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What closed session, I was there and it was a really good session, from Ben Mathews and Daniel Cross 'it was pretty good' Lots of match sim and setting up the game plan, hence the closed session Standouts for me in the match sim, Jones x 2, Kent, Garlett, Garland, Jetta, Hogan, Stretch, Newton, Michie Roos wants the first simple option taken, and lots of movement so there are options, he pulled one run up because Dom Tyson stopped to try and get around him man, instead of kicking straightaway to Hogan who had got free in the 50, gave Tyson a gobfull Injury news, every member of the squad made an appearance at some time or other, Howie did a few little dance steps and a couple of handballs and left for a swim and weights, conservative estimate at least 4 weeks, Neal Bullen, was a bit down, just watched for half an hour, another 4 weeks, not sure whether they are going to operate just at the moment, being assessed Mitch White has a big toe injury, was keeping Jack Trengove company, latest visit to doctor for Jack was on Tuesday, all still progressing well Others on light duties or rehab, King, Oscar Mc, Bernie Vince (he is week away from full training) Other notes, Jake Lovett did the whole session, including the match sim, had to look for him, which was really good, no glaring mistakes, had a chat to him, top bloke, hopes to impress, didn't seem that knackered with all the running, so perhaps he is already doing extra Aaron Vandanberg's body shape is already changing, amazing what full time training can do, he is a big midfielder I though Billy Stretch would spend most of year at Casey, looked excellent today, speed to burn, didn't miss a kick What back Injury, during the session the ruck division got together, Jamar, Spencer, Gawn, Fitzpatrick, Pedersen and Hogan to do a bit of tap work and second effort, Hogan picked up Gawn at one stage and drove him into the ground, wonderful to watch, didn't get it on camera though, but there are others on my Twitter Demonpk Spoke to Dean Kent afterwards, he is finally fully fit and firing, feeling great Got the guns photo today and a half ... Sam Frost Again any questions feel free

That is the best news I've heard all summer. If Watts delivers on what I think he is capable of, that takes the pressure off a lot of players. I still think Jack Watts will be something special.

Sorry forgot one of the best in match sim coz he left session early, Watts, has gained a couple of metres of speed, burnt off a couple of opponents, reckons it's just all the extra running and Watt bike work actually doing it's job And for those who think he is slow, in one match sim, JImmy Toumpas ran down JKH from behind

Tom McDonald told me he is working on his kicking and he is now the the best kick in the league.

The players were not duped. They accepted what went into their bodies. They are responsible.

I think your overeacting a bit.. His profile pic is him and Nathan Jones having a wrestle and a laugh while his background pic is him, Crossy, Dawesy, NJones all smiles after the Adelaide win. Whats the issue? And this was a tweet last December Bernie Vince @bvince23 · Dec 23 Nearly 25000 members for @melbournefc already. A pre Christmas record! Good to see everyone is as excited as I am about 2015!! That to me looks like he has moved on from the crows and is very much excited about our future prospects.

not sure i would agree about the everyone, redleg i certainly have my doubts, i don't believe a good many of the players were simply duped

I voted "other". If you are going to put a mix of current and past players on the banner then I suggest you keep it to those who have achieved something meaningful. Our captain has, three time winner of the best and fairest (admittedly not against the strongest group of players) qualifies him. Robbie has. Jimmy has. And David Neitz has. Unquestionably. Most number of games for our club. Most games as captain. Most goals for our club. A two time All Australian. Loyal in difficult times and just a ripping person. Many may not know but David received a career ending neck injury in round 5 2008 in the final year of his contract. As such he was entitled to something in the order of one years pay as compensation and of course his salary (contract) at that time was significant as he was captain. The cost of that compensation was the liability of the club and as we all know our financial position was poor at that time. David declined the payment. It cost him many hundreds of thousands of dollars. He had been playing footy for all his life; his career and earning capacity was over and in all likelihood he would never earn that sort of money again. But for the good of the club and at significant personal disadvantage he passed on the money. You'd go into battle with Neita knowing he'd always cover you. He's never received the recognition he's deserved IMO and now would be a terrific time to recognize his achievements and contribution - both on and off the field. Without disrespect Paul Roos is a Jonny come lately as far as our club is concerned. Dom Tyson has achieved nothing by comparison (and I love him). And Lynden Dunn? Drafted in 2004 and has put together 139 games. Having Dunny up there would just remind me how poor we have been. Let's recognize Neita, he deserves it.

couldn't be.....could it?

Come on mate, I'm sitting here eating KFC and you spring that shite on me!!!!

I do, but the fact that they have fought this all the way, ignored deals, cost ASADA time, money and even possibly reputation, goes against the mitigation argument. Also in the ASADA Act, the categories of penalty are spelt out clearly and lastly, this was not a one off incident, but rather a systematic course of prolonged/secretive conduct, not sanctioned by the club Doctor and instigated to give the team an advantage over the other teams ...

If Essendon's powers that-be-move quickly today the ideal headline would have to be the double-meaning "Hird Loses Appeal"

Just a thought, but maybe you should tidy it up a bit to improve your chances of employment.

Just remember everyone we are talking about small consequences here only, the suspension of players who were misled about a drug program. They will still be paid and everyone would probably acknowledge that they weren't deliberately and knowingly taking banned drugs. That of course doesn't make them innocent under WADA. The real consequences are the possible health issues, that hopefully will not occur, to players and their future children. One can only hope that there are no such issues, or the sh-t will really hit the fan and then there will be something real to be upset about.

Isn't that what got them into this trouble in the first place?

I'm not much of a photographer but what they've tried to do with the lighting in the photos of all players is bloody terrible in my opinion.

Lifted from the Six6Six galleries I found this shot of the Wild Man of Borneo taken on 28th of January 2013 at the paddock. Or is it a shot of a previous 'carnation of somebody we all know with trusty camera in hand?

Geez, no doubt the lawyers are considering a high court appeal. The longer they keep this farce in the courts, the sooner they can retire.

Ch 9 also interviewed some Essendon supporter on the steps outside the court. Said that she had been to every day of the appeal (poor soul). Bemoaned the injustice of it all. Said the players, the club and Hird had done nothing wrong and were innocent. After watching every day in court she obviously didn't realise the proceedings had nothing to do with whether the players, the club or Hird had done anything wrong. Sad really.

Watson is delusional if he actually believes that.

Incidentally, what is an AFL coach doing overseas at this time of the year?

I see over at Bomberblitz they are still merrily sailing up that old Egyptian river while offering sacrifices to their god and defending our liberties. Apparently this has to be appealed to the High Court or civilisation will end. When will they realize Hird is out for himself, not the players and not truth and justice? (Sorry, no need to answer that).

Maybe he hit his head on the Berlin wall.

Great post. I will pass it on using Western Union Telegram service.

Before we continue with this Lawyer bashing, can we just remember that it is the client who feels aggrieved, who seeks a Lawyer to appear for them, not the other way round. It is like bashing restaurants for kidnapping people and forcing them to eat their food. PS. For the few on Demonland who don't know, yes, I am a lawyer.

Money

3.23pm Members of the legal profession seen singing and dancing in the streets arm in arm with their bank managers.

Don't want to burst the bubble and I actually rate Toumpas' pace but JKH isn't actually that fast in a straight line. Just very creative.

Maximum merit in your post, Chook.

Means you'll just have to sit at home and sledge players via twitter https://twitter.com/bvince23/status/560725316440563712 https://twitter.com/Demonpk/status/560798294947790849

Ridiculous idea to move to Melbourne Uni. The uni is already bulging at the seams and you want to jam the team in there as well? What building do you propose we move into? And the training ground? So we build new facilities or use existing VAFA facilities and "upgrade" them? So lets take a giant leap backwards in an attempt to get better exposure for potential members at the risk of on-field performance, which is what really gets you more members at the end of the day. Sounds like the MFC of old, not what this new administration would do. Great that we have some sort of partnership with Melbourne Uni, hopefully helps the guys out with life after football, and also first access to sports science and the like in the future.

One interesting angle I haven't seen discussed anywhere is the possibility of the Essendon players getting done purely on "intent". So far as I'm aware, it isn't necessary to show that an athlete actually took a prohibited substance under the ASADA code, merely that it was their intention to do so. If memory serves me correctly, it has actually happened that athletes have been banned for merely ordering banned substances, even where it was clear they hadn't taken them. Now my understanding is that the INs specifically charge the players with using banned substances, but I'd be curious to know if the prospect of a conviction still stands even if they can't definitively finger the exact players injected with TB4 and the exact times and places these injections occurred. EFC apologists seem to have it in their heads that in the absence of hard, concrete evidence for specific injections of a specific substance at specific times that the players must be cleared. This, however, is a ridiculously high standard of proof for a doping case (perhaps even for a criminal case, where circumstantial evidence can often be enough) and I think they have to be a little more sensitive to the present realities of the case. Namely, that the EFC players signed consent forms permitting the injection of "Thymosin" which should be enough to ping the players on intent alone, and I can't quite understand how they've been able to convince themselves that even the evidence circulating in the public realm wouldn't be enough for a conviction. The only doubt here seems to be to what "Thymosin" refers to, but given there is a long paper trail linking TB4 to the club and literally nothing linking "Thymomodulin" to the club (and which is never referred to as "Thymosin" anyway) I really don't know what paths the lawyers have to get them out of this one (save having all the evidence thrown out, which is obviously what they've tried very hard to do!).

I have a copy of the post that was made on BF if mods give me permission to post it. Basically, presuming it's genuine, it would indicate that ASADA has concrete evidence and eyewitness testimony placing TB4 on the EFC premises, as well as the testimony of specific players that they were injected with TB4. It's only a summary, though, so it doesn't mention what that evidence is or who the witnesses are. Still, again presuming the post was genuine, and ASADA aren't overplaying their hand, at least some of the players are surely boned right now.

Today was the first time i've been able to get to training for a year and the first time to try the new camera. Tried to get some good shots but still learning. Enjoy! https://www.flickr.com/photos/129227293@N07/sets/72157650107777609/

Becoming a bit overlooked in this saga. They used it to gain an advantage. If it was legal, fair enough. If it wasn't, 2 years each. Duped or not.

Scully, Clark, McClean, Morton and Wines. Just for the lols.

Do it before it slip slides away

I thought this was an interesting comment.. "We will continue working out the tribunal process" Paul Brasher, Essendon Vice-President. I don't think Essendon have anything to do with the tribunal process so they can work all they like. It's the players, not the club involved here.

more like piles of loot

That covers it for me nutbean

Oh yes he sure doesThis [censored] has wasted a lot of people's time Compromised our game. I will despise him always.

Please dont call Abbott "Nutbag" - then I start to get offended ( too close to home for my liking)

tania rereading her notes looking for new angles for tilt at high court lawyers busy fending off investment managers

Looks like Stewie Speer from the Meteors

I was just about to post that

This may suit Essundone.

I don't think Roos should be on there.

Why not just Nathan Jones as the central figure. Absolutely no disrespect to those that have recently departed, all of them were my favourite players at some stage in my childhood, but can we just start 2015 with just our current captain and club champion, and no departed champions on it? None of us will ever forget the legacy that Stynes and Flower left behind, but we need to move on. 2015 should be the year that change is obvious (it could be argued that it was obvious in 2014), it's time we look forward to the next chapter forward of this great club, not backwards. I wouldn't be against a couple of background images of "in play" moments featuring some current team members.

I think they are looking at Vandenberg, but Harmes is giving himself every chance Bail is training for the role he had last year, wing and forward Salem is cool, he likes the tweets, he told me, bit of banter between soccer supporters, hence the Arsenal reference in the tweets, he did whinge to the referee (umpire) and got derided by everybody including the coaches Everybody is a human being here, I get heaps from Howie, Vince, Toumpas, Jamar, Garland and Dunn, it's all good fun

Given we have had a lack of success for nigh on 50 years I would have thought we should be judicious in stacking the shelves with past players wanting a gig unless they are the best candidate for the job. I dont think the love of a club and passion are sole domain of just ex players. FWIW, I think Matthews did a fabulous job at Brisbane, Clarkson at Hawthorn and Thompson at Geelong. Even the Reverend at MFC put in devoted service under difficult circumstances. And your statement about Stynes is simply incorrect. Few doubted Stynes but he had taken on a drastic challenge at MFC. He has done wonderfully. Its a job for the rare type. Assistant coaches are not so rare and there is a wider market. And I am not so sure Woey's skills are rare but a pre requisite in a capable assistant coach. I trust as a coach that he is a little more worldly than when he was a player. While his determination to get the most out of himself was admirable. His inability at two clubs to realise the writing was on the wall was interesting.