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Was a good interview - some highlights below. * It was the great Robbie Flower who helped get Viney to Melbourne. Todd was also talking to Essendon at the time, but when Melbourne invited him over to Victoria, it was Robbie who they dispatched to the airport to pick up Todd, who was impressed by Robbie's love for the game as they spoke on the way home. The following morning, Robbie appeared dressed up in a khaki suit, some sort of practical joke apparently. * Todd actually went on the 1985 end-of-season trip to Hawaii with the MFC. On the plane Todd was talking to a player (who he refused to name) and mentioned that he was talking to the Dons, and the player said to him: "Well what the f*** are you doing on the plane with us?" * Played chess with Barassi on the beach in Hawaii during that trip - Ron said to him: "I don't care how much talent you have, I care about what you do with it." * Said he suffered a bad dose of the 2nd-year blues, and by his own admission, he was more interested in how many drink cards he could accumulate than possessions. Says he deserved to be dropped in the finals but Strawbs' suspension left the door open to return to the GF team. He wrote a letter to Northey begging to play, and suggested he line up on a wing from where he could clean up Brereton (something Brereton did the following year against Yeates). * Loved to play aggressive - said when the opportunity arose to hurt someone on the field, he would. * The biting incident with West Coast's Chris Lewis came at a time when AIDS was prominent. The bite drew blood. Viney said he was told he had to get a blood test; next thing, the Herald Sun was all over it with a front page saying Viney going for an AIDS test. Said in later years when he came across Mick Malthouse, Malthouse said he had never forgiven him (Viney) for what he did to Lewis. Unfortunately, Mike didn't follow this up and ask whether they were on speaking terms today. * Being an assistant coach at Hawthorn for the 2008 flag is probably his favourite footy memory - the chance to teach, shape and mould a team and then see it come to fruition. * Said the offer from Mark Philippoussis was too good to refuse - effectively doubling what he was earning at Melbourne, and Philippoussis was in good form at the time, but he ultimately ended up clashing with the 'Poo's father, Viney saying he was made a scapegoat. * The MFC of 2011 (around the time of Bailey's sacking) was the 'most fractured' environment he'd ever been in. Said every decision was second-guessed, there was no trust, no self-belief and no real plan. * Describes Roos as calm, logical, methodical. Says his eye is on the goal and he knows how to stay the course and shut out the noise in the background. * Very proud of Jack and the way he goes about it. Says he's slowly learning about the feats of his father at the MFC. * Also put to rest the apocryphal myth about beating Boris Becker. He did play against Stefan Edberg as a junior, which somehow morphed into Becker, and when Lou Richards mentioned it during an interview early on, Viney stayed silent and didn't correct the record. * Spoke of the difficulty of having to speak at Robbie's funeral. Said he had copious notes, but no way of conveying in words just how good a person Robbie was. Also acknowledged the deaths of his other team-mates and friends, Jimmy and Sean, Dean Bailey, and Neale Daniher's battle with illness. One other noteworthy thing was hearing Mike talk about Schwarz '94 - said he was as good as Carey at that stage, and Carey is his all-time no.1 best player. Right at the end, Todd asked Mike if he could read a short statement on the drafting of Jimmy Toumpas. Mike said yes, but unfortunately time was up and the show ended just as Todd started reading.

So finished it off on the way to work this morning - wow we turned off. Bail - Breaks the lines, bursts through packs and looks like a really good VFL player. However, looking at some of the other players for Casey, he does not have enough strings to the bow. He is fast and now, to his credit, he has a hardness to his game. Disposal is not there. I was for delisting him at the end of the year but can see him getting a contract extension (1 year) or a rookie contract. He is good enough to be on the bottom end of an AFL list. Jones - Unlike Bail, he seems to get more of the ball on the outside. Again great speed and can see why he stood out at this level and we wanted to draft him. Offers a bit around the ground but with Jones, Viney and Tyson I think he doenst have a place in the Dees team at the moment. Riley - I just wonder. Got plenty of it, was at the bottom of packs and worked himself into the game. It is such a scrappy style which will often be overlooked because he is not the one breaking away with the ball (he fed it to the runner). I like him and I like him on the list, but with Viney on the way back and Brayshaw in the team, I just dont think there is a position for him in the 22. We missed speed and run and the other 3 experienced mids offered this. Toumpas - Great first half and if he played 4 quarters like that he would be back next week. The first half was characterised with run and linking up. His teammates went to him much more and he was in more of the clearances. In the second half he was around the ball but couldn't keep his hands on it. He'd drop a mark, or be the man who was handballed to when a tackle was immanent or tracked the ball to the boundary. A lot of wing work and ran all day (he is getting miles in his legs). Another 2 games in the VFL at least for my mind. There is no need to bring him up just yet. Fitzy - Cannot believe it was Fitzy. He looked like a full back. He read it well in flight, he was too strong for the Don's forwards and his kicking wasn't terrible. He will be offered a contract - he has shown too much not too. Commands the backline a little like Dunn does. Very vocal and very clear. The benefits of having a 200cm, quick man down back who can also relief ruck is too tempting to say goodbye too. He might not get to 100 games, but he'll be a dee for a few more years. Gawn - If he could take more contested marks he would be playing from the square in the AFL. Dominated the ruck and showed a lot around the ground. Hope they are working him hard in training out of the square. Kicking wasnt bad for a big man, really good physical pressure, but he should be taking more marks inside 50. Better delivery might help but Hogan did it (I know thats not a fair comparison). Spencer - Humble Pie this guy. His start of the season in the VFL has been mosterous. He is doing everything to be in line for a recall, however - kicking and marking are still issues. Nothing you dont already know - tap work he is in front of Gawn, but behind in his work around the ground. Terlich - Spoiled well, husseled, but disposal was terrible and beaten by his man on the day. White and Harmes - Yeah they played but I didnt really notice them that much but when they were involved they were strong. Developing players and the jury is still out. Will continue to support and hope. Now to my 2 new favourite players Disclaimer. Thank you Western Bulldogs. You handed us a great development coach who is having a great influence on our club. You are taking a lot of headlines at the moment and meaning we can slip under the radar. But my favourite part is that you took McLean, Webb, Hamilton, Dale and Daniel when the "draft-perts" said you needed to take a tall in McDonald. Even when you went small you didnt take Neal-Bullen. Neal-Bullen was rated pick #21 by both Cal Twomey and Knightmare and #23 by Paige; Oscar rated 22 (Knightmare), 25 (Twomey) and 27 (Paige). We got them at 40 and 53 and we have McCarrtney developing them. Neal-Bullen - Feel like he will play AFL this year. Tackles like Brayshaw and goes hard at in (like Brayshaw). In the first half he ran from contest to contest to get himself involved. Picked up a few touches but found himself at the bottom of packs either tackling or being tackled. In the second half he was moved into the centre square and was able to get first hands on the ball. His decision making needs a bit of work, but generally his disposal is good. Watching him, it is reflective of what Cal Twomey was saying about the draft. After the top 4, the rest of the draft is quite even and teams will be drafting for needs, rather than best player as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I dont think there was much difference in terms of skill between him and Laverde, although Laverde's height is a big plus. Rather him then Boekhorst and Ellis so far. Lonie (St Kilda, pick 41) and Nel-Bullen may be the steals of this draft. I'll make a call, round 16 will be his first game v Brisbane. Will compete with Michie and Cross for their positions. Probably will need to wait till Cross retires to get a solid run at seniors. McDonald - If I told you he read the ball really well, left his man when he needed to to help out others, tackles strongly and tracks the ball well, comes out of defence with great speed and takes intercept marks coming out of our 50 and sends it back in, but still needs to but on strength as he is still a bean pole - does he remind you of anyone we drafted with pick #53 a few years back? The difference is his kicking. He can send some bullet passes down the ground that hit the middle of the chest - however at the moment they are being delivered to the opposition. One that stands out is when he went to ANB on a 2 on 1 and ignored Bail and Jones. Needs to lower the eyes a little more. Considering he never played under 18 championships, he wont be used to the speed and pressure of VFL so assume this will come in time. Dont expect him to play this year unless there are some serious injuries. He is behind Fitz in a call up and doesnt have the size to play on AFL forwards yet - maybe a rangy half forward with his speed, but will get pushed off the ball too easily at the moment. If he stays injury free I'm looking forward to seeing him in Demon colours for a little next year before cementing a spot in 2017/2018. If you read his Knightmare draft profile watching him play is like reading this. Reads the flight, rebounds well, versatile, can shut down an opponent. Looks like we have worked on his 2nd and 3rd efforts because these were much better today. Best on for me was Fitz and Gawn. Bail and Jone got in the possessions but when the game was close Gawn, Fitz and Toump were the ones driving it. When we got on top, Jones and Bail took over and dominated the game and then disappeared when the Dons had their come back. At this point, Gawn stood up in the centre and down forward and Fitz was great in the last line of defence and rebounding from the back half. For the changes thread, I wouldnt be rushing anyone in due to our lack of intensity in the final quarter. Roos was talking about selfish football and at the VFL level we saw this a lot with the mids. Blazing and kicking without thinking how can I help a mate out to help the team. If Roos was not happy with the Dees, he wont be happy watching the Casey replay. Depending on the outs will dictate who comes in as no one hammered down the door. If it is Salem then Jones or Bail for some speed, if you are dropping an in and under then Riley. If you want another tall then Gawn. A poster in the other thread suggested Fitz in to take on Tippet. Although I'd like to see this match up - he's not there yet. Essendon's lack of talented tall forwards is a very different assignment than the Bondi Billionaires. Give the Casey boys another few weeks and really break the door down - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at who will be coming in.

no 50, just 35.

Fremantle are a very mature side. On Sunday they had only one player in their team with less than 50 games experience (they also a better midfielder than Ablett, fed by a crane for a ruckman). Melbourne had 8 players under 50 games. Hogan, Salem, Michie, Newton and Brayshaw had less than 20. I'm not expecting these players to go anywhere near a team like Freo for a couple of years. Anything else is wishful thinking.

Like most, I find this matter an absolute bore now. However, I find it quite amusing the calls for "let's move on" ... Whatever the case might be with WADA, the facts remain that the EFC were found guilty of poor governance, failed to keep critical records for off-site injecting regimes that were frankly a disgrace, in doing so cannot confirm what was injected under their regime, under their watch. And most of all, failed due diligence in caring for their own players. And the EFC as a result of this guilty finding were punished. It's own independant report was damning enough, let alone the 2 years 3 months of blight and stench on this great games history. A black phase indeed that will never be forgot. How embarrassing. This is well known internationally, and has embarrassed not only the code, but our country. Anyone trying to hose down this disgrace, referring to the players getting off due to a failure by ASADA to secure and confirm key witnesses standing by their original statements at a "AFL tribunal hearing" are a disgrace to them self. The old saying goes, where there is smoke, there is fire. Well, quite frankly that all allegedly went up in smoke when the shredders overheated and caught fire.

Garry owes nothing to this club. He did his time and service with distinction. He was the leader and face of the club for years. He gave his back to club which is something that will hinder him the rest of his life. His job now is in the media and not at the club. Garry clearly still loves the club. I will happily admit that I watch the footy show and listen to him on triple m footy and he always goes into bat for the Dees every time he can but he is still honest about where they're at and how they're travelling. You can tell how much he hurts just like us when the club is failing on field. Garry Lyon is not the one to blame for where the club is at

Steven May getting anything, let alone 3 [censored] weeks for playing good football is ridiculous. He should've got off just like Viney did last year. Will they ever get this [censored] right?

lol love your work, GV.

Maybe they are all missing what Karmichael Hunt brought to the table!

Great stuff from McPherson: We’re pretty confident in our ability to compete and beat anyone – if we play to the game plan that we put in place,” he told Dee TV. “We think it stands up and the boys have shown on two or three occasions this year that we can be competitive against anyone. “We’ll go in pretty confident that provided we all play our role and stick to our game plan, we’re a really good chance to beat the Swans. If we don’t, we’ll get a result like we did on the weekend.”

Bum wrap I reckon H does a lot of stuff off the ball that goes unnoticed, directs traffic and organises the defence. He's not a prodigious accumulator of the ball but very valuable nonetheless

All clubs "waste" more draft picks than they get right. Everyone had Scully and Trengove at 1 and 2 Watts was 1 or 2 in everyone's opinion Let's just hope Brayshaw and Petracca break the cycle Asking Todd Viney 2 years later is a waste of breath and the question of an imbecile

No wonder my wife keeps on complaining about the fishy smell.

I sometimes wonder if we beating a dead horse with all this "damage' rubbish Here is the 2013 list: 2 Nathan Jones 4 Jack Watts 5 Jimmy Toumpas 6 Chris Dawes 7 Jack Viney 8 James Frawley 9 Jack Trengove (c) 10 Shannon Byrnes 11 Mitch Clark 12 Colin Sylvia 13 Jordie McKenzie 14 Lynden Dunn 15 David Rodan 17 Sam Blease 19 James Strauss 20 Colin Garland 21 Cameron Pedersen 23 Josh Tynan 25 Tom McDonald 26 Daniel Nicholson 27 Tom Gillies 28 Joel Macdonald 30 James Sellar 31 Jack Grimes (c) 32 Michael Evans 33 Dominic Barry 34 Dean Kent 35 Luke Tapscott 36 Aaron Davey 37 Max Gawn 38 Jeremy Howe 39 Neville Jetta 40 Mark Jamar 41 Troy Davis 42 Jake Spencer 43 Rory Taggert 44 Rohan Bail 45 Matt Jones 46 Dean Terlich 48 Jack Fitzpatrick 22 James Magner 47 Tom Couch 49 Nathan Stark those in Bold, still on list, those in Italics I'd suggest are starting best 22 currently. Theres ONLY 10 so somewhere in the nature of 12 or so are new since our failed-experiment aka as the " Dark Daze " Im not buying this 'damaged' rubbish anymore. We have some players who simply dont play up to the level required. Yet , a lot of others can and do lift and step up. Stop playing this 'victim' card. We are what we are NOW, because it's ....NOW and we have who we have

Revisionism at it's very best. Not some rated higher - all rated Toumpas higher ( including Jack Viney who had the benefit of playing with both Wines and Toumpas). The likes of Quayle forming opinions - she watches, she talks to recruiters, she talks to the TAC clubs - there is some research that goes into her opinions as to how players are ranked. What does that even mean Toumpas over Wines made sense on paper but Wines plus Viney was a no brainer ??? Jumping up and down about Toumpas over Wines makes as much sense to me as jumping up and down about Tapscott ( and Scully/Trengove/Gysberts) over Fyfe

Best player review I have ever read on here Very excited about ANB and O Mac

What I find very disturbing about the AFL Tribunal finds into the DrugLords so called supplement program is that it was stated that the Club via its agents were trying to source banned substances. It appears to me that the AFL has no penalty for this type of behaviour! So the only conclusion anyone can take from the AFL Tribunal which appears to be completely supported by the AFL itself is they are soft on illegal drugs. As long as you keep no records (destroying them is completely acceptable), pay-off witnesses and out source the injections and illegal substances for an entire Club then that is acceptable. However if you are an individual player who drinks a banned energy drink it a 2 year ban. How low can this AFL competition get?

Its interesting the ACC interview in May 2012, was a month after Dank told The Age reporter (forgotten his name) that he had used TB4, only to be told it was banned and then changed his story. So he went to the ACC interview well prepared.Why would he lie? Firstly, the point above shows he isn't very clever. Secondly, he could be playing the odds - he had nothing to lose, as he knew it would be difficult to prove it wasn't the good thymo. Thirdly, protect his reputation. Finally, he is simply a liar. Haven't seen much about Dank that is believable TBH. I wonder if the ACC giving Dank 'indemnity' against prosecution applies to all entities or just the ACC. If the latter, Dank had every reason to be cagey. In the meantime, The Australian is reporting: "The sports scientist who designed and implemented Essendons ill-fated supplements program will be compelled by WorkSafe to provide information about the substances he administered to footballers as the agencys criminal investi­gation gathers momentum".

No one watches, or admits to watching the Footy Show any more, but I record it every week and fast forward to the Melbourne bit. Every week, especially in the last 2 years, Gaz pumps us up, especially the young kids lately. And he's come across genuinely excited after our last 2 wins in all the media he's got his head on. So thanks, Gaz.

So you're upset because he said something you admit to be true? Would it really make you feel better if he lied and said something "nice" about the club?

Because Toumpas was the standout choice at the time. Toumpas has proven to be an ordinary selection but recruiters don't get the benefit of hindsight. FWIW, you were one of the 148 Demonlanders who voted Toumpas. http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/32253-poll-wines-or-toumpas/

Now May gets 3 games because he challenged the bump on Rockliff. Meanwhile, Lewis gets 2 for knocking a guys brains into next week. What a joke the MRP is.

This what gets me - Am I miffed that we were considering both Wines and Toumpas and it appears we picked the wrong one - sure. But to suggest we need to ask Todd Viney why at draft time when he was offered the choice of two players - one that was considered a better choice than the other - why did he pick what was considered the better player at time - is sheer nonsense. No amount of venting is going to alter history to suggest that Wines was a no brainer at that time. As each draft goes by I am more and more certain that the gulf between TAC and AFL ( and even AFL and SANFL/WAFL) is immense for these young players. There is nothing more certain that clubs will pick what is considered good talent that just never materialises - I just hope it isn't our club.

I reckon Prendergast went well against conventional thinking with Gysberts, Cook and Strauss, who all went earlier than expected at the time, and we paid the price.

The EFC apparently can't remember or lost records of a drug the majority of its list was injected with. sounds legit

Which club is it that the chairman of the AFL is linked to? That will answer you question.

Awesome work Dee, like the others after your post I thought this was an excellent post - definitely worthy of more than a 'like'.

Jumbo source is josh Mahoney saying " we feel we are in a strong position financially to retain our emerging talent and bring in a top end player into the club in the next few years " Combined with the play for Dangerfield last year

Don't post often but here is my gist of the opera. The tribunal said nobody can PROVE it was TB4, not the maker nor seller, nor chemists nor anybody. CRAP..... I bet when any of those 3 wise men go to a night out and order a steak do they want a sample tested to PROVE it is what it is. NO because some things are givens. You order a steak you pay for a steak you get a steak and you eat it. To say there is no proof that Danks forwarded the TB4 to the EFC or steak or whatever, there dosnt need to be, Danks was a paid employee of the EFC, so giving it to Danks was giving it to the EFC. On another tact, if as the EFC claim another drug was given to the players in the amounts mentioned and no record can be found of the said drug, how did they pay for them? No records exist, so how did the auditors sign off on the books 2012-2013. Are the EFC running 2 sets of books? Should the auditors be disbarred or whatever you do to auditors? Plainly those books are wrong as the EFC have said no records exist. Monies spent have to be accounted for annually, hence the burst said at every AGM about the books being audited Hit those bastards with everything you can, if they dropped the needles on the ground, littering, incorrect disposal, anything and everything their actions are a blight on the game and sport. Those persons who started this program are a waste of space and a refection on their character and upbringing.

For me, Dylan Shiel is target 1. But I think the natural progression of our midfield plus introducing petracca and Trengove back into the mix will mean we will improve in that area anyway I'm concerned Dawes can't kick enough goals to be more than a third tall forward/ ruck so Dixon would be a great fit in that sense

None of us are shareholders. You've got tickets on yourself. We saw (again) yesterday arguably the best player of a generation: Nat Fyfe - wasn't even taken in the first round. The draft = informed guesswork. Very happy with Todd's work.

I don't understand this perception that past players or media commentators should withhold their true views due to past allegiances. Mike Sheahan used to needlessly cop it too. I want unfiltered views. I may not agree with them, but I want committed commentary. I don't want to hear Jonathan Brown going soft on the Lions, because he was their star player. I want him saying it like it is. I'll think he's full of it if he waters things down. It's called "credibility". Moronic thread.

Is Pav's nose being investigated for it's hit on Garland? Complete joke Garland was even looked at, only reason why is because it was Pav.

OOC at years end, would be a really good foil for Jesse Hogan, already has two bags of 6 goals to his name, capable of pinch hitting in the ruck someone we might have an interest in?

I'd be interested to hear what the lawyers say, but since it was only the one body (the ACC) that gave him immunity I'd assume that it's only immunity from prosecution by them. (My 'Honest Steve Dank', by the way, was meant suggest something about his posturing at credibility, not my belief that you believed him.)

That idiot Barrett will now break an "exclusive" story on the footy show that Watts will retire at the end of the season.

That will always happen, people will find loopholes. That's why the record keeping rule is only one of the tools in the box. You would hope if people find a way around it then they get caught elsewhere.

Stringer is looking a good bet too - he went one pick after Toumpas - why aren't you incensed at us not picking him ? ( you must not rate the doggies recruiting either as they passed on Wines as well - I would say their last 3 drafts have been very good). The same people who shouldn't have been doing the damn job picked up Hogan in the same draft... hmmmm I need to stop engaging with you on this as there is zero logic to your argument and all emotion. I understand that a draft pick has not met expectation and others taken later have proven better footballers but copious amounts of hand wringing and emotion is no substitute for logical argument . edit - I do wonder if the doggy fans are jumping up and down on Macrae over Wines - Macrae has had some moments but is no Wines. And SOS who is rated so highly needs to his butt kicked - none of their first three picks have come close to Wines output. To me this biggest question mark in that draft is not Wines but how on earth Brodie Grundy slipped to 18 ?

i think it's great we get to watch the brown-baggers get thrashed more often and it serves the neanderthal ch7 right

I'm sure you have many weird feelings h_h. That would be a welcome one though!

uggghhh.... banging.head.against.wall. Again - you have just answered you own question. "we had the best info of anyone"....spot on - we did and we didn't throw it away- we used it - that's why we picked Toumpas. The information we had at the time has turned out to be plain wrong - Why is that so hard to understand ? We have had done due diligence on so many footballers - as have many other clubs - on what were considered the best footballers at the time and they also proved wrong.

He went at 88% disposal efficiency against Freo with only the two ineffective touches out of 17. 1st in rebound 50s in the comp with 33. 10th in total marks with 37. 15th in contested marks with 8. Hogan is still 1st overall with 13. 2nd among defenders in Supercoach points per game (112.2). He's 15th overall. Having a great start to the year.

a lot of that is quite true but playing a very loose zone type defense with players often 20+ metres away from their opponent is a huge difference from being more accountable for your direct opponent and applying little contested possession pressure. it only played to freo's strengths At least a man-to-man approach would have put some pressure on their superior skills Yes we got smashed at centre bounces and here again our strategy in at least containing it was very poor tactically i thought roos got pantsed tactically. players didn't help either

In November 2012 Todd Viney rated Toumpas ahead of Wines. He got it wrong in hindsight. There's your answer. Lets move on!

Is that a rule? If so I wonder if it is being uniformly applied. (See what cynicism the AFL has engendered...) Just read that Salem's concussion was a result of collision with a Freo player - did the Tribunal look at that?

We should also thank the foot soldiers who do the heavy lifting. I suspect Peter Jackson might ink the deal and may be instrumental in getting some sponsors over the line, but I presume there is a team of staff members who are out there sourcing the potential sponsors. So, kudos to them, too.

Probably our most important player after Jones and Tyson. I believe I posted that he was more important than Frawley a few years ago, I would search for that but I said some other dumb stuff I don't want to read again IIRC...

G Lyon was only telling the truth. No problem with that As long as we go into the game thinking we can win it i have no problem. G Lyon has a chronic back injury that he gave for the MFC always a legend in my eyes.

Ouch...

Some people just aren't going to be happy unless Todd spends the whole session just crying and wailing "Ollie, oh Ollie, I'm so sorry", maybe some singing of Amy Winehouse, too.