Redleg

No it doesn't. It needs, as Eddie has said, that the AFL calls it a nil all draw and drops the case. As he said, we didn't gain what others did, for doing the same and they aren't even being investigated, even though everyone knows what went on. Unfortunately for the AFL this is not about justice but about face saving. I can't wait to see what the charges are, they interest me far more than the penalty.

Apparently and I stand to be corrected if the whole report is ever released and proves this to be wrong, but from what I have heard, the most damning bit of evidence in the whole report, is the Connolly statement, which he and Bailey have described as a joke. Bailey also said he never acted on it. Again there is no evidence of actual tanking or match fixing. No wonder the lawyers want us let off or head to Court. Obviously only poster boys for poster clubs like Roos at Sydney can make jokes in the AFL. I think the AFL needs to stand up and stop this now and say, extensive investigation, no proof no charges, we are sorry to the MFC for the damage this has done. Think I saw a pig fly past that fairy at the bottom of my garden.

Won't happen as we are the designated patsy.

For what it is worth Ben, last night was the second time I have been told, by a different source, that there is no evidence of actual tanking or match fixing in the report of the AFL. If that is true and given our President is the third to say it, I can see why our legal advice is as everyone now seems to agree, that the case is extremely strong. This whole shameful episode is now about the AFL saving face for launching an Inquisition against one club, that received the lowest gain of all clubs that did the same thing.

You could be correct on the second point, but as that leading journalist CW says, the club will be stained. Personally I believe the current Board owes it to those who went before and will come after, to maintain the best possible image for the club and therefore as I am confident that in a "legal " fight we would win, I would not accept any finding of cheating. Find another set of words and it may be fine. As to your first point I believe the AFL can do whatever they want, using whatever standards they need, to make findings and administer their competition. HOWEVER, if those findings are challenged they need to pass the Natural Justice test in a Court and then a legal interpretation is placed on the behaviour and they must pass that standard, or have their rulings set aside. That can happen in a multitude of ways, as simply for example as a Court finding that decisions were wrongly made, bias has been shown, hearings if any weren't porperly conducted, evidence was illegally obtained, a finding was so far against the weight of evidence as to make it wrong, etc, etc,etc.,

It was actually after an AFL led nightmare.

Happy to, but I don't want to [censored] him off before we hear the result and then he finds me guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, for telling the truth..

That is what Patrick Smith in the Australian has also said.

Well here is my view on this whole sordid episode. The MFC should be completely exonerated, due to lack of any legally binding evidence and the damage/penalty it has already suffered, to its brand and commercial operations, as a result of a selective investigation, for a course of conduct widely accepted being done by many other clubs, with most gaining substantially more benefit and advantage than the MFC, yet without investigation by the ruling body and without any explanation from it, as to why that is so.

Back to CW for a moment. In her latest piece of trash she states that it is true that the AFL has strong evidence in its 800 page report on Melbourne tanking. My info is exactly the opposite and our President agrees. Next she said " TANKING is a sensitive issue, particularly for Melbourne people who know how badly the club botched its attempts to gain early draft picks - and how the club botched the results. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/muckup-to-be-a-stain-on-demons-20130215-2eisg.html#ixzz2L0mx7QHR I thought we actually got the picks and then selected T$ and JT. One is the highest paid inexperienced AFL player in the history of the game and he was taken from us by the AFL in pathetic fashion, with AFL money and handed to another club, the other player is our Co Captain. For losing T$ we have a Dawes, Barry and Hogan. Question to the harpie, how did we botch the attempt to get the picks and next how did the club botch the results?

Would say a lot about their new found Integrity.

I thought legally proved guilt was the biggest issue.

I know this should be on the tanking thread, but I can't come to grips with us in any way accepting us being labelled cheats. There are just too many ramifications. I hope our Board is tough on this.

Looking like somewhere around 4th game is best scenario, according to a news report.

The harpie just won't stop.

Not such a bad comment. In the past our supporters have been depicted as Range Rover drivers, off to the snow, with patches on the elbows of their jackets. To now be described as rabid supporters, is clearly a description of a passionate following of a team that stands for something. I can live with that.

Sorry Wayne we posted at the same time. At least you provided the link to the whole article. I hope Sanderson knows something.

Sanderson has just backed Bailey to escape penalty as he is innocent, in an article on the AFL website.

Bloke on the right end in red, sitting down next to the pretty blonde with his hands not showing under the table, just has to be me.

Yes good article. We will know more about him when we see him in the NAB Cup.

Scandal, shock, horror. ASADA is now analysing my blood samples for PED's. Apparently unbeknown to me, my banana smoothie was laced with mexican banana extract, which is on the banned list and they are threatening me with a 2 year ban from this thread. I have engaged 2 genius investigators to get to the bottom of it for me, their names are Clothier and Haddad.

CW would report your last post as "Ben-Hur is an admitted arsonist and pyromaniac, who has admitted setting fire to a woman, has no remorse about it and in fact is quite proud of that disgusting and pathetic violent act, towards another human being and a defenceless female at that. Shame on you Ben-Hur, you deserve the full punishment of the law and my sources tell me you will soon be charged . In addition to his vile behaviour he displays homophobic tendencies comparing a man to a woman, this guy is clearly mentally unwell". PS. I have just been offered a job as a Journo at The Age.

The position of the AFL is shameful in this whole sorry episode. It created the priority pick system. Despite years of abuse of the system and complaints by the media, it endorsed and legitimised that abuse, actually making it legal under then AFL policy. It created a shameful rule, that allowed GWS to steal the young player we got for our Priority Pick in 2009, by giving him AFL money and contracted during the first year of his initial contract with the MFC. It then banned the MFC from doing what other clubs have been allowed to do, using a 3rd party contract to keep him. Despite then being the highest paid inexperienced player in the league's history, the AFL Ceo said it was our fault that we didn't retain him. The AFL then accepted their error with the PP system and abolished it. The AFL then chose to launch a tanking investigation of over 8 months so far, on the say so of a former, disgruntled, less than perfectly behaved player, who actually provided no evidence of the offence to the AFL. Despite admissions of other players and coaches and examples of similar behaviour of other clubs, provided by the media, the AFL refused to investigate other clubs or widen the investigation. The MFC which is the only club to have won 5 games under the PP system and lost a PP pick twice, costing them Nic Nat and another player in the other year, have received no credit for that. The AFL has started this investigation knowing that their rules on the subject were poor and that the system has failed. The AFL has heard other Presidents like Eddie say that the MFC would have been the laughing stock of the AFL if they did not do what others had done and what was approved of by the AFL The AFL has conducted the interrogation like rank amateurs and bully boys with probably unusable statements. The AFL runs a competition for the benefit of its member clubs that it admits is totally compromised by its fixture and various deals and concessions. The AFL at the moment appears to be in disarray. Despite the above the AFL has continued with this victimisation of one club and seemingly is intent on not losing face above all else and securing charges against the MFC and its officers. The AFL should be ashamed of itself. Print this Caro, you self-opinionated harpie.

Imagine seeing that banner just as you are about to have a banana smoothie, it's enough to make you think about having berry instead. Yuk!!!!!!!!!

CW - In legal terms we may have done nothing wrong and nevertheless we should be punished heavily. I might have to completely rethink my whole career.