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as long as they don't participate in ridiculous non-football related off-season activities like AFLX

The old “suicide grip”. Has its pros and cons. Never done without a spotter though which Preuss fortunately has. I’m looking forward to being at Maroochydore on Saturday morning to watch the guys go through their paces and having a chat with a few afterwards. Always a good day for us Queensland supporters.

The Wines and Fasolo incidents were entirely different and have been treated as such by the clubs and most media. Cornes is a DH. Players should not be wrapped in cotton wool because doing things such as water skiing and surfing is what makes athletes who they are when not working (playing footy). Take that away from them and you’d probably find they become less competitive in season because they’ve been sheltered little petals for 5 months.

Rational me: Perhaps they should, but these are young men and whatever outlet they choose in their small amount of time off of an incredibly difficult job should not be dictated to them. Most of the time we would hope that common sense prevails. Me after learning Clayton Oliver hurts himself badly water skiing in December: Keep them in cages during the off season

I'm not commenting on the specifics of the most recent injuries, but I believe that even when I'm not working I have a responsibility not to do things that put my employability at risk. I suspect not everyone will agree, but in my view, if you want to be paid above award rates, or above the average for that type of work, you should recognise that the other side of that coin is a need to do more than just the minimum. For mine, that means presenting myself in the best possible manner and the follow on from that is that I should not take unnecessary risks, even when I'm not at work. The greater the reward (meaning, in this instance, the higher the financial compensation above the award rate or average pay), the greater the responsibility. The converse is that if I want to turn up to work hungover or not in physical shape to do my job (apart from unavoidable illnesses or accidents), I shouldn't expect to be paid the higher rate (or, in some instances, to even have that job).

They have been looking into Weir for the last 12 to 18 months, reports i have had is that racing victoria did not know how to approach it given the size of Weir's status and the ramifications it would have on the industry. My thoughts are that a new approach has been taken and that he is looking at being charged with obtaining funds by deception instead of other breaches under the rules of racing.

Stand in Port captain Jack Watts

He’s waiting in the sauna.

Poor old Demon supporters! Foxtel have been showing selected "classic" matches since the early 80's. Apparently we haven't been in ANY of them. I know we were pathetic in most of the 80s, and 2007-2017, BUT.....we had some pretty good teams in the other years, and had some great matches. I wonder if Foxtel take into account the likely audience, so that Richmond, Coll, Essendon etc get priority. Has anyone else noticed how rarely we're on?

Maybe that sort of thing is standard practice in a lot of stables and the VRC know about it. Maybe Weir just perfected a technique and had too many winners, so they decided to get him. Who knows. ....and we probably never will.

Without naming names here's what I reckon might have happened. And regularly (?) The tasers (jiggers) obviously can't be used on race days but they can be used in training. So a horse is put on a treadmill with blinkers on as opposed to when it usually runs without blinkers. The taser is used on the horse whilst the horse is on the treadmill (with blinkers on) The rest of the time when the horse is trained or races (previously) it doesn't wear blinkers In an upcoming race the blinkers are put on and the horse then might think it's going to be tasered so it gets a 'move-on' in anticipation. A pin placed strategically inside a jockeys gloves can act in the same way ... pin is jabbed into the horses neck area and then tasered (again, whilst on the treadmill) On race days the concealed pin is applied in the last 200m ... and it is no coincidence that said trainers horses are renowned as strong finishers. The above is how I heard it explained today (through the media) and it's awful and it's graphic but that's the theory on what might have gone on. Makes me sick to the stomach if true and as previously stated, my sentiment lies with the horses, the families involved and the staff who knew nothing about what might have been going on. Please don't take the above as gospel though. We'll know more down the track Wadda.

Aquinita are in VCAT atm, apealing their license ban/revocation. Thats a wait and see also.

Ive had a flat out day so have only heard bits and bobs including the tasers.....(maybe belong to MFC?) (help break in the rookies?). Yes there have been rumours so your right maybe he would know in that case, the stables would know if there are rumors around what thats all about. I didnt realize this. It is the biggest stables in the land and trained over 450 winner last year an Australasian record. Its a massive thing. Whatever happens the stables will be tainted with it forever. His horses being allowed to race today though says something. He had 5 or 6 running at Mornington? Unregistered firearm? There would be a few of those in Ballarat, see a few down at the 7/11 everyday. Guess we just wait and see.

Excellent article by Michael Lynch Cobalt, then Aquanita, then the Weir arrests ... racing's PR disaster

But you can roll it in glitter!

The whole bloody concept is a ridiculous "mock".

Might be a while before we find out what exactly has gone on but apparently it's business as usual and the stables' 600+ horses are still allowed to run according the RV. Racing.com, Racenet & RSN are covering the story in detail but it's still quite murky ... the 4 'jiggers' (tasers) found on the properties are going to be hard to explain away and the associated 'deception for financial gain' is another aspect that could bring about hefty punishments (both from a legal sense & from RV) I never grow attached to these sorts of personalities so I'd like to think that my view will be completely unbiased. I feel for the horses, the family's involved & the staff (who are almost certainly mostly innocent) The whole operation is quite huge so a hell of a lot of people are involved ... the care and training of 600+ horses is a massive task.

High risk extreme sports - climbing Mt Everest, heliskiing, base jumping, cave diving. It's pretty clear to me that AFL players should avoid that stuff for their entire careers and I'd be putting in a contract. Break a bunch of bones doing something that risky and we aren't paying you for it. Moderate risk sports - well you can probably do them in your holiday period and early in preseason. That's stuff like jumping off a cliff at a tourist spot, going to surf a big break, getting the dirt bike out. If the risks aren't too bad and you're careful then I'd allow it. Lower risk stuff like a casual surf should be encouraged all year round with the understanding that players factor in the activity level as part of their rehab/conditioning. The difficulty with the Wines scenario is 8 weeks out from the season is right in the zone where before hand it's probably not a big deal but any closer and it's right in season mode where you can't afford injuries or distractions. Apart from the byes this is the last weekend where the players got a break before the end of their season so it makes sense for them to enjoy themselves a bit. Then from an activity point of view waterskiing for him isn't what it is for other people, he's experienced enough it's probably no different than an experienced surfer (like Nath Jones) catching some decent waves. But if the video of him that's surfaced from a few years ago is accurate then it's not like he was just cruising along. The combination of slightly riskier than standard activity with a time that's closer to the season isn't a good combination.

Not left or right wing: human beings and employees have the right to make whatever choices they want to outside of work regardless of how much they are paid. It couldn't be more simple. If they screw-up and do something that may impact their work performance, that will impact their future employment and work contract negotiations.

Just in case ... we should refer to said person as he or him.

To be an elite sportsperson you don't make sacrifices, you make choices.

Probably had no idea? Not sure on that one Wadda ... he is CEO

You would think he would have enough money not to be involved ....2 staff arrested as well. Probably he had no idea. Arrested as a matter of course.

Billy has really bulked up during his rehab.

Billy Stretch’s deltoids are elite. Baker isn’t a gangly kid anymore either, I think we’re going to be pleasantly surprised once he’s let off his chain.

Deception for financial gain ... could be anything. I am surprised but not completely shocked. Midweek racing has always made me doubt certain outcomes ?

Absolutely- they are paid big bucks to be elite athletes and part of that is to avoid any high risk activity that may result in injuries. I personally think that includes alcohol as puritanical as it sounds

He's not a bad pick for a smokie selection to come in and give us something fresh. He was building nicely in the VFL and it was probably only concerns he didn't have the tank to run out games that stopped him getting a debut. Unfortunately instead of building his fitness and getting a chance he tore his hammy a couple of times and has been in the rehab group ever since. Not easy to compare players from different positions but I'm not against the idea that we need at least one of either Hunt, Garlett or Baker to give us some genuine line breaking pace. It's really hard to score against good teams and 12 goals wins most finals. Having a player who can create something is important.

FCS we need to beat whoever is on the field against us: for far too long we (here) have got excited if player x or y is missing: "now we will win easily" etc etc Let the others worry about us for a change.

Yes, plenty on here particularly TGR have slated him from the day he came in. We have got a lot out of him and won a good few games off his experience in 2017 and 18. He has helped greatly with player development and now he's depth which all would have been what was intended when we signed him for 3 years My Round 1 side B. Jetta May Hibberd HB. Hore Frost Salem C. KK Oliver Harmes HF. ANB Tmac Trac F. Spargo Weid Melk/Hannan R. Gawn, Viney Brayshaw I/C. AVB, Fritsch, Jones, Stretch

It can be difficult to get passed the semi's.

What a mess! Seems like dd above was on the money, ongoing investigations for a while from what I have read. It makes me feel for the smaller trainers even more now, the ones that do the right thing and yet they are forced to quit the game or move their base to some location you’ve never heard of just to maintain the business most likely unsuccessfully as well. When I say small I mean a trainer that has a handful of horses in a stable. How can you compete with a trainer that has up to 4-5 horses in a race sometimes? I remember trainers getting sick of Waller in Sydney a couple of years ago, it was like spot the non-Waller horse in the field. Here’s a question i heard on the radio. How many punters say at Mornington today would have thought twice about having a bet? Not many probably is my guess. It would be great if they cleaned all this out, but how do you do that? There’s corruption in just about every sport and banning wagering like I heard on the radio today won’t fix the problem.

A small stable could conceal those types of activities Wadda ... in a small stable the numbers knowing what is going on might number 2 or 3 people only. But in a super-huge stable and with so many people about, the info can get out. He may well be a victim of his own success as well (as you've indicated) The shot over the starboard bow might have been when 'Trap for Fools' was denied a run in the Cox Plate. Maybe RV was trying to send a message? And the 'Tasers/Treadmill/Blinkers/Pin' operation can be connected to the 'Deception/Financial Gain' outcome. Or there might be more to this story (I suspect there is more)

Wines had the permission of the club, a non-issue. years ago, I used to fly for Sktdive Byron bay, on a holiday during a bye, Mark Jamar did a tandem jump and good on him

It's also not as though the consequence of injuries like these are only felt by the 'employers'. Players at this level (mostly) are super competitive - they hate being on the sidelines. Anything they choose to do is with this risk in mind, there's really no greater deterrent that could be imposed on them than the idea of missing a season or having a career-ending injury.

wines has apparently being water skiing (continuously) since he was 6 years old and is quite an accomplished water skier. He apparently had a freak foul-up with the rope and dislocated his shoulder which a local hospital popped back in. It was just bad luck by all reports and not a case of him doing something stupid or beyond his skills.

Bruce William McAvaney and friends have on multiple occasions refereed to Christian Salem as 'Slalom' in their commentaries, just to clarify and destroy the joke.

I like the title - and perhaps it's more accurate as Should Players Make Sacrifices on the Road to Non Guarenteed Success

Forget Fox Footy just go and get the Legend Pack, 6 games for under $20 and watch them till your hearts content. 1987 Rnd 7 vs The Filth. 1990 Rnd 22 vs The Squawks. 1991 Rnd 18 vs The Aints. 1998 Rnd 4 vs The Team that needs some Blood on their jumper. 2002 Rnd 1 vs The Squawks. 2007 Rnd 11 vs The Filth. Just over Three bucks a game. Bargain.

Yeah true, but I only care about rd1 ?

This poster has been making the same mistake for as long as he has been posting. ALWAYS uses "then" in place of "than". He also gets very offended when you correct him.

Why would you break your shoulder, then dislocate it?

AFL brains trust deliver their latest idea - AFLX

In round 1 2014, St Kilda had 6 of their best 22 out and we still stunk up the joint against them. I hope we don’t fall into the complacency trap as Port at their best will be a tricky assignment.

A real shame for Wines, I enjoy watching him play. Let's hope he is fit and firing for Round 2....?

Spot on. Thank god there are SOME sensible people on here. The NT town "Alice Springs" does not exist. It is actually a secret Chinese base on the dark side of the moon, primarily used to insert arsenic into vaccines. It was rented out to the Saudis, who sublet it to the Iranians who then recruited Syrians to fly planes through the twin towers, which also did not actually exist except in doctored photos.

I'm a sucker for some of his attributes: aggression, courage and speed. I also liked his first quarter in AFL footy against St Kilda at Etihad before he was injured over the boundary line by Riewodlt. But I've seen enough now to be very concerned by his decision making and kicking. I think he's one of those boom or bust footballers with little in between. I see too many polished footballers ahead of him at the MFC.

Obviously you either haven’t seen the plans or know how to read drawings! I have seen the drawings (and as an architect I know how to read them)! The footprint of the proposal neither extends into Yarra Park nor eliminates the playgrounds. Further, it is of a lower height than the Pullman Hotel and residential and commercial buildings on the opposite side of Wellington Parade. Nor does it “tower over” the street as, being on the South side, it casts no shadow and is lower than a fully-grown plane tree! Frankly, your comments are an embarrassment to the educated readership of Demonland! ?

Based on this article Yarra Park is the one we will go hardest for Not a Pipe Dream It looks like we aim to generate a groundswell of community support (and thereby drown out the 'not-in-my-backyard' type objections of the Residents Group). Pert said: "Quite a few of the community groups and individuals are really excited by the possibilities. What they're saying is that this is an area where there's no flat ground." Amassing support of the broader community is a good strategy: get the numbers on-side and implicitly isolate the Residents Group. In that article there is a steely resolve by Bartlett and Pert that we will make it happen.