Whispering_Jack

Micky Mouse

Thinks the golden boy will survive. He's a very strong supporter of Hird and believes Hird's version of the AD tip off scandal as revealed here -REVEALED: How Essendon coach James Hird and AFL traded barbs over drugs scandal. I'm not so sure that Hird can beat the might of the AFL commission or that he's innocent in all this but we'll see on 5 August, I suppose.

I went out for dinner tonight and a Bomber supporter with strong connections to the club said he was still very confident that no Essendon player would be disqualified as a result of the ASADA investigation. His mail is that the AFL wants it all to go away and he believes that the James Hird version of the AD tip off story is the correct one. He also said that the leading journos had a lot more information about the behind the scenes machinations that are yet to be revealed. The Bomber fan isn't impressed with Peter Jackson but I think that's because he's a Sheedy loyalist and Jacko was the CEO who sacked Sheedy and appointed Matthew Knights. He's resigned to the fact that regardless of the outcome of the enquiry, he doesn't think Essendon will play finals this year and that they're going to be a couple mill light on in the pocket.

Commentators at half time on SEN coverage of the Sydney v Richmond game today laughed at the possibility of Roos coaching Melbourne. One thought he might be a chance at WCE if their board thinks its time for Woosha to go.

I'm looking forward to the day when a guest is invited onto a programme such as this because of his great achievements as a player or a coach.

KIA was apparently mentioned on 3AW.

Actually, you're starting to sound like Caroline Wilson, WYL. What if Essendon isn't found guilty on Monday week?Will you still say they "systematically cheated a WADA CODE"?

What we saw yesterday (and to some extent a fortnight earlier) was the result of what everybody applauded as being the culmination of "freeing up" the players and giving them licence to play their own games. That might well have been necessary after the ongoing negativity of the first half of the current season and the resultant damage to player confidence but at the same time, we seem to have taken our eyes off the defensive side of our game. Time and time again, the Kangaroos streamed effortlessly out of our forward line without any pressure being imposed whatsoever and it was like that everywhere on the ground. We bemoan our lack of a midfield but really we were poor everywhere in terms of putting pressure on the opposition. True, the players needed some freeing up but I wonder whether or not we've thrown out the baby with the bath water in our haste to dissociate ourselves from the Neeld legacy. Whoever we eventually appoint as coach will need to restore the balance to ensure that we put the lazy culture of almost an entire decade behind us.

And much the same could be said of some of our own who were pilloried by many around here and elsewhere earlier this year.

Happens when three new threads on what's essentially the same subject are opened up within a few hours of each other.

I don't quite understand what happened with the inclusion of Luke Tapscott when Terlich came out with his injury. I thought Nicholson was supposed to be the first emergency given that he was selected to play in the ressies today. Surely, in those circumstances, Nicho would have been picked to play for Casey?

That may well be the case but for a long time yesterday many of the 5 or 6 hundred Melbourne fans in attendance were waiting for the coach to echo the great John Kennedy (the Hawthorn one) and "do something"!

James Aish has again been named in Norwood's best players - Redlegs survive a scare against West Adelaide at Parade. You can watch a replay on Thursday at 2.30am (I'm setting the IQ to have a look). Stats: 14 kicks 8 handballs 7 marks 2 handballs 1 point. From what I've seen Aish is more of an outside player, more in the Toumpas mould who will take a bit of time to get up to speed with the increased tempo of the game. We also badly need some hard in and under mids who can get the ball out of the middle which is where the AFL can step in with some draft assistance, without which we will remain a problematic member of the competition for some time yet. Incidentally, despite being involved in some controversy earlier this year, Nathan Bassett would merit a close look for an assistant's position with an eye to a more senior role at some time in the future.

If Neil Craig was ever a candidate for the coaching position, I would have to say that yesterday was unhelpful. It's understood that he hasn't had a full preseason to do things his own way but if you were looking for clever moves, tactics or strategies, I didn't see any.

I must say I think it somewhat embarrassing to be discussing another club "in crisis" after our stunning performance yesterday at Etihad but here goes (and I am resorting to Demonland's favourite pastime - speculation) ... There must be something more going on under the surface at Essendon than what we already know. Evans said on Thursday night after leaving the Essendon board meeting that he was off to dinner and that it definitely wasn't a "farewell dinner". Forty-eight hours later, he bids the Bombers farewell. Now, he doesn't strike me as the type who would desert a sinking ship but that sort of behaviour suggests that he's taken the first or second lifeboat off the Titanic (and never mind the women and the children). What happened in those 48 hours to make him change his mind, especially given that we are two weeks away from the announcement of the results of the ASADA investigation? I can't help but think this has something to do with the evidence ASADA has in its hands which some people felt might be instrumental in getting Essendon and its players off the hook.

Possibly so but I think we were hurt more by abysmally poor recruiting, coaching and list management over a lengthy period which involved personnel at the club before Schwab came here. He might not have done enough to extract us out of the hole but he didn't dig it in the first place.

Set yourselves for a very long saga insofar as EFC is concerned. There's a lot of dirty washing to be aired concerning their supplements programme of 2011/2 that turned some of their players from skinny runts into big men in quick time. At least we know for sure that nobody at Melbourne has ever taken any performance enhancing substances.

Sadly, I think you're right on the button about Aaron. His days are numbered.

Quite right. Schwab should have kicked 100 goals and won the Brownlow this year as well. Let us down badly.

If anyone says Melbourne doesn't have a case for draft assistance after that atrocity, they should have their head read.

Sorry I'm late with this but I've just caught up with my week's viewing of stuff on the Foxtel IQ. Last Sunday's TAC Cup Future Stars went beyond a top ten and listed their top 18 being the first round based on the then ladder positions. For some reason Luke Dunstan is out of favour. He's not only fallen out of the top ten but he's also out of the first round* altogether:- 1. GWS TOM BOYD (Eastern Ranges) 2. Melbourne JOSH KELLY (Sandringham Dragons) 3. St. Kilda JAMES AISH (South Australia) 4. W Bulldogs MATT SCHARENBERG (South Australia) (5) 5. Gold Coast DOM SHEED (Western Australia) 6. Brisbane JACK BILLINGS (Oakleigh Chargers) 7. North Melbourne LUKE MCDONALD (Oakleigh Chargers F/S) 8. West Coast LEWIS TAYLOR (Geelong Falcons) 9. Carlton JONATHON MARSH (Western Australia) 10. GWS Giants KOBE KOLODJASHNIJ (Tasmania) 11. PORT ADELAIDE MATT CROUCH (North Ballarat) 12. COLLINGWOOD BEN LENNON (Northern Knights) 13. RICHMOND BILLY HARTUNG (Dandenong Stingrays) 14. FREMANTLE DARCY GARDNER (Geelong Falcons) 15. SYDNEY SWANS NATHAN FREEMAN (Sandringham Dragons) 16. ESSENDON CHRISTIAN SALEM (Sandringham Dragons) 17. GEELONG ZAC MERRETT (Sandringham Dragons) 18. HAWTHORN JARMAN IMPEY (Murray Bushrangers) * Adelaide are out because of the Tippett penalty while Essendon also faces loss of draft picks if they receive an adverse outcome from the ASADA investigation.

That's true but why leave anything to chance? Now that we're literally in bed with the AFL it shouldn't be too hard for us to request demand that our Darwin fixture be played in the week before our midseason bye to ensure that we get the desired rest anyway. Incidentally, that's exactly what happened with the Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide game in round 10.

Watching Hurley strike a purple patch during the final quarter last night (yes, I know the game was all but over), you couldn't help but notice his aggression at the ball and his determination and strength when in attack. He could easily have finished with 5. If Watts can adopt that approach to his game, he would race ahead in the comparison stakes.

I'm surprised at all the gloom and doom on this thread about a North Melbourne hoodoo at this stage of the morning. It surely couldn't be the consensus among Demon fans these days because we have a 16 page thread elsewhere titled "Melbourne has moved on from Roos".

Let's not knock Vlad now. He's our de facto el supremo. He can do whatever he wants as long as he shows us the money, gives us priority picks and keeps Jeff Kennett and his ilk away from the club.