Whispering_Jack

Jake Niall discussed it back at the end of October in Why the Dees alone are facing probe but while the article posed a number of possibilities, the definitive answer wasn't given. We do have a number of theories, many of which might be considered "conspiracy theories" depending on what camp you happen to be in - were we more careless than the others, were words whispered in the wrong ears or were we in the wrong place at the wrong time? Perhaps we'll never get that definitive answer we're looking for? Perhaps it has something to do with Adrian Anderson's seemingly hasty departure from the scene? As I've said on Demonland and elsewhere, the AFL would have been seen in a better light had the investigation been called into tanking right across the board rather than into one club alone. BTW Bob. I like the change of name. Is this another part of your image makeover?

And kudos to our TAC Cup commentator Stevo who noticed Barry during last year's finals and had this to say in his preliminary finals report back in September:

To be fair, we have been asked to respond as to why we and two officials shouldn't be charged. In my book that does mean "facing charges", however flimsy or otherwise we might perceive the evidence of the nature of the possible charges. A more pertinent question would be why many others are not in the same position?

I did this exercise a little while ago out of curiosity and I know the line about stats and damned lies and that these stats aren't even all that comprehensive but in 2012:- Coincidentally, the stats are not dissimilar; Trengove's extra 3 games could be balanced by the fact that he had less time on the ball than Scully as he played a fair bit at half forward. We know that Jack is a stronger mark. While most of us are disappointed with Jack's efforts in 2012 and expect a lot more from him in the future, the million dollar man has been lauded for his efforts, lifted a notch in his club's leadership group and is compared by his coach with James Hird for his leadership qualities. I think we're being more realistic in our assessment of his past season. Naturally, we have to remain cautious about how Jack's season will pan out given his early injury setback and the disruption to his pre season but it's not the end of the world. Hopefully, we'll get 18 good quality games from him and Mitch Clark in a much improved 2013.

Unless they're in the elite class I wouldn't expect much from the 18/19 year olds coming into their first seasons at AFL level. We should see a fair bit of Jimmy Toumpas and Jack Viney who have had the advantage of playing with and against men, but we shouldn't have great expectations for Dom Barry in 2013 or even 2014. Football departments concentrate these days on developing their players' aerobic capacity and building up their muscle mass (often two areas that are difficult to reconcile) as well as working on their mental toughness and other transitional issues from junior football to elite. The process can take 2 to 3 years. I think when Barry says he's hoping just to break into the team for one game during this opening season, he's not being unrealistic. Let's not do with him what we did with Jack Watts.

Weekend. I'm resting my case.

Tend to agree with the rider that there are a few other good ones at the Age including Greg Baum (as mentioned above) and Tim Boyle (former Hawk who broke his leg early in his career) who writes some insightful articles and I reckon Robinson's writing at the Hun is pretty ordinary. On the other hand, I don't mind him on TV and radio.The Herald Sun recently lost two of the better football journalists going around in Mike Sheahan and Mark Stevens and, despite the poor efforts recently of Wilson and Pierik, they are lagging behind the Age.

Back at work yesterday for the first time this year so I left the reading of this thread till this morning and I wasn't disappointed. Thanks for the terrific contributions from those who made it to the session and reported on it here. There were some terrific insights and I'm looking forward to attending my first pre season session on Monday. I won't even bother taking my camera because I couldn't match waynewussell's work - thanks. I'm glad they're going around on Monday because I've long regarded Australia Day as the date on which we farewell the tennis and the cricket and well and truly enter the run towards the start of the footy. The fact that I've grown a bit disenchanted with those two sports makes the anticipation of the football season even greater, especially since I'm looking forward to great improvement from the Demons in 2013. These reports have been helpful but it will be great to see for myself first hand exactly how the blokes are travelling. There have been some glowing reports here but I've heard from some others that they don't believe our skills have improved all that much. I guess we'll find out soon enough when the real stuff starts but Monday's still a big day for me.

Please let's not go there here.

I'm fortunate enough to have some business interests in the Cranbourne area so I don't even have to take the day off work. I just need to tailor some appointments around the time of the game and get down there on the day.I would think that the FD has worked out their schedule for the intraclub game in line with the start of our NAB Cup campaign which comes seven days later. That's the nature of sports science these days.

It's good to know that Liam is getting support at the time he most needs it. Well done Bruce and one can only hope that this is only one of many steps to bring some peace and harmony back into the lives of the people of the Yuendumu community. Liam Jurrah gains support in hour of need.

Here it is and written only as Martin Flanagan can - Farewell a friend for life Football is about more than the politics and the million dollar footballers. As Flanagan reminds us, it's also made up of hundreds of thousands of people including the fans and the humble doorkeepers and bootstudders who all have a stake in the sport. I only wish that some of his colleagues understood that so we could appreciate more the roles of great people like Arthur and their contribution to the game.

It was a rhetorical question and didn't need an answer. Anyway, I didn't ask you. I asked the poster called Fan and not Saddam Hussein's Information Minister ( محمد سعيد الصحاف‎).

Adrian Campbell

Caroline back yet?

No reason to bring this matter up on this thread. There's plenty of discussion elsewhere already. Thanks.

{6} for differentiation. I am innocent and I will never reveal my sources.

Did they tank? I have seen no evidence of Carlton tanking just as I have seen no evidence of Melbourne tanking? Do I believe they did certain things during 2005, 6 and 7 which ensured the best possible draft picks for their club short of instructing their players to lose matches - yes (and so did we in 2009 and other years) but it doesn't come under what I call a proper definition of the offence of tanking under AFL rules. [ii] Yes, I called them Carltank occasionally to rile their supporters because I believe that we Demon fans are sent on this earth to p1zz off fans of clubs like Carlton and Collingwood. So, did we tank in 2003 and 2007?

From a feather duster to a ... rooster

Darren Bennett

I don't think the 2013 Casey list gets finalised for at least a month yet.

The MFC is tweeting:- Now I'm not really a worry wart but I'm glad the Dees are training in the relative safety of GP after seeing a fire threatened the Saints' training facility at Seaford the other day. We should be glad that the club has a centrally located facility as well as the one in Casey.

That's because they are different people.

Thanks - so he could be competing with Jesse Hogan for a place on the forward line.

After you Stingrays ...