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Plenty of people comment about individuals and drills and there is not much I would disagree with from today's reports that I saw . Disclaimer; I'm a glass half full person, so look away now if that's not your go. Yes, we're a work in progress, there were the missed kicks, the dropped marks and very occasionally the absolute clanger that I remember so well from training and games a few years ago. So why did I feel so positive at the end? It's the system, the way it's coached, reinforced and adjusted. The missed kicks, the dropped marks and the clanger were generally mopped up with a minimum of fuss and it was the support, running and positioning that I liked. What I saw was muscle memory being developed, there has been much comment on "poor decision making" in the past and the counter point "not enough options" what I saw was training to overcome that, especially when fatigued. Other people have commented on how well training is timed and conducted and nothing I saw today was by chance. I think the analysis, planning and implementation has finally become professional. The match sim stuff is a case in point and I found myself asking the question; why is Dunn matched up on Gawn most of the time when Gawn is in the forward line? Likewise Garland on Petracca? I can surmise an answer, but the coaches know 100%. I've been to training in the past where I would have asked why is player x matched up with player y, what is x going to get out of this? The naysayers will talk about it only being training and the proof will be in match day and that's true enough. But we no longer are training against weak opposition. I've often thought that part of our training woes was that we just weren't good enough and when we trained against each other it just wasn't a good enough contest. Other things to be + about; we finally have some real pace and it's not just one or two players, this should lead to less predictability and from what I saw today certainly much quicker ball movement which in turn will create more options. We actually look like a mature bodied football team, up close or far away it's the most definition I've seen in players bodies, ever. And then there's a bit of extra bulk on some as well. Talk about tailored programs, the Watts I saw today doesn't compare with the one I stood next to last year, definitely thicker in the shoulders and biceps and I could say that about several others, yet Jamar looks lighter but more defined and just as strong. I could make some comments on individuals and there were some that stood out more than others but I just liked the way they played/trained as a team. Why so positive, it's the vibe! Naysayers can F owf

The AFL will no doubt have a contingency plan in the event of Essendon forfeiting - the NAB Challenge programme can surely be rejigged to ensure that every team gets at least three of these games in before the start of the season. It's interesting that Essendon was drawn to play their three NAB Challenge games against St. Kilda, Melbourne and GWS who finished 18th, 17th and 16th respectively in 2014. I simply cannot believe that it just happened at random that a club under the pump like Essendon would receive that sort of draw in their circumstances.

Roos said he wanted Col to stay, like Clark was our best footballer, Chip is doing everything required etc. etc. You never take what Roos says about these things as being gospel, you watch what happens. Silvia...gone, Clark...gone, Frawley...gone and all without a major effort from us to keep them. I think Roos got what he wanted.

Enjoy the Slide Show ==> http://six6six.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=47350568&AlbumKey=Gd8zT6 Lightbox ==> http://six6six.smugmug.com/Training-622015/n-tsPh2/i-wR5CskZ/A

The interest on here i think is completely understandable. Lets face it we all thought Col would finally pull it all together at Freo and turn out to be the consistently damaging/occasionally brilliant player we hoped he would become with us. Bizarrely it now looks like we actually got the best out of him, let him go at the perfect time and got Vince as a almost direct replacement.

Agree with this. Have said it before. The detail that clubs go to when collecting data on running, skin folds, diet, injuries etc etc is insane. To not record the drug program is simply not believable. For a start it cost in the order of $500-700k. Second you would want to know what the effects were. Have the players improved? What are the injury/recovery rates? Is it worth it etc etc If they didn't collect it they should go for that alone. If they lost it (like Doc Reid's phantom letter) they should go. The circumstantial evidence and trail of ordering the drugs, compounding etc is enough (under the WADA/ASADA rules) to suspend them in any case but in the absence of records it is almost a certainty. They are cooked.

What Neeld has done,let no man do again.

I much prefer the NFL rules with strict tampering rules and free agency not starting until well after the season is over. You sign a contract, you finish the contract then you can sign another one. I'm aware that does open up players to risk of injury towards the end of their contracts but if they wish to avoid that they could've extended longer with their current side or moved at an earlier time.

Nutbag Abbott on Australia day after Phil. I didn't expect it but will carry the burden

Great photos again six. Much appreciated.

To me, it all still boils down to the fact that a multi-million dollar enterprise doesn't know what was injected into its players over a period of 12 months. If it was just vitamin C then the records would never have gone missing/lost. Therefore, the circumstantial evidence points to a guilty verdict.

And Terlich got re-signed. In all seriousness, I'm not sure Roos was desperate to keep Terlich, but rather he wanted to ensure the kids have to earn their spot before they come into the side. Terlich may not be the best kick, but Roos is playing the long game, and a kid won't get a game until they can consistently exhibit at least the same level of toughness and commitment that Terlich does. It's about making the kids force their way in, not waltz into the side Round 1 (and this is different again to being "gifted" games early).

Play Bomberblitz?

col is 29 with 2 years to run on his contract taking him to 31 by all accounts he's on good money you got to hand it to him, how many players get to be on good money till 31, have a good time, don't bust a gut and all for little effort i take my hat off to colin

Roos 1 Lyon 0

They should receive discounted sentences because they have cooperated every step along the way and just want the truth to come out

That ain't why he (I mean Martin Pike) was cut.

I am just thinking of my feeble attempt at the diet, as I chomp on a piece of rocky road. Is rocky road ok on the Paleo diet?

The only problem I have DD, is you are not stood next to me when I chat to the players, I don't hang over the fence, I don't have to, I can approach the players and ask questions, the answers I get are usually found later to be correct I don't coach, that's Roos' job, I just ask how they are travelling or a question another poster wants me to ask Tappy was happy to discuss, I had been talking since he was first drafted, I spoke to him this year when he was delisted, we again chatted about the hope his body would stay together so he could have a crack at it, unfortunately it didn't The only thing that would depress players would be reading some topics on here, but they don't as one of the players told me "it is full of negativity", I have convinced them otherwise and can get some info to share Personally I don't care if they laugh at me "behind closed doors" as you say, I get the [censored] taken out of me to my face by them, its all good fun, and I have a go at them, Seems to be you that has the problem with this not me or the players If I didn't have a good rapport with them, I doubt the 'guns' pics would happen, but then I don't need to explain myself to you, but thought I would

I put it here rather than in the training thread, I spoke to him on Friday about this, he is following Jack Grimes' lead, he has been plagued with foot and ankle injuries, he knows there is serious competition for spots, he just wants to be selfish and get back to where he was a couple of years ago without any distractions, said Jack is better at handling the leadership group activities as well as his own form. So that is his answer

You are opening Pandora's box with that one Demon16!

I think they pretty much knew Chip was gone mid season. Iwould say Roos played Chip up forward in 2014 to fast track the development of our backline without him. It's also quite likely the relevant clubs know Rance, Danger, etc will go as FAs this year.

Freo are really making it a public humiliation, doubt if Col would care or even realise, he is fairly laid back. At least he is still on an AFL list, unlike treacle toes McLean.

I think there is a perfectly logical explanation as to why there are supposedly no records as to what was given to players at Essendon, it is simple - cheating! If you deliberately set about to gain an advantage in a team sport by making your players bigger and stronger by giving them illegal drugs, wouldn't you try and cover it up? Isn't the easiest way of covering it up to simply not record its content? And isn't this likely to have come from the person who sought to gain this advantage in the first place - the coach?As I understand it a crucial part of ASADA's case is that it has carefully followed the illegal drugs trail, all the way through the local suppliers, the pharmacists and then eventually to ESSENDON. And in quantities which would indicate there was a major program in place over many months and a number of recipients. What it does not have are the records to say what drugs were specifically given to players. This is a total breach of good clinical practice and negligent in itself I would have thought, I suspect enough to have Doc Reid rubbed out by itself. However, as I understand WADA rules this, together with the evidence from the players involved, is more than enough to convict them for very long sentences, and to put away the perpetrators ie the coaches, for life. Indeed, in a number of the cases WADA have appealed and won, the circumstantial evidence was a lot weaker than it is here, and most of those people received the harshest penalties after WADA appealed them through CAS. The reasons the local sporting tribunals give light sentences I suspect are because these rules are based on the very least circumstantial evidence, whereas in a court of law you would expect much harder evidence to obtain a conviction. Whilst this may seem harsh to us, being used to British Law as we are, it sometimes takes the power of WADA and CAS to ensure that the WADA rules are enforced in the way they were intended. This is the reason why I believe the AFL Tribunal will probably give the EFC players backdated 6 months sentences, and this is what the propaganda being peddled recently by Hird's acolytes in the media is based on. They (ESSENDON and Hird) are as usual fooling themselves. It won't wash with WADA, and their obstructionism and obfuscation will result in harsher penalties than they would otherwise have been.

Tony is in a world of pain. I will enjoy tuesday almost as much as a Demon victory

Well, according to Tony's good mate Kevin Andrews, the best thing for this country is a pairing of Abbott and Gillard

He did the wrong thing ... forget about the outcome. That's irrelevant in my eyes. We may well have gone on the road to recovery in any number of ways. We had a poor list regardless of his words. Change was always going to happen to the list, coaching, board and administration ... it was just a matter of when. Anyway, I'm a firm believer in what goes around, comes around.

What about an All Star VFL team with the best of their players?

I reckon a revised version of this classic would get the crowd pumped.

Cannot believe an AGM thread has been derailed into a dig up the old crap about tanking thread. Sorry to talk about the AGM on the AGM thread but I just watched the footage of PJ's speech. He certainly fills you with a lot of confidence.He's done such a good job of cleaning out deadwood. They are obviously doing a lot better financially with less but better people than they were before. Much prefer the strategic plan of going back to the old heartland areas to build the supporter and membership base instead of heading out of town to Casey as the sole source of future development. What a legend he'll be if we make finals in '16, hit 50,000 members and get a solid profit.

Ok, I know somewhere earlier in this thread I mentioned that I would post a clip of a song myself and a friend (who is based in the UK) created via long distance file exchanges. Well, after much [censored] around with bits of footage and trying to do stuff between his busy work schedule in teh British fillum industry, nothing happened... nada, zip, zilch, not a thing, bugger all... So, being a man of my word, a person with absolutely no pride and a sado-masochist who is prepared to deliver himself the ultimate humiliation while inflicting pain on anyone prepared to click on the below link, I now bite the bullet and give you, Don't Blame Me... a song penned by myself (Tim Fleming) and the guitarist come archery expert and trainer to the stars (Steve Ralphs) in 1979 and re-visited 35 years later to be recorded in two, yes count 'em, two countries literally a world apart (UK v Australia)... One important piece of advice... only listen with headphones on and the volume cranked right up to maximise the pain... err, I mean, experience. Oh yes, you may want to close your eyes as well.

I say that we get on the front foot. Boycott it on account of not wanting to play against drug cheats.

when neeldy arrived at the hangar they told him "get rid of that bus quickly, there 'aint no reality allowed here, capisce" so they are taking the rowboat to hell instead

It's a fine line between having all the tools and just being one.

I think he would make a great defensive forward if that was part of our structure. He would really be able to lock down on a Suckling or Malceski and has shown an ability to kick a goal.

AC/DC, INXS, Nick Cave (in various bands - try Red Right Hand), David Bridie (an MFC supporter) and My Friend the Chocolate Cake, Daddy Cool, Augie March, Cruel Sea, Custard, the Church, Died Pretty, DIG, The Dingoes, the Go-Betweens and on and on. We do not need to have Bon Jovi crap and the like imposed upon us as we await the game.

FFS the jumper logo and club logo don't need to be the same. MFC Monologue for jumpers Current logo for letterheads and business docs etc

You can't be serious

I remember that draft and when we went past Selwood I thought gee if I was a recruiter I would play safe and take a Selwood. The recruiters must be super confident and this Maric kid must be good. As it often happens it pays to play the percentages. In Selwood we would have got a real soldier. In Maric we got an immature kid who wasn't ready for AFL. An interview or two may have picked that weakness up.

100%. Current lot doesn't give you great confidence? My great disillusionment is because there is no one in the current political arena that gives me any confidence. Full stop. I hark bark to Howard. I did not like most of his policies and would not vote for him. I know some dyed in the wool labor supporters will howl me down but I absolutely respected him as a leader. He was a strong effective leader. ( overstayed his welcome though).

This strikes me as a very important point, flowing from the increased competition for places.

Yeah, I'm reading the same thing.

I see the whole McLean interview issue as "durian - king of the fruits". Smells like hell but tastes like heaven. I absolute hate what McLean did - unnecessary and should have kept his mouth shut - contrast his statements to James McDonald who had every reason to have sour grapes over the handling of retirement but would not unload on the club. I absolute love the outcome. I know it cost us money and humiliation but I question if we would have Jackson and Roos in place if this did not happen. ( I would have liked to take what was behind curtain three though - no tanking investigation, no fine, no humiliation and getting a good clean out with Roos and Jackson riding in on white horses )

Clark had a Lis Franc fracture - very different to a navicular

i'll look it up hardtack

Ive followed the Dees since beginning of 1965....... !! just saying...lol

Tanking only works if you recruit the correct playersSchwab didn't so it all fell apart.

Another thing that was quite shocking to hear last night, was how bad the relationship with the scorpions has been over the last few years. PJ and Roos both said how happy they are with the new cases coach and that he is on the MFC payroll. The expectation now is that the alignment will actually add to the development of players rather than be counterproductive. So many things were broken, it's no wonder we have been so bad.