Whispering_Jack

Headline from the game: AFL draft: Harley Reid helped off with concussion in AFL Academy clash against Carlton

Another disastrous day for death riders. Heaven help us if they beat Geelong next week.

This game could become a bit of a worry.

This isn’t the usual place for this sort of thing but in the circumstances … Injury and Suspension List: Round 9 Christian Salem - Knee | Available Tom McDonald - Ankle | Test Jacob van Rooyen - Suspension | Free and Available Luke Dunstan - Knee | 3 - 5 Weeks Kye Turner - Groin | 5 - 6 Weeks Will Verrall - Pelvis | 5 - 6 Weeks

Correct - as you and some others have pointed out this process was an appeal and the advocate for the MFC had the task of convincing the appeals board that Tuesday’s Tribunal erred in their interpretation of the AFL’s rules. “The tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson KC said that although it was reasonable for the young Demon to assess the situation in the way he did they decided ‘a reasonable player would have seen that in spoiling the ball in the way he did would almost inevitably have resulted in a forceful blow to Ballard’s head’”. Besides being complete and utter gobbledygook, Gleeson was attempting to rewrite the rule book. If allowed to stand, the Tribunal’s decision would have forever stood as a grave injustice.

I just heard Collingwood’s Beau McCreery say he learned to tackle to “make them hurt”. Surely, if you follow the Gleeson doctrine, someone at the AFL has to make a citizen’s arrest.

You can see the big guns in this year’s draft pool here ~ National Academy set for AFL curtain-raiser

He's a damn good footballer.

That argument won’t fly because any competent counsel representing an injured footballer could also point to the cases (eg the hit the week before on Murphy) where the AFL neglected to act and therefore failed in its duty of care to its players. The AFL has made a rod for its own back by the fact that the tribunal and its operation has resulted in inconsistency and utter confusion.

This must increase the odds of JvR beating the charge. So far, I would estimate that about 98% of football people who have expressed a view on the charge against him have called it out as absolute BS. The other 2% sat on the Tribunal. The law of averages says he’ll be good to play on Saturday. So does plain logic. Bring it on!

What happens to the ruck contest from now on? There’s always the reasonable possibility of a ruckman legitimately going for a hit out accidentally making contact with an opponent and therefore, every time this happens from now on the offending ruckman will according to the newly minted Gleeson doctrine be liable for a two week suspension.

What a disaster for the death riding enterprise and we now have to rely on the Swans to bring some sanity into the discussion. Pick 4 suddenly became Pick 7 and it’s threatening to get worse …

Well … one explanation might be that their membership numbers are larger than ours and they attract bigger crowds which equals more $ in the AFL’s coffers. But surely, this couldn’t possibly be about money? 😀

… and the probable number 2 is …

On the other hand, Geelong finished top 4 in 2021 and had a dream fixture in 2022 which allowed it to rest up key players in the run up to the finals. Why should Melbourne which finished fifth last year not have to play Norf Tassie twice in a season?

Up the Grades: Reid ramps up VFL form

According to Chris Cavanagh in an online Herald Sun article, Brown had a good game ranking fourth in KFC Supercoach points. ”Melbourne father-son prospect Kynan Brown (20 disposals) was another who was part of the same backline and showed some good signs. “Brown is the son of former Demon Nathan Brown, who featured in 146 games in the red and blue.”

Kev’s Kitchen.

Should be some interesting football coming up. Young Guns set to take on Vic Metro, Country in two-game series

The problem is giving to the MRP the ability to upgrade the impact to high based on capacity to cause injury even when the injury actually incurred is minor. This has led to the ludicrous situation whereby any hit on a player can potentially be graded high impact and lead to a two or three week suspension. They are virtually turning the game into a non contact sport.

The night hasn’t started well for a death ride. Hawthorn want this Harley Reid character more than we do.

I think Sexton once kicked five goals against us. Suns AFL must be going well if they can afford to drop him.

TASMANIANS DRAFTED INTO THE AFL - THE LAST 10 YEARS 2013 Total: 8 National: Kade Kolodjashnij (Pick No.5, Gold Coast) Toby Nankervis (No.35, Sydney) Alex Pearce (No.37) Jake Kolodjashnij (No.41) Ben Brown (No.47, North Melbourne via Werribee) Brady Grey (No.58, Fremantle) Rookie: Eli Templeton (No.3, St Kilda) Zac Webster (No.48, Hawthorn) 2014 Total: 3 National: Lachie Weller (No.13, Fremantle via Southport), Josh Watts (No.65, Brisbane Lions) Josh McGuinness (No.81, Brisbane Lions) 2015 Total: 4 National: Kieran Lovell (No.22, Hawthorn) Mitch Hibberd (No.33, North Melbourne) Mackenzie Willis (No.52, Gold Coast), Ryan Gardner (No.59, Geelong) 2016 Total: 1 Rookie: Robbie Fox (No.32, Sydney Swans via Coburg) 2017 Total: 2 National: Hugh Dixon (No.44, Fremantle) Rookie: Brody Mihocek (No.22, Collingwood via Port Melbourne) 2018 Total: 3 National: Tarryn Thomas (No.8, North Melbourne) Chayce Jones (No.9, Adelaide) Fraser Turner (No.58, Richmond) 2019 Total: 2 Rookie: Mitch O’Neill (No.20, West Coast) Matt McGuinness (NGA, North Melbourne) 2020 2020 Total: 3 Rookie: Isaac Chugg (No.22, Collingwood) Patrick Walker (No.2, North Melbourne) Rhyan Mansell (PSS, Richmond via Woodville West Torrens) 2021 Total: 2 National: Sam Banks (No.29, Richmond) Mid-Season Rookie: Jackson Callow (No.17, Hawthorn via Norwood) 2022 Total: 5 National: Lachlan Cowan (No.30, Carlton) Tom McCallum (No.36, Port Adelaide) Rookie: Cameron Owen (No.15, Sydney) Seth Campbell (No.10, Richmond) Mid-Season Rookie: Jye Menzie (No.15, Essendon via South Adelaide)

One of the responses I received was from Ashley Browne who edits the AFL Record. He pointed out that while the AFL is putting in only $15m towards the stadium, it will contribute $100m towards football development in Tasmania. I think that’s all well and good but I’m still not so sure as to whether throwing money at the problem will be enough. My information from Tassie friends is that the problem in the schools is that while one or two generations ago, footy was encouraged by teachers and played by almost everyone, that’s not happening these days and that teachers are nowhere near as involved in extra sporting activities as they were back then. How much spending over how many years will achieve a return to the former glory days? Comments welcome from Tassie posters on DL?

I put this up a few days ago on FB:- ON THE MAP? The island state of Tasmania received a major boost yesterday when the AFL granted it a licence that should ultimately see a 19th club in the competition before the end of the decade. At last, the Apple Isle is more than just an afterthought in the minds of the football public and the concept of an actual team representing the estimated 570,000 population has become a reality amid the glitz and glamour of Gillon McLachlan’s big announcement. There are however, numerous elephants standing in the room and in the way of a successful Tassie team and it seems somewhat ironic that the concensus name for its mascot is an extinct marsupial. The cynical author of this article has his concerns that the stadium which underpinned the application for an AFL licence might never be built and there’s certainly reason, at a time of 7% per annum inflation and rising building costs, to fear that it won’t come out on budget or on time. These days you can’t build an outhouse on budget and on time, let alone a major stadium. But there’s more and it relates to the fractured state of Tasmanian football, bedeviled for years by north/south rivalry and cold weather. I remember an early visit to Hobart one weekend in the early 1980s when we were staying at Wrest Point, I shunned the casino and spent the morning walking around the nearby historic Battery Point. It was sunny in the morning and after lunch, I decided to head off to the football to watch the local club Sandy Bay which had been a powerhouse in the 1970s. Their ground was only a walk away but by early afternoon, the clouds were descending down Mount Wellington and the freezing wind came over us by quarter time. The attendance was in the hundreds but by half time it was already thinning out. The game wasn’t particularly entertaining and I left before the final break to find sanctuary and thaw out in the hotel sauna. Sandy Bay ceased to exist as a football club in the late 1990s. Other once strong clubs that operated in the major Tasmanian competitions like North Launceston and the Burnie Hawks are now defunct. Way back in the day, Tasmania used to produce champion players by the truckload. Baldock, Howell, Stewart, “Tassie” Johnson, Hudson, Hart and so many more. It worked both ways because we once sent a player there, Ray Groom, to become the state premier. But more recently, the number of players being produced into AFL ranks has declined dramatically. Supporters of a Tasmanian team point to Geelong as a smaller region that produces plenty of local talent to support an elite AFL team but the number of quality players coming from the Geelong Falcons annually dwarfs the number coming from the Tassie Under 18 team. Who was the last champion player recruited from Tasmania? There’s a lot more work to be done in Tasmania than to just build a 20,000 seat stadium with a roof. The AFL needs to fix the state of football there before it will have a club that can fare any better than the expansion clubs introduced in the past decade. My fellow Tasmanians, congratulations on our team (and the swifty we pulled on the AFL)