1. When to tackle ... or when not to

It has become confusing. Players such as Lance Franklin get rubbed out for bumping when they could, or should, have tackled but now we have players being reported and suspended for tackling.

Both Justin Koschitzke and Shane Mumford face a fortnight on the sidelines for tackles that went that just a bit awry, when their opponents' heads were unfortunately slammed into the turf as part of those tackles.

As football becomes more and more of a full-time occupation and training becomes more and more professional, players are drilled for hours on end about all aspects of the game. Tackling is part of that, with seemingly every club now employing either a former rugby league player or martial arts expert as a tackling coach. Better tackling is brutal tackling, yet there are now consequences.

As for Buddy, this columnist doesn't shy away from his love of the great man, but he can be dumb. And after seven reports, most of them for similar incidents, he should know better. Franklin feasts on the Bombers pretty much on an annual basis and his absence on Friday night turns a likely Hawthorn win into a nearly 50-50 contest. At $2.65 with the TAB, the Bombers are a value proposition.

2. Saturday afternoon blockbuster

Don't tell anyone, particularly the AFL, but Saturday afternoon footy has got some legs once again. North and Essendon last Saturday was a beauty, while Richmond-Melbourne this Saturday is also shaping up very nicely. The MCG is expecting 55,000 for this clash, which when this columnist was a lad, was one of the very few genuine clashes of the co-tenants. Without doing the maths, there are probably more clashes between co-tenants on most weekends than there aren't, particularly in Victoria.

Anyway, back to Saturday afternoon. Next weekend it is Richmond and Carlton at the MCG. A fortnight later, Carlton and Collingwood. Big games on a Saturday afternoon? Who would have thought it?

3. And they call it work

As this columnist watched the rain fall sideways in Melbourne on Tuesday, he learned of the SOS that dispatched the Bulldogs players to the airport so that they could catch their plane to the Gold Coast before the volcanic ash clouds again disable Australia's flight network. 21 degrees and sunny on the Gold Coast, perfect weather for Sea World, Dream World, Movie World, a spot of swimming, cheese and tomato fingers at Charlie's and long walks on the beach. And in about four days' time, a footy match. NIce work if you can get it.

4. Nick Riewoldt watch

Actually, the Bullies might bump into Nick Riewoldt while they're on the Coast. The Saints skipper cut a forlorn figure on Saturday night against the Cats; he had just seven touches for the match. He looked like a player who could have done with some of Mum's home cooking and a reassuring pat on the shoulder from his Dad. Hence the possibility of a sighting in Surfers' this weekend.

5. The win-win cup

Carlton and West Coast meet in a big clash at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon and to watch these two sides in action is to see how win-win trades really do work. Chris Judd has been great for the Blues, ditto Josh Kennedy for the Eagles. Winners all around.