RalphiusMaximus

I feel that a quote from The Castle fits in about here.

I think the Pav for his loyalty and consistent brilliance is right up there. He'd have a brownlow if he played for one of the big Vic clubs. Sam Mitchell for the way he plays. Not just his skills but the way he just ignores all the scragging and dirty [censored] that his opponents do to him and focuses on getting the ball.

Amazing to think it was that long ago.

Something like this goes so far beyond dislike of the club. I can't imagine what the family is feeling right now. Really feel for them.

I think part of the issue at Carlton was also that they underestimated the influence of Eddie Betts both on and off the field. He was instrumental to the success of the forward brigade and when they got rid of him there was suddenly a lot more pressure on Garlett. We saw his game suffer as a result. I think we need to temper our expectations with him a little. He will improve our side, but he's not the messiah. In fact, he may be a very naughty boy. The thing that really disturbs me about this particular incident is that he may not even have known that he was due to appear in court. That speaks to some pretty significant issues in his life skills.

We used to have injury lists in the teens fairly regularly. Right now we're looking pretty good by comparison. The year we supposedly tanked we had I think 17 on the injured list during the time we were playing players out of position (I could be wrong on the number, but it was something in that vicinity). Misson in comparison has had a relatively small list most of the time he's been with us.

I have no problem with the location, but the time is absurd. I already miss most of our games during the season because I work Sundays. It pisses me off that they keep doing this with the practice matches as well. As a paid up member (twice over since I bought my Dad's membership too), I think I have a right to expect that the club would make at least a minimal effort to put these sort of events at a time when I and the majority of other members have half a chance of attending. It just makes so much more sense to do this on a Saturday afternoon. 3pm on a Thursday not even the schoolkids can got there. It's idiotic.

Great news and great timing. I wonder if he signed today or if they just decided to release the news today. Great PR move if the latter, a good way to offset the downer of Petraccas' Knee.

He'd be well worth a look. I'm sure the recruiting department are keeping an eye on him to see how he adapts to the game. How awesome would it be to have Lovett extract the ball, pass off to Stretch on the wing who nails the inside 50 pass to Lyon?

I really feel for the kid. Let's just hope he has a nice clean recovery so he can hit next year with a flying start. As for the curse, has the club tried hiring any witch-doctors or medicine men to bless HQ and try to remove it? I think it would probably be worth the effort at this point.

I just find it annoying that they market this as a big public event, prizes, giveaways and BBQ, and then schedule it for a time when so many people won't be able to attend. Why bother telling us if they're just going to do that? If they want the supporters to show up for it then then need to be a bit more sensible about when they do it, and if they don't then then need to stop pretending that it's a fun fan-friendly event and just call it a regular training session.

I would be there, but I have a job. As always, the MFC seems to think the majority of their supporters are unemployed.

From the sounds of things, I'm saying 4-6 weeks.

If you divide the cost of membership by the number of wins last year...

I want him to have one-grab hands. I think that would solve most of his issues.

Maybe if this were a criminal court, but we're talking about a lesser standard of proof here. There is no "beyond reasonable doubt." ASADA only need to show that the balance of probability is that they took them. Thus if they can show that 29 of 30 took them, odds are that this player did, and this player did, and this player did...

Honestly, having not seen anything of the players since last season myself it's hard to judge. I've often thought that our backline is top-heavy and we've been killed by sides with multiple small forward options, so it could well be that Garland is going to struggle to get back into the first choice lineup. Given that Dunn has been named VC I somehow doubt that he'll be dropped to make room if there are too many players fighting for that spot. A lot will depend on how quickly Frost develops. If he manages to command a start early in the season, then it could well be Garland making way.

I have a suspicion that Dunn is going to move into the Scarlett role at some point. Once we have Frost and TMac holding down the two key defender spots it frees Dunn up to be more the floating general/third tall back who can chip in where needed and also run off to set up play. Geelong did the same thing with Scarlett once they had Taylor and Lonergan up and running as their two key stoppers.

Geez Nev looks tiny in that shot with Frost bearing down on him.

I tend to think that Col just had a terrible 2014 and wants to get his game back together without the distractions this year. If he can have an injury-free year and recapture the form he showed in 2013 then he'll be a regular in the side and that's a lot more important than a spot in the leadership group.

I don't think JAck Viney is the certain starter a lot of people seem to think he is. Go back over a lot of his work last year and you might question. His attack on the ball was undoubtedly ferocious, but often pointless. He would hurl himself into the fray and not out of it again resulting in another stoppage more often than not. He knows how to get first hands on the ball, now he needs to figure out how to extract it and himself so as to provide real value when he does do. As for McKenzie, I'm with Saty on that one. Roos told him last year that he had to give more value when we have the ball to complement his defensive game and he's clearly been working on it. There is a reason he won all of those coaches awards. It's because he takes what they say on board and really works hard to do what they tell him. I'll back him to show a much improved output this year to go with his defensive efforts.

As someone who works when training is on, I second this post.

Assuming that the worst happens (from the Essendon POV) and the players are all given harsh penalties, there is going to be massive fallout within the club. I would expect an extraordinary general meeting to be called to remove the club board, followed quickly by removal of the management structure employed by the club, that being the CEO's department, Coaching department and Medical team. Given that they are all facing a future of being virtually unemployable in sporting circles as well as law suits from the players for loss of income and any possibly future illness that can be attributed to the drug program, you can see why they are all taking this tack. It may seem that they are being willful, defiant or arrogant, but I think the reality is more that they know how ruinous it will be for them if things go badly for them. Maintaining this stance is their best hope of getting away with some chance of future financial stability.

I've been wondering the same thing