Axis of Bob

The defence rests, your honour.

I don't think I'm stepping out of line when I say: Nobody understands what you are saying.

I don't like people practically giving Evans the Tour already. There are 3 big mountain stages including a mountain top finish at the Alp d'Huez leading into the time trial and the race could be turned on its head on any one of the next 3 days before the time trial. At their best, all of Contador, Andy and Frank Schleck could outclimb Evans. With three big mountain stages, Evans could be knocked out at any stage. That said, Evans' climbing form looks really good. Evans' big weapon is, of course, the time trial. He should beat all of th GC contenders pretty easily, especially Frank Schleck and Voekler. If he is behind any of them by less than about 45 secs going into the TT then he should win, but Contador is probably the best of the rest of the time trialists. That first day crash on an innocuous stage could well be decisive.

Please tell me that 'something' is ' how to spell'.

That an AFL player would do this is just beyond stupidity. That this AFL player was Heath Shaw makes it a bit more understandable. Wow, what a special unit he is.

That's exactly how I've been thinking about it. And I am, like I'm sure others are, judging people based on what their values are.

Somebody please make the joke. You know you want to!!

Listened to it. Schwab said that, if we wanted, we could match the GWS offer because we are paying under the cap with our young list. But it's about making sure we offer something that fits in with our payment structure so that we give the team the best chance at success in the future. Schwarz kept harping on about what was 'Plan B' ie, what would they do if Scully left in relation to compensation. Schwab said we hadn't looked at it because we believe he will stay. Schwarz kept on with it, saying that we should be looking at getting compensation from the AFL. Schwab told him that he was on the committee and that they set up the compensation rules to cater for 'franchise players' too, which take into account the GWS offer, draft position, age/youth etc. Geelong did not change the system, it was already changed before then. Schwarz continued to labour it and Schwab basically told him that he didn't understand how the system works (which was already very apparent!). Also spoke about how they are confident, from both the public statements and private conversations they've had with Scully, that he will stay. Scully doesn't understand why people won't believe his word and Schwab said that he is only just starting to learn how the media work (BAM!). Overall, he wiped the floor with David Schwarz and even Dean Laidley, a guest in the studio, was very pointed in his comments that Schwarz should shut up. Schwarz was trying to bully Schwab and it definitely sounded like his pride had been battered after his '98%' comment turned out to be incorrect. I found it to be a thoroughly entertaining, if somewhat cringeworthy, interview to listen to.

Yeah, that's the reason. You are heroically swimming against the tide of public opinion alone, all in an effort to show the world the error of their ways. I'm tripping over myself as I read the countless articles in the newspaper telling me that Scully is staying. It's definitely not because you are calling Scully a liar. I'm reminded of Monty Python. "Help I'm being repressed!" "See the repression inherent in the system!!"

You have accused Scully of being a liar. Furthermore, going by your recent posts, you are sticking by that. Tweed Pig has also looked at another part of Scully's press conference to add more evidence that you are calling Scully a liar. You have made no attempt to respond. Good luck with that.

My chance to play AFL has finally come. Go Snakes .... er .... Dees!

Now factor in that the alternative is delisting Warnock for nothing.

Of course. It's like a car crash. But at least I could pretend to be better than that! Alas, no.

While I'm glad that I made the comment, I now live with the shame of seeing the icon telling me that I have made a comment in this thread. Oh, the shame!

Well done Sam. If he ends up being a really good AFL player ..... boy are we going to have some fun!

That is a really good get with Kleiman.

The number on my first jumper was 27. He was my favourite player and his moustache made him look like my dad! Sad day. RIP

Man: Umm, excuse me. What are you doing? Mr. Burns: I'm giving you the beating of your life! Mr. Burns: Smithers, dismember the corpse and send his widow a corsage. Sorry, I already had this one in mind. Anyway, I'd like Blease to get a go this week. But who would he come in for?

"What are you going to do? Bleed on me?" "I'll bite your legs off!!"

I read this and couldn't help but think of panel 4!

Demitriou is CEO and is appointed by the AFL Commission. The AFL Commission is the equivalent of a company's Board of Directors. These are the people who determine Demitriou's salary, not him.

And there's your mistake. It takes a lot of discipline to talk around corners so much and not eventually forget what you are supposed to be arguing for. You were always going to hang yourself. Here is why: You are now saying that Judd/Judd’s manager are able to screw over West Coast because he is out of contract and can now walk into the draft. If he was in contract then there is no way that he could make that sort of threat to ensure that West Coast accepts a lesser deal to move Judd on. Thank you for articulating the exact point that is being made against your very argument. The words used against you are your own. To summarise what has just happened: - A deal on a contracted player must have an outcome that is favourable to the original club, otherwise they keep him. - A deal on an uncontracted player takes the power away from the original club, under threat of “walking for nothing”, often resulting in an inferior deal for the original club. As an aside, Andrew Walker wanted to walk last year. But he was contracted, Carlton wouldn’t accept and inferior deal and now Walker is playing good footy for Carlton. What are the odds on Walker signing a new contract with Carlton now? Pretty good I’d say. It’s been fun, but you got caught up in the moment too much. Until next time.

Demitriou is worth every cent he's being paid at the moment. He has grown AFL into the colossus that it is today and is doing a fine job, even if it makes him unpopular at times. He's an easy target for supporters, but when you look at the health of the game now compared with what it was like when he came in then you cannot deny his impact. I agree with the AFL. Their role is to do what is best for the AFL competition and the health of football in general. I'd much rather that this money go towards growing the game than the players. The players are well renumerated for what they do. Pay only becomes an issue when we are competing for the best athletes with other sports (ie, against cricket, rugby, rugby league etc). I agree with a rise for the lowest level of player (ie, rookies etc) but the rest of the competition should have their wages increase with the cost of living.

Sorry about that Rogue but, in my defence, I am suffering from boredom. At least there will be many more list management threads in the second half of the season.

Your arguments make it appear that you are either a troll or .... well I hope for your sake that you're a troll. Either way, I'm bored so let's keep going. Rumour at the time was that West Coast were ultra keen on replacing Judd with Cotchin. Just rumour, though. So if Judd was contracted, then you say they would have to lose Judd the next year. Now let's analyse this. The following year where did Carlton finish? 11th. That meant that they had pick 6 in the pre-season draft. In the PSD the following players were taken before Carlton would have had a shot: - Liam Jurrah (Melb) - Josh Carr (Port) - Hayden Skipworth (Ess). How many of these teams would have overlooked Chris Judd? West Coast's trading position would have been stronger than the year before, given that Judd couldn't get to Carlton expect by way of trade. They could have taken Kennedy then, their pick 6 (which could have netted them a far better player than Masten), plus what ever else they wanted from a desperate Carlton. Plus they would have had Chirs Judd for an extra year. Instead, Carlton had the upper hand because they only had to get past one club (Richmond) in 2007 (and had more cap room than them). West Coast had to fold and take Masten (pick 3) instead of Cotchin (or Kruezer at pick 1). Players without contracts cannot move on unless they agree too! If a player says that they will only be traded to one club (like Judd) then the demand = 1 club for both. Therefor the demand is irrelevant. The demand for the players is the same. However the motivation to sell is much, much lower. A motivated seller (such as when an uncontracted player can get to the club in the draft) will accept far less than an unmotivated seller (such as when the player is contracted). If the player is contracted then they cannot get to their club of choice without a deal being agreed to by 3 parties: - the player - the target club, and - the original club. If a player is uncontracted and can get to the club of his choice via the draft, then the price goes down. The three parties either agree to a trade or they go into the draft. In order to move to a club in the draft the decision must be agreed to by two parties: - the player (by nominating the finincial and contractual terms that he wishes be drafted under), and - the target club. This is what happened to St Kilda with Luke Ball. Ball named his terms and Collingwood agreed to them by drafting him. In order to be traded by St Kilda, they needed to agree to Collinwood's deal. Since Collingwood and Ball thought they could get him in the draft, they gave a low offer. I, it may not surprise you (although it may), think that it is you that are unable to see this from a different perspective. You can only see this from the player's perspective yet are incapable of seeing it from either club's perspective. There are three parties. The target club must assure the player that they can get the deal done, or that they can get them in the draft. Since the draft is not 100% predictable, they will usually attempt to give the original club some compensation to encourage them to trade the player before the draft. The original club wants to get some compensation for the player instead of losing that player for nothing through the draft. Sometimes they will get such a poor offer (ie, Ball and Nick Stevens) that they will refuse it and let the player and the target club carry the risk. Sometimes it works (Stevens) sometimes it doesn't (Ball) - but it's a risk. Often the original club just accepts a poor deal in order to get some compensation (ie, Ben Hudson, Daniel Motlop, Nick Davis, Brent Prismall, Robbie Warnock). However this is also backed up by logic. How's Max Steven going in player management these days?