Bedraggled Dee

Very good article by Rita, sums things up very well I think this will drag on and on and on, dont forget that where 2 or more players in a team are found guilty the team may be sanctioned. Dont expect ASADA and/or WADA to finish with the players as much as ASADA may want to. The Club and officials will likely be next once the players sanctions are finalised and they run the defence we new nothing about it we were duped. The next question by ASADA/WADA will be by who and the answer is????

For mine given zero injuries which is obviously not likely I recon the following looks to be the best 22 F Pedo Dawes Garlett HF Watts Hogan JKH C Cross Vince Howe HB Garland MacDonald Lumumba B Frost Dunn Jetta R Jamar Jones Tyson I Kent Salem Grimes Petracca The remaining who I would be happy to get a game shows a fiar bit of depth Toumpas, Trengove, Gawn, Brayshaw, Stretch, Michie, Riley, Spencer, Bail, Jones, Terlich, Fitzpatrick First time I can say we look to have some size and talent across the ground and some depth particularly in the forwads and midifled. Backs have been good for a while. The rest are consigned to the magoos if I had my way.

I agree BB, I dont think ASADA did too much wrong in this investogation. They not have been equipt for the scale of the investigation and obvioulsy were pathfinding for much of it, but reviews by eminant lawyers and rulings by Justice Middleton suggest that very little has been done wrong. Two separate AFP enquiries have failed to identify a leak from ASADA. You could argue that obtaining signed affidavits from witnesses was an omission but they have taped interviews and trancripts and witnes statements that are all admissible. You could also argue that the matterdragged on for too long from the blackest day in sport to the issuing of the show cause but 12 months for that sort of investigastion is not uncommon and osme of that delay was caused by the defendants actions. I think much of the negative perception of ASADA is a product of the media chasing a headline and the PR machine of Hird, Essendon and Dank feeding the media. Say it often enough and it becomes a fact.

What a star. This bloke should be considered amongst names like Stynes, Neitz, Flower and Barrassi. He is our only A grader and without doubt the heart and soul of this club. I was not a big fan of him being given the captaincy but happy to say I was very very wrong. Jones is a champion. Best news so far next to Roos and PJ extending their contracts. This bloke deservers to hold a premisership cup up on grand final day and I hope by 2019 he gets to do it. Bring on 2015, cant wait to see the next evolution under Roos.

I would have thought that the issues with Jurrah were clearly visable before we drafted him. It was always a big ask for Jurrah to leap the cultural divide between the indiginous community he came from and the world of an AFL footballer. I though while Jimmy was alive and a few indignous mate in the side progressed well but as soon as Jim got crook and we appointed Neeld the rot set in. My comment was that when we recruited Jurrah we should have for seen a change in coach and therefor approach and known that Jurrah would struggle. In a way it confirmed the comments made by Matt Rendell that he got the sack for. I know he expressed them badly but he basically said that the gap is too wide to leap with the AFL building somethings to help bridge it and talent like Jurrah will be lost to the game.

I totally agree the draft is a lottery and all clubs waste picks on duds. The Demons however managed to acheive a worse hit rate than mos in previous years, whether that is picking or development or more likely a combination is anyones guess but the end result is a rubbish side. The successful team have drafted stars we have drafted none. I think we have also been very unlucky in recent years. Jurrah was unlucky but possibly should have been seen coming, Strauss's leg was unlucky, Clarks foot and depression was unlucky, Trengoves foot was unlucky, Hogans back was unlucky, Dawes and Garlands lack of preseason was unlucky, Salem's thyroid was unlucky, Gawns knees were unlucky, Spencers ankle was unlucky. Evey team gets injuries but ours have been key position players when we have little or no depth that have hit us hard. Mitch Clark has been the single biggest problem. compounded by injuries to Dawes and Hogan. A forward line with Clark and either Hogan or Dawes last year would have made a significnat difference to this side and I recon would have given us another 4-5 wins. That is a big difference to the season.

Very sad tail of poor recruiting and poor development. Regardless of the reason, and there always be conjecture about drafting and development and the injuries these boys all had, the fact is we got very little from a bunch of drafts in recent years. This group typify the period that I hope is well and truely behind us. Cant wait to finally get to see an A grade star develop at the Dees. Its been a long time between drinks for us. I do feel sorry for Strauss, he was starting to show real class when he broke his leg. Agree about Blease and Gysberts, neither had the drive to make the standard at AFL level. Not sure why Tapscott never made it, he was big bodied, hard at it and a good kick.

Re-read my ealier post. Eminant lawyers with expertice and no personal interest say the case is srtong. The media say the case is hanging by a thread and we believe the media?????? Have a look at the comentary surrounding the first federal court case. ASADA were up the creek without a paddle if you listened to the media then whack the judge gives a comprehensive kick up the butt as a judge can do. The media are headline whores and should be treated in that context.

Great to see the midfield depth start to take shape. The competition has to be good for the team. I hope we get an A grader or two from the next year or so. How long since we have had one??? The last true A grader we had was Gary Lyon IMO. Neitz was a ripper but not really A grade, Schwarta could have been before the knees, Jones IMO is knocking on the door, his stats compare to Abletts. To win a premiership a side need s couple of these players

Funny how the media noise reaches a crecendo then drops away as each element to this saga comes to light. The last couple of days have been typical froath and bother from a pack of rabid dogs. The reality is they are paid to create sensation and as much as I dislike it that is the fact. Sometimes it is hard to see through to the facts underneath but in this case just cast your mind back to a retired federal court judge and American experts in WADA matters reviewing the case and both reaching a conclusion, that it is a strong case. If the case hinged on the evidence of one or two potentially hostile witnesses they would have seen it and would have highlghted that risk. These peoples assessments would not have been made on some yet to be heard testimony of Charter and Alvi but on the statements and documents contained in the brief. They are still in the brief and are admissible regardless of whether these two testify. Alvi wants to keep his licence to practice pharmacology so he wont testify unless he is forced, he has niothng to gain and lots to loose. Charter likewise has nothing to gain and lots to loose in terms of being forced to make statements that may negatively impact on his fight against the charges against him. Nothing has changed since those birefs were reviewed except that the weight placed on Alvi and Charters evidence may be reduced as they cannot be cross examined. What may be interesting is if Dank decides to provide evidence to the defence. That would be worth hearing.

Very important man for this club, ehat ever we are paying hime it is not enough

No way, why would you want a whinging, carping moaning pain in the butt like him in the club. he cost us half a million and cost cuddles his job. I dont care if he was as good as Dangefield he is not wanted rot in hell

I hope that the evidence against Essendon is made public because it will likely expose the spin and probably outright lies from the Club that are contained in the Slobbo HUN interview. Eventually this will all come out, too many people know the truth for it to remain buried. When it does the whole house of cards will collapse. To suggest that because of the Blackest Day in Australian Sport presser that the players are political pawns is at worst lies and at best denial. The Federal Court case showed Essendons hand, They want the bury the evidence and the only reason for that is that they know full well they did it and want to get off on a technicality. Little states he is working in the best interest of the players but their interest is best served in Essendon fully cooperating to ensure any health issues are identified and dealt with. Any sanctions and records the players end up with are secondary. Anyway the only way the players can clear their names is have all the evidence considered and get found not guilty. Where is the Essendon legal action to supeona Dank and his records, or Robinson and his records. If he gave the players Thymomodulin he had to buy it from somewhere and pay for it some how and someone must have witnessed the injections or done the injections. These injections would be to the recommended doseage for Thymomodulin. Where is this evidence? This all adds up in my mind to Hird, Little and the Club being a pack of filthy liars and how anyone including the suporters and players can support their position is unbelievable

What do you think the role of the AFL should be. The AFL strategy on this issue starddles the fence as it should. On one hand they are responsible for the Brand and competition and need to ensure that it is cklean and seen to be clean, and on the other hand they have to ensure that Essendon survive and remain a viable force in the AFL for the finanicial well being of the competition. The AFL is there to protect and grow the clubs including Essendon The AFL is also hamstrung in needing to get the Bombers cooperation with any sanctions. The demons who are financially reliant on the AFL do not want the AFL in costly legal battles with one of its clubs and noether do any other clubs in the comp. 100% of the blame for this matter lies with the Bombers. They instigated the supplements program after being warned against it by the AFL, they employed Dank and Robinsdon, they had poor or non-existent governance, they injected the young men employed by them and they have shown no acceptance of there reponsibility for this or shown any remorse for the wrongs committed. They paid Hird when the AFL clearly thought that he was suspended without pay and they have launched legal action to bury the evidence against themselves. Essesndon and Hirds approach has always been to attack the process and entties rather than answer the allegations. The AFLhave made mistakes but strategically they have always been in a no win position and were going to come out of this covered in muck. All the froath and bother over the joint investigation is likely to come to nothing. A federal court has already ruled that ASADA and teh AFL did nothing wrong. The biggest mistake the AFL made was not to ensure that the governance penalties handed out were not watertight and did not allow Hird and the Bombers to wriggle free.

Becaues it is intersting, provides and insight into the AFL and will have long term ramifications for Australian sport including the Dees.