DeeSpencer

2/8 1/8 1/8 2/8 3/8. Good job Macca Could find my own tips, had commented on the AFC but didn't do the full list. Shows how open the league is, very little love for Carolina or Arizona and they are in the best position to win the NFC. Similarly I think the Bengals could've won the AFC with a healthy Andy Dalton but no one wanted them for the AFC North. The Pats are the one constant.

Isn't Hue Jackson a sucker for punishment, who in their right mind would sign up to coaching both the Raiders (where he was unfairly sacked) and the Cleveland Browns? Who does that? And he would've been a huge chance for the Giants job apparently. Now he's working for Jonah Hill's character from moneyball and a lawyer with no football experience has control of the 53 man roster.

I've never wanted to punch someone through the screen more than that Bills Defensive Line coach who called out the Hogs. What an idiot. The only thing as remarkable as the Bills making 4 superbowls these days would be them losing all 4 of them to current day NFC East teams.

I don't think they'll have a choice but to pay up, they'll get shamed in to it otherwise. You should be able to find the bet in your bet history if it's online.

Haven't been to training post Xmas, but from the few sessions I did see of him there's nothing much to report which isn't really a bad thing. They do the majority of sessions with all players mixed in together these days, but he has been in the midfield group from what I recall. Brayshaw played mainly forward last year with only spurts in the midfield, I expect the same from Oliver. His fitness looks decent for a kid, he's in the lower group but I haven't seen him struggle, probably on par with Brayshaw's last year. I'm been impressed by his agility and his size and shape. I don't actually expect him to do anything at training that would change expectations between now and the intraclub and NAB challenge games.

Corporate bookies will make more money paying out on Mitchell and Cotchin, advertising the shizen out of it and getting everyone to re invest their profits back in to the 2016 Brownlow pool. The Fairest part of the award involves fair play on the field. I don't see it having to be linked based on the 'fairness' aspect. He'll lose the medal purely on legal reasons of being found guilty of doping. As for the commission delaying the decision, well I understand it. Football is a business whether you like it or not and that means taking care of your customers. There's no point pissing off a bunch of Essendon members and supporters on a day they are already feeling bad about by dropping the Watson news as well. It would also seem silly to strip Jobe of the medal now and everyone having the debate about Mitchell and Cotchin when it's not the most pressing matter.

It's bad, but I'm more concerned that the only player we could trade for had a decent shot of this happening to him. There wasn't another half back flanker/wingman in the right age/game played category who wasn't being investigated for doping? The silver lining is opportunity for Mitch White or Josh Wagner.

Round 23 was a good win to get the monkey off the back at Etihad, to make a statement for the year and also to get one back on GWS, which became even more important now we play them in round 1. But both teams were missing so many I don't think we should overreact to it. Mumford alone drastically changes that game, yet alone any of the other class players from both sides. I think there were some lessons worth taking in terms of backing in the young players, competition for this upcoming season, rotating roles with various players etc. The Geelong game gave me the most excitement. They were injured and rubbish but we controlled that game and with more confidence and talent (we had so many battlers in that day) we could've beaten them convincing. Which means this year we have to raise the standards again and believe we can win away games against top teams.

The AFL can dictate those kind of things as they get all the money and can therefore negotiate with the governments and stadiums. The NFL is controlled by the teams owners who each get a vote on major decisions like that. It's not independent from the teams like the AFL. Teams need a 2/3rds vote to move so the collective group of owners as 'the NFL' do get to decide on who plays where if a team wants to move. But also these almost all rich people who don't like giving away money so I understand why owners want to move if they can't get a good stadium deal that helps them get richer. California does make it very hard with pubic money which is a good thing, then again an NFL team would return some decent cash to a local area. So it's a shame Oakland and San Diego can't work something out. Those teams belong in those cities. St Louis seems like an even bigger stuff up having to rebuild the stadium so soon and with the owner so keen on developing his own stadium in LA. I'd probably vote yes to the Rams moving if I were a fellow owner just because I don't want to see the city of St Louis ripped off paying so much for a stadium.

I forgot to tip the first two games, cost myself a couple! But I'll go: Seattle 20 Vikings 27 Packers 31 Washington 27 NFC North represent.

Anyway, been off this thread out of disgust in the Pats losing to freaking Miami and costing me the tipping comp. I know they weren't all that fussed about winning but they coughed up the 1 seed by running the ball non stop and didn't protect Brady either. Yuck. I've been driven back to this thread by the mindless Bungals. The fumble is bad but I can see why he was fighting for the 1st down and these things happen. But the Burfict reaction to the INT told you he was losing his focus and he lost complete control. He should get a 4 week suspension from the League and the Bengals should consider firing him and making a statement that they don't stand for stupidity any more. They might fire Marvin Lewis which could be a shame. 2 of his former coordinators are coaching tomorrow. Don't know what Pac Man did, they didn't show it, but he should know better as well. He's been well behaved for a few years now. Arggh. What a waste of a year to go out like that.

Could never ever hire a good offensive coach and his defense was outdated and wasn't ever good at Tampa, who had some good defensive pieces before he came. Their improvement this year was from Winston and the OC who they will likely promote to HC. Messy circumstances but a good move. Head coaches get guaranteed money so I think Lovie is looking at over 10 mil in pay outs. It's the lower assistants who have trouble finding new jobs.

They shouldn't. But they are also humans and they are also advised to take some form of a break over the holiday period for physical and mental wellbeing. The best players manage to unwind whilst still working on improving over the off season but it might not be for everyone. I don't think anyone came back in terrible shape from what I've seen at training. Harmes, Hogan and Garlett it's 3 out of 27 so far who might not have been exactly where the coaches wanted them to be. Harmes and Hogan are competitive young guys who will work very hard to get up to speed. Garlett is disappointing as an experienced player but then again we didn't exactly recruit him to lead the way at training.

Better. He's kicking with more penetration and consistency and looks stronger.

He had decent skills and decision making in his first few years and then: - the game got faster and more congested requiring quicker decision making and more accurate skills - he was forced to play inside midfield despite not being suited to that role - he missed a lot of time with injuries - he was lumped with the captaincy - he completed Neeld preseasons that involved a heap of lap running and not nearly enough skills drills under AFL intensity I don't have high hopes, but I'm willing to give him a little benefit of the doubt given he looks stronger on the track this year and is clearly one of our better runners. Last preseason he looked skinny, was kicking poorly and I said very early on that he was cooked as an AFL player. Thankfully the coaches saw it too and really started to address the problems even if it was about 4 years too late.

Heard of collective bargaining? The clubs can try but is it reasonable? Are you sure about that US sports stat. NBA players often play pick up games in the off season, how about Kyrie jumping around in the Uncle Drew ads. Tom Brady jumped off a cliff in his off season. No one complains about Nathan Jones surfing regularly. Every chance to pick up an injury doing that even as an experienced surfer. Yet most of us realise it's good for his mind and body. I'm not thrilled with Petracca but I think I'll leave it to Roosy to manage it.

Swimming? Cycling in a moon boot? Seated boxing? Upper body weights? If he heals up in 4 weeks he'll be fine. Maybe worry about the disaster if it happens and if you're still alive then.

He's a 2nd year kid coming of an ACL who was only doing limited main group training. He wasn't going to have a fully mature fit body regardless.

Cheers

Tracc crack. Hope it's not true.

Viney is training well, looks set to back up last year. Jones is healthy now, hopefully has no negatives from the surgery and can be ever better than last year. Unfortunately Vince, Tyson, Brayshaw and Vanders aren't in full training. But Vince had 2 hammies last year and is only dealing with a finger injury now, he should be ok. Brayshaw is still ahead of last year. Vanders is looking absolutely ripped and came off a shoulder last year and Tyson needed to build his tank anyway and is running strongly. Gawn is having a good preseason. That's the core of our ball winning mids. Depth is interesting. Lot of options. Salem and Melksham will probably start back. Harmes, Watts, Petracca, JKH, Kent, Kennedy all can compete for half forward/midfield spots. Michie and Newton are interesting for different reasons, it's a shame Newton isn't having a good preseason. The big weakness is outside run and speed. Stretch continues to impress me but that's about it. We really need guys listed in other rolls to cover. Oliver providing some midfield minutes would be a bonus. Trengove a double bonus. I like our ball winning options and progress, but it's a long year and we'll need contributors to keep improving. A big year in making sure development is on track both for young players and for more experienced types stepping up.

Wayne nailed most of what I saw live. Petracca and Trengove might have an extra week off due to doing more training before the break. Lumumba and Newton presumably training inside. Frost, Dawes, Jetta, Spencer in one rehab group. Half our midfield - Vanders, Tyson, Brayshaw, Vince in another. I reckon Tyson must be close to getting back in full training, he's powering along. The runs at the end of training are interesting. 4 different groups doing 200m's based on ability then after a few of them they go in to sprints. What I found interesting is that some of the better endurance runners aren't in the top couple of sprint groups and vice versa. For instance Jayden Hunt kills them in the sprints but is in the bottom endurace group, same with Garland who's low down in the endurance but in a higher group for the sprints. Positives from today: - Jesse looking fit and happier - Jack Watts' running and voice - Nath Jones heavily involved - Weideman's hands - Jack Viney effortlessly tackling people in clearance drills just by being near them - Overall skill level by foot Still think there's room for improvement with the voice and energy and I think getting out of trouble/working through traffic has a way to go as well.

3 head coaches fired so far - Eagles, Titans, Dolphins. Cleveland will be next. Then we wait and see on Detroit, Indiana, St Louis, San Diego. San Fran, Can't rule out New Orleans. Plus the Giants. Cowboys apparently won't change. I'll go with 8 teams looking for a new permanent coach by the end of the week. Could be more. Brutal.

Pats Steelers Washington 3rd tip was hard, but had to mix it up and go different from the other contenders.

And an understanding between clubs that they don't scout closed sessions. I've never been chased away from a closed session at Gosch's but I don't usually stay long during them or take notes etc. It's a public park though so I doubt they'd have any authority to do anything if you were observing.