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She's got all she needs at work.

I think we all forget just how seriously good Trengove looked in 2010-2011. Was one of the most impressive young players in the comp and was destined to become an absolute star until Neeld ruined him. People rave about Brayshaw's first year but Trengove was just as good and even better. If Trengove miraculously got that form back i have no doubt we will play finals.

As do all supporters of all teams, SWYL. Emotion has a lot to do with that. Phil Walsh, Jimmy Stynes, Troy Broadbridge, The whole football world got emotional You get emotional about past office bearers of our Footy Club. We have no more easy games or send off games than anyone else in the comp. Players come and players go, some times I am saddened, sometimes I don't care but I love the players that put on the jumper week after week and give all they have. Sometimes it is just not enough to win. If we all didn't have a passion for the club, then why do we discuss/argue/bicker about it on here it on here?

The "emotional game" is what footy is all about. The fans get "emotional"....The players get "emotional"....The media get "emotional" If you take "emotion" out of the games, you may as well play with robots and go and have a cup of tea on Saturday afternoon. There wouldn't be a need for demonland or any other football site. It what footy is all about, otherwise we wouldn't bother yelling at games, booing the opposition, calling the umps cheats ect ect

I always thought we recruited Hunt with the understanding and likelihood of at least two years development before he'd be physically ready to step up, but he had the tools (pre-growth spurt) to be a genuine AFL player. The club keeping him and now the good words on him only confirm that this plan is coming along nicely. I thinks clubs (and Our club!) have realised that some kids take longer to develop and if you can see the talent and nurture the talent, they might not bloom till they're 20+, but when they do they'll be solid (maybe even more). I put Smith Jnr in similar development strategy/category, where we'd hope he'd be ready in a year or two...

And in the next breath someone will probably tell us that some other player needs to 'toughen up' and play through all those 'little niggles', like the best players do. Footballers are competitive beasts. The more pain some of them get, they more they want to play through it just to stay on the field. Often we laud them for that approach.

I'm working with a young student who is doing a psychology degree at uni, pointed her to this site for a bit of practical study

3 conferences - 6 each play own conference twice, others once ( 5x2=10 + 12x1=12 - total 22 games) top 2 in each conference to finals plus 2 wildcards gives a final 8 easy peasy

go and tell the kindergarden teacher all your toys have fallen out of your cot and you want your mummy because the big bad bully isn't very nice to me?

My burning question would be, what language was that article written in before being poorly translated into English...?

the club isn't going to give JT a game just for the fans... thats passe. he played too long yes, but after the club medics said nothing to see here. if JT thought he new better he would have gone off for a private 2nd opinion away from club. I would have. Jack is a team player, & probably idolises the game & the clubs expertise`. we couldn't have a better team player IMO. he isn't holding the club back, he is helping it forward with his attitude. its other softees that pull it backwards.

If the AFL even thinks about going it alone it will shoot itself in both feet. Soccer and Rugby will fly the 'good' flag and the next gen of kids won't be playing footy.

Wow, your device corrects "don't play it" to " dintbplatbthid". That's a helluva device you've got there.

Every now and then Eddie comes out with something interesting. This isn't it.

It turned out a great read. We know now that all of Emma Quayle's subjects were drafted by AFL clubs and have gotten through the first seasons with their respective clubs. We also know that St KIlda maintained their preference for Paddy McCartin ahead of Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw and selected him as the #1 choice even though the pundits were going for Petracca (who was first in the Herald Sun phantom draft on the eve of the draft meeting). I got the impression that the person who pushed hardest for him was Tony Elshaug who concluded he was the best player in the pool and that he might one day have egg on his face over that decision. McCartin made limited appearances, Petracca none due to his ACL and Brayshaw played 21 games (and was rested once). Melbourne's other selections in the draft, Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch and Oscar McDonald all received games and there's no reason at this stage to believe that our selections will become anything other than a bumper crop for the club.

Stuie you'll probably find this a bit difficult so concentrate. This is a forum where many people read and participate. If you only meant the comment for one person then sent them a PM. I, like many others, are over you making the same point time and time and time and time again. It's particularly frustrating because in the majority of cases it's not usually and interesting point to start with.

I don't see why you're trying to suck the jam out of everyone's donut about this guy. You admit that you've not seen him play but are only too ready to hose down his chances of getting a game. He's recovered from injury, has an AFL body and the coaches are excited by what he can offer the team. But hey, let's put him the Sam Blease category because it's an easy comparison.

That's exactly what Jack was told when he said his foot was sore. That's given us some great moments. Dean Jones' 200 in India. That chick in the Olympics who stumbled over the line in the marathon. Rugby league players who take hit after hit after hit. But the pendulum is swinging the other way. Jones was hospitalised. The marathon runner endangered her own safety. Rugby players suffering early Alzheimers. We're looking at these things differently now. It can be "tough" or "hard" or "gutsy" while at the same time being f***ing stupid. It's all in how you weigh it up.

Only if they can establish to the SFC that they have grounds for appeal and that Court also agrees that an injunction is the appropriate relief in the circumstances. It's been suggested elsewhere that the players could apply to the NSW Supreme Court for an injunction to enable the players to play in the interim. This is based on the fact that CAS heard the case in Sydney but my reading is that irrespective of where the case was heard, the parties have accepted the Swiss jurisdiction and therefore the NSW Supreme Court would be loathe to make a determination. There might be exceptional circumstances that could change this but I really can't think of any that would apply given the nature of the CAS hearing, the way the decision was reached and expressed in the judgement and in the composition of the court.

Has the title been altered? If not wtf are you on about?

More about Eddie keeping his face in the news. I don't bother now to read anything he says. He's just part of the firm now.

I had a look at his background and the legal firm he works for says on its website that it specialises in 'personal injury' cases. Maybe it is a preemptive application for a gig with any of the 34 players who are disenchanted with their current legal reps!!

if they go ahead and continue to appeal they will only drag this out longer for the players. This strategy has allowed Essendon to move from 34 players in trouble to 12, another couple of years it will be 8. the problem is that this will continue to hound these players and will have a significant impact on their health and wellbeing. I doubt you are going to get the best performance out of them under the circumstances. In fact they are likely to get sued for a lot more money as a result of this. but this is more about the club than the players, a club that has shown they have happily discard and trade players to reduce the impact of any suspensions on themselves. I would not be surprised if quite a few of these players want to walk away from the club at the end of the year as you can bet they will sue the club and you can bet Essendon will fight them which means that they will further be entrenching the club vs the player attitude. I guess what p*sses me off the most is the complicit nature of the AFL in this, letting them take more players, letting them have more salary cap, etc... these are things that undermine any penalty handed out. Any funding contribution by the AFL to any appeal would only continue to show they prefer a strong essendon even at the cost of the games integrity.

i haven't had a decent dintbplatbthid in years, jack

dunno why people bother going to medical school. couple of years lurking on demonland would be quicker and cheaper

A fit, healthy and IN FORM Trengove is most definitely in our 22. I say 'in form' because it has been a while since he played the game, so I would no longer assume that just because he is fit and healthy - that he should be granted a game. You are right, he will have to earn it. He will have to find his very best form to break into our midfield from here on in.

I had to actually listen to the audio to understand what he means. As I understand it, the top 12 after 17 rounds play off in the last 6 rounds to form a top 10. Bottom 6 play off for an 11th wildcard spot. The NAB Cup winner takes up the 12th spot in the finals. I don't know what happens if the NAB Cup winner finishes in the top 10. I assume the team finishing 11th comes in. I immediately hate the idea of 12 teams in an 18 team comp playing finals, and the pre-season is meant to be a hit out rather than competitive. A team that wins the NAB could potentially spend the rest of the season preparing the team for finals. Teams on the edge of the bottom six could tank in order to play weaker teams for a wildcard entry. There are so many potential downfalls. I don't mind the teams playing each other once for 17 rounds as a starting point, but there should be no more than 8 teams playing finals. History tell us it's invariably only the top 4 that has a chance of winning it.

Nup, I'm saying a fit & healthy Trengove is best 22. There is no should about it...if he's not right he doesn't play, he won't be good enough and won't be gifted games 'SWYL'. This is a different club now mate...

Very creative but drawing a long, long bow.

From my recollection we don't play a preseason competition as such now, it's more a bunch of practice games as there is no GF and no real winner. Seemed the clubs wanted it this way. Are Eddie's ratings flagging? Is he feeling unloved? Poor Ed....

International Tennis is showing us at the moment why all sports should be over seen by an out side body. There is clear evidence that there has been rigged games for years. But they have not wanted to know. Sergeant Schultz would be proud. It is only now after the BBC has dragged them kicking and struggling in to the 21st century have they done anything.

Sam Blease had a poor attitude and work ethic. Not sure his case is a valid predictor of Jayden's chances.

Make money?

and have an ethics sabbatical........now that would cost something, wouldn't it.

No scouting for Avos!

Runs onto the MCG, for the first time since injury, midway through the third quarter in the 2016 prelim. We're 15 points behind the western bulldogs. Every time he gets a touch the crowd go nuts as does his teammates. IF he can get back he's going to a massive team lifter for us. Hey its January.....Its good to dream.

American sports are the worse PED use is rife... Ill never understand how people watch crap like the NFL and NBA

Burning question - what mindset will Melbourne bring in round two when we play Essendon?

Frankly, a new term deserved to be invented for the sickening armchair treatment the media's given Essendon throughout this affair.

The process with regard to appeals against decisions handed down by CAS is that an application must be made to the Swiss Federal Court. The Court will in the first instance hear whether the party lodging the appeal has valid grounds based on jurisdiction. The judgement is specifically drawn in my view to close off that possibility so whoever frames the case for an appeal will have to display a fair amount of ingenuity. I think the odds are heavily against an appeal getting past this first base. Early in this saga, I did some reading on the subject of the applicable law in these cases and it was my understanding that by way of contract, the parties i.e WADA, the AFL, the clubs and the players accepted that the jurisdiction for such cases was based on Swiss civil law and that they had therefore specifically contracted out of the sovereign law of this country. I understand this means that a local court would not mix in at this stage of proceedings and would require the process in the Swiss Federal Court to run its course. In the event therefore, that grounds of appeal can be established before the SFC (and that could take several months), a date for the hearing of the actual appeal would need to be set and arguments heard. I think the procedure would be costly, time consuming and have little likelihood of success. I don't know whether the players would have the appetite to mount a challenge and I'd be suggesting that they take their medicine.

its not really about that. its more about the attitude. "well if we get an injunction they will be able to play and then itll take years so theyll probably all be retired by the time its over" ie even if they did do it the punishment will mean nothing as they will still be able to play footy

I was entertained by our own Christopher from Camberwell who rang SEN this afternoon beseeching the Australian government's intervention into the drugs saga by repairing the damage done to the Essendon Football Club by the CAS judgement. He said it was unfair that the Cronulla players only missed three games while the Bombers will be out for a whole year. Not happy with the discrimination against the AFL.

For the record, that is not what I am saying. If Jack's foot holds up in full training then he'll play at Casey, and if it holds up there and his form warrants it then he'll play for MFC. If he breaks down at any of those stages, I won't be thinking about "52 years". I am 100% behind him

Clearly, whether you agree or not, the FD wanted to keep both Michie and Hunt on the list but also wanted to have four spots for selections in the National Draft. As both Michie and Hunt were out of contract and were the only ones able to vacate a spot to allow for 4 ND picks then one had to be delisted and rookied. The FD would have then had to determine the best way to achieve this goal. When a club wants to move a player to the rookie list they can't simply transfer him, he must be delisted and then taken as a rookie. The danger of course is the delisted player can either elect to go to another club as a delisted free agent or be picked up by another club in the ND, PSD or rookie draft. So the transfer involves some "risk". Clearly the FD decided that there was less risk involved in moving Michie rather than Hunt. That's why the club did it the way they did, it was all about giving them the best chance of achieving their objective and may not have anything to do with how they rated the players. This is contrary to your position of rating the players and then trying to get the objective - a greater risk. I don't agree with your position of favouring Michie over Hunt anyway, it's a simplistic position and not well thought through.. Michie has had five years in an AFL environment and appears to be no more than a meat and potatoes midfielder (sorry Samuel). He sits comfortably with players like Newton, M Jones and co as players that will be AFL depth at best. N Jones, Vince, Viney, AVB, Tyson and Brayshaw are clearly ahead of him. Petracca, ABN, Stretch, Melksham, Bugg, Salem, Kennedy, Harmes, Oliver, Trengove all have midfield aspirations which leave Newton, Michie and Jones all well down the pecking order for spots. Hunt has shown nothing really except he does have some AFL characteristics. He is blindingly quick, has clean hands and can break lines. If he succeeds he can add something to our team that we don't have. Like you I have low expectations but I'd much rather have him on the list than a mid that in five years on an AFL list sits outside the top 10 in terms of midfield hierarchy on exposed form.

Disagree. We are now doing what the good sides do, giving talented young players time, to develop their bodies and game.

Looks like someone's hammered the bong this arvo.

Roos is often hard to pick, obviously he wasn't happy about it but I think he got over that a few weeks back. It's all smoke and mirrors now, he's more interested in how Petracca comes up for round 1 whether it be at Casey or the AFL. Ox was talking about the Demon fans and how we all can't wait to see Petracca, Roos was doing his no pressure on the kids routine and hosing down expectations. I actually really love this now...it's interesting to hear the expectations of EFC & Carlton fans on their new kids, there's a lot of pressure on Parish in particular. It's all a bit like us a couple of years back. Now we can slip in someone like Brayshaw and or Salem and let them play. I expect this will happen with Petracca, Oliver and Weideman this year...