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Indeed. By singling out four individual players at the club, pinpointing perceived deficiencies in the way they play and linking them by their race, Barry Dawson is guilty of racial sterotyping of the worst order. It's offensive and unacceptable anywhere. In the normal course, I would discuss a sanction against Barry Dawson with the other mods which would involve at the very least, the removal of his posts (which are an embarrassment to me and to the site), but I thought it might be better to retain them as an example of the sheer ignorance that racist talk entails. In the last century, we saw several instances of what happens when racist stereotyping is accepted and becomes rife within society. In the extreme cases, it led to the deaths of millions of Jews, Gypsies and others who were not to the liking of a pathological murderer in Europe, a million and a half in Cambodia in the 70s, a similar number of Armenians at the hands of the Turks almost 100 years ago and close to a million in Rwanda in the 90s. And we never seem to learn because fifty years after Hitler, the massacre took place on European soil of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, there are parts of modern, liberal Europe where the old hatred of Jews thrives and there are countless parts of the globe where the killing and rape of innocents on the basis of racial and/or religious differences go on unabated. Our own Indigenous people suffered similarly when the white man turned up here and the killing began and went on until they were utterly decimated. Our former prime minister issued an apology for what our forebears did but it seems that it passed over some people's heads and that bigotry is still alive and healthy even here. But racism at the Barry Dawson level, whilst it might not kill or injure physically, is often deeply hurtful to individuals in a society - it's a cowardly form of bullying that we don't have to accept from anyone these days - certainly not here. You can criticise any individual player as much as you like on this site as long as you do so constructively but if you associate that criticism with the person's race or religion, you cross the line into an area that is grossly offensive and unacceptable and won't be tolerated.

I agree with you totally WJ. I am very wary when people begin with the sentence, "I'm not racist, but......" The long history of antipathy towards our own indigenous people is deeply ingrained in the culture. It will take a long re-education and and openness of heart for it to dissipate. Hopefully in time it will be no more than a trace-element in our national psyche. As Pauline Hanson and John Howard discovered to their electoral benefit, it's very easy to pick the scab, and having done that, there are many out there who can't resist the scratching. Anti-aboriginal sentiment is still out there and still has it's own momentum. It's not difficult to find anti-semitism either. Both of these racist sentiments have a long history. For the record, I do sip cafe latte, chardonnay, and could be described by those wishing to give vent to their racist feelings, as a bleeding-heart lefty and a prisoner of political correctness. I do, on the other hand, also very much enjoy tea, beer, shiraz, pinot noir, water and have been known to make jokes which are not "PC". It's easier for those who like to make racial generalisations to also generalise about those who might take issue with their statements, by labelling them with such pejorative terms as "politically correct". Maybe "political correctness" had very noble beginnings. The term has been hijacked by those who use it as an all-purpose tool to devalue a view they don't agree with. PS. We all harbour racist feelings at times. It's the tribal nature of the human animal. It's whether we recognise them when they arise and how we deal with them that is the measure of our moral and social development. - End of Sermon

I think the idea that Moloney and Jones can't qualify as premiership midfielders is equally incorrect as the idea that they can lead a premiership midfield.

In the first 3k time trial for the year Jones ran just over 10 minutes from memory. Low 10's and anything under 10 is "elite".

Comparitive Update: - Dec 02, 2010 - 17.541 Dec 02, 2011 - 18,747 + 1,206^

And another: Young Gun is firing up forward I like this bit "I played in the backline at the start of the year but I didn’t get too much of the ball,” he said. “I moved up forward and have been able to kick some goals. I struggled against Scoresby but, apart from that, I think I’ve done all right.”

What, to get tackled?

I don't think it's a minority that believes your comments are racist.

What you say is right Rudeboy but goals and goal assists constitute half of the modern forward's job these days. Intensity, pressure and ferocious tackling is the other component and on that score Liam has failed to set the world alight so far. Whether he is able to or not will determine his longevity and quality as a league footballer.

I know i'm biased, and I realise there are weaknesses to his game which he needs to improve upon, but it amazes me how some people underrate Liam Jurrah's contribution to the team. He hasn't even played 40 games yet he has averaged more goals per game than any other player on the list - in each of his 3 seasons! He has also kicked the fastest first 50 goals in the AFL for a decade - out scoring Johnathon Brown, Fevola, Rocca, Rewoldt and Buddy Franklin. He also rates highly for goal assists. Still, maybe he's not good enough for such a star studded team.

Nice. Pigeon holing an entire race. Your assertion that the issue is purely down to players being indigenous is offensive. These boys aren't alone in underachieving. Underachievment has been a blight on our club for years and has nothing to do with cultural difference. A culture of indifference has been a bigger problem. A culture that has accepted mediocrity has been a bigger problem. What about the indigenous talent we didn't draft, but were in a position to do so? Were we correct in passing on Adam Goodes? Michael O'Loughlin? Cyril? Did we get those right? If Lance Franklin were a free agent and listed Melbourne as his preferred club, would you suggest we give him a miss? I'm not saying the boys you've singled out don't deserve a spray, but your focus is far too narrow. Far more players than you've named have been mollycoddled and given more leeway than they should have.

Sorry, went though to the keeper od Google didn't help either MGM Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (movie studio) MGM Milligram MGM Maternal Grandmother MGM Male Genital Mutilation (usually in reference to circumcision) MGM Mercury Grand Marquis (automobile model) MGM Member-Get-a-Member MGM Mechanics of Granular Materials MGM Means Great Movies (Metro-Goldwyn Mayer motto) MGM Mentally Gifted Minors MGM Montgomery, AL, USA - Dannelly Field (Airport Code) MGM Memory Grant Manager MGM Mission Manager MGM Mailgram MGM Master Group Multiplexer MGM Medical Group Management Journal MGM Materiel Group Manager MGM Modified Gradient Method MGM Mar Gregorios Memorial (schools in India) MGM Modern Gift Market MGM Militant Grammarians of Massachusetts (Infinite Jest) MGM Medium-Grade Metamorphism (geology) MGM Minimal Generator Matrix/Matrices MGM Multi-Guard Mediator MGM Managerial Gross Margin

Give Watts 2 more years in the gym. He'll be a beast and the prototype modern CHF.

Please explain before making crap sweeping statements like this...doesnt help your argument when you dont. In a top midfield we would all see how good Moloney would be. Do people wait and think why he is good against lower teams? maybe it is because the other players in our midfield can actually help him, rather than being cut to pieces by the Geelongs and Collingwoods of the competition. AFL is a team game, very few players can dominate in a crap team, Judd at Carlton, Ablett at Geelong, but these guys arnt just A grade they are stars of the game in general. You want Moloney to dominate against the best teams when they have 3-4 A grade players of genuine ability and so many people are willing to say that our best midfielder is a C grader or B at best, what does that say about they guys he is working with? You cannot win a midfield battle with one player.... it takes 10 and 23 good players on the ground playing good football to compete with the bad teams not to mention to better ones. So when he seems like a flat track bully as people say maybe it is just that he has the resources around him to help him dominate, resources we lack when we play better teams. because they are better than us atm, some quite significantly.

The Exception Rule There is an exception to every rule. Except that rule. Which would be the exception to the 'exception rule.' Thus validating the exception rule. This is patented to rpfc Inc. and any reproduction must acquire the written authorisation of rpfc Inc.

Moloney's 2011 was a vast improvement on what I thought he was capable of at the start of the season. He's still not an A-grade midfielder; rather, he is a B-grader capable of A-grade performances when the circumstances are in his favour. As other have noted already, his output was drastically lower against the very best teams. The round 1 draw against Sydney was his only good game against decent opposition and he was positively ineffectual against most of the best sides. Jones was a different kettle of fish. His effort could not be faulted, even if his execution was lacking at times. Moloney might have won the B&F and polled the most Brownlow votes but I rated Jones' year superior in most facets.

Indeed - I find it pretty easy to forget how young these guys are in terms of their overall career. Jones in particular gets treated like one of our flagging veterans (by me at times I'll admit) at the ripe old age of 23 - he's probably still 3-4 years away from his peak. If he continues to improve and remain fit, he will easily surpass 250 games and has every chance of reaching 300 based on his current rate. Morton and Bartram just get an excessively hard time regardless of their age I think.