Einstein

For me it's a pick between Davey, Moloney and Green. But I think it is time to pick a player that can be captain for the next 5 years. The leader of the next generation. So that rules out Green. I'd be happy with either Davey or Moloney. The day that Macca and Davey carried Jim's old number 37 jumper off the field. Would it be too much to read into this that Davey is considered the captain in waiting by the playing group? Either way, I think we'll make a good choice for the future of the club.

There are some, umm, interesting? comments on this thread. Is it possible that a 10 goal win over Fremantle has gone to our heads? We will not beat Carlton. They are too focused right now. Top 4 in their sights. Bailey shouldnt have to do much if any 'experimentation' to ensure a loss. (I have to admit though, that hoping to lose against the likes of Sydney, Richmond and North is one thing, a difficult thing to do in itself. But hoping to lose to Carlton is going to take a whole different level of commitment. Going to have to seriously bite my tongue. Hard work but it is what it is. Just get it done.) And we will not beat StKilda. They will make a mess of us. They will be tuning up for finals with their only home and away hitout on the MCG. They will be up and climbing through the gears. The only good thing about this game will be that the season is finally over. That's about all.

If you asked me a month ago, I would have said he would be gone no doubt. I still think he's facing an uphill battle to get a gig next season, but he's giving himself every chance, which is great to see. He's a good honest footballer. Got to love his attitude.

I'm not much of an Essendon enthusiast, but I've enjoyed watching them this year. If I were a Bomber fan I'd be pretty thrilled with this season. They're on the improve, will play finals I think, even though they will likely do little when they get there. But purely on a game by game basis, some of their wins this year have been alltime classics. They beat the Blues in a thriller. They steal the Anzac Day game against the Pies kicking 3 goals in time-on. The best way to beat the Pies. Absolutely brilliant. They thrash the defending premiers Hawthorn. And then knock off the undefeated Saints. If in the coming seasons as the Dees begin to climb the ladder, we have a season like this, it will be a lot of fun.

I don't know if Paul does have the NFL in his future plans, I hope he does, but I do know that a number of NFL scouts have visited over the last few years, and Wheats is one of a handful of AFL players that were listed as potential NFL punters. I really hope he has a crack.

I'm pretty sure it was in the first quarter WYL.

I echo the sentiment that Robbo should accept his time is up. On exposed form this season, I can't see a club taking him on. I'd much prefer him to go out as a Demon than running around in another club's VFL side trying to get a game. But if he gets lucky, then I'll be hoping he can be part of some success at another club. All the best to him. Good luck to all three players in their future pursuits. Three guys that helped define the Daniher era. There were bad times, but there were some great times too and they were a part of it all.

Was going to bring up old Rod. Certainly was involved in a couple of 'dog acts' in his time. But was also one of the best exponents of the honest shirtfront. A genuine hardman of the game, but if we're going to call Long a dog for a poor incident, then we'd have to label Grinter the same. Here's my own story of a rush of blood to the head and much regret. When I was 17 I played basketball at a reasonably high level. I played on a pretty good team. We had finished on top at the end of the home and away season, only having lost 1 game all season. We then proceeded to lose the 2nd Semi and found ourselves in the Prelim. About half way through the second half, we were geting beaten and the general feeling amongst the boys was that we were getting a raw deal from the refs. (Which we were!!). So after I was called for a dubious charge, which was total rubbish, on the following play, an opposition player drove to the basket, and I just flattened him. I had no intention otherwise. I turned to the ref ans said "That's a f-ing foul." I got ejected, which was fair enough. The guy I decked left the court with a wrist injury. So we lost the game and the opposition proceeded to the Grand Final which they went on to win. Problem was, the guy I had flattened didn't play in the GF because of a fractured wrist he suffered upon hitting the court after I'd decked him. I felt like rubbish. What I did proved nothing and was a weak act. So I sent the guy a letter through his club apologsing. The only reply I got was the following season when we played them and while going for a rebound, one of his teammates gave me a bit of chin music with an elbow. Put a good rip in my bottom lip. So it happens. I'd hate people to judge my character from an act like this. I'd be pretty sure Long would rather it never happened, and wouldn't be something he looks back on with any sort of pride.

Would definately get 11 weeks these days. And would be thoroughly deserved. And yeah, was a very disappointing act for someone who has done a great deal of good work off the field. Was totally out of character. I know I'd hate to be judged by one or two things I've done in my life.

Great career Wheats. Got the most out of himself. One of the real battlers. Even though he could frustrate us at times, he always had a crack and was one of our favourites. Good that he is capable of being honest with himself and knows when to pull the pin. Perhaps Robbo could follow the example. I think Wheats may have other goals in mind and new challenges on the horizon. He's been one player the NFL scouts have had their eyes on for a few years now. Hope he has a crack and gets a gig over there.

Have only watched the game once since that day. It's a bit like watching video tape of a car crash you were involved in, you just want to see exactly what happened. Being at the game was all a bit of a blur. Just like '88. It's a shame that both times we've made the GF since '64, we've pretty much been the sacrificial lamb offered up. Both games felt like a formality for the eventual premiers. Plus I had crap seats for both games. Not sure why Fox Sports is playing this game under the banner of 'Classic Grand Finals.' Hardly anything remarkable about the day.

The less said about the game today, the better. I love my footy but it was a total chore to be there. Absolute zero atmosphere. The attendance figure of 16500 was flattering considering the quality of the game. I was bored after about 5 minutes. Didn't care. Let's just move on. We did what we had to do. It's done. Next year please.

Me 4 TS

What? You mean, I should read the OP? Doesn't change my answer. I want Sculls. But I would agree that withouth the PP it may not be the same temptation as it is with the reward of 2 picks.

To be honest, I'm more concerned with the comment "I love Fox and Friends." Jesus Jeff. I was thinking this might not actually even be Jeff White. But then, going by how boring the 'tweets' are, I'm thinking it probably is. Not because I'm thinking Jeff is a boring guy. Just that, if it was someone pretending to be Jeff, I would think they'd be a little more amusing than this. Has anyone actually ever read anything on Twitter that left them thinking "Well, I'm glad I read that." Biggest waste of time.......................unless hmm.

The issue is two-fold. One - get the widely regarded best player by a mile, Tom Scully. Two - get another top rated talent. The answer is easy really.

Yep. Impressed? Got help with some articles off the net. Just goes to show kids, university isn't a complete waste of time.

Since people are suggesting a lottery system, I thought I would give a brief history of the NBA lottery system. The NBA instituted the lottery system in 1985 after the Houston Rockets were accused of tanking in order to get college standout Hakeem Olajuwon. The Rockets finished the season with a 29-53 record, but went only 7-20 over their final 27 games, and won just 1 of their last 10 games. At this time the first pick in the draft was determined by a toss of the coin between the two worst teams in each of the NBA Conferences. So the NBA initiated the lottery system in 1985. Originally every team missing the playoffs had an equal chance of getting the first pick in the draft. The draw was simply the drawing of envolopes containg the emblem of each of the then 7 clubs that failed to make the playoffs from a barrell. The team drawn first would receive the first pick in the upcoming draft. But the first NBA Draft lottery draw in 1985 wasn't without controversy. It is alleged that the NBA rigged the draw so that college star Patrick Ewing, overwhelmingly the top college prospect, would go to New York. It is alleged that the NBA wanted Ewing to go to New York because it was a big market club on the east coast (important for TV ratings) that would be for the benefit of the NBA, rather than have Ewing go to a small market club on the west coast. Also, the worst team going into the lottery was the Golden State Warriors who ended up with the 7th pick in the draft at the conclusion of the lottery, which led many to criticise the equity of the lottery system when the draft is supposed to help the poorer performing clubs most. Here is some footage of the 1985 NBA Draft lottery. It is alleged that the New York Knicks envelope is creased so that NBA Commisioner David Stern would know which envelope to pull from the barrell first. See if you can spot the crease. It is suggested that at 0:45 of the clip, you can see the creased corner of the Knicks envelope. But it is hardly convincing evidence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mN3OGRGybA They revised their system in 1987. In that years lottery, only the top 3 picks would be determined by the lottery. Each of the clubs that failed to make the playoffs would still have equal chance of getting the first pick, but only the top 3 selections were decided by the lottery, with the rest of the draft order determined by win-loss records of the other clubs. This meant that the worst team at the very least would recieve the 4th pick in the draft. This format has been retained to this day. In 1990 the lottery changed to give each of the clubs a certain chance of winning the first pick determined by worst win-loss record to best of each of the then 11 clubs that failed to make the playoffs. The worst club would receive 11 balls in the draw, the second worst 10, and so on. In 1994 the chances of each club winning the first pick was weighted more in favour of the clubs with the lesser win-loss records, with the worst team receiving 25% chance of getting the first pick and the best of the non-playoff teams receiving 0.5% chance. Critics of this system argued it would encourage tanking to take place. The draft lottery today is a very involved and complicated system that I will not go into detail here. But in essence it is a draw of 4 ping pong balls numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, with each club receiving a different number of ball combinations giving them a certain percentage chance of winning the first pick depending upon where they finish in the standings, with the worst team receiving the greater number of ball combinations. In short, 14 teams miss the playoffs. Team 1 - 25% Team 2 - 19.9% Team 3 - 15.6% Team 4 - 11.9% Team 5 - 8.8% Team 6 - 6.3% Team 7 - 4.3% Team 8 - 2.8% Team 9 - 1.7% Team 10 - 1.1% Team 11 - 0.8% Team 12 - 0.7% Team 13 - 0.6% Team 14 - 0.5% Only the first 3 picks in the draft are determined by the lottery. At the very least, the worst team will receive the 4th pick. The lottery is held behind closed door with only NBA and club officials in attendance. The results of the draw are televised live across the country. In my experience, tanking talk in the NBA never reaches the fever pitch that it does over here for the AFL. Teams do 'list manage' and their is the temptation to tank in order to receive a greater chance of getting the first pick in the upcoming draft. And I believe there is more of a temptation to tank in the NBA than the AFL, for the simple reason that in basketball a single player can change the prospects of an individual teams success greatly. The NFL does not have a lottery system. The draft order is determined for all 32 clubs from worst record to SuperBowl champion. In my 25 years of keenly following of the NFL, I can only remember talk of tanking occurring twice, and even then it wasn't the heated debate we have here. Toward the end of 2005, there were various matchups between Tennessee, New Orleans, Houston and San Francisco, where it was widely held that losing would be in the best interests of the clubs involved, with the belief that the first pick would be highly rated Reggie Bush with Vince Young regarded as the likely second pick. In the end Houston finished with the first pick and defied popular opinion by selecting Mario Williams. Funnily, with hingsight, despite criticism at the time, it is looking like Houston made the right decision. The issue is the priority pick. If there were priority picks in the NBA and NFL, teams would tank. No question. It would be worth far too much to the respective clubs not to. In the NFL, the club with the first pick, (unless they make trades for other picks), does not pick again until selection 33. The reward of 2 picks in the first 3 or 4 selections would be far too great a temptation for clubs not to tank. Would a lottery system discourage tanking in the AFL? Possibly. But it's a matter of balance between discouraging tanking and rewarding poorly performing teams with help via the draft. I wouldn't be against instituting a lottery system, and I think the NBA probably have it refined as well as it could be, striking a reasonable balance between discouraging the temptation to tank and giving poorly performing clubs a good chance of receiving high draft picks from which to rebuild from. But if the priority picks remain in their current form, clubs with the opportunity to collect a couple of picks in the first handful of draft selections, will always tank. And why wouldn't they. I would keep priority picks, so to speak. But I would not make them the temptation they are today. I would just give teams that win less than 5 games in a season an extra pick in the 4th round of the draft. If a team finishes with less than 5 wins two years in a row, they would receive an extra 4th and 5th round selection. Not much, but the thinking being that if a team has a poor or ageing list, one or two extra later round picks gives them a chance to turn over their list and bring in one or two project players. That's all. Would clubs still tank in order to receive an extra 4th round pick? Maybe. But it's not the temptation that it is today. The system needs to be changed. Just not this year thankyou. :D

On Fox League Teams tonight, David Parkin said he would be derelict in his duty as a coach not to engineer the best result for the longterm benefit of the club. He stopped short of saying that he would throw games. But he said he would 'list manage' to make sure it happened.

Bailey is as cool a customer as you can get. Not bothered at all. I reckon, when we start winning, his press conferences are going to be gold. As for the question about Melbourne supporters singing the RIchmond song, can anyone actually verify this? Because I am starting to think that it's just something the media has made up. Classic. Don't fret mate. Was just a joke link of Baghdad Bob deflecting the media during the invasion of Iraq. He doesn't quite have Bailey's cool head.

Going by the replay, it is difficult to tell exactly when the siren goes. But on inspection it seems it went simultaneously with McMahon marking the ball. What is doubtful, is when the siren should have gone. The countdown clock goes off screen with 3 seconds remaining. But if you count 3 seconds down to zero, the siren should have gone just after Tambling kicked the ball. But it doesn't. From what I understand, the TV countdown clock is syncronised with the official game clock. All very strange.

Here....

Been a disappointment of the season to not see Wona get out on the G. Real shame. Today's announcement is a bit of a formality really. I'd pretty much written his season off a month or so ago. By the time he would have gotten his body right and shown some sort of form for Casey, the season would have been over anyway. Just another reason to look forward to next season.

The Doctor is a straight shooter.

Richo would be one of the most universally loved players in league history. Always great value to watch, whether he's playing well or not. Oneday I was walking down Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, and Richo was walking about 10 metres ahead of me. The number of people calling out "Richo!" was pretty funny. Unfortunatly, I think he's done. It's a tough decision for the Tiges but I can't see them keeping him on next season. Even if he gets his body right, it is doubtful how it will hold up and exactly how much football he would be able to play next season. He would be taking up a spot on the list that they could give to a young prospect. Richmond have to make tough decisions on a few veterans. Richo is one of them. It will be interesting to see what they do. But as it stands, I'd say Richo is not going to be retained.