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Link works ........... great pick up - classic Now we are getting close to the truth...... You are right. The reference to JM was completely out of line. It would not be inappropriate for the AFL to pull her up on that one : talk about bringing the game into disrepute! I actually like the idea............

Yes Weedster. She'll say she has written an article expressing concern over Martin - but the tone is completely different. The club is in top of it and managing it carefully versus the club is desperately worried that it is losing control .... "Selective sensationalism" describes her writings to a tee

Many of us have very short memories. I'd suggest that the majority of supporters saw his contract as a plus at the time. Let's stop drawing negative conclusions based on limited knowledge of the ups and downs of his pre-season program - and see what happens when the season starts. It would be great if he has a good year - and ironic if he pulls the pin at the end of 2013 with the supporters screaming at the club to force him to play on.

Well done Buckley She really is raking the muck now, ................. using off-the record comments from unnamed sources to attack a club culture.St Kilda as well re Sam Fisher. Interesting how she tries to suggest that Wellingham was pushed for off field reasons If I was Collingwood or StKilda , I'd be furious. At least its not us !

Must say it was good tonight to have a drink with a Hawthorn supporter; a Collingwood supporter [" good" is an exaggeration with this one - actually its a lie] and an Essendon supporter [ pretty close to a lie with this one too] ............................. and to have them all agree that Melbourne couldn't possibly be found guilty - and that it was ridiculous that only one club was being investigated. But then came a gem .... a fanatical female Richmond supporter chimed in " Gee Caroline Wilson really hates Cameron Schwab doesn't she?" "Really ? Melbourne supporters know that .... but you've noticed it as well?" Yes absolutely - she hates him - has done for ages"" You don't have any inside info on that do you?" " No - its just a fact!" You will all say ....so what?...... and I'll have to agree with you ,,, nothing.!...........: I just enjoyed hearing the obvious volunteered by someone who ought to enjoy Wilson's column. Everyone is on to you, Wilson!

I know this is repetitive , boring ,,,, and late - but I have to add my thanks to FNQ for a brilliant report. However many times you post here mate - your 18th post will take some beating !

In some ways all that says is that North is where Neeld and Misson are - which just confirms how poor we were before they took over. No wonder we had to start again!!

This is where the AFL's whole approach falls on its face How can they look for something outside the norm when they haven't clearly established the norm by investigating a range of clubs ?They asked a few polite questions of Brett Ratten a couple of years ago - but the Integrity Mob haven't been near him. Other clubs could have set up vaults and installed cones of silence over every desk - and Clothier hasn't even put his head in their door - much less commandeered even one laptop. Logic says that they can't reasonably ping us without proving that we clearly did things other clubs didn't do. If we are going to get the "natural justice" they have promised , then we are entitled to expect that they will investigate other clubs as well.Why haven't they started ?

Not sure that follows. The name of the game is ratings . If you've got a big story - you're going to use it to try to lift your audience. Why hide it under a bushel -why contrive to make it look spontaneous ? Surely you'd be trying to make the most of it. "Make sure you watch "On the Couch" tomorrow - we've got a big breaking story for you". The last thing you do in the ratings game is hide your blockbusters !! The more I think about it - the more I'm convinced that the spontaneity was genuine.

Agree with that. If it was a "set up" , it would have been strongly promoted beforehand - and a few follow-up programs would have been in the pipeline. Its been a third party journo ( read Wilson plus an appropriate adjective) who has tried to get mileage out of it.

It's a pity Viney couldn't come up with a better justification than "height". I wouldn't take that comment too seriously ..... remember that he was being interviewed by Burgs - and had had to say "hard bodied, hard running. ready-to-play midfielder with a great work ethic" stacks of times already .... so he threw in height for something different to say....... Its unfortunate too that a few grabs from Box Hill's videos didn't really show any outstanding sequences of play. All we can say is that they must be very confident he is worth it ................after all they took him ahead of Terlich (who sounds like a real chance) ......... which suggests they were concerned that someone else was looking at Jones. We have been so thorough sorting through our options this year - that you have to at him positively.We wouldn't have taken a 25 year old in the main draft if there wasn't something a bit special about him. It must take a heck of a lot of determination to break into a VFL side for the first time when you are 24. Box Hill ( Hawthorn) must have had the same doubts when they took him on last year. I think I heard Neeld say they thought he was a ready-made AFL player. He wasn't a random " see how he goes" selection. There is so much against taking him in the third round that he must be good!!!

Don;t know....... dreamt of peace and Ivor Warne Smith , I suppose

Is this post about Jordan Gysberts - or all the players we let go? The fact is that in the Bailey years we recruited a lot of talented kids to play the sort of open footy that was in vogue 3 or 4 years ago. Perhaps because they had natural talent they hadn't developed the hunger you need to have today - but one way or another they were all given a chance and they didn't cut the mustard. You could say that we were tough on Cook - but no other club has given him a lifeline. Some are critical of the FD for letting these players go for next to nothing - but the fact is that no one else rated them. The mistake was in recruiting them in the first place - it was time to cut our losses If we get a few injuries - we might miss Martin because of his adaptability - but I don't think he's going to come back and bite us. Gys is still young enough to make a good career for himself but the way we want to play he's too light to be a key inside workhorse and too slow to be a line-breaking outside runner. Gys will be better off in a different environment - and we'll be better off moving forward without him

Forget Richmond's #17 or Hawthorn's #23 - Melbourne's #31 is the most revered number in football. The fact that it means nothing to some of our younger posters is all the more reason to roll it out again - to keep it where it belongs. I'm not old enough to have seen Barassi in his prime - but I am old enough to know the legend. He left Melbourne because he wanted to coach .As far as he was concerned his coach - ,and foster father - was entitled to coach the Demons forever ....... and that meant that he had to move on. But he came back. As others have said, its not about a number - its about respect for your club and its history. For the sake of the kids who had No 16 on their backs I reckon its important that #16 goes to someone with an exciting future - Viney (before he moves to #12) or Toumpas !! Go #31 ( and #16)

You are of course correct ......... but a father (Todd) watching a son and his mates play schoolboy footy over the years ( and attending a few B & Fs etc) should be in a better position to make an assessment of things like consistency and team orientation etc than a recruiter who's only seen him play a couple of representative games and interviewed him once...............

I think that's right - more an athlete than a footballer. But a good kid who'd pass on character. Can really run. He goes to school with Jack Viney - so the club will know his strengths and weaknesses

You'd reckon that if the Swans took him a 17, there was something special about him. If he's now developed the hunger he didn't have then - he must be a chance. At 68 - looks like a very smart pick

You'd reckon he'd only make it on one of the four pillars - football talent. He's a miss on character and physical attributes ( endurance) and probably on competitiveness as well. Unless they have a different set of criteria for the rookie list ( which they won't!) he's not even worth thinking about ........................ not even close.

Well done Jack - Congratulations. And to the great man Ron - fantastic little clip on the web site of you handing over the baton to the next premiership ( Co-) captain !!!

Not so much a footballer as a terrific athlete. Would be an interesting pick up at 52 ......... but he might be a bit too much of an outside player for Neeld. Can certainly run

Good call Mate. I reckon you should have a crack at writing to the Age with that point

Strauss has the reputation of being a great kick - and he appears to have a good technique - but under AFL pressure I'm not yet convinced he is. There hasn't been anything elite about his kicking in his AFL career to date

Common sense - and natural justice - agrees with you. But this is political exercise to preserve the credibility of the AFL - and journos like Wilson with an anti- Melbourne agenda enjoy the taste of blood

I did qualify my point........ if she had half an unbiased brain! Ironically, as rpfc points out, this investigation started when Demetriou was on his "in season" jaunt to the Olympics. I still reckon that if he'd been here - he would have dismissed McLean's sick outburst before Wilson gave it legs. Well at end of the lady's epistle on Tippett (?) this morning, she threw in that we are prepared to take things to the High Court if necessary. Perhaps proceeds from the next Foundation Heroes dinner will be put to a Fighting Fund! ( Might have to be!)

Your point is well made ................ and totally valid It is a disgrace that we have been targeted the way we have .If they eventually clear us - will they compensate us for the disruption to our operation? It is outrageous that we are the only club under investigation. If Wilson had half an unbiased brain - she'd be hammering away at that fundamental point right now