Whispering_Jack

Based purely on their form in the preseason and round 1, I'm not sure that either Moloney or McLean would justify selection in our midfield. I'm happy with the personnel we have there looking into the future and, as much as people might love both these players, the reality is they wouldn't fit in with the club's cultural requirements under Roos.

If Neeld was in charge the minions would be blaming Neeld, McLardy, Schwab, Connolly, Craig, the bootstudder and Sean Denham for the situation. Given that he's not, we're just blaming fate.

There's a definitive piece on Stephen Dank and whether he can be trusted. It's this interview by Baker and McKenzie of Fairfax which has been covered here before but is worth the revisit - The science of Stephen Dank. I understand that there's a second part to this interview which has, for legal reasons, never been published. It remains to be seen whether the ASADA investigation has been able to tie the use of the substances to individual players and that is the question that lies at the heart of why this has taken so long to reach a conclusion. My guess is that this has a lot to do why Judge Downes was appointed to oversee the end game and why the revelation of late last month that ASADA now has access to the ACC records was significant. All this is why the James and Tania Hird story that may or may not unfold today is merely a sideshow to what is becoming a seemingly never ending story.

You need to be a lawyer to think of things like that.

For round 2, Mitch Clark's "TBC" has transmogrified into an "indefinite", Jesse Hogan remains a "TBA" which means he definitely won't be right for round 1, Chris Dawes is treading water and a few blokes listed as "test" are, in all likelihood, being considered for the LTI. Expect a few changes on Thursday night. Mitch Clark (personal leave) indefinite Chris Dawes (calf) 2-3 weeks Jack Fitzpatrick (concussion) test Colin Garland (ankle) test Jesse Hogan (back) TBA Mark Jamar (foot) 1 week Tom McDonald (corked thigh) test Jordie McKenzie (foot) test Aidan Riley (leg) 1 week

There are so many sideshows around the scandal but don't worry about Tania fronting the Essendon board. She's not employed by the club and the story's a distraction from the main game which is about what substances did the Essendon players have injected or otherwise introduced into their bodies.

Casey Scorpions website has an article on the game - Final pre-season win Michael Evans definitely staked his claim with 27 disposals and Mitch Clisby and Nev Jetta had 23 each. Blease impressed with his pace. Max Gawn had plenty of hit outs, got plenty of the ball and kicked two goals. Has to be selected against the Eagles who play three rucks.

I see the Eagles are giving the Doggies a bit of a working over in Perth with a lead of more than 50 points at 3/4 time. I've heard some criticism around the traps including the media of Paul Roos coaching in his first game at the club after a few years' absence. The media loves Brendan McCartney and I'm sure he won't get beaten up by the media as it would to some others if this continues.

That attitude surprises me OD because, in other words, if you're right then there was no reason for the upheaval of last year when people advocated a scorched earth policy that resulted in the removal of numerous individuals blamed for the club's failures. In truth, while some should have gone, the real culprits had already been dispensed with. Those 15+ goal hidings were the culmination of many factors. I'm confident we're on the right track to repair the damage and if we continue on this path, we will improve dramatically by the second half of the year. We're not going to kick 10 points in a row every week or lose more of what's effectively left of our ruck and key position defenders by half time.

The Saints fans on Saintsational seem to be delighted by last night's umpiring - http://www.saintsational.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=84936

No reports from KC till June but we're looking for a replacement. In the meantime, these pictures from yesterday's game are from a professional photographer - http://kompa.com.au/football/vfl-casey-scorpions-vs-port-melbourne/attachment/img_5750/

It was definitely his poorest effort and came when we needed his input the most. Of course, at the beginning of the pre season we were expecting him to be our fourth forward behind Clark, Dawes and Hogan and not our only target in the forward line next to Pedersen. The Saints would have had their hands full tagging others had things worked out the way we wanted way back then.

Pretty much as Scoop Junior has stated but, whilst not wanting to make excuses, there's one thing worse than having injured players and that's having them during the course of a game. In the context of this game the loss of Fitzpatrick through concussion coming at the same time as McDonald's corkie was pretty devastating. It co-incided with Riewoldt taking control of proceedings in the St. Kilda forward line - nullify him or keep him down to an output equivalent to the first quarter and we win the game.

Next casualty has to be the clash jumper. The one we're wearing tonight actually clashes with St. Kilda's while our real one doesn't. Farce.

First casualty of the season is the Football Record. Couldn't find one person selling them. Doesn't matter because they haven't been of much value since their price was 6d.

Time to move to the GAMEDAY thread.

Time to move to the GAMEDAY thread.

That 1964 premiership was the pinnacle of our success and the end of a majestic era between 1954 and 1964 in which we won 6 flags and featured in eight grand finals. Ron Barassi and Frank "Bluey" Adams played in every one of those six premiership teams, Brian Dixon in five of them. It was a great feeling to wake up every Saturday morning and know you were going to win that day. Losing never came into the equation.

I was 15 years of age and spent most of the day travelling through another universe with Dr. Who, Romana, K9 and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the Tardis. A HIGHWAY OF DEMONS A HIGHWAY OF DEMONS - CHAPTER ONE Those were the days.

At this point in time we should be gracious enough to acknowledge the performance of the Essendon team against North Melbourne last night after the pasting their club's been receiving almost right across the football world. Whether or not you like what's been happening at their club, to do what they did against a well regarded opponent shows great character.

COD or AOD?

Herald Sun article:- Stephen Dank insists no Essendon player will receive infraction notices over 2012 supplements program Tweet from Seb Costello at the Riddells Creek Football Club function:- Nail. Coffin.

I could answer that but my response might not be politically correct.

The issue of whether the anti doping laws are good law or bad law is up to everybody's opinion and the perspective they take on this issue and its seriousness. I don't get your point about "shades" unless you think the players were unconscious when signing their waiver forms. These guys attend information and education sessions annually on the topic of drugs in sport and are taught to look for the warning signs. If they recklessly sign waiver forms without making any enquiries about the drugs on the forms (and I've seen the list and done quick googles on them myself) then they're ignoring the warning signs and must bear responsibility. The Wade Lees and Ahmed Saad cases are tough but if strict liability is what is ultimately deemed to be the way to stop drug cheating, then so be it. My understanding is that there is a substantial body of evidence here and that includes statements by the players and staff of the EFC (these now include statements made to ACC including by Dank), the nurses who administered the injections at the off site centre where part of the programme was conducted, surveillance material including possible wire taps at the centres, documentary evidence such as invoices from the Como chemist, expert evidence on the compounding of substances, materials that are part of the public record including statements made by parties in the media. Those who made admissions might even be better off than the others because they might benefit from the mitigating circumstances but we don't know yet. BTW. Your free session is now over and if you want more advice, you'll have to sign a waiver form.