Whispering_Jack

With Mitch Starc injured, I reckon James Pattinson would have to be close to the best pace bowler going around. Let's hope our young pace bowlers can stay healthy for a change.

If the report is correct and the changes are adopted it will finally be a case of sanity prevailing. Blind Freddie could tell you that a region that produced the likes of the Danihers, Wayne Carey, Paul Kelly and Shane Crawford to name a few isn't really a development zone and that the Giants were never deserving of the free access to players from this region under the northern states academy concept. This year's national draft would have been a farce with three top 10 players available to one club (and possibly one more if they were able to trade into an early pick as they did last year).

Will the AFL bite the bullet and start taking action to make its draft a level playing field again? One club out of 18 can't have direct access ahead of the others to what could possibly be 3 of the best 10 prospects in the land. Why Greater Western Sydney should lose rich recruiting zone

Here we go again. Chanderpaul father-son duo make history

Most likely because it was way off topic, breached our rules and made a moderator angry. And now, can we not take this thread for a long walk. Please stay on topic.

... but instead, the AFL took no steps to sanction the club in any way whatsoever after the final CAS decision found the 34 EFC players and former players guilty of an anti doping rule violation. In fact, the AFL had an immediate plan in place to lighten the club's burden during the period of the players' suspension by allowing it to supplement its list with top up players (with no assistance to other clubs that had lost players who had in the interim transferred from the EFC). Within that plan was its decision that notwithstanding that Essendon's record in 2016 would inevitably be adversely affected by the unavailability of players, most of who would be returning in 2017, this factor would not be taken into account in determining the club's position in the 2016 AFL draft. Hence, a gift of the first pick in that draft and improved position in other rounds in a draft already tainted and skewed by the academy system. Well done AFL. It was the least you could do after all those years and in particular the way your own Tribunal stuffed up the initial hearing into the doping saga.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more ridiculous this story keeps on giving.

Nah, leave that sort of stuff for the honourable Mr Redleg.

Where's O'Keefe been?

Just listened to the tape and don't understand the drama. Nothing new and it seems to me that it demonstrates that the AFL and the EFC were doing their level best to make a deal that would have circumvented the anti doping rules.

I'm reporting this to Adrian Anderson. He'll fix it all up ... no, wait.

The Plaintiff in this case must think the Supreme Court justices are a humourless lot and in need of some laughter which is, after all, the best medicine. Another windfall for the legal fraternity from the gift that keeps on giving.

Precisely.

There's black and white and there are shades of gray in between. It seems to me that there's a conflict between the opinions of some of Gysberts' teammates if we're to believe what's been expressed here:- demoniac - "According to one of his Melbourne team mates he just did not have the work ethic required. Same team mate ask Gysberts to train with him in the offseason and do all the sessions in an effort to lift his endurance and intensity in preparation for pre season. Fair to say Gysberts did not quite commit." Vogon Poetry - "Gysberts was an introvert and was crushed by the hostile atmosphere generated by Neeld and his philosophy. This has been confirmed to me by both players and staff who were there at the time." Dean Bailey was Gysberts' first coach and had him for two years during which time the player showed he had the natural talent that made him a first round draft pick but also the limitations as mentioned in earlier posts. The off season to which demoniac is referring most likely was 2011-2 which is when Neeld took over the reins at the club so there were issues that were well and truly embedded by the time Neeld arrived. I would suggest that an introvert who had limitations and was already shunning the opportunity to take part in a regime of self-improvement would have fared no better under the coaching of Paul Roos or Simon Goodwin than he did under Mark Neeld and later under Brad Scott. The comparison between Gysberts on the one hand and Petracca and Oliver on the other is ludicrous because the latter two have already demonstrated their desire for self-improvement and are already showing the benefits of that. So who should we blame? Was it Bailey, Neeld, the hostile atmosphere in a dysfunctional club, poor recruiting and list management, "burn out", Gysberts himself or the tooth fairy? Upon whose judgement do we rely to make the call? I suspect that it was a combination of a number of factors and issues that beset him and indeed the club going back a number of years that led us to the uncomfortable period we've experienced since our last finals appearance. Thankfully, those days are behind us and to bring us back to the discussion at hand - the areas in which we have improved immeasurably are coaching and recruiting. Kelly is going to be a great player but the trade that netted us Tyson, Salem and ultimately Hunt (as Redleg has pointed out) works for me.

The SA Under 18 trials got under way today -MCDONALD’S SA U18 TRIAL TEAMS For the record, the first trial game was close with the Blue Team beating the Red Team 11.6.72 to 10.7.67.

Proof http://www.demonland.com/images/fiji.jpg

In Fiji. Bananas everywhere.

It's possible to look at this situation in different ways. James Hird is a human being, a husband and a father who has attempted to take his life. In that respect, I think most other reasonable human beings should be looking at how he can be best helped to overcome whatever it is that brought him to that place. If he had a broken leg, it wouldn't be hard for us to understand that he needs proper medical attention, possibly an operation, followed by rest and recuperation. Mental illness is somewhat more complex but I see no reason why people need to go into whether or not he "brought all of this on himself" - we simply don't know and it's irrelevant at this point in time. In my view, the general community, the football fraternity and in particular the Essendon Football Club and its supporters should all be working together to help him in any possible way they can which at this stage is not to do or say too much, to leave it to the health professionals and let him know they have everyone's full support in his quest to get better. That's what I would expect we should be doing in the case of a broken leg and this is no different. I've always maintained that Essendon played this saga out very poorly. Hird was part of that but we can't even say definitively whether it was the factor that brought him to the place he currently occupies. However, I don't think the recriminations and finger pointing in the media from his father, lawyer and some Essendon supporters and others playing the blame game is going to help anyone - neither Hird, the Essendon Football Club or the sport itself.

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.