert bloom.

It is time for the AFL to step in and take full administration of the Suns and examine every facet of their organisation minutely and critically. My personal view is that despite the funds already out laid and the cost of the Carrara upgrade, if the situation at GC is found to be irretrievable in the short to medium term, consideration needs to be seriously given to relocating the franchise to Canberra. This would be a huge step but not one without precedent and which will place the franchise in a region both football mad and football starved. Yes, there will be a large capital outlay required but, unlike the Gold Coast model, this money will not merely be poured into a black hole. Give them a home and an experienced team infrastructure and I believe a Canberra team would prove far more successful and profitable than GC is ever capable of being.

I believe that, as an experiment, the Gold Coast Suns are an irredeemable failure. The time has come to bite the bullet, end the financial waste and move in a new direction. It is now up to the AFL board to act and I hope they have the courage and wisdom to do so decisively.

MSDO, I was always grateful that I was never in business – I worked for a Government Instrumentality where promotion was based on merit and length of service – and was also plain faced enough that it was rare I ever got hit on. I can imagine the stresses young people of any gender could find themselves under these days and am glad to see those in power getting away with it less and less. I just wish we could somehow sell the news whilst avoiding the smutty slime our journalists are ostensibly complaining about in their articles being used as their sales points.

I’d like to compliment the posters here on their rational, well reasoned and informative responses to this thread. I’ve been very impressed.

GJ, whilst I’m in broad agreement with you I try in my own business dealings to keep separation between my thoughts of a person as a person and as a worker providing a service. Perhaps that’s naive but I’ve aimed to ignore their personal foibles and concentrate on the quality of work done. If Lethlean and Simkiss has intentionally crossed that live then their punishment is well deserved, but gutter trash as was reported initially in the Herald Sun was just slimy and unnecessary.

Saw a great bumper sticker on Thursday – “is that true, or did you read it in the Herald Sun”? Says it all, really.

GJ, if that’s the case then report that and sack them for their misuse of power, but we don’t need the moralistic handwringing angle to make it newsworthy. Misuse of their authority could well be a breach at law and almost certainly a breach of contract. Surely we don’t need the ‘smutty’ sidle to sell real news, no matter what the Herald Suns of the world want us to think.