Whispering_Jack

Whenever I see the name North Melbourne on the fixture, I get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. Don't have it today but then, it's a late start when you play a twilight game.

Looks like Dean Terlich has been held back as the emergency for tomorrow?

Probably a little late but here's the VFL Player Review Round 10 from last week. There's a lot more insight into what's happening with the VFL players this year.

Darren Kane in the SMH - Bombers, James Hird in game of high-stakes poker with Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Well, we've known for some time that this tangled web strategy involves high stakes in terms of financial and emotional cost, the effect on on field performance, the risk to coaches jobs, the club and players being suspended and the disruption of future seasons etc but all these seem to be risks that Essendon is prepared to take to protect itself. There's also another consideration that will have an impact in the coming weeks and months while the Federal Court action plays itself out. How do the Bombers prepare themselves properly for the trade/draft period that could overlap the time in which the litigation is occurring? Essendon has put itself behind the 8 ball in this regard:- * draft sanctions from August 2013 have ruled it out of what would have been its normal first round draft selection (currently standing at around pick 10); * with Essendon and Hird urging players not to pursue the discounts available for co-operation which might see them miss only the remainder of season 2014, they automatically limit the club's scope in trade/free agency calculations. In effect, the Bombers' ability to trade players would be severely impacted. No other club would want to pick up a player who might not be available until 2017 and where does this leave players aged 26 or above? * how will Essendon deal with players subject to Show-Cause (or more properly by then, Infaction) Notices. If the club cuts the umbilical chord and allows a player or players to go, how does it know such players won't turn on it - there have been plenty of recent examples of the damage disgruntled ex-employees can inflict on clubs. In other words, if the matter isn't brought to an early conclusion, Essendon's entire recruiting and list management strategy for the future will be severely disrupted. I wonder if the Bombers have taken these matters into consideration when undertaking their strategy and I wonder if an ASADA, cogniscent of such factors, might adopt an attitude of allowing the proceedings to drag out to allow them to stew in their own (chemically compounded) juices? Then of course, during this period James Hird's suspension time would be over and he would be back coaching ... oh, wait a minute.

OK North can be tomorrow's enigma when they bomb out to a team they beat by 20 goals less than 12 months ago.

I recently spent some time in New York and whilst there I went to a show on Broadway. Stayed at a hotel near Times Square and it must have been the proximity to the theatre district that inspired me to write a play which I'm entitling "Nima, the Musical". It's about a deaf, dumb, blind compounding chemist who sure cooks up a mean soup of peptides but because of his physical condition is unable to locate the recipe.

No laughing matter for people like former ASADA CEO Richard Ings Drugs body should share evidence with players: Richard Ings Ings suggests that ASADA should provide the players with the evidence it has against them to enable them to assess whether they should accept the deal that might be on the table. While that might achieve a speedier resolution to the matter, I don't know if ASADA should or could do that in terms of the procedures available to it and in the context of the process it started by issuing the Show-Cause notices. Perhaps an outline of the evidence might be enough to persuade them. Ings also observed, "While we cannot know the advice that people like Rich Young have given in this particular case, we do know that in using the advice of an international expert like him, ASADA has accessed the best possible advice available."

I'm not sure if this is what we should be doing with the history of the game:- History of the AFL could be turned on its head

Well I thought it was a top effort by Richmond to get so close. It seems there's a lot of inconsistent form among the teams at the bottom half of the ladder and the Toigs are the real enigma of the competition.

You're right. It was Mark Taylor - still no respect here for the great Don Bradman. Perhaps, we should stop retrospectively at 37 pages which represents the combined IQ of all current residents of the Gat?

... pick the ignoramus - Bombers may never know what they took but neither will ASADA: Chemist

I don't think the Bombers and their media acolytes are doing anything to improve their position but by the same token, from what I've heard about Ben McDevitt, he's a very shrewd customer and will continue to push ahead regardless till he gets his man (men) irrespective of the nonsense going on. Meanwhile, there's nothing new under the sun AFL boss Andrew Demetriou rubbishs reports of a deal with ASADA to reduce bans on Essendon

Just in case anybody is wondering, there were no home and away games this day 50 years ago. I think there was an interstate game but not sure. I remember the next week though. We were superb!

Some fair footballers lining up for the Hawks. I think that spells trouble for Casey.

I notice that this thread is approaching 452 pages which was Sir Donald Bradman's highest first class score. Surely, the time has come for us to do a Matthew Hayden and put an end to this thread at that number of pages to honour the great man?

I'm with Elwood on this. If he's not ready to play VFL for another 6 weeks and needs a game or two at Casey, it's hardly worthwhile bringing him back for one or two games.

If I ever become a stand up comedian, could you please come and be part of my first audience?

Anyone with half a brain can work out what's going on here. A certain party with a vested interest in discrediting the ASADA process has leaked certain information through its media flunkies while others in the industry (hello Peter Gordon whose club bought a pup called Crameri) and outside it have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Fact of the matter is that if ASADA doesn't get the EFC, Hird, Dank and any player who ingested banned drugs, then WADA will. In the meantime, we will soon become the laughing stock of world sport.

Denham? Never heard of him. What does he do for a living?

Has anyone else heard the advertisement on SEN for a parking outfit at Melbourne Airport that starts off with a bloke whistling "It's a grand old flag" and then saying he went to Perth and saw his team get flogged but because he was so happy with the car parking services, he was thinking of changing clubs. Don't these [redacted]s know that they are p[redacted]ing off fans from their own state. I for one will never avail myself of their [redacted] services and I recommend that nobody else does unless they remove the advertisement and apologise to the Melbourne Football Club for their offensive (and misleading because we're a different team now) advertising campaign.

With one of those three being held back as the main emergency.

The AFLPA clearly doesn't understand the rules which ASADA has to apply in these circumstances. I think McDevitt has bent over backwards to be fair to the players and no doubt he is obtaining legal advice as to whether he can accommodate the request. However, it seems to me the players are suggesting that they might consider co-operating if they see the case against them is very strong. I just wonder about that as a strategy.

Are the Poms out now?

Another truly objectionable article among a welter of rubbish pieces written in our media about this subject. I think what he really means to say is that because ASADA has decided not to pursue AOD9604 because of the timing and way in which its status was announced by WADA in 2013, then Jack and any other athlete who might have been treated with it won't be pursued.There were reports a while ago that Jack had already been cleared suggesting there was no evidence he had been treated with a cream containing AOD9604 so, whatever the case, he was in the clear. IMO, those who ingested AOD9604 in the quantities mentioned in earlier reports and breathing a sigh of relief over this have no reason to take comfort yet. There are the health effects to consider (S0 means a drug had not yet been tested and approved for human consumption) and WADA has the power to come over the top of a decision not to pursue those who consumed a prohibited substance through appeal to CAS. I would imagine however, that if infraction notices are issued against players over TB4 then WADA won't bother.

The noose tightens ... Australian codes warned on WADA breakaway