grazman

Except West Coast have to use a first round pick this year. It's highly likely that they will split their early pick for two first round picks and we would only get one of them.

Some of them are banned by WADA/ASADA though - Amphetamines (including Meth) and Cocaine for example. If you cast your mind back to the whole Essendrug gate scandal. ASADA certainly had an issue with the AFLs drug policy.

Nathan Buckley said something very similar a few weeks ago in reference to this. It's clearly enough of an issue at clubs for a former coach to mention this unprompted on a national telecast. It begs the question whether players are using mental health as a smokescreen to avoid the three strikes policy?

Lachie Hunter and Tom Liberatore like the above post!

If Dogga does go home this year it almost has to be West Coast. I can see West Coast keeping Nic Nat on for an extra year as a recruitment incentive to get him. I don't think there's any doubt they will make him a massive offer and one far in excess of what we can. The issue with Freo is salary cap. Lobb might be leaving at the end of the year due to TPP pressure (they tried to manoeuvre him out last year). I'm not sure that the Cerra for Jackson trade was ever a live option, because although Cerra would have come to us there's no visibility on whether Dogga would have gone to Freo or that they could have fitted him into their TPP.

Is his salary included in the soft-cap?

I count 8 players that have been the subject of H&S protocols so far this season. I'm assuming with the changes to close-contacts no longer needing to isolate since 20th April that means that Lever, Viney, Petty, Pickett, Jackson and Sparrow have all had Covid. I'm not sure whether BBB and Joel Smith have or were Close contacts. Unfortunately people can get Covid twice but I think it would be highly unlikely that players who get it during the season would get it again so soon before the season concluded. In short players that miss now with Covid are unlikely to find themselves missing again during the season (which might be pretty significant come finals time - just after winter when it's predicted Covid will spike again) I know from one news article that in January about 50 AFL players had Covid and we were certainly one of the clubs affected according to the rumours. Does anybody what players had Covid during the preseason?

obviously something the betting company's should be right into!😜

Us vs the Dogs 17- 30 free kicks Swans vs the Dogs 14-31 free kicks. No mention of the lop sided count in the media re us, but against the Swans it's grounds for a Royal Commission according to the Sydney Press. At least it's now getting attention.

I haven't read all 15 pages of the thread, so I'm not sure if it has been mentioned yet in relation to Morris being recorded without his knowledge or consent. Each jurisdiction is different, but most require both parties to consent to a conversation being recorded unless there are very specific circumstances involved (threats etc). I imagine the issue Foxtel will have if they want to dismiss Morris is whether they can use any of the information that has been publicly made available if it was obtained 'illegally' in the first place. This is very different to people uploading inappropriate material to social media where there's a tacit permission to make that publicly available .

Not sure what the criticism of Cummins’ decision making in regards to the declaration in Karachi, seems to have called it perfectly.

Harmes named on the HBF … discuss!

Like most I can hardly comprehend it. Two years younger than me. I was at the SCG when he made his debut and at the MCG for his hat trick. I've always loved watching test cricket, but Warnie made it an unadulterated indulgence in a period of absolute dominance. To misquote the great Paul Kelly: "He was half the bloody side" Simply the greatest cricketer I have ever had the privilege of watching.

At the risk of sounding like a pedant - here's another one - see if you can spot the error. From p14: the feature article on the premiership win. Goals Melbourne: Fritsch 6, B. Brown 3, Petracca 2, Neal-Bullen 2, McDonald 2, Spargo, Brayshaw, Saprrow, Oliver, Langdon, Jackson I buy the AFL record regularly and I know it may sound petty, but I'm disappointed in spending $40 on a reference publication that has so many obvious proofing errors (considering they are all to do with the premiers - you would think someone would be paying closer attention).

Being interstate I went down to my local newsagent today to excitedly pick up my copy of Records 2022 season guide. The first page I open to is on ours in the club section - only to discover they still have us listed as having 12 premierships (obviously an error as it lists all 13) - but seriously - WTF. Having suffered through arguably the toughest period any AFL club has had to endure and broke a 57 year drought it somehow escaped the editors that as the new reigning premiers we have now got an extra premiership 😡. Edit I just learned it was Charlie Spargo and not Tom Sparrow who kicked the goal from outside 50 to put us 18 points up--- I mean DOUBLE WTF**ingF! This is a publication that purports to be a reference document.

It was great to beat the old enemy yet again, but it really was a case of which bowling line up was better and clearly the English have systemic issues now in producing test class batsmen. I still can't believe Burns and Pope have played as many tests as they have. (Pope apparently averages close to 100 in county cricket - which I find staggering) I think Joe Root is a good bloke, but gee his captaincy left a lot to be desired in terms of tactics, aggression and selection. Anyhoo I'm not looking a 4-0-1 shellacking in the mouth so to speak. It probably won't matter for a little while yet, but can someone please teach the top order how to play short-pitched bowling. As Blewett said - the issue as demonstrated by Travis Head is you can't be half and half about it. Either have a decent crack like Nathan Lyon or leave it alone a la Steve Waugh. It didn't cost us against the Poms, but expect other teams to follow the lead of Neil Wagner and start peppering balls at the ribs.

With us starting our season on a Wednesday night it means that both ourselves and the Dogs almost have to play the following Thursday or Friday night fixtures. Assuming that both the Anzac Eve and the QB are locked in (also assuming we only play the Pies and maybe Richmond only once) it means our Rd 2 clash is probably against either Carlton or Essendon. Big games to kick off the season for us.

Which Josh Kennedy - or doesn’t that matter?

Warning ⚠️ on the Giants - look at their form with Mummy and without, they’re putting a lot of faith in Preuss getting on the park! Also no Toby for the first 5 rounds. Coniglio would want to have a very good year.

The really troubling aspect of the anti-vaxx movement (which has been around long before Covid) is the recent cultural appropriation of certain right-wing extremist language and behaviours recently encouraged and abetted by the Trump administration. Namely the endorsement of violence to 'defend' their viewpoints. Previously anti-vaxxers were thought of as alternative types more likely to buy organic produce in hemp woven bags than rabble rousing rednecks dressed in flouro. Like ABC news breakfast this morning mused, I too wonder what the reaction would have been if it had been an Islamic group driving around town with makeshift gallows and effigies? These people aren't just vile, they are dangerous and their actions aren't political, they're criminal. It is an overt threat of violence to elected representatives that our society should not only condemn, but prosecute.

I'd rather have a Tassie team than Collingwood, Carlton or Essendon in the comp!

There's an established path to success in rebuilding and it's all about getting early picks and giving them time to develop together and often at the expense of established older players. You have to know when it's time to rebuild - as good a coach as Clarko is/was he refused to accept the inevitable. Next minute the AFL is hit by COVID and completely stuffs club's TPPs. The strategy that Mitchell crafted was so 2019, it's shelf life expired last year. Because of their profile they're now two years away from being able to rebuild their list, that's another two years where their younger core mark time and potentially look to move to more successful clubs.

I watched Colin Young on Foxtel's trading day last night and my first thought was "used car salesman". I'm not sure Bobby got the best advice here, but GWS were absolutely entitled not to trade him if it didn't work for them. Does he now have the where-with-all to knuckle down and play his best footy to go back to the well at the end of 2023 or does he throw his bum in the corner and end up on the scrap heap as a delisted free agent without any suitors?

From what I've heard either Hill or his manager Colin Young have been a little disingenuous about this. Hill was/is best mates with Finlayson who has left for Port, Hill/Young apparently didn't make GWS aware of his desire to leave until after the GF which is almost a month after GWS' season ended. There's a bit of speculation from the Giants end that the whole family support angle is also a bit of a ruse. He's after more years (four) on better money - good luck to him if he can get it.

There's talent and then there's application. The big unknown is whether there's some blowback in terms of morale/happiness that some of those that have been publicly shopped around might not be as committed to the cause. It has the potential to unravel very quickly for them if there is significant dissonance between the senior players and the coach/es.