demoniac

I'd rather have Caro on than JGK. And that is saying both a little and a alot. What he knows about footy and the business of footy amounts to not very much.Just another retired polly addicted to the spotlight. Sadly his stint as Hawthorn President now sees him qualified as some sort of uber football sage. Fair dinkum Ian Dicker rebuilt Hawthorn with Dunstall. Dicker on. Kennett off. I had to smile WJ when you referenced an article in the News Ltd Press which described the awful editor of the Oz Chris Mitchell as being 'respected' or somesuch! Very much a case of 'they would say that wouldnt they'! Caro is indeed reflective of the decline in standards of journalism across all areas. In politics its an endless fascination with leadership challenges and controversy and a complete inability to examine policy in any meaningful way. In the footy medjia its the same. Heaven knows any of them might give more than a cursory glance to tactics for instance. The way journos and commentators reverentially discuss each others opinions like they were handed down from Mt Sinai on 2 tablets gives me the heeby jeebies. An endless incestuous circle jerk. Thats the mainstream media in 2013.

Never understand those who prefer to watch a Dees game on TV when they can go to the game. Obviously some have family commmitments and for some cost can be a factor but where those don't apply je ne comprehende pas! THE PLAYERS CANT HEAR YOU IF YOU ARE IN YOUR LOUNGEROOM.

The gambling regulator is pretty much in reality an ineffective toothless tiger. I doubt we have much to fear. Still gives the 'Rooned' lot something to worry about. For mine the Board achieved a pragmatic commercial settlement which avoided a finding of tanking and ringfenced draft picks and the CEO.

Can't believe Schwabby got off when Caro said he was once viewed to be of ashen face after a win.

Ashen faced.

much like Caro i think your fundamental error is that you regard this as a predominantly footy, or a footy politics story. Its not. Its a commercial legal issue and in that regard we are in very good hands in terms of our board and those we have briefed to represent us. Any issue with pokies licence would be similarly handled. It also goes without saying that there are patently dodgier outfits in the pokies game who would be way in front of us in any queue for investigation.

Ashen Faced! Not really. If thats what we cop then the Board has done a good job. The no draft penalties is the key. PRICELESS..

Its just sad.

My read is that our legal strategy been to get the AFL to put in words a definition of tanking for when there is no allegations of the players not trying to win. Logically there would no way for the AFL to draft such a definition that did not ensnare Carlton and the Kreuzer Cup, or the Pies run of losses to get a priority pick that gave them both Pendlebury and Thomas instead of one of them, or Richmond and Wallace's "I made no moves". Punish us harshly and the tanking issue will stay alive as long as those clubs are not punished. The AFL would know that and Gill Mc is probably trying to work out how to extricate the AFL from Anderson's mess. Like he said these things are hard to prove which of course is what the AFL have to do if they want to punish us. .

Wonder if its free for AFL members. Whatever. If the Dees are playing in Melbourne I find myself compelled to attend.

I work with a couple of the Kiwi AFL players who have moved to Melbourne. They say its the skinnny Kiwi kids with running ability who are the ones more likely to have a go at AFL. Partly due to running ability being more important relatively in AFL but also having to play under age rugger against more developed Islander kids is not much fun if you are a skinny kid.

Shurely the most blatant example of tanking is the Kreuzer Cup. Will the Chief Commissioner Mike Fitzpatrick investigate the club he played for? There could be a t shirt in that should we be penalised. Ms Wilson does not seem to understand that in repeatedly stating that the players went out to win we are forcing the AFL to come up with a definition of tanking that will ensnare other clubs like the Blues, Tigers and Pies. Does Andy really want to be in the witness box answering questions about the Kreuzer Cup? It may be that a negotiated settlement is in the best interests of the club if the penalties are relatively light. I trust the board to make that judgement.

Once again showing up the pics used on the club site and facebook. Brilliant.

The NFL has a major problem. Their insurance premiums must be skyrocketing at high school, college and NFL levels. One stat I read said that 17 out of the 19 brains of NFL players who died prematurely and had mental health issues prior to their death showed clears signs of concussion related damage just like punch drunk boxers. Its obviously a mix of tackling technique and the brute force of the defensive players. One US college put sensors inside the helmets of players at all training and games. Their conclusion was that it was not just the high impact colliosions that were of concern. The repeated low impact collisions were also a concern. From what I've read the NFL has identified better tackling technique as a way forward to minimise the risk but it seems obvious that they need to deal with the size of defensive players. Introducing a fair dinkum drug testing regime would be a start as its an understatement to say their testing is not WADA compliant.. But if that does not work then they need to do the unthinkable and get read of the separate offense and defence teams so more endurance is required. Hurrying up play would be a less radical step which would also increase the endurance level required. That former may sound radical but ultimately it'll be the insurers that decide. They are currently sorting out who insured the NFL in what years to see which insurance companies are liable for the years covered by affected players careers. The AFL has made some fairly obvious changes to the rules to protect players from concussion. For some fans the move to make the head sacrosanct and make any contact to the head illegal has been seen to make the game softer. Of course its not their brains on the line I guess. Our game required more endurance than NFL but our players are still well built and quick enough to cause high impact collisions of the nature that cause concussion.

You know its time for some balls been kicked in anger when you start barracking over training pics. Once again thanks to all who provide the training updates and pics.

To combat the use of PEDs in sport you both a random drug testing system and for law enforcement to take an active interest. Its hardly the AFL's fault that law enforcement has been asleep at the wheel up until 12 months ago when the Australian Crime Commission started the investigation that led to today's press conference. For instance some of the substances mentioned are on the WADA banned list but are currently virtually impossible to test for. Thus it is only with law enforcement involvement that their use can be detected. I am no expert but I would imagine that ACC has some powerful investigative powers such as phone taps and bugs and that they have been using those for 12 months to investigate PEDs/match fixing etc. There will be some absolutely panicked AFL Club personnel and players tonight.

Old Dee make sure you identify yourself as Old Dee when you stride to the mike! Just about to leave work and walk out to the G. Go Dees!

A strike does not necesarrily trigger the 'standing down' as I read the article. Decision is made by club medico that player is not ready to play ie that rehab for drugs/alchols/gambling takes precedence.

Apparently the chap at the centre is now at another AFL Club. Of course he does have legitimate expertise in sports science so that is no surprise. If events at Essendon in 2012 were untoward in an WADA/ASADA contravening way then he is finished. Would not necesarily follow that he had caused same events to unfold at that club.

For mine Davey will run out to play having more confidence in his body and his fitness than he has had for years. Davey had to get his body more durable and improve his endurance and fingers crossed he has done that. Thats the impact that professionals like Misson, Jackson and Craig can have. They have a proven record of conditioning players to play tough hard footy. Would be great to see Flash terrorising opposition defenders again.

We have to play the long game in Darwin. At first we were scheduled to play in Darwin 2 out of every 3 years along with the Tiges and the Bullies as opponents for the Power so we were not even going to be there every year. Now with the Tiges playing the Suns in Cairns we are there every year as long as the AFL deal with the NT Government is in place. And yes the reason we accepted the original deal was because we were a financial basket case for whom a loss on our home game versus the Power was guaranteed. Now we are there every year but a longer term commitment from the NT Government a la Hawks and Tassie would be preferable. The pre season camp in the NT is a positive sign of engagment on our behalf. The longer the term of our commitment to Darwin then the more postive relationships we can build. Will this see a boost in Darwin NT Memberships? We only play one game a year in Darwin compared to the Hawks 4 in Launceston and the Roos 2 in Hobart so the membership 'sell' is obviously more difficult. What do we have to sell but a ticket to one game? Maybe the answer to that is the same as the answer to how we improve our membership. Get the team into the finals and challenge for a flag. Then a ticket to the Dees game in Darwin might become a hot ticket and we might be able to leverage off that. In the meantime there other benefits flowing from Darwin. The AFL is very keen for Aussie Rules to remain the dominant sport in Darwin and the NT, to engage with indigenous Australians and to have AFL games played in every state and territory. Playing AFL games there is important for all of those objectives so there should be a recognition from the AFL for our role in that. The same is true for government generally particularly if we maintain or boost our engagement on indiginous health issues. If you've never been up to Darwin for the game do yourself a favor and join other Dees tragics in jumping on a plane. I've been to all of our Darwin games and the the uninhibited joy of the indigenous kids at the game is something to see. And its warm but not too humid in July. Of course its always better when we win! You'll never never know if you never never go.

I don't think AFL players share your trust in Club officials not gossiping. The more who know at a club the more certain it is that the names of players on a first or second strike will be known.

we should have found the money? if only life was that easy.

"We should have got 160 members at the first game." Why?

We reneged on the Lexus Centre precint? More of a case of us not having the money I would have thought.