Whispering_Jack

Axed, retired AFL players to line up interstate, in bush and in suburbs in 2014 Former Dees players mentioned in the above are - Matthew Bate (Norwood, EFL via Essendon VFL); Tom Couch (Collingwood VFL); Aaron Davey (Richmond VFL); Tom Gillies (St Mary's GFL); Jordan Gysberts (Norwood, EFL via North Melbourne); James Magner (Port Melbourne VFL) and James Sellar (South Fremantle, WAFL). Another ex-Dee, Liam Jurrah played a few games with the former teammate Austin Wonaemirri at the Tiwi Bombers before Christmas before the latest round of his well documented brushes with the law. Then there's Colin Sylvia (though not exactly a reject) struggling with training at Freo, Luke Tynan at Frankston VFL and, a bit closer to heart and home Troy Davis at the Casey Scorpions VFL side.

I think it would be fair to say that the English tail "wagged" for once (comparatively) and that made it easy for Clarke although I don't think there was ever a chance of enforcing the follow on at Sydney even with the current pitch which looks different to the Sydney tracks of the past. There's a one day series to follow. I would imagine though that the majority of the English team will be eager to catch the first plane home as soon as this match finishes.

The start of the season is closer than we think. I was at the Woolworths supermarket in Seaford this afternoon and they're already selling hot cross buns. We'll all be at the snow soon.

Thanks to Richard Ings, here's how O'Grady was thinking in 2012 - Stuart O'Grady shocked by Lance Armstrong scandal Never. Right.

Hey guys, get your heads out of the record books and have a look at what's going on at the SCG. England 5/23 - reminiscent of 186. Anderson, the night watchman is equal top score ATM with 7.

The holiday break comes to an end for the Melbourne list on Monday at 9.30am when the team returns to Gosch's Paddock. Training is also scheduled for the Paddock on Wednesday and Friday at the same time of 9.30am. I'm told that Monday is the day when a number of players who were in rehab or on lighter training regimes come back into full training. The next month will be vital for the coming season - we need close to the full complement available and on the track for the season ahead. I hope to be able to head down for one session either this week or perhaps the following Monday when the team trains at Casey Fields.

To that I would say that we don't know the limits of forensic testing and scientific development. Who is to say that in two years' time, it won't be possible to detect years' old traces of substances in a person's blood, hair or on the skin. Do we know what's done with the results of random testing carried out at present? Then there's the fact that more and more dope cheats are being caught through investigation rather than testing and in the specific case of the current situation in the AFL and NFL, I suspect that there will be final reports on the investigations by at least the anniversary of the darkest day announcements of last year.

We finished up best of the Victorian teams that year and our style was free flowing but look at our side that night. Who were our "star" players, what were their attributes and where did they go from here?MELBOURNE B: Whelan Carroll Holland HB: Bruce Rivers Ward C: Green McLean Johnstone HF: Yze Miller Bate F: Robertson Neitz Davey FOLL: White Jones McDonald IC: Bell Jamar Pickett Sylvia EMG: Brown Dunn Read IN: Holland Pickett Whelan OUT: Bartram Godfrey Motlop Football was going in a completely different direction to the attractive free flowing game that the traditionalists admire. That year's grand finallists were the Eagles and the Swans. The former had classy midfielders like Judd, Cousins and Kerr who would run both ways all day and the latter known for its relentless defensive style. Soon after we beat the Saints they sacked coach Grant Thomas and appointed Ross Lyon, direct from the Swans, in his place. Lyon changed the style of the team bringing in the concept of the press involving forward pressure, midfield zone defence and pushing numbers behind the ball which had his team overtake Geelong for much of 2009 only to fall narrowly to them in the grand final. Collingwood adapted the Saints' style further in 2010 with a brilliant midfield and just pipped then in the grand final that year. Meanwhile, we headed south under Daniher in 2007 and chose Dean Bailey to replace him. With the dominant style of game evolving at St. Kilda, Collingwood and Hawthorn and Geelong having a team brilliant enough to counter those teams in most years in this era, Bailey didn't have the cattle to compete and his more simple, outdated game style was no match for these sides. We caught the Swans in 2010 and perhaps had a bad break with Davey's injury late that year against the Hawks but free flowing football was never going to do it for the Melbourne sides that followed after that night in September 2006. Not only did we stop beating most of the other Victorian teams and we can't win at Etihad but we have struggled to win games outside of our state. Our wins have been confined to a handful of games against lowly Victorian teams, home games against struggling interstaters and the early matches of the new franchises. I'll leave it to others to analyse the team from that final win over the Saints if they wish but, knowing what we know now, it should have been no surprise that we went tragically downhill from there onwards.

You can run and even hide but they'll get you in the end - Olympic cyclist Stuart O'Grady reveals why he confessed to doping.

About six years ago, the official figures showed we had one of the smallest supporter bases. On our form since then I doubt we would have improved our position.

Mitchell Johnson does it again!

How's his work with the gloves?After all, the position is "wicket keeper".

I think you mean Wade Lees formerly of the Casey Scorpions who was charged with importing a banned substance. Unfortunately for him, it was an open and shut case and it would have been a costly exercise going to CAS for a reduction in the severity of the penalty.

Two points:- • Sean played his junior footy at Carnegie (colours red & blue and now defunct) but at some stage may have moved to Powelltown or one of his parents only lived there. • Sean incurred his wrist injury in an pre season cup night match v the Eagles. He hurt it early in the game, came off in agony and from the look of the way the wrist was hanging limply, I thought it was broken (but I'm not a medic so what would I know). He came back onto the ground, went off again and later it was revealed that he had the fracture. Based on that I thought it was a bad move to put him back on the ground. Yes, later the wound was infected while he went swimming in a river but my understanding was that he received no advice or warnings about what to do with the injury during rehab.

In order for this to work it has to depend on the quality and effectiveness of the medium and small players. If the ball hits the ground and is continually swept away then we'll soon have to adjust that sort of line up.

My big moment in that season came in round 10 when Sean Charles made his debut a few days after turning 17. He kicked five goals on an incredible day when North kicked 8 straight goals in the first quarter. We overtook them and finished up winning by six goals. I humbly take a little bit of credit for Sean. I first saw him play under 10's for Carnegie and he was easily the best player in their side, often playing two games for his club each weekend. My son often played against him and they were involved in some great duels. I still have the best and fairest voting card from one game where my son got the three votes to Sean's two and my son's best mate got the one vote. When the boys were at under 15 level, they were invited to some trial games for St. Kilda. I knew that we lived in the Saints' zone but also that Sean was zoned to Melbourne. I made a discreet call to one of the coaches in our junior competition and Sean ended up at Melbourne. He really showed his class in the 1994 finals when still a teenager. I believe we handled his wrist injury very badly and he never lived up to his enormous potential. He was transferred to Carlton where he broke a leg in his first game and ironically, ended his career at St. Kilda.

Apart from the events that took place late in the game when we squandered opportunity after opportunity, there was a moment late in the third quarter when Sean Wight (who was sensational in the latter part of the year) handballed and was penalised for a throw, a turnover that resulted in a goal to Dermott Brereton. The decision could have gone either way - play on or a free - and I always felt that he extra goal to Hawthorn steeled them for the comeback. With that little bit less pressure on our players then perhaps we might never have made those little mistakes at the end. I felt numb when I left the ground, particularly after the sensational high of the two months leading up to that game including two big wins over North Melbourne and the Swans. I've felt that feeling of numbness on several occasions since. In fact for most of the last seven seasons.

I'm sure you're not questioning the kid's paternity, are you? Like I don't want to get the site into any trouble. You know?

I just want to assure everybody that it's not all gloom and doom. My next effort will be about 1956, one of my favourites and arguably the best side ever to represent the Melbourne Football Club.

The tweet from melbournefc asks, "How does a forward line consisting of Dawes, Clark, Hogan and high-flyer Jeremy Howe sound Dees fans?" Howe to fly high in attack It sounds a bit top heavy to me. I would like to see one of these players further down the ground.

Dank has gone on record in an interview with Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker as follows - The science of Stephen Dank:- This means that someone from "inside the bowels of ASADA" would have to come out and confirm that he gave Dank assurances that AOD9604 could be legally used in his treatment of sportspersons. So far, nobody has come forward from the bowels of ASADA and both insiders and former ASADA boss Richard Ings are of the view that no such evidence exists. And if Dank doesn't want to talk, there doesn't seem any way to overcome the fact that AOD9604 was a prohibited substance under S0 on the WADA prohibited list. Moreover, this is what ASADA says:- According to David Howman who is WADA's director general in an interview with the ABC: ... and that is what appears to have happened at Essendon. Players used as human guinea pigs and the incredible thing is that in the face of all that, the most common thread among Bomber fans on BomberBlitz is "there's nothing to see here, let's move on".

Thanks for the heads up Clintosaurus. I've set Foxtel to tape Bulldogs v Adelaide (Round 21) at 5pm so I'll catch both players (assuming they were selected for that game).

Being in a holiday apartment in beautiful Frankston on the beach, I don't have the benefit of a computer or my own records but a brief search between innings in the BBL, I discovered this piece from Caroline Wilson and I quote her words below from this article:- Demons cleared, guilty, fined It was also reported elsewhere that both the AFL and MFC had similar legal advice and that Melbourne's (as you would expect) was even stronger but you now know what the AFL's QC advised his client and given your trenchant support of Wilson's journalistic style, I trust you're not about to question her information (even if it's scandalous that a mere reporter should be privy to the AFL's no doubt confidential legal advice)?I also had a brief look through some of the threads on Demonland and there are some interesting posts from Redleg, a long-serving member of the bar about discussions he had concerning the legal aspects of the case against the MFC. It shouldn't be too hard to find them but nevertheless, the above confirms what I stated in my report and in response to your queries about the legal opinion on the case against Melbourne. That is quite apart from the wider topic of the ethics and morality of "list management/tanking" debate and the integrity of the AFL in ignoring the case against other clubs and individuals. Those are philosophical arguments now consigned to history's waste basket.

You're usually on the money GV but I'm a traditionalist and I can't see more than two skippers. Also, I can't see Jack Viney coming into the group this early based on some of Roos' comments about giving young players time to earn their places in a team. It would follow that unless a player's exceptional, then 20 years of age is too young for the job.

Bob - you claimed "I find WJ admission that the legal profession knew of the contents of confidential information of both parties disturbing". Where did I make this alleged "admission"? Why do you have a problem with knowledge and information about the case being out there when it was made known to chief football writer of the Age months ahead of the final report of the investigation team? You can draw your own conclusions as to how Melbourne acted but my interpretation after re-reading Andrew Demetriou's remarks to Caroline Wilson after the Jordie McMahon game as well as the words I heard from the same person 2 years earlier speaking at the Athenaeum Club (about Carlton tanking) is that the club was acting in a manner sanctioned by the AFL at the time. If people think that's prejudicial, then the person responsible was the AFL CEO who should have acted to put an end to the practice in 2007 after the Kreuzer Cup and after Terry Wallace admitted he didn't coach his team on its merits. There's no doubt that integrity was an issue with regard to the tanking debate - the problem is that the ruling body didn't cover itself in glory at any time and this should have been acknowledged a long time ago.