sue

Gosh one has to be careful what one posts. I am in no way falling for the Hird propaganda. I was responding to another post in saying "it must have been well known in AFL circles" ie. it was true even if there was no other evidence that you have listed to suggest it. I don't see AD as the villain. Though I think he would have been wise to advise all clubs that ASADA was about to drop a bombshell to completly protect his bum from any accusations such as have been made by Hird. I thought it was clear from my posts that he is being crucified by Essendone despite his trying to protect them.

Don't disagree with last sentence. But the answer to your first sentence is because it was clear at the time that AD would be in trouble for only telling Essendon. So if the other 17 clubs had got a generic warning, it is hard to believe none of them would have issued a statement in defence of AD even if they were told initially 'you didnt hear it from me'. Or that no journo asked them.

But I don't recall any other club at the time saying they had received a generic warning call. I suspect AD was so keen to help Essendone and the AFL he didn't think to cover his bum by making 17 other calls.

ABC news, Little & Eddie Everywhere: Asked on whether Hird's tenure with Essendon was becoming untenable, Little said: "Up until the events of the last 24 hours we believed that James was acting and responding to our requests in a positive way. "The club will need to meet now Eddie to determine how we go forward in relation to the James Hird issue and probably the broader group that surround James."

All true. But with respect to the bolded sentence, isn't it odd that AD didn't feel obliged to call all of the clubs, but seemed to know which club needed warning. Assuming ASADA didn't tell him as you state, it must have been well known around the AFL that Essendon were up to no good. Their so-called Doc would have been rubbed out by now if it wasn't for AD trying to help the club and then threatened with court. What a bunch of dirty ingrates.

I am staggered that Mrs Hird can dump on AD for making that (alleged) warning call to Essendon at great risk to himself of criminal prosecution. With friends like her who needs enemies.

What possible reason could he have for hiding it? I could imagine reasons if you are talking about a super-star but not a hard working but unnoticed player. I don't know, but maybe the injury happened later or deteriorated to a point where he could not play. (mjt will now accuse me of endorsing everything Schwab does.)

It's not that you, like most of us, are depressed about our form in recent years. It's that when anything happens, you can be relied upon to look at it negatively. I'm your mirror image- friends usually regard me as pretty negative, but on here I appear like a wide-eyed optimist. I hope a win will cheer you up.

That last question was difficult to fill out. I gave up trying to get it to reflect my views exactly. But on the other hand it is difficult to rank things which are so different.

I'm sure my so-called backing of Schwab is highly relevant to issues of playing through pain. You love bringing it up almost every time you-respond to a post of mine. As if being wrong on that issue means my opinion on everything is worthless. But the real pity is I never particularly supported Schwab, I merely pointed out when you were speculating and making statements in an arrogant manner.

and some guys injure themselves beyond repair. How the heck do you know how much pain Dawes or anyone is in. More armchair toughness.

What are you doing on this forum with an attitude like that?!

When will you guys learn that it was a shovel not a spade! Shissh, let's concentrate on the real issues.

And that gentlemen (and ladies if there any any left) is all we know. The rest is speculation. Assign probabilities as you wish, but don't claim to be certain.

I would struggle - it looks more like a shovel than a spade. Call a shovel a spade will you? But at least in this case we have the information in the form of a picture. We don;t have the equivalent information in the case of Mitch.

I wonder what it would be like to be as self-confident as mjt and a few others around here - so sure they know what's what. Must ask my therapist. It's reasonable to think it is unlikely he will play again, it's reasonable to hope he will. But these ex-cathedra statements ...

But it is not August yet OD. But in the slough of despond that is Demonland, August is almost here. What Stuie is saying now is appropriate for now. Let's worry about August in August.

True, but instead of sending him a link to this site (which I hope no player ever reads), sending him all the positive comments in another form couldn't hurt.

Could possibly be correct, but don't expect much sympathy around here for your last sentence. Some seem to demand we know everything immediately.

Surprising how many posters blame photography. If you are looking beyond injury and its effects on general well-being, family problems seem most likely.

What happened to the original purpose of this thread? There is another one for general discussion.

The majority of supporters??? Maybe those who are on demonland, but perhaps catering to our obsessive interest in all things MFC is not always in the best interests of the club which has a wider membership and public to address. And as for Hogan, they have told us - they don't know yet. Now maybe that is a lie and they know he will be out for 2 years.

Is concussion now a mandatory week out, or does it depend on circumstances?

http://watchafl.afl.com.au/ is a subscription service.

I wasn't referring to what you originally wrote DL. Just some of the other comments which I saw as the usual groans about anything the MFC does. Long live honesty.