sue

Given how often the umps miss throws and ping players unreasonably for holding the ball, this may be a new tactic Roos is working on.

Yes, I'd love to know what motivation Dank thinks the AFL has for trying to destroy Essendon. Perhaps the AFL has a long-term plan to get us to the top of the ladder by eliminating the opposition. Next to go may be Collingwood..... Self-importance delusions might explain why he thinks they'd be out to get him rather than the other 20 odd million in the country.

I expect it is not practical in terms of ground, plane and hotel bookings etc, but the best plan would be for the AFL to totally recast the NAB draw. The odd number of teams would still be a problem.

God I wish Essendon would simply go away. They are stuffing up my game.

Dank was just on ABC radio repeating his line that he will only provide his side of the case to a proper legal process, presumably a court. No one ever seems to ask him under what law would such a proceeding be held? What would be the criminal charge or is he just hoping all the truth would be revealed in an action for libel? Is he calling for a Royal Commission? Hot air.

Possibly, but some around here would think that having both legs amputated wouldn't be an acceptable excuse.

Precisely.

"But he continues to strongly defend his legal action, saying the aim has been to help create a fair system for the players." What a hero - the Martin Luther-King of AFL players. Not only a great coach, but a legal reformer. Perhaps he should have reformed the rules before he oversaw that 'pharmacological experiment'.

From SEN: Essendon players will not participate in any AFL-sanctioned games unless they are guaranteed any possible suspensions will be backdated to last year, says Mark Robinson. The chief football writer for the Herald Sun believes the Bombers will not participate unless they can be assured any suspension will start from the last time they played in 2014. They must not be confident they can establish they are innocent. Hey here's any idea - they can threaten to boycott the entire home and away season unless their suspensions are backdated as well.

Depends on exactly what most motivates young James. If it is purely money, then I'd expect EFC could cut a deal where they give him enough loot to balance the risk of him engaging in costly litigation. If it's a egomanical desire to prove himself the victim, then surely there must come a time where it will become clear to all but the most hardline Essendon supporter (ie Bomberblitz types) that as great as he was, he is injuring the club. That might suffice to make him back off to preserve his reputation with the rest of the Bomber supporters. Then again.....

Suggesting they put Amanda Vandstone and Tom Switzer on Grandstand as well as on RadioNational then?

I cannot believe that some of our so-called AFL journos are as bad as they seem. MR is the classic case. I can only believe that they are totally dedicated to 'sales' over real reporting (which makes them extremely bad journalists of course, so scratch the first sentence). On the 'sales' approach, they write rubbish that will appease the worried souls of EFC supporters and be gobbled up eagerly by them. The rest of us ether ignore it or get outraged, but it does the HUN no harm.

That is journalism?!?

Incidentally, what is an AFL coach doing overseas at this time of the year?

I see over at Bomberblitz they are still merrily sailing up that old Egyptian river while offering sacrifices to their god and defending our liberties. Apparently this has to be appealed to the High Court or civilisation will end. When will they realize Hird is out for himself, not the players and not truth and justice? (Sorry, no need to answer that).

Not lawyer bashing, just enjoying where the money is coming from.

more like piles of loot

Agreed that physically moving to an overcrowded U Melb campus is ridiculous. I don't think this is what it is about. (Though who knows what real estate U Melb owns elsewhere - I know they own a lot but probably nothing suitable for a footy team.)

Of course memos of understanding can lead to nothing or close to that. On the other hand I know of one that has lead to almost 30 years of massive multi-million deals - not that I see that happening here of course. All we can do is wait and see.

Woke up this morning to that otherwise amusing sports guy on ABC Radio national saying how weak the ASADA evidence was and citing the 3 witnesses who refused to testify and some case on the ASADA website which had a high burden of proof. All along he has been an EFC apologist. I really wonder what he would consider 'beyond reasonable doubt' proof - sounds like he would want videos of the injections being given with close-ups of the player's face and of the vials with simultaneous chemical analysis of the contents and a DNA sample from the player.

Good, we are in furious agreement. The 'ties' you mention in your last sentence are just the sort of thing to help (note: help) stop us from being relocated. I'm sure there will be other benefits and hopefully the relocation issue will never arise. Who knows, U Melb seems keen to emulate big US unis and their football teams are a big part of how they develope their communities (and alumni connections, ie. donations). If U Melb tries something along those lines pretending MFC is 'their' team, it could be quite significant.

Of course I am not saying that in itself, that would prevent us being relocated. I said 'helping ensure'. If you think connections like this don't matter, I just repeat I'm glad PJ is in charge and not you blokes.

I'm very glad PJ is in charge of the MFC and not some of those who have made negative comments about this development. No, it won't lead to 16,000 foreign students becoming MFC members tomorrow, but it could have all sorts of less tangible benefits, including helping ensure we don't get relocated to the Northern Territory or whatever.

If a journo thinks something is true, I'd rather them stick their neck out than qualify everything with verbiage to cover their bum. It is easy to write that it is expected (rumoured/likely/....) that Paul Roos will be sacked by the MFC Board tomorrow and a randomly selected Demonland poster will replace him. On the other hand if a sub-editor turns speculation into fact then the journo has a right to feel hard done by.

Dodging penalties by saying "But I was told it was OK by our doctor" is a recipe for rampant drug cheating. Sadly for the naive, deaf or inattentive, it can't be used as an excuse. It can be used to hang the doctor however.