Whispering_Jack

The thread was reopened on the basis of the reported improvement in Hird's condition. That does not mean that it is open for people to be insensitive to his mental condition or that of others who suffer similarly. Please don't offend here. Discussion on other aspects including Hird Senior's comments is topical and permitted as long as it doesn't stray over the red lines alluded to in the opening paragraph.

It's most likely pretty well irrelevant at this stage. He's suffering from something where there's a lot to be done before he can deal with what happened at Essendon. This is personal, we should wish him well in his recovery and leave him alone for now ...

This sounds very sensitive ... please be careful about what you write.

I drove past the Elwood Canal last night near the Elsternwick Golf Course and the canal had broken its banks and flooded the southern end. If you're planning on a quick round of golf there today, I think you can forget it.

The Age article doesn't seem to present a firewall problem - The Block 'in serious negotiations' over sale of Gatwick Hotel. According to Victoria Police - ""The Gatwick has been a part of St Kilda's rich history and very much a part of policing within St Kilda."

Happy to make it early 2017. Mr Leg canceled so it's his job to reorganise.

Yes and GWS put a lot of development into the kid who comes from AFL heartland in Albury and plays for the Murray Bushrangers. His father Paul played for North Melbourne and Brisbane and his grandfather Bob played finals with Footscray. How much work are the Giants are putting into Brander who is with Bendigo Pioneers. Jack Powell is from Canberra which has had a strong local competition for aeons. Lovely. I don't object to academy zones per se but the AFL has turned them into a joke with the pretence that they're meant to help foster and develop talent in areas underexposed to the game.

I thought you had been banned from partaking in pizzas Red. Something to do with the number of kgs displayed on your scales.? I also attended that evening and can confirm that McCartney was a very special presenter who is really positive about the direction of the club and particularly about our younger brigade. Declan's in good hands.

Dank's has to go into the history books as the greatest coward in Aussie sport. He not only failed to get himself off but, despite his bluster, never lifted a finger to deliver on his oft repeated promise to help players get off. Weak.

Declan drafted as a rookie to join Tim Smith - we know him well also!!! A big day for Scorpions recruits as Oscar McInerney was also taken by Brisbane.

The AFL site's Callum Twomey is one step behind us but he has put out an interesting article about the leading prospects for next year:- Ten to watch in 2017: Looking forward to next year's draft stars

Is it ever too early to start talking about the next draft? Not in my book - especially as the Demons now own a first round draft pick in the 2017 AFL Draft. And I'm not going out on a limb when I nominate Eastern Ranges forward Jaydin Stephenson (DOB: 15/1/1999 Ht: 188cm Wt: 76kg) as one of the sure things for that draft. Stephenson burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old in last year's TAC Cup finals and booted three goals in a losing team in the grand final. He has enjoyed another consistent season and shapes up as one of next year’s most exciting prospects. Naturally Stephenson is a member of the AFL Academy squad:- LEVEL TWO NAB AFL ACADEMY (draft-eligible 2017) Vic Country: Tyrone Hayes, Aaron Darling, Kane Farrell, Aidan Quigley, Lochie O'Brien, Hunter Clark, Luke Davies-Uniake, Oscar Clavarino, James Worpel, Tom De Koning Vic Metro: Jack Higgins, Lachlan Fogarty, Patrick Naish, Joel Garner, Jaidyn Stephenson, Sam Hayes South Australia: Jordan Houlahan, Darcy Fogarty, Thomas Schmusch, Callum Coleman-Jones, Andrew McPherson Western Australia: Jake Patmore NSW-ACT: Charlie Spargo, Jack Powell, Jarrod Brander, Nathan Richards Queensland: Jack Clayton, Connor Ballenden, Brayden Crossley Northern Territory: Dominic Grant Father-son trio headlines Academy squad The signs are that next year's draft will be strong at the elite level and, unlike yesterday's midfield draft, there will be some good tall prospects in the mix. Tall prospects head latest AFL Academy additions As for Stephenson, he suffered a late-season set back when he broke a hand at training and missed the AFL's Under 17 All Stars match but will be back in action for TAC Cup season 2017 and close to #1 (but of course we're all expecting our first pick to be in the high teens). 2017 AFL Draft Prospects Top prospects on show in U17 Futures Game

And in a shock development that caught the rest of the world by surprise, Stephen Dank failed to file the required paperwork today as required by the AFL anti-doping appeal board.

To his credit, you have to admit that he's been the most consistent player in this whole saga.

I don't want to let the cat out of the bag but I can reveal that we're working on the No T$ No B$ straight jacket as we speak.

I take that as a confession on your part and, in accordance with the AFL sanctions policy, ban you from posting for one month backdated to 1 October, 2016.

May I respectfully bring to the attention of posters here that we have now adopted a new regime on derailing threads. The rules are being brought in restrospectively so our team of moderators will start work on Monday at page 1. The process is expected to last about six weeks at the end of which the thread should be reduced to no more than four pages. We look forward to your assistance and co-operation in assisting us with this task. Thank you.

First of all, on Watson's decision to hand back the Brownlow Medal, I say that it's about time. In fact, a decision delayed by three years and five months since the day he admitted this - Jobe Watson admits to injecting banned drug AOD-9604 ESSENDON captain Jobe Watson last night made the stunning admission he took the banned substance AOD-9604, but the reigning Brownlow medallist remains adamant he did nothing wrong. The star onballer said he took the anti-obesity drug after signing a consent form. "I signed that consent form and my understanding, after it being given through (club doctor) Bruce Reid and the club, that I was receiving AOD," he told Fox Sports program On The Couch. Asked if he thought the substance was legal when he was taking it, Watson replied: "that it was legal at the time and that was actually what I was told I was being given." The brazen admission by Watson that he took this now almost forgotten (in the context of this entire controversy) peptide defines the essence of his and the other 33 players' wrongdoing. They might have thought it to be legal based on what they were told but what steps did they take outside the club regime to determine it to be so and why did Watson so confidently make this statement when a very simple search would have revealed AOD-9604 was not an approved substance under the WADA Code even at the time of making the statement? It's true that ASADA later chose not to pursue the AOD-9604 line and went after the players on the "safer" ground of TB4 but the former has never been fully explained or resolved. Why did ASADA drop AOD-9604? WADA boss wants review The statements made by Watson on the programme were breathtakingly arrogant and, when I look at the explanation in the CAS judgement as reported in January, 2016 about the responsibilities of the players in terms of what they allow to be ingested into their bodies, it confirms the view that the players cheated and deserved to be sanctioned. Even in his statement handing back the medal, Watson showed no remorse and in doing so, he was being consistent with the way he regarded his situation in June 2013. I don't believe he was being honourable in any way whatsoever. Secondly, once you expunge Watson as Brownlow Medal winner then it would be an injustice to those who cleanly polled the most votes for them not to be given what is rightfully their award. Jared Tallent deserved to be awarded the Olympic Gold once it was clear that the walker who crossed the line was a drug cheat. The AFL would be acting inconsistently if it failed to follow the same practice as the IOC. Watson might well prefer this because an asterisk against the year would forever draw attention to the drug saga in which he was involved.

As a sideline to this whole controversy, it seems that Stephen Dank's defamation cases against the Nine Network have gone down the toilet* because the man failed to turn up to court/comply with orders - Case dismissed. Dank was ordered to pay Nine's costs of and incidental to each of the proceedings and I wish them the best of luck with that. * most likely the same toilet down which Essendon's drug records were flushed around four and a half years ago.

And treat it with the gravity it deserves.

26. I x Max Gawn plus 1 x Billy Stretch?

You missed a day. We're up to 31 formerly associated with a player who cannot be named on this thread.

No love for the current custodian of the number 33? Queenslander = bananas, surely?

This bloke is a sports lawyer who maintains that Jobe Watson should keep his Brownlow Medal - Here's why the AFL can't strip Essendon's Jobe Watson of his Brownlow Medal I don't quite follow his "logic" in all this. Watson has been found guilty of an anti doping rule violation over a regime of drug injections that took place in the year when he "won" his Brownlow Medal. I don't think it would speak for the AFL's integrity if it relied on the loopholes suggested to allow Watson to keep one of the competition's most coveted personal trophies.

Jack Viney Day and a wet track for the time honoured Cox Plate. Going to Money Valley Red?