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intentional, below the belt, high impact - gorn

No problems, they will be awarding the Brownlow next year.

The latest statistics show the forum is ticking along just nicely since the departure of Stuie. The number of reported posts has fallen by 84 per cent. Unnecessary argument escalations have dropped 92 per cent, and unwarranted sarcastic replies are down 89 per cent. Remember when the board used to be filled with exchanges such as this?: Poster: "I'm a big fan of Stretch but he needs to go back to Casey to find a bit of form." Stuie: "So Stretch should be delisted and deported back to SA, should he? Righto...."

Nathan Buckley has come out and stated Collingwood will be boycotting this years finals in protest.

When you're a senior manager in a high profile organisation, you're expected not to conduct yourself in a manner that puts your organisation in to the news. It's part of the job, and what you accept when you take on the $300+ salary.

The ultimate feel good story here wouldn't be Dom Barry, but Liam Jurrah. I still watch the highlights every so often. And weep.

Dave Culbert who has been a strong campaigner against drugs in sport says Hird has lost the right to present the award and I agree with him. AFL'S HIRD DECISION "DISGRACEFUL" SAYS ANTI-DRUGS CRUSADER

I've never organised for a bunch of young men for whom I'm responsible for and who trust me to be systematically injected with performance enchancing substances. A regime that he and a convicted drug trafficker just happened to lose the documentation for. This regime was designed to cheat the system so Essendon could win a flag, it was a disgrace. When I've done the wrong thing I've accepted responsibly and apologised for my actions and to anyone my actions may have effected. Hird has never accepted any responsibility and never apologised. The issue is not only what happened at Essendon, but the way Hird conducted himself. He has lost the right to present the medal.

I think this is the list: Melbourne The rest can please themselves.

Most (or certainly many) would agree that if Hird accepts guilt for his part in the doping affair and apologises without reservation, he deserves a second chance. Release of all documents associated with this would be essential to the public acceptance of his apology. As he still thinks he is innocent and has persued this, and money, as far as he could, the unanimous conclusion must be his complete removal from anything AFL.

I sometimes think there's too many vegans post on this site.

So 'critiquing' a poster can effect their mental health? Ignore the poster and find some inner fortitude. We are creating a world of soft people who can't cope with any sort of adversity or challenge. It's scary.

Hardwick urges public to support Hird's return Go to hell, Damien.

It's about power discrepancy

Whenever I cop criticism from anyone I stick my fingers in my ears and say "naa-na-na,I can't hear you" until they finish talking. Similarly,when I'm late to meet somebody I blame traffic or some other peripheral occurrences. When my ideas are based on a fantasy and reason is used to counter them I run to my safe space and wait for the bad ideas to go away. I can recommend such a strategy for anyone over forty in order to escape facts,truth or common sense reasoning that counters your own reasoning.In that way you can close your mind and feel young again! I wonder how such gentle people would react to being roasted by Richard Prior,Don Rickles,Deano,Rodney D etc. When we get to the point where people start cutting down statues because they don't like what happened in history(already happening in the US)and mooted here ,then we know that Mao Zedong was a genius and Pol Pot was a philosopher par excellence. I'm all for civility - but it is so rarely required these days people often mistake it for weakness. Danelska- I vehemently and respectfully disagree but this in no way diminishes or devalues your being personally.

Funny, that's exactly what I have chosen to do this week. 'Tis a cracking place, lots to do and see. Perfect time of year as well. Who would have thought a mid-Winter family trip to Bali and the Top End would coincide with our beloved Dees playing the Crows in Darwin?! Expecting a big crowd. Lots of interest up here.

If he says "that was clever" again someone should stab him.

Sorry - I just cannot support Essendon in any shape or form.

True to an extent. but a punch in the head can be fairly annoying.

Or Simon Lethlean presenting the award for best on ground in the AFLW grand final.

It's pretty hard. My mates a divorce attorney and I told him he should name his boat 'It Was Only The One Time'.

Next we will have Lance Armstrong awarding the laurels to the winner of the Tour de France......

All the people here commenting on the weakness in society: you're tough, well adjusted and are fortunate, lucky and blessed with the personal skills and resilience to overcome obstacles. Congratulations. Many people are not so lucky. One of the biggest regrets of my life is going through school with zero understanding of the issues that the people around me were going through. Issues such as depression, abuse, Autism Spectrum Disorder, etc. You were 'normal' or you were 'weird'. Weird kids were weird and there was no reason or excuse... they simply chose to act like that. The idea that people used to be tougher is garbage; marginalised people were simply without a voice or ignored. Do you honestly think that WW1 veterans were not suffering PTSD?? Was that something invented in a lefty-tree-hugging-feelgoodery in 1992? These issues simply weren't talked about because they were considered shameful and 'weak'. The solution to mental health issues in the past was usually found at the bottom of a bottle, and in many cases it still is today. Ridiculous that the notion of hurting someone's feeling is delegitimised and mocked still today. Anyone who's been in the room with someone when they are triggered can tell you if is a frightening and heartbreaking thing to witness, yet every day the idea of being 'triggered' is mocked. The OP is well meaning and reasonable. It is not an attack on anyone, in fact it's quite the opposite. Many of the responses however are lacking in empathy for those who are not as strong, resilient and, ultimately, lucky as you.

Yes .....but quietly !!

AFL.... the organization that keeps on giving...

This joint is a lot better this year than last for two main reasons 1. We are winning more than getting beaten and our game style is good to watch 2. Stuie and Curry & Beer have been put out to pasture The rest of you can [censored] off!

In other news, The Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded by Adolf Hitler. 100 meter gold medal at the Olympics by Ben Johnson. Tour de France by Lance Armstrong. Tourism Australia's Gold Award for tourism to Ivan Milat. Norm Smith Medal by James Hird, no that is a step too far and too soon. And by the way Clayton Oliver gets pilloried for going down when elbowed to the chin.

I've had a bit of time lately and have watched a lot of our games again - admittedly the one's we've won - and I've marvelled at the skill and effectiveness of this kid. And yet not many are talking about him, here or in the media. His hands are elite in tight, rarely does he fumble, his vision and decision making are elite - so often making not only good decisions but the best decisions. His skills by foot and hand are terrific, he rarely make a mistake. And his contested ball work is excellent as evidenced by 18 contested possessions on Sunday. In the latest MFC website article Rawlings talks about McDonald, Wagner and Oliver but there is no mention of Trac and yet he's been equally impressive. When he was recruited I was expecting "freak" like moments but we haven't had many. What we've had is a player who does all the ordinary things very well and then just teases us with some really good things - long goals, contested marks and slick handballs. Everyone, including me, loves Clarry but in my mind Trac is level pegging and vitally important to us. He just doesn't seem to get as much recognition, hence this thread.

The reality is they were sacked/resigned because the Herald Sun found out. ....everything else from Dill is plain gibberish.

This is my view also. People blatantly abusing others with no attempt at tackling the topic get banned. I have to admit as admin I've always found this a difficult aspect to police because I enjoy it when things get heated - even when I'm on the receiving end of it. I'm aware that others are more sensitive to it, but I copped quite a lot of abuse in my early days as forum admin for my moderating style that my skin hardened to the point where nothing gets through. I do believe that how you feel is how you feel though. A harmless jibe or throwaway comment to some is someone else's hurtful and cutting remark. It's not about hardening up, it's about respecting the fact that not everyone has the same tolerance for criticism. If anyone ever feels like they're being particularly vilified or targeted, I'd encourage you to directly approach myself or other moderators. It may be that it's been missed or we just haven't thought it was a big deal. I can say that I will always do my best to listen and understand, even if it doesn't resonate with me immediately.

We can only follow the fine example of our elected parliamentarians on such issues. "Just because you swallowed a dictionary as a child doesn't give you the right to pour a bucket of sh!t on the rest of us". PJK.

Better still, a whack in the eye with a dictionary covers both!

Hird has NEVER taken true responsibility of that which enshewed subsequently. He can't be deemed worthy of any other considerations or start true rehabilitation til he does ( admit guilt and responsibilities ) He is a pox on this game. Hardwick is plainly foolish.

Was going to say the same, but that is actually only an issue if the power was used in some way. Nothing wrong with boss banging the receptionist, as long as both know where they stand and that it wont affect job prospects etc.

How hard is it to not [censored] someone else if you're married?!

I feel like both of these posts are personally aimed at me, and my mum agrees. I expect a full written apology from yourselves, and Josh Mahoney.

What a [censored] disgrace Handing Hird an honour like this after what he put those 34 men through and what he put the AFL through is a joke. Basically giving the message to all that he did nothing wrong

Some friday musings over a coffee or 4... We bang on about mental health on here, yet numerous posters prefer to attack the man vs the content. Now I'm not coming from a holier than thou perspective, I am coming from a compassionate perspective and we've no idea really how someone feels when their attacked - even if their response would suggest they're cool with it. Personally, I get quite upset (angry AND sad) when I see some posters critiquing others on here rather than the content. Would love a 3 strikes and you're banned for a bit rule.

Power imbalance. Edit:- Or do you mean that you are not getting the younger women.

The world has gone mad. Houli, Bugg and Fahour were all righly criticised for their hits yet in the same breath people are condemning Oliver for being hit.

My Favourite thing to do at the moment after I get home from the game is to watch the replay and concentrate on Clarry. He is dead set unbelievable around the contest. walks, pushes off, somehow knows where to run and then attacks the contest/ball. its like everyone else is standing still. and he just extracts the ball even when not in any position to do so. never seen anything like it

I'm very disappointed they didn't ask the latest afl hero rob acquaro to present the norm smith medal. i hope he asks for an apology.

It's ok in Adelaide the brain is regarded as a vestigial organ.

Talking of medals and handing them back, what did happen to Jobe's Brownlow? He said it was in his sock draw, his manager said the 'dog ate it'. After some hullabaloo and concern that Jobe didn't actually give it back, Gil said it was in a draw in his office. But Jobe's cousin, Jeb Ross of StKilda has said it may be hanging on the wall at their grandparents house http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/jobe-watsons-cousin-seb-ross-unsure-if-brownlow-medal/news-story/8bf8e12a30f03c1ab19bdbd23b70d90c Jeb said: “I’m not sure if that is a replica or the real one. I don’t know if they have got it tucked away.” I wouldn't be surprised if the whole 'handing back the medal' was just a charade. If the real Brownlow medal is still in the possession of the Watson family it is a disgrace by the AFL. It taints the Brownlow name and is offensive to the real winners, Cotchin and Mitchell. Grand Final day and Hird presenting the Norm Smith medal = public cleansing of St James on the biggest stage of our game! Sickening.

Very surprised to see Lynch in there but they couldn't be rushing him back for us? I know they think we are a good team but Adelaide have enough to hold us off so I can only assume Lynch is good to go. That is a powerful forward line... Glad to see JKH back, hope he can get used to the tempo straight away but it isn't an easy transition. And those that want Goodwin to 'just be straight with us and Trengove' about his status have never been a coach before; you can't be that honest because a) it might not be true if enough blokes get hurt, and b) you don't want to have that dynamic of a player being told he is done. Players know the score, no need to smack them over the head with it to appease sentimental supporters.

More than happy to give JKH a chance. He's a young player, has missed a lot of footy with injuries, and this is his first real season where he's had a decent run at it. I don't think anyone would disagree that he was poor earlier in the year, but we don't pay top dollar to guys like Brendan McCarthy to be a development coach if they can't actually develop players.

Danks will probably toss the coin

I hear that the Saints fans rate him extremely highly..................