Whispering_Jack

Wednesday 20th May Tonight I'll be fronting up as usual to the Devil's Advocates Dinner for members of the legal fraternity who support the Melbourne Football Club. They include judges and their associates, solicitors, barristers, paralegal people and their staff all with that one thing in common - the fact that red and blue blood courses through their veins. That, and the fact that they have suffered greatly through the sport over time (except of course, for those who managed to get a professional involvement in the Essendon drug saga) It's almost becoming a tradition that on the weekend before this function, Melbourne suffers a hiding of gigantic proportions meaning that the mood of the evening is usually sombre if not funereal. As a reminder of how poorly the Demons performed in their game against the Hawks, I give you this report from Footy Almanac. As a result, I pity for instance, Phil Kingston, the auctioneer who has to flog various Demon related products during the course of the evening, like an afternoon in the coaches box, when the enthusiasm among the crowd leaves a lot to be desired. I might even be tempted to put in a bid for the coaches box gig but only on a non match day. Still, I always look forward to the event and trust that there will be some special revelation that might reveal a light at the end of that very long tunnel that seems to extend itself whenever we get a third of the way into a season. THE GAME Melbourne v Western Bulldogs at The MCG Sunday 24 May 2015 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall: Melbourne 84 Western Bulldogs 74 wins wins 1 draw At MCG: Melbourne 44 wins Western Bulldogs 27 wins Last Five Meetings: Melbourne 1 win Western Bulldogs 4 wins The Coaches: Roos 0 wins Beveridge 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Sports Channel 3 Radio - SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne $3.05 to win Western Bulldogs $1.38 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Western Bulldogs 14.7.91 defeated Melbourne 13.7.85 at Etihad Stadium in Round 15, 2014. The Demons had a slow start but recovered from way back to lead late in the game until a few defensive mistakes and some brilliance from Marcus Bontempelli saw the Dogs home by a goal. TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Colin Garland, Tom McDonald, Jack Grimes HB: Jeremy Howe, Lynden Dunn, Heritier Lumumba C: Daniel Cross, Aaron vandenBerg, Matt Jones HF: Angus Brayshaw, Cameron Pedersen, Jack Watts F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Jack Fitzpatrick FOLL: Jake Spencer, Nathan Jones, Bernie Vince I/C: Rohan Bail, Ben Newton, Aidan Riley, Jimmy Toumpas EMG: Max Gawn, Viv Michie, Billy Stretch IN: Jack Fitzpatrick, Jesse Hogan, Ben Newton, Aidan Riley, Jack Watts OUT: Chris Dawes (calf), Viv Michie, Christian Salem (hamstring), Billy Stretch, Dom Tyson (knee) WESTERN BULLDOGS B: Matthew Boyd, Jordan Roughead, Easton Wood HB: Robert Murphy, Fletcher Roberts, Jason Johannisen C: Tory Dickson, Liam Picken, Koby Stevens HF: Bailey Dale, Jake Stringer, Mitch Wallis F: Stewart Crameri, Tom Boyd, Luke Dahlhaus FOLL: Ayce Cordy, Lin Jong, Marcus Bontempelli I/C: Shane Biggs, Brett Goodes, Lachie Hunter, Michael Talia EMG: Jarrad Grant Nathan Hrovath Jack Macrae IN: Shane Biggs OUT: Mitch Honeychurch (general soreness) NEW: Shane Biggs Thursday 21st May I sat opposite Heritier Lumumba for part of the Devil's Advocates function (they rotate the club guests during the evening) and found him to be a revelation in terms of his ability to articulate his views on life and football with such intelligence, passion and humour. He is a major asset to the club not only as a player but as a mentor for our young team. When asked by compere Doctor Turf what his initial thoughts were of the three way trade involving Mitch Clark (to Geelong), Travis Varcoe (to Collingwood) and him to Melbourne, it was that the Demons had won. Perhaps he was jesting but I think he might be right. He also added that he felt at home at this function because his stepfather was a Solicitor which meant he understood why so many there were wearing mismatched ties. His story of how his parents were both dancers who met in Brazil (his father was from the undemocratic Republic of Congo). This probably explains the graceful way he moves around the field at times and he was the big hit of the night from my perspective. Josh Mahoney spoke of his experiences as a twice rejected AFL player (Collingwood and Bulldogs) who spent three seasons in the VFL before getting a chance to be a premiership player at Port Adelaide. Josh has had a role change at Melbourne, moving from the coaching to the business side of football which he says suits him just fine. He did mention that Neville Jetta and Jack Viney would miss another week before returning but that Jesse Hogan was good to go this week. The final speaker was Simon Goodwin who spoke of his experiences as coach in waiting and how he was enjoying the learning experience under Paul Roos and how he is being mentored as a future coach by Neale Daniher. It was something that most of the audience knew little about and there a great deal of interest in Neales experiences as he fights his debilitating illness. Goodwin remains very confident that the club is on the right trajectory despite the difficult three week period it has just experienced against three of the competitions strongest sides. He expects us to be a finals prospect within the next two to three years. Congratulations to Devils Advocates convener Ralph Glezer with who I first went with to the footy in our university days which started not long after our golden era ended. There were many times in the barren years of the 70s and 80s that our only joy was the sight of Robbie Flower running on the wings of the MCG and the suburban football grounds of Melbourne. Kudos to Ralph for bringing in poet and Demon fan Greg Shalless to open the night by delivering his tribute to Robbie - https://soundcloud.com/sen1116/ode-to-robbie-flower/ Phil Kingston of Garry Peer & Associates estate agents was brilliant as the auctioneer of various bits and pieces of Melbourne related goodies. Dr. Turf was the compere and ran the show well with his wit and wisdom. He brought the house down with his story about how Prime Minister Bob Hawke gave him his private telephone number so that he could deliver his horse racing tips on a Saturday morning. Turfie asked the PM what would happen if the phone was engaged, to which Hawke answered, then were all f---ed because the only person who has the number is George Bush and if hes on the line it means hes gotten us involved in another bloody war!" I'm wondering if he has the phone number for Paul Roos because I would dearly like to know what hes thinking as Melbourne takes on the Western Bulldogs with a side that it somewhat depleted from the games of early in the season when the team showed significant advances over last year. Despite the fact that the Western Bulldogs have dominated recent meetings between the teams (they have won nine of 10 matches since 2008), the games have been reasonably close affairs with the Demons in the contests until close to the end. The past four contests have been decided by an average margin of 11 points and on most such occasions, it was the overall experience of the Doggies that made the difference but this time around, things promise to be different. The Western Bulldogs jettisoned a fair bit of experience at the end of 2014 and many of the pundits expected them to struggle with the extra reliance upon youth but instead, their youngsters have risen to the occasion and given their fans some joy after the gloom and doom of the off season. Whilst Melbourne has some promising young players on its list, some of the best of its youth have been sidelined with injury lately and therefore, team selection has become something of a mish mash with several not quite right players getting games and a number of selections going against the flow of logic for an outsider. The end result is that I don't have the same feeling of confidence in the team's short to medium term prospects that I held a month ago. Western Bulldogs by 27 points

It's been established already that no matter how poorly you perform, if the word Melbourne is in or associated with your club's name, you don't qualify for a priority pick under the rules.

Robbo creating new standards in journalism today ~ Essendon doping scandal: James Hird’s dad stands by his son

@melbournefc: Late change. Forward Jesse Hogan out (General soreness). In Cam Pedersen.

The MFC website finally has put up the Round 4 VFL player review. They seem to be more informative than in past years.

I think the AFLPA is looking at this issue primarily in terms of the players' civil liberties which its seeking to protect ahead of the other issue at play in terms of so-called "recreational" drugs. The problem is that, as we've seen with the two Collingwood players waiting on their B sample results, the lines between the two are blurred. My concern is that the AFLPA should be looking after all of its constituents, particularly on health and safety which includes drug education and rooting out those involved in drug cheating and I don't believe they've done enough in recent years.

I really wish that I could believe what Chris Dawes said this week about coming up against the Hawks and his personal battle with Chip but really ...

Leaving aside Anzac Day eve for obvious reasons, this was the first time this year we had a Friday night game that was close, exciting and a contest. I liked the fact that the lead changed; there was tension and excitement - all of those things we haven't had in those interminable beatings of other weeks, most of them involving Carlton. And guess what club is featured in the next two weeks on Friday night? It's scandalous that the AFL should give these fixtures which, apart from anything else, are so commercially lucrative and then people complain that the poorer clubs that get no such benefits from their draw get "hand outs" from the AFL. I hope there's a decent NRL game on for the next two Friday nights because I won't be wasting my time watching Mick's coming demise. I think North are being underestimated as a finals contender and, say what you like about the Bombers, their officialdom, their delusional coach, their players who might or might not have been duped over the drugs saga, but their team always goes out on the field and gives its best effort.

If anyone thinks Watts' inclusion or exclusion is going to make one iota of difference to the result today, they really have no idea.

... wake up.

Strewth, did I see one of those digital advertising screens advertising a brand of supplements?

Given that our other early picks were Jack Watts, Sam Blease and James Strauss, the entire draft is starting to look even more of a disaster than the Tom Scully one that succeeded it. What concerns me is the story I once heard about our dealings with Sloane and his family and certain promises that might have been made at the time which might even rule us out of contention if we wanted him now, some seven years after the fact.

The spreadsheet of truth About those injections: For more by Sean Curtain ~ here, here, here and here I'm starting to wonder if this imaginary player really exists and whether the Essendon players who have been painted by many as the "victims" of this saga really care about what was injected into their bodies or whether the truth will ever come out? Can someone remind me why the AFL Tribunal decision was never made public? Wasn't it to protect the names and reputations of the players who at the end of it all were, according to James Hird, found to be "innocent"? So now that the names of the Essendon 34 are in the public domain, what is the non-publication of the decision protecting?

I think in the context of women's footy that would be martinettes, wouldn't it?

Paige Cardona is a budding expert on future AFL stars but she and a few of her Deer Park teammates have landed in hot water over comments on Facebook about their game last weekend against Mordialloc AFL Victoria moves to suspend female Deer Park players over facebook comments. A case of officialdom going over the top?

Which 10 prospects will be at the top of this year's draft? ... and from bigfooty, Chris 25's "The Big Board" 1. Jacob Weitering (195cm, 90kg defender from Dandenong) 2. Aaron Francis (192cm, 89kg utility from West Adelaide) 3. Callum Mills (186cm, 73kg midfielder from North Shore) 4. Callum Ah Chee (182cm, 71kg forward/midfielder from South Fremantle) 5. Darcy Tucker (184cm, 78kg midfielder from North Ballarat) 6. Darcy Parish (181cm, 72kg midfielder from Geelong) 7. Greg Clark (193cm, 82kg midfielder from Subiaco) 8. Ryan Burton (190cm, 79kg forward from North Adelaide) 9. Kieran Collins (193cm, 94kg defender from Dandenong Stingrays) 10. Stephen Tahana (183cm, 79kg defender from North Adelaide) 11. Josh Schache (199cm, 96kg forward from Murray Bushrangers) 12. Luke Partington (180cm, 75kg midfielder from Norwood) 13. Jacob Hopper (186cm, 82kg midfielder from North Ballarat) 14. Rhys Mathieson (185cm, 79kg midfielder from Geelong) 15. Josh Dunkley (189cm, 85kg midfielder from Gippsland Power) 16. Harley Balic (186cm, 80kg midfielder from Sandringham) 17. Charlie Curnow (191cm, 95kg forward from Geelong) 18. Nick O'Kearney (181cm, 71kg midfielder from Calder Cannons) 19. Keiran Agius (187cm, 84kg forward from North Adelaide) 20. Sam Weideman (196cm, 91kg forward from Eastern Ranges) forward. 21. Ben Keays (183cm, 78kg midfielder from Morningside) 22. James Parsons (189cm, 79kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges) 23. Matthew Kennedy (187cm, 84kg midfielder from NSW/Collingullie) 24. Harry McKay (200cm, 85kg forward from Gippsland Power) 25. Tim Sullivan (199cm, 90kg ruckman from Glenelg) 26. Thomas Cole (185cm, 76kg midfielder from Bendigo Pioneers) 27. Ryan Clarke (186cm, 84kg midfielder from Eastern Ranges) 28. Riley Bonner (187cm, 75kg utility from West Adelaide) 29. Sam Skinner (197cm, 96kg defender from Gippsland Power) 30. Jade Gresham (177cm, 74kg midfielder from Northern Knights) 31. Dylan Smith (198cm, 81kg from Swan Districts) 32. Callum Moore (193cm, 85kg forward from Calder Cannons) 33. Jake Sushames (185cm, 65kg midfielder from North Launceston) 34. Kade Stewart (180cm, 67kg midfielder from South Fremantle) 35. Jordan Dawson (188cm, 80kg forward from Sturt) 36. Matthew Nunn (180cm, 75kg midfielder from Norwood) 37. Aidyn Johnson (184cm, 75kg midfielder from Bendigo Pioneers) 38. Will Snelling (177cm, 68kg midfielder from West Adelaide) 39. Maris Olekalns (180cm, 70kg midfielder from North Adelaide) 40. Levi Ridley (183cm, 74kg midfielder from Swan Districts) WA. 41. Wayne Milera (182cm, 71kg midfielder from Central Districts) 42. Cameron Hewett (189cm, 76kg midfielder from North Adelaide) 43. Oleg Markov (187cm, 78kg midfielder from North Adelaide) 44. Matthew Flynn (200cm, 99kg ruckman from Narrandera) 45. Bailey Rice (184cm, 81kg defender from Dandenong Stingrays) 46. Karl Brown (192cm, 90kg forward from Calder Cannons) 47. Yestin Eades (183cm, 80kg midfielder from North Ballarat Rebels) 48. Kyle Broadwood (195cm, 84kg defender from Woodville West Torrens) 49. Eric Hipwood (197cm, 82kg forward from Aspley) 50. Michael Hagan (174cm, 65kg midfielder from Darwin) 51. John Shaw (177cm, 75kg defender from Swan Districts) 52. Jordan Snadden (190cm, 79kg midfielder from East Fremantle) 53. Kyle Presbury (182cm, 73kg midfielder from Central Districts) 54. Mitchell Hibberd (191cm, 85kg midfielder from Clarence) 55. Brendan Dew (178cm, 66kg midfielder from Central Districts) 56. Josh Minogue (189cm, 80kg forward from Murray Bushrangers) 57. Harrison Himmelberg (192cm, 84kg forward from Eastlake) 58. Daniel Houston (187cm, 83kg forward from Oakleigh Chargers) 59. Mason Redman (184cm, 77kg midfielder from Glenelg) 60. Dylan Atkins (199cm, 88kg ruckman from Sandringham)

I would like the team to deliver the same message on the field on Saturday and actually carry it out as well. (wishful thinking but one can hope and dream)

WADA appeal against Essendon a 'witch hunt', claims lawyer Graham Smith, a Melbourne lawyer believes that by exercising its lawful right to appeal the AFL Tribunal's decision in the case of the Essendon 34, WADA is engaging in a 'witch hunt'. My response to that is that, just as there is "good" thymosin and "bad" thymosin, there are "good" witches and "bad" witches and if WADA is hunting for the "bad" guys in a quest to uncover the truth, then it's fulfilling its charter for the benefit of world sport and I'm all in favour. This goes to the heart of the reason for the appeal and it's a pity Chip used the example of Hexarelin rather than TB4 but, in any event, it should be clear that there is a strongly arguable case that the AFL Tribunal demanded the far stricter standard of proof being beyond reasonable doubt rather than that of comfortable satisfaction as required for an anti-doping offence even though it said it applied the latter standard. This is why Smith's comments on WADA's appeal are ludicrous.

Greg Baum gets it ~ WADA appeal into Essendon verdict: Too big even for City Hall I think one of the commentators in the aftermath of the AFL Tribunal decision claimed it was an advantage that two of its members had played football at a high level. I couldn't disagree more. That close connection more likely clouded their senses of what it took to deal with the elements of the case and to conclude to a standard of comfortable satisfaction. Perhaps it was inevitable but we really never came close to the truth and perhaps we never will given the shady nature of the witnesses who were either coerced into not giving direct evidence to the tribunal or simply refused of their own volition. The tribunal seemed to draw little or no inferences from the fact that they did not make themselves available or that the data about the programme they presided over was removed from the face of the earth leaving me at least in little doubt that the players were injected with the substance Dank imported and that it was exactly what the Chinese company he imported it from actually manufactures. Baum nails it with this -

The good news is that James Frawley will be back. Oh ... wait

I was surprised at how well Whateley handled the interview and how he pulled Hird up on his call that they players were innocent. A few random things to note that will have an impact on the CAS hearing:- * the Workcover investigation could throw some light on the nature of the substance ingested by the players. Hird claims it was "thymodulin" or something labelled as such. The Tribunal found that it was not that at all - it was either TB4 or something else but it couldn't be comfortably satisfied as to which of them. * Dank has appealed the AFL Tribunal's verdict against him. If he follows the appeal through he's going to have to give some evidence and be subjected to cross examination. * the appeal involves reopening the case and a rehearing of the matter. WADA will therefore have the benefit of knowing what factors caused the AFL Tribunal to come to its conclusions and refocusing the direction of its presentation to the Court.

Promising start from Gerard Whateley and James Hird on AFL360. Intro from Whateley: "WADA steps in to appeal the Bombers' not guilty verdict again jeopardising the futures of 34 players." James Hird: ... "2 and a half year investigation, emphatic not guilty, innocent" says the man who appealed against the ruling of a Federal Court Judge during the course of this saga but has a problem with WADA exercising its right to appeal what it considers to be a bad decision by the AFL Tribunal.

In the interests of balance, this article by Sydney sports lawyer Darren Kane sets out his interpretation of the result of AFL Tribunal decision which is now being appealed against - Why ASADA's case against Essendon fell apart. My recollection of previous articles by Kane is that he has been a supporter of the line that insists on the innocence of the players. He has the benefit of having read the Tribunal decision but I have my reservations about his interpretation of the facts referred to in the decision and in particular the part about Essendon's receipt of, or payment for the "TB4" which doesn't appear to match what I've been told about the invoicing for substances at the heart of the case.

What is WADA: a handy guide

I'm going to re-post Dees2014's thoughts from a few weeks back on the possibility of a WADA appeal. Although long, it should answer a few questions:-