CHF

This team will make for an interesting tactical battle for the coaching staff. To be honest, I thought the team last week had a slightly better balance and flexibility. While the selections of Dawes and Vince were obvious, I think we would have been better off retaining JKH and looking at either VDB or Frost to step back. Having said that, I do like the look of the forward lineup. Dawes playing out of the goal mouth with Hogan and Watts both very mobile talls/big and then Kent and Garlett at ground level looks like a good setup. Frost to relieve in the ruck and to rest, along with Jamar up forward at times gives a bit of a matchup nightmare for GWS. Frost could also slot in down back for a time if required and maybe release Howe forward to give him a taste back at the pointy end. Frost into the forwards for a bit and Hogan on to a wing or into the center for a run? That might be interesting. He apparently has the tank for it and who would run with him? By my count we have 13 or 14 players that could rotate through the midfield so we should have plenty of run there and some delivery into the forward line. I will be getting up early (my time) to watch. I did predict a Dees win last week, but only by a goal. This week I am going to give it to the Dees by 3 goals. Watts BOG.

Watt's Palm back on the goal line for Garlett's goal. Perfect football.

I am prepared for any outcome in reality. However, do want to see an improvement in the Dees skill levels and commitment. I want to see a closing of the gap that has been displayed over the last few years. Our players have more experience playing at the G and we should have the majority of the crowd (no matter the size) behind us. Close game that we may just squeak.

Good team at selection. Interesting mix of experience levels and some good positional flexibility to allow the coaching panel to respond to different game situations. The only area of the field that I look at and cross my fingers is the forwards. Hogan first game and Frost named at FF and possibly fillin ruck. Garrett and Watts could be our main avenues to a score. What I do like about the forward set up is that it is very mobile and quick and that could be an advantage as long as the kids feed it. The back 6 as named should be capable of holding a score from the Sunnies as they do not have a well structured set up. It will be critical during the first quarter that the coaching staff look to take every advantage of possible mis-matches in the back half that fall our way. Lumumba, Frost and Watts can always be used as cover there if required. The midfield looks a lot stronger than in recent years but we do have Vineyard as our only experienced mid on the bench. Anything we get out of Brayshaw and vandenBerg should be looked at as a bonus. Brayshaw as sub to replace Cross midway through the third quarter. JKH on the bench to come into the pocket when Frost moves to Ruck. Hogan to FF and Watts to CHF. Be a good game and very close. Dees by a goal.

I can see the logic of the not guilty decision. While the evidence may well track and place the illegal drugs into the club and into Dank's hands there was not enough evidence to satisfy the tribunal that it was injected into the players. As to intent, well the players may have had no intention to take PEDs and were mislead as to what they were being given. An appeal by ASADA to the tribunal will depend upon new evidence being introduced as I understand the rules of the tribunal and therefore if there is no new evidence available then there will not be an appeal by ASADA. WADA may take it straight to CAS but remember that this is a case against just the players and Dank, not the club. Therefore, an appeal can only be lodged on the case against the players. Now if Dank is sanctioned then what is the position of Essendon as a club and what is the mechanism for punishing the guilty parties? The club has been punished for bad governance not for any drug offences.

I think there is an overreaction to the result of this game. We played some very ordinary football for 3/4 of the match and only showed a bit in the first quarter and at the beginning of the last quarter. Just checked the ladder for this season and this result has not effected our position on the ladder. I have a very realistic ambition for this season and that is to see some overall improvement in the team structures, the individual skills and in attitude. As for the Round 1 team, well, if it is selected on form we have a problem because not many of the team look to be in very good form. Mind you, with some of the players I question if it is a matter of form or ability. Some of the players have shown no real ability that form can be built on. Two examples: Viney - I believe he has the ability but is very much out of form. Matt Jones on the other hand I judge to have limited abilities and in my mind it is doubtful he can build that limited ability into consistent form.

Frost - a chip off the old ice block.

My prediction on the outcome: Players found guilty ASADA look for a 12 month suspension without backdating as a minimum. If this is not met they will appeal and then take it to CAS if necessary and look for a straight 2 year suspension. Tribunal will also refer the club and some club employees at the time for penalties. If they do not expect ASADA/WADA to get out the big stick. Appeals all around and then Work Care and court cases to follow with all sorts of interesting things to come out.

hird mentality?

I agree 100%. My point is that this is 34 individual cases and will be looked at as such. Take Watson's case. Through the 2012 season he showed significant improvement in his performance to the point where he won the highest individual honour in the league. if he is found guilty of contravening the drug laws then he should lose that honour and serve a suspension appropriate to the transgression. Each case will need to be assessed. I would not be surprised if some are found not guilty because of lack of sufficient evidence. Others may get long suspensions. The club and supervisors of the systemic drug program will then have to cop their wack and while the penalties to the individual players will hurt them, the penalties handed out to the club may well have a profound and far reaching impact on the whole league.

Where has this been reported?

At present there are 44 Australians serving suspensions for using performance enhancing drugs in sport. They either used them or the evidence showed that they intended to use them. Of those 44 39 of them are serving a suspension of 2 years or more. I go back to my previous point. This is 34 individual cases. ASADA/WADA will look at it that way and will not take into account the club, the league or any other aspects.

Let's look at this from a slightly different perspective. Set aside the fact that there are 34 players involved. To my mind, although the cases have been heard at the one time, there are actually 34 separate cases being heard. If you take one case, say the one against Jobe Watson who did admit to being injected... what with? neither he nor anyone else is sure it would seem. So, there is circumstantial evidence to suggest that the drug he was injected with a number of times during an unstructured, badly documented program was an illegal, performance enhancing drug. The case is put together, presented to the AFL tribunal just as other drug cases have been. Remember that in 2012, Jobe won the Brownlow, doubling his points from 2011 to 30 points to win it by 4 points. Lets assume he is found guilty. What should his penalty be? Looking at the present sanctions list on the government website. There are 44 people on the list and of those only 5 have received bans of less that 2years. In my opinion there has to be a realization that this is 34 separate cases and the penalties, if there is a guilty finding will need to be arrived at for each individual case. in my opinion Watson, if found guilty should get 2 years and lose his medal.

You do mean a replay of the wedding I assume.

There are two more preseason games to go and I am sure that the coaching team will want to get a look at all players as well as give a few a chance to play into a bit of form. This is also a chance for the coaches to have a look to see who responds week to week to after match reviews and critiques. There are a lot of positives to come out of this evening but there is also a lot to improve on. It will be interesting to see how the team is structured over the next couple of games. A lot of changes for the next squad to give those that missed out tonight a run and then what? We give a likely R1 team a run against ??? Watts, Viney, Vince, Stretch, Brayshaw and maybe Hunt to get a run next game if they are fit.

Hate to be the one to tell you this but it aint going to be over any time soon. My take on the path of things to come? Within the next few weeks the AFL tribunal will submit a guilty finding against the players and then proceed to evaluate the penalties. Once the penalties are handed down, I expect that there will be two appeals. one from the players and the other from ASADA. from the players because they will maintain their innocence and from ASADA because the penalties are not harsh enough. After the appeals are heard then there will be the referral to CAS by WADA if the penalties are not satisfactory in their view. After the players are dealt with them attention will turn to the club and possible penalties that may be levied against them. As I understand it, this may well be taken out of the hands of the AFL and referred directly to CAS via WADA. The club may be sanctioned as a whole because of the structure of the abuse. Short term outcome? In my opinion the players will be sentenced to 12/18months with WADA via a CAS appeal taking that to 24months. In the medium term, I think the club will be sanctioned via WADA/CAS and may have some difficulty maintaining it's very existence. Longer term I see Workcare looking at charges. Sorry BBO, I see this dragging on for quite a bit of time.

Canberra Bombers?.... Never know, but I can see the emergence of the Tassie Devils from the ashes of the crashed Bombers.

Overall I believe that the quality of our list has improved over the last couple of off seasons and this will result in much more competition at the selection table. With this overall improvement it will mean that there is a possibility that the players that are under the pump at the end of the season may be worth more at the trade table where they could be used as a sweetener to improve a selection in the draft. If this is the case then we are looking at a much wider range of players that may not be with us come round 1 2016. Roos saying that all players are tradable is a reality in modern football with free agency and the structure of the draft.

I blame Hird.

Current form???? Not a lot of that about in the pre-season

To my mind it really is very simple.... Essendon can do whatever they wish to do. They can put their players on a doping program. They can contest any and all things in the law courts. They can ignore contracts. They can put their player's health at risk. They can compromise the pre-season games. They can undermine the standing of the club by continuing to employ the likes of Hird. They can do all that and more as long as they are prepared to accept the consequences of their actions. To date I have seen very little acceptance that their actions may have very adverse consequences. There has already been a backlash against the club by the football public and I believe, no matter what the outcome of the tribunal, they will continue to suffer. All I have seen is attempts to delay, attempts to quash evidence and testimony on technicalities and blame shifting. The AFL should be looking to do all they can to support heavy penalties to the players and the club should they be found guilty.

As I understand it, if the Tribunal found the players guilty, the counsels for both ASADA and the players would make submissions with regard to the punishment appropriate. I am sure that the players counsel would want to minimize the punishments and that ASADA would be looking to make sure the punishment was correct. The last thing they want to do is to have WADA come in with a big stick and appeal the punishments. I would suggest that at the time of the submissions on punishments there would also be arguments presented as to when the punishments should run from. This could be from the last competitive game, from the time the infraction notices were issued, from the time of the handing down of the guilty verdict or from any other time that was deemed fit. Once all of the argument is heard then the tribunal would make a decision on the punishment and the time it is to be served from. All of this talk of any punishment being served from the last time they played is just that, talk. I can imagine the bleating from Essendon if they do not play in the NAB Cup only to find that the punishment is to be served from the time of the guilty verdict. There is no guarantee that any punishment will be served from the time of the last gamed played. That is my understanding of the situation.

Just to push the boundaries a little...... If I was the AFL I would come down on Essendon like a tone of bricks. I would be urging, privately or publicly, that the maximum penalty be enforced. I would also be looking for club punishments and for as many as possible to be kicked out of the game. I would do all I could to make the club unworkable. Once it was on its knees I would then suggest they might like to move to Tassie. As a relocated team they could access a large fund to re-establish and get back on their feet..... Break them down, get them to do as I require and what I see as best forthe competition and then build them backup. Tassie Bombers..... Got a ring to it....

I think that this Season we will rise 5 to 6 places on the ladder moving up to 11th or 12th. I base this upon the 12 months of development and understanding of the Roos game plan, the importation of a couple more experienced quality players and the development of some of our younger players with 2, 3 and 4 years with the club. The coaching team seems to be far more structured than in the past and this seems to be reflected in the quality of the training, the minimal injuries that we are suffering and fitness levels of the individuals. We all know we need to improve as a team but the real point is that we need to improve more than the teams above us.

This really is asking far too much!