RalphiusMaximus

From memory he spends two years as an international rookie outside our list, and is then incorporated into our rookie list. From there he is a standard rookie and can play games/be promoted by the same rules. Basically it gives him an extra couple of rookie years to learn the game before we decide whether to keep him.

I don't know that there is bias so much as incompetence. Generally if you look at the match reports during the season you will see the same thing. They list the top goal-scorers and any big names who went ok. Rarely see a defender because they don't score goals and their possession counts are almost always lower. Most footy writers don't actually know enough about the game to pick out someone who has had a huge influence without hitting the scoreboard directly.

Exactly. If you look at the Edmund article, he's basically gone with the goal-scorers as his best. Alwyn Davey is thrown in as an extra, but given the rest of the piece, it could simply be that he couldn't tell them apart. As you say, Aaron was singled out by commentators and Chris Yarran on the boundary as a good shot at BOG. While he didn't score himself, he was a dominant playmaker and set up a heap of attacks for them. While it was against some questionable opposition given the second-string midfield they played, it was a really promising game from the Flash.

Some. I think it's a pretty mixed bag. Gilbert McAdam I think is in there. Not sure who else. Chris Yarran is boundary rider. I'm a bit dubious about Bennell getting the BOG. He got a lot of the ball but butchered it a lot as well.

Great tackle from Nev there.

Here Friday 8th February - 9:15am - Gosch's Paddock

I tend to think Goddard only taller. Maybe a little less attacking when the ball is in dispute, but has a lot of the same qualities. Also, they both started pretty slowly.

Is this the beginning of the Hobart Bombers?

Yeah. I think it is an interesting situation. For most of us, we would have said "my family is dragging me down a bad path, so i'll remove myself from the situation and keep away from them." I don't think that was ever a realistic option for Liam coming from where he has. Family obligations seem to form such a big part of their society. I would have been thrilled if he could have seen things from that perspective and decided that the most good he could do for his family is to stay put and raise his own profile to the point where he could be in a position to effect change in his community. As it stands, he took a very short-sighted approach and simply immersed himself in the situation again. Maybe he thought he could make things better or maybe he was simply homesick and wanted to see his family regardless. I doubt if most of us will ever know.

On the bomber boards someone has said it is SARMS they were using. If so, this is really bad [censored]. Looking through what it does and how it works, I would put it in the massively high risk category for long-term impact on your health and probably some forms of cancer. I really hope they haven't been stupid enough to go down that path.

I wonder how their sponsors will feel about this? Lots of bad press. Could the bombers be in for a year like the one we just had?

Bear in mind that he broke his back right before the season started. That's going to have an impact on your season. I think he did well to come back and play as well as he did in the second half of the season. Edit: lol. Just noticed you refer to the broken back too.

It's just the side they are on at that moment in that drill. They will switch multiple times during training for the different drills. It always changes and I don't think there is really a pecking order involved. For instance, the training session I was able to get to had a full ground drill running with what looked like our first choice backline and Fitzpatrick as the full forward (who marked and goaled quite a few times during the exercise).

LOVE those photos of Flash breaking tackles in traffic and laying a few too. He looks in amazing shape, much fitter than he has been the last few years.

Looks like the squad is yet to be announced from a brief look around the news sites.

It probably means that his knee rehab won't be finished before round 8 or so, so they may as well make use of it to play a rookie.

Is it just me or is Jack Watts looking a lot more a man than a boy these days? He's certainly got the size to play with the big boys now.

I'd say you nailed it there.

I am deeply disturbed by the symbolism of a Cadbury sponsorship. Being sponsored by a company that churns out a second-rate product of not-really-chocolate kind of implies a second-rate team of not-really footballers. Now if we were to be sponsored by someone who makes real chocolate, that would be a different matter.

Once again they set things up to avoid selling memberships or letting the fans have a look at their team working. Whoever schedules these things for the club needs to taken out behind the change rooms and shot.

Didn't he have hip surgery late last year?

Quick note regarding the BBQ. One of the guys said later that it wasn't this Friday after all, and would probably happen next month around the 15th or so. Best to check before you show up expecting to be fed this week. Regarding the report above, I can add a couple of things. The group who didn't go to the running track (Grimes, Dawes, Magner, N. Jones, Dunn, Garland, Joel Mac, Fitzy) were doing what looked a lot like 300's on the oval instead. I don't think it was quite full pace, but they were feeling it by the end. I'm not sure if the rookie with the rehabbers was Clisby or Stark. I heard them call him Mitch at one point and Starky at another and they look quite similar (see the links). Agree with the notes above on the kicking skills from Toumpas and Sylvia. In the full ground drill, Watts made some great passes from the last line of defence. I also managed to be right nearby when Davey nailed Seller in one of the contested ball drills. Great to see him drag someone that big down. Sylvia finished early and was doing photo shoots with the kids by the stand. Not a huge amount to add really. The intensity and focus are far greater than they were when I saw them train under Bailey. Much less tolerance for mistakes. When it went wrong, they stopped and did the whole thing again. Great to see.

Good on him. I hope he manages to get a win over them all. A few more suits like this and we might see a return of that outdated concept journalistic integrity.

I've never seen Taggert play, but I have heard comparisons to Dangermouse, and that can only be a good sign if he lives up to them. Evans could be a great player or he could wind up another D. Bell. Only time will tell if he can make the grade or simply look like someone who should be making the grade.

I really hope he comes good. He could be an amazing force for the club if he can get himself injury-free and get some games together.