mauriesy

Define 'input'.

We've converted Scully into a positive ... Toumpas, Hogan, Viney, Dawes, Barry. We've come out ahead from the deal. It doesn't burn any longer with me. Maybe Grimes taking #31 is the symbolic end to a turbulent and disappointing past, and end we should celebrate now rather than continue to regret.

As long as they're South Australians with surnames beginning with 'T' we'll be fine.

Grimes identifies with the historical significance of the number. Scully had no empathy for it, no identification with its history, and didn't care a fig.

Dale Roberts

He's in jail.

Groan.

I reckon two or more Magners and Couchs will be a waste. Nothing against Magner, but we don't need 3-4 of him.

Might be? If any player had a Cale Morton approach to a contest, he's not even an option. Wines wins hands down. Anyway, as for 'highlights', I'd prefer to know what they're like when the chips are down, when the going is tough, all the time, for 100% of the game.

It's funny that whenever "Melbourne" appears in the media now, it's always preceded by an adjective like "hapless" or "embattled", or it's followed by "... who are under investigation for tanking ...". Even in stories where there's no relevance whatsoever! I'm still whistling with pursed lips!

Which thread will have more pages by Christmas ... this one or the Caroline Wilson tanking one? Odds?

I thought he was going to play for GWS.

My recollection of Jurrah in 2009 was that he didn't have the greatest tank in football (he still doesn't). After the exertion of kicking a goal or two, he'd need to come off for a rest. Especially if he'd also been chasing down Brendon Goddard.

Muralitharan stopped being a 'chucker' when the ICC, under pressure, changed the technical definition of 'throwing' by altering the levels of permissible arm bend etc. Tanking doesn't even have a definition. At best, it is loosely categorised as any of the following behaviours: Instructing the players to deliberately lose a match Using unusual tactics in matches, including improbable positional changes Resting a team's best players with minor injuries, who would probably not be rested if the team were in finals contention Conversely, resting players before finals where the result of a match is irrelevant (e.g. Fremantle) In collaboration with these, playing younger players who do not yet have much experience at AFL level. Only the first behaviour is a high-level, direct attempt to 'tank' in a game itself. I still doubt there is any evidence that this is the case in the current Melbourne controversy. Caroline Wilson hasn't produced one shred of evidence that this is the case, and she and other journalists are limited to the 'other' behaviours. Most of it is still conjecture, happenstance and hearsay, but they've drawn conclusions from these and other 'coincidences'. In our case, Wilson has totally avoided any debate on the functional differences between these behaviours, just labels them all as 'disgusting'. Take for instance, the games under question in 2009. Danny Frawley, commentating on the Melbourne-Richmond match, looks at the spent and disappointed Melbourne players after the game and specifically says 'you can't tell me they weren't trying'. Wilson and others point to the ' player resting' , 'unusual moves', 'limited rotation numbers' and 'player selection policies' in that and two other games and concludes 'they tanked'. Direct versus indirect evidence. The indirect behaviours have been justified (for Carlton, Collingwood etc.) and distinguished as sensible player management and a development strategy for a team with no chance of playing finals. However, somehow, Wilson has made this distinction for Carlton (labelling the idea as 'rot') but rejected it for Melbourne (labelling it as 'sickening'). Well, to me, if they're 'sickening' for Melbourne, they're 'sickening' for Carlton and the others. I just can't see the distinction that she can. I wouldn't be surprised that the AFL will find that at no stage did any Melbourne team or players 'tank' on the day i.e. receive direct instructions to lose. Is that enough to avoid a tanking penalty? Or ... like Muralitharan ... will the definition be moulded and re-defined to achieve a specific political end? Who knows at this point? I do think it entirely plausible however that the actions of certain individuals will be scrutinised in the report or findings, and that they might be subject a rule (such as 'bringing the game into disrepute') and some heads might roll. They still have to be proved, and the 'perpetrators' clearly identified. At this stage, even that's not clear, other than Wilson being on an apparent witch-hunt for certain individuals. PS. Our biggest and only on-field tank, when some players actually didn't try, was probably '186', but that's another fifty threads on Demonland.

"McLardy issued a plea on his club's website on Friday for ''natural justice'' as the mounting weight of damning evidence that the club fixed matches continued to emerge in all its shocking detail." Detail? Where's the actual detail? I'd just like to see some. All we have at the moment is McLean's original utterance; Wilson's opinions; some anonymous interviews from disgruntled ex-players, staff or coaches; circumstantial evidence that seems overwhelming but when taken in isolation means little; and conclusions drawn from hearsay.

A looser what?

You do realise that his facial 'contortions' are caused by muscular pressure on his optic nerve in his face from a broken jaw when he was playing? Mark Neeld tells of the blow that changed his life

Actually, he was taken #3 in the 2007 PSD ... straight on to the list. Not that it makes much difference.

Don't understand this. We started off with 3, 4, 13 and 26 and ended up with 4, Viney, Hogan, Dawes and Barry.

On the AFL website and MFC website under "Trade Winds": "The Herald Sun is reporting that Melbourne midfielder Cale Morton might return home to Western Australia to play for the Eagles, perhaps in exchange for pick 61 or 62. Morton was the No.4 pick overall in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, but has been a disappointment for the Demons. The Eagles are looking for a mature-aged midfielder to replace Koby Stevens, who they traded to the Western Bulldogs on Wednesday, and the thinking behind it is sound."

Link to the USADA report. Lance is a fraud. Not only did he dope, he used intimidation to get others on the US Postal team to follow suit, and used bribes to cover doping up.

Just make sure his girlfriend stays with him. (Ouch.)

I like that you can make a drafting decision just from looking at a photo.

I'll accept being an '[censored]'. But I deny being cynical.

Bundling players. Hmmmph. 0+0+0+0 still equals 0.