Measles it is.

Syphilis..?

Do you lose the right to express an opinion when you leave Australia?

I would think travel broadens the mind.

Don-you haven't earned the right to call WYL a tool yet .

Even if he is a little sh!tty at being a long-suffering Demon .

The man is a Demonland institution

And God knows we all belong in one .

ha Demonland institution? well let me bow down at his knees.

But in all seriousness, yes i think being out of the country, and unable to see a single minute of any VFL games, renders any extreme judgement on players who have only played VFL pretty meaningless. Yes travel broadens the mind, but we are not discussing the meaning of life, we are talking about footballers and traveling to asia does not expand your knowledge of a VFL players progression.

I remember Bate's first game - kicked a goal with his first touch IIRC. He seemed like an inspired draft selection with a ready made footy body. It is amazing how when you strip away the relative class that was around him that day - Neitz, Robbo, Yze et al how ordinary he starts to look. I think this is the sad comment on the way the club has recruited over the past decade - there are no game changers around good ordinary players like Bate to help them to look more at home at this level. Look at Cheney - complete spud in Red and Blue but seems OK at the Dawks. Depth of playing list makes such a difference to players of his ability. Most of the league is made up of Matthew Bate type players but unfortunately he has the misfortune of finding himself playing in an extremely ordinary side that only exaggeratesd his short comings more.

A really sad state of affairs and the blame goes way back!

Edited July 30, 201213 yr by How?Jeremy Howe!