grazman

Actually the game plan from last year was fine... just we were mentally soft in two or three "easy" games that would have delivered us a home final... there something very Balmesque about the current style.

Here, Here Brother! Just because someone has made some poor choices and then gone on national Television about them doesn't mean they are brave or classy -nor should I feel respect for them, but then I guess I am a little biased because I have often been on the other end of people that consistently made poor choices. I am pretty sure there are conclusive studies that well document that both Marijuana and Ampthetimines (speed and Ice) can lead to psychosis. I am also pretty sure it's not too hard to believe that taking such drugs would exacerbate any emotional or psychological problems an individual might have.

I don't know how it would work in the VFL, even with the suspension there should be some appropriate level of restitution. The mentality behind such an act worries me, and I would think irrespective of the views of the VFL or the club, that such an act borders on criminal behaviour and should be investigated by police.

It seems Rivers, Macdonald and McLean are all in doubt. I would seriously be worried if Brock didn't play. He played the last practice match and if he misses then I'm worried that there is a recurrence of his quad problems and that to me would seem to indicate and extended time on the sidelines. The papers today indicated that Gardiner, Raph Clark, Hamill, and Riewoldt won't play. Kosi, Max, Lenny and Maguire will all be underdone.

My condolescences. Losing someone close is always a tragedy and I hope you and his family and friends can find comfort in a life well lived.

It certainly turns up the heat on the Eagles, and now the Kangaroos.... who could in some regards plead ignorance, although considering Edwards performances in the VFL and the apparent lack of interest from any other club, you would suspect that word had got around about his history. To sum up in relation to allegations/speculation about Eagles Players: Cousins - confirmed and suspended internally. Kerr- yet to be confirmed, but a huge weight of public opinion (the pressure of which may well destroy his career). Fletcher -yet to be confirmed, but again mounting public pressure to spill the beans. Chick - with Cousins missed training, guilt by association and more to come. Edwards - see Kerr. Gardiner - much speculation and innuendo. That's six players that were all there when Worsfold took over.... only Edwards and eventually Gardiner when he became too much of a media liability were shown the door. I'd suggest whatever other programme the Eagles had in place (details of which are yet to be provided ) were not effective. Ahh yes of course there was no drug culture at the club, how could anyone do anything without proof.

Well thats an absolutely salivating prospect, because I don't think the Eagles can fix the problem, it runs a lot deeper than just Cousins and their track record is diabolical. To address the issue they could potentially lose three or four of their top ten or lose the best player in the land.... hmmm. Interesting how two weeks ago the Eagles and AFL were basically denying there was any drug problem at all, and now without anything actually being admitted the whole thing looks set to crash down around their ears. Could we see Judd playing in the red and blue.... I'm saying my prayers.

Jaded raises a very good point about Worsfold and the onfield discipline being isolated from the player's extra-curricula activities. As Old has pointed out, the Eagles were prepared to continue to live off the kudos of Cousin's leadership even when it was removed from him for being a naughty boy. I am still not comfortable with the grand final celebration scenes when Chris Judd may as well have been the accidental tourist up there on the dias. So far the Eagles have been able to remove such distractions from on field, but what goes around comes around, if Benny is as important to the Eagles as they keep claiming him to be, this will hurt them, because this issue runs a lot deeper than simply one player and has the potential to implicate a lot more key Eagles. I think Cousins has lost a lot of focus since his 1% Brother was ousted from the club and he is now a loose cannon. I think the club will move into damage control to minimise the effects, but it will be exceedingly difficult to drag some of the drifting satellites away from the the impending self implosion of the Red Dwarf.

Is this blind optimism Storm? The Eagles only acted against Cousins because he is basically telling the club to get stuffed and not going to training.... I have no faith that if Kerr was caught again or another Eagles player for that matter they would adopt the same weak as puss stance they have in the past.

Raph Clarke is out I think, and Gardiner is still overcoming the effects of his ankle (it was his ankle he broke at the end of 06 for Claremont wasn't it?) and may not play either.

Which one Jack? It looks like they will be carrying three or four, and no Hamill. I'm not suggesting in anyway shape or form that we will smash them simply because some of their players are underdone, but I did want to raise the issue. It will be a test for Lyon? I'm not sure Danners would play all three if the positions were reversed. I believe Maguire is ready to go and will play this weekend, although both he and Hayes will take a while to find their legs again (no pun intended)

After reading the papers it appears that none of Riewoldt, Kosi or Gardiner will play a practice match between them prior to Rd One. I can understand how important all three will be to the Saints chances of winning, but I wonder if he will risk them all or start some in the VFL? I wonder if he thinks he has the depth to adopt a longer term view?

It's highly unlikely given his preparation thus far that Pickett will be picked for Rd 1. He hasn't got enough match fitness and still has a long way to go. I think Moloney will be picked and on preseason form Bell and CJ have cemented spots for Rd 1. It's unlikely that Fergs will be picked ahead of Holland. I wouldn't expect Frawley to play, but wouldn't discount Buckley completely, For me I'd have him in ahead of Ward. I know preseason matches aren't much to go on but I would think Dunn would have a greater claim to rd 1 selection than Miller.

I am certainly no apologist for Yze, but you've picked three blokes in Pickett, Ward and Robbo that would in my view would fall into the same category.

I don't have any objections to the list per se as it is only the view of an impartial view of an outsider. Mind you a bloke that has only played 8 games for the club ranked a bloke that has played 200 odd is a damning indictment.

This is both pleasing and troubling. Farmer and Johnston out are a good result for us, but clearly the interpretation on high contact as demonstrated by both Stokes and Johnston is going to be strictly enforced. Lets hope our players have taken note. BTW Freo have already sought advice and there will be no appeals to the penalties.

Hmmm. I'd like to see their rationale, "we think four weeks is too severe for an intenional act that could have permanently damaged the vision of another player." If they do challenge, then I hope the AFL imposes the maximum penalty - it was a needless and violent act of stupidity that severly damages the reputation of the game. I think that they need to go away and assess the way they come up with these penalties. I agree with Fan, I think a player that does this should look to spend at least half a season on the sideline.

Jeff's lucky he's playing in the modern era. 30 years ago, players had their own way of sorting out this sort of tactic. I think there is well and truly an onus on the AFL to send the strongest possible message in relation to such incidents.

Doesn't look good for young Jeffrey. Another Brain Explosion, compounded by the fact that his opponent dobbed him in - you could only assume he will offer evidence to the tribunal. Eye gouging is nasty - both for the potential harm to a player and the reputation of the game. You would think with Jeff's record at least four to six weeks is warranted, but we always seem to cop him coming back from injury or suspension. Any bets on whether he gets three weeks?

Beat me to it Jim. I watched the Swans and Tigers yesterday. The Swans side was 200% stronger than the one that played the previous week. For sides that see themselves as serious contenders the NAB sidetracks their preparations. They'd rather be out of it.

I'm pretty sure Michael Pickering at least was shot in terms of his body being able to withstand the rigours of footy. I think it was his knees. Just as an aside, both Goodwin and Pickering joined the Dees in 92 from Richmond and finished their careers in 93. I think we got them both for trading "Strawbs" O'Dwyer.... back in the days when teams didn't really research as heavily into player injuries as they do now.

I found Trevor Nisbett's comments interesting.... basically my interpretation was "Daniel's {Kerr} a tool, he keeps getting himself into trouble, we wish he would stop, luckily for him he can play footy"

I believe West Coast are looking into the feasibility of employing at least a dozen extra-curricular managers as well as employing an extra media manager to assist with the workload. I've also heard whispers that Woosha is using his contacts in the pharmecutical world to source a water quality manager to ensure that everything is up to AFL standard.

Here's an interesting stat from the weekend and just to give a little perspective on the merit of such a competition. Of last years finalists only two teams won in the first round. Freo and the Bulldogs, and they had to play another finalist anyway. Sydney, West Coast, Adelaide, Saint Kilda, Collingwood and the Dees all lost. With the exception of the Pies I would expect all those teams to be in the running for the finals. Just thought you'd be interested.