SaberFang

Really sad to see some former greats of the game, retired, selling their souls to help out such a corrupt, drug-cheating club. Anything for a buck, it seems. Embarrassing way to tarnish your legacy though.

He could just tell Port Adelaide to include rental assistance in his contract. Problem solved.

Because, frankly, your comment isn't worthy of a response.

Bailouts for inept administration running the club into the ground is one thing; bailouts, draft and salary assistance to a club for implementing the largest illegal doping program in Australian history...? That takes the cake.

Possibly left the camp a few days early for Africa in the hope he could be back within 4 or 5 days.

Frankly, a new term deserved to be invented for the sickening armchair treatment the media's given Essendon throughout this affair.

And because the AFL are super kind to convicted drug cheats, every top up player in Essendon's list will be outside the salary cap! Certainly makes things easy.

Parish didn't test well at the Combine, either. Not that it's necessarily relevant in the grand scheme of things (plenty of players have tested poorly and gone on to be elite).

Stretch has me super excited. He sounds like a hard trainer and seems to be developing into a player beyond the club's expectations. Great signs!

Whoever ends up the better player is irrelevant; Parish will get 10 times the media fellatio purely because of the team he plays for, due to the level of influence that club has in senior media positions. He's the poster boy of their next rebuild (along with whichever unfortunate soul goes pick 1 this year), just as Heppell and Daniher were 5 years ago, just as Silvagni and Weitering are this year for Carlton.

Cotchin was putrid, along with his team, in their 2014 final. His chance at redemption was their 2015 final and the exact same thing happened, despite weeks of tough-talking from the club. That said, we haven't played finals in nearly a decade, so we're yet to see how our current team handles the pressure. What I do know is we've got a clear drafting strategy now (Oliver continues the trend); we're crafting a defensively-oriented and aggressive team. Intimidation and pressure wins finals football; two criteria distinctly lacking on Richmond's list.

Yeah, but he's the captain of one of the "big 4," so like it or not he (and countless other thoroughly average players at Richmond, Essendon, Collingwood and even Carlton) gets plenty of media attention. Marc Murphy and Brice Gibbs aren't fit to tie Jonesy's shoelaces, but you can guess who receives more PR fellatio every year.

It makes me sick that they get rewarded with pick #1 for finishing last after having an entire team full of elite players banned for drug cheating. Next year they can just re-inject these players with no further sanction and take home pick 1 for their troubles. If a team around the periphery of the top 8 deliberately dropped their 12 best players for an entire year purely to top-up with pick 1 before challenging for finals, they'd have their draft picks stripped and would be charged with bringing the game into disrepute! But, nah, gotta protect Essendon so they get "back to being a powerhouse" as Gil keeps reminding us. He wants his Christmas bonus this year.

I would've thought every player signed up to the WADA code upon starting their AFL career. You can't just go train together at some non-WADA-approved facility in a country that doesn't recognise them. It would still be a breach of your agreement to abide by the WADA code, would it not? Farcical if not the case.

Fantastic report Caligula. Thanks so much for the write-up, much appreciated

In an age where the media protect an entire team of convicted drug cheats and ignore world stories like ISIL kidnapping 400 women and children, is this really newsworthy material? It was the second story on tonight's news, so I guess it must be. What a time to be alive.

My love of this game is dying. The depth of corruption this saga has revealed should be eye-opening to any supporters of Aussie Rules. Make no mistake, the game you once loved no longer exists. Corporatisation fully realised, profits now take precedence over ethics.

And not in a court of law where the defence can cross-examine and point out his blatant lies and contradictions. He's very considerate, that Jimmy! In any event, I've got as much interest in this interview as I have in contracting chlamydia.

Must be the first article he's credited himself with writing, rather than his ghostwriter.

Nah, because the AFL "need Essendon to become a powerhouse again." They don't give a rats about us, St Kilda, Footscray or Port by comparison.

Don't forget the Herald Sun's EXCLUSIVE two-part interview with the Golden Boy himself, conducted by none other than the journalistic master of integrity, Mark "Slobbo" Robinson. Perhaps they will explain why no leaks occurred from the WADA/CAS hearing; the one Hird and Essendon were excluded from.

Tracey, please just ask this simple question: "Why did the players exclude the multitude of off-site injections from their ASADA drug disclosure forms?" But she won't, because she's nothing more than a biased Hird sympathiser.

Man filmed abusing woman at match. Receives life ban from AFL matches. Rightly disgraced in every corner of the media and by Gil "I Want Everyone To Love Me" McLachlan, who holds a press conference reiterating the AFL's stance of domestic violence by men against women. Dustin Martin threatens to stab a woman to death with chopsticks while (fill in the blanks) after a music festival in the off-season. Entire incident swept under the rug for months until nobody cares, then quietly give Dustin absolutely no penalty. 21st Century AFL.

It won't be Essendon's money. The AFL, who are doing their best to help Essendon skyrocket back up the ladder (remember, profits before ethics), will foot the bill for any payments required over the salary cap. I've no doubt the entire reason they didn't specify their additional TPP allowance is because they'll let Essendon dictate terms on how much they need first. A "name your price" arrangement with all their replacement players.

It's funny how posters here lament the bias of pro-Essendon media personalities who blindly support their club, yet we chastise Melbourne personalities refusing to do the same. Lyon should be applauded for calling a spade a spade and not blindly supporting his former club, rather displaying objectivity as a commentator even if it's an inconvenient truth about past mistakes of the MFC. The point Lyon was making about our laughable "guilty for not tanking" finding was just how corrupt the AFL is; a corporation who now put their business interests before justice, and he was 100% correct.