Whispering_Jack

Reading DemonDave and KC on the Casey thread it brought home the fact how the Hawks have a very small injury list (Lake, Schoenmakers and perhaps one or two others) whereas while we have an equally small official injury list we have half a dozen others who apparently aren't injured but are also not quite ready to play football or being rested according to the spin we're getting from the club. Most of our tall players seem to have disappeared into some sort of Southern Hemisphere Bermuda Triangle and who knows when we're ever going to see them play again? The result in terms of yesterday's performance and without wanting to make excuses for injuries (but as RDB called them "explanations") was rather devastating in terms of what we saw out on the ground and on the scoreboard. I suspect that it didn't matter all that much to Paul Roos whether the loss was 50, 75 or 110 points because we seemed to be playing the game without a half forward line (and IMO, you need to win at CHF if you're going to do any good so if you have nothing there then you're cactus). I'm sure that when we take St. Kilda on in much different circumstances and conditions we'll have a much better forward/following structure even if we still don't have Jamar, Gawn, Hogan, Dawes, Garland and Clark back. At some stage during the year, the fog will lift over that Bermuda Triangle and we might have a full side which will make the coach's job a lot easier. In the meantime, despite yesterday's setback, our midfield is slowly building and that's important for the medium and long term of this team.

... but what was massive was the fact that I didn't see any evidence of any of our talls limbering up for the Casey game later which means that those who did play in the intraclub game a fortnight ago like Gawn and Dawes and others like Jamar who was supposed to be close must have suffered relapses because they have gone from being on the way back to definitely being out for round 1. At least nobody will be sucked into thinking we start against St. Kilda as odds on favourites.

Give the person who started this thread an award for originality. It can start again in a fortnight's time if we disappoint against St. Kilda.

I have the perspective and don't place much store in the result but it's nevertheless disappointing even given the lack of any forward line or forward structure whatsoever. Bottom line - beaten for skill, endeavour, class, football brains etc by a vastly superior combination and since I bagged Brisbane a few weeks ago for showing no ticker against the same opposition, I'll add that we were just as bad. ON top of that the umpires were cr@p..

Sorry, but until such time as they improve the parking and amenities, this ground is not suitable for an AFL practice match.

I'm watching from a spot where I can only see half of the ground but it's ok - it's Hawthorn's half.

I know we've gone through a long patch where we've been hurt by injuries but is there any statistical date to back this up?

Not just that ... but he'll be wearing his favourite dress at the same time.

If he wants to travel with some intelligent fellow members of the legal fraternity tell him to call - leaving at 11.45am.

But don't mention the word "back" please.

Patrick Smith's take on the situation - Evidence points to commission pushing Demetriou out A lot of the good work undertaken by Demetriou over the years has been over overshadowed by the controversies of recent years which haven't been handled well by the CEO and the Commission. A fresh approach that pays more than lip service to the welfare of the entire competition is well overdue.

G'day Redleg, are you going to tear yourself away from Redtube long enough to go to the game today?

Couldn't agree more with Caro on this one - Stephen Dank booking to speak at charity lunch a big blunder

Catching up on The Footy Show's "Bomber" Thompson interview, I couldn't help but wonder about his demeanour - Anyone else think this is what the Bombers should be expecting from their coach after a year under fire over drug use?

I'm sure the iPhones will be out there in force.In fact, here's our first exclusive report on the game - On the eve of its practice match against reigning premier Hawthorn at Casey Fields, Melbourne withdrew young key forward Jesse Hogan from the squad it named on Thursday morning. WJ NEWS SERVICE

To all these things there is a silver lining. You don't want a 19 year old kid who is potentially your next marquee player to be languishing with back problems but I have to say that when I saw him running around against Geelong a week ago with knee heavily strapped, I wondered whether the fact that Clark and Dawes were out might not have created some extra pressure to play him when otherwise he might have needed a little more time. With two weeks to go before the start of the season, it won't be the end of the world if his body gets some extra rest and, with the right treatment, misses the first two games of the season, then comes back fully fit - especially if the other talls are slowly returning one by one within a similar time frame.

That would be a safe occupation at mid afternoon tomorrow because most of them are going to be at Casey Fields watching the footy with us!

Thanks for that - might get to watch a bit after dinner.

To those interested you can watch live (I think) from 7.30pm* - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BSFYdO4ObdE * not sure what time zone that means

It is. NASA scientists have detected a reduction in size of the upper atmosphere of 0.327542 cm since Barrett made the announcement on TFS last night.

On the question of whether Essendon/Dank kept records of thousands of injections of players under their drugs programme, the words of the S & G song come to mind:- "All lies and jests Still a man hears what he wants to hear And disregards the rest "

I don't know if this tweet has been posted yet but - "@melbournefc: Were hearing your questions about Jesse Hogans back and we will be in a position to provide more detail this afternoon."

You have to admire the South Africans for their fighting spirit against the odds. They almost pulled off another Adelaide. As much as our blokes have improved, I doubt they would have been able to do the same - as we showed in the second test, we're not up to it in those circumstances. In any event, to finish the last two series 7 - 1 is a mighty and certainly unexpected effort.

Never in doubt.

Meanwhile, over at St. Kilda who we play in round 1, the situation looks like this:- Sam Gilbert (foot) 5-6 weeks Lenny Hayes (suspended) returns in Round 2 Terry Milera (foot) 1-2 weeks Leigh Montagna (suspended) returns in Round 2 Lewis Pierce (back) 6-10 weeks Jack Steven (foot) 8-10 weeks Maverick Weller (suspended) returns in Round 2 Spencer White (hamstring) 1-2 weeks