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Whateley is doing a Tim Lane. He is probably the closest radio/TV person to Tim Lane, as an articulate and intelligent broadcaster of virtually all sport. He does his homework and speaks knowledgeably about the sport that he is broadcasting, provides accurate commentary on the action and provides analysis on the sport. He does the micro and macro stuff well. Was Tim Lanes move a success? I'm not sure. Probably ask Tim. The listener may have a different slant but none of us can get into the mind of the commentator. From GW's view it is understandable. Age and career wise, and money wise. Things are not hunky dory at the ABC with cuts, cuts and more cuts. Morale is poor and the ABC risks being cut out of some sports or having reduced coverage or reduced broadcasting rights in the future. People talk about the bogans on other stations, but the quality of commentators on ABC has decreased over recent years, presumably due to funding cuts and the ABCs need to reduce expenses. I don't think it will be a big deal if the SEN thing does not work but it will be a stepping stone for GW to take on other opportunities and improve his pay packet.

There's a serious amount of wankery I this thread. How about everyone gets off their high horse and stop mindless speculation and stop demanding action from anyone about an unknown incident that may or may not have any semblance of truth to it.

Whatever it takes!

What has CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) got to do with it? For that matter what has the AFL got to do with it...the so called spokesperson seems to think they (AFL) have more authority in Bali than the Vic Police. It would seem neither have any... I'm not a fan of the way the AFL run their business but without any charges they can't be expected to be judge and jury. Surely they can only act after the law has run it's course.

So my buoyancy for the New Year has been healthy. In high spirits, I packed up the family for a day at the beach on a beautiful day. Frolicking in the water with my young twin daughters, building sandcastles, eating sandwiches and much merriment ensued. Then 3 boofhead blokes and their squeezes set up shop next to us. I noticed 2 of them were wearing Collingwood FC shorts. Then I realised with horror it was Adam ‘the list’ Trelaor, Daicos junior and some other knuckle dragger I couldn’t identify. Trelaor was playing the alpha male and generally being an a-Grade [censored] as the boys played some beach cricket and the girls spent time bronzing their bodies, giggling at the boys’ hilarities and taking selfies. ‘You’ve gotta be better than that’ yells Trelaor as his mate puts down a slips catch in the shallows. Clearly distracted, one of my girls did a wee on my foot. In a fluster, we decided it was home time. My attempts to fold up our new beach shade tent were nothing short of disastrous (how do you fold the bloody thing back into a circle is anyone’s guess). As I flailed and cursed, I could see the 3 boofheads guffawing and their WAGs giggling at me. It took every ounce of self control not to outburst at them by either making one of many CFC jokes or hurling rocks at them and blaming my 2.5 year old daughters. Trudging back to the car with unfolded tent and two cranky toddlers with sand up their bums had memories of Round 23 rising in my gullet like reflux from eating a Big Mac too quickly. Happy [censored] New Year everyone. May the Dees rise and the Pies remain in their deluded mediocrity. BLEUGHH

The AFL must be very, very careful with their decisions and public statements. Not only are they at risk of exposing identities, but also opening themselves up should they not follow due process and civil fairness

The AFL haven't dropped the ball. I am Gil's biggest critic. In respect to the actual game of Aussie Rules I don't always agree with how Gil handles things, and with many other things. But in relation to players, clubs and potential legal issues Gil has been exceptional. When Dustin Martin got in strife it was Gil who referred the issue to police and let them do their job. He didn't hang Martin out to dry like many wanted him to (especially the media). Gil let the facts determine the outcome and he is going to do the same here. The media in this country think their opinion should determine the outcome. I don't like Gil, but he is so many levels above those in the media that it is embarrassing to watch it all play out.

Tim would have got double the wage to go to 3AW and GTV 9 remember Eddie was a thorn in his side. I doubt Gerard is getting anywhere near that from SEN, but his AFL 360 Terms would be pretty good. The ABC will survive, we always do. Managing Directors come and go

it really pisses me off that they made the finals and we missed out. It's laughable that they think they're in premiership contention.

Quickly became one of my favourite players:

We've done some stinking bad drafting and trading over the last 10-15 years, but getting Hibberd for a second round draft pick would have to go down as one of the best trades in recent of years, of any club. I wonder how many other traded players got an AA in their first year at his new club. The question now is whether he can maintain his form over the next 3 years or if 2017 was his peak.

It’s always interesting to read the comments at the end of any article on The Conversation, and the final comment on this article is worth reading, especially the last paragraph. It’s about club culture and the writer singles out Melbourne, Carlton and Brisbane as having the weakest culture over recent years. A bad, lazy culture may take years to overcome: I believe the Melbourne Football Club has a way to go to eradicate this pernicious culture that has grown over decades of mediocrity. However, I applaud the club for its efforts over the last 4 years, but it takes time and strong dedicated players and staff. Is Goodwin good enough? Not sure! But Viney, Gawn, Old McDonald, Jones et al seem to have the passion and intelligence to steer that change. (At least I hope so,)!!!

Whately will be missed by listeners on the ABC. But they are unlikely to change with him. Both are not used to private section endorsement interruptions and it will be interesting how this works. i feel that we will see Gerard sink to mediocracy while some previously unknown will seamlessly replace him on ABC.

But Garry has such a good face for radio.... (someone had to use that one )

53 years of misery. What's one more hey?

This if Richmond win the flag next year I might take them seriously, a good run with injuries anyone can win it. do Richmond win the flag if they have our injuries? No way I doubt they play finals we lost gawn, hogan, viney, Jones for big chunks Richmond Lose riewoldt, rance, Martin and cotchin for as long as we lost our boys absolutely no chance they get anywhere near the top 8

?

How good's Barnwell.

yes there was. it was on one side of a restaurant napkin iirc

Yes i do

My post wasn’t intended to excuse Turnbull, more a case of sharing the blame around. I think it was botched from the beginning (IIRC there wasn’t even a business case on the initial scheme).

What Turnbull has produced bears absolutely no resemblance to the NBN proposed under Labor. And I’m not sure (don’t know the figures) that it has saved anywhere near the dollars that Mal claimed it would.

So it looks like we have another level of law now...well maybe above the law as the AFL seems to place itself. Not so sure about the AFL or any organisation apart from the appropriate legal authorities dealing with these issues. The EFC saga is a case in point. The illicit drugs policy is another. Someone may convince me otherwise but at the moment I think it's treading a very dangerous path.

“Be part of the Victorian journey - BYO kevlar vest and pump action shotgun”

This really needs to be fleshed out a little more. Where is the appeal to 'families'... I mean 'hard-working families'... I mean 'hard-working Victorian families.'.. or perhaps 'hard-working Victorian mums and dads'? "As we go forward, we want hard-working Victorian families to join us on our journey as we strive to realise our core values of being a successful and sustainable club into the future." Or you could scrap all that and just borrow from Julia Gillard: "We are us!"

Or: “Be part of the journey - highway to Hell, or finals”

"Be part of the journey" An overworked and overused phrase that is used by politicians, bureaucrats, and just about everyone else that has no conviction or passion. Perhaps they could have added ""as we go forward, be part of the journey" And perhaps qualify the slogan by stating that Rome was not built in a day. From a marketing perspective, a big fail. Bleed Red and Blue, Raise Hell or something that stirs something, anything.

What a nothing article. CASA is actually VCASA (Victorian Centre Against Sexual Assault) and pretty much they want the AFL to bring the hammer down as if it occurred locally. If there are no charges (alleged victim has to go to Bali to make a complaint if this is to occur) I don't know how any action can be taken.

Chiefs 21 Titans 13 Rams 24 Falcons 21 Jags 23 Bills 13 #notajinx Panthers 31 Saints 28

Yep, up the favourite players ladder, mighty fast. Fair, creative, driven, hard-working, effective, team man, short recoveries, fast hand and foot teamwork, covering for an immobile fullback. reliable. How far can the accolades go? Happy birthday, Michael.

Then they’d probably be over the cap

Imagine if Essendon still had Hibberd, Ryder and Carlisle.. Geeez.

It doesn't matter whether it's Australia, or Ireland, Africans cause mayhem wherever they go. Western cultures invite this mayhem into their lives. It's absurd. Naturally, the deranged Left accuse them of being "racist". http://altview.ie/700-strong-protest-antisocial-migrants-balbriggan-get-accused-racism/

Decline as they should. The last place this should be played out in is the esteemed journalistic columns of The Hun

OK going nice and early. Winners left of page Macca. KC 27 - Tennessee 20 LA Rams 37 - Atlanta 30 Buffalo 13 - Jacksonville 27 New Orleans 37 - Carolina 17

Yeah the meme is everywhere. Cross breeding in all the sports is rife. Every time you see a funny Tweet in the NFL it's a matter of hours til the equivalent AFL ripoff is seen. Still pretty funny though.

Apparently earlier today I was in a 'sel-harm' mood and instead of calling lifeline I went through with it and watched the last quarter of the final game against Collingwood. Jack Watts absolutely stank it up that quarter. From failing to cover his opponent (cost a goal) to spectating and then failing to lay an effective tackle or smother in the goalsquare (cost a goal), to spectating and then arriving too late to affect a contest just outside the square (cost a point, luckily) to fluffing a forward run, to a whole string of really poor body language, it was terrible. I don't have a personal problem with Jack Watts the way some people seem to, but rewatching his last quarter for us has left me with a much better understanding of why he had to be moved on. Wishing him all the best (up to a certain point) at Port, and also confident we made the best decision possible at the time.

This. Watch the Casey game where Fritsch and Watts were both playing in the forward line. From memory it went something like Fritsch 4 goals, Watts 1 goal, 2 points.

It was the a mix of everything 'big'... Not just drafting or just development.

And replace Deeeeeerwayne? One can only hope.

Agreed 100% makes me angry when i read on here supporters saying that the draft is a total lottery, i am not saying it is rock solid correct, nothing in this life is. But the MFC blew pick after pick and kept on promoting Blazers and Past Glories. The Club was a complete shambles and if it had been the 90’s we would not be here now. The Toumpas/Wines selection i shall never understand. One player was a gun, the other had 2 shot hips.... Luke Ball was the other. We should have stood up as a club. The Filth were allowed to cheat...

I quite like Garry on radio. Tim too. I listen to the morning show every, errr, morning.

If Richmond winning the flag last year isn’t a big enough motivating factor then I don’t know what is.

I get so tired of economists, I really do. Economic statisticians in particular. There are a number of little fluffy statements that should be read as 'please note massive caveat on data and circular interpretation'. For example " While Melbourne did better with its lower picks, those players generally aren’t as important for team performance as players selected with higher picks. " Terrible charts, badly labelled, inconsistent formats being presented as if they are a like for like comparison. Conclusions thrown in as inserted sentences well before the discussion of the actual evidence. This is embarrassing to read. Anyway, to the substance. Richmond's 2005 and 2007 drafts were among the worst of any club, ever. Their 2010 draft was made respectable only by picking up Houli in the pre-season instead of a trade, unless you're a real fan of Reece Conca. 2011 produced only one player, Brandon Ellis. As discussed in a number of other threads, Richmond's premiership hinged on an amazing surge of recruitment in just the last few years, with close to half their premiership team arriving since 2012. Anyway... back to griping about economic statisticians. What the hell is going on with that first chart? Every year only has two data points, except for 2009... oh... oh my. Oh boy oh boy. I have a hunch... let me just check a few things... yep. capslock time PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AT UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE HAS INCLUDED ONLY PLAYERS STILL IN THE RICHMOND TEAM FIVE YEARS LATER AS DATA POINTS WHEN ASSESSING DRAFT PERFORMANCE Basically, all failures have been excluded from the sample, in a 'study' that claims to assess success or failure.

Try sighing, I did My resolution on Demonland, to try and not put as many on ignore as I did in 2017, I'll have nothing to read

Cannot tolerate this thread, at all. Poorly managed alleged incident; poorly developed into a real witch-hunt. In Melbourne during the week, without encouragement, guys in a pub we convinced of some errant insider information that the player concerned in the allegations was identifiable and outwardly stated that case. Rather sickening, really. Speculation and all-knowing rumours destroy one's faith in the processes of law and/or the sanctity of innocence before proven guilt. Sorry state of affairs.

I reckon the supporters are the only ones in limbo. I am sure that the club and the player know exactly what is going on.

Article on each club's latest membership http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-12-29/on-the-campaign-trail-your-clubs-membership-drive I've extracted a summary and added comparisons to roughly the same time in 2017'. I hadn't realised the Crows had so many members! Almost twice the capacity of Adelaide Oval. Our slogan 'Be a part of our journey' doesn't sound too inspiring nor aspirational! It sounds like we are just plodding along - the story of the last 10 years. Would have preferred something like 'Come Watch us Raise Hell' or 'Join our March Upward' or 'Bleed Red and Blue with Us'. Or anything that aspires to where we are going or reflects our passion! Clubs set to beat prior records are: Crows, Tigers, Bombers, Cats, Blues and maybe the Bulldogs. Mostly the so called big Vic clubs. Pies keep their numbers to themselves so hard to tell where they are at. We are on track to achieve last years total of 42,233. But it will be really disappointing if we cannot convert last year's bumper crowds to members, especially given the level of talent in the team. Based on those crowds, our talent and 2017 improvement, 45,000 would be a realistic 2018 ie a 6.5% increase. I suspect a lot of people haven't forgiven or aren't yet convinced.

Hahaha, gold! I read that post like 10 times to try and make sense of it - it hurts to read.