Whispering_Jack

And to that, I'll say it again "Go Dockers" Fremantle designers hope Dockers march to the Grand Final boosts the City

Well Aish got through that final round and performed reasonably given that he had been out of action for a few weeks. He's back tomorrow for the second semi final against West Adelaide. The teams are:- NORWOOD F: Davis, Warren, Grigg HF: Phillips, Dawe, Pfeiffer C: James Aish, Thomas, Fuller HB: Zorzi, McGuinness, Bode B: Stevenson, Georgiou, Kirwan R: Baulderstone, Webber, Suckling INT FROM: M. Evans, Dumont, Jefferies, Bampton, Fantasia IN: Zorzi, Dawe, Fantasia, Grigg OUT: Donohue (calf), Smart WEST ADELAIDE F: Fielke, Still, Slattery HF: Silverlock, Keough, Beech C: Hill, Schmidt, Birss HB: Green, Hartlett, Mangan B: Caire, Tippett, Thompson R: Webb, Tuck, Macreadie INT FROM: Bricknell, Middleton, Bonney, Kirk, R. Anderson IN: R. Anderson, Middleton, Kirk, Still OUT: Ferguson (concussion), Moran (hamstring) West Adelaide skipper Ryan Ferguson who is best known for his refusal to go to Hawthorn in exchange for Brad Sewell all those years ago is out with a hamstring injury.

It doesn't happen very often but Vlad gets slapped around by the boss of WADA - Fahey slams Demetriou over WADA leak call. The AFL and clubs will learn soon that you don't mess with WADA. I think John Fahey is sending a few messages there over and above the obvious. In the meantime, it would be wise for the AFL boss to STFU as much as possible about the entire subject until the ASADA report issues. He already has a couple of omelettes on his face over Doc Reid; he really doesn't need to make things worse.

I don't believe Caro has covered herself in glory over this at all. She slammed Martin both on television and in print, and trashed his reputation severely, even highlighting some transgressions that had hitherto only been rumoured (without questioning why Richmond had tolerated them). She painted Martin as the quintessential dickhead who no right thinking club should touch with a ten foot pole. She was full of praise about Richmond's tactic of distancing itself from him and now, she does a 360 and praises the Tigers for happily wanting him back (albeit at their own price). She pillories every other club in similar situations and hasn't held back on Dane Swan or Sam Fisher. Only the Toigs deserve praise for bringing such a character back into the fold. I strongly suspect that if this was a story about Swan or even Buddy it might be told very differently.

Hawthorn are blessed with their recruiting. They picked up Shaun Burgoyne at the end of 2009 when he was 26, going on 27 and his career was in a rut. He's now been an important member of his team for four years but last night, without his efforts, they would have been celebrating Mad Monday on the day after next.

Come now angrydee - surely you don't thing everybody here on Demonland agrees with one simple viewpoint or that we would be upset when someone expresses a contrary view?Bluey's comments are welcome here even if they're misguided or wrong, as long as they lead to healthy debate and not personal abuse. I happen to disagree on Jimmy T, having witnessed his leadership, silky skills and decision making at state under 18 level. He didn't show a great deal this year and I was disappointed. Perhaps it was the limitations put on him by two hip operations twelve or so months ago that restricted his pre season, perhaps it was poor coaching, a lack of confidence or simply the fact that he was in the wrong environment and playing in a sh1t team? On the other hand, I seem to recall a young bloke at a sh1t team in 2012 named Chad Wingard who struggled with a few injuries and who was very hot and cold in his first season while showing some signs of promise. He blossomed this year into an All Australian in a side that improved dramatically from one season to the next when the environment changed dramatically under a new coach. I often quote a philosopher who said: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." That means if you want to end up a winner in life you don't dwell too much on past misfortunes but rather, you learn from them and move forward - Port did it in 2013. We can do it as well in 2014 and Jimmy can play his part.

It's laughable. We have AFL officials and club presidents travelling on expensive overseas junkets supposedly to study methods to make their competition more even. The first thing they do on return is to fight against proposals that would help equalise the competition and maintain the status quo of inequality. They rail against an idea that half the clubs have taken advantage of over the past decade (two even won premierships) on the basis that they compromise the recruiting system but when a club approaches an 18 year old legitimately to seek placement in an open draft (and away from a position that heavily compromises the draft), this Richard Colless squeals like a stick pig. I didn't hear him whine, complain or even open his mouth when the AFL conspired with another club (heavily supported financially by ... well, er ... the AFL) to poach a teenage first draft pick when he was finishing off his first season away from Melbourne with obscene offers that we had absolutely no chance of matching. Then we're told we wasted previous priority picks (he was one of them) so we don't deserve further assistance when we're down. Go for it Paul Roos and, as for you Colless, all I can say for now is "go Dockers".

He was superb playing for Box Hill last week and I have no doubt he would be an acquisition at Melbourne and a regular senior player for many years to come. I reckon he's guaranteed a longer AFL career with us and probably more money. He will probably eventually become a regular in the Hawks team but that's not a certainty. He should give us a thought and let's face it - Hawthorn owes us. We've given them Kyle Cheney and Cam Bruce in recent years

I'm feeling a bit contrary today and I don't think you can go very far ATM with the other thread. My first guess is that we won't be making a play for Buddy Franklin.

I see that you still haven't taken out a subscription to the Comedy Channel Rhino. Pity.

I wonder if, when he's gone, the AFL Commission re-opens the inquiry into whether Carlton tanked in 2005-7?

Not only that but I remember the days when Crackers Keenan would butt out his cigarette as he was running down the race at the start of a game. They should bring that back too!

Unlike Whateley, Jacquelin Magnay has some good form on the issue and I suspect, her sources are better than Whateley's hired consultant for the Essendon Football Club. And she's been consistent on this for some time:- Journalist Jacquelin Magnay claims football codes allowed cheating to fester by refusing to address obvious issues It hasn't just been drugs but also the tanking issue which the AFL condoned (until Vlad turned his back), the inequality of fixtures, different rules for the rich and the poor and a raft of other matters including ground utilisation. The AFL's governance of the game is a complete shambles and while it's been able to massage over the cracks with money up until now, it won't get away from WADA and the ACC.

You could say that with respect to much of the subject matter thats been discussed here, I suspect.

... and despite Doc Reid's stroke of good fortune yesterday, this ain't going away ... Heart tests worried Dons ASADA ready with lifetime sport bans

It's a mad, mad, mad world gone bananas when I read news stories suggesting that Neil Craig is about to be appointed coach of Brisbane and Dean Bailey a strong possibility for the gig at Essendon (lips please don't unpurse). It wouldn't surprise me if Mark Neeld bobbed up somewhere too (Carlton as assistant to Mick).

I've never regarded the ashen faced allegation as having come from the AFL. For someone to claim with any semblance of credibility how Schwab looked as he was leaving his seat at the end of the game that person had to be someone who sat in the same area as the club officials. The same (i.e someone close to the club) can be said about some of the other stories that abounded at the time such as the ones that came out of the Swans game in Canberra.The most incredible aspect of the media's reaction to today's news came IMO from Gerrard Whateley whose lack of understanding of the status of AOD9604 is becoming monumental.

Nice tune.

I suppose we'll find out when the annual report and financial statements are issued at the end of the year. It's hard to hide $1m in your balance sheet.

On reflection, I have a feeling that this settlement agreement between Reid and the AFL could well end up backfiring on Essendon and its players:- Doc Reid charges dropped This will IMO bury the Essendon players if ASADA issues infraction notices. They are going to find it difficult to put forward any argument about mitigation on the basis that they relied on the club doctor because the club doctor has completely distanced himself from the club's 'High Performance Unit' and not only that but the AFL has accepted Reid's position. If infraction notices are issued to the Essendon players, the AFL has no option but to suspend them for two years. Their chances of relying on mitigating circumstances is gone and if the AFL hits them with anything less then WADA will appeal the case to the CAS. The Bombers have been hoisted on their own petard (sorry Ricky has nothing to do with this).

Sorry. I should have blamed the barristers. Finest piece of work from Ms. Wilson I've ever read - Reid decision reeks of hunger for closure by AFL. The Martin brouhaha must have caused her to wake up a little.

Seriously though, there's an irony when looking at some of these delistings that Carlton's recruiting early in this decade has been as bad as ours. They went tall a few years ago when they felt strong in the midfield and came up with Mitchell, McCarthy, Watson & McInnes and have bombed out there and some of their trades don't look very healthy either. The other irony is that Barry Prendergast works for the Blues albeit not in a recruiting capacity.

Yes, but only if we had pick 88 available to use on another trade.

Why am I expecting eight new threads to spring up on the other board in the next few hours?

What astounds me is your unlimited capacity to misinterpret what I say in order that you can get on your soapbox and spout bullsh1t.