Whispering_Jack

I'd be surprised if they didn't have a red yoke.

I agree that it's to the credit of the club but it's a pleasure to read because the author is actually doing her job. Telling the story without pushing her own agenda by introducing irrelevant asides which might reveal her prejudices about the subject she's covering.Quite refreshing when compared with some of the garbage we get to read from others who write for that organisation.

Cripes, an Age journalist who actually reports fact - Demon days from go to doze . Well done Emma Quayle. The chief football writer's position awaits you!

Category B apparently relates to that exotic group of zone and international selections which Melbourne rarely ever gets involved in these days. I find it interesting that we have had only one player was invited to train but have two vacancies to fill at the rookie draft. I suppose we'll find out soon enough who the other player will be.

Juzzo on bigfooty has produced a Phantom PSD and Rookie Draft which is reproduced below. Apparently, a number of clubs are likely to pass up on their PSD selections for list management reasons and Juzzo appears to have taken this into account which is why I've chosen his phantom draft over some of the others. It's also reasonably consistent with this article that appeared recently on the AFL site - http://m.afl.com.au/news/2012-12-06/clubs-shy-away-from-psd?utm_medium=RSS]Clubs shy away from draft crop Pre-Season Draft Round One 1 - GWS Giants Dean Brogan 2 - Western Bulldogs Brent Prismall 3 - Port Adelaide Sam Colquhoun 4 - Brisbane Lions Pass 5 - Richmond Pass 6 - Essendon Dayle Garlett 7 - Carlton Pass 8 - Fremantle Nick Rodda 9 - Collingwood Pass 10 - Adelaide Crows Nick Joyce 11 - Sydney Swans Kurt Tippett Round Two 12 - GWS Giants Pass 13 - Carlton Pass 14 - Fremantle Pass 15 - Collingwood Pass 16 - Sydney Swans Pass Round Three 17 - Sydney Swans Pass Rookie Draft Round One 1 - GWS Giants Jason Laycock 2 - GC Suns Leigh Osborne 3 - Melbourne Jack Hannath 4 - Port Adelaide Jaryd Cachia 5 - Brisbane Lions Jacob Ballard 6 - Richmond Samuel Lowrie 7 - Essendon Ariel Steinberg 8 - Carlton Shane Nelson 9 - North Melbourne Anthony Tipungwuti 10 - Fremantle Alex Howson 11 - WC Eagles Marvin Warrell 12 - Collingwood Jason Pongracic 13 - Adelaide Jarrod Lienert 14 - Hawthorn Jonathan Ceglar 15 - Sydney Swans Darcy Fort Round Two 16 - GWS Giants Dean Robertson 17 - GC Suns Myke Cook 18 - Melbourne Ben Duscher 19 - Port Adelaide Liam Jurrah 20 - Brisbane Lions Jake Calvert 21 - Richmond Josh Toy 22 - Carlton Andrew Collins 23 - North Melbourne Ben Speight 24 - Fremantle Callum Sinclair 25 - WC Eagles Mark Seaby 26 - Collingwood Kane Mitchell 27 - Adelaide Tim Klaosen (Category B ) 28 - Hawthorn Ciaran Kilkenny (Category B ) 29 - Sydney Cameron Banfield Round 3 30 - GWS Giants Emmanuel Irra 31 - GC Suns Jake McKenzie 32 - Brisbane Lions Callum Bartlett 33 - Richmond Cameron Wood 34 - North Melbourne Cameron Richardson 35 - Fremantle Jesse Crichton 36 - Collingwood Simon Dwyer 37 - Adelaide Jack Osborn (Category B ) 38 - Sydney Ben Saunders Round Four 39 - GWS Giants Matthew Haynes 40 - GC Suns Aliir Aliir 41 - Brisbane Lions Jordan Bourke (Category B ) 42 - Richmond Addam Maric 43 - Fremantle Craig Moller (Category B ) 44 - Collingwood Ben Hudson 45 - Sydney Xavier Richards Round 5 46 - GWS Giants Tom Langdon 47 - GC Suns Andrew Boston (Category B ) 48 - Richmond Gideon Simon (Category B ) 49 - Collingwood Peter Yagmoor 50 - Sydney Liam Flaherty Round Six 51 GWS Giants Zach Williams (Category B ) 52 - GC Suns Brian Coleman-Broome (Category B ) 53 - Collingwood Ben Richmond (Category B ) 54 - Sydney Brandon Jack (Category B ) Round Seven 55 - GWS Giants Joseph Redfern (Category B ) 56 - Sydney Daniel Robinson (Category B ) Round Eight 57 - GWS Giants Eric Wallace (Category B ) 58 - Sydney Alex Starling (Category B )

Liam Jurrah ticks all boxes but Port Adelaide set to pass on him Given that the article alludes to speculation that Liam turned up late to one training session, the reference in the headline to ticking all the boxes is somewhat misleading. I still regard Liam as a Demon and strongly believe he will come out of his March trial in the NT a free man in terms of penalty but not unscathed as a result of his experience. I consider that Port Adelaide would be mad therefore to take him on without seeing him go through a season at SANFL level beforehand. There's so much healing needed above and beyond the outcome of the court hearing and some time out of the limelight might be the order of the day for him and the members of his community. I wish them well.

Good get binman. I would suggest that it's not only Dean Bailey who believes this but also anyone with half a brain who has followed this sham of a farce of an inquisition from its very beginning when Healy, Sheahan an Roos sat looking like stunned mullets while Baby Blue made a fool of himself in front of the cameras to the weeks and months of stupid media reportage and speculation.I think it would make an appropriate epitaph for the inquisition.

What you folk don't realise is that the bloke hates Melbourne because he's T$'s illegitimate father. Think about that one.

Corrected.Thanks.

The AFL has now issued the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft Order:- Round One 1 - GWS Giants 2 - Western Bulldogs 3 - Port Adelaide 4 - Brisbane Lions 5 - Richmond 6 - Essendon 7 - Carlton 8 - Fremantle 9 - Collingwood 10 - Adelaide Crows 11 - Sydney Swans Round Two 12 - GWS Giants 13 - Carlton 14 - Fremantle 15 - Collingwood 16 - Sydney Swans Round Three 17 - Sydney Swans Melbourne is not included as it has a full Primary List. The Rookie draft will follow in reverse finishing order on the 2012 ladder. Our first pick in that draft is #3. We also have a second pick which will be in the late teens.

That's the one I'd like to hear in the context of this inquisition.The club's brand continues to suffer damage as a result of the misinformation and innuendo bandied abroad, mainly because of the poor treatment of stories leaked to the media. Those of us who closely study the allegations made against the club and have some knowledge of the issues and personalities involved are better able to understand that what's been presented in the media witch hunt is not evidence of wrongdoing in the context of what the AFL has defined as "tanking" in the past. Call it "list management" or "experimenting" (as Baby Blue did when questioned on OTC), or give it the descriptions Fevola and Liberatore have used in the context of Carlton who were investigated for 15 minutes over the issue. The fact remains that the only instance where tanking has been proven was in the case of the Richmond Football Club when Terry Wallace admitted to it publicly by saying he did nothing to win a game that would have deprived the Tigers of Trent Cotchin had they won (and the AFL has done nothing about this). It's damaging because most of the public simply do not study closely what's been said or written about the inquisition. I have had conversations with intelligent, well educated people who believe that Melbourne called meetings to direct its coaches and other personnel in the football department to do everything in their power including direct orders to players to lose games under sufferance of dismissal from their jobs. They seriously believe this after misreading articles written by some in the media whose agendas deviated far from the normal role of reporting or commenting on real facts. Some have formed opinions on the basis only of newspaper headlines or 10 second grabs on the news. Chalk it down as a victory for the Josef Goebbels style of journalism that's becoming all too prevalent in certain segments of our print media. The AFL can trumpet on about the inquisition having to go on its normal course but this one continues to us and the broader game much damage. At this rate, it's going to last almost as long as an entire football season eating into valuable resources and doing nothing more than bring many of the league's personnel and its investigative processes into disrepute. I agree with the OP. Demetriou needs to find a way out of this and soon.

Well, for the next nine days you can be assured there will be no training reports from either Gosch's Paddock or Casey Fields but we've been promised by the club site that it will provide daily reports on the happenings. I suppose that will have to do unless someone from the Top End who supports the club runs into a player or two ...

... and in other breaking news tonight, AFL's outgoing football operations chief Adrian Anderson has commenced an investigation into the Carlton Football Club following comments made by player Brock McLean alleging the Blues brought the game into disrepute by tanking in that they failed to put the best personnel into their leadership group in the latter half of season 2012. Unnamed sources point to the result of Carlton's game v lowly Gold Coast Suns at Carrara as clear evidence that the club forfeited the game but CEO Greg Swan says his club will strenuously defend the claim on the basis that McLean was suffering from foot in mouth disease when he made his comments.

Forfeiting means to surrender.In which game is she alleging that we did that? Sydney Swans @ Manuka where we have never beaten them and came closer to beating them than in the previous two matches and only poor kicking for goal lost it for us? Richmond where it took a goal after the siren from 50 metres to beat us? St. Kilda (19-2) v us (4-17) with them paying $1.02 the win in a game we lost by 47 points? If these were forfeits in her mind then she really has forfeited her sanity.

I believe they don't. I'm guessing but with Melbourne going to NT for the next week it might not be feasible to take a non listed player on the trip. There could be implications with insurance and a whole range of things involved. That means that Hannath is free to train elsewhere and who knows? A different club altogether could select him in the PSD or the rookie draft. That's the system.

Happy with changes but do you realise that the links page still has Liam Jurrah and Brent Moloney on the banner. Or should I call him Maloney?

On a completely different note and in view of the Ponting retirement, the failure of any fresh batting talent to emerge in recent years, the abundance of injuries to our pace bowlers and the lack of class spinners available, my question is this: Who would you rather be today: Mickey Arthur or Mark Neeld?

Oops, Carlton is now denying the Reimers connection - http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=152061'>Reimers not with us, say Blues

Another PTT list issued today - http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/draft-tracker/carlton-gives-delisted-essendon-midfielder-kyle-reimers-a-chance-to-show-he-deserves-another-chance/story-fngeflq8-1226529919640'>Carlton gives delisted Essendon midfielder Kyle Reimers a chance to show he deserves another chance Jack H still the only player training with the Dees.

So, given all the evidence before her she maintains that the Crows just broke the rules but weren't actually cheating and yet, on the same programme a few weeks earlier, she accused us of match fixing. Delightful!

Whilst it's correct to say that a profit figure in one particular year can easily be manipulated by accounting trickery, I think it's also folly to come to any conclusions about the club's financial security based on this set of results alone. Although I'm not an accountant, I would have thought that this could better be assessed by looking at its balance sheet which I understand will be released shortly. From what I recall of the recent figures, we've gone from somewhere in the region of $5m in the red to an amount in excess of that in the black in a very short space of time which I consider to be a monumental feat given the club's insipid on field performances during the same period. Granted we have to continue to work hard as a club to increase revenue streams and that won't be easy in the current climate. However, with improved performances on the field, the potential is there for improvement in our bottom line. I have no issue with the club resorting to supporters and AFL handouts which in effect seek to restore an even playing field for clubs disadvantaged by a fixture skewed in favour of the already richer clubs. I look forward to the day when we are one of them as well and that we're regulars in finals and premiership contention. In any event, kudos go to the current Board and those who worked with the club previously to improve our financial situation.

Hats off to Saintsational poster White Winmar whose opening paragraph reads - "I have been subjected to the unfortunate situation in which I share mutual friends with Wilson. At the risk of attacking the woman, rather than what she writes, may I just say she is one of the most thoroughly unpleasant people I've ever met. She is contrary, rude, aloof and comes across as embittered. As for her writing, let's just say she reports gossip, rather than making any insightful observations. If she wasn't Ian wilson's little girl, I doubt we'd ever heard of her." That's a tad unkind IMO because she is was a good journo in the past. Perhaps the pressures of working on a shocking and awful sinking ship have caused her to transmogrify into a gossip columnist. And on the subject of gossip, I won't quote White Winmar's second paragraph but I'm tempted to send it to New Idea or Who Weekly. I'm sure they would have an investigative journalist on staff to check out what he claims to be impeccable "thourthes". PS: You will have to register to read Saintsational.

Ryan Ferguson is the antithesis of T$ in that he remained at the red and the blue when it would have been to our advantage for him to go to Hawthorn several years ago in exchange for a Brad Sewell. He's been playing for West Adelaide where he's now the skipper and he's just re-signed for another stint - http://m.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/fergusson-re-signs/story-e6freckc-1226525991193'>Ferguson re-signs with Bloods. Meanwhile, Brad Sewell continues to thrive at the Hawks.

Much will depend on what the football department thinks of his form. As I understand it, his other issues are well under control and I certainly wouldn't worry about Caro's input. Last I looked, she had nothing to do with the club's recruiting and, as far as I'm concerned, she would be a far less desirable person to have at the club than Travis Tuck. I wish him well in his efforts to regain a place on an AFL list and I hope that if he gets the chance, he grabs it with both hands and sets a great example for all troubled youth.

AFL PERMISSION TO TRAIN LIST (UPDATED) Adelaide: Nick Joyce (Adelaide) Brisbane Lions: Jordon Bourke (Morningside) Carlton: Andrew Collins (Carlton) Collingwood: Ben Hudson (Brisbane Lions) Essendon: Tom Fields (Labrador), Dayle Garlett (Swan Districts) Fremantle: Jesse Crichton (Fremantle) Geelong Cats: None Gold Coast Suns: Leigh Osborne (Frankston), Andrew Boston (Broadbeach) GWS Giants: Joseph Redfern (East Coast Eagles), Dean Robertson (North Ballarat Rebels), Zach Williams (Narrandera) Hawthorn: Jonathon Ceglar (Collingwood) Melbourne: Jack Hannath (Central District) North Melbourne: Cameron Richardson (North Melbourne), Ben Speight (North Melbourne). Port Adelaide: Liam Jurrah (Melbourne), Jaryd Cachia (Norwood), Aseri Raikiwasa (Port Adelaide Magpies), Sean Lemmens (Port Adelaide Magpies), Sam Gray (Port Adelaide Magpies), Justin Hoskin (Port Adelaide Magpies), Kory Beard (Port Adelaide Magpies), Sam Colqhoun (Central Districts) Richmond: Addam Maric (Richmond), Orren Stephenson (Geelong), Josh Toy (Gold Coast Suns), Cameron Wood (Collingwood) St Kilda: Adam Cockie (Sandringham), Jackson Coleman (Sandringham), Chris Michaelides (Sandringham), Michael Sikora (Sandringham), Anthony Soriano (Sandringham) Sydney Swans: Brandon Jack (Pennant Hills), Sam Naismith (North Shore), Dane Rampe (Univeristy of NSW), Xavier Richards (Sandringham Dragons) West Coast: None Western Bulldogs: Nick Lower (Fremantle), Matthew Bate (Melbourne), Ben Duscher (Bendigo), Brett Goodes (Williamstown), Brent Prismall (Essendon)