Freddy Fuschia

When he announced his retirement, he announced that it would be effective immediately after that weekend's game against Bendigo. Unfortunately, we lost 4 or 5 players (including Hogan) to injury the same week.

Our midfield is our biggest issue. Our midfield coach is the first one to go.

McNamee was totally unsuited to the role. Connolly did a lot of good work for the club. No comparison.

No doubt, AD will argue that he was doing nothing more than his job but any attempt to influence the outcome of a serious investigation into the use and abuse of prohibited substances raises question marks about the AFL's integrity. At least we understand now why the AFL was silent when Jobe Watson made his admission on On the Couch.

I don't think so. I didn't mention the vilification or sexist comments. They're irrelevant to my argument about her getting things wrong. She's not what she used to be and she's become a bit of a know it all. The problem is that other know it alls don't recognise this.

Oh. So she got it wrong. That's what I'm talking about.

Like Brayshaw when she got the story about the North fitness guy terribly wrong and was forced to apologise?

Agreed.Some here are half full glass people, some half empty but a few simply feel it necessary to try to break the glass.

How would anyone know? She's been outed in the past for passing on incorrect information as fact. It depends entirely on the reliability of her sources and her fact checking. While she's been good in some areas, she's made her share of mistakes, particularly in recent times when she's taken on the mantle of a tabloid journalist. That's the nature of the business she's in at the moment.

There's an interesting article in today's Geelong Advertiser by Paul Chapman about the relationships of players within the team environment - Footy relationships are tested at times. We need to realise that football teams are not a single homogenous group and that the views of individuals like Moloney and Rivers might not necessarily be reflective of the rest of the group. In my discussions with some of the (younger) members of the playing group, some of the older brigade at the time of Neeld's arrival were more self-absorbed than team oriented and Neeld, Craig and the football dept saw that. If they were the right quality for team leadership they would have been considered favourably. Their behaviours indicated otherwise and they spat the dummy. It hurt the club in the short run for it to be bereft in mature leadership but Moloney and Rivers weren't worthy contenders. Let Riv say what he likes and it will be accepted for what it's worth but I'll always remember him as one of many at this club and in this era who never lived up to his potential and he is hardly the one to speak about his own leadership credentials.

I found this one in 60 seconds. Do I qualify for WJ's reward? Caro: The AFL 'definitely' believes it was Aaron Davey

Leaving supposition and guesswork aside, is there any proof whatsoever that anyone other than Bates had or knew of a connection between Bates and Danks?

ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS DOESN'T REALLY MATTER

I watched the replay of the West Coast v Hawthorn game and I reckon we've got the Eagles covered. I counted at least three players with beards which means they have a poor culture and don't deserve their place in the competition.

Suggest you leave your wallet at home and also refrain from staring at any of the passengers on the train, especially between Oakleigh and Cranbourne stations. Take enough money with you for train fare, admission, food and if you're that way inclined, a punt on the TAB.

According to the commentators, Melbourne shouldn't have scored a goal or received a free kick today.

For those viewing at home the players representing Melbourne today are: ROUND 2 NAB CUP V PORT ADELAIDE 1 Jesse Hogan 12 Colin Sylvia 19 James Strauss 20 James Sellar 21 Cameron Pedersen 22 James Magner 23 Josh Tynan 26 Daniel Nicholson 27 Tom Gillies 28 Joel MacDonald 32 Michael Evans 33 Dom Barry 34 Dean Kent 35 Luke Tapscott 36 Aaron Davey 39 Neville Jetta 41 Davis, Troy 42 Spencer, Jake 43 Taggert, Rory 45 Matt Jones 46 Dean Terlich 47 Tom Couch 48 Fitzpatrick, Jack 49 Stark, Nathan

Well, we know that all four rats were disgruntled former employees (factors you need to take into account when weighing up their evidence) but the fact that two were recruiting officers and one was a welfare officer strengthens my view that Connolly's comments could not possibly have been made in seriousness. What influence would a welfare officer have on the outcome of a game? Really!

The AFL only needs to send them the Queens Counsel's opinion to satisfy them that there's nothing for them to see here. Unlike the AFL, the gaming authorities are answerable to someone else and would need to justify the expenditure from the public purse if they went to the lengths involved in a full blown enquiry. Would they do that when an independent Queens Counsel says there's no case in law for Melbourne to answer? On top of that there's the other clubs who have been accused of tanking in the past. Can the gaming authority ignore the Kreuzer Cup of Terry Wallace's admission that he didn't coach to win in order to get Cotchin? Time to start writing to your local MP's.

Good point about Chunk. He was easily our b & f and considering he was playing for a lowly team, he polled extremely well in the Brownlow. That he's not in the top 35% midfielders staggers me. Anyway, if he and Grimes improve and we can get some of Trengove, Toumpas, Viney etc. pushing up in the midfield, we can really surprise. We also need a big season from the Russian.

Says he didn't belittle everyone as you claimed.

Do you have a link to this Andrews Report?

Deegirl, you shouldn't feel intimidated about sharing information on here. The concern is more with the fact that some sensitive stuff is still being leaked from the club which many thought was a feature of past administrations. Whoever gave you the info only got it half right because the club hasn't been charged at all. It's only that the investigation seems to have uncovered a few disgruntled finger pointers who left the club in less than amicable circumstances which allows certain inferences to be drawn about the value of their evidence. The other thing about this matter is the AFL has chosen to give the MFC and other parties the opportunity to respond before a decision is made as to whether charges are laid. This is important because it will demonstrate to the AFL that the club has some very strong points of defence. I sense this would not have occurred under Adrian Anderson's watch and perhaps this is why he's gawn. So deegirl. Thanks for enlightening us with your post. It's paved the way for plenty of optimism if only we read between the lines and resist shooting the messenger.

I don't know why we are discussing this topic so many pages into the thread. We are talking about changing the culture of the club and people are entertaining the idea of a player who was already under intense scrutiny and who went out on the tiles till 4am a couple of days before the PSD and rookie draft. That suggests he doesn't even fulfill the most minimal levels of discipline for a junior team let alone the AFL. We need to stay away.

However, you can't make a direct comparison with Richmond whose coach has been around for a few seasons now. Of their 11 changes included 3 or 4 rookies and a number of out and out spuds. The only player who got a second chance was Angus Graham. What I find strange is that a number of commentators remarked that Melbourne had adopted a mysterious "scattergun" approach and picking up 4 recycled players didn't make sense. However, when Richmond does the same thing, its called clever recruiting. Go figure?