Whispering_Jack

Agreed. I like the way they've managed to inject youth into their team in recent years.

I don't think we were too bad on the spirit thing last week. Effectively, we've managed to get hold of the ball more than 400 times in the two NAB Challenge games and the one AFL game that we've played so far in which statistics are kept and in all of those games we've had well below our best forward line set up. Our execution might not have been great but I don't think we've played without spirit under Roos and I don't expect that to change tomorrow.

We'd be close to premiership favourites if that happened.

Uncle Ted and he was colourblind

My all time favourite is from the Pot Black programme: "Steve is going for the pink ball - and for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green." No idea who the commentator was.

No. I didn't suggest that either ASADA or the AFL were corrupt, just that it wasn't a good idea for ASADA (which I believe to be honest but heavily understaffed) to rely on the AFL's assistance. Firstly, there's the question whether ASADA's charter allows it to bring outside bodies inside its own investigations. Next, I don't have confidence in the AFL's personnel starting with Demetriou and Fitzpatrick at the very top. The AFL leadership set a poor precedent in the tanking saga and in the compromised manner in which Demetriou dealt with the Scully/GWS issue. He was compromised over Essendon (and remains so over the disclosure of the impending announcement of an investigation into the Bombers over their supplements programme). There have been questions raised about the role of the AFL's investigations officer Clothier (the same officer whose methods and tactics were questioned on the tanking matter). Then there's the question of the competing interests of ASADA and the AFL which desperately wanted closure and, as a consequence we had an interim report which was only necessary because it suited the AFL. Then there were the leaks from the investigation which coincidentally stopped when the AFL's role ended and more recently, the publication of a report by AFL personnel in a British Medical Journal expressing opinions that were entirely unnecessary, unwarranted and unhelpful given the timing and the fact that the conclusions were based on an incomplete investigation. Not suggesting that the AFL is guilty as charged of everything it might be accused of or even of interference but it doesn't carry much faith with me based on its recent record of dealing with the many integrity issues it's been dealing with of late. I hope that "final" report publication date of 15 April is correct. Notwithstanding, that date will not be the end of it but rather the end of the beginning of the end. If infractions issue as a result of the report there's probably a year of legal appeals, reviews and a date with the Court of Arbitration in Sport and this thread will extend to well over 400 pages, possibly rivaling the No T$, No B$ thread in size if not in the raw intellect of its content.

You tell them WYL. Neeld was never able to establish the spirit the team demonstrated on 31 July, 2011 and the weeks that followed at the end of the season before he took over. He murdered the fabulous spirit of that fateful day you refer to often as 186 and for that he should be tarred, feathered and burnt at the stake.Fact is, Neeld wasn't much chop as coach but thankfully the club isn't wasting its time on the carp you espouse and it wouldn't help anyway.

St. Kilda beats the team that gave the Swans a bit of a touch up last week. Makes us look better than the Swans.

The other difference is their opposition hasn't kicked 10 straight behinds.

Saints ahead at quarter time but they still look less polished, especially at the stoppages.The Saints have kicked 5.0.30 this quarter making their last five quarters 15.8.

Yeah, but how many wickets did Occam take in test cricket?

No problems, like most of us I still had steam coming out of my ears after the event. Loved your report and must add that the info I had about the Russian was the same other than that it was expected that he would take part in a Casey intraclub on Friday. However, I think that game might have fallen through altogether. Keep up the good work and I hope we can catch up and that next time it will be after a win.

And that is the essence of the problem, isn't it? ASADA's big mistake in all of this was that it trusted a completely untrustworthy AFL to be involved with it in the initial stages of the investigation. It was a mistake and I think it's no co-incidence that the leaks of information stopped at the precise point where the AFL's involvement. One hopes that with the aid of Judge Downes, the ASADA investigation can reach a proper conclusion and that all offenders against the world anti doping code are required to face the consequences of their actions.

I suppose you just found out but I do suggest that you follow the unwritten rule of posting and don't feed the trolls.Posters please stick to the topic.

Hi Rhino. Try reading my post again. I made no judgement but simply used the word "possibly" which means that there could be a possibility that players who were injected with a huge number of doses of these supposedly unknown substances that might have included human growth hormones could have long lasting effects. We don't exactly know because according to the Essendon Football Club the dog ate their homework.

Wouldn't it be ironical if Sam Weideman, whose grandfather Murray was a Collingwood great and a thorn in the side of the Demons in many encounters in the 50s and early 60s (including 1958 when he was their premiership skipper) ended up at Melbourne?

I agree with other posters about not wishing ill against Essendon players particularly in this thread where the focus really should be on the programme instituted by the Essendon Football Club and its servants and agents including Hird and Dank. They should not be allowed to get away with it, nor any player found to have benefitted by taking prohibited drugs. While I am strongly of the opinion that many of their players directly benefitted from their drugs regime (and possibly continue to do so to this very day as a result of its implementation in 2012) some of the comments above are plain stupid. If anything, the Bombers should be congratulated for their fine performance against the reigning premiers. If only, we could be so competitive against the same standard of opposition on a regular basis.

Thanks for providing the heads up. We'll do better than that and provide the link:- Bloodlines Dissected - check out the Dandenong Stingrays section.

Thanks to those who contributed actual training reports in this thread. Satyr, I have a bone to pick with you. I saw you on the concourse outside Etihad with your good lady after the game on Saturday night and said g'day but you walked right past me as if I wasn't there. I'll excuse you for that because we were both worn, frazzled and frustrated after the fickle finger of fate had dealt us both a stunning blow inside the ground that evening. Please keep up your reporting and optimism about the club and ignore the prophets of doom and the naysayers. People of our vintage know what it's like to taste success and I have a feeling we'll be able to share that feeling with a lot of others some day sooner than many would think.

TGP is a relative of mine but not me - another fail for your paranoia.Notwithstanding, my views on this issue are probably closer to yours than those of TGP (if you might have cared to take notice). My own view expressed elsewhere is that if the club wants to regain the faith of supporters it needs to fix the apparent credibility issue over injuries once and for all and not string us along, as you say.

How not to win a Walkeley - Banished Essendon coach James Hird agrees to truce to help Bombers, not surrender to AFL. Does Slobbo wear an Essendon jumper to work?

Actually, Ricky's made a contribution which is more than you can say for Brock McLean who's been subbed off with 8 disposals.

So the official mystery injury of the week is Max Gawn but the way our season's unfolding 2 or 3 MOTW's is not out of the question.

Whilst it's not unique to Melbourne, the problem as I see it is that the initial assessments of player injuries are routinely so far off the mark that the club has lost credibility with the supporters. In view of Peter Jackson's pronouncement that the club was trying to win back the faith and trust of supporters it has lost in recent years by poor performance on and off the field, this aspect is worrying because it flies in the face of that very proposition. As an existing supporter, I now treat our injury list as nothing more than a joke and you're not going to win back faith if even the faithful have no confidence in what they're being told.

I believe there will be some form of practice match for Casey players including those not in Sunday's squad v West Coast so that perhaps Garlo, the Russian and Jack Viney will get their opportunities to impress for round 3 v GWS.