Whispering_Jack

I reckon Australian cricket suffered a near death experience overnight. Our batting line up is like Melbourne's midfield - third world. We wasted the last couple of summers and failed to bring in a proper succession plan to replace the likes of Ponting and Hussey. Send Warner home, call up Doolan and (I'm doing a Caro here) sack Inverarity.

Heard they were also into Billy Stretch.

Golby out for Brisbane as well. The Lions are falling apart and the game's a day away from starting.

I'm not so sure that the headline matches the content of the article but if there is going to be friction between Stockdale and his wannabe board on the one side and the AFL and Peter Jackson on the other, then I'm definitely against it.

No ... Stockdale wasn't on the Szondy board although his actions facilitated the creation of that board. According to the foremost authority on thins MFC (DemonWiki):-

Stockdale is a highly competent lawyer and as a politician is known for his role as State Treasurer in implementing Jeff Kennett's revolution of privatisation and cutbacks when in government in the 1990s. Some would say he and Jeff saved the state, others that they left it without a heart and a soul. As an MFC board member he was up to his neck in the intrigue that led to the overthrow of Joe Gutnick and the subsequent destabilisation of the club. Personally, I would prefer others as Stockdale represents a step back in time to an era when the club languished. The knifing of Joe brought us the Szondy regime and we know where that got us. Nevertheless, he's apparently put his hand up although it appears that he won't make an official move until after the federal election (given that he's National President of the Liberal Party). He has yet to speak about his vision for the club and, dare I say it, we have no idea as to who will form his team which I guess makes them all "faceless" men at this point in time. In that respect, it's all a bit hazy. The jury's well and truly out and I'm sure we'd all like to know how he plans to unify the club and restore its fortunes.

Why wait till the end of the year? Because the rules relating to draft assistance don't allow the Commission to consider it until the end of the year. The concept of giving assistance to clubs is based on helping clubs with longer term issues than those confined to a single season or part of a season. This overcomes the situation whereby a club like Collingwood could have one bad season as it did in 2005 allowing it to pick up a Daisy Thomas as well as a Scott Pendlebury or as the Eagles did a few years ago when they picked up a PP on top of a single bad year not long after winning a flag, then making a Prelim Final the following season. The Saints and the Bulldogs were not so long ago members of the top four. It's too early for them to be entitled to assistance. Further, if Melbourne suddenly has a further spike in performances and wins a couple of games it doesn't alter the fact that our list has been so poor over such a long period that assistance is urgently needed.

GONE TROPPO by JVM The Melbourne Football Club has certainly made an impression on the Top End of the nation in recent times. The club conducted an intensive preseason lasting a week or so late last year. Players lived and trained in an army barracks, walked through crocodile infested Kakadu in intensely hot and humid conditions and were feted by the local community. More recently some of its players felt even more intense heat in the cockpit of a light plane sweating it out through an emergency landing in circumstances that might easily have been a matter of life and death. Regrettably, none of the bravado displayed in the heat up there has helped avoid embarrassment at the hands of opposition clubs when it comes to playing a game of football. The Demons have been diabolical this season whether home or away but since the departure of Mark Neeld as coach, the players have been given more freedom and were coming out of their shells until they ran into the rampant Cats on their home turf right in the middle of a deluge which left their lighter bodied frames vulnerable to a hiding. The conditions probably saved them from a much larger defeat. This week, in a vastly different climate and on almost the opposite side of the continent, the team comes up against a vastly different opponent but one which was Geelong's last conqueror. Brisbane was languishing a little until recently after brushing all comers aside in the preseason NAB Cup. They trailed Geelong by 52 points close to three quarter time at the Gabba before their resurgence got them home after the siren. They lost to the Hawks the following week but have won two on end including that come from behind win last week against the Roos. In their past four final quarters, the Lions have posted 166 points to their opposition's 79. Given Melbourne's recent final term lapses (remember the Bulldogs game), I don't think I would back the Demons even if they were 10 goals ahead at the final break. As this is the first time for the season that Melbourne comes up against a repeat opponent, it gives us an opportunity to compare performances from the Neeld regime to the one under Neil Craig but I can't see the Demons improving on the 28 point shortfall from Round 5, particularly if Brent Moloney comes up fit. Beamer seems to be on a mission to torment his former fans as if his abysmal output when playing for the club in 2012 wasn't torment enough. You see, if Melbourne has gone backwards in one area in the past month, its been in the midfield which last week was almost invisible at centre square contests leading to the most lopsided inside 50 counts since they started counting them. And that's exactly what's driving us all Troppo! THE GAME Melbourne v Brisbane Lions at TIO Stadium, Darwin, Saturday 20 July, 2013 at 7.10pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 21 wins Brisbane Lions 18 wins TIO Melbourne 0 wins Brisbane Lions 0 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 8 wins Brisbane Lions 10 Wins The Coaches Craig 0 wins Voss 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel 3 live at 7.30pm RADIO SEN ABC THE BETTING Melbourne $4.30 Brisbane Lions $1.21 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Brisbane Lions 17.20.122 defeated Melbourne 14.10.94 in Round 5, 2013 at the Gabba After an even first quarter, the home side established a narrow lead at half time before Jonathan Brown did in the third quarter what good, strong power forwards tend to do against the Demons. He blew them away. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn Colin Garland Dean Terlich Half backs Tom McDonald James Frawley Mitch Clisby Centreline Jimmy Toumpas Jack Trengove Jack Grimes Half forwards Colin Sylvia Jack Watts Shannon Byrnes Forwards Aaron Davey Chris Dawes Jeremy Howe Followers Max Gawn Jack Viney Nathan Jones Interchange Sam Blease Jack Fitzpatrick Matt Jones Dean Kent Emergencies Jordie McKenzie Cameron Pedersen Jake Spencer In Jack Viney Out Daniel Nicholson BRISBANE LIONS Backs Jed Adcock Matt Maguire Joel Patfull Half backs Ryan Harwood Justin Clarke Brent Staker Centreline Pearce Hanley Tom Rockliff Sam Mayes Half forwards Dayne Zorko Jordan Lisle Rohan Bewick Forwards Josh Green Daniel Merrett Ashley McGrath Followers Matthew Leuenberger Jack Redden Daniel Rich Interchange Sam Docherty Ryan Lester Andrew Raines Elliot Yeo Emergencies James Polkinghorne In Sam Docherty Jordan Lisle Elliot Yeo Out Jonathan Brown Mitch Golby James Polkinghorne THE LATE MAIL My late mail delivered by Bill Lawry's carrier pigeon returning after fleeing Lords is that Jonathan Brown and Mitch Golby are out of the Brisbane Lions side for the game in Darwin. They join veteran midfielders Simon Black and Brent Moloney on the sidelines for the Lions which probably offsets the fact that former Brisbanite Mitch Clark continues to be missing from the Melbourne line up. Now, if only Mark Neeld was still around, he would no doubt explain the significance of the absence of the Brisbane quartet in terms of raw numbers of experience as expressed in games played. Leaving aside young Golby who has added some grunt to its defence, Brisbane is missing more than 700 games of AFL experience and almost the same number of goals scored. In economic terms they together comprise the equivalent of the gross national product of some South American banana republics and enough to raise even Alan Stockdale's eyebrows. What this means is that the game takes on an entirely different complexion. I don't have the precise figures (actually I don't have any figures at all) but I'm guessing that the differential between age, experience and body strength has narrowed markedly while Melbourne's main advantage over Brisbane (average IQ) would have gone through the roof with the absence of Brown and Moloney. This leaves only two considerations - the weather and the superiority of the opposition midfield. These were the two factors that in my view, led to that embarrassing record inside 50 differential against the Cats last week. I checked the weather report and they're predicting warm, sunny conditions during the day (max 32, min 19) and little or no rain although humidity will be high up to 95%. That means it won't be bucketing down as it did at Simonds Stadium so the Dees will have some respite on the weather front. Unfortunately, the Lions still have the advantage in the midfield even with Black and Moloney missing. Leuenberger should have the edge in terms of experience over Gawn and Fitzpatrick and Rich, Redden and Rockliff are likely to dominate the clearances with Raines sitting on Nathan Jones. Elsewhere, Melbourne needs to capitalise on the absence of Jonathan Brown who always manages to do a number against the unlucky backman who draws the short straw and has to play on him while the forward line should relish the additional opportunities and score more than four goals. Notwithstanding, the Lions late surge to come from over 50 points down at the Gabba last month still resonates and the fact that they fancy themselves as finals contenders is enough to convince me that they have the added incentive to get themselves over the line. Brisbane by 15 points.

The Melbourne Football Club has certainly made an impression on the Top End of the nation in recent times. The club conducted an intensive preseason lasting a week or so late last year. Players lived and trained in an army barracks, walked through crocodile infested Kakadu in intensely hot and humid conditions and were feted by the local community. More recently some of its players felt even more intense heat in the cockpit of a light plane sweating it out through an emergency landing in circumstances that might easily have been a matter of life and death. Regrettably, none of the bravado displayed in the heat up there has helped avoid embarrassment at the hands of opposition clubs when it comes to playing a game of football. The Demons have been diabolical this season whether home or away but since the departure of Mark Neeld as coach, the players have been given more freedom and were coming out of their shells until they ran into the rampant Cats on their home turf right in the middle of a deluge which left their lighter bodied frames vulnerable to a hiding. The conditions probably saved them from a much larger defeat. This week, in a vastly different climate and on almost the opposite side of the continent, the team comes up against a vastly different opponent but one which was Geelong's last conqueror. Brisbane was languishing a little until recently after brushing all comers aside in the preseason NAB Cup. They trailed Geelong by 52 points close to three quarter time at the Gabba before their resurgence got them home after the siren. They lost to the Hawks the following week but have won two on end including that come from behind win last week against the Roos. In their past four final quarters, the Lions have posted 166 points to their opposition's 79. Given Melbourne's recent final term lapses (remember the Bulldogs game), I don't think I would back the Demons even if they were 10 goals ahead at the final break. As this is the first time for the season that Melbourne comes up against a repeat opponent, it gives us an opportunity to compare performances from the Neeld regime to the one under Neil Craig but I can't see the Demons improving on the 28 point shortfall from Round 5, particularly if Brent Moloney comes up fit. Beamer seems to be on a mission to torment his former fans as if his abysmal output when playing for the club in 2012 wasn't torment enough. You see, if Melbourne has gone backwards in one area in the past month, its been in the midfield which last week was almost invisible at centre square contests leading to the most lopsided inside 50 counts since they started counting them. And that's exactly what's driving us all Troppo! THE GAME Melbourne v Brisbane Lions at TIO Stadium, Darwin, Saturday 20 July, 2013 at 7.10pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 21 wins Brisbane Lions 18 wins TIO Melbourne 0 wins Brisbane Lions 0 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 8 wins Brisbane Lions 10 Wins The Coaches Craig 0 wins Voss 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel 3 live at 7.30pm RADIO SEN ABC THE BETTING Melbourne $4.30 Brisbane Lions $1.21 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Brisbane Lions 17.20.122 defeated Melbourne 14.10.94 in Round 5, 2013 at the Gabba After an even first quarter, the home side established a narrow lead at half time before Jonathan Brown did in the third quarter what good, strong power forwards tend to do against the Demons. He blew them away. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn Colin Garland Dean Terlich Half backs Tom McDonald James Frawley Mitch Clisby Centreline Jimmy Toumpas Jack Trengove Jack Grimes Half forwards Colin Sylvia Jack Watts Shannon Byrnes Forwards Aaron Davey Chris Dawes Jeremy Howe Followers Max Gawn Jack Viney Nathan Jones Interchange Sam Blease Jack Fitzpatrick Matt Jones Dean Kent Emergencies Jordie McKenzie Cameron Pedersen Jake Spencer In Jack Viney Out Daniel Nicholson BRISBANE LIONS Backs Jed Adcock Matt Maguire Joel Patfull Half backs Ryan Harwood Justin Clarke Brent Staker Centreline Pearce Hanley Tom Rockliff Sam Mayes Half forwards Dayne Zorko Jordan Lisle Rohan Bewick Forwards Josh Green Daniel Merrett Ashley McGrath Followers Matthew Leuenberger Jack Redden Daniel Rich Interchange Sam Docherty Ryan Lester Andrew Raines Elliot Yeo Emergencies James Polkinghorne In Sam Docherty Jordan Lisle Elliot Yeo Out Jonathan Brown Mitch Golby James Polkinghorne THE LATE MAIL My late mail delivered by Bill Lawry's carrier pigeon returning after fleeing Lords is that Jonathan Brown and Mitch Golby are out of the Brisbane Lions side for the game in Darwin. They join veteran midfielders Simon Black and Brent Moloney on the sidelines for the Lions which probably offsets the fact that former Brisbanite Mitch Clark continues to be missing from the Melbourne line up. Now, if only Mark Neeld was still around, he would no doubt explain the significance of the absence of the Brisbane quartet in terms of raw numbers of experience as expressed in games played. Leaving aside young Golby who has added some grunt to its defence, Brisbane is missing more than 700 games of AFL experience and almost the same number of goals scored. In economic terms they together comprise the equivalent of the gross national product of some South American banana republics and enough to raise even Alan Stockdale's eyebrows. What this means is that the game takes on an entirely different complexion. I don't have the precise figures (actually I don't have any figures at all) but I'm guessing that the differential between age, experience and body strength has narrowed markedly while Melbourne's main advantage over Brisbane (average IQ) would have gone through the roof with the absence of Brown and Moloney. This leaves only two considerations - the weather and the superiority of the opposition midfield. These were the two factors that in my view, led to that embarrassing record inside 50 differential against the Cats last week. I checked the weather report and they're predicting warm, sunny conditions during the day (max 32, min 19) and little or no rain although humidity will be high up to 95%. That means it won't be bucketing down as it did at Simonds Stadium so the Dees will have some respite on the weather front. Unfortunately, the Lions still have the advantage in the midfield even with Black and Moloney missing. Leuenberger should have the edge in terms of experience over Gawn and Fitzpatrick and Rich, Redden and Rockliff are likely to dominate the clearances with Raines sitting on Nathan Jones. Elsewhere, Melbourne needs to capitalise on the absence of Jonathan Brown who always manages to do a number against the unlucky backman who draws the short straw and has to play on him while the forward line should relish the additional opportunities and score more than four goals. Notwithstanding, the Lions late surge to come from over 50 points down at the Gabba last month still resonates and the fact that they fancy themselves as finals contenders is enough to convince me that they have the added incentive to get themselves over the line. Brisbane by 15 points.

I'm with you on this Cowboy. Those contrived sequences on OTC were becoming an irritation with Roos repeating on a weekly basis that he wasn't interested in coaching only for the other two to raise it the next week. The running gag was wearing thin and hopefully, its going to go away. We don't need a reluctant coach who can only be persuaded/cajoled by the offer of coin. I suspect that had he decided to come to us he would have become the Tom Scully of the coaching fraternity.

Plus the coach of the Bulldogs has indicated he doesn't believe in the PP so I take it that they won't be applying. I have a feeling that we might snaffle a couple of wins before the year's out and possibly even finish ahead of St. Kilda which looks to have a tough run home (they might even be tanking for all I know). This doesn't alter the situation one iota. Our record over the past 7 years has been abysmal and the AFL rule as to draft assistance is very clear. If it doesn't apply to us, they might as well scrap the rule.

My mail from the start was that Roos wouldn't coach for private family reasons. In any event, the last thing we need is a coach who doesn't have passion a la Malcolm Blight at St. Kilda a decade ago. Neil Craig has certainly "freed up the players" and that resulted in some better performances but from a long term perspective, I'm not sure that this philosophy is enough to get us up to the required standard to challenge the top teams. Williams has always been Caroline Wilson's favourite for the position and since it appears that she has the AFL's ear, it will probably come to pass.

I'm not as confident as Whateley is that this means Essendon players are exonerated. The ACC statement explains its position in respect to the description of AOD9604 on its own website but it also reiterates the WADA position that the drug is prohibited due to it being untested and therefore the prohibition had actually existed since 2011. It's not clear that ASADA informed anyone at Essendon otherwise so the Bombers need to provide proof that ASADA told the club or its medical people that it was in order for it to be taken. As I understand it, ASADA continues to insist that it never informed anyone that AOD9604 could be taken by professional athletes. The question is what questions did Essendon ask and what answers was it given? If the Dank emails that were recently presented in the media are all that the Bombers are hanging their hats on, they would appear to still be in trouble.

Six players sustained injuries playing for Casey at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday. This probably won't affect Melbourne's short term fortunes but could be a massive blow for the Scorpions. Dees hit by injuries via VFL Rohan Bail (knee) 2-3 weeks Mitch Clark (foot) indefinite Tom Couch (hamstring) 2-3 weeks* Troy Davis (ribs) test* Michael Evans (foot) 3 weeks Mark Jamar (foot) 3 weeks Neville Jetta (concussion) test* Joel Macdonald (groin) test* David Rodan (hamstring) 2-3 weeks* James Sellar (concussion) test* Nathan Stark (ankle) 1-2 weeks * injured on Sunday in the VFL.

Club website has the weekly wrap of how the players went at the weekend. Round 13 VFL player review A few players took knocks and left the field so the week's injury list should make interesting reading.

There's no reason why a club can't accept draft assistance and at the same time work towards providing the environment in which it can get the most out of its old and new talent. Our most pressing problem is to develop our diabolically poor midfield and in particular, our inability to win ball out of stoppages. The type of assistance contemplated in this thread will help us get talent but obviously, we also need to do a lot more and, our past experience will no doubt be a guide to those charged with getting our list up to speed. We're assured of a pick in the top 3 or 4 as it is but we would be foolish not to accept assistance that would help us get additional quality to the club as well. It's a no brainer.

A number of posts on this thread have been deleted for breaches of Internet etiquette. Speculation is fine but unfounded claims and offensive remarks to other posters aren't welcome here. Discussion on Mitch Clark's injury can continue when the club issues its next injury list. Needless to say, this thread is closed.

According to David Misson on melbournefc.com.au Joel Macdonald (along with Jordie McKenzie and Jack Viney) "played good minutes in the VFL, but more importantly ... pulled up well - Trio out for another three to four weeks. The "trio" mentioned in the headline are Mark Jamar, Michael Evans and Rohan Bail while rookie Nathan Stark will miss 2 - 3. No mention of Mitch Clark or the blokes who were injured at Werribee yesterday.

Round 19 not "winnable"?

Along with the cheque for pay out of his contract?

I think the (censored) thing's been fixed. Tyson is considering changing his name to Tyson Unhappy anyway.

The latest version of the TAC Cup Future Stars top 10:- 1. GWS TOM BOYD (Eastern Ranges) 2. Melbourne JOSH KELLY (Sandringham Dragons) 3. St. Kilda MATT SCHARENBERG (South Australia) 4. W Bulldogs JACK BILLINGS (Oakleigh Chargers) 5. Gold Coast JAMES AISH (South Australia) 6. Brisbane LEWIS TAYLOR (Geelong Falcons) 7. North Melbourne LUKE MCDONALD (Oakleigh Chargers F/S) 8. Gold Coast DOM SHEED (Western Australia) 9. Carlton BEN LENNON (Northern Knights) 10. GWS Giants KOBE KOLODJASHNIJ (Tasmania)

OK, I'll bite. I've seen him play twice for Victoria Country in the Under 18 national championships as well in a highlights clip shown on the Channel 9 TAC Cup: Future Stars programme. I usually dismiss those highlights reels because they aren't representative enough of a player (see Ben Hur's link to Dom Sheed's highlights playing for Subiaco Colts ?) to be of any value. Jones played well off half back in both championship games, got his share of disposals, was relatively efficient and I had no issues with any particular aspect of his game. In an earlier post, spirit of norm smith summed him up well in this way: The words I would use to describe him would be "workmanlike", "reliable", "dour" and "steady" but he's not a knock your socks off player. Yet he was Vic Country's MVP and made All Australian and is therefore ranked by the AA U18 selectors in the top 18 from the carnival. On that, you would think that he'll be taken somewhere in the top 30 i.e first or up to about mid/late second round. The problem for me is that there was nothing about him that screamed "class" or "quality" like Kelly, Aish or Billing among the mids or the imposing and hard edged qualities of Sheed, Dunstan or Cripps. If he puts his head down and goes to work like his brother has done then he'll be more than handy player in the future but I wouldn't think a player of his kind would be a priority for us when we desperately need players who can extract the ball out of the middle of the ground, particularly at the centre bounces. The brother thing should bear very little influence.

He took a losing position on the so-called tanking issue when he said it didn't exist, gave the nod of approval to whatever Bailey & co did in the Jordie McMahon game and ended up with egg all over the face when the outcome of the inquisition was announced. He's also wrong in suggesting there's confusion on the substance injected into Essendon players and if he follows that line he will steer the AFL into the waters of disrepute.If Lance Armstrong isn't a good enough benchmark on the subject then he need look no further than to the Australian Cricket Board which, in 2003 when Shane Warne was at the height of his career, imposed a one-year ban on him after finding him guilty of breaching the Board's drug code. Warne had been sent home on the eve of the 2003 World Cup after a drug test had returned a positive result for a banned diuretic. Warne claimed he took only one "fluid tablet" (a prescription drug Moduretic) given to him by his mother to improve his appearance. If the AFL is fair dinkum and the investigation finds a banned substance was taken by these players in a manner that's in breach of the drug codes then the players concerned cannot be let off any more lightly than was Warne (who IMO was lucky not to get 2 years).

Like your optimism TD.