Blue ban

[Keyser Söze 0]

how do we know he did?

anyway, what i like about it is eddie betts. the cruise started at about midday and finished up about 230.........well eddie was still out at 430AM!!!!!!

id be dead

It was the players' xmas party.

I've had plenty of sessions like that and I know a lot of guys with more stamina than myself.

[biggestred 5,015]

hey, im just impressed!

[Keyser Söze 0]

hey, im just impressed!

Yeah, fair enough. I am too, I guess.

Especially considering (in my experience) AFL players tend to be lightweights since they've become more 'professional' during the season.

[bumblebee 0]

You are, it is not an assault if he agreed to being handcuffed. Plenty of sado-masochistic clubs in the world for example, where clients pay to be whipped, tied up etc.

that sounds a bit naughty.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Levi in the wars, this could have been a disaster for his family twice over.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,2...0-23211,00.html

[biggestred 5,015]

kids had an epic week. glad he is ok.

[rumpole 515]

Sticks has handed out his punishments to Houlihan, Walker and Betts but it looks like the Levi Casboult incident has been conveniently swept under the carpet.

Nicely done Blues. Now all you have to do is get past Demetriou and you're home safe.

[Redleg 40,817]

Sticks has handed out his punishments to Houlihan, Walker and Betts but it looks like the Levi Casboult incident has been conveniently swept under the carpet.

Nicely done Blues. Now all you have to do is get past Demetriou and you're home safe.

Doubt it. That is the main issue and it has not been addressed, unless the perpetrators were the three suspended players. We will hear more on the Casboult issue because it is the most damaging to the AFL.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Doubt it. That is the main issue and it has not been addressed, unless the perpetrators were the three suspended players. We will hear more on the Casboult issue because it is the most damaging to the AFL.

All the more reason why we probably wont hear more from the AFL. It will be convenient for the AFL to "accept" that the three suspended players were responsible and that the Club has moved pro actively to address this issue. The Carlton penalties strike me as part of the smokescreen to "manage" the issue.

[H_T 3,043]

All the more reason why we probably wont hear more from the AFL. It will be convenient for the AFL to "accept" that the three suspended players were responsible and that the Club has moved pro actively to address this issue. The Carlton penalties strike me as part of the smokescreen to "manage" the issue.

It's a Christmas-New Year's Kernahan would prefer to forget. Looks as though it has culminated in more grey hairs for him too. The penalties handed are seen to be tough. But are they tough enough ?

Being able to train with the Bullants for a month will probably be easier for them, and missing out on the NAB Cup/Challenge isn't the end of the world. Quite a few senior players miss this momentous occassion year in -year out.

Maybe I'm being harsh.......definitely not.

Agree re: smokescreen for Levi and all the more reason why the AFL might not come forward. If the AFL were thorough enough with this issue, they would leave their mark.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

The penalties handed are seen to be tough. But are they tough enough ?

They are seen to be tough...thats the point. if the AFL weren't hovering then I think the Blues would have made each of them do 5 hours of community service. I think they just want to ward off further AFL interest

Being able to train with the Bullants for a month will probably be easier for them, and missing out on the NAB Cup/Challenge isn't the end of the world. Quite a few senior players miss this momentous occassion year in -year out.

Houli is 28, Betts 24, Walker 25 can hardly afford to miss an opportunity to seal a spot in the team. They have no basis to rest on their laurels. Furthermore in a side lacking a leadership group, its a hardly a functional arrangement for a team with top 4 aspirations this year. It will depend upon how its enforced. Its not a step for forward for the Club or the players. Carlton will either draw resolve from this or it is the first step in the derailment of their season. Time will tell.

Maybe I'm being harsh.......definitely not.

Agree

[Redleg 40,817]

All the more reason why we probably wont hear more from the AFL. It will be convenient for the AFL to "accept" that the three suspended players were responsible and that the Club has moved pro actively to address this issue. The Carlton penalties strike me as part of the smokescreen to "manage" the issue.

You may be right, but maybe not.

Missing the Nab cup, does that mean all of the regional games as well if they lose the first Nab cup game? If it doesn't it could be a one nab cup game penalty. Next, training with the Bullants is a penalty, but they are still training under club supervision just losing the interaction with their mates. If it happened during the year it would be a suspension from real games. It sounds a bit like the Michael Long penalty on Simmonds when he nearly killed him and ended up missing a couple of of pre season games. It wasn't a penalty. That was a disgrace. This may also, even though club enforced, be the same type of penalty.

The fact that the Casboult issuse has not been publicly addressed to me means the AFL will want to step in. The media ( non footy media ) ( public ) won't let this go without some action from the AFL. This is a big issue, don't take it lightly. If the AFL makes no comment as to the solution they will stand condemned. The AFL has a duty to each young recruit and their family to ensure a safe working environment within reasonable limits and will need to be pro-active on this matter. The last thing it will need is government interference.

Edited January 5, 2010 by Redleg

[H_T 3,043]

Missing the Nab cup, does that mean all of the regional games as well if they lose the first Nab cup game? If it doesn't it could be a one nab cup game penalty. Next, training with the Bullants is a penalty, but they are still training under club supervision just losing the interaction with their mates. If it happened during the year it would be a suspension from real games.

On the same wavelength.

[Keyser Söze 0]

Isn't this a bit of an overreaction though?? Not the punishments, but the reactions that they should be far more severe?

The individual players should be punished for the negative publicity, sure, but isn't there just a lot of media hysteria and little substance to most of these claims?

- Houlihan and Walker had an argument in a hotel lobby, maybe a little scuffle. No footage or eye-witness accounts, only vague snippets from the media.

So what?

- Levi Casboult "handcuffed or tied" (how vague do you want to be?) to a senior player and forced to drink with him.

This is sketchy at best and even the senior player cannot be named.

The "fact" he was "barely conscious" was an emotional reaction from his dad, and even then we don't have a soundbite (or at least, I've not heard it).

- Eddie Betts being arrested drunk.

This is the worst incident by far, but its not even half as bad as what has been alleged at Lovett over at St Kilda.

If this happened at MFC, sure I'd want much tougher penalties... if we had some decent evidence of what occurred rather than a lot of vague media reports.

The real issue is an event where the players were drinking excessively with no framework put in place to prevent these types of outcomes and the bad publicity they bring to the club.

I like Brad Scott's take on this sort of behaviour, as quoted in the Age (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/a-whole-new-ball-game-20091231-lkx6.html)

I don't expect our players to be absolute clean skins and never make a mistake, because I don't think it is sustainable. What I won't tolerate is that you can't take time off from being an elite athlete.

You are an elite athlete always now. That means at times you are going to need your relaxation time and time away from footy, but it doesn't mean that you can say for the next three hours 'I am not an elite athlete', you still are and you have to understand the ramifications of everything you do.

You don't want robots, I don't believe in trying to give people personality transplants and make people something they are not, but there are certain non-negotiables with being an elite athlete and if you don't like those non-negotiables, then that is fine but just don't be an elite athlete. It is a clear choice and I have made it very clear to the boys.

If it happened at Melbourne I'd want to see prompt and decisive action...

But it hasn't. It happened at Carlton.

In the end, I'm happy it did and I couldn't care less how they deal with it.

(the poorer their response, the better, in my book...)