sue

I guess that is part of the vague words that constitute the charge. However I would have thought injecting god knows what is more than "failing to provide a safe environment" etc. If I stab you I don't get charged with failing to provide a safe environment, though unlike the EFC players, you probably didn't consent to it. But if I help you commit suicide, I don't get charged with failing to provide a safe environment. I guess this is all Worksafe jargon though.

I've now watched most of the Vic metro v country and I still didn't see that Parish was much good. Didn't seem to get into the game. If we do pick him someone please tell me that that match was unusual.

I've no idea if Parish is the bee's knees and am happy to assume he is from the enthusiasm displayed here. But after viewing some of that match I'm convinced of one thing - take no notice of highlight reels. I watched most of the last quarter and got the impression Parish was nothing special. While he got the ball a bit, almost every time he got the ball he kicked it forward wildly and some of his handpasses were B-grade. Did I miss something? Fortunately the recruiters, and I presume even posters here, do more than look at the odd quarter.

On the contrary, I find it incredible that delay to turn over the list would not have been part of any club with managers having half a brain. There were early posts here suggesting that strategy and we don't worry about these things full time (I hope).

Ture, sensible postings were difficult to find amongs the volume of complaints that the club wasn't being tough enough. But they were there - they just didn't use jargon labels (copyrighted by Harvard) to attach to the concepts.

O good grief. Just the pedantry I was referring to. BTW, it you buy 100 tickets in a lottery, is it not a lottery to you because your odds are better than the bloke who has only bought one ticket.

Can't even say that. After all, we all know the draft is a lottery (even if we pedantically argue about the obvious point that the probabilities in the lottery are weighted in favour of early picks.)

Good to see they teach the bleeding obvious at Harvard. Presumably they teach some other stuff to justify the large fees.

Is this relevant? http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-10-30/melbournes-first-list-lodgement

The wording of the poll options has led to a lot of pointless arguing. There should have been an option between A and B. A is a bit over the top. Even if we landed an elite player, some pedants (me included) might not want to tick "couldn't have gone better". After all, we could have landed 2 elite players(!), or more realistically one player who to some was not their preferred elite player, or potential injury concerns etc. So in light of the wording of the options, I'd say A-. Anywhere else, A.

Everyone knows that the draft is a (weighted) lottery and we won't really know for a few years. But those slagging Mahoney were only too ready to call for his head early and they deserve to be criticised for wallowing in tearing their shirts and spreading tales of woe - which BTW is not being 'slandered'. But kudos to those who have apologized for going early.

My point was that EFC blabbed it, not MFC. My reference to scraps was not to that statement which as you say was categoric. It was to the other speculative stuff we've been drowned in for the last 2 weeks.

And its our fault he said that? Still building castles on scraps of information and the mis-information that is dribbled out by partiesas it suits their cause.

Still amazed how many posters are privy to so much inside information to form these black and white judgements.

Perhaps bold statements were part of negotiating. You usually start from a 'bold' position and accept a compromise (101). Frankly I am surprised how many on here know exactly what should have been done and when. We are so far from knowing what's what in all this, that I can't see how any of us can justify any position - particularly the strongly stated some hand-wring. Sure it's a forum so feel free to vent/praise, but I'm happy to admit I haven't a clue and I suspect no one else does either.

I think there is a lot of truth there. They are desperate for something to write about most of the time. So when they have something on the boil (trade period) they don't want to waste the stories they can roll out once that is over. But if that is the explanation they should be sacked given the potential interaction between CAS decisions and the trades.

Lucky for us you aren't doing the negotiations then Jumbo. And lucky the overly tough minded posters aren't either.

But OD, it is the trend that counts. From dry ticket based on wood pulp to baseball bat is only a few steps. We will see.....

Sounds like WADA is annoyed with things down here. I suspect Old Dee's wet tram ticket may be drying out. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/supplements-saga/why-did-asada-drop-aod9604-wada-boss-wants-review-20151016-gkb81p.html

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but I didn't spot it. Interesting: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/essendon-drugs-saga-wada-boss-says-support-staff-the-real-bad-guys-not-players/story-fni5f22o-1227571065606

That would have been unfair (or distorting) to the clubs and the players if they get off or have negligible penalties. The AFL should have (and maybe have) a scheme to compensate the clubs who take EFC players in some way. Maybe there is no 100% solution, but some obvious ideas would be for the AFL to pay the salaries of the suspended players, allow extra players in the squads etc.

More than weird. Beyond belief - something must be up.

I could equally say that some people like wallowing in despair and miss no opportunity to moan and groan. Not changed 'one iota'? Really?

That is such a pessimistic view. We now have some up and coming players which we did not have before. We can all list their names compared to what went before. So to think we won't improve you have to assume that all the other clubs around us on the ladder also have the same potential for improvement. I see no reason to assume that so I will not wallow in pessimism thanks.

It constantly amazes me that some of us know more than a team of people who do this for a full-time job. That's not to say pros won't make mistakes. But the proof is in the pudding and we haven't yet see it before it goes into the oven, let alone get to taste it next season.