Whispering_Jack

Giving a lot away, isn't he?

No luck with the coach as yet. Wise is firming for the role of captain coach.

Staggering really that the Blues would consider recruiting a 34 year old. Carlton certainly must have an interesting mindset. Great news for Junior if he wants to go on and good luck to him. He would make a great role model for the Blues' younger brigade but, by the same token, will be keeping one of them out of the team if the move works and his body stands up for another season.

Final Draft Combine Results (updated) 3km time trial - top 10 Position Name Result (mins:secs) 1. Andrew Gaff 10:00 2. Cameron O'Shea 10:03 3. Hayden Hector 10:04 4. Jamie Cripps 10:15 5. Jack Newnes 10:16 6. Rohan Bewick 10:18 7. Joel Wilkinson 10:26 8. Josh Caddy 10:33 9. Ariel Steinberg 10:33 10. Lucas Cook 10:34 Beep test/shuttle run - top 10 Position Name Level Shuttle 1. Hayden Hector 15 7 (record) 2. Andrew Gaff 15 3 3. Joel Wilkinson 15 3 4. Jacob Gilbee 15 1 5. Ryan Brabazon 15 1 6. Dyson Heppell 14 13 7. Cameron O'Shea 14 10 8. Josh Caddy 14 9 9. Rohan Bewick 14n7 10. Ryan Lester 14 6 Kicking assessment - top 10 Position Name Score Efficiency % 1. Jed Lamb 29/30 97 (record) 2. Aaron Young 26/30 87 3. Tom Liberatore 25/30 83 4. Gerald Ugle 24/30 80 5. Ben Jacobs 24/30 65 6. Nick Murphy 23/30 65 7. Billie Smedts 23/30 64 8. Tom Gordon 23/30 64 9. Lucas Cook 23/30 63 10. Callum Sinclair 23/30 63 Clean hands test - top 10 Position Name Score Efficiency % 1. Josh Caddy 28/30 93 2. Dyson Heppell 28/30 93 3. Mitch Wallis 27/30 90 4. Josh Farmer 27/30 90 5. Jarryd Lyons 27/30 90 6. Tom Hickey 27/30 90 7. Jai Sheehan 27/30 90 =8. Ben Reid 26/30 87 =8. Alex Fasolo 26/30 87 =8. Jamie Cripps 26/30 87 =8. Joel Wilkinson 26/30 87 Repeat sprints - top 10 Position Name Result (seconds) 1. Joel Wilkinson 23.404 2. Brad Harvey 23.458 3. Kieran Harper 23.837 4. Cameron Johnston 24.018 5. Dion Prestia 24.149 6. Nathan Batley 24.229 7. Anton Hamp 24.299 8. Shane Kersten 24.387 9. Seb Tape 24.420 10. Alex Browne 24.442 20 Metre Sprint - Top 10 Position Name Result (seconds) 1. Joel Wilkinson 2.75 (record) 2. Brad Harvey 2.78 3. Nathan Batley 2.81 4. Daniel Farmer 2.83 5. Ryan Brabazon 2.84 6. Shane Kersten 2.88 7. Gerald Ugle 2.88 8. Andrew Gaff 2.88 9. Angus Litherland 2.89 10. Billie Smedts 2.91 Agility Run - Top 10 Position Name Result (seconds) 1. Billie Smedts 7.90 2. Dion Prestia 8.00 3. Viv Michie 8.01 4. Aaron Mullett 8.03 5. Ryan Brabazon 8.04 6. Josh Green 8.07 7. Mitchell Wallis 8.07 8. Jacob Gilbee 8.10 9. Daniel Farmer 8.13 10. Jayden Pitt 8.15 Running Vertical Jump - Top 10 Position Name Result (cms) 1. Kieran Harper 88 2. Brad Harvey 88 3. Dyson Heppell 86 4. Ben Jacobs 84 5. Joel Wilkinson 84 6. Cameron Guthrie 83 7. Jake Batchelor 82 8. Rohan Bewick 82 9. Ryan Brabazon 82 10. Cameron Johnston 82 Standing Vertical Jump - Top 10 Position Name Result (cms) 1. Brad Harvey 75 2. Nathan Batley 71 3. Anton Hamp 71 4. Joel Wilkinson 66 5. Kieran Harper 65 6. Cameron Guthrie 65 7. Shaun Atley 64 8. Dyson Heppell 64 9. Seb Tape 63 10. Billie Smedts 63 Height - Top 10 Position Name Height (cms) 1. Leif Cope 204.6 2. John Ceglar 203.1 3. Tom Hickey 201.4 4. Andrew Phillips 200.9 5. Ben Mabon 200.1 6. Callum Sinclair 199.5 7. Matt Jones 199.5 8. Tom Lynch 199.1 9. Brandyn Grenfell 198.6 10. Luke Mitchell 198.0 Arm Span - Top 10 Position Name Result (cms) 1. Leif Cope 92.1 2. Tom Hickey 92.0 3. Callum Sinclair 91.0 4. Brandyn Grenfell 90.4 5. John Ceglar 89.5 6. Nic Murphy 89.2 7. Andrew Phillips 89.1 8. Todd Elton 89.1 9. Tom Lynch 88.2 10. Zac Fitzgerald 88.5 Hand Span - Top 10 Position Name Result (cms) 1. Leif Cope 25.8 2. Tom Hickey 24.9 3. Callum Sinclair 23.0 4. Brandyn Grenfell 22.8 5. John Ceglar 26.4 6. Nic Murphy 23.9 7. Andrew Phillips 24.3 8. Todd Elton 23.3 9. Tom Lynch 25.0 10. Zac Fitzgerald 25.0 All time standout combine performances Standing vertical jump Year Score (cm) Name 2008 78 Nic Naitanui (West Coast) 2009 76 James Craig (Adelaide) 2009 75 Sam Shaw (Adelaide) 2007 73 Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide) 2008 72 Stephen Hill (Fremantle) Running vertical jump Year Score (cm) Name 2002 102 Jared Brennan (Brisbane) 2008 102 Nic Naitanui (West Coast) 2007 101 David Gourdis (Richmond) 2004 96 Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide) 2005 90 Wayde Mills (Brisbane) Agility run Year Score (secs) Name 2008 7.77 Stephen Hill (Fremantle) 2004 7.79 Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide) 2004 7.97 Nathan Van Berlo (Adelaide) 2007 7.91 Aaron Joseph (Carlton) 2009 7.95 Kane Lucas (Carlton) 20m sprint Year Score (secs) Name 2004 2.79 Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide) 2008 2.80 Ashley Smith (West Coast) 2008 2.82 Jack Watts (Melbourne) 2008 2.83 Stephen Hill (Fremantle) 2002 2.83 Jared Brennan (Brisbane) Repeat sprint Year Score (secs) Name 2006 24.67 Simon Hogan (Geelong) 2007 23.59 Chris Kangars (Geelong) 2008 24.82 Ryan Schoenmaker (Hawthorn) 2009 23.91 Jack Fitzpatrick (Melbourne) Shuttle run - beep test Year Score (level) Name 2002 15.6 Jarrad McVeigh (Sydney) 2009 15.6 Brayden Norris (North Melbourne) 2006 15.4 Shane Edwards (Richmond) 2003 15.3 Farren Ray (St Kilda) 2009 15.1 Ryan Bastinac (North Melbourne) 3 km time trial Year Score (mins:secs) Name 2006 9:37 Tim Houlihan (West Coast) 2006 9:35 Simon Hogan (Geelong) 2002 10:02 Jarrad McVeigh (Sydney) 2009 10:03 Ryan Bastinac (North Melbourne) 2003 10:04 Andrew Walker (Carlton) Height (tallest player at the combine) Year Height (cms) Name 2009 206.8 Max Gawn (Melbourne) 2005 205.8 Max Bailey (Hawthorn) 2004 203.9 Cameron Wood (Collingwood) 2008 201.7 Ayce Cordy (Western Bulldogs

The real sad day for football happened 46 years ago when $'s and football first intermingled and Ron Barassi walked out on Melbourne to take on a captain coaching role at Carlton. Most young kids who supported the Demons (including me) simply couldn't understand what was happening. I now respect the decision but to this day consider it an unmitigated disaster for the club and it's supporters. RDB did the right thing or himself but the MFC never really recovered. For Geelong's sake I hope the Cats can do a little better than did the Demons.

Following are details of players at state screenings:- At state camps: Adelaide session, Saturday October 2 Darcy Armfield, Glenelg Kory Beard, Port Adelaide Jonathon Beech, West Adelaide Ken Campbell, South Adelaide Harrison Cumming, Central Broken Hill Mitchell Curnow, Sturt Luke Davis, West Adelaide Jonathon Giles, Sturt Ben Haren, Port Adel Magpies Bradley Helbig, West Adelaide Thomas Kickett, St Ignatius Daniel Kulikowski, Port Adelaide Archie Longbottom, Glenelg Terry Milera, Port Adel Magpies James Moss, Norwood Dion Munkara, Waratahs Dylan Ribbons, West Adelaide Shannon Rioli, St Marys Lachlan Roach, North Adelaide Gavin Roberts, Norwood Jimmi Savage, Norwood Karl Siebels, Sturt Lee Spurr, Central Districts Kristen Thompson, North Adelaide Melbourne session 1 (Vic Metro, Queensland): Saturday October 3 Tom Bell, Morningside Jackson Bolton,Oakleigh Chargers Corey Cassidy, Oakleigh Chargers Dylan Conway, Western Jets Jake Crawford, Pomona Sam Cust, Oakleigh Chargers Peter Faulks, Williamstown Jesse Fortune, Western Jets Jack Frost, Sandringham Dragons Matthew Grossman, Williamstown Tyson Hunt, De La Salle Michael Hutchinson, Aspley Mitch Keddell, Port Melbourne Adam Kennedy, Western Jets James Lawton, Coburg Tigers Josh Marchbank, Northern Knights Adam Marcon, Northern Knights Damien Mascitti, Oakleigh Chargers Alex McLeod, Calder Cannons David Mirra, Box Hill Lewis Moss, Port Douglas Daniel Nicholson, Uni Blues Dan Noonan, Old Xaverians James Orr, Box Hill Adam Oxley, Redland Cameron Pedersen, Box Hill Declan Reilly, Sandringham Dragons Alex Rintoul, Northern Knights Liam Rutledge, Aspley Ahmed Saad, Northern Bullants Jordan Schroder, Calder Cannons Paul Seedsman, Rowville Luke Shreeve, Broadbeach Alex Simpson, Werribee Tigers Michael Talia, Calder Cannons Ozgur Uysal, Calder Cannons Ryan Wilson, Eastern Ranges Stephen Witkowski, Northern Knights Melbourne session 2 (Vic Country, Tasmania, NSW): Saturday October 3 Isaac Baker, Geelong Falcons Richard Bamblett, North Ballarat James Brain, North Shore Blake Bray, Western Suburbs Ben Brown, Tassie Mariners Fraser Brown, Campbelltown Corey Buchan, Dandenong Stingrays Josh Cole, North Shore Luke Dahlhaus, Geelong Falcons Marcus Darmody, North Ballarat Troy Davis, Geelong Falcons Josh Duncan, Pennant Hills Tom Durwood, Tatura Lachlan Edwards, Newton/Chilwell Jamie Elliott, Murray Bushrangers Jackson Ferguson, Pennant Hills Mitchell Gent, Dandenong Stingrays Michael Hibberd, Frankston Matt Hutton, North Shore Josh Jenkins, Lake Boga Jake King, Anslie Jack Mahony, Wollongong Leigh Masters, Bendigo Pioneers Dean MacDonald, Gippsland Power Tom McDonald, North Ballarat Kane Murphy, Riverview Tim Northe, Gippsland Power Larry Owen, Hobart Ryan Pendlebury, Gippsland Power Nick Perry, Sydney University Thomas Ruggles, Geelong Falcons Nick Ryan, St George Brayden Salton, Gippsland Power Tim Segrave, Murray Bushrangers Daniel Semmens, Geelong Falcons Myles Sewell, Nth Ballarat Roosters Isaac Smith, Nth Ballarat Roosters Trent Stubbs, East Coast Eagles Jeremy Taylor, Geelong Falcons James Webster, Terrigal Avocca Perth session (Western Australian): Sunday October 10 Luke Adams, Swan Districts Ryan Brabazon, Claremont Jacob Brennan, East Fremantle F/S candidate Rowan Brookes, East Perth Kieran Butcher, Peel Thunder Mitch Carter, South Fremantle Tyler Chalwell, East Fremantle Rhys Cooyou, East Fremantle Tom Derickx, Claremont Max Duffy, East Fremantle Jordon Eades, Perth Michael Edwards, Perth Aaron Elari, Perth Michael Evans, Claremont Rowan Garlett, Perth Cameron Grover, East Perth Scott Hancock, East Fremantle Thomas Howlett, East Perth Jason Johannisen, East Fremantle Anthony Kyanga, East Fremantle Kelvin Lawrence, Peel Thunder Tom Ledger, Claremont Ryan Lester-Smith, East Fremantle Liam McKenna, Peel Thunder Sam Menagola, East Fremantle Tendai Mzungu, Perth Jarrod Ninyette, Claremont Matthew Outridge, Swan Districts Jayden Schofield, East Fremantle Simon Starling, Claremont Isiah Stevens, Swan Districts Aaron Sweet, East Perth Kirk Ugle, Swan Districts * attended the Draft Combine in Canberra

Received this on Twitter: 2011 memberships are now on sale, every member in 2011 will get a set of Demon horns so that you can let your Demon out http://bit.ly/97Mb7R

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each racial group possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another racial group or racial groups. Whether you want to term it racist or condescending, whether the claim is true or otherwise, I think it's improper to single out someone as being unworthy for the position based on their race. No, not just improper - highly offensive.

No use having anyone on board if their heart's not on the job. A bit of fine tuning in our coaching ranks will be a positive for the club. Thanks for your help Sean. Now let's move on.

Will probably find out tonight. Otherwise, I could do the coaching via teleconference from the wedding I'll be attending. There's always room for another first in football .

Let's go one step further and declare the winning team in the Kaspersky Cup match to be played in a few weeks' time in Shanghai as the 2010 AFL premier. The Chinese did a great job in getting the facilities for the Beijing Olympics up to scratch and it wouldn't be too hard to get 100,000 spectators to the ground in a city of 20 million people.

Terrific idea. He could start the race in a Geelong guernsey and change into a Gold Coast jumper in mid race (and still win because he's Gazza). Now that would be great half time entertainment!

I guess now that we've had the draw, they're going to hold the Ablett to Gold Coast announcement for another week?

Have they announced whether they're going to have another crack at the half time sprint?

INXS to perform better than I expected (but only just). Bring on the half time sprint.

Fascinating heats. I don't think I've ever seen so many runners trying so hard not to qualify for a final. Jack Watts might have just fallen in as the fastest fifth placegetter. I don't think any of them even exercised their hammies let alone twanged them.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

What was the night's final tally of cross dressers?

What are his odds?

I've been wondering whether we could possibly get involved with Carlton in another trade that would net us another first round draft pick. I really think it would be worth our while to continue along our recruiting path of recent years and manage to finish with two top 20 picks. It would give a good opportunity to further develop the list. But would the Blues go that way again?

I hope nothing I've written above is interpreted as being against Chris Judd winning the Brownlow. He polled 30 votes and that's enough by me to make him a worthy winner, especially given that he missed the first three games of the season. He lucked out with the match review panel but that's part of the fascinating game of roulette that the AFL judicial system has become. In fact, most things about AFL decisions are random so why not when it comes down to whether a player should be suspended. The fact remains that Judd's a champion player and we shouldn't forget that even if we don't like what he or his management did to get him to Carlton. By the same token, as much as I hate Collingwood, I have enough respect for what they've done this year not to be churlish about them this week and I wouldn't begrudge them the flag if they were to win on Saturday in Round 26. We can all laugh about Eddie's demeanour on seeing Dane Swan miss out on the Brownlow but at least his team is in the big one and deservedly so. That said, I will still be barracking hard for the Saints right through to the final siren.

You've been a very good advocate here for the Chris Judd camp and I'm not doubting you when you say that you know him and that he's given you his version of the events of three years ago. That version is however, at odds with the information passed on to me and to others by a then board member of Carlton who confirmed that an official of the club had been in contact with Judd and his management as early as June 2007 and that by early August 2007 he was "in the bag". The same board member told me at the time (i.e about three weeks before the end of the home and away season) that a number of players were being put on ice for the rest of the year (including Fevola), that Melbourne was "a monty"'to win it's Round 22 game against Carlton and that getting the priority draft pick was crucial to the club's strategy of getting Judd across to the club. All of this took place before Judd announced his intention to leave West Coast. Subsequently, I met the same board member when the Judd decision was imminent. At that time, the decision was between the four clubs which he was going to interview - Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon and Melbourne. I think the media had the Pies as the favourite to win his services with us as a chance followed by the Blues. Essendon was a rank outsider. The Carlton official was adamant that Judd was in the bag, that none of the other clubs were capable of matching the financial package offered and he scoffed at the possibility that he could end up at Melbourne. He said we were "wasting our time". In the end, everything he said proved to be true. Media reports later confirmed that Steven Icke had met Judd in Perth in July. Judd's revelation about his friendship with Greg Swann being the main factor getting him to the club further confirms that scenario. The reports of the Carlton financial deal also tend to support the fact that it was far superior to our offer and we're all in agreement that the lame story about Melbourne's poor training facilities being the deal breaker was, in your words "bullshit" (so how do we know what parts of the rest of his story are bullshit?). I've been convinced ever since that the entire process of meeting four clubs was a charade. It was all a business decision that he and his management were entitled to make but the way it was handled by his management was poor from my perspective. The MFC and its supporters were treated with contempt and that's why I always greet Judd's "I supported the Dees as a kid" line with the same amount of contempt. Incidentally, I was against us chasing Judd in the first place back then because I also believed that if we were going to rebuild, it had to be a total process and not one based upon putting most of our eggs in the Judd basket and that was leaving aside the enormous cost in financial terms to get him. There were also salary cap issues which I believed might exist at the time but which now, thanks to new interpretations of what comes under total player payments, have been airbrushed out of the equation. Dollar for dollar, it's gratifying to know that Juddy's almost as good an environmental ambassador as he is a footballer. Anyway, given the financial woes that the club was suffering from at the time, I would suggest that the securing of Judd might well have bankrupted us and we might have been preparing for 2011 as the Gold Coast Demons. Bottom line: In hindsight, while Judd was and is a great footballer, he wasn't a good fit for Melbourne in 2008 and Melbourne wasn't a good fit for Judd either. And, I'm happy with the fact that he went to Carlton and not to us.

Fair effort after missing the first three games through suspension but he lost me when he said he supported Melbourne as a kid. Wish he didn't say that. Otherwise, it's a bit of an indictment on Carlton's recruiting. Where's their future if they're so dominated by one player?

They were definitely all there last week. A large contingent of recruiting people were sitting near me including BP and Dean Bailey and even Bailey's son. Gotchie was there as well in a different part of the ground. I wouldn't get completely carried away just yet with Mitchell because there are quite a few mobile tall forwards in the mix who have no doubt attracted the attention of the recruiting people. I guess we have to wait another two months or so to find out.

So what could be a more appropriate day for the screening of the Jimmy Stynes doco "Every Heart Beats True" on Channel 9?