Leaderboard

1 pm boxing day: Tom McDonald working out at the gym (according to his twitter) Howe, Dunn and Frawley sinking [censored] in bay 13 at the G. Spot the difference in dedication.

This time last year I predicted Hawthorn would win the premiership and Melbourne would take a giant step forward by making the finals and finishing in eighth place. I was wrong on both counts but that is the way of things in the life of a new age oracle. Like most people these days, we rely far too heavily on modern technology and the result is that it's so easy to make mistakes. It wasn't until well into the 2012 AFL season that I discovered I had overset the forward drive on my reconditioned crystal ball so that all of my predictions were one year ahead of time. This came as a great relief to me on a number of counts, not the least of which was the knowledge that Stella (the name by which my crystal ball is affectionately known) is once again fully operational and I'm able to provide my fearless predictions for the future with some measure of confidence. I was also relieved when I looked through the swirling snow encased in Stella's glass orb into 2013 and beyond that those moronic Mayans got it all wrong about the world ending on 21 December, 2012. Of course, if you knew anything about what those blokes used to smoke back in their day, you wouldn't be surprised that none of their predictions ever worked out right on the button. Not that my own track record has been all that flash lately, but at least when I make my forecasts on big ticket items like the end of the world, I make sure that my research is impeccable and my prognostications are accurate enough to ensure that people listen to me the next time I open my mouth. So much for the Mayans! So looking into my crystal ball recently, I was somewhat taken aback to see Jared Rivers in horizontal navy and white stripes at Simmons Stadium and Ricky Petterd looking positively strange in yeller and black high-fiving a bunch of ferals after booting one through his backside from a pocket. While I'm at it, congratulations to James Frawley, Jeremy Howe and Lynden Dunn for taking their former teammates to Bay 13 to give them an insight into the mindset of the yobbos who will be following them for the remainder of their careers. On the other hand, when I looked to the west, I was truly gobsmacked at the sight of an overblown Cale Morton (fair dinkum, he was well over 105kg) checking into a Perth Weight Watchers clinic after what surely must have been an experiment gone wrong from the chemist who coaches the Weagles. I say it every year but it's a fact. Final eight predictions are always fraught with danger. There are always surprises with some teams unexpectedly dropping out of contention and others rising to the occasion and surprising everybody. This my top eight for 2013:- 1. Hawthorn - Clarkson and the Hawks are smarting about their lost opportunity in the 2012 grand final. They had the Swans on the ropes but some poor kicking for goal let them off the hook and Malceski and Morton (Mitch) turned out to be the unlikely heroes. I still rate Clarkson as the AFL's top coach even if he loses the plot in the coaches box and at under 9 games, and rate the Hawks a shoe in for next year's flag. Stella confirms my opinion. 2. Collingwood - the Pies have managed their list beautifully throughout the free agency/trade and draft period. They managed to trade well to get good draft picks and gained some handy replacements on the cheap through free agency. Having worked the system to perfection, they now have the added depth to make up the leeway between them and last year's grand finalists and I reckon they are going to give the flag a bit of a shake before doing what they always do best. Yes, that's play in losing grand finals. 3. Geelong - the fat lady is far from done with the Cats who utilised 2012 to bring several new faces into the game with good effect. Some critics believe they might struggle but they've still got the hunger and have recruited reasonably strongly in areas where their football department perceived they might have had some weaknesses. Geelong will remain hard to beat in 2013. 4. Fremantle - Ross Lyon managed to rejuvenate the Dockers in his first season out west. He added new steel into the team and whilst the emphasis remained on defence, his team also demonstrated some fantastic attacking capabilities when called upon to do so in the latter stages of the season. 5. Sydney - the reigning premiers didn't exactly slip under the radar in 2012 but they will come under more intense scrutiny from opposition coaches and teams determined to knock of the competition's tallest poppy. Kurt Tippett will add something to the forward division but it will be well into the season before he even appears in the colours at AFL level. I see them slipping because that's what the crystal ball's telling me. 6. West Coast - the Eagles have a classy list but I'm not satisfied that they've done enough to improve their list to the point where they can take the next step up into the top four. I worry about Wellingham and wonder what Morton and Bennell are doing on their list. 7. Carlton - they've really blown it in the past couple of years with a talented but underachieving list. Malthouse comes in with a new/old philosophy that should lift them a few notches and back into the finals but salary cap restrictions as a result of the AFL's ruling on Chris Judd's financial package, have restricted their recruiting. With Judd in his declining years and giving up the captaincy and the likes of Kreuzer and Gibbs looking decidedly shaky, this is probably the Blues last chance of reaping the dividends of their three year tanking spree (2005-7) which the AFL has curiously chosen to pretend never existed. 8. Melbourne - the Demon overhaul is now virtually complete. It's a changed list with a new attitude and every player is prepared to give his all. The squad might be young but with the massive turnover of players, a new work ethic, a high level of motivation and a reasonable draw, they should improve. Mark Neeld wants to have the hardest team to play against and while I don't think they're quite there at the moment, I think they'll be the most surprising team as well as the most unpredictable. My rough guess then is that they will get to eighth spot on the ladder. Finally, I'm sure you all want to find out about the outcome of the AFL tanking enquiry. Well, I can't say much but looking into the swirling drifts of snow, I can just detect the outline of a single object - the scales of justice. Make of that what you will but I can assure you all that whatever happens, it won't be the end of the world. I'll see you all in the future!

are you an idiot ?? they are at all times, like it or not ( as takers of a very large paycheck ) representing not only themselves but the MFC. They have a duty of respect to that job to uphold. Nice trolling btw

Having sat in Bay 13 for the first time 2 years ago as a 27 year old, and having sat in the MCC many times before that, I was surprised by how jumpy the security guards are with a bit of harmless fun, i.e. the "beer trains" and how itchy their "trigger fingers" are for kicking someone out. At times they are expecting trouble and quick to anticipate it, whether real or imagined. I've witnessed blokes get hauled out for very little indeed. I don't necessarily believe the players are innocent, and the decision to place themselves in bay 13 deserves scrutiny, but this discussion needs some balance.

Doesn't scream "elite culture" does it.

Of all the gin joints in the world........................ incredibly flawed judgement. where could you possibly get more exposure?

Oh no "Melbourne Players Tanked at the MCG" could end up in another series by CW or AFL investigation.

Yeh there's nothing in it other than current employees of the club getting sh#t faced in the most public of places & getting ejected from a place where 99% of the guests can maintain appropriate behaviour. I know they are entitled to do as they please in there time off. However it doesn't paint a very professional or dedicated picture of them in particular, they should know better.

Me either, I mean who gives a stuff if we're crap for another five years or so. The whole "elite performance" mantra the club is trying to employ is complete bollocks anyway.

Of course they can sit where ever they want, and drink what ever they want, same as you and I. And once they have had too much they will be kicked out same as you and I. Difference is you and I wont make front page news tarnishing the brand name of our employer. For what its worth I agree, who cares, they got drunk and got kicked out of the MCG, we all know it dosnt take much to get kicked out. But it is what it is. Weather or not they should be allowed to get [censored] at the cricket without making news is a seperate issue. Fact is if any player from any AFL club is caught in public drunk making an idiot out of himself it will make the papers, so dont let it happen. If you want to get on it with the boys at the cricket in the off season, come play for Yarra with Fev for $2000 a game. But if your gonna stick you hand out for the big AFL dollars then thats the trade off.

as a troll you're really not very good.

Super impressive if they did drink that whole beer-train by themselves.

Probably true but I don't know if the players were responsible for the incident nor if they were ejected for their behaviour or the behaviour of others . There is probably only light or mid beer available . If you have ten you just get a headache . Let them all have a life for a few days.(However low-brow it may appear to us perfect souls) Get your own if you think its big news. Rivers and Mclean are not our issue. Howe was watching his cousin play for Australia. At least they are watching sport and not smoking ice like the Tiggers and certain Collingwood guys. If we suspend Howe I will have a sh!t fit .

I wish Frawley would just concentrate on getting a kick. Had a pathetic year and has now partied at the cricket like a bogan yesterday, and at Eve on Saturday night. People will say 'they're on holidays' but the elite players don't get on the [censored] twice in 3 days. Appears to strut around the night clubs like a dead set [censored] whose AA year has gone well and truly to his head. Just get a kick chip.

In all likely hood a storm in a tea cup or more realistically a plastic schooner cup. Certainly not smart behaviour but who ever said these guys were smart?Their footballers for christ sake. Who amongst us hasn't been tossed out of a nightclub or boozer for some completely juvenile behaviour. Some of us conveniently forget the folly of their own youth and are as quick to judge as a hack journo or an AFL administrator. Yes they earn big bucks and yes in today over analysed game they are supposed to be role models, but they are first and foremost young men. Testosterone and biology has something to do with all of this and unless we start neutering our young draftees this isn't the last time such stupidity will raise it's ugly head. Footballers as role models has always been a dubious concept. The very qualities we admire the most in a footballer on the field are also the same qualities that can and do cause some of them trouble in society. Lets not make them hate being footballers because we are willing to deprive them of the same rights of passage that we all enjoyed. I reckon a couple of extra 400's at the end of each session for a month should do the trick .On a brighter note it is heartening to know that our resident bad boy "COL" has not been mentioned in despatches. Well done Colin!

It doesn't matter what they get paid........We are all entitled to have a few days over Christmas/New year where we can let our hair down don't we?????.....They train, play,very hard all the rest of the time but are not allowed to go to the cricket and have a few beers????....Did they get into a brawl?????......Did they put lives in danger by drink driving????...Did they belt some innocent bloke and break his jaw????.....No.....Can't belive all the fuss....

Couldnt agree more, Im from Corowa where Kozi went to school. He came to a school reunion in a pub my missus owned and was blind, tryed to shout the whole bar Jager shots (not enough Jager) picked up the tab for the last half hour for the hunderd people in there, then went back and partied at some dudes house (where they fed him Carlton Draught cans with the collingwood team photo on it). Apparently some time after that a few other St Kilda boys came up and they were stuffing around on his parents farm I presume and someone got run over by a four wheeler. Never heard this boring story have we, why? BECAUSE IT WASNT IN BAY 13 ON NATIONAL TV! I really think players need some kind of nanny to stop them making silly choices. So what they got [censored] and played up, but for god sake do it at home. And to those who say "they are only young adults, let them be boys" I say no. When you sign a contract for $300,000+ a year there are some things you are expected to give up and getting dragged out of bay 13 on boxing day is one of them.

Why the hell would you ask for a photo....There are plenty of times for that sort of thing when they are at the club.....They went to the cricket to have some time off with their mates and yes have a few beers like anyone of us.......They are young men...not robots.....Why shouldn't they go to which ever part of the ground they want to.....It's people like you who want autographs and photos and encroach on their time off that start these sort of things.......Why not just leave them alone......

Agreed. Knucklehead thinking at best. I was watching the post tea events on the binoculars and was wondering who the idiots were. The good part is that the senior knucklehead Rivers is now at another Club, And Petterd showed what a grand addiction he will be the Richmond culture.

Just dumb, FMD.

Just about the Dee's best performance at the G all year.

My big problem is not that they got drunk on holidays, thats fine, its not that they chose to have fun at an iconic sporting event. If they had done these things in a more private setting, from a corporate box to simply a different stand then there would not have been a problem. But the fact that they chose to go to the most infamous Australian location for loutish behaviour in Bay 13, on the biggest day on the Cricket calender and then proceeded to act exactly the way that would draw attention to them in a negative way, from press, police etc, is incredibly stupid for them, the club and the AFL. When you work for organisations that require public support to survive whether you like it or not you are culpable for the image of that organisation. The players involved weren't a good look for themselves, the MFC or the AFL. Stupid and dissappointing thing to do especially in light of our clubs current predicament.

It might be trivial but considering we have been useless for so long.... It doesnt exactly scream, "we are doing everything we can to win a flag" now does it.

I hope the punishment is not "metered" out in inches, or even meated out in chops.

I agree its just plain dumb and a poor lack of judgement. They certainly dont have to prove they're bogans. There are many ways of showing that you are human just dont exhibit that lower end of the gene pool when you do it.

A fair few witnesses have said how pi55ed they were, and you don't make beer cup snakes and throw cups at people if you're drinking tea...

Regardless of what anyone thinks about innocent fun, being on a break, etc. You'd have to think Frawls has handed in his resignation from the leadership group by being part of it?

I read the article on News.com.au It seems to me that the spirit amongst our playing group last year and this year is and will be strong. If past players still mix and are part of the club spirit I see that as a strong sign that things are very good amongst the players at demonland ! Besides its Holidays for the next week or so, not a problem here Merry Xmas and New Year to all !

What were they thinking sitting in that area. Of course they would be tragets. I have no sympathy for them. I not surprised to see dunn there and chip isnt exactly the smartest person going around but im surprised Howe got caught up in it. Couldnt his cousin get him better seats. Im sure Matty wade is proud of his cousin for getting kicked out. In todays world of social media you cant get away with anything. Its just disappointing after the darwin camp where Im sure neeldy would have drummed a few things into them and he would be furious. I think he is overseas in the states.Well he was the other day. I thnk they will get a talking to.Anyway luckily we arent a big a club as collingwood otherwise this would drag on for days. But it would had been nice to read in the off season about us training well not getting kicked out boxing day.

I was there yesterday just above bay 13 in N15 I watched them (people in bay 13, not dees boys) most of the day and they where very entertaining only the serious [censored] got dragged out kicking and screaming the others where just having harmless fun just like our boys no big deal

If the club were going to take this seriously, the group would have had a tongue lashing already. Then the new leadership group will sit down and hand out the punishment

I would think Mark Neeld And Neil Craig will have quite a lot of hard but sharp words to these guys when they return from holidays next week. These guys have probably and unfortunately shown just how far we have to go, before the "elite" mindset takes hold. I know othe clubs including the Maggies have similar problems with some players. But, that is no excuse. In a cricket way, remembe what the black eye in Kings Cross did for Ricky Ponting and more recently what a transformation appears to have taken place with Michael Clark since he learnt to think more with the head on to of his shoulders rather than the one between his legs. This minor infingement wil hopefully give reason to pull these guys back into line without too much damage.

The incident itself is nothing much, it's just the stupidity on parade that gets me. They need to pull their heads in and show they are dedicated to turning around the shitheap this team has become under their watch instead of making public spectacles of themselves amongst well-known congregations of drunk bogans with the sports press everywhere. It just shows an astounding lack of judgment but yeah, win a few games and maybe people won't care so much.

What bothers me most is the fact that we've been virtually unwatchable for the last 6 years, that the club crap on about elite performance, that they decided to sit in bay 13 at the cricket, that they thought it would be "fun" to put together a beer cup boat, the fact that they were drunk in public and the fact that they were ejected in public. The simple FACT is we won one meaningful game last year and I'm god damn tired of it. This sort of stuff makes me wonder if any of them give a shyte about us going to every single game and watching their sorry ar$es get handed to them every single week.

Of course it isn't a massive deal, but you know what is good? When your players aren't getting [censored] in Bay 13 and reacting to the scum you find there and getting kicked out. Honestly, there are a few blatant contrarians on this forum. They don't decide where they stand on an issue until they have found where the vast, reactionary majority have landed...

Absolute pathetic by these blokes GROW UP !!! Banned from round one and smash the f1ck out of them on the track. Fancy parading yourself in this fashion in the current climate. [censored] OFF!!! Great way to attract members boys.

C'mon Smitty, they didn't get mature and responsible till one of their number got kicked out. I would have like to see mature and responsible before they decided to head to bay13 to get on the pizz. WTF did they think was gonna happen?

Boys will be boys? Idiots will be idiots, bogans will be bogans, discipline will be metered out!

you're a joke..seriously. We can see what transpired. As to what lead up to it, another thing and somewhat irrelvant. They got [censored] and ejected. They made the news and front page. Which bit of this escapes you. Being 23 yo is an excuse for ??? Answer ....nothing. btw..I dont wear knickers.

These minor infractions annoy me almost as much as the major ones. It's not the fact that they went to the cricket or "played up" or were drinking while teammates were in the gym etc, it's the fact that they put themselves in a position where they could end up with bad press. Even if it is a complete media beatup - which I'm sure it is - it's really not that hard to stay out of the newspaper if you keep your brain engaged. It's just a disappointing lack of judgement for mine.

I suspect Neeld will be absolutely rope able, the MFC has had enough media coverage over the past few months. I don't think we'll be seeing either of these boys against Port in round 1 or in the leadership group for that matter. Imagine being hungover and Mark Neeld flashing up on your phone haha!. I hope you enjoyed boys!

I am worried about the use of a crystal ball. Being of Celtic background, I would prefer something more tried and tested such as rune stones!

Bogans.

Suspend them for Round 1. Don't think Neeldy & Co will look fondly on players getting [censored] in Bay 13 and then being ejected from the ground.

FH = Foundation Hero Chill out.

It might be harmless fun and they are just letting a bit of steam off, blah, blah... but whichever way you look at it, it's bad publicity and could have potentially ended up worse. Could they have found a more public place to get very [censored] and look like idiots, then get evicted? Aren't these guys lectured to by the club over and over that they need to behave when out in public and not put themselves in compromising situations?

Don't be angry? Im sorry, when was the last time we won a flag?

That'll do. This thread is about the investigation and not about the CEOs position. I've asked before so let's please stay on topic and leave your agendas against club officials elsewhere unless and until there are charges laid as a result of the investigation.

The AFL won't make any decision on charges until the MFC submission is lodged. My inside info is that the AFL tanking case is weak at best and dependent on questionable evidence. Suggestions that officials brought the game into disrepute by comments at in house meetings are virtually impossible to sustain and would almost certainly see the matter end up in the court system.

You're obviously a St Bede's, Mentone boy. Gerard and Greg's sister taught me at primary school. I always remember Greg coming to school and having a kick with us, and Gerard looking reluctant to be there. Gerard also got a very lukewarm reception at the Bluey Truscott this year. He didn't get a great reception from the crowd. He was only there to support his surfing mate in Chunk Jones. He wasn't there for his great love of the club.