pitmaster

You really are a self important one, aren,t you? You don't even know what a personal attack is. Reread my message to you without prejudice and you, even you, will see there is nothing of a PERSONAL nature there. It is a statement of principle. And yes, I have done my pro bono work for the club, for years. And what is your response? You call me a simpleton and then complain about a personal attack. Tell ya what: tell your story. I reckon we know what it's worth already.

HG think again. As much as I would like the inside oil on the club, you need to show some maturity. It seems you have been in a position of trust. That comes with responsibility. You do not, if you are a person of honour and integrity, assume a POT and then, when things do not work out to your liking drop the boom on those who have entrusted you with a privileged position. In short, grow up.

It sounds like you Muvver Jones would not be aware of the MFC`s glaucoma program which accompanied Jimmy`s trip to Yuendumu and which has helped reduce infection rates by 30 per cent over two years AND which is continuing and being maintained into the future. It`s interesting that you invoke the name of a famous US progressive journal in your id but express such blunt, inflexible views. I have read the book. I believe BHM (Rudeboy) was entirely genuine in writing it, but the title is the problem. It is more about BHM`s encounters with Liam than a comprehensive life so far tale.

You did not seem to think inevitable a couple of days back when I called it Jack, but yes, you're right about the lack of justice. It should never have gone this far. The flaws in the evidence were clear at the committal stage.Having said all that, it is a victory for the jury system. My one nagging doubt was that an element of racism might prevail in an Alice Springs jury. That clearly has not been the case and the jury did their job and should be recognised for that.

Witnesses drunk... Witness recanting evidence citing police trying to direct his statement. Conflicting claims about LJ's involvement including persistent and utterly conflicting suggestions he was trying to act as thug and peacemaker. I can't see a 'beyond reasonable doubt guilty' finding here. And that's without taking into account motive for implicating LJ, which is the admitted ill-feeling towards him and his mob by his accusers.

This is so wrong it cannot pass uncorrected. Balme had one good year - his first - largely with the benefit of an emerging Schwarz building on what Northey had left. Balme was too relaxed, you can say nice or lazy depending on your disposition, to make it. Ask yourself why no-one has had him coach since if he was such a great coach in making.

He is a lock for the 22. With a fully fit crew he would be on the bench to be used at both ends or in the ruck or some combination of the lot. His versatility is unusual and for this reason he will be among the first 12 picked each week the way he is travelling.

Your former sponsor (The Age) can't find space on an entire page of practice match reports to list even your final score. (And here I was hoping to read MN's take on yesterday.)

Better to lose this one than the four pointers...but it's depressing just the same.

On another matter, can someone explain why the hardliners like mjt and 316 who are so quick to judge others are also functionally only semi-literate? 316 has issues with apostrophes, your and you're, and poor old mjt falls over every time with any variation of 'there', 'they're' and 'their'.

Not for this matter but one of them (Walker) was in custody at the time of the committal last year relating to similar charges. But he's not alone there. I understand Basil knows what the decor is like inside as well.

Did you buy it or rely on online? Or you may be blind.

Well said. Or, if you want to keep a team on the drip like, say, Melbourne...give em MCG home games against Port Adelaide, West Coast, GWS, Gold Coast, Sydney and Freo and only two home games against big drawing clubs, say, Hawks and Pies. Oh wait! They already did that? And a home game at Etihad against a Victorian club? Amazing.

I am upbeat about this bloke. Having seen him at training he looks to be in great nick. Excellent kick, physically strong - I am a bit optimistic about him breaking out in 2013. Just needs a consistent run at it.

It's particularly telling that Libba says Carlton officials were joking about tanking in match committee meetings - that is supposedly the pre-planning that dropped us in it. I had not seen that interview until FC screened it and I must agree with Jeff Kennett for the first time in my life - Libba's comments were many times stronger than what Brock gave OTC. It merely confirms what we knew - but I was surprised also to see Terry Wallet's comments as a back page lead in the Sun. How they were not followed up is a mystery. That there was not one journo who pursued this story down this other alleys over the past seven months is an indictment of the profession.

When's Deegirl coming back to explain her panicky post two months back saying the club, CC, DB and CS will all be charged with tanking?

There are however, a couple of interesting comments - she talks about the episode dividing the club. Possibly this is where her malcontent sources lie. Secondly she says it damaged the culture of the club...well, yes, everyone agrees with that, but only I think because we failed to recover on field and pursued a policy with an over-reliance on youth and had poor leadership. Bailey's decision to axe Junior is a reflection of his excessive commitment to "getting games into young players". The same actions as at Melbourne did not hurt Collingwood, West Coast or Carlton in any lasting way. We'll recover too.

How many ways can one person be so wrong on the same thing? Caro has set some sort of record. Remember, originally she said Scwhab and Connolly were "finished" at the club. Bailey was going to be banned. There were no ifs, buts or maybes. These things WERE GOING TO HAPPEN. Bit by bit she has backed off until we have this outcome which is so far from what she declared was certain that there should be a lesson for her. She is wrong, wrong, wrong and in any other field of journalism would be castigated by her bosses, but it seems no-one cares at The Age any more. She has besmirched the rep of what once was a very fine paper. She should be gutted this morning, but she'll be telling herself 'I was right at the time'. If she is right just this one time, it'll be a first. What a [censored]!

Bugger it. Did not need anymore bad news.

Get off your high horse BH. What you think doesn't matter, just like what I think doesn't matter. What McLardy's letter shows is that Caro based her comments on the MFC's defence on what she's read here...not on what the club really said.

There is so much in today's Caro piece that offers insight into her methods. It really is a rich piece. Let's not overlook her steady walking away from that pre-Christmas declaration that Cam Schwab was finished at the club..now he might be charged. But best of all is that non-correction correction about the vault meeting, no the tin shed, no the building in which the match committee met. It was a multi stage process but she finally made it right. And that is the most important thing of all because it highlights her great weakness as a journalist...lack of attention to detail. People do talk to her and she does find stuff out. That's her strength, but the inattention to detail means she takes opinion as fact, as well as regurgitating it as fact. It's amazing how far that can take you...that and a vindictive, judgemental and cynical nature.

Because Justice Frank Vincent wrongly ruled out the evidence against them. Wrongly? Yes, as it was ruled by the Court of Appeal although by then it was too late to try Elliott.

"You not what they say..."??? You'll need to be more literate than that to sway me.

Down to the last 60 hours people. I reckon this has to be done before Friday's NAB cup start. Any semblance of a guilty finding would be incredibly damaging and resistance to that by DB and us is probably the hold up. Leaks from the investigation have poisoned the mood at least among the commentariat as Rucci's remarks, and others from donkeys like Dwayne Russell attest. If we are to be in the clear the AFL and MFC might be advised to release a Clothear-Haddit point by point summary of allegations, accompanied by point by point refutation from the MFC. The risk with that is it sets amateur sleuths like those who reside at the Sun to run off and retest the allegations, but I think it would be worth it to shoot down the sort of shite that the Sun came up with when it suggested Sylvia was dropped as a tanking measure when he was, in fact, suspended. It would also be a great backhander to the moral arbiter of the AFL, Wilson. Someone here said weeks ago that the investigation had moved from an inquiry to a search for guilt. That was right, well let's see how it stands up under scrutiny.