Whispering_Jack

Batter late than never.

Well, if we do draft from outside those training with us it won't be Brendan Fevola or Andrew Lovett. The stories of their demise has been well documented. I've heard that at various stages, poor old Kevin Sheedy was keen to get both of them across to GWS but the idea was swiftly knocked on the head by the powers that be who really run the club from AFL HQ. Sheeds wrote a book about giving sportsmen second chances and beyond and no doubt their presence would have helped him win the odd game or two. They would certainly have helped some of those young pimply faced 17 and 18 year olds learn the finer points of becoming AFL stars. Football in western Sydney will be the poorer for the edict that prevented these blokes from continuing their careers at one of the few places in the country where they would have looked right at home.

I reckon he might if he can score 17 first-class centuries including three in Tests in the next three seasons at that level.

OK - sorry about the false alarm last Friday, but I'm assured there will be an open training session at Gosch's Paddock tomorrow at 9.45am. Looking forward to some good reports from those who can attend.

Quality of the photos is excellent too!

Perhaps this is what ails him Fears for welfare of overlooked Manson? The last time I read an article with comments from this Claidius character, I was left with a poor impression of Manson and it didn't surprise me after that to see he wasn't drafted. With friends like that ...

I'm watching this and Pattinson's figures are 7-5-7-5. Incredible!

I saw him play in a TAC Cup Preliminary Final last year for Gippsland Power (the one in which Dyson Heppell blitzed and thrust his name in front of the draft selectors). He looked tiny but he was lightning fast and had good skills. Disposal good on both sides of the body, good evasion and a reasonable mark for his size. He was a bottom ager so I thought he might grow and it appears that he has done just that but ... ahem ... it's unfortunately been in the wrong direction - Going by that photo, I reckon he would have added a conservative 10kg to his frame which suggests he might have been dining on turtle back home or on fast foods down here. Either way, it wouldn't have done him much good because the knock on him was his lack of endurance. As one wag said of him, "he's a bit like Phil Scully - the spirit is willing but the flesh is abundant". I think you're right Nasher. It's a pass for now but if he went down to Casey and knuckled down to the task of improving his tank, he might become a handy VFL footballer and who knows what might happen after that? Of course, that's assuming he wants to go down that track.

Now that it's really 9 days to go (and I'm assuming Redleg hasn't stuffed up his dates this time), I can let everyone in on the name of the ideal replacement for He Who Must Not Be Mentioned - SULLY LOOKS TO ROOKIE DRAFT Over the past two months I've been searching in vain for the right player to fit the mood of the person described in the song made famous by Adele. With this bloke, I think I've finally found the closest fit to that "Someone Like You" character.

Apologies for the delay but I understand that the appropriate changes have been made and it's now possible to change your name through settings (but please don't ask me how : lol:).

Well, it must have been quite a game as it ended up a draw - Waratahs 22.9.141 to Tiwi Bombers 22.9.141 with Brendan Fevola kicking 11 goals. The Bombers led at every interval but Waratahs came back and snatched the lead at the 20 minute mark of the final quarter when Fev handed one off to a teammate for a goal. The Tiwis came back and then Manson, at the 24 minute mark, kicked his only goal for the game to put his team back in front. Again the Tiwis rallied and got to 13 points in front before Waratahs booted two goals. A free was paid to Stuart Cooper of the Tahs from 50 out and he kicked a point on the siren to tie the game. Waratah 4.0.24 9.7.61 14.7.91 22.9.141 Tiwi Bombers 5.1.31 10.4.64 16.8.104 22.9.141 Goals Waratah B. Fevola 11 B. Runnalls 3 S. Cooper S. Seddon 2 T. Parker A. McEwin G. Connelly W. Manson Tiwi Bombers G. Cunningham 6 P.Heenan 5 R. Pupangamirri 3 R. Tangatalum 2 M. Dunn 2 J. Campbell B. Palipuaminni M. Fairweather D. Munkara Best Waratah B. Fevola M. Sandery J. Smart J. McCarthy T. Mosquito G. Connelly Tiwi Bombers M. Dunn B. Barden G. Cunningham C. Malone P. Heenan A. Tipungwuti [Thanks to our Darwin correspondent for that info.]

The Nine Network has lost it. The camerawork has been ordinary and the last straw - leaving the game for the news at the start of NZ's second dig. Very ordinary.

From Cameron Schwab himself, on Twitter:- I'm not familiar with Chinese geography or business. Any large companies in these cities that are looking to expand into the Australian markets?

Watching NZ bowl doesn't particularly inspire. I'm not a big fan of tricks like bringing on Vettori early. They've done it twice now in Australia's innings and in this case, it really indicates the ordinariness of their pace attack.

If you look at it in that sense, yes, he has but it was all a part of the same period of Tuck's life. If we accept that after losing his place on Hawthorn's list, he knuckled down and rehabilitated himself, now is the time for that second chance.

Caroline Wilson explains why the football world has written off the AFL careers of Andrew Lovett and Brendan Fevola in this compelling article - Final drinks called at the last-chance saloon. The clubs are all saying they've had enough of errant behaviour from footballers. "Lovett and Fevola have already had their second chances and blown them". That's all well but what of Travis Tuck? When this thread was started in late October it was thought that he would train with us during November "in the hunt for a chance to join the MFC list" after finishing 4th in the voting for the Liston Medal. But nothing eventuated and it seems that Tuck won't even get his second chance.

Those who follow the news from the Northern Territory would be aware that the football community up there was disappointed that not one local player was picked up in last month's AFL national draft. There aren't too many stand out prospects around for the PSD and rookie draft and their best chances are Gibson Turner, medium forward Will Farrer and former Saint's rookie Ross Tungatalum who is a small forward. Anthony Tipungwuti (174cm) from the Tiwi Bombers has been with the Gippsland Power Under 18 team for the past two seasons is an outside chance to be picked up. Waylen Manson, who is playing for NTFL club Waratah is likely to be taken as a rookie but he's really from WA and not a Territorian. After a couple of weeks back home in the Kimberleys, Manson returns today along with fellow forward Brendan Fevola who also missed the last two weeks. Also in the side is former Richmond utility Marc Dragicevic. The game today against the Tiwi Bombers is a big one as its 2nd v 3rd. The Bombers have been rocked by the suspension of four of their key players because of "poor travel behaviour". Big forward Ephrem Tipungwuti, Roy Kantilla, Samson Mungatopi and Nathan Pilakui have been banned for six weeks. A couple of former Demons are also in the news. Austin Wonaeamirri is expected to resume his NTFL career with the Bombers next former rookie Joel Campbell is lining up with them today.

Here's an interesting view of Tynan taken from a review of players in the TAC Cup finals overview by FOOTY TRAGIC. "Joshua Tynan is another good medium sized defender to come out of this draft. He is as much of a ‘sure thing’ to come out of this draft as you’re going to get. He reads the play really well, but it’s his kicking skills that are just fantastic. In the first final, he racked up 27 kicks alone, 23 of those were effective. In the second final, same result, 14 kicks, 13 effective. Any club that picks him up after pick 20, will be getting themselves a bargain in my opinion."

I think there's a fair amount of consensus around here that the rookie draft is more exciting and far more interesting than the national draft or the PSD and I think it should be promoted as such. How about us lobbying the AFL to become a bit innovative and to upgrade the image of the rookie draft so that it's actually held before the national draft? That way, the prestige of being the #1 national draft pick would be diminished and we probably would be spared some of those interminable daily self-serving propaganda pieces about He Who Must Not Be Mentioned fed to the media by the AFL and GWS desperate to improve the kid's image before he's nemed captain or vice captain () of the Giants. I think our very own Jordie McKenzie is a past #1 rookie selection and that's the image the game should be projecting. He's a nice, wholesome young lad. Honest and fiercely loyal to his club and teammates. The type of bloke you want to have with you in the trenches. How many days to go? Ten? It's worth the wait (I hope you haven't got it wrong this time Redleg)!

Additions to the Permission to Train list as of today: • Essendon - Aaron Day (Woodville West Torrens) • Melbourne - Leigh Williams (Norwood, EFL) • Western Bulldogs - Matt Jones (Labrador)

Good to see 426 and Benny Holland are still going around at suburban level.

Agreed. In this day and age it shouldn't be necesssary. I hope Waylen has a good day tomorrow and that he gets drafted - any club will do although I hope he finds a friendly environment like the MFC.

I assume we're on at Gosch's Paddock - any news?

I don't think many are having a go at phantom psd and rookie drafts because the AFL hasn't issued the order of the drafts yet. I believe that might happen today.

Indeed. By singling out four individual players at the club, pinpointing perceived deficiencies in the way they play and linking them by their race, Barry Dawson is guilty of racial sterotyping of the worst order. It's offensive and unacceptable anywhere. In the normal course, I would discuss a sanction against Barry Dawson with the other mods which would involve at the very least, the removal of his posts (which are an embarrassment to me and to the site), but I thought it might be better to retain them as an example of the sheer ignorance that racist talk entails. In the last century, we saw several instances of what happens when racist stereotyping is accepted and becomes rife within society. In the extreme cases, it led to the deaths of millions of Jews, Gypsies and others who were not to the liking of a pathological murderer in Europe, a million and a half in Cambodia in the 70s, a similar number of Armenians at the hands of the Turks almost 100 years ago and close to a million in Rwanda in the 90s. And we never seem to learn because fifty years after Hitler, the massacre took place on European soil of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, there are parts of modern, liberal Europe where the old hatred of Jews thrives and there are countless parts of the globe where the killing and rape of innocents on the basis of racial and/or religious differences go on unabated. Our own Indigenous people suffered similarly when the white man turned up here and the killing began and went on until they were utterly decimated. Our former prime minister issued an apology for what our forebears did but it seems that it passed over some people's heads and that bigotry is still alive and healthy even here. But racism at the Barry Dawson level, whilst it might not kill or injure physically, is often deeply hurtful to individuals in a society - it's a cowardly form of bullying that we don't have to accept from anyone these days - certainly not here. You can criticise any individual player as much as you like on this site as long as you do so constructively but if you associate that criticism with the person's race or religion, you cross the line into an area that is grossly offensive and unacceptable and won't be tolerated.