Who does Jobe Watson think he is? John Lennon? Mahatma Gandhi?
How else do you explain the Essendon skipper's attempt to engineer a "player sit-down" before the opening bounce of his side's match against the Western Bulldogs last Sunday?
According to the Herald Sun, Watson approached opposition captain Matthew Boyd to seek the Bulldogs' support for the stop-work action he'd dreamed up as a protest against the AFL's new substitute rule.
Watson reportedly voiced his opposition to the new rule to AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson at a meeting between the AFL captains and the League two weeks ago.
He told the Herald Sun he had proposed the sit-down as a last resort to vent player frustration about the new rule.
Perhaps we should be glad Watson was advocating a peaceful protest. That he prefers the pacifist principles once espoused by music legend Lennon and iconic Indian revolutionary Gandhi, to the more robust approach to workplace relations taken by Peter Lalor during the Eureka Stockade.
Still, Media Watch's jaw dropped when it read of Watson's proposal.
It's all well and good to speak up on your club's behalf against something you believe is not in its interests. But Watson's proposed protest would have embarrassed all concerned - the umpires at the game, the AFL and, most of all, the players themselves.
Time for North to back up words with actions
North Melbourne always seems to save its best performances for when its back is against the wall.
If that trend continues, Collingwood best be on guard at Etihad Stadium this Saturday where it will take on a North side still feeling the effects of a long pre-season injury list and a trip to a scorching Perth the week before.
Oh, and the Kangaroos will have had one less day to prepare for Saturday's match, too.
North will have further motivation too, having won the right to wear its traditional jumper rather than the away strip it's been forced to wear in recent home matches against the Magpies.
In light of this off-field victory, the Kangaroos launched a campaign, "Earn Your Stripes", on Tuesday, to encourage its supporters to flock to Saturday's match in traditional North gear.
But the pride North will feel taking the field in its home jumper will soon be lost if it can't take the fight to Collingwood.
Coach Brad Scott has challenged his side all pre-season to become more competitive against the competition's top sides.
North midfielder Andrew Swallow told The Age Scott had reissued that challenge at the team's review of its round one loss to West Coast.
Swallow told the broadsheet North's players were confident they had improved from last year and had been buoyed by the good performances of debutants Shaun Atley and Cameron Pedersen against the Eagles.
However, sooner or later, North's talk of its exciting new generation of players has to be backed up on the field.
It may not happen on Saturday. But at some stage this season, the Kangaroos have to beat a top side or their words will start to sound hollow.
The AFL's new 'First Brothers'
Speaking of Andrew Swallow, he and his Gold Coast Sun brother David are fast becoming the competition's 'it' siblings.
There was yet another feature on David on Wednesday, this time in the Herald Sun. Not for the first time he was compared to some of the game's stars.
This time the names Chris Judd, Joel Selwood and Ben Cousins were trotted out. All this before he has played an AFL game. How's that for pressure?
In an adjoining piece, the tabloid looked ahead to the end of the 2013 season, when both brothers come out of contract.
Not for the first time, Andrew said he "definitely" wanted to play with David at some stage, something he said his younger brother was "pretty keen" on too.
It's enough to make both clubs nervous and excited.
Yes, one club may lose a Swallow but the other could end up with two.
North would have enjoyed reading both Andrew and father Ian would prefer the brothers were reunited at Aegis Park.
Bulldogs enter the space age
If you didn't make it past the Herald Sun's back page you might have thought young Bulldogs player Mitch Wallis had simply enjoyed some time in a hot tub on Tuesday.
But skip past the pages dedicated to Ricky Ponting and his abdication as Aussie cricket captain, and you would have seen Wallis and his Bulldogs teammates were engaged in something far more scientific.
Thumbing their noses at the traditional ice bath, the Bulldogs have become the first club to adopt a cutting-edge cryotherapy device that gives players the same recovery benefits of an ice bath, but in seconds rather than 15 minutes.
Under the technology already used by European sporting teams, players stand in a cylinder that drops to a temperature of minus 140 degrees Celsius and they become enveloped by a wall of freezing vapours. What will they think of next?
In short
The Adelaide Crows say they will offer forward Jason Porplyzia a new contract at the end of this year even if the shoulder injury he suffered in round one ends his 2011 season, The Advertiser reports.
Gold Coast list manager Scott Clayton conceded Nathan Ablett would need to perform this year or face losing his place on the Suns' list at the end of the season, the Herald Sun reports.
As he prepares to plays his 200th AFL game on Saturday night, Geelong's Paul Chapman told the Herald Sun former Cats and current Gold Coast assistant coach Ken Hinkley had been instrumental to his development as a player.
Having already committed to taking Dylan Buckley under the father-son rule in this year's NAB AFL Draft, Carlton is now considering also taking Jordan Dorotich under the same rule, The Age reports.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
