Keyser Söze

I think the idea of this thread is almost like going backwards to the days of recruiting before the draft, but specifically for indigenous players. I don't think forming this segregation based purely on race is such a good idea.

He was. It happened - I read an article about it. I think it quickly faded into obscurity after Liddle because it required a young indigenous player to be on Casey's list that wasn't an MFC rookie or senior-listed player, and that is not always the case. The Scorpions list-management can't be determined by the need to fulfill a scholarship position.

Yes, but it's a poor substitute for the things you can do with the other sports mentioned.

Riewoldt was officially an innocent party to it all. Don't believe all is said in a St Kilda press release...

I have always thought the one thing holding AFL back is that kids are unable to kick it on their own when other kids aren't around to play with. Basketball you can dribble around imaginary defenders and shoot then get the rebound. Football you can dribble and play keepy-uppy. AFL you can... kick the ball straight up in the air? Kick it then run and get it? Unfortunately there's not really an easy solution to this.

Don't mean to be a smart arse, but it wouldn't take much for Blease to drastically improve on zero senior matches. Both he, Strauss and Tapscott are due for a decent climb on the J-curve. I also think you're right that Bennell will have a boost in form due to an increased engine and getting to more contests, much like Travis Varcoe in 2010.

But they don't when it comes to AFL. An AFL match is still shorter than a Twenty20 match.

You forgot to add North's injuries

Because they like an argument..?

Yep, on exactly the same page. Lyon is no chump as a coach. He has made the last 2 GFs with regular players in the team like Eddy, McQualter, Dempster... He doesn't get enough credit imo.

Yet still, many fail to recognise it for what it actually is...

All very pious as usual Rhino. Maybe you've missed all the desperate attention-seeking sound bites he has been spewing out over the last couple of years. You also fail to support his idea, merely attack someone for disagreeing with it. I'll happily respect good ideas for the betterment of the game. The ANZAC day match and the Dreamtime at the G match were both fantastic ideas. I don't respect ideas that propose we disfigure the game in a desperate and ultimately doomed-to-fail attempt to gain a few extra supporters in homebush. One of the greatest things about the game of AFL is that the game cannot be won by one man alone, due to the nature of the game and the sheer number of players in a side. I think one of the worst things we could do is increase the influence an individual can have on a match.

Yes, congratulations, you cottoned onto it too.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/kevin-sheedy-spruiks-afl-11s/story-e6frf9jf-1225993351753 Batshit-crazy octogenarian Kevin Sheedy is at it again. Now he wants a Twenty20 style AFL game with 11-a-side. He seems to think that we need to introduce this bastardisation of the game to properly capture the potential supporters in homebush. As one rather astute comments points out, if we need to drastically change the game to fully capture fans, we don't have them to begin with. (obviously this technically doesn't make sense, but what he is trying to say is still valid). I don't think it's wise to deface this great game in a desperate attempt to grab a few extra fans in one single struggling market. Especially when it would be at the detriment to all the existing markets.

Not at all. Lyon has said something that indirectly embarrasses his players, very purposefully. It's a strategy commonly used and proven effective. Coaches aren't meant to be your mates, and for good reason. But he hasn't come out and targeted them directly - Ross is too smart and subtle for that. He's obviously also happy to appear an idiot to those who don't think a little deeper, for the better of the team.

Adelaide a bit short too?

That's not aimed at the opposition or entire AFL, it's for the benefit of his players only. Whether opposition supporters have long memories or not is entirely irrelevant. It's clear anything Lyon could say will not deter outsiders from hurling abuse. You think the saints players wouldnt have heard his words and cringed? The desired effect is to embarrass his players by making them sound like children who can't take a bit of abuse. They are being prepared with a pre-emptive defiant attitude and a desire to prove his assertion wrong.

This has nothing to do with the opposition. This is about Ross Lyon bringing the topic of opposition sledging to the fore, so the players learn to deal with it early on, before the games mean something. He's also intimating that his players aren't mentally strong enough to handle it, essentially publicly throwing down the gauntlet to them. People generally respond well to this sort of challenge. He's not as stupid as many seem to think. The Saints are being manipulated by their coach to develop a siege mentality, as mentioned earlier in the thread.

Really? I hardly follow the NFL or MLB, but there are a lot of terrible NBA commentators. Some are horrible, just horrible. Have you ever heard Magic Johnson try to commentate? Hilarious, because it is so bad.

10-12 weeks sounds a long lay-off for a pec injury. Why do you assume the 10-12 weeks isn't conservative and doesn't include 6 weeks to regain full match-fitness and muscle strength? I think it's foolish to assume the football dept would do anything but ensure he is 100% before putting him back on the field.

Shame. I didn't get a chance to read the other articles, either.

10-12 weeks is playing it safe, and rightly so. No use speculating 6 weeks, then extending it for another 2... Predict 12 weeks, then if he comes back in 8 it's a bonus, rather than an irrational worry that his injury is career threatening.

10-12 weeks. Hrmmmmm. Garland onto the wing then..?

You guys do realise she's just being replaced by more of Michael Christian, don't you..?? Somebody save us...

No problem with women doing anything in relation to AFL. It's a specific issue with Kelli herself. I think she's probably better than a lot of commentators out there, but she is not good enough for the position she was rushed into as a PR stunt. With time she may be good enough, but she'd need to do something about that voice, too.