Leaderboard

Signing off from Maroochydore. Great effort by the players to stay out and sign hundreds of autographs after such a exhausting training session. My (new) player to watch in 2016 is Ben Kennedy. The second year group have stepped up a notch, expect big things from Brayshaw, Stretch & Harmes. Kent & Salem appear to be in great form. Special mentions to Viney, Gawn, McDonald, Grimes, Garlett & Garland look to be on track for a very good year!

Emma Quayle is one of the more knowledgeable writers on the AFL Draft. Recently, her second book was published - The Draftees, a sequel to her first which covered the 2007 AFL Draft, The Draft. This time she covers the year-long journey of five potential 2014 draftees (Isaac Heeney, Jake Lever, Tom Lamb, Clem Smith and Peter Wright) and looks at the issues and the highs and lows involved in being a potential AFL draftee, including the pressures, the disruption to normal family life and education, injuries and a raft of other matters that arise during the course of the season. Interspersed with the diaries of the players are insights about the drafting process from the recruiting team at St. Kilda who made themselves available to Quayle at various times during the year. You get to understand their thinking and the pressure upon them to make the right calls on players. Obviously, from an MFC supporter perspective, the book would have been of even greater interest, had one of Quayle's subjects ultimately been a Demon draft pick, but there have been some interesting snippets so far (I'm halfway through the book). Some examples:- Saints recruiting manager (and former Demon Tony Elshaug) and another recruiter flew to Adelaide in May to watch an South Australian Under 18 trial game and called Glenelg pair Alex Neal-Bullen and Billy Stretch the "two stand out players". Discussion about Angus Brayshaw in the early stages of the Under 18 championships: "Brayshaw was next. 'He was very good. He had plenty of the footy,' said Barnard. 'I don't know if it was planned, but he got more on the outside than the inside, which I wasn't expecting. He's been really combative in the games I've seen previously. He gets caught a few times but his work rate is through the roof.' 'His leadership is very good,' said Elshaug. 'He was always talking to the others. He can't do much more. I don't think he could possibly be playing much better than he is right now. He was best on ground.'" Being a NSW/ACT representative, Isaac Heeney can only play in the second division of the Under 18 championships and expresses his frustration that the new championship format means that he couldn't do the thing that he most wanted: "take on Angus Brayshaw, Christian Petracca and the other really good midfielders ..." The importance of buildings up a good fitness base when coming back from injury was discussed in the case of Peter Wright, an early draft favourite on his recovery and on Jake Lever who spent the entire season sidelined after a knee reconstruction. Late in the season, one of the Saints' recruiters sat in freezing-cold weather at Ballarat watching Oscar McDonald play well at CHB in a TAC Cup game. "He works really, really hard and he's able to accumulate possessions because of that. He's a smart player, he reads the play well and he's competitive. There's just a slight lack of athleticism that worries me at the moment". I'm just getting to the part where the Saints recruiters discuss the top six draft prospects which included Paddy McCartin, Brayshaw and Christian Petracca - I'll cover that discussion in my next report.

Great run from behind on VandenBurg by Oliver. Weideman playing deep forward v McDonald boys. Pederson good in ruck and play on. Salem kicks long, Weideman flies high, crumb to Kent goal square, off ground GOAL!!!!!

True that the AFL and AFLPA need to ensure the health and safety of the current Essendon playing list (something which both appear to have been remiss about along with the EFC over the whole issue) but they are clearly playing favourite with the Bombers over almost everything else. Back in 2013 when the AFL sanctioned Essendon over governance following the partially completed joint investigation, it was made painfully clear that the issue of the actual possible use of banned substances was still unresolved. Now that this long running saga has ended and it is plain and obvious that they are culpable in conducting a programme involving the ingesting of banned substances by their players, the AFL is letting them off the hook with salary cap concessions, generous rights to recruit top up players and draft pick hand outs as a side benefit to having a weakened team due to the sanctions. Banned players can be paid their full remuneration. This was all announced on the day the sanctions were announced and with no consultation with the clubs although one of the offenders gets consulted and time to put forward a case (should he wish to) as to whether he can keep his Brownlow. Business as usual for the AFL. It hasn't learned a thing from the various scandals that have rocked the organisation in recent years. And the money keeps rolling in.

i love that we still have Crossy on board. Such a legend.

Big tackle on Watts from Gawn in handball drill and Watts didn't appreciate it... came back aggressively. stretch & Kent stood out

In early January 2012, the Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia struck a rock off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany and sunk with the loss of 32 lives. The captain, Francesco Captain Schettino was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter of 32 passengers and sentenced to 16 years. Included with the multiple manslaughter charge of which he was found guilty were causing the shipwreck, abandoning the passengers and providing false information to port authorities. Ironically, at the same time as the Costa Concordia was foundering the EFC under coach Hird was embarking on the supplements programme which has devastated the club and resulted in last week's sanctions. Reading the installments of Hird's "explanation" in the Herald Sun reminded me so much of Schettino's gutless conduct. There's a mealy mouthed half-hearted acknowledgment of some breakdown in responsibility but that's all due to breaches of trust committed by everyone else involved ranging from CAS, the AFL, Demetriou, his colleagues at Essendon including long time friend and club Doctor Reid. Hird throws them all under the bus or should I say, under the Costa Concordia. Tomorrow night's ABC programme with Tracey Holmes won't be long enough for Hird to explain why, like Schettino he failed to do the honourable thing when his ship went down. Here's a preview on the business ethics aspect - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKGeHuln08A&sns=em

My love of this game is dying. The depth of corruption this saga has revealed should be eye-opening to any supporters of Aussie Rules. Make no mistake, the game you once loved no longer exists. Corporatisation fully realised, profits now take precedence over ethics.

Half ground 9 v 9 now. Gawn to Kent to Garlett for a goal! Great run & carry by Brayshaw. Ben Kennedy doing well.

Fair point. I always thought Zaharakis "I fear needles" when he apparently has a tattoo on his arse sounded like an excuse for getting out of it without appearing to be dissenting.

Seems big Pedo is making a statement! Good on him too, rather him then old rehab Dawes..

Been working hard for over an hour now. Crowd built up to over 200 now. A few of the hardest trainers looking stuffed! Jones tackled Hunt and slung him to the ground before to give him a taste of what it is like with the big boys!

No No Essendon can get stuffed. They shouldn't be getting top up players They shouldn't even be in the competition on the back of the fact that 34 of 46 players are guilty of doping.

Turns out he wasn't coach at Essendon anyway... Ha ha http://www.theshovel.com.au/2016/01/15/james-hird-denies-ever-being-coach-at-essendon/

Yawn...Pity he isn't wired up to a lie detector Q&A would be better. The Twitter feed responses would crucify him...

That's if we assume that the players had no idea of what they were injected with ... I've never assumed that and I'm baffled as to why most seem to assume that they didn't know what they were being injected with. I suppose if one is told something hundreds of times one might be inclined to believe that something.

FireInTheBelly... You're spot-on, big emphasis on fitness last year... Major focus on match-play this year

Well Said Fifty-5, My take on this whole thing.. Essendon, at the end of 2011 wanted to be stronger and fitter and wanted a program that in a highly competitive competition that was cutting edge and gave them an advantage over other teams. They got it horribly wrong, and the players unwittingly or not got caught up in it. Fact of the matter is that players are responsible for what goes into their bodies and regardless of the idea of 'team mentality'/peer pressure. I feel sorry for the players (and their families) because I don't believe any of them 'intentionally' wanted to be taking enhancing drugs and to work outside of the drugs code. But not asking questions is not an excuse either. The penalty is harsh, but fair. I just wish the AFL and Essendon had approached this whole thing in a better way than the arrogance stance that saw them try to control the situation and contrive an outcome which spun out of their control, and caused this wreck. In terms of players coming back, they have their penalty, they serve it, and then they should be free to being able to play again, I would like a bit more humility or contrition as Fifty-5 has said, but that might come with time. I also think some people read too much into the drug cheat label also... If these players are serious about wanting to play and move past this, you would think that they would be prime candidates for assisting with drug and education programs in sport/schools etc.. Plenty of people have stuffed up their lives in one form or another, it's how you learn from the mistakes that defines you and makes you better. These players do deserve that opportunity equally as much as they deserve the punishment that's in front of them currently.

You're a harder man than me. I've followed this case reasonably closely and am satisfied that the players used TB-4 and therefore committed an ADRV and I think that the CAS penalty is appropriate because the players share fault. I won't labour the reasons here unless anyone really needs them. But on the other hand - Melksham was 20yo starting his 3rd year in the system. Hird and Dank told him it was all OK - even Dank (mistakenly) thought TB-4 wasn't banned. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/danks-stunning-admission-20140613-zs7ea.html Watson, Fletcher, Stanton, Hille etc were all going ahead with it. Life ban - pretty harsh! I'm prepared to welcome him to our club and hope he can re-build his career, but like you said I'd like to hear more contrition and less "we're innocent".

Agree entirely BBO. Little question that Martin's a first class [censored] but the speed in which the 'victim' was interviewed by her employer, made one think it was being milked for all it's worth. For mine, it' was just another chance for news services to lead in with, 'social media erupted today when...'. And perhaps I just don't get it (entirely possible) but public opinion as reflected in social media appears to now be driven by feminazis and poonces with little room for alternate opinion.....lo and behold a twitter storm erupts ([censored] hilarious)

Not as good as 666's but some good straining shots here: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-01-16/qld-preseason-camp-day-two-training

That the AFL are even discussing it is appalling. They are cheats, they are suspended from the entire sport, they should not be paid. Wouldn't the payment itself actually constitute contact between the club and players anyway. What's bet the AFL are on the players side again and trying to negotiate with WADA to allow them to be paid?

Robert Thomson's support of Hird adds one more string to the understanding of the absolute bias in the Hun.

"James, this saga has taken an incredible toll on your health and wellbeing. Being the target of a worldwide conspiracy to destroy your amazing legacy in the game is something that only happens to superlative human beings. Yet the falsehoods and groundless accusations intended to destroy you and the club haven't damaged you in any way. Can you explain to our audience here tonight just exactly how fabulous you are?" "Thanks Tracey. You're right, it hasn't been easy being a beacon of truth and light against the forces of evil and darkness. I would have spent many sleepless nights wondering just what lies in the hearts of such men, if I hadn't been lying awake concerned about the players. Because everything I've done, I've done for the players. It's a terrible thing that WADA, ASADA, Andruska, McDevitt, Downes, Young, the AFL, McLachlan, Demetriou, Dillon, Clothier, Haddad, Harcourt, Clare, Lundy, Dutton, Gillard, Evans, Little, Switkowski, Robson, Campbell, Lukin, Thompson, Corcoran, Hamilton, Robinson, Dank, Charter, Alavi, Reid ... all people who I trusted, to be let down by every one of them does hurt a little. And the players, who I gave everything to, to be betrayed by them too has been disappointing. But I've got broad shoulders, Tracey. I'd rather take on all the pain and hurt and suffering in the world rather than let the players endure one moment of anxiety, but they did bring it on themselves. As for all the others who betrayed me so outrageously, well, I'm too big a man to let one negative thought about those liars, cheats and backstabbers enter my mind. It's all behind me Tracey. But I will continue to fight. It's my nature to seek truth and justice. Against all the odds, I can't let them win. For the players' sakes." "Oh James, you wonderful man. Take me." "What, here on stage? I thought we agreed to do it back at the hotel?"

Seconded, Mr Old. Tout le monde should raise a banana smoothie to the happy couple today.

Don't worry Jim, the AFL will protect you.

Thanks Wayne. Outstanding work.

Thanks for the footy fix wayne. Loving it!

That's what he meant when he said he'll be in a good place when the truth comes out. Sitting in an auditorium, the centre of attention, the audience having paid to be in his presence, being interviewed by an attractive blonde.

The consequence of a doctor breaking the rules are slightly more severe than players taking banned substances. And even then it is nearly impossible to get a doctor banned for life from the profession. Murderers don't even get life sentences here. To say that players should be banned for life is very harsh given it was a club driven program

Envious of those who got to see him at his peak, although it's debateable exactly when that was for such a musical chameleon. Having watched hours of interviews with him before and since his passing, you have to marvel at how he treated everyone with the same level of respect and warmth. I was unaware of the depth of his love and fascination for Australia, outside of his decision to film the "Let's Dance" film clip here. That was a happy discovery upon his death. A remarkably quiet and dignified exit from this world it must be said. A class act to the end.

Pardon me interrupting with some discussion about the Melbourne Football Club but it's a fact that the team has arrived on the Sunshine Coast and were working hard today. Here's proof.

No unfortunately! They are trying to scare the beejesus out of anyone who even thinks of taking EFC/AFL to court. Disgraceful that a multi-billion $ AFL is trying to get a few pennies from a kid who is simply exercising his rights. A kid that was abused in their care. Its ok for EFC, Hird etc to exercise their legal rights but oh no, not a kid who is probably scared stiff of what they put in him. Meanwhile they are concocting a plan to give millions to fund the suspended players. Meanwhile AFLPA wants the player legal suits against the very same EFC/AFL settled out of court. Which players, Mr Marsh? Is Hal Hunter not one of them? Hunter is not even asking for money or damages he just wants his medical records! Today is truly a black day in sport. All at the AFL/EFC/AFLPA should hang their heads in shame.

Essendon and AFL pursue court costs against ex-player after he took legal action over injection program. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/?reload=true#ixzz3xHeDlo14 Are all these people insane? They injected him with unknown drugs and they want costs from him? I am really angry about this.

Not sure I would use honest dee-luded. As much as I dislike Dawes I believe he gives it 100%. I think Pedo has a better spread of talent.

So in effect, you think Melksham (and all the Essendon 34) should be banned for life and that CAS got it wrong? Because that's the natural extension of your argument. IMO, they have broken the rules and have received a significant punishment. I do think it's very unbecoming that the players involved and the AFLPA continue to maintain their "innocence" and agree with you that contrition would be far better - although I haven't heard Melksham's position on this yet. If the punishment is accepted and served in good faith by the players, then they should be free to re-commence their careers.

Dank, for nearly 4 years, has been spouting the same garbage, that the truth will come out. During this time he has refused to give evidence to a myriad of hearings. Steve/James don't worry, the truth has already come out and it is this " an incompetent Bomber administration, presided over an illegal drug taking operation, by its players and put their professional and personal futures at risk ".

I don't think we will allow him to train with us in September. We will be in the middle of our finals campaign.

This is the way it works in every single other aspect of life. At the base of it is individual selfishness and greed. Why should footy be any different?

Prepare to be humble!

It's worth repeating that if any of the 34 hadn't signed the consent form we could assume that they would also have walked free. They signed off thus implicating themselves ... not smart or perhaps they felt that by signing the consent forms, that might save them at a later date ... obviously it didn't save them because in the end, they lost out (although they are still being paid?) But of course the players maintain that they don't know what they were injected with ... McVeigh contradicted that notion when he stated that "Every player knew what they were taking" and ... "It was clearly stated to us what we were taking" Conveniently, there are no records (at least, that's what we're told) Now we get today's appalling news on the Hunter case (the AFL & EFC arguing for costs) The lies and deceit surrounding this saga has been astonishing ... what is worse is how our media has been so apathetic and many have acted like cheerleaders. It seems a lot of these large sporting organisations end up following the same murky path ... integrity and doing the right thing suffers at the hands of the quest for the almighty dollar.

Sadly for me the one overwhelming truth in this whole dirty sordid saga is the realisation that corruption and self interest is rampant in our sport, and at a level I could never have imagined. Sure I always knew about the biased draw, salary cap rorting and the dodgy tribunal results. Sure I knew about the favouritism toward the big clubs over the little clubs and the look the other way mentality of the commission when it deemed it necessary. But that seemed such small fry compared to what we face today. Integrity and morality have taken a back seat as the AFL has embraced a Cowboy Corporate culture where the ends justify the means. It doesn't need to be that way of course. Sadly I can't see this changing any time soon. The truly sad part is the very body charged with the games governance is in itself utterly corrupt. Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic but when I saw that both the AFL and EFC were chasing court costs against Hal Hunter I couldn't help but feel that the last traces of any integrity and morality that either of these organisations once had, has was well and truly disappeared, much like the mythical EFC spread sheets that exonerate everybody.

they seem to have gone to the same place as essendon supplement records, lost sock halves, pencils and pens

Fixed.

$2 million fine for poor governance Team kicked out of the 2013 finals Loss of 2013 draft picks Loss of 2014 draft picks Hird suspended for 12 months and later sacked Corcoran suspended for 6 months Dank found guilty by ASADA and unable to work in sport forever Thompson fined $30,000 Watson most likely to lose his Brownlow medal Fine of up to $600,000 by Workcover for unsafe work practices 34 players suspended for two years (reduced by backdating) Reputations ruined and the club probably uncompetitive for 3-4 years Honestly ... how much more punishment do you want?

I think we did the right thing, a 2nd rounder would not have gotten a lot of air time unless we have a lot of injuries he would still take a year or two to grow into the role. Melksham was a gamble and I believe the club expected some sort of sanction but were happy to go with it. He will be a big bodied player again next year and ready to play. We need players who can play in the next 2-4 year as our window of opportunity opens. getting youngsters is for rebuilding your list. we are pretty well past that, only have a couple more to get rid of at the end of the year and we should have our list to take us into finals.

Agree Dawes is next to useless in the ruck and around ground. Pedo actually competes well in the ruck and around ground. The quicker Weideman comes on the sooner Dawes will be finished.

did you mean "moments of claret"?

Big difference given the ruck situation, is the Pedersen will / can ruck. Bonus - can mark.

Just saw on his Twitter that Jake and his partner welcomed a baby girl less than a week ago. I'm a glass half full guy. Jake gets more time to bond with his daughter. More important things than kicking a bit of leather around on some grass.