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Titus O'Reily: Henderson quits Carlton to try his hand in the AFL. Razor sharp.

Those second rate Bulldog kids might just get their team to October...

On the inconsistency week to week: Internally they are setting Melbourne up for a sustained period of success and believes its going well. Relying on the younger players to perform too much on game day, thinks fatigue is an issue. On Hogan: Comparing him to Josh Kennedy on the type of player he will end up being (big on chasing and forward pressure) Very driven to be the best he can be, good understanding of the game. "He has some frustrations he needs to temper, not always going to get it on a silver platter as a forward" When asked what he would be most worried about if he had to play on him he said his ability to always be moving, his agility and his quickness off the mark, thinks he needs to work on his leading patterns. Tom McDonald feeling confident going into the season after spending the pre season defending against him On Lumumba's year: Thinks people judge him too much based on his possession count, happy with his contested game. Gives a lot of energy on field. Getting used to a new role on the wing. Thinks his best footy for Melbourne is ahead of him. On Roos: Game plan when he first came in was very similar to his Sydney game plan, game had evolved and Roos has made changes this year to reflect that.

I just need to put it out there that losing is not an option this week. I'm going with two of my closest friends who are both dirty filthy Carlton supporters. Loser buys drinks post game. This is serious stuff. Hogan to kick 8. Come on.

Get daisy in the banner!

A convincing win over Carlton and we'll be talking up a last round win over GWS and the prospect of 8 wins. 8 wins after 4 last year will seem like solid progress and a good launching pad for Roos' last season as we attempt to make the top 8. It's been a rough week but we've got to take a big picture approach.

Well, up goes the money to the grass roots to compete with other codes, up goes the money to the players, up goes the footy dept spending at big clubs that others have to compete with, etc. The core elements of the game have to reconsidered for all clubs to be secure - the fixture, the giving out of drawcard timeslots, the money from the gate shared from all games, etc. It's not 'more money' that will save the 18 clubs, it is how the money is distributed. It's socialism but it is how you create an even competition worthy of being entertainment.

Every time a new TV rights deal is announced the chorus goes up " that will mean all clubs will survive and prosper" Then a couple of years later we see a large number of clubs with big debts and struggling to survive. Excuse my scepticism but I will wait and see.

So the blueprint for beating a doping ban is to: a) destroy records b) drag out the process through spurious legal action c) generate sympathetic media coverage d) thumb your nose at authorities e) obfuscate authorities at every opportunity f) blame doping authorities for dragging the chain and for botching the investigation That will work well for future cases. World sport will be ruined forever. The players have not missed one game. Compare that to the many Olympians that have received long bans OR who have missed one Olympic games (effectively a life ban for many). They simply cannot let the players off. The major reason they have gone on this long is the actions of their own club and themselves.

I don't think this needs a caption.

You would delist Michie ahead of Bail? Madness.

Other clubs have finals. We have the trade period

The womens side is the best thing MFC has going for us atm.

He sounded drunk and like he had half a schnitzel in his mouth.

I love how the media and Essendon bang on about how long it's taken. Yet don't say what caused massive amounts of delays... Tird and Essendon taking ASADA to court. F!ogs! All of them.

Nup sorry, I'm going to believe the rumours again. Danger a dee works foe me

I'm a little bit proud to say I was Tayla's first senior coach a few years back. She missed four games and still won the League's B & F as a 15 year old. The kid is a star. Bit surreal to see images of her popping up on my favourite football forum. A national league now seems a formality. 220,000 viewers watched a game of women's footy on free to air footy. Exciting times and no less than girls like Tayla deserve.

Sadly won't be remembered as a great Dee or a great Cat....that's what happens when you leave a club chasing success and the success part doesn't happen.

If you can't run fast and kick accurately we don't want you.

At least he has been upfront. He's not a snitch like our own Stuie.

Hope Newton and Riley get a go

I played footy with Callum Mills last year.. there was a game where we were down to the best team in the comp by 25 points and Millsy came on and kicked 5 goals in 10 minutes out of the midfield to win us the game. This guy is an absolute freak! is there any chance at all that Sydney wont be able to get enough points to bid for him? if so, any chance of him slipping to us?

Carlton must hope that no one makes a private joke, could cost them $500k. Hey had another thought what if McLean decides to dump on them like he did for us, I understand he wasn't happy with the cliques at Carlton

I hope we trade our first pick for Bennell. We need his skill and speed on the wing. I'd also hope we put an offer to Scott Selwood as he would be a great replacement for Cross.

If you are dropping Watts for this weekend's game then you are refusing sane logic in favour of a deep seated dislike for a bloke or you are trying to 'set a standard' with the same whipping boy to avoid tough questions of others. Drop all the players you want before last week - it would not have stopped that first half...

Pretty hard to investigate when the evidence has been destroyed.

The afl has been protecting essendon from day 1. It is why asada didnt bother appealing through the afl. If they were the east german athletic association we would be sitting here calling them corrupt cheats.

Yeah, it's probably more likely to be an underground carpark at 2:00am with Roos wearing a trench coat while a cigarette dangles from his mouth.

Very popular with the player group and coaching fraternity like his skill set! And Yep, count me as a fan! Although I must say he does frustrate on occasion! Has shown definite improvement this year ,without a doubt!

Lynch is 4th on the Adelaide goalkicking with 25 behind Betts, Walker and Jenkins. He also has 25 goal assists. Vince and Dawes are equal 3rd our goalkicking list with a grand total of 10 each. Yeah, your right. Lynch is superfluous to our needs.

McDevitt from ASADA was angered by Hird’s repeated debasing of the joint ASADA and AFL investigation into the program that ran at Windy Hill in 2012. He said the departed coach needed to accept responsibility. “He has repeatedly referred to this as the ASADA scandal and did again today. Don’t blame ASADA for doing its job. Blame him and others for not doing theirs,” McDevitt said. “This is not the ASADA scandal. It is the Essendon scandal and will go down in history as such.” Snap

Lynch plays a different role to Dawes but he would fill Howe's shoes nicely I reckon. Had him in my UF team last year and was impressed. These are the players that don't excite people but I am fascinated with the mundane filling of specific but important roles so this excites me...

Different timelines CB. Geelongs drafts were 14-16 years ago now with Selwood added later. Hawthorns were 9-11 years ago with Rioli added later.

The extra money will be used to (try to) cement Aussie Rules in NSW & Qld. Dogs, Dees, North, etc, will be kept on life support just sufficient to ensure 9 games a week.

True. I'm very happy the Melbourne had picks 2 and 3 instead of 1 last year. The pressure to take certain players is enormous and in a lot of ways it is a lose-lose situation unless that player ends up being a super star.

Make an offer to the blues for Henderson, would be a fantastic get and with Hogan would make a dangerous pair up forward.

I don't see how Chip is delusional here, he is just reporting what the AFL have requested and reasons for it. Some of his opinion pieces I don't agree with but this is a different matter. Sometimes when reading post's on this thread it seems like I am reading the anti bomber blitz and it is just as delusional. I will be very surprised to see EFC players getting a 2 year ban starting from the end of the hearing. If guilty they are more likely to get a 2 year or less ban backdated.

Maybe, but a lot of the questions that really need to be asked will not fall under the scope of this tribunal. I would really like to know more about the AFL's involvement, the EFC and also the media involvement and connections to key players. Why Hird thinks he was hard done by, what is this truth that needs to come out...there are so many questions.

Paul Connor's? If so, he also manages Tom Lynch. When did the meeting take place?

I think Hunt will be kept. Still not physically developed and starting to show something after a bad run of injuries.

Yeah, I'd sit him next to Caroline Wilson

You gotta let it go, HL. You'll do yourself some damage.

pure gold

James in The Bunker... https://www.facebook.com/TrollAFL1/videos/890952267658443/?pnref=story

You would get someone like Jetta to mentor him.

Did you pay extra for that?

He'd be a good replacement for Howe.