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The effort is there and we have been as good as if not better than them for most of the first half. But the one key difference between the teams is class - one team takes its opportunities and kicks goals, the other fluffs opportunities and misses easy goals. Jack Grimes that was absolutely disgraceful. Your team needs you to kick a goal and you miss from 10 metres out. Completely took the stuffing out of the side instead of putting us a few points behind. Dawes also missed from about the same distance. And he also missed a sitter in the first term. It just absolutely kills you in low-scoring defensive games. So frustrating when you are doing a lot of things right but just cannot execute the most basic skill in footy. And I said before the game we were too tall and the same thing happened against Collingwood. Why would you select so many talls in Darwin? Most goals are coming from ground level (surprise surprise) yet we select two ruckmen and about 8 key position players.

I'd suggest that we aren't going to be drafting many people who can't kick.

Outstanding contest Pedersen; man handled, keeps his feet, give off to Kent who finishes nicely. Equal credit to both boys for that goal for mine.

Still the worst poster on Demonland.

So let me guess... If we get up and win this game you will never post on Demonland again.

Our effort was there aside from 10 minute lapses in the second and third quarters. We just need class mids that can run all game. We again played too tall forward. Nowhere near as bad as the panic stations that will occur in this thread. We just need to continue to turn over the list and find players that will make the most of the ball when we have it.

The worst posters are those who promise never to post again and still do.

Dean Kent never stops trying. Bloody ripper

When was the last time Dawes took a contested mark?

Can't believe how glum everybody is Facts are that in the last 4 weeks we have played 50/50 footy - half excellent half deplorable. It's all about getting 4 quarters in. IF we play 120 minutes like we did in the 2nd half against the bombers, the first half against the pies, all but the 3rd quarter against the Roos, and the third quarter last week - we will take it up to this mob

[all figures are average per game] That Fyfe guy must be an absolute brick, to be leading the contested possessions count over at Freo... Roughnut Shaun Burgoyne must be disappointed in a way, because now he is it Hawthorn he is only second in the contested possession count there. Dyson Heppell, that ol' ball of muscle, must be the gruntiest grunt man from Gruntland to be ahead of the likes of Watson over at the bombers. I haven't heard much about this Gibbs fella that the Blues have just signed for a squilllion dollars, but he must be a proper freight train, to lead their contested possessions. And of course, we all know about Scott 'Brontosaurus' Pendlebury, and how he plays better in wet weather because it helps him float his massive body weight. Because, as anyone with footy knowledge knows...

Jesse Hogan in the stands with Spencer. Cross also looking on today. Might ask Hoges to shout me lunch.

You win a prize for being the first one. Congratulations.

I'm also loving Jack Viney. Trying to be positive here....

Yeah, we turn the ball over a bit. That's because we lack class. I love it how the emotional flakes here react like it's a sudden realisation.

You can't keep playing Salem for a handful of possessions per week. We're 1 man down. It's been the same for weeks now. Just don't get it.

That Grimes miss seemed to deflate the side. Thanks captain.

"Won't be too many coast to coast goals by Melbourne tonight!", by commentators. Suck on Kent's big one!

Quiet, fool.

dermott brereton is just a shocking commentator.

God we could use Jesse Hogan up front

Lol... They have more than 2 good players mate

I have tuned out of any media shows that Robbo is currently on. His cheer leading for Hird and Essendon is gone way beyond bias and is totally unprofessional. His obsession against AFL, ASADA and anyone outside of Essendon is nonsensical for a senior journo. Any smokescreen to avoid the real issue Robbo.....your a disgrace

Judging by that post above from Freddy Fuschia, it must be me because I made that point at least two weeks ago about the fact that one effect of Essendon's litigation and the failure to bring about finality to this saga would be to hamper the Bombers' recruiting efforts for next year. To answer your question, ASADA has increased its lead from 15 points at quarter time to 20 points late in the second term. This, despite a lot of noise from their deranged fans in the grandstand. The AFL seems to have picked up some problems it might have to deal with by sending to the MRP. Apparently, Bomber Thompson's refusing to pay his $30k fine from a year ago. There are also some issues with medicos. Although he works for Murdoch which in the main has been cheerleading and obfuscating for the Bombers, Patrick Smith's match report in today's Australian sums it up the best ~ Caught with their pants down ... and I’m not talking about league Quite ... and it's worth shouting this from the rooftops again and again ... What were the Essendon players injected with and was it a substance banned under the WADA Code? The heckling and booing from the Bomber fans in the grandstand is nothing other than. white noise.

There's been a fair amount of sympathy for the players on the basis that they were "duped" into participating in a dubious programme that went terribly wrong for them and their club. Here's a piece that looks at drug cheating athletes from a slightly different perspective in the context of international track and field. I recommend a full read if you want to gain an understanding of what sport is up against in the world of sports science and doping ~ An open letter to Tyson Gay Gay was banned in June 2013 after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid in two out-of-competition tests. The ban was reduced from two years by USADA due to Gay's cooperation and ended on June 23. His return to competition at yesterday's IAAF Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland saw him compete against two sprinters who have also served doping bans. Justin Gatlin won Olympic 100m gold in Athens in 2004 and bronze in London in 2012 but also served a four-year ban from 2006-10. Mike Rogers was out for nine months in 2011 after failing a drugs test. For those with Foxtel, the Lausanne meet is being shown today at 12.30pm on Eurosport Channel and the 100m race is a must for those interested in which drug cheat performs the best. It's a shame what is happening to this wonderful sport but little wonder that its losing its attraction around the world. Hopefully, this will serve as a reminder for the AFL and the football loving public to treat the anti doping scourge seriously and not give in to sentimentality about players being duped. On a lighter note, there is a sport that's not to my knowledge subject to the WADA Code but you can watch it today on ESPN and Eurosport Channel where it's being screened at various times during the day ~ the 2014 Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest which takes place every year on 4 July at Coney Island, New York. I was lucky enough to be there a month ago today to taste one of those magnificent hot dogs (I had mine with chili sauce). Guaranteed no peptides in the recipe.

Have a listen to this guy talk on Open Mike and then come back and tell me that he wouldn't make a good AFL coach.

True but AD would have covered his rear better if he had called all the clubs. I'm reminded if the old Jewish joke about the man who murders his parents and asks for mercy from the judge because he is an orphan. Essendon have taken that to a new level.

I ahve discovered how to watch us during this and the formative Roos plan games (this season). Red Wine, plenty of it.

Grimes must have some amazing leadership qualities to be captain because he has few footballer qualities. Nothing more certain than him missing from 10 metres out.

Pops over to Nafan Buckley coaching mega thread on Pies Big Footy for some light refreshments.

This is much harder to watch sober. P.s. you're a pos hh. An emotional weed.

how he is captain of out footy club I will never understand

Freo resting Pav and Hill and still making us look like the VFL standard trash side we truly are

He's from frangbanga... Lucky he can construct a sentence.

Kent is 100% a player for the future. Will be a gun.

Sick of these turnovers. And sick of Dawes fluffing marks and missing easy shots.

Is that a fancy new beer?

This is HH we're talking about. Never discount the possibility he is serious.

This site - cyclingnews.com gives quite a good overview for each stage of the tour. Live coverage can be found here ... letour.com (stage 1) While I'm here I'll post up today's profile but I'll mainly just post up the "profiles" when we're in the Alps or the Pyrenees (which will happen from about stage 8 onwards) It looks like SBS will cover the tour from about 8.30pm on Saturday and Sunday evenings and ... from about 10pm weekdays. I'm presuming it's live on the SBS website as well.

Pavlich and Hill out Will be disappointing to lose this

. I reckon saying absolutely nothing is the right thing ATM. One to comment means dancing to the efc's tune. Two what do they have to anwer to. Nothing new has happened. The conference was in 2013. Its only in the news because the hird Murdoch PR machine has decided to air it now to advance their own agenda. Three - and to mind the best reason - the silence from the afl must be infuriating to little, hird and their media lap dogs. Finally it gives the story no credence or oxygen. Good strategy I reckon

Maybe you should get down to training and have a run then... You know... Given you are obviously a great footballer.Getting really sick of your negative posting... Used be worth reading but that time has passed.

Where does this idea of Bomba Thompson coming to Melbourne come from?? Its the dumbest thing I have ever heard. 1. he doesn't want to coach. 2. We don't want anyone from that stinking pile of a club in the last 3 years ever near our club 3. He ain;t that good. 4. His personal reputation is very sullied - ask those at Geelong

Can't help but think he'd be one of those players who just plays better in the seniors. Would be a lot easier to kick to a leading Hogan, Dawes, Watts or Frawley than Fitzpatrick or small crumbers trying to lead up. Hope he gets his chance.

Catering here is shite for a major inner city venue. They could learn a lot from Casey's bacon and egg rolls alone.

I'm not an advocate for retaliation, but if someone is on top of you pushing your larynx I think you can forgiven for doing almost anything to get them off you.

Tall's take time to develop, he should be ready by 2024.

Curiouser and curiouser. So they know what they stuck into their players' bodies and they "think" it's all hunky dory? So why are they in court? Why are they challenging the investigation? Why are the players not answering the show-cause notices with the simple statement that as far as they and their club is concerned they were given stuff that was all legal and here's the list provided by Paul Little and Bomber Thompson just to prove it? Why the farce of the last year and a half? Why is James Hird in Paris? Why was Robson sacked? Why are they saying in their defence to the Weapon's action that he didn't provide a safe environment? WTF? The BS meter at Essendon is off the wall!!!

I am posting from Fiji where l am a volunteer with Projects Abroad (June-August) on a Shark Conservation Project. Tomorrow l am catching the bus into Suva to watch the Cats play the Tigers in their Aussie Rules Grand Final! This year, l have also posted from Cyprus, Maui and Hong Kong and last year l posted from Venice, Berlin, Munich, London, New York and San Francisco.

Is everyone on this site a sanctimonious [censored] or is it only reserved for the special few. There are some good posters on here but a majority seem to be sad wankers whose entire lives revolve around having petty semantic arguments with strangers online or trying to assert some kind of moral/intellectual superiority over others. Heres a tip, unless you're gonna share an opinion of your own and not just ridicule the opinions/thoughts/musings of others just shut the [censored] up you dont actually have to comment on every little thing.