Whispering_Jack

Please keep on topic folks - this thread is about Clayton Oliver. Thanks

Top 15 questions answered This bloke has a fairly sound knowledge of the situation. A law student, I believe.

Can't we just notify whoever runs the site's software or whatever of the problem to see if they can rectify it?

Folks ... can we stay on topic please? This is about Christian Petracca and his toe.

It's now more than two years since Melbourne drafted Jayden Hunt from Brighton Grammar. Soon after, I wrote about him in The hunt for Andy's nephew and, at the time I described him as the "quintessential smoky." Hunt was the gun junior who played at the same age level as Josh Kelly and Christian Salem but his development was restricted when he went through a growth spurt. This limited his football in the 16/17 age group and he missed out on making the Sandringham Dragons Under 18s squad. He excelled however, for Brighton Grammar where he was also a top sprinter and was drafted by Melbourne at pick 57 in the 2013 national draft. Injuries have held him back further and he has been a fair way away from Melbourne selection. He started last year with the Casey Scorpions development league (seconds) team and made his way up to their seniors where he showed out with his pace and work around the goals and despite playing only a handful of games (7), he kicked enough goals (13) to finish equal leader in the Casey goalkicking with Max King. There were some who argued that he hadn't done enough to keep his place on the list but he was offered the extra year and so far, has by all accounts looked very good at training. With his injury woes behind him, he looks to have spent some valuable time in the gym and is no longer the skinny kid who came to the club over two years ago. It's not a big mystery but there's a definite question mark as to how will he fare in 2016. Is he in contention for an AFL game - will he get an opportunity in the NAB Challenge next month?

Day 9 Diary: Camp hailed a success The Day 9 Diary throws no light on the mystery of the injuries said to have been sustained by that trio. The article quotes elite performance manager Dave Misson who says the boys pulled up well. So the reports of the injuries are perhaps somewhat exaggerated or alternatively, we'll find out when they next train. It would seem that the next open training session will be sometime next week, probably at Casey Fields.

And while we're at it, Darrel Baldock who was St Kilda's captain in its only premiership in 1966 played mainly at CHF and was 179cm 84kg but he was an absolute freak. I commented recently about the fact that the current generation of players are generally taller and faster than those of the past, an evolution due to a number of factors relating probably to modern diet, fitness and even psychological factors. I wonder if there are any experts out there who can precisely explain the phenomenon? Sam Weideman is 196cm 90kg (even if he's stopped growing, he'll probably get to at least 100kg after a couple of seasons in the game). The pundits compare him with Matty Pavlich but the Pav is 192cm 99kg - a fair difference there. Yet, I can remember Sam's grandfather playing at CHF and CHB for Collingwood. He was strong, a great mark and seemed like a giant on the field. His biography gives his stats as 187cm 96kg.

It's finally happened ~ Chanderpaul retires from all forms of cricket

So Peter Gordon says he's looking at an appeal against the CAS decision by his Bulldog players. I'm not so sure that grounds for appeal exist but, I suppose that in this day and age when some legal firms can even be listed and subject to the ups and downs of the stock market, any work that comes the way of the profession is welcome.

In his own words

Of course (along with some others), and I should have put in the usual disclaimer about my bias in that regard. ? I've been circumspect about his prospects for 2016 but I reckon he's a chance to nudge his way into the competition's top four ruckmen. Anyway, here's hoping.

Day 8 Final Session Max Gawn wins the Paul Roos Man of the Week Award and picks up $100.00 (included in the salary cap one hopes). This suggests that despite Simon Goodwin's work over the week, Roosy's still the man in charge. I guess we'll have to wait another time for any injury report but 3 hours and 6 minutes of intensive training is sure to bring some pain.

This is the NAB AFL Academy for this year. Most of its players will be in first round draft contention at the end of the year:- NSW-ACT: Harrison Macreadie Kobe Mutch Will Setterfield Zac Sproule NT: Brandon Parfitt Queensland: Jacob Allison Jack Bowes Jack Rolls Brad Scheer SA: Jack Graham Peter Ladhams Jonty Scharenberg Steven Slimming Jordon Sweet Tasmania: Ben McGuiness Vic Country: Ben Ainsworth Josh Battle Jarrod Berry Will Brodie Jarrod Korewha Hugh Mccluggage Myles Poholke Jy Simpkin Alex Witherden Vic Metro: Jordan Gallucci Jack Scrimshaw WA: Jeremy Goddard Noah Hura Josh Rotham Sam Petrevski-Seton Sam Powell-Pepper Luke Strnadica, Jake Waterman I believe they are currently traveling through the USA and of course, Emma Quayle of the Age is with them.

"Paddy McCartin's the player we're going to pick," Tony Elshaug began. "After much deliberation and debate about who's going to be the best player for the next 12 years and the best player for St Kilda, Paddy's the man. He ticks all the boxes, we feel. He has power, he's aggressive, he has strong character and he's a natural forward. He knows where to lead and when to lead. He splits packs open and brings the ball to ground when he doesn't mark it. He's a great team player and he's unselfish when he gets the ball. He used to be an inconsistent set shot but he's worked hard and improved that and it's just going to keep getting better. His kicking in the field is very good. He has strong character. Everything about him stands up, so he's the one we're going with." The Saints' decision to go with McCartin is now history but it was a close thing between he and Petracca and from the Saints' point of view, the debate about the wisdom of the choice was stilled because of the latter's ACL injury 12 months ago. This article in the Age covers the decision quite thoroughly. Inside St Kilda: Why the Saints chose Paddy McCartin Alan Richardson:

Friday 22 January - Maroochydore Multi Sports Complex - 8:45am AEST

That might be the case. The problem is that the police need evidence to prosecute a case and from what I understand, the person who complained in the first instance, was either unable or unwilling to provide the police with enough material to enable them to lay any charges. In those circumstances, if you can't support a charge, how do you justify 24 hour surveillance?

I don't understand the concern here. As has been stated, it was always part of the plan that Roos would oversee the succession of the coaching position in much the same way as he handed over the reins at Sydney to John Longmire. It worked there and, although there are no guarantees, he's fulfilling what he set out to do when appointed and it seems to be working. If the transition works as well as it did at the Swans, I think we'll all be happy and there's no reason at this stage to believe that its not going smoothly.

Not a fan of Dustin's in any way shape or form but I don't think we're a police state quite yet either.

The club hasn't commented at this stage as to whether it wants to have the right to pick such a player. It might not suit for a variety of reasons.

After discussing Angus Brayshaw, the attention of the St. Kilda recruiters went on to Christian Petracca. I'm going to quote the part of the book below but I think it's relevant that (as I understand it) St. Kilda coach Alan Richardson is a friend of the Petracca family. On that basis it's worth noting how detached he had to be when considering potential recruits - possibly in the same way that Todd Viney had to be a couple of years earlier when looking at the Toumpas/Wines selection. It's not easy and hindsight can be wonderful at times. "Christian Petracca had been voted Metro’s best and fairest at the end of the tournament, and won the Larke Medal as Division l’s stand-out player. He had matured a lot in the last six months; Elshaug reported. He had worked his way into the midfield, his improved endurance helping him spend more time in there. Was he a full-time midfielder, like Brayshaw? Probably not, said the recruiting manager, but he was a different sort of player. 'He's still learning how to run both ways. It’s still a bit foreign to him, but he'll tackle and compete in his area. Will he pick someone up? Angus is better at that at this point, because he’s played in the backline, but having said that, Christian can do some things Angus can’t do. At the start of the year you wondered how he’d go with keeping his feet on the ground and he’s been questioned about that along the way, but he's grown up a lot over the year. I think he's a much more level-headed kid now. He lifted the team in a lot of games, he had a lot of good second halves and he’s strong, he has an AFL body. We think he could take a bit more care with his kicks at time. His penetration is fine but sometimes you think, Can you take more than two steps before you kick?, that’s all. He just needs to remember to take more care, but there's nothing actually wrong with it.' 'When you talk about growing up, what do you mean by that? Is he immature?' asked Richardson. 'He’s a little bit excitable,' said Elshaug. 'He’s funny, a character. If there’s a distraction, he might be the one causing it. There’s always something happening when he’s around.' 'He has incredible vision,' said the coach. 'Is he tough?' 'Tough enough,' said Elshaug. 'There was one ball we questioned at the MCG, but that was the first time he’d played against men. He got a bit cute that day, but I haven’t seen any sign of that since then.' 'Which one do you personally like, out of him and Brayshaw?' 'I like both, and they’re not far apart. That’s the truth.' 'I didn’t ask that ...' 'I'd have Petracca a bit ahead of Brayshaw, but Brayshaw’s the one where you say, "Jeez, you’re a really solid pick, nothing could go wrong with you." Not much could go wrong with Christian either, but one has a bit more safety about him, I think. It’s a fine line. I like them both. I don’t need to decide between them yet, do I?’"

From the sound of things, you were probably sitting on his knee. You need to get a grip on yourself.

The Law Institute of Victoria has been quick off the mark and linked the Australian article to its newsletter - Lawyers have begun evaluating the financial cost and injury faced by Essendon players who have been banned for doping.

Essendon braced for compensation from doping Another can of worms about to open ...

Did you ask him how the knee's going?

Day 4 Diary