Whispering_Jack

Sounds like a magnificent conspiracy theory and the basis for a B Grade movie starring Mel Gibson as a crazed paranoid cab driver who stumbles upon the story and spends the next 90 minutes on the run from bad people. There are some facts there, lots of speculation, some adding of two and two together to get 4.5 and it might draw someone's blood but it's a sideshow to the main issue at hand which is to determine the guilt or innocence of 34 players and if they are found to be guilty to run the unsavoury characters involved and responsible out of the sport. If that runs all the way through to the Essendon board on top of Dank, Hird, Reid and the other usual suspects then so be it. If it leads all the way to demonstrate political corruption and greed, good luck. It won't surprise anyone but it also has to be proven and I'm not convinced that it all ties in with Dank and the supplements programme installed at Essendon in 2011/12.

I was there last night as well and, from the body language, I felt that they were very keen on McCartin. Either that or Taylor and Viney are very good actors.

Less if you suffer from insomnia.

Essendon supplements saga: 34 players hit with infraction notices Can't understand why exceptions to the bans have been made for the International Rules game. Ridiculous.

An ASADA storm is brewing but Hird’s future is hanging in the wind Another good opinion piece from Patrick Smith. That last line is music to my ears. There can be no perfect storm for Hird for the first one now will later be last and the times, they are a changin'.

The question is which Frawley are we losing and which one is Hawthorn gaining? The player who hit AA heights in 2010 or the one scarred by the events of the intervening years whose form and seemingly his interest and passion for the club declined after he received those offers from the big clubs? I have no doubt that had he stayed and been fully committed to the cause, he would most likely have been a player of good value for the remainder of his career but probably unlikely to hit the heights of 2010. At Hawthorn, with a lot of very good players around him and a member of a well oiled machine with less individual pressure on his shoulders he'll be a valuable player to them. But I don't see his loss as the loss of the 2010 variety Frawley; rather of the one we saw in 2014 and I will not mourn the loss of a player whose contribution was far less than what was expected of him. Similarly, I don't judge the loss of Clark as the shining light and outstanding goalkicker of the first half of 2012 but instead, we have lost someone who contributed four games early in 2013 and nothing since. The way I look at it, the storm has passed and we have to look to the future. Frawley, Clark and most of the early draft picks we've recently jettisoned are part of our imperfect past. It's now all about what we do with the players we've brought in and with the picks at our disposal but overall and looking at the 10 primary listed players and one rookie no longer at the club, I think we're already well in front and that our gains will far outweigh our losses.

At a club function on trading and the draft this evening, Todd Viney said Tappy was continuing to train at the club (with no guarantees of being rookied) while Pickles had elected not to continue to train with the club.

There's a whole lot more to this saga than meets the eye but for the 34 players now on the register of findings and soon to receive infraction notices, their llves won't be the same again unless they can clear themselves of responsibility. Given the way the system works from hereon in, they have their work cut out for them. Hird should be clearing his desk this afternoon. I think the only thing prolonging his career as an AFL coach is his appeal to the Federal Court Full Bench. From my perspective, this has taken about 12 months too long to reach this point.

Agree but I'm not sure that he would have been told he had "no future", rather that he would have been told that his future at the MFC was limited because there were players who were considered better options based on form and potential. I say this because the club has indicated it would consider rookie listing him if he applied. You wouldn't be saying that because it would be untrue if you thought .he had no future at all - it would be a waste of time and money to rookie him i.e. you don't close the door on a person and say he has no future and then suggest you would rookie him. I'm much happier that the club has kept its options open. It can now pick a kid at #53, take a DFA or use pick 2 in the PSD. If we do it well, we come out with a better list and given the appointment of McCartney more raw material for him to work on.

And another update as a result of the delisting of Michael Evans:- 2015 MELBOURNE LIST Primary list 1. Bail, Rohan 2. Cross, Daniel 3. Dawes, Chris 4. Dunn, Lynden 5. Fitzpatrick, Jack 6. Frost, Sam 7. Garland, Colin 8. Garlett, Jeff 9. Gawn, Max 10. Grimes, Jack 11. Hogan, Jesse 12. Howe, Jeremy 13. Hunt, Jayden 14. Jamar, Mark 15. Jetta, Neville 16. Jones, Matt 17. Jones, Nathan 18. Kennedy-Harris, Jay 19. Kent, Dean 20. Lumumba, Heritier 21. McDonald, Tom 22. McKenzie, Jordie 23. Michie, Viv 24. Newton, Ben 25. Pedersen, Cameron 26. Riley, Aidan 27. Salem, Christian 28. Spencer, Jake 29. Stretch, Billy 30. Terlich, Dean 31. Toumpas, Jimmy 32. Trengove, Jack 33. Tyson, Dom 34. Vince, Bernie 35. Viney, Jack 36. Watts, Jack 37. National Draft Pick 2 38. National Draft Pick 3 39. National Draft Pick 40 40. National Draft Pick 53 Rookie list 41. Harmes, James 42. King, Max 43. Rookie Draft Pick 2 44. Rookie Draft Pick 20

In the circumstances a fair deal would be to pay him out. Full stop.

Today at 2.00pm.

Time for a further update as a result of the departure of Dom Barry:- 2015 MELBOURNE LIST Primary list 1. Bail, Rohan 2. Cross, Daniel 3. Dawes, Chris 4. Dunn, Lynden 5. Evans, Michael 6. Fitzpatrick, Jack 7. Frost, Sam 8. Garland, Colin 9. Garlett, Jeff 10. Gawn, Max 11. Grimes, Jack 12. Hogan, Jesse 13. Howe, Jeremy 14. Hunt, Jayden 15. Jamar, Mark 16. Jetta, Neville 17. Jones, Matt 18. Jones, Nathan 19. Kennedy-Harris, Jay 20. Kent, Dean 21. Lumumba, Heritier 22. McDonald, Tom 23. McKenzie, Jordie 24. Michie, Viv 25. Newton, Ben 26. Pedersen, Cameron 27. Riley, Aidan 28. Salem, Christian 29. Spencer, Jake 30. Stretch, Billy 31. Terlich, Dean 32. Toumpas, Jimmy 33. Trengove, Jack 34. Tyson, Dom 35. Vince, Bernie 36. Viney, Jack 37. Watts, Jack 38. National Draft Pick 2 39. National Draft Pick 3 40. National Draft Pick 40 Rookie list 41. Harmes, James 42. King, Max 43. Rookie Draft Pick 2 44. Rookie Draft Pick 20 The list might change with further list lodgement before the National Draft and possible delisted free agency inclusions but any additional draft picks can only be gained by delisting or retirement of players but note all current players are contracted.

Every year, Bigfooty poster Snoop Dog puts out one of the more interesting and better Phantom Drafts and this year it's no different. Like most of the others, he has Christian Petracca as the first choice with Paddy McCartin and Angus Brayshaw at 2 and 3 going to Melbourne (note the order). However, he considers Petracca, Peter Wright and McCartin as the best three players in the draft leaving out my two choices Brayshaw and Jake Lever. Here are his descriptions of McCartin, Brayshaw and Lever:- Now that Melbourne officially (well ... almost) has # 40 in play, it's worth noting Snoop Dog's choice of Ed Langdon. Since one or two others have put Langdon in this position, do they know something? Predictably, the Dog expects # 53 to be used to upgrade Neville Jetta which still seems likely although there are reports that the club is considering a further delisting.The other player mentioned in his Phantom Draft is Billy Stretch who gets a nice tick. Snoop Dog goes all the way down through to his rookie draft picks but I won't go there. It's a good read on Bigfooty and thankfully not as long-winded as some of his past efforts. Well worth the read.

The AFL's most successful club over the past five decades and the one with the strongest football culture cuts a contracted player - Hawks cut Grimley, but set to re-draft him as a rookie. Perhaps now some of our supporters will stop moaning and agonising about whether we should or we should not follow suit where it's in the interests of the club and especially so when it's dine professionally and doesn't cut across the player's interests.

And who would you suggest we delist for 53? Pickles, Trenners?

Same place again tomorrow and it promises to be a fine day. In light of this (admittedly old*) article I came across on Twitter, it might be an opportune time for the players to work on their disposal accuracy ~ Stray Sherrins * from 2011

James Hird v ASADA Appeal, Report Day 2

Another contracted player delistee today is Western Bulldog Daniel Pearce. They say they are committed to selecting him in the Rookie Draft.

It should also be added that at the time he was re-signed, Evans was getting his hands on the footy and showing a bit of pace. He had come off a wretched period recovering from a back injury and looking good. There was room for improvement and a return to the high possession football he had demonstrated when he made his debut (co-incidentally around the time Jack Trengove was suspended for that tackle on Dangerfield). In 2014, Pickles went backwards. His form at Casey was just so so and when he came into the Melbourne team (for 3 games, 1 goal), he really struggled and on performances doesn't justify a place on the senior list. As alluded to elsewhere, he can take his contract payment and disappear into the sunset or, he has another option - to cop it on the chin and work his butt off like Nev Jetta did and resurrect his career. That's what football was all about once upon a time.

De Goey at 3 is not that far-fetched given that afl.com.au's Callum Twomey is suggesting Collingwood is considering taking him at 5.

Back on pick 40, one of the players who might be in contention is over ager Nathan Drummond who has an interesting background and heritage ~ AFL hopeful has more than football heritage

If that is the case then it's likely the player will be delisted and paid out.

The Social Litigator ~ Can the ‘real’ ASADA please stand up? Two different pictures in James Hird appeal

Incidentally, Richmond has delisted contracted player Matt Arnot but intends to re-list him as a rookie - Tiger midfielder cut but may receive second chance. I await evidence of Tiger supporters agonising over this development. Nor do I hear any complaining from Hawks supporters over reports that contracted player Sam Grimley might go the same way.