Whispering_Jack

Absolutely. I was there the day Casey played the Northern Blues and they had Matthew Watson standing him at full back. Watson was a late first round pick and was in his third season on their list but Hogan led him a merry dance all day until Watson (who was noticeably blowing) had to be taken off him. That's what I call leadership!!!I'm aware that Daniher has already had a few games in the AFL with Essendon as well but the table doesn't really take into account the experience Hogan's gained with a season at the club under his belt.

How's the father going fending off all those reporters at Casa Brown?

What was it like last night sharing a cell at the Southport watch house with the winner of the magic millions, Redleg?Former Gold Coast Suns footballer Campbell Brown arrested after Magic Millions

Great. I have to get up at sparrows tomorrow and then drive back to Melbourne across the state line from Frankston to get to work. Or perhaps just tape the game and watch later (which might be better because I can fast forward some of the parts).

I agree with most of what Webber writes except the part about his visibility. I don't know how others think but I found that he went about what he did fairly quietly and unobtrusively and I would often be surprised at the end of a game to see that he had picked up 24 touches. I suppose if he had a weird haircut or tatts all over his body or even a lower number, I might notice him more. Maybe, it's just one of those things?

This bloke just got suspended and will miss 162 games for doping but in his sport, that's only one season - Cruel Bargain for A-Rod and Boys With Dreams It's a sad story for kids with dreams, one that's already had repercussions at Essendon with more likely some time soon.

I renewed my support today (even though I am currently residing in the Independent Republic of Frankston) and am bumping this thread up in the interests of anyone wishing to support the Queensland Demons. Remember, your contribution could help us keep Chip at the club.

Leaving aside the aesthetics of the respective games, the FFA already had the historical advantage of a strong supporter base with a knowledge and appreciation of the sport. It consulted with and obtained strong support of local followers of the game and immediately went about building a squad of players that was not youth based like the Giants but rather, a team that's balanced in terms of experience, ability and background. The blueprint was perfect for the area and it clicked virtually from day one. On the other hand, GWS was promoted differently. In many respects, it was a bit of a circus with Sheedy the showman spruiking the club, playfully antagonising the opposition and building a team that necessarily contained its share of freaks. I include Folau and Scully in that category. Despite seemingly unlimited funding and carte blanche in their ability to recruit players, they've failed to date to produce anything that represents a competitive side. The money that was spent on Folau and Scully could have bought them three or four experienced players who would have been invaluable in helping its youth component to settle in and be properly educated in the early years of their development. This hasn't been happening although obviously, some of the talented young players will come to the fore anyway and, with Leon Cameron now at the helm, they have started to get serious in this area. The problem is that the Giants are now definitely the poorer relation in a crowded market. Years ago, our game lost Canberra to the NRL because we lacked vision and foresight. I think we've just made it harder to crack Sydney's western suburbs because we were arrogant and thought it would just happen. When people refer to football out there, they're talking Wanderers and not Giants.

History repeats in the women's ashes test. England scored 201 on the first day and had the Aussies struggling at one stage at 5/37 before recovering to take a first innings lead of 6 runs. Poms are at 3/18 at stumps.

The article says Mogg played AFL during his school years, has recorded the fastest speed results ever seen in Australian rugby and boasts a left boot that regularly sends the rugby ball 60m downfield. If I was an AFL scout, I would be interested to see if he could be successfully converted to our game. Then you have Swans' premiership ruckman Mike Pyke and the fact that last year's premiers Hawthorn are experimenting with two young NZers. Even if we haven't produced a Brownlow medallist from overseas lately, the internationals including Pyke and Pearce Hanley demonstrate the quality that's out there. Meanwhile, I've been holidaying on the beach at Frankston for the best part of three weeks and commuting to town for work over the last three days. On Wednesday, I heard of a plan for Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula to secede from Victoria/Australia. I'm all for it although the constant international travel will probably wear me out. Since Essendon's Michael Hibberd is a Frankston boy and he's on the Champion Data elite list, that would give the independent republic of Frankston (or Boganville) one more elite player than the entire MFC.

And another one for the history books is the fact that, despite the loss of our first pick in the 99 draft, our selections that year were outstanding so in terms of on field personnel, the salary cap sanctions had less effect than they could well have had on the club. And as much as I am a fan of Mark Jamar, I think Jolly's contribution to two clubs after he left us was far superior. In hindsight, it would have been great if we read the writing on the wall when the centre bounce ruck rules were changed and turned White into a KPP (although I think a brief attempt was made without much success).

Excellent Bob although I'm sure that Gutnick would argue that he was aware that we were about to be investigated for salary cap breaches and self-disclosure saved us from an even greater penalty. However, if it's possible for there to be some connection between the events of 1999 and what happened to us in 2007 and beyond (and I agree that there is) then even more so, it's possible that there is a nexus between recruiting and list management issues of the mid 2000's and what happened later in the decade and in the years that ensued. It's mostly a matter of your viewpoint and how much weight you want to put on things. Most of these things are up for debate and I'm sure good clubs will analyse their past and come up with solutions to improve their performance. The good thing is that I believe that this is what happened with Roos at the Swans and the succession of power after he left gave that club the opportunity to win the 2012 flag under Longmire. If he can do the same with us, I'll be happy.

I assume that getting a wildcard effectively means you have to go through the playoffs away from home every week until the Superbowl if you're good enough to get there. Tough ask for the 49ers.

I wonder if this is going to be a blueprint for future recruiting - Mogg blueprint for AFL scouts. The article also mentions Hawthorn's New Zealand pair Shem Tatupu and Kurt Heatherley but not our two Kiwis Maia Westrupp and ... of course, Maxy Gawn

That building you're inhabiting for the moment seems to be a magnet for former Melbourne people. Didn't it once host another ex-Demon who excelled in three games under RDB during the halcyon days of 1981?

My definition of "elite" differs greatly from the one that Champion Data uses. As mentioned previously, theirs is a statistical one based on a year's performances. In my book you don't get to be elite unless you've got the score on the board over a number of seasons and that's just the start of it.

I'd like to try again to take personalities out of this debate and not make this a blame apportionment exercise but rather to look at cause and effect over time to see if we can understand why our decline was so rapid and then so long-lasting.To a significant extent, it's true that the team that we saw on that night in September was coming to the end of a cycle with Neitz, White, Robertson and Yze perilously close to the end, others a lot closer to being finished than would have been anticipated and a few more about to suffer injuries that affected their careers at the club. My point is that others have been in that place but prepared their clubs better for the inevitable (Roos and his FD at the Swans being a case in point). In particular, it's important to plan for the succession in leadership and for the loss of key players (after all, they didn't exactly become veterans overnight). In our case, we knew those four main players mentioned above were on the way out but what was done to replace them? Our recruiting and list management were abysmal in the years leading up to 2006/7. We actually had a premiership ruckman in our grasp and let him go for a late first round draft pick, then took 3 players all 192cm in that draft. In the three years 2005-7 we traded only one player into the club, Byron Pickett who, whilst briefly effective, was already 28 years of age and finished after a year. These were the years when we should have been developing players for our midfield and forward lines as well as developing leaders and a strong culture. The fact is that we didn't (and that itself was due to many factors including the club's financial position), and in my view, that can't be written off as purely due to the end of a cycle. This does not mean that the coaches who followed get a free pass. Both of them failed badly but my point is that clubs need to be on top of planning not only for the short term but for the longer journey as well and in that respect while you might consider it to have been "fair to try to extract one more good year out of that group", I think that the reality was that the horse had already bolted.

This report in the Herald Sun covers the time trial with pictures and a report of the training incident involving Hogan's knee seems to have been tacked on:- Jesse Hogan jars knee as veteran recruit Daniel Cross finishes fourth in Melbourne time-trial My guess is that the club will handle this with care and have the knee looked at closely. IIRC, a similar diagnosis on Hogan's knee came out when he injured it against Bendigo Gold in August. On that basis, that 1 - 2 weeks might well extend itself out a little longer.

According to the 2014 AFL Prospectus issued by Champion Data, we have no "elite" players at the club. "Elite" is defined as being in the top 10% in the AFL for their position - Travis Cloke not considered elite by Champion Data Those in the top 10% for their position Adelaide Patrick Dangerfield (midfielder/forward) Rory Sloane (mid) Brisbane Tom Rockliff (mid) Pearce Hanley (defender) Carlton Andrew Walker (def) Kade Simpson (def) Collingwood Scott Pendlebury (mid) Dane Swan (mid) Dayne Beams (mid) Ben Reid (def) Essendon Jobe Watson (mid) Michael Hibberd (def) Fremantle Michael Barlow (mid) Matthew Pavlich (for) Michael Johnson (def) Chris Mayne (for) Michael Walters (for) Geelong Joel Selwood (mid) Steve Johnson (mid) Jimmy Bartel (def) Corey Enright (def) Harry Taylor (def) Gold Coast Gary Ablett (mid) GWS Heath Shaw (def) Hawthorn Sam Mitchell (mid) Jarryd Roughead (for) Luke Hodge (def) Grant Birchall (def) Cyril Rioli (for) Jack Gunston (for) Melbourne No elite North Melbourne Todd Goldstein (ruck) Drew Petrie (for) Scott Thompson (def) Port Adelaide Angus Monfries (for) Richmond Trent Cotchin (mid) Brett Deledio (mid) Alex Rance (def) St Kilda Leigh Montagna (mid) Nick Riewoldt (for) Sydney Josh Kennedy (mid) Kieren Jack (mid) Jarrad McVeigh (def) Lance Franklin (for) Adam Goodes (for) West Coast Dean Cox (ruck) Western Bulldogs Ryan Griffen (mid) Will Minson (ruck) Matthew Boyd (mid) Robert Murphy (def) The rankings are based on 2013 performances alone so they are unlikely to be replicated this year which is just as well for us. They also suggest that in order to finish top four you need at least five players in the elite category.

True, but the original one didn't have a bung knee either.

For the record Yourenextdipper who is about to be banned denies he made offensive comments about Jim Stynes.

On the subject of yuk, here's another thing that makes me cringe. Steroid use soars among young men These studies and publicity about them are important because greater public awareness of the outcome of regular use of performance and image-enhancing drugs will help deter people from falling under their spell (and hopefully catch the culprits who trade in the illegal drugs).Who knows? Over at Essendon, perhaps the officials, players and supporters might eventually get it and by the end of this season that golden haired boy who's getting who got paid $1m for sitting on his backside won't be so welcome coming back.

People don't get banned here or have their posts deleted because they have unpopular views. They can and do for making what are considered racist and offensive comments and/or telling blatant lies. Check our code of conduct.You did omit to mention among the people you attacked was Jim Stynes and whilst it might be fair comment to be critical of some things he might have done at the club, personal abuse of people dead or alive around here is unacceptable. I suggest you take mjt's advice and head off elsewhere where you can abuse anyone you like over here and you can s***can Demonland policy as much as you like but you'll soon find that they not only have moderators but discerning posters who will soon tire of your toxic behaviour too.

Let me guess. The game was over in such quick time he never got near to taking a catch. And it's a good omen with Melbourne giving Adelaide a royal flogging.

In some aspects we don't even know what Essendon people are thinking. On BomberBlitz for instance, a thread if close to 20 pages was obliterated in the past 24 hours presumably because the administrator didn't like the way discussion was going. It wasn't simply closed but rather, wiped off the map so we can't see what went "wrong" with the debate.