jnrmac

I'm not sure we are in disagreement. It can impact a players season of course. But the universal 'he's had no pre-season therefore we can excuse his performance that was below par' is frankly rubbish. It may mean a player runs out of puff as his fitness is not up to scratch in the first half of the season but to then excuse a poor second half is for mine largely an excuse. With rotations today players can still perform for bursts and have a rest. It's not just about running, its about attitude and commitment when they are on the ground. Garland to me is a reasonable example. Had minor ankle surgery but resumed mid pre-season. Had a really poor year IMO - not fitness wise but kicking efficiency, one on one contests, positioning etc. Most here excused him as he did not have a full pre-season. I have other ideas that are not fitness related. It is interesting to note he is tearing it up on the track this pre-season so I will watch with interest.

I think we should have a swear jar for every time someone excuses a player for 'no pre-season'. I agree with C&B. Its mostly bunk. Dom Tyson had a great year with little of no pre-season. It may mean a player has a poor first 6 weeks or so but a whole season is more of a fragile mental state IMO.

Dawe had a degenerative knee problem when we recruited him as I understand it so its always been a case of managing his workloads. Hopefully the paleo diet has shed a few KGs and made it a lot easier on his knees. A good season beckons....

Most good players get the ball and burst 3-10 steps to put themselves in a position to deliver the ball cleanly. A few years ago under Bailey our guys would handball straight away to a stationary target in a worse position! We want players to burst clear and hit someone on the spread, Its what all our training is about once we have the ball. NJ is pretty good at it now I agree - possibly because he is better at it but also I think players a spreading better and giving him better options.

A super size salad roll...

Dawes only kicked 30 goals in the pies premiership year. He is not a goal kicking fwd and they knew that when he was recruited. He is just a super competitive large bodied forward which along with Pederson and Hogan now make a more competitive forward line.

Not sure who here you are accusing of suggesting there is a conspiracy from the authorities. Haven't seen anyone do that. I fully agree with your statement about the integrity of the authorities so far as we know. But its not astute to wait till everyone else has finished investigating. Its dumb and against their charter. That said we don't actually know what WS has done other than confirm publicly they started investigating some 7 months after the story first broke.

Look its pretty simple IMO. The parties involved in this have different charters and different terms of reference and investigative powers. To let someone else investigate and rely on that is simply a dereliction of duty. Who knows what ASADA, the AFL, Worksafe and the AFP for that matter are each interested in. They have different agendas and powers. It is simply not possible for them to rely on one another. Sure, they mohght use information gathered by another party bit they are required to conduct their own investigations for a good reason. If it is true that worksafe Vic are waiting for others to finish its a disgrace.

If you wanted a controversial thread you could have tried a Jack Watts thread.....

I just don't believe that is how WorkSafe Victoria operates. And nor should it. They might use evidence collected elsewhere but to completely outsource an investigation is in breach of its charter and dereliction of its duty.

If this the situation it is a [censored] unbelievable disgrace, Like the police saying 'we will investigate the bank robbery after the bank has done their internal investigation'. Could not possibly be the case. The evidence might be tainted, they could have missed a lot of information. In a real stretch of the imagination people could die,

If this investigation hasn't already been going on for two years then something is very rotten in the State of Denmark. The Doctors and Directors should have the book thrown at them. Fined heavily if not incarceration. I wld go to jail if I 'forced' one of my workers to take injections not approved for human use. WTF are they waiting for??? I suggest writing to your local member and asking them. I have,

Ess thrown out of the competition.

No he's not. Watts is simply a very good player with the ball in his hand and we shouldn't expect anything else of him. He is no good at getting it or competing one on one. He never will be. He doesn't have the appetite for a contest. He is an outside distributor and almost always delivers the ball to someone in a better position down the field. The question is whether you can afford to have him in the team with those limited attributes.

If you are seriously suggesting Spencil doesn't have mongrel then you don't know what you are talking about,. Keep in mind a 6'6" bloke shepherding against a midget is likely to end up at the tribunal for head high contact.

Yes Gerard did. Went to the AFL telling them of the rumoured peptide use and the soft tissue injuries. He's a physio so would have heard the scuttlebut and put 2 and 2 together. Why IMO is why Demetriou when approached by the ACC said " Is it Essendon?" They had mail well before and is why he would have rung Evans saying the shiite is about to come down... Ess tried to tie it to an ASADA leak but its just not true.

We haven't done anything, Its the off season and the HSun looking to fill pages. Obvious story I would have thought. Brother of Captain.. Melbourne boy etc.. Be surprised if there was anything in it...

My take is that ASADA have been shot at from the Ess camp and supporting media but in fact have very little in the way of being able to defend themselves publicly. We don't know what ASADA have done. We know parts but not the full extent. Justive Middleton's defence of the ASADA CEO I think was telling in that regard. Its also a narrative that Ess want us to believe because that is their case. ASADA are bungling fools. They can't allow the focus to be on their actions because they were deplorable, unsafe, unscrupulous and most likely highly illegal. It's a dirty game. And I think you will also find the WADA response will be vastly different from the Cromulla response. It will be much stronger because there is more at stake.

A spurious court case that was comprehensively thrown out. And if it wasn't that there they would have found another spurious reason to obfuscate and delay this even longer (if thats possible!)

Cut the sniping. The forum would be better for it. And thanks I'll ignore you from here on in,

You are pathetic. Give it a rest.

errr, that sped up the process...

How about speaking to your client that signed a consent form. FMD its a joke. as is the media reporting

Best post you have ever written,.

We'll know soon enough I guess. I hope he stays and I hope he can get back on to the park. I like Jack - I think he's a smart footballer that unfortunately is perhaps guilty of trying to too hard. Perhaps he pushed to far when he was Captain because of the 'burden' instead of resting. perhaps he was mis-diagnosed. Who knows? I do think he is mentallly tough though and if his body can get right his mind won't let him down (unlike another famous recruit...)