Whispering_Jack

I would imagine Malthouse would be very happy to take Moore with the Blues' pick. Goal off the ground to Oakleigh's blond small man Kinsella gives them back a five goal lead after Miller's second within minutes, followed by a brilliant goal from Ahern - back to 24 points the difference, eight minutes into the final term.

Calder starts the ball rolling once again through skipper Touk Miller but they're 5 goals down.

The Norwood Redlegs take on the Port Adelaide Magpies in today's SANFL Grand Final. I don't know if there are any players worth following in the game but that rivalry is as old as the Melbourne v Collingwood rivalries of olden days.

Three quarter time: Oakleigh Chargers in control leading 13.10.88 to the Cannons 8.4.52 and heading for their second flag in three years. For Oakleigh, De Goey looks classy while Kade Answorth, Alex Urban and defender Hugh Beasley look good. Paul Ahern is all class for Calder but hasn't had enough assistance.

Strong mark to Darcy Moore and it's another goal to Oakleigh. The Pies have a beauty in this bloke - if only he would have stayed at Melbourne for another season.

Toby McLean finds De Goey for his third goal and Oakleigh goes to a match high 28 point lead - 12.8.80 to 8.4.52.

Closing on mid quarter and Cannons goal to draw it back to 20 points.

Jackson kicks another for Oakleigh after a great passage of play started by De Goey.

First blood of the second half to Cannons' skipper Touk Miller. Paul Ahern has been cleared of concussion and is also back on the ground. Oakleigh skipper Darcy Moore marks and goals in reply to make it 19 points again.

Pretty definitive that.

Paige is now interviewing Age writer Emma Quayle. She doesn't put much effort into phantom drafts until after the trades and draft combine when things are more clear in terms of who has the picks. Petracca looks good but it's very open. Likes Peter Wright for the things he can do but hasn't done as much as he would have wanted. On the father/sons, Jayden Foster - Bulldogs should nominate him. Still needs to do more body work but he's kicked the goals. Darcy Moore is one of that top bracket as well.

Toby McLean has 14 disposals to be the top possession getter and looks a likely type as a small forward with a late pick. Mind you, I was also impressed by the last bloke we recruited out of the TAC Cup with that name. De Goey looks good as well. For Calder, Paul Ahern looks classy but was injured late in the quarter. Christian Petracca being interviewed by Paige Cardona and sounds like a bright, intelligent young man. Suggestions that he'll be the number 1 selection.

Daniel Houston of Oakleigh goals from 50 on the half time siren to give them a 19 point lead - 9.5.59 to 6.4.40. The Chargers kicked seven goals to one to shock the Cannons in that quarter.

Kovacevic of the Cannons who has the really bad haircut kicks his second to draw back to 7 points down. His goal is answered by an Oakleigh player with equally bad hair and it's back to 13 points.

The intensity of the game has increased. De Goey kicks his second for the quarter to give Oakleigh a 13 point lead. Livewire forward Toby McLean has been in everything. Darcy Moore is all class.

Oakleigh have started the second term with lots of endeavour and have kicked the first three goals of the quarter to take a 2 point lead.

Calder dominant in the latter half of the quarter and lead 5.1.31 to 2.2.14. Matt Goodyear of Calder standing out with a nice goal from outside 50 a minute before the siren. Apart from the high standard of play, I can report there are some bad haircuts out there.

Two quick goals to Cannons including Foster's second give them an 11 point lead late in the quarter.

Let's stay on topic please folks.

Players to watch are Darcy Moore (f/s Pies), Jordan de Goey and Will Gowers of Oakleigh and Jayden Foster (f/s Bulldogs), Paul Ahern and Touk Miller of Calder. All have done little bits and pieces to show why they are attracting interest. Chargers lead 2.2.14 to Cannons 2.0.12.

Major blow to Calder Cannons losing "Two Metre Peter" Wright and the philosopher Cavka to injury before the start. Oakleigh draws first blood with an early goal.

That's partly the case but I don't think the references were to TB4, rather they were more general in terms of mentioning thymosin of which there are two types. ASADA is said to have evidence (partly circumstantial) which shows that the thymosin used at Essendon was TB4 and this evidence is supposed to come from a number of different sources and which, based on the burden of proof which applies to these investigations, is sufficient to sustain an infraction notice against each player in question. From what I've read about it, the volume of the evidence is overwhelming and thanks to Middleton J's decision handed down on Friday the football world will, for better or worse, finally get the chance to hear what James Hird wanted from the very beginning - the truth.

I must confess that I found myself supporting Port Adelaide in the dying moments of the game and it was sad to see that last shot miss. The two best performed teams of the season get to play in the grand final and let's face it, the series has been sensational. The Bondi Billionaires should go in to next week's game as hot favourites and the AFL's dream of promoting the interstate teams in the competition will be vindicated.

The sympathy for the players is understandable. Essendon certainly maintained a strong hold on its players who were prepared to believe much of the club's internal spin up until now. But the story of the battle against doping is that it is aimed to prevent athletes from competing either wittingly or unwittingly with the aid of prohibited substances that might have entered their system. As a consequence, the rules have been devised to deal with an environment where some sports scientists attempt to place themselves one step ahead of the law to avoid detection. The athlete might well be "innocent" in terms of direct knowledge but can still be found guilty of offending against the WADA Code. That's why everything starts with education and the fact that in the AFL, the players are regularly briefed about their obligations in regard to what is ingested into their bodies. It still amazes me that an entire list of AFL footballers were given consent/waiver forms and apparently, nobody questioned why their signatures were required if they were being injected only with vitamins that are legal substances? Why were waiver/consent forms necessary if everything was above board? After all of the information they received as AFL players (which players in lesser competitions did not) how is it possible that they asked no questions of the club, the player's association, their leadership group, their managers, parents/families or each other? No doubt they were influenced by Hird and/or others and it would have been a difficult ask for the younger ones in particular, to go against the dictum of their coaches. No doubt Hird and Robinson believed the snake oil sales pitch that the programme was on the right side of the line when it came to its legality under the WADA Code but the seller stuffed up with TB4 as much he gambled foolishly with AOD9604 (and should not have been allowed to get away with that one either). I have no doubt that the players have been treated with contempt by their club but they are by no means innocent. They need to realise now (as Paddy Ryder has done) that they have been led by the nose down a pretty destructive path. They can do something about it here and now. Respond truthfully to the show cause notices and there's a chance that some might not receive infraction notices and a good chance that others will get reasonable deals from ASADA and possibly be back playing by mid 2015. Those who don't, face two years out.

Morning round up:- Robbo:Dons and Hird to appeal Bombersface a tough fight to appeal say lawyers New push to dump James Hird from Essendon could see him sacked before Christmas ASADA determined to go after players And sage advice from former ASADA CEO via twitter -