Whispering_Jack

The AFL is set to show its support for chief medical officer Peter Harcourt ~ League, union back medical director Peter Harcourt What's important here is that last week the Essendon media cheer squad led by Whateley and Robinson seized on Harcourt's comments that the testing of blood samples at a German laboratory came up with nothing were tantamount to an admission that the 34 players served with show cause notices were off the hook. Whateley followed this up in a similar discussion with Roy Masters on the ABC Offsiders programme in which the fact that the AFL didn't come back to Dank with any results (Masters said the tests were carried out in December 2011) was effectively an indication to Dank that his work was legal. This article tells us how misguided and deluded the EFC media cheerleaders have become:- There were only two players tested (we don't know who) and they weren't tested for TB4 or AOD9604. Someone should mention this to Whateley and ask for a retraction on both of his programmes. Don't hold your breath.

I really don't care what's politically unpalatable. I'm more concerned with my club's self-interest which involves securing draft assistance based on an existing rule under which it's arguable that we qualify. I'm suggesting we go for an end first round draft pick, say #20 which is where Nathan Fyfe was drafted in 2009 (we had 4 picks before it and only two of those players are still with us, one of who hasn't played this year, the other, two games). We need star players desperately and Fyfe is a star so self-interest tells me we should go for it and not worry about whether something's politically unpalatable. Bartlett and Jackson owe us a duty of care to try to assemble the best list and if it potentially means we improve out chances of getting a star, then I say "go for it". Has any other club in the history of the game knocked back an opportunity for this sort of assistance?

There's an obvious reason why no money arrived. After you asked for it you wrote "stop", so he stopped.

The Age has certainly learned it's lesson. First word in the article is "comment" and she certainly rips into not only Essendon but its shameful media proxies of who Mark Robinson has been the most unedifying example (along with his AFL360 sidekick Whateley - should make interesting viewing tomorrow if the two apologists attempt a response).The Age also has two more articles that would concern the Bombers ~ Stakes high for Essendon, Hird and ASADA This one should be of particular concern to them because not only is there potential for the finals to be hijacked by Essendon's decision to take ADSDA on in the Federal Court but the prospects of that 6 month deal for the players diminishes and with it the Bomber's trade and draft strategy will be severely impaired. Essendon ASADA verdict could overshadow AFL finals

Yes, but Contador had some grounds for thinking he was stiff to get whacked with a sanction and, in any event, road cycling has been considered unclean for enough years as to not matter in the calculations of many of the sporting public.

My reading of the Act which established ASADA is that ASADA is permitted to act in concert with the various bodies that regulate each individual sport. Essendon maintains however, that the wording of the legislation is restrictive and further, by ASADA and the AFL acting in a manner contrary to the way in which the legislation allows, ASADA has exceeded the powers given to it. Bearing in mind, I haven't seen the evidence put forward to support that proposition, I still can't see that there's enough of that from what I've read about the case and further, I think the legislation must be given a broad interpretation anyway to allow its intended effect to be achieved. I think therefore, there is little (no pun intended) chance that a pragmatic judge like Middleton J will accept that the entire investigation (including several months of evidence gathering by ASADA acting on its own) should be wiped out altogether. It has to be remembered that the investigation insofar as it involved the AFL, related to issues of governance which EFC and Hird did not challenge and in fact, by consent, they accepted its outcome. While that of itself cannot knock out their case for ultra vires, I reckon it's going to have some weight, particularly if the judges BS meter is fully functioning when he brings down his decision.

The problem with that is that we will probably need to keep 21 or whatever aside for Billy Stretch under the f/s rule. Hence, why I maintain that we should apply for draft assistance for which any other club would be entitled based on our record over the past eight seasons*. If we ask for it and beg nicely we might be given a pick at the end of the first round of the draft which brings a Tyson-like trade back into play. Otherwise we would have to trade out another good player which is unlikely because we simply don't have that sort of trade material. In a way it's a pity we haven't given the likes of Blease, Strauss and Tapscott the opportunity to prove themselves on the big stage.* if we win more than three games out of the remaining seven we might have to have a rethink.

More on that 100m race in Switzerland at the weekend - Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay may be running fast but they are still making dopes of us all This is what's happened to athletics and what is happening to our game.

The statistics - * Sam Blease 1 goal 1 behind 21 disposals 17 kicks 4 handballs 4 marks 4 tackles 96 Dream Team Points * Mitch Clisby 1 point 24 disposals 16 kicks 8 handballs 6 marks 2 tackles 92 Dream Team Points * Michael Evans 1 goal 15 disposals 6 kicks 9 handballs 4 marks 2 tackles 60 Dream Team Points * Jack Fitzpatrick 2 points 11 disposals 8 kicks 3 handballs 4 marks 2 tackles 21 hit outs 75 Dream Team Points * James Harmes disposals 10 kicks 5 handballs 5 marks 1 tackle 58 Dream Team Points * Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 goal 18 disposals 6 kicks 12 handballs 3 marks 5 tackles 80 Dream Team Points * Max King 1 tackle 4 Dream Team Points [injured very early] * Viv Michie 18 disposals 11 kicks 7 handballs 5 marks 1 tackle 62 Dream Team Points * Dan Nicholson 1 point 20 disposals 8 kicks 12 handballs 7 marks 4 tackles 86 Dream Team Points * Aidan Riley 1 point 24 disposals 12 kicks 12 handballs 4 marks 9 tackles 104 Dream Team Points * James Strauss 1 goal 17 disposals 9 kicks 8 handballs 4 marks 1 tackle 66 Dream Team Points

Thanks Goodoil. It's going to be another interesting period for the club. I never thought back 3 or 4 years ago that we'd be dealing in such early draft picks but that's life.

Also on Future Stars, Terry Wallace went with his Rolling Draft but based it purely on players available and not on what teams in particular positions might have as needs. He has Petracca (the Larke Medallist who polled in every game he played) as his number 1. 1. Christian Petracca 2. Darcy Moore 3. Isaac Heeney 4. Paul Ahern 5. Angus Brayshaw 6. Patrick McCartin 7. Sam Durdin 8. Caleb Marchbank 9. Peter Wright 10. Jake Lever

I hear what you say Goodoil but I disagree that a player of Petracca's ilk wouldn't fit into our side as a half forward among the names you mentioned in our forward set up. Firstly, that line up hasn't been travelling all that well (albeit without Hogan), secondly, the players you named are all talls and you need variety and the 186cm strongly built man child weighing in at over 90kg who tested at 2.9 for the 20m looks to be the explosive type we need (apologies to A o B who seems to disagree).Petracca was interviewed today on TAC Cup Future stars (immediately after a session where Angus Brayshaw demonstrated his kicking style) and he interviews impressively. He has a combined football/basketball background (he was in a state junior team with Dante Exum). He rattled off some impressive figures from AIS testing (agility, speed but noticeably didn't mention endurance). The endurance part doesn't worry me although we've had some failures at the club in this area (Gysberts, Jurrah) because if you're prepared to work hard at it you can definitely improve that area markedly in a relatively short time. So I would have him in the forward mix in year 1 with a view to turning him into an elite and damaging midfielder by the end of year 3. I don't think we're going to win many more games this year and our likely finishing position is somewhere between 15th and 17th. That means there's a fair chance we're going to have picks 3 & 4 (Frawley compo) and our finishing position would probably entitle us to apply for draft assistance under the rule that replaced the priority pick (but we'll probably not apply because, although we qualify, the AFL is still intent on continuing to punish us over the tanking fiasco). I get the point about trying to do another deal similar to the one that secured Dom Tyson and Pick 9 for Pick 2 and whatever and, it's not for me to judge ATM because I don't know enough about the players in that 10 - 20 range. I can't see anyone in there that suggests to me that he would be the star we're looking for (if he were that good, he'd be much higher up the rankings anyway). However, I think all this lends itself to a good 4½ months of speculation and we're shortly going to open up our trading & draft board. Anyone have any ideas for a name (last year it was something like find a friend for Jesse Hogan, so there may be some reluctance about personalising the board name). Anyhow, in the absence of a you beaut trade, I'm with Petracca/Brayshaw & Stretch as f/s. There are 18 clubs and about 18 All Australians available in this draft. If we can snare three in one draft, we're travelling at about the same as when Hawthorn did the same in the middle of the last decade. Hopefully, it will get us the same result.

Actually, Andy's not the lawyer. I am. Time to give it up.

Uncertainty continues over this year's number one pick I haven't been following the Under 18 championships as closely as I have in the past but I have the main games on Foxtel IQ and have watched snippets. It's clear that Paul Roos proposes to inject more midfield strength into the list so Brayshaw and Petracca stand out above the rest of the pack as midfielders and we could get both depending on what happens with James Frawley and if a suitable swap a la Tyson/pick 9 for Pick 2/pick 20 something can't be arranged. Stretch with a second round pick sounds pretty much par for the course. We would probably need to pull in a tall KPP in trading to cover the loss of Mitch Clark.

And here it comes ... Winning isn't everything

If you're asking how I know that he has a colossally high IQ, he came close to topping the state in his VCE exams. If you're talking about anything else I wrote, you're not really making any sense.

The history of this club is often ignored or neglected by the current generation of Melbourne supporters, possibly because they know of no success with which to identify. I hope that changes very soon and in the meantime, I commend this wonderful article about one of the club's great personalities:- A legacy into which Paul Roos is tapping

Well it got worse in the second half. I think it's time for certain parties to come to grips with a forgotten art.

Not what I heard or know from having met Steph on a few occasions. However, he is a very much different cat to most AFL players with a colossally high IQ. I always thought be played his best football as a key defender and recall he had a breakout game when we surprised the Brisbane Lions one night on the MCG. He was called upon to move into the ruck and play forward from time to time to cover vacancies in those spots and also had some injury problems (hip?). In the end, he was never settled as a player and we let him go in a trade which was probably fair in the circumstances where we were well served with ruck stocks, had Mitch Clark as well and were recruiting the likes of Dawes and Hogan. We weren't to know all the problems we were going to have with injuries and a premature retirement and Martin himself has had injury woes in the interim as well.

I think 426. From a Melbourne perspective I suspect they will be even hungrier about the prospect of snaring James Frawley.

Oh but Armstrong is a victim, as is the Essendon Football Club, its coaches, club doctor and its players. A victim of the system within which they operate and of their own greed. As are those who Tim Lane describes in the article below as the "blind zealots" who support them. But they also happen to be bullies who believe they have been given privileges in life that entitle them to be so, whether we're talking Paul Little, the Murdoch bosses and their minions at Foxtel, in the Herald Sun and the Australian, their lawyers and PR merchants. That's why their particular brand of victimhood must not be permitted to overreach the rights of the clean athletes who work their backsides off to succeed in their sport. Lance Armstrong and the loss of innocence

... or none of the above such as when you place 22 pieces of paper each with a player's name and pick the last six that go down the gurgler. It's a way to add some excitement to an otherwise dull night.

We also have no forward line. Sigh.

Just finished watching GWS v Adelaide and was fascinated by Voldemort's game. I have a feeling that with only 3 kicks and 6 handball's today, the lad might just miss out on the votes for the club best and fairest award, The Kevin Sheedy/Tom Scully Medal. I'm also fascinated by the fact that every time I see a GWS game, they seem to get a good run from the umpires. I wouldn't mind getting 24 frees to 12 tonight.

Is two kicks, five handballs one mark and 1 tackle in half a game worth $25k?