old55

Trengove could model himself on Daniel Cross at close quarters, they've got similar attributes. Cross was a key midfielder in a successful Dogs line-up for the peak of his career. On his pace - it seems strange that he tested 2.9-something secs for 20 metres at his draft combine. That is not slow, but I agree he looks like he goes at something like 3.2+ now. I'm not sure how that happens - do they just do one trial (it seems like they might because they quote the exact figures for the top 10 records rather than an average) and maybe he jumped out of the blocks? I'm not a track expert so I've got no idea whether this could make that much difference over that distance.

Is there a session on Australia Day holiday Monday 27/1?

Whiskey is fine if the Cognac has run out.

That's a completely different point Who says the next deal will be with TV? It may be with AFL Media.

There's no doubt this is a major embarrassment for the AFL and particularly AD, but like you say, in the end there was nothing they could practically do to prevent Essendon effectively pre- or post- paying Hird while he is suspended if Essendon are determined to do so. If infraction notices are served then the Hirds are better off with pre-paying (what is happening now), which is better than progress paying (what was happening), which is better than post-paying (which may never happen). They've won this battle and I imagine the Hirds and Essendon think it is an entirely consistent outcome with their innocence and persecution by the AFL - but they just look even more grubby to me and they must have worsened their relationship with the AFL - if that was possible. AD's days are numbered but I doubt the actions of Hird and Essendon will be forgiven or forgotten.

Arguing with WYL is not a sport.

Collingwood's revenue was $75M+ in 2013 http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2013-11-25/collingwoods-2013-financial-result They're making $20M+ out of their membership. They don't "rely" on the AFL money.

Like. There are owners who don't punt. Probably trainers and jockeys too.

It never gets old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNfGyIW7aHM

Ahhh Sybil, where you see the hole others see the donut. There's no "fawning" or "smugness" - just a recognition of a tough job well done. The introduction of GC and GWS are evidence of AD vision and courage - doubt someone who feels the need to qualify by saying "Not suggesting it will happen" can understand this concept Likewise AFL Media is a long term plan to get internal control of the "TV rights bonanza". Will we hear from you when they ultimately succeed?

yep

Hirds aren't stupid. The only explanation I can see for recent events is that Hird (and Essendon) know that infraction notices are imminent and they want to escalate matters and get the AFL into court to discredit the "joint" AFL ASADA investigation to discredit its findings and/or take Demetriou down with them.

That's the only possible explanation for their behaviour - they want to take it to court.

Holy [censored] - now it's on!

It seemed to me at the time Hird was suspended that it was a given that it was suspended without pay and that any reasonable person would have expected this to be the case, including AD. That the AFL didn't explicitly write it into the sanction is an over-sight that I'm sure they regret. Trying to think it through from the Hirds' viewpoint - I'm not so sure that the payments were underhanded. I think they actually drink their own bathwater to such and extent that they genuinely think Hird should continue to be paid. Takes hubris to a whole new level.

It's not about Demetriou - he's going to be collateral damage in this whole affair.

Agreed - next day Essendon self-reports.

Like

Agree, the Hirds behaviour is incredible. Everything they've done is about protecting themselves at any cost. Demetriou may well have tipped Essendon off, which if proven will land him in a lot of hot water - but why would he do this - to try to protect the AFL and Essendon, really at his own risk. Now as Sue points out Essendon, the Hirds and Bruce Reid appear to be using this as leverage. I expect this whole saga will bring down AD and continue to significantly damage the AFL. I really would prefer that Essendon players aren't sanctioned because I believe they were mislead, but it appears thats what it will take to make Hird et al pay and I do want to see that.

Oh dear Tania more likely

great stuff thanks!

cheers thanks!

Good post Redleg, agree with all that.

Nice format - but classifying the players correctly is the whole point of a depth chart isn't it? Is Grimes a mid? Are Salem, Harmes and Michie outside mids? Is Kent a mid? Is Watts a forward? Are Jetta and Tapscott small forwards? If Garland's a key back how come Pedersen isn't? Are Hunt and Nicholson backs?

So Redleg, is that 176 serves x $6.6K/service in a year = $1.161M/year. If the BC3 stallion got that sort of return it's not terrible even on $5M investment depending on the costs to come out. Keen for further education please!