Whispering_Jack

With the Under 18 championships behind them and leading up to the 2014 AFL Draft there were six players who Tony Elshaug and his recruiting team believed had started to separate themselves from the rest, and who could wind up being worthy of the No. 1 slot. "The first four, in no particular order, were Angus Brayshaw, Paddy McCartin, Christian Petracca and Peter Wright. The other two - Isaac Heeney and Darcy Moore - were tied to Sydney and Collingwood, with Moore the son of two-time Brownlow Medallist Peter Moore and available to the Magpies as a father-son selection. Elshaugh talked through Brayshaw's form first, as some footage rolled on the war-room television. 'He's ready to go,' he said of the Vic Metro midfielder. 'He was ready to go three months ago when he was the best player against Collingwood's VFL team. He was in the leader¬ship group; he's an All Australian. He had three very good games and the others weren't bad either. He's tough, good at stoppages but he can spread and he's improved his endurance over time. He sees every¬thing around him, makes good decisions. His dad is Mark Brayshaw, who played with Claremont and North Melbourne and was the CEO there. His mum is a part-time teacher and he has brothers coming through the system as well. He's made of the right stuff.' 'Can you compare him to Josh Kelly?' asked Pelchen. 'They're very different players,' said Elshaug. 'Josh was an outside player trying to play inside, learning that. He's more of a silky-smooth player. This kid will drive it from the front and be a strong inside player.' 'He looks a bit like Josh Kennedy to me,' observed Richardson. 'He's a good size. 'He has some presence,' said Elshaug. 'He does most things well.' 'He doesn't play slow, put it that way' said Elshaug. 'He's not necessarily a quick player, but he doesn't get caught.' 'Does he look to kick quickly, or run with the ball?' asked the coach. 'Both,' said Elshaug. 'He can run with it and break away. He's got a pretty good all round game, but he's not Stephen Hill.' 'Is his endurance strong?' 'It's improved but he knows he needs to keep getting better," said Elshaug. 'If he got in the right shape and had no more injuries he’d run a good time trial at the combine, but I’m tipping he’s done most of his work already. I’m not saying he’s done, but he’s had a pretty big year to get to the point he’s at. He’s a good kid and he’s from a good family. They have strong values. His younger brother gave their mother a bit of cheek one day after a fun run, so Angus took him for a drive, dropped him off and said, "This is how far Mum had to run. See ya," and left him there. He’s been through school, he’s been through an injury. He’s handled everything that’s come his way so far. It’s hard to pick too many holes in him.'"

Nice report CC but may I add that Jake Melksham is likely to be missing for quite a while.

Day 3 Diary: Build up to big week

IIRC, at one stage Swan was mentioned in despatches in relation to the St. Kilda schoolgirl saga?

I was out last night so I missed the interview but having now watched it, I can categorically state that yesterday was the darkest day in the history of Australian journalism.

Inside the camp: Day 1

Indeed. Perhaps, it's because there are no traditional journals operating any more without agendas? Perhaps, nobody's truly independent any more? In the case of our own media, we had Murdoch with a generally pro EFC, pro Hird agenda, that was so sycophantic that it became unreadable. Fairfax generally swung the other way but had the benefit of the likes of Tim Lane and Jake Niall but I don't think there are enough in the media willing to stare the AFL and its power clubs down hard enough to get at the truth of every matter. Fairfax also has Baker and McKenzie whose investigative work exposed Dank but one has to wonder why the full results of their investigative work was never published - perhaps, legal threats? The hope for investigative journalism might well become the small independents or perhaps Hird could open the Pandora's Box this evening if he's led by Holmes to the night of that phone call from Demetriou to Evans? I also wonder why Eddie McChins has been so uncharacteristically reticent.

Hirdy's already gone with sliding Dawes but perhaps not quite in context.

I caught up with the full FC special through you tube and I thought Garry actually raised a fair point about how the tanking investigation and charges would have been dealt with quite differently if there was an independent world body that looked into "tanking" offences. Firstly, all clubs strongly suspected of tanking would have been looked at, secondly the conduct of the investigation and the "evidence" scrutinised properly and thirdly, the pronouncements written and verbal from the AFL's CEO as to what "tanking" did and did not constitute* would have to be taken into account. I'm not sure in those circumstances whether the matter would have gone as far as it did, remembering that 2 QC's had provided opinions to the effect that the charges could not be sustained in a court of law. * granted there are differing views of what tanking means, Demetriou's statements about what was permitted eliminated most if not all of the misconceptions people had about tanking - eg resting players, playing them out of normal positions, experimenting with tactics etc. He sanctioned all of these things in articles, television interviews and in one talk given by him for a charity function I attended when it was raised in the context of Carlton in 2007.

My challenge to Tracey Holmes would be for her to explore Hird's relationship with the club doctor, Bruce Reid a little more deeply. There's an article in the Australian (protected by a paywall) in which Hird accuses the club doctor of "downplaying his own knowledge about what the players were taking." "Players told Bruce exactly what they were getting." Hird claims. Reid's response: "The players didn't even know what they were getting, let alone speak to me." A good interviewer should be able to extract some illuminating insights into the relationship between the coach and the club doctor and the apparent conflict between the two men on this issue along with some deeper understanding of Reid's letter outlining his concerns about the supplements programme and Hird's emails to Danny Corcoran which suggested that he wanted to keep Reid on the sidelines as much as possible. "No stress but need to organise a meeting with you me Reidy, Danksy and Weapon (Robinson) the day you get back. Reidy has stopped everything which is getting a little frustrating. Need to get your United Nations skills back into action." Perhaps Hird could also explain why he and the club didn't simply issue a directive to the players to first consult with Reid as club doctor and obtain his authorisation before taking any of substances by injection or otherwise?

It's a long day for the players ... The club has just tweeted that the players have split up into groups this afternoon and are getting started for their massages. I'm not certain about this but I have a feeling that we have a bigger rehab group at this point in time than we did this time last year. I seem to recall that Jack Trengove was out but not many others had anything more than a niggle. Anyone know?

That could be because it's his wedding anniversary today. We need to cut him some slack today in recognition of the occasion.

Emma Quayle is one of the more knowledgeable writers on the AFL Draft. Recently, her second book was published - The Draftees, a sequel to her first which covered the 2007 AFL Draft, The Draft. This time she covers the year-long journey of five potential 2014 draftees (Isaac Heeney, Jake Lever, Tom Lamb, Clem Smith and Peter Wright) and looks at the issues and the highs and lows involved in being a potential AFL draftee, including the pressures, the disruption to normal family life and education, injuries and a raft of other matters that arise during the course of the season. Interspersed with the diaries of the players are insights about the drafting process from the recruiting team at St. Kilda who made themselves available to Quayle at various times during the year. You get to understand their thinking and the pressure upon them to make the right calls on players. Obviously, from an MFC supporter perspective, the book would have been of even greater interest, had one of Quayle's subjects ultimately been a Demon draft pick, but there have been some interesting snippets so far (I'm halfway through the book). Some examples:- Saints recruiting manager (and former Demon Tony Elshaug) and another recruiter flew to Adelaide in May to watch an South Australian Under 18 trial game and called Glenelg pair Alex Neal-Bullen and Billy Stretch the "two stand out players". Discussion about Angus Brayshaw in the early stages of the Under 18 championships: "Brayshaw was next. 'He was very good. He had plenty of the footy,' said Barnard. 'I don't know if it was planned, but he got more on the outside than the inside, which I wasn't expecting. He's been really combative in the games I've seen previously. He gets caught a few times but his work rate is through the roof.' 'His leadership is very good,' said Elshaug. 'He was always talking to the others. He can't do much more. I don't think he could possibly be playing much better than he is right now. He was best on ground.'" Being a NSW/ACT representative, Isaac Heeney can only play in the second division of the Under 18 championships and expresses his frustration that the new championship format means that he couldn't do the thing that he most wanted: "take on Angus Brayshaw, Christian Petracca and the other really good midfielders ..." The importance of buildings up a good fitness base when coming back from injury was discussed in the case of Peter Wright, an early draft favourite on his recovery and on Jake Lever who spent the entire season sidelined after a knee reconstruction. Late in the season, one of the Saints' recruiters sat in freezing-cold weather at Ballarat watching Oscar McDonald play well at CHB in a TAC Cup game. "He works really, really hard and he's able to accumulate possessions because of that. He's a smart player, he reads the play well and he's competitive. There's just a slight lack of athleticism that worries me at the moment". I'm just getting to the part where the Saints recruiters discuss the top six draft prospects which included Paddy McCartin, Brayshaw and Christian Petracca - I'll cover that discussion in my next report.

Are we officially the first team to kick a goal in 2016?

True that the AFL and AFLPA need to ensure the health and safety of the current Essendon playing list (something which both appear to have been remiss about along with the EFC over the whole issue) but they are clearly playing favourite with the Bombers over almost everything else. Back in 2013 when the AFL sanctioned Essendon over governance following the partially completed joint investigation, it was made painfully clear that the issue of the actual possible use of banned substances was still unresolved. Now that this long running saga has ended and it is plain and obvious that they are culpable in conducting a programme involving the ingesting of banned substances by their players, the AFL is letting them off the hook with salary cap concessions, generous rights to recruit top up players and draft pick hand outs as a side benefit to having a weakened team due to the sanctions. Banned players can be paid their full remuneration. This was all announced on the day the sanctions were announced and with no consultation with the clubs although one of the offenders gets consulted and time to put forward a case (should he wish to) as to whether he can keep his Brownlow. Business as usual for the AFL. It hasn't learned a thing from the various scandals that have rocked the organisation in recent years. And the money keeps rolling in.

Please keep up the good work waynewussell. I only wish I had the time to get up to the Coast myself but I only just got back from an overseas trip and I have to show my face around work. Look forward to your impressions on the new recruits.

Somebody's obviously ghosting for you Doc.

In early January 2012, the Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia struck a rock off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany and sunk with the loss of 32 lives. The captain, Francesco Captain Schettino was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter of 32 passengers and sentenced to 16 years. Included with the multiple manslaughter charge of which he was found guilty were causing the shipwreck, abandoning the passengers and providing false information to port authorities. Ironically, at the same time as the Costa Concordia was foundering the EFC under coach Hird was embarking on the supplements programme which has devastated the club and resulted in last week's sanctions. Reading the installments of Hird's "explanation" in the Herald Sun reminded me so much of Schettino's gutless conduct. There's a mealy mouthed half-hearted acknowledgment of some breakdown in responsibility but that's all due to breaches of trust committed by everyone else involved ranging from CAS, the AFL, Demetriou, his colleagues at Essendon including long time friend and club Doctor Reid. Hird throws them all under the bus or should I say, under the Costa Concordia. Tomorrow night's ABC programme with Tracey Holmes won't be long enough for Hird to explain why, like Schettino he failed to do the honourable thing when his ship went down. Here's a preview on the business ethics aspect - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKGeHuln08A&sns=em

Pardon me interrupting with some discussion about the Melbourne Football Club but it's a fact that the team has arrived on the Sunshine Coast and were working hard today. Here's proof.

It seems to be a bad week for people in the world of sports and entertainment dying young. Ken had a very brief career with the club in the late 60s and I believe that his first wife, a very lovely lady, passed away very young. Condolences to Ken's family - it's a loss for the entire Demon community.

At Maroochydore Multi Sports Complex - tomorrow (Saturday) at 9.00am

Brace yourselves for this rare musical tribute - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5LqDyMJISg&sns=em With sincere apologies to the great Leonard Cohen.

It was Dean Robinson, not Mark Robinson, not that it mattered. I can't wait to hear Hird speak about the ethical position of coaches who refuse to accept responsibility and are constantly passing the buck.

Oh ... forgot, it's about ethics too

Of all the media flunkies who have followed or commented on the Essendon disaster, Madame "Fake tan" Holmes would rate as the premier sycophant in the James Hird three ring circus. As such she is the last person who should be interviewing someone like Hird on such a serious subject as sportspeople on performance enhancing regimes.