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So much for Hird immunity

They should have tested him twice. To be sure, to be sure.

Positives: No turnovers. Backline kept the opposition scoreless. May and Lever anchored us well. Hussle around the packs and pressure from the mids and forwards didn't allow them to touch the ball at all. Bombers are absolute knobs. Negatives: Conor McKenna. We didn't score. We struggled again with that mid forward connection and couldn't get the ball inside 50 once. Tom McDonald to cop it again this week after not clunking a single mark. Thoughts?

Any chance future seasons can also go ahead without them... ?

This covid virus must be seriously tough [censored]. How any bug could survive with all the drug residues that must be floating around at Windy Hill defies imagination.

I didn't think I could hate Essendon much more than I already do. I was wrong.

I'd normally be very fast to blame Essendon and throw hate at them, but in this case after giving it some thought, [censored] the [censored].Ban the [censored] from the AFL comp for life. [censored][censored]

Far out. Just disband the season already. What an absolute farce.

Ban Essendon for 14 days, move on and give us the 4 points

Put him back in defence. I really miss the level of anxiety I got when he was in control of the ball and kicking back up the ground.

The AFL is not above the Victorian government rules which are that you have to isolate for 14 days if in close contact with someone who tests positive. On that basis, Essendon should be ruled out of Rounds 4 and 5 as well as tomorrow’s postponed game. The consequences are that the fixture for the coming rounds is automatically revised or the Bombers forfeit those games or the season gets cancelled. Feel sorry for McKenna and Essendon but it’s likely that this is not going to be the only isolated incident over the season and a precedent has to be set for the season that’s reasonable for all parties involved.

You’re not too sharp.

The EFC needs to be disbanded for the safety of the Australian public, surely!

There's a lot of misreporting and speculation on here. He trained yesterday but he hadn't returned the positive test yet. First one yesterday afternoon, second one this morning. There's no evidence Essendon did anything wrong. He didn't bring it back from overseas. There's no evidence he personally has done anything wrong. So what happens from here? I suppose the best case scenario from here is Essendon goes into isolation, all of its players and staff test negative a number of times, no other club tests positive, and the comp continues with the infection being limited to just McKenna. Frequent testing is the only thing keeping the comp going. If we test players frequently enough, we'll catch a positive test before they play another team, limiting the need to put people into isolation. Can we get through another 14.5 rounds plus finals like this? If the infection rate in Victoria is starting to rise again, you'd have to think it's going to be a tough ask.

One of the wittiest posts I have ever read on this site !!!!

I agree with all that, but feeling soory for Essendon is a step too far.

How is he a dictator if he allowed protestors to march? Try Politics 101 again.

Perhaps this is an attempted joke. Who knows. But saty your relentless bagging of fellow posters, individually and collectively is becoming exhausting. The great irony is that you bag posters for their supposed negativity. Ironic because it reflects a seeming complete lack of self awareness given how negative you so often are of late. I know I can put you on ignore (I have done so previously). But i'd rather not. I don't put many people on ignore. You are a long term poster that has contributed a lot of good content and positive energy. Your training reports are a good example of that. It would be great, in these somewhat dispiriting times for some more of that positive energy.

Carlton tearing the Cats a new one. Shows how great we were last week.

Let Conor play. Its nothing a little Thymosin Beta 4 can't fix.

Great. And dictator Dan shutting the state down again because he allowed stupid selfish protestors to march Grrrrrr

Don't be a jerk, there's literally nil chance he was there. I think the rallies were irresponsible, but they are also NOT the reason for the slowed lifting of restrictions - that relates primarily to hotel security staff not been given proper equipment and training for safety. So, unless you also wish to claim McKenna has been hanging out with hotel security contract managers, pull your head in on that one, eh? My focus is on Essendon letting him rejoin the main group while holding an 'ambiguous' test result. Not that Essendon have ever done great with the 'ambigious' medical scenarios.

Got a reprimand under the ‘good bloke’ ruling, ala Burgoyne. If it were the other way around Sicily would’ve got 4 weeks. Can’t stand the AFL’s boys club.

Let’s keep politics out of this.

Was always going to happen and it won’t be the last incident. This season might struggle to get to a finale. Everyone stay safe.

We should get the win and points due to Essendons stupidity in allowing him to train with the group after he had an irregular test. Bunch of dumb arses.

An Essendon player testing positive .... who would have thought !!!

If we are forced to play them mid week and be disadvantaged before our next game with a short turnaround because of these [censored], it is an absolute disgrace!

I rate Heppell, Balls! My brother is a Bombers man so I've seen a bit of them. While he can turn it over from time to time, he gets it frequently, is very courageous and is a great leader. They play much better when he's on that's for sure. I think he's a huge loss for them and it's a shame because he's a decent bloke too! A terrible injury as well. No guarantee to play again this year.

Let's not rewrite history to suit the narrative Our defence badly needed fixing, defence is what wins you premierships, we went on a nice run in 2018 without Hogan but let's be honest we weren't really up there with the top 3 other sides. and and here are some facts Hogan wanted to get back to Perth, Melbourne did not move him on, but they saw an opportunity to fix our biggest deficiency. Watts needed to be moved and you will find a big call and say was made by the leadership group, in this. A big statement re committment by senior players was required

One correction, Conor McKenna was one of the positives.

Sick of this nonsense.. I’m going to get a refund on my membership. From Essendon.

All we can hope for from here is that everyone is safe and Essendon are removed from the league.

Apparently we’ve scheduled an intra club on the MCG tomorrow. Wish they would televise that.

The test is complex. The swab is put in a machine that grows the virus to a level and then detects it. In the early stages of infection the virus load can be low and barely detectable.That is why the repeat this morning and it tested positive indicating an increase in his viral load. Suggests he got it recently. It is standard if you get an unexpected result you repeat it to see if the results are reproducible. Also note he is in the incubation period and asymptomatic. He trained Friday and vision on the news show him, tackling, contact drills and even having a spit and they may not have had the results back till AFTER he trained. He was at the club this am for repeat test and looks like they sped up the test turn around time and got a pos result. Then the fun began

It was reported on radio he was at training today, but you keep points scoring muscles.

If Essendon cannot field a team in accordance with AFL requirements (ie no infections) then they should forfeit the match and the four points goes to Melbourne!

What is a "low grade positive"? You can't be half pregnant. What is the difference with the WuFlu?

Nothing to do with the protestors.

Seriously, this outcome is unfair to us. Momentum is important in a season not to mention the ability at this early stage to build up match fitness.

Tullamarine needs to be blown to smithereens to best eradicate any lingering pathogens.

He trained yesterday with the Dons team... surely the Dees need to say we won’t play them for 14 days!!!

bummers can default, we'll take the 4 points seems mckenna tested +ve yesterday, trained this morning (to be confirmed, but)

Typical insightful comment

Part of me finds these "what they are saying over at ...." threads cringe worthy, but another part of me finds it somewhat interesting and amusing. The underlined comment is a pretty generous statement I feel. Would be interested in how they are dealing with the pre-game loss of Dyson Heppell. To me I've never really thought of him as being a particularly damaging player, so I'd be surprised if they are having kittens about it. I'd have to qualify that I haven't watched many non MFC games or paid much attention to other teams at all lately, so I'm probably waffling crap. Conversely people from either side could also make the case that Viney isn't particularly damaging, yet on his day he can be and if he were a withdrawal, he would leave something of a hole in our intensity around the ball.

Odd comment, Would you say the same of Robbie Flower?

Play him out of the goal square this week with Fritsch and Melksham pushing up to half forward and Kozzie and Hunt buzzing around his feet and Hannan as a second target. If he can't hit the scoreboard or create opportunities for the other guys I'd be considering giving him a stint on the sidelines.