Whispering_Jack

Amen to that and now back on topic, I think it must surely have been a triumphant moment for this thread that the co-captain of this august football club and one of the nation's premier sporting organisations told an audience of 650 adoring supporters that his daily dietary regimen involves the consumption (inter alia) of at least eight bananas. I thought I would share this news with you while it was still ripe.

I wasn't aware of this when I mentioned Raelene Boyle in previous posts but she spoke at an Australia Day function in the Long Room (not far from where 650 of the Demon faithful sat last night) and this quote from the March edition of the MCC News @ page 17 sums up nicely the moral dilemma raised by sport's drug cheats:- I can't feel sorry for a bunch of professional sportsmen who willingly signed a document which effectively gave their club authority to inject substances into their bodies whose purpose was to enhance their performance. That they didn't know what they were being given, that they were duped by professionals or that some scientist claims he was told by someone else that the drugs administered were fine (a fact about which he says he has no documentary proof) might in some circumstances be a mitigating factor in terms of penalty but it doesn't make things right or absolve them of responsibility or guilt.The two articles quoted above (particularly the ranting of Dank's legal counsel) serve to further convince me that there is a great deal of pain ahead for Essendon, several of its officials and employees past and present and a number of its players. Which is bad news for the AFL, the football community and sadly, for the sport we follow.

The ladder as it stands right now - Fremantle 1 0 0 116 46 252.17 4 Collingwood 0 1 0 46 116 39.66 0

Yeah, we've been dreadful for too long, often a club divided and aimless and you can understand people turning off. That type might come back if we look half likely of winning on a regular basis but I guess I'm a bit old fashioned. I believe you don't need to be asked to make a commitment to your club. It should come naturally. Unfortunately, if you wait for members to arrive these days, you're going to struggle for numbers. Well done PJ for at least trying.

Very sad. I remember him coming to the club at the tail end of our golden era and he could never establish himself in a team that was unsettled and had a high turnover of players.

Paul Roos is very impressive - I'm sure his talk will be screened on the MFC site and will probably become the subject of another thread so I won't go into much detail here. He did say it was a night for the players who were presented with their jumpers. Told the young players they were not the saviours of the club but that they were here to develop over time and thanked the players coming across from other clubs for their faith in coming to this club. You could have heard a pin drop when he spoke.

Paul Roos introduced with a montage of clips, mainly from On the Couch, dating from mid 2013 on the subject of whether he would coach Melbourne. Went from "no" to 50:50 to him being appointed.

Max Gawn is very popular with the ladies - they're lining up for photos. I'm thinking of growing a beard.

Robbo just asked Jack Grimes how many bananas he eats a day. Answer - 8. Remember that for your next trivia quiz.

Nice tribute to Dean Bailey earlier in the evening. They've just announced the half time score at Etihad. A lot of disappointment among the crowd at the score. Robbo interviewing the captains now - first question an in depth probing one about who is going to call the toss of the coin in round 1.

Just met RobbieF. Baghdad Bob, Rhino & Old 55 are at the next table with Tim. Absent is Mitch Clark - probably taking photos or running the tan.

Table 30 & there's a big crowd in tonight. If we ever win a flag they'll have to put tables on the ground itself. Players on my table Max Gawn and Bernie Vince. They haven't arrived yet. Bernie's about 2ks away stuck in traffic

I'll be there on Max Gawn's table with Andy (Demonland) and blistering. Please come up and say hello. If you want my description, I'm a tad shorter than Max.

This also shows you how insidious the spin is that's coming from the Bombers who until recently were claiming the players weren't affected at all by the media hype and the controversy in general. Suddenly, there's been a 180 degree turn and they're telling us the players are mental wrecks because of the delays caused in finalising the ASADA report. Now they're complaining that the show cause was issued on the eve of the season. Perhaps they should have waited another month or so?

Here's my take and it's just a hunch and nothing more ... The show cause notice has been issued first to minimise the potential fallout from the entire saga and to mitigate penalties against players. The mitigation of penalties is only available in limited circumstances and one of these is where the evidence given by players assists in successfully sanctioning others. If Dank (and possibly some others who set up the programme) goes down with a four year ban for his part in the Essendon/Cronulla doping scandals, then it will be open for those whose evidence assisted in achieving the sanction to claim this as a mitigating factor. If that happens, it could allow the players involved to get their sanctions reduced from 2 years to 6 months (it might even be argued that, in a seasonal team sport, the 6 month penalty should read ½ a season, therefore say, 11 matches). If it works out that way, the players involved would have to grab it, particularly if a court settlement with Dank somehow lets out those players who took AOD9604 leaving a smaller number to take the rap for TB4. Such an outcome could only come about by the parties reverse engineering the result - not dissimilar to the Melbourne "tanking" result involving a negotiated consensus between all of the parties involved and, let's face it, all of them including the AFL, Essendon, the players and Dank himself (probably ASADA too) have an interest in damage control. And if ASADA's involved and the arrangement is approved by Judge Downes who was appointed to sort this all out, WADA might accept a result if it sees the main perpetrator and players from the two codes (note the reports about 4 Cronulla players about to get infraction notices) being penalised. What's in it for Dank? The heavy cost of litigation including a possible Federal Court appeal could see him end up one day in the bankruptcy court. I think he might be a lot better off if most of that money ended up in his pocket rather than in those of his lawyers and it might give him the opportunity to slink off into the night never to be seen or heard of again, an act which would do the football world and himself a big favour. As I said, only a guess and not the outcome that does much good for the health of the players or that you would want in a perfect world (if such a world existed you wouldn't have drug cheats in the first place) but it could be good news for most of the players involved.

The article about Saturdays VFL practice match also has the current injury list: -Fourteen players set for VFL clash Mitch Clark (hamstring) 2-3 weeks Chris Dawes (calf) 1-2 weeks Colin Garland (ankle) 2-3 weeks Jesse Hogan (back) TBA Aidan Riley (leg) 4-6 weeks Luke Tapscott (knee) available Mark Jamar (foot) 1-2 weeks Max Gawn (hamstring) available

Jimmy played all of the practice matches for Melbourne so he wouldn't receive the AFL's permission even if the club wanted him to play. Meanwhile Williamstown is no longer affiliated with the Bulldogs so it will be interesting how we go against them.

We're left with T20 and the Aussies will at least tie the series courtesy of the Duckworth-Lewis system turning last night into a 7 over match. Stupid.

Melbourne is set to have 14 players in the line-up for Casey against Williamstown on Saturday at Casey Fields - Dom Barry, Mitch Clisby, Michael Evans, Max Gawn, James Harmes, Jayden Hunt, Neville Jetta, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Dean Kent, Daniel Nicholson, Christian Salem, Luke Tapscott, Jack Viney and Maia Westrupp are set to play at this stage. Fourteen players set for VFL clash

Not to mention the cloud hanging over him as a participant in the Essendon player drug fiesta. I can't believe we missed out on a bargain basement recruit whose ingestion of Mexican jumping beans made him a perfect fit for the Dees.

I'm in ... and I've tipped the Dees to win in round 1.

Well done to the club for landing China Southern. I was told when they pulled out of negotiations in early April last year that Cameron Schwab and his team at the club put in almost two years of hard work only to miss out on getting them across the line. My guess is they baulked at signing on during the height of our woes at the start of last season but someone involved from our club persisted and with PJ's authority we succeeded in the end. Let's hope the team out on the ground matches that persistence.

Continuing the series of pen pictures of prospective 2014 draftees from the AFL PROSPECTUS. The first of these is apparently a future superstar -

If you don't care about the legalities and I do accept that as your position, then you've left no room for any debate because in the real world the kids who in your opinion have "suffered enough" are not above the law or beyond it's reach (I would strenuously argue that nor should they be) and whether you or they like it or not, their suffering might well not have even started yet.

Again, can I ask that we confine ourselves to paying our respects to Dean and his family. No need at this point to discuss articles by media commentators or speculate on the cause of Dean's illness which might result in unnecessary distress to Dean's family and friends. Thanks for your consideration.