Whispering_Jack

Cup Day Tip for James Hird

Mitch Robinson another addition to the Brisbane midfield.

Oh ... of course.

Hey, where's Cameron Schwab when you're badly in need of a scapegoat?

Sam Blease now added to the list - going to the Cats.

Am I right in guessing that you're in the Brayshaw/McCartin camp?

... and the story is not new either ~ http://m.theage.com.au/national/scientist-heads-distribution-network-20130208-2e404.htmlIf you click on the link "Thymosin" on the Medical Rejuvenation Clinic site - http://mrcpeptides.com.au/products.php - you are taken straight to TB4 (not the "good" thymosin which some Bombers said they thought they were given). This message is at the bottom of the post on TB4 (also the one on AOD9604): AFL players have it constantly drummed into them that they're responsible for what goes into their bodies. The promoters of peptides openly tell you what sort of thymosin they recommend and use and the players are claiming they're innocent. They are professional athletes who, as part of their preparation were administered:(i) an infant formula, (ii) a cure for cancer, or (iii) a performance enhancing product. This is what the much maligned former Essendon player Kyle Reimers said in an early interview with Damien Barrett:- Reimers: "After a couple of months away from it, it does seem very odd, the type of stuff we were taking." Barrett: "What was it? What'd it do?" Reimers: "It's just basically a supplement to increase muscle growth and stimulate the body a lot quicker so it helps recovery because they wanted to put size on us and help with putting on size." Baby formula? Innocent players? Cancer cure, Tommo (pay the fine,idiot)? The Essendon Football Club doctor has never been sanctioned for his role in this. Where are the medical authorities and why are they not questioning someone about the maintenance of records for the thousands of injections used in this programme? Where's Work Safe? The saga still has a way to go ...

Please be careful where you're going with this.Essendon might possibly have received advice that it should not act on Hird's position until the Federal Court matter is finally resolved and with it the question of whether sanctions will be applied to Essendon players and other personnel including even Hird himself. I think his position as coach is untenable and that the Bomber hierarchy has its hands tied at the moment. It's a sorry state of affairs for any club to be in and thankfully it's not us because it would virtually be our death knell.

I'm not sure whether there was an official status for supplementary list players or what it meant in terms of pay scales etc. Back before the drafts when the VFL clubs would recruit through local and country zones, trading with other VFL clubs and with interstate clubs, they would announce their lists about a week before the start of the season. I don't think there was a limit to the number of players on the senior list and the clubs also had Under 19s and for a brief time some even had Under 17s. The supplementary list was usually a small list of players who missed out on the senior list but who clubs were still prepared to keep on, possibly for encouragement - similar to the rookie list of today.Since the main list these days is called the "primary list", my suggestion would be to call the rookie list, "the secondary list". I would also allow clubs to move contracted players from the primary to the secondary list, especially in circumstances where they have suffered long term injuries without the necessity of delisting. This would certainly take away from the stigma that some people perceive would apply if a club a club moved someone like JT off the main list to cover for the loss of the player in such circumstances.

A poster on Facebook (I know but please don't shoot the messenger) claims to have the info from a family friend that the left footed Port Adelaide midfielder's announcement as a Demon through DFA will be confirmed soon in the media. Adds that he was offered during the trade period but MFC knew we could get him through the PSD or as a DFA.

A bit of fisticuffs and spitting added a nice touch to the game. I'm not a big fan of the sport but the AFL's handling of GWS (and I mean its arrogance in the belief that you can win the area over and start a team by throwing money around) is not helping our cause. It's probably too late now.

Makes Hardie look even more foolish, doesn't it?

Four Five Six Seven Eight confirmed to date (but will add later confirmations to this list): Essendon - James Gwilt (St. Kilda) Richmond - Taylor Hunt (Geelong) St. Kilda - Tim Membrey (Sydney) Western Bulldogs - Joel Hamling (Geelong) Geelong - Sam Blease (Melbourne) Brisbane - Mitch Robinson (Carlton) Melbourne - Ben Newton (Port Adelaide) Carlton - Matthew Dick (Sydney)

Michael Evans is studying law so if that turns out to be the case then I would suggest that he's about to get some handy lessons in contract law (and Redleg can tell you what an interesting subject that happens to be).I think the club President used to work in that area of the law too so whatever happens I'm sure "Pickles" will be looked after and his contract will be honoured in terms of payment of it comes to that. With the changes that have occurred with recruiting, drafting, trading, free agency and mature age rookies it has to be understood that the rookie list is not what it was when first introduced. Perhaps "rookie list" is a bit of a misnomer these days and the AFL should find something different?

Quite right. Like many people, he's just not addicted to the game any more.

I hope the appointment of Plapp marks a serious change in the way we look at Casey because it wasn't working on a number of levels this year and hence the team's fall from grace. It was not dissimilar to what appears to be taking place at Melbourne City in the A League where Manchester City have tossed David Villa in as a loan player originally for 10 games and have now pulled him out after four. There might be some personal issues there but right at the moment, the connection to a big English club isn't helping the newly constituted club here.

Oops ... well it was either me or the autospell but it does explain why I've been having trouble logging in as Whispering Jake.

What happened to the mantra about it being all about "the midfield, stupid"? It wasn't so long ago that Roosy was saying we were looking at getting mids, mids, mids with our early picks and now, apart from Brayshaw it's McCartin, Wright or Lever and none of the players we picked up in the trades was a genuine mid either, let alone a top liner in this division.

I think the football background might go back a few generations as well and his mum was a very good administrator at local junior club St. Peters East Bentleigh for many years. I'm not sure what happened to him at Melbourne because he seemed be developing quite nicely as a player and then just dropped off the radar. Mind you that's been a common story over the years with us.

You make some good points there Ash. Unfortunately for Neeld he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He stepped into a club that was divided and he had a team that was never on the same page. That's a recipe for disaster and, in hindsight looking back at all of the things that happened in his time at Melbourne, he was never really given a chance.I have a feeling however, that this is the same problem he is likely to face at Essendon although he might not be the direct target of any possible confrontation if things get worse and there's a power struggle at the club.

Don't forget that two years ago, a lot of people including many Port supporters had a similar negative outlook about that club's list, it's players and coaches and were also predicting a dark future for Port Adelaide.Any call about where we'll finish at the end of next season is way too premature.

What makes you think that?

The bloke he's trying to protect is a bigger scumbag. In fact if McDevitts comments were so problematic why hasn't Dank complained?Er ... Perhaps Dank might have a problem fronting up to the Feds with his complaint?

That's all well and good but if the club wants to recruit say, Ben Newton, as a DFA then it may not be able to get him as a rookie and that porentially weakens your list and limits your potential to recruit.

I've stated before that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a mutual arrangement between the club and a player like Jake Trengove who is almost certain to miss a large slab if not all of the season recuperating from this latest surgery to be delisted and placed on the rookie list with full pay, total support in his rehab and no pressure on the player or the club about a comeback date. This would contrast well with the Mitch Clark situation from this year with the endless speculation about his return which might have contributed to Clark's breakdown (I'm not suggesting either that JT is in the same situation or head space as Mitch). I see it as a win/win for the player and the club in circumstances where the club has identified a player it needs to fill its list eg a DFA like Ben Newton.In similar vein, Michael Evans played very few AFL games in 2014 and is not likely to feature in early senior team selection and a similar arrangement could be made with him i.e delisting and rookie listing on full pay. He's able bodied and if he "does a Jetta" then it would again be a win/win. Jordie McKenzie deserves to remain on the list, not because he's a good bloke but because he's shown ability and leadership in difficult times. That gives him seniority over Evans and the right to remain on the senior list in his quest for a return to where he was two years ago when he held a regular place in the side. That's how I look at the situation.