mauriesy

Jobe Watson admitted taking it. You say ASADA says it's been banned since 2011. Where's the infraction notice?

Can someone please tell me why it is so hard to work out: a. whether Essendon players took AOD9604 b. whether AOD9604 is a banned drug? (Repeat for other drugs Dank may have supplied.)

I'd back Dawkins, but I'm trying to work out in steve's allegory which is which.

Robinson just bombs it to no-one. There's also a difference between being driven by desire and achievement and being driven by brainlessness. Definite no from me.

People whinge incessantly on here about the disposal of Nicholson, Grimes et al and you want to get Robinson?

Yep, trying very hard to work out how kicking someone in the head and breaking their nose is only 'medium' impact.

I think he'll play centre, rover, wing, half back, half back flank, back, back pocket, half forward, half forward flank, forward and forward pocket. Maybe even ruck once or twice. Anywhere he wants to, really.

Who said I'm trying to blame others? GWS has a team of up-and-coming stars, we haven't largely because of our own ineptitude. I'm just suggesting that we can't think of GWS (or the Gold Coast) as an automatic win, even now. Clearly that's not the case. There's also a few other teams that GWS will beat on their home turf.

Why? They've got far more talent than we've got. A lot of their super-talented 2011 picks have now got 20-30 games. Pity players like Viney, Kent, Toumpas, Fitzpatrick and Gawn haven't built that much experience. Yet we all expect them to be winners. I'm not saying we shouldn't have won, but if you want to suggest that they are still easybeats you are mistaken. Let's see how much we lose by to the other 'easybeats' this weekend? In 3-4 years every team will be lamenting how much of a leg-up these two new franchises have been given.

Of course I'm disappointed the team lost. Of course I'm sick of losing. Of course I hate our drafting. But when you play against a team whose draft picks in the last two years have been: 2011 #1 Patton #2 Coniglio #3 Tyson #4 Hoskin-Elliott #5 Buntine #7 Haynes #9 Tomlinson #10 Sumner #11 Greene #13 Adams #14 Smith 2012 #1 Whitfield #2 O'Rourke #3 Plowman Plus T$, Ward etc. there's got to be a time when they stop being easybeats.

Amused by all the England supporters who claim in response that they were also wronged by other decisions (all of which were 50/50 at best). The only two howlers so far have been Broad given not out when he was clearly out, and Khawaja given out when he was clearly not out, both in England's favour. How many questionable decisions equal one howler?

I assume Casey are in the game to win it, not provide a training drill for Melbourne.

I don't get it. "Top 4 clubs have approx 14 midfielders". But somehow Casey only has 2, that aren't giving everyone else a look-in?

"Too much reliance on Red and Blue" doesn't mean you ignore everyone who used to play for the club. It just means you don't give them jobs ahead of more qualified outsiders. A club that doesn't embrace its history and previous champions is not a club.

I didn't say that. Six years of failure isn't knee-jerk. But a hasty, ill-considered reaction in one draft to six years of failure would be. It was the OP's contention that we must trade pick #2 without establishing any criteria. No other club would think about giving up pick #2 for anything other than the best of elite players.

Sydney's midfield drafting history illustrates perfectly a. how you can get a midfield without lots of top 5 draft picks (add Geelong to the list) and b. what folly it would be to trade #2 for anything less than an Ablett, a Pendlebury or a Murphy.

The only tactical improvement he could have made on Saturday was to flood all 18 players into North's 50 for the whole of the second half. Otherwise it's just deckchairs.

I don't think any club has successfully traded many early picks for a mid-field. They may have traded later picks for some top-ups, but the best midfields have always come from developing draft choices. Even Sydney's much-vaunted midfield has come largely from draft picks, many of them quite late: McVeigh #5 2002 Hanneberry #30 2008 O'Keefe #56 1999 Mitchell #21 2011(F/S) Malcejski #64 2002 K Jack Rookie elevation 2007 Goodes #43 1997 B Jack Rookie Draft #58 2013 Jetta #13 2009 Kennedy, Bolton and McGlynn have been trades. Bolton came to them for #8 to Geelong, but it was way back in 1998. Richmond's best (Deledio, Martin, Cotchin), and the basis of their rising strength, were all draftees. Judd is the only midfielder in recent history I can think of that has warranted a high first-round draft pick, so if we were going to trade #2, a player of that level is what I'd want. I doubt there will be any available. The last thing I want is to waste a valuable draft pick with some knee-jerk reaction based on impatience about progress.

Anyone who thinks we would be shooting up the ladder if we'd picked Wines over Toumpas is totally deluded.

AFAIK the investigation report is due in the next couple of weeks.

I'm saying nothing of the sort. I'm just wondering why people like you need to jump the gun.

And presumably it hasn't only got goal posts at one end.

Shouldn't you be waiting for the actual ASADA report before spouting off on the outcome?

Bartel is naturally right-footed and Taylor is left-footed. Neither needed a banana, and both were kicking to their best side. They both just hooked the ball too much.

You are under at least two delusions. The first is that a whinging, whining, pessimistic keyboard warrior on Demonland will have any effect at all on the club itself and its results. It won't. Do you think that the coaches and players care what a whiner on Demonland says? This 'copping rubbish' delusion is common with supporters of every lowly-placed club, but it's a waste of breath (or chicken manure). It's disheartening to all the other supporters who still retain some optimism, or who prefer to look at the situation from a more rational, considered perspective. Try thinking about what message you are sending to everyone else before pressing 'enter' on your next missive of total negativity. The second is that you think change and a whole lot of sackings will just fix things. It won't. Yes, I agree the club has been rubbish for a long time and that it's hard for supporters to cop. I've been following the Demons since the 1950s, and I'm as sick as anyone about the club's lack of success. But we've just got to keep trying, and suggesting, and analysing, and hoping, and supporting. My years of following Melbourne since I saw the 1964 premiership are heartbreaking, but I'm not going to give up now and become a whiner like you. Never. The reality is that from where we are now until at least the end of the year, when we start the merry-go-round again, is just going to be small steps. We've have made some small steps and it's a long process. At least be thankful for them and be more realistic. Here's a challenge: for every bit of negativity you want to spread about the club, try spreading one little bit of positivity. Everyone here will appreciate you more, and you'll lighten the mood. You might feel a little happier in yourself. Go on ... I know it's hard ... but at least give it a try.