On 15/02/2013 at 21:41, Ben-Hur said:

  On 15/02/2013 at 21:39, Dr John Dee said:

Well, it might be worse than some scenario or other, but I presume you mean worst, in which case your scepticism is certainly correct.

"cheap and shallow" (besides, weren't you going on about someone's spelling the other day?)

  On 15/02/2013 at 20:20, bush demon said:

Like it where kerosene caro seems to be praising Gillon for the outcome, suggesting he may now be in line for the top job. This after condemning the final outcome.

I get the feeling that Caro is still trying to curry favor with her sources at AFL house with the comment.

It has been delightful to see the progressive backpedaling from Caro. If the tone of her articles were more in line with this one rather than the venom spewed earlier, I (and I would say other MFC supporters) wouldn't have turned on her.

I get the feeling that she has also been reading the comments left under her articles and has realized that not everyone is prepared to join her on this crusade and they have realized that she just wanted a scalp. Caro's work hasn't all been shyte. I have been told that her work covering the self destruction of Carlton at the start of the decade was brilliant. Maybe she saw the kudos she received over that work and felt that maybe the way to gain notoriety is to bring down clubs/club figures (?)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/media-bosses-critical-of-papers-miscalculation/story-fn63e0vj-1226579191175

Did she borrow the calculator on the age sports desk.

haha

someone should get a picture of a smashed up wwII soviet tank and plaster it with pictures of kero and the age masthead

  On 15/02/2013 at 21:53, Dr John Dee said:

"(besides, weren't you going on about someone's spelling the other day?)

No idea. I suspect you have a greater interest in my posts than me.

  On 15/02/2013 at 20:30, condemned 84 said:

If any one has the age, the fron cover of the sport section is a tank done in Melbourne colours!!!!! I can't find the pic on their website

I need it as my avatar.

I have to admit i had a laugh about that. Full page red and blue tank with a Melbourne insignia. People getting cranky at CW should remember that there is editor who vets and directs.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:14, Ben-Hur said:

No idea. I suspect you have a greater interest in my posts than me.

No, just a working memory ... and no particular need for affectations of insouciance.

If the sanctions that have reported are accurate, time to accept them and move on.

The Club will recover and we've got the right people at the helm to advance our fortunes.

Thank you to the interview panel that delivered Mark Neeld as our coach.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:29, jumbo returns said:

If the sanctions that have reported are accurate, time to accept them and move on.

The Club will recover and we've got the right people at the helm to advance our fortunes.

Thank you to the interview panel that delivered Mark Neeld as our coach.

I find it a little bemusing that many posters seem to think rolling over & accepting a sanction(even viewed as small) is acceptable. I would presume any sanction that is not fought by the club is an admission of guilt & the club would then run the risk of losing its gaming license which would then kill the club.

Unless the penalties handed down don't relate to match fixing or tanking in any way I don't see how the club can afford to accept any guilty verdict as it would result in the death of the club.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:38, Bonkers said:

I find it a little bemusing that many posters seem to think rolling over & accepting a sanction(even viewed as small) is acceptable. I would presume any sanction that is not fought by the club is an admission of guilt & the club would then run the risk of losing its gaming license which would then kill the club.

Unless the penalties handed down don't relate to match fixing or tanking in any way I don't see how the club can afford to accept any guilty verdict as it would result in the death of the club.

totally agree.

Many people seem to think this is over. I certainly hope not.

In breaking news, Caroline Wilson will be sacked from The Age, effective immediately.

Ms Wilson's sacking follows a spate of articles written in relation to Melbourne's ongoing tanking investigation. The findings were published on Monday night that absolved all Melbourne staff of any responsibility.

The Age's representative stated that the publication and Ms Wilson are heading in different directions. Part of the new direction of 'The Age' was to lift the integrity of the publication, by checking facts, not passing innuendo as quotes, distinguishing opinion and reporting, letting go of personal gripes and to not take notes next to the water-cooler.

During the seven month investigation Ms Wilson wrote that Melbourne leaders, Cameron Schwabb, Chris Connolly would be 'finished' at Melbourne. Melbourne's 2009 coach Dean Bailey was reported to be suspended from any active duty within the AFL, all of which were not part of the official findings. When interviewed Ms Wilson raised the point that despite the official findings, "there was an unofficial finding that corroborated (her) version of events." "Unofficially, Melbourne Football Club, Cameron Schwabb, Chris Connolly and Dean Bailey are in a lot of trouble. Despite the findings officially, they were to be unofficially sanctioned by the AFL." When pushed on what this meant, Ms Wilson stated "pay-backs a [censored]... so call me Pay-Back."

'The Age' has been accused by Ms Wilson of being childish by shooting the messenger. Part of Ms Wilson's unofficial defense has been that other people wrote similar finding's, there was systemic failure in the media that allowed her to publish those ideas, the findings she printed were true at the time, she was acting on good information that had been leaked from AFL house by a former employee who had the authority to push those findings 7 months out from the conclusion. Ms Wilson then accused the AFL, of being 'soft' for not backing up what she'd written in her article and said "if the media aren't going to be protected from the truth, it will burn a lot of ordinary journalists."

Ms Wilson also took a veiled swipe at her now ex-employer stating that "the place had really gone to hell over the past 7 months." Ms Wilson was reticent to take any of the blame for the short-comings of the publications, intimating that she'd noticed a trend around the place to substitute facts with opinions and repeat it often enough until it became public perception. Ms Wilson was happy to be leaving such a amoral publication and wouldn't want to be part of a paper that would put up with innuendo, poor structure or lax fact checking. When it was brought up that 'that is now The Age', she burst into tears and said "she'd try to meet with them next week to smooth things over."

Standers by observed Ms Wilson trotting towards here car yelling "IT'S NOT FAIR!" and then she neighed and through her hair back.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:03, Tony Tea said:

Tanks for that

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:38, Bonkers said:

I find it a little bemusing that many posters seem to think rolling over & accepting a sanction(even viewed as small) is acceptable. I would presume any sanction that is not fought by the club is an admission of guilt & the club would then run the risk of losing its gaming license which would then kill the club.

Unless the penalties handed down don't relate to match fixing or tanking in any way I don't see how the club can afford to accept any guilty verdict as it would result in the death of the club.

The biggest thing for me was draft picks. It's a huge relief for the club.

If the penalties are as suggested the outcry from some opposition supporters will be immense. If we were to be punished nearly everyone would have thought we'd be sanctioned at the draft table. It was the single biggest issue.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:38, Bonkers said:

I find it a little bemusing that many posters seem to think rolling over & accepting a sanction(even viewed as small) is acceptable. I would presume any sanction that is not fought by the club is an admission of guilt & the club would then run the risk of losing its gaming license which would then kill the club.

Unless the penalties handed down don't relate to match fixing or tanking in any way I don't see how the club can afford to accept any guilty verdict as it would result in the death of the club.

The other issue will be what other clubs did. If the AFL's 'unofficial' thinking is that they can punish Melbourne and sweep the preceding tanking allegations under the carpet because in Caro's words, "they were less blatant" then that is absolute garbage and shows a serious flaw in the AFL's application and administration of it's own rules.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:50, Ben-Hur said:

The biggest thing for me was draft picks. It's a huge relief for the club.

If the penalties are as suggested the outcry from some opposition supporters will be immense. If we were to be punished nearly everyone would have thought we'd be sanctioned at the draft table. It was the single biggest issue.

I thought legally proved guilt was the biggest issue.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:50, diesel said:

The other issue will be what other clubs did. If the AFL's 'unofficial' thinking is that they can punish Melbourne and sweep the preceding tanking allegations under the carpet because in Caro's words, "they were less blatant" then that is absolute garbage and shows a serious flaw in the AFL's application and administration of it's own rules.

Would say a lot about their new found Integrity.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:38, Bonkers said:

I find it a little bemusing that many posters seem to think rolling over & accepting a sanction(even viewed as small) is acceptable. I would presume any sanction that is not fought by the club is an admission of guilt & the club would then run the risk of losing its gaming license which would then kill the club.

Unless the penalties handed down don't relate to match fixing or tanking in any way I don't see how the club can afford to accept any guilty verdict as it would result in the death of the club.

Gee I wonder if our Board and legal team would have thought of that? Why don't you give Guy and Ray a call and give them your insight. Get on a conference call with WYL.

My take is the negotiated settlement will cover these bases and that's why it's taking time.

  On 15/02/2013 at 22:53, Redleg said:

I thought legally proved guilt was the biggest issue.

This verdict would put the Bentleigh & Leighoak Clubs at risk i would think.

No time for any celebration.

Back to CW for a moment.

In her latest piece of trash she states that it is true that the AFL has strong evidence in its 800 page report on Melbourne tanking. My info is exactly the opposite and our President agrees.

Next she said "

TANKING is a sensitive issue, particularly for Melbourne people who know how badly the club botched its attempts to gain early draft picks - and how the club botched the results.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/muckup-to-be-a-stain-on-demons-20130215-2eisg.html#ixzz2L0mx7QHR

I thought we actually got the picks and then selected T$ and JT. One is the highest paid inexperienced AFL player in the history of the game and he was taken from us by the AFL in pathetic fashion, with AFL money and handed to another club, the other player is our Co Captain. For losing T$ we have a Dawes, Barry and Hogan.

Question to the harpie, how did we botch the attempt to get the picks and next how did the club botch the results?

  On 15/02/2013 at 23:10, Redleg said:

Back to CW for a moment.

In her latest piece of trash she states that it is true that the AFL has strong evidence in its 800 page report on Melbourne tanking. My info is exactly the opposite and our President agrees.

Next she said "

TANKING is a sensitive issue, particularly for Melbourne people who know how badly the club botched its attempts to gain early draft picks - and how the club botched the results.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/muckup-to-be-a-stain-on-demons-20130215-2eisg.html#ixzz2L0mx7QHR

I thought we actually got the picks and then selected T$ and JT. One is the highest paid inexperienced AFL player in the history of the game and he was taken from us by the AFL in pathetic fashion, with AFL money and handed to another club, the other player is our Co Captain. For losing T$ we have a Dawes, Barry and Hogan.

Question to the harpie, how did we botch the attempt to get the picks and next how did the club botch the results?

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story Redleg

  On 15/02/2013 at 23:06, why you little said:

This verdict would put the Bentleigh & Leighoak Clubs at risk i would think.

No time for any celebration.

Not if the AFL report, as McLardy says, contains no evidence or charge that Melbourne "worked hard to lose games of football in 2009" or that "Melbourne manipulated football results in 2009".

  On 15/02/2013 at 23:15, maurie said:

Not if the AFL report, as McLardy says, contains no evidence or charge that Melbourne "worked hard to lose games of football in 2009" or that "Melbourne manipulated football results in 2009".

if last nights report is correct it has to be taken as a guilty verdict.

You do not get fine $500,000 for nothing.

  On 15/02/2013 at 23:00, Fifty-5 said:

Gee I wonder if our Board and legal team would have thought of that? Why don't you give Guy and Ray a call and give them your insight. Get on a conference call with WYL.

My take is the negotiated settlement will cover these bases and that's why it's taking time.

Spot on 55. The charge will be bringing the game into dispute which allows us to make the point we did not tank and there is no proof we did (which was what DM said in his statement). Stupid charge obviously but the only one they can level if they want a negotiated settlement.

They'll just be working out the numbers as we speak. Perhaps the $500 k will be partially suspended?

I noted last night that this was likely a strategic leak from the AFL so interesting to see Francis Leach's tweet above which seems to confirm that. Funny then that the Age article detailing the likely outcomes was labelled an exclusive when every paper in the country seemed to be running with it (now that what i call a leak!)

  On 15/02/2013 at 23:06, why you little said:

This verdict would put the Bentleigh & Leighoak Clubs at risk i would think.

No time for any celebration.

Bollocks.