There's an article in the age this morning about Watson the Elder lamenting the effect of the saga on Essendon's list management.

Because list management is the most important thing here, not unknown substances administered to young men over a protracted period by their employer.

But what do I know?

Tim Watson is a Know Nothing Older Buffoon

There's an article in the age this morning about Watson the Elder lamenting the effect of the saga on Essendon's list management.

Because list management is the most important thing here, not unknown substances administered to young men over a protracted period by their employer.

But what do I know?

Yes, list management needs to be done to right a slowly sinking ship

cas might deliver some very dramatic list management results

cas might deliver some very dramatic list management results

Ha, very good DC, very good.

Also it looks like WADA are appealing the AFL's decision to clear Dank on 20 odd charges:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/wada-appeals-stephen-dank-antidoping-tribunal-ruling-20150601-ghel3x.html

Wada have appealed most of the dank decisions

Yes, list management needs to be done to right a slowly sinking ship

I recall the football public saying that our putrid results as a result of tanking were our own mistakes and we should suffer the consequences.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Ha, very good DC, very good.

Also it looks like WADA are appealing the AFL's decision to clear Dank on 20 odd charges:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/wada-appeals-stephen-dank-antidoping-tribunal-ruling-20150601-ghel3x.html

The AFL bias in sanitising players appears to be within the vision of WADA.

It would appear any cooperation between ASADA and AFL may now be destroyed.

Will there now be tougher testing regimes implemented against AFL athletes?

Collingwood and "Big Mouth" still hang onto their points

Noticing a shift in the media campaign from the EFC in the last couple of days.

Straight after the appeal was announced it was all about how everyone was surprised (must have been because they still don't understand the position they are in), and how they wished WADA would just let them be. Very few Jounos actually came out and said it how it was, and that is that the appeal should be welcomed as it will get everything out in the open once and for all.

I have noticed in the last day or so that we are seeing articles talking about how this has affected the list at Essendon, from standing by their loyal players, to what could have been with the draft picks they lost. Maybe it is the cynic in me but I see this as the next stage in positioning the club as the hard done by party in the whole affair, and how they have already copped their whack, and been wonderful in standing by their players etc etc. The cynic has been especially roused as these have come out at the same time as the announcement about the Dank appeal, the man everyone wants gone. Could it be that the EFC, through the HS, are running this campaign so we all feel sorry for the players and club while venting about Dank?

Will be interesting to se if this line continues from the complicit media over the next few weeks, or was this convenient irrelevancy just a once off?

Noticing a shift in the media campaign from the EFC in the last couple of days.

Straight after the appeal was announced it was all about how everyone was surprised (must have been because they still don't understand the position they are in), and how they wished WADA would just let them be. Very few Jounos actually came out and said it how it was, and that is that the appeal should be welcomed as it will get everything out in the open once and for all.

I have noticed in the last day or so that we are seeing articles talking about how this has affected the list at Essendon, from standing by their loyal players, to what could have been with the draft picks they lost. Maybe it is the cynic in me but I see this as the next stage in positioning the club as the hard done by party in the whole affair, and how they have already copped their whack, and been wonderful in standing by their players etc etc. The cynic has been especially roused as these have come out at the same time as the announcement about the Dank appeal, the man everyone wants gone. Could it be that the EFC, through the HS, are running this campaign so we all feel sorry for the players and club while venting about Dank?

Will be interesting to se if this line continues from the complicit media over the next few weeks, or was this convenient irrelevancy just a once off?

They are probably laying the ground work for priority/special picks.

They (like Carlton and St Kilda) have sympathetic 'AFL insiders' who may re-interpret the pp rules in their favour.

Great miscarriage of justice if EFC (CFC or StK for that matter) receive any draft assistance.

Noticing a shift in the media campaign from the EFC in the last couple of days.

Essendon PR and spin machine has been a disaster from day 1 .

They are probably laying the ground work for priority/special picks.

They (like Carlton and St Kilda) have sympathetic 'AFL insiders' who may re-interpret the pp rules in their favour.

Great miscarriage of justice if EFC (CFC or StK for that matter) receive any draft assistance.

There's just no way they could be given draft assistance after having them removed for poor governance.

I know the AFL isn't afraid to be hypocritical and just go with it, but that would just a bridge too far for too many fans of the game.

Essendon PR and spin machine has been a disaster from day 1 .

Essendon's PR machine has been magnificent from day 1. They have spouted absolute shite but if you look at things such as Stand By Hird, Don the Sash etc etc they have been very good, with a lot of help from the their mates at the Hun, there is also a very good reason for their cooperation but I wont go there for fear of over stepping the line.

The sheer number of people in the public who feel the players are hard done by, that the club has copped enough, that the whole thing should be over, is testament to the effectiveness of the EFC media machine. This is also shown in the bile that is pushed Caro's way anytime she says anything, along with a few of her compatriots as well. Would not surprise me if it is used as a case study for 'how to bluff the punters to believe your BS' in the future.

It's as if someone is trying to prove my point, here is the latest of the delusional comments you find on the HS site from those who have had their fair share of the Kool-Aid.

"For Heaven's sake! How much of the Taxpayers' money will be spent on this. It's time that the ASADA Bureaucrats, who after all are the "unelected paid servants of the Taxpayers", stopped this vendetta against the Essendon Football Club and its players. What are they trying to prove?"

As if someone is trying to prove my point, here is the latest of the delusional comments you find on the HS site from those who have had their fair share of the Kool-Aid.

"For Heaven's sake! How much of the Taxpayers' money will be spent on this. It's time that the ASADA Bureaucrats, who after all are the "unelected paid servants of the Taxpayers", stopped this vendetta against the Essendon Football Club and its players. What are they trying to prove?"

The same kind of rubbish Lance Armstrongs fans used to dribble before he went down, down, downnnnnn

Noticing a shift in the media campaign from the EFC in the last couple of days.

Straight after the appeal was announced it was all about how everyone was surprised (must have been because they still don't understand the position they are in), and how they wished WADA would just let them be. Very few Jounos actually came out and said it how it was, and that is that the appeal should be welcomed as it will get everything out in the open once and for all.

I have noticed in the last day or so that we are seeing articles talking about how this has affected the list at Essendon, from standing by their loyal players, to what could have been with the draft picks they lost. Maybe it is the cynic in me but I see this as the next stage in positioning the club as the hard done by party in the whole affair, and how they have already copped their whack, and been wonderful in standing by their players etc etc. The cynic has been especially roused as these have come out at the same time as the announcement about the Dank appeal, the man everyone wants gone. Could it be that the EFC, through the HS, are running this campaign so we all feel sorry for the players and club while venting about Dank?

Will be interesting to se if this line continues from the complicit media over the next few weeks, or was this convenient irrelevancy just a once off?

Does it really matter what the media say here? From WADA's position, the Australian media is probably just a case of out of sight, out of mind.

Tim Watson is a Know Nothing Older Buffoon

Indeed as he did play for Essendon.

That Club is full of them!

Does it really matter what the media say here? From WADA's position, the Australian media is probably just a case of out of sight, out of mind.

WADA wont give one F*(k about what our media say, actually the more they say the more determined they may get. What is worrying is that the EFC campaign is softening up the punters for the AFL to remove itself from the WADA code, or give the EFC a massive hand up if they are missing most of their list. Neither of which should be done, and the former would make me walk from the game full stop.

There was a noticeable pause in the propaganda after the appeal was announced, I think they were genuinely surprised and unprepared as they thought the AFL had done the job and no one would dare question it. How wrong they were.

The whole time the EFC have managed the process, they have shifted from the club being hard done by to the players, this was in the hope that public opinion would be to let the players off (and in doing so the club get off as well). They have now shifted back very much to the impact on the club, is this because they see the writing on the wall that the players are gone? They seem to now be trying to get the same sympathy for the club that they tried to generate for the players, the end goal is the same, what is best for the club. At no point in this entire episode have the EFC actually acted for the players, the players just seem too blind to see it.

Does it really matter what the media say here? From WADA's position, the Australian media is probably just a case of out of sight, out of mind.

It wont matter to WADA one iota.. This is a game of pressuring the AFL Wheels within wheels etc.

Essendon's PR machine has been magnificent from day 1. They have spouted absolute shite but if you look at things such as Stand By Hird, Don the Sash etc etc they have been very good, with a lot of help from the their mates at the Hun, there is also a very good reason for their cooperation but I wont go there for fear of over stepping the line.

The sheer number of people in the public who feel the players are hard done by, that the club has copped enough, that the whole thing should be over, is testament to the effectiveness of the EFC media machine. This is also shown in the bile that is pushed Caro's way anytime she says anything, along with a few of her compatriots as well. Would not surprise me if it is used as a case study for 'how to bluff the punters to believe your BS' in the future.

I agree Hird's spin doctors have conducted a subtle and very expensive campaign. That is why I admire McDevitt, ASADA and WADA so much. With the exception of the outcome of the AFL Tribunal hearing (which was rigged from the beginning), McDevitt has beaten Essendon, Hird and if comes to that, the AFL, at every turn. They have done a magnificent job, and we should all be shouting their praises from the rooftops. Australian football and through it to us fans, owes a huge debt of gratitude to these guys, and we should never forget it.

The forces for good for once have triumphed! And we should be eternally grateful.

Subtle ??? Fmd...sledgehammers are more subtle lol

We haven't won yet. Should do.

Subtle ??? Fmd...sledgehammers are more subtle

That was my first thought too. I cant believe so many people cant see what is directly in front of them, poking them in the chest

WADA wont give one F*(k about what our media say, actually the more they say the more determined they may get. What is worrying is that the EFC campaign is softening up the punters for the AFL to remove itself from the WADA code, or give the EFC a massive hand up if they are missing most of their list. Neither of which should be done, and the former would make me walk from the game full stop.

There was a noticeable pause in the propaganda after the appeal was announced, I think they were genuinely surprised and unprepared as they thought the AFL had done the job and no one would dare question it. How wrong they were.

The whole time the EFC have managed the process, they have shifted from the club being hard done by to the players, this was in the hope that public opinion would be to let the players off (and in doing so the club get off as well). They have now shifted back very much to the impact on the club, is this because they see the writing on the wall that the players are gone? They seem to now be trying to get the same sympathy for the club that they tried to generate for the players, the end goal is the same, what is best for the club. At no point in this entire episode have the EFC actually acted for the players, the players just seem too blind to see it.

There is no doubt that the Hird campaign shifts their emphasis according to the current events, but I must say their PR options are narrowing rapidly. If all they can hang their hat on is asking for handouts from the AFL at the end of this, then good luck to them. They will have gone from one of the four powerhouses of the AFL to one of the minnows, purely on the back of the arrogance and sociopathic behaviour of their favourite son. If that is the outcome, then I think that is an equitable conclusion. Nothing more need be said....

It only irks me that the EFC still have willing listeners where they oughtn't !!!