Leaderboard

I was down there for an hour. Talked to Salem about what moisturising cream he uses, told me it's Palmolive and he let me rub some on his arm. Going to be a big year for him. Also took the time to speak to Dom Tyson, asked him what underwear he is wearing, he laughed about it and was a good sport by posing for pictures in just his underwear. I think he wears Bonds but I got a little dizzy. Big Maxy Gawn was looking the goods too now he has lost the beard, I was interested in what he used to shave it off but he didn't tell me. I asked 5 other trainers about it but they all gave me different answers, so just leave it alone please. I also spoke to Nathan Jones and asked him where he lived so I could visit his new baby. When he got angry I pretended to be joking but don't worry fellas, I'll get it in time. Got the little one a present for Xmas so I'll speak to him on Wednesday. Everyone else ran the 2km trial round the tan in 20 seconds, everyone looking absolutely sensational! Photos on my twitter @justtakingthepissdon'tgetallhuffysaty

I will be easily recognisable, I will be in a rather nice lavender lycra bodysuit, complaining about the lack of toilet facilities, bad temperedly kicking the non-existent advertising signage around the fence, and whingeing non stop about Jack Watts and how he just doesn't seem to be trying at traiining

Well for someone to get 27.73 disposals (average), 137 clearances & 255 contested possessions in a bottom side where he has been doing most of the work unaided, to dismiss him like that is unbelievable. Compares rather favourably to Dangerfield's 24.91 disposals (average), 136 clearances & 341 contested possessions don't you think? I never cease to be amazed at the lengths people will go to dismiss a player once the MFCSS kicks in and thoughts turn to free agency. Seriously! The MFC should be doing everything in their power to secure his signature... he is the heart and soul of the club and that is something it just isn't possible to put a price on.

uh huh. I only read the training reports for the weirdness these days. I mean who cares about the training? What matters is potting Saty for being OCD and /or unhealthy obsessed. [censored] 'em Saty. My grandmother spent a good 60 of her 90 years doing whatever it took to help 'her boys' of the MFC. If there was something to be done she was there to do it, and she did it with a smile and not expecting a thank you. All that mattered to her was that her beloved boys were supported so they could smash the other eleven pretenders to the throne. At her funeral there was an all star cast of the 50's and 60's teams, and she was carried away with 'Grand Old Flag' playing. The club needs people like you, Saty. Don't let the naysayers get you down.

Actually chap, for the grand old age of 62, I'm not in that bad a shape, if I say so myself, if it will assist you in something going forward, I could PM you one if you like

Completely normal, and he has a lot of time to rebuild it. Plus the specific training he will go through will actually leave him stronger than he has been through the core and legs. With his age, as long as the foot holds together, there is no reason the rest of his body won't be in better condition than ever before. Good luck JT, I'd love to see him get back and be a handy addition just as we begin our rise up towards the 8

Machsy's post was was clearly a sarcastic dig at those who were unhappy with how Frawley handled the whole thing this year. Are you awake today? The both of you seem to miss a very important ingredient in this whole FA versus club loyalty debate. The character of the player. You can bang on all you like about Jones 'nearly leaving' all those years ago. But he didn't leave and the bloke has genuine care for this footy club as well as an instinctive drive to bring the best out of himself and others. Something that can't be said about Frawley. Jones is a leader of men. Something the MFC will be willing to pay be bucks for. We won't be seeing a repeat of what happened with Frawley this year. Jones' character alone and presence at the club means he's an untouchable. It's worth more than half his contract alone, regardless of his incredible on-field display. This argument is over. Frawley needed to go. And you'll be glad he did in 2-3 years time. Jones will sign. There's nothing more to it.

I knew you were a fake when you didn't talk to Salem about Arsenal..

Simple - there's a lot of cliched carp stated on these threads. Jones will remain a Demon. For life. Why? Because he wants to. And the club wants him to. He's loyal and committed to the club and he knows that, as a leader, he can influence the club's transformation and its future success. And he wants to be a part of that. There's more to footy for some players than simply the $$$. Some of you seem not to get that.

I sponsor Jay Kennedy-Harris. As part of this I receive a Guernsey worn by him in an AFL match. I will give it to the first person who emails me. My address is [email protected]. The Guernsey would most likely fit an average 13 to 17 year old. You must pick up Guernsey from Sandringham area.

I'm not much good at maths to be honest ( though I was in the top 90% of the class in maths in year 9 ) I would say there was a 100% increase in the number of wins this year over 2013.

Can you please get a photo of him showing off his guns?

I have forgotten who number 8 was Whorethorn are putrid in all ways They must be smashed up before i die or else i will be most surly in the afterlife.

Is that a cask of wine or some other liquid? And whats the purpose of placing your leg in one?

I have received my 50th year recognition a certificate and a pin. I really appreciate the acknowledgement. I'm a believer in the famous words of JFK ... "ask not what my country do for me but what I can do for my country" We're all different and that's fair enough. I would have loved to have seen a premiership by now though.

alternatively they could use the witch test

Yes he was, had a chat, nothing to see here. Hogan's heroes so to speak, Johno Brown and Nick Riewoldt, he tries to model himself on them, so you may get your wish. Actually chatted to him about his daughter, promised to stick a picture up this afternoon. This was very amusing by the way, one day I intend reading it Other news, Max Gawn got through the whole session again unscathed, Yes Howie has a tattoo that looks remarkably like my former self, which he pointed out Again Watts has had an issue with his groin, so they are being ultra cautious, did about 40k on the Wattbike today, said it is progressing as it should, so there is no issue, think he is trying to shed the cleanskin issue a bit, some of the language today was colourful to say the leas The runs they were doing first up were 1km time trials, Hogan did them is just over 3 minutes, he was seriously pumped today, so was Dawes, they did a jumping high five after a kicking drill which would probably break a normal persons arm Spoke to Aaron Vandenberg, he is enjoying every second,, asked him which was better working at the Mint or working here, he is on a weekly program, has been told there is no pressure, not even sure when he will bee back in full training, has been told just to follow the program Myself and Christian Salem think if Arsenal beat Liverpool (actually Christian is sure they will) then Brendan Rodgers will be sacked, for all the soccer followers out there, was walking back to AAMI with him and Jack Viney (who said he had no idea about soccer), Christian reckons Jack would be the perfect Millwall supporter from the 80's Anything else I think of will follow, pics will be on Twitter Demonpk

Hard to ignore the urge to go to training when it's 26 degrees with nice cool breeze in the air. Really good crowd here at Goschs with a good 30-40 (maybe been around 50 before I left) people seeing a exhausting and top notch training session Watts, Reily, Vandenburg (?), Spencer were rehabbing. Anyone know what's wrong with Watts? (pardon the pun) Sure enough, Trengove was still on his scooter whatchamacallit. Terlich rode the exercise bike with Watts joining him later in the session. Started with some laps around Gosch's - Hogan and TMac leading their respective groups (quite comfortably I might add) - next two groups start running. Hunt(?) and Dawes leading these groups - noticed young Harmes shouting some encouragement. Love seeing that in a young player. Grimes also among the usual suspects providing encouragment. Seemed to very vocal today. Appeared to be mainly a running session with the boys doing another couple Laps begin again - Hogan destroyed the running again in his group with McKenzie and Neal Bullen coming a good 3-4 seconds behind him - Hunt again leading his group. In fact annihilating it. - Brayshaw edged out Dawes to claim first in his group. Obvious that Petracca still needs to build a tank (although I noticed he had a bandage on his leg). Was trailing behind Brayshaw before slipping to second last next time they came around me. Exhaustion ensued Some harmless kick to kick action followed. The boys had a few shots on goal. Spencer attempted to have a few shots from the boundary line. Good luck with that buddy Next on the agenda was some match simulation. - Brayshaw picked up a goal from a nice piece of ball movement. - Still the odd shank of the ball. Hey, I guess it's pre season. - King picked up a little spray from coach Miller - Jamar played forward for most of the time. Wouldn't mind him doing that more often this season with guys like Gawn and Spencer pushing for the key ruck position. - Viney was roving the ball beautifully - Newton looked pretty impressive, kicked a couple goals and overall used the ball well. Hogan was practicing his set shots. Looks a lot better than I remember seeing 2-3 weeks ago. Seemed to be kicking them from everywhere. I left pretty soon after. No Toump or Dunny at training either. A reminder to that the boys will be moving training to Casey Fields in January next year due to the Asian Cup. So catch them at Goschs while you can.

I hate to build on the hype but Hogan was so impressive, he killed his group in the running and worked his butt off in the drills. Tyson also stood out and is moving really well, others that impressed me were Brayshaw, Newton & Garlett.

I thought his game went to a new level under Roos/Stone. His kicking improved I think largely to thinking situations through rather than trying to barge his way through. At 26 still has some quality years ahead of him.

Yep, it surprised me but he did seem to find good form and play a good team role back there. I can't help comparing Howe to Andrew Walker at Carlton. Similar capabilities, similar issues with where to play. Despite many injury issues, Walker has become a very good AFL player who is occasionally great, and I'd have no issues if the comparison held out for a full 200+ game career. And if some seasons we need to turn Howe fullly to the forward line and he kicks 50 goals, that'd be ok too.

I like the timeframe you are putting on the smashing - and I like your commitment that you will even take your grumpiness into the afterlife !!!

I understand free agency and why it's there but from an administrative point of view, I think the highlighted comment is a significant problem. The receiving team, in this case Hawthorn, gives up nothing and the donating team gets a replacement draft pick but every other one of the remaining 16 teams is disadvantaged because (a) the donor gets an additional draft pick bumping everyone else down the order and (b) the receiver hasn't lost a draft pick in return. Fix that problem and the scheme will be better for everyone. I don't have a magic solution but perhaps if the recipient team is higher on the ladder than the donor, the recipient should have to give up the the next two draft choices after the compensation pick awarded to the donor. Conversely, if the recipient is lower than the donor, perhaps they should have to give up one pick after the recipient's next pick.

Lol, how many more times have you typed in "cask" vs "cast" for your autocorrect to select one over the other? Interesting insight into the life of Dazzle

Wow. Terlich has courage but decision making and skills are deplorable. Howe's talent is a million light years away frm Terlich.

Day two has arrived and after what we heard yesterday it is hard to believe that the evidence today could be any more sensational. Amazing stuff. Justice AFL style is truly wonderful to behold.

I've mainly had my eye on Detroit and was happy in the knowledge that we could drop a game so long as we took care of Detroit in week 17 - we'd then win the division ... today's loss didn't really effect the division so much but it has effected the seedings in the NFC. Seattle's destiny is now in it's own hands for the 1 seed. Your Vikes had a real chance to win today but that last blocked field goal really cost your team. Arizona might slip to wild-card status but they'll probably end up as the 5 seed (where they'd face up to the winner of the NFC South - on the road) Cowboys win but they'll probably have to win their last 2 to win the NFC East ... costly loss for the Eagles but they're by no means out of it. Need to win their last 2 to give themselves a real chance. Over in the AFC, former Super Bowl champs - the Steelers & Ravens are coming home strong ... New England should get the 1 seed but the Bills may have an outside chance for a wild-card if they defeat the Pats in week 17. To have a chance for the playoffs, KC will have to win @ Pittsburgh next week. In fact, I believe if the Chiefs win out, they'll get a wild-card (the playoff machine is getting a big big workout) Anyway, zero points allocated in the comp - again! The good news is that all the participants have a chance to win the comp outright ... 1 point on offer in week 16 then 3 big points available in the last week (week 17) Leaderboard 4 - Dappa Dan 3 - JV7, Go the Biff, Georgiou R. R. Martin 2 - pantaloons, Macca 1 - cowboy_from_hell, Gorgoroth Week 16 games

His what?

Oh yeah, I'm fully aware of the procedures involved - my take is that Essendon and it's players are in for a rude awakening. If that happens it might have the effect of bringing the people who want to turn a blind eye into the real world of PED's. There's also a reasonable chance that the penalties will be relatively light - again, the aftermath of that type of scenario will be an interesting one. The other, medium to long term issue is that as the players who took these copious quantities of injections move on with their lives, they'll almost certainly be getting a fair bit of legal advice on whether they'd have grounds to take some sort of action against those who administered and recommended these "mystery supplements" The whole saga might carry on for a number of years.

should we start a countdown, red? i know a poster who is an expert......oh wait a minute

So in his 7th preseason Jack Watts finally gets an overuse injury. How nice. That will teach him for trying.

It's apparently just a business now. Loyalty means nothing anymore. At least, that's what I hear from some here. He's going to the highest bidder. Possibly GWS. Or North Melbourne.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/essendon-in-doctor-shopping-to-beat-ban-20130722-2qf3x.html Forgotten about this nice little article. "Mr Alavi was supplying peptides Thymosin Beta 4 and Hexarelin, both banned by WADA because of their performance-enhancing effects, to former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank. Essendon Football Club invoices suggest both substances were supplied to the club. Mr Dank has strenuously denied giving players anything illegal or harmful." Ess thought they could get around the 'not approved for human consumption' barrier by having the drugs prescribed by a doctor. Surely then ASADA has all the prescriptions that were supplied to the chemist Alavi?

Sue - I haven't been able to keep as close an eye on things as I would like but there doesn't seem to have been too many leaks from day 1, perhaps because the prosecution (i.e. ASADA) has been putting forward its case which, given the fact that it's going to take a whole three days, suggests that it's comprehensive and detailed. I heard some of the anti ASADA proponents on radio over the weekend were suggesting the case was on the brink of collapse because of the refusal of a few of the main characters to give evidence. But let's face it we all know why Dank, Robinson, Charter and Alavi aren't exactly lining up to tell their stories and yet the only thing that we've heard from the Essendon side is that these characters won't be giving evidence. The way things are going the entire defence is going to rely on the "vibe". As Chip Le Grande Bouffe put it, this case will depend on whether the Tribunal believes the players swallowed:- A. The bad thymosin; B. The good thymosin or C. Thymomodulin And Chip tweeted today - "Let me make this clear: The players would not know one thymosin from another. They only signed up after they were told it was cleared." You only need to check what B. & C. are proscribed for and you'll get the picture. The players obviously didn't despite all of the education they're supposed to be getting from the AFL. The rest of us have swallowed BS from the Essendon camp for far too long. The saga continues ...

yes, they probably substitute rice starch (or corn starch?) for wheat starch in gluten free snags sausages are like the draft - a real lottery

I think we've got it wrong. The leg on the left was Cale Morton's. The right belonged to JT. Problem solved.

Let's try. A Blondie favourite of mine (damn that girl was fine). Only recently found out it was a cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b76TAdbEspE "Sunday Girl" was another ripping if somewhat forgotten track of theirs GtB 1.1 Hah. Success ! Thanks Macca. Might edit my first attempt now

Why would you even say such a thing!?!? I've slightly changed it so a jinx has not occurred

"Asada have no evidence" *take 3 days to present it all*

I am quite excited by Hogan and these reports. I kept thinking about having a monster forward but with his running ability - A monster with Nick Reiwoldt athleticism ? Lordy....

I have always wanted to know how to train a house down so I did a google search, now I get it. The one on the left is Dawes the one on the right is Hogan I think. Black and white footage, maybe Dawes on the left and HL on the right, just like the old days at Gosch's paddock?

Why isn't Dank being charged with administering drugs not available for human consumption?Does he actually have a licence for anything? What does the TGA do? What about the compounding pharmacist? Does he compound drugs for anyone that asks? Can anyone take him vials of stuff bought from China and have him compound into a form that can be administered? The whole scenario is shonky and everyone in it as far as I am concerned should be cited. Charter, Alavi, Dank, Reid, Hird.... Its bloody amazing that this thing hasn't been stomped on by the federal govt.

That's an assumption on your part. From everything I've read, it's irrelevant whether they're there or not. Charters said as much himself. I also feel that the Subpoena was just ASADA covering themselves, dotting i's and crossing t's. When it comes to sports law, ASADA have access to the best in the business. I know there's this image put around of them being some kind of Keystone Cops, but you only have to look at who's presenting their case at the tribunal to realise that that's far from the reality. In any case, the main game is Dank, and it will be hard for the players to get around his McKenzie interview/confession. Then there's the players' testimonies that they took "Tymosin", the injection schedules that match the schedule for TB-4, Alavi's forged signature, etc. etc. Rather be in ASADA's shoes than the players.

For those who might be interested here's a short article about 3 of the 4 big sports in the States and their individual drug codes ... the article also includes those athletes who fall under the Olympics drug code (the full Wada code) The differences are quite stark It should be remembered that the AFL are signed up with Wada along similar lines to the Olympic athletes. Not sure whether the AFL players can be tested 24 hours a day, 365 days a year but I'm guessing they can be. Sports drug testing policies: NFL, NBA, NHL, Olympics

Well it is and thats what the AFL and its clubs have signed up for. So get used to it.

well regardless of "innocent until proven guilty" or "guilty under proven innocent" arguments the fact here is 1] you can be found guilty based on circumstantial evidence (as you can be in a court of law) 2] the weight of proof in this jurisdiction is less onerous than that of a criminal court how that plays out remains to be seen

I certainly didn't intend it to be one, but posters can please themselves.

The one sentence I haven't heard said in all of this time is, "we are innocent because................." Not one positive statement of proof of innocence since it began.

What annoys me is that everyone seems so happy charters and old mate won't be in the hearing, it's good to see essemdon trying to prove their innocence Once again looking for an asada mistake rather than trying to prove they are innocent, regardless of the result they will always be cheats in my eyes. Having said that I think they will get done and go down hard one way or another