bing181

Just not true (read his interview, many of his issues flowed on from being long-term injured), but even if it is, so what? It takes a lot more mental courage to be honest with yourself about what your emotional needs are than it does to just plow on regardless, toughing it out because "that's what real men do". This is the kind of BS that leads to the suicide rate amongst men being X3 that of women.

Yes, I know. A player's trade value is ultimately determined by what his football manager says in the press. Every club will know exactly what they're getting, and they'll have their own criteria for evaluating each player. The rest is just background noise.

You're right. MFC is for MFC. As it should be.

We will if a) there are multiple clubs in the running (which seems to the case) and b) we make it clear that it's second rounder or nothing (which seems to be the case).

Adelaide won't accept anything else than a first rounder plus something else (2nd round presumably). Nor would we, and nor would you expect us to.

Bernie was "let go" by the Crows and didn't have much say in it.

Phenomenal news on Lever if we can pull it off - which I'm sure we can, in spite of the huffing and puffing from Adelaide. He and Hibberd, the cornerstones of an AA backline.

Also older. Lever has his whole career ahead of him.

Trust the FD on this, especially as he trained with us as a junior. At the very least they must have all the inside info they need re fitness. Always a tricky one these kinds of trades. Is it a case of unrealised potential - for any number of reasons - or is it a case of what you see is what you get? He'd be a third rounder at max (I hope!), so are the risks high/lower than an equivalent pick in the draft on an untried 18 year old?

The mind boggles.

Trump had nothing to do with Ford's plans, and they'll still be building cars in Mexico. No jobs were gained, and none were going to be lost (deal with unions).

Judging by some of the comments, perhaps some of you might like to explore this further, though it's impossible to draw any solid conclusions from a single test. I live OS, so am a bit out of the loop re how this works in Oz, but usually you would start off with your GP, though that depends on both you and the GP - some are more up to speed than others. The majority of organisations and individuals offering diagnosis are working with kids, so there might be a bit of sorting out of the wheat from the chaff. I'd specifically look for someone: a) specialised in Asperger's and autism, though if you're an adult and there was no speech delay as a kid, we're looking at Asperger's rather than autism (though that's a simplification of the situation, but enough for here), and b) someone specialised in adult diagnosis. Aspergers Victoria look like a decent place to start if you're in Melbourne/Vic. The first meeting with a psychologist or whatever might be nothing more than an exploratory chat to see whether it's worth pursuing or exploring possibilities, so it's perhaps worth at least going that far with it. I'd just say one thing re all this: Adults on the spectrum have grown up with it, and have often learnt to cope by masking the difficulties, especially socially. But that can be much more stressful than what we might be aware of. One of the main causes of death amongst autists is suicide. And the incidence of suicide is highest amongst autistic people who have no cognitive impairment (i.e. invisible autistics like me), where the suicide rate is 9 times the non-autistic population (Swedish study). Tony Attwood has observed that for many adult Asperger's, managing stress and depression is a greater concern than anything to do with autism itself. Not suggesting that's the case of anyone here, but if there's anything in this, speaking from experience, it's worth exploring. If you're autistic, you can never not be (and vice versa). But knowing that you are brings understanding, and with understanding comes the means to live and manage it better. Go Dees.

For those looking for more info - well, it's easy enough to find around the net, though a very mixed bag. In general, the Brits do it well, so anything from the National Autistic Society or other UK organisations is generally good. More specifically, I'd recommend anything by Tony Attwood, he's a British clinical psychologist but been based in Brisbane for yonks. He effectively wrote the book on Asperger's, there's plenty of info on his site, plus his book, Youtube videos (interviews, conferences etc.) etc. But the book I'd recommend above all others isn't really a book on autism per se, but on the history of autism: Neurotribes by Steve Silberman. I learnt more about autism from this than any other, even though that's not the intention. It's also a great read per se, Silberman is an actual writer, unlike most in the field. There are also forums and groups around the place, but I've found most of them fairly heavy going. Many of them end up like training threads. That's not to say there aren't worthwhile online forums, but if you were looking to explore any of this through groups etc., you might need to hunt around a bit.

Being a Demons supporter means never having to say you're sorry ... No apology needed or expected. Just passing on info, not intended as a reproach. Hopefully helps a little with understanding and perceptions.

Signs or characteristics rather than symptoms ... autism isn't a disease or a pathology. Good luck with it.

If you didn't cheat (!) and aren't taking the proverbial, might like to explore it further. Of course, this in itself doesn't confirm anything, I've known of people with "high" scores who don't meet diagnostic criteria. But from what I've seen, the results tend to be quite polarised, neurotypicals often get scores down around 11, 12 etc. I managed a performance of Gawn-like proportions: 47. Putting this alongside RAADS - 14 would help give a fuller picture.

And you too, stay strong SWYL. not one human on this planet is made to perfection... find your spot and be proud.

New Year, time to put a few things in order, so a small personal “coming out”. About a year ago, following a remark I heard on a podcast, I realised I was autistic. The Big A. A little while later, I had a bit of paper to confirm it: a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome. (Asperger’s is autism without delay in speech development as a kid.) So, whatever, this is a football forum, fair enough. But posting here for the good and simple reason that the vast majority of adults with autism or Asperger’s are undiagnosed. In general, people have little or no real idea what autism really is. I know I didn’t. Given that autism is present at around 1%, then according to the stats, there would be 40+ autistic Demonlanders, most of whom don’t know it. That’s the stats. In reality? Who knows, at least a few. Or more. You’d be surprised. I know I was. There are underlying key diagnostic criteria, but outside of that, there are no specific rules with autism, everyone’s different. But if you have trouble looking people in the eyes, have trouble maintaining a conversation (except about subjects that really interest you, such as Hogan’s goal-kicking routine, or MFC players in the years between the two world wars), are maybe a bit uncoordinated, and are bothered even slightly, by sound, light, touch (e.g. clothes or textures) it might be worth looking into. For example, one of the ever-so-subtle give-aways for me was that I realised I always drive with the sunvisor down, even in winter. Equally, you could be fine with all of that … and still be autistic. If any of this rings a bell with you or anyone you know, you can look around the net for more info, or do one of the (validated) screening tests. They won’t confirm that you’re autistic, but will confirm that you aren’t (if that’s the case). Do a search on RAADS-14 or Baron-Cohen AQ Test. (if that name rings a bell, yes, cousin of …). Happy to reply to any questions as best I can and based on my own experiences, here or by PM. Autism has been good to me. Alongside the challenges, thinking differently has given me advantages professionally and personally. I wouldn't change it for anything. But I would change having spent most of my life not knowing. Go Dees. (Mods, if this is inappropriate or whatever, please delete.)

The route cause of so many of the problems here, from the very first day this came to light. Until he does so, hard to see how he can/could move forward. Unfortunately.

My fault, I should have been less ambiguous ... what I meant was that our next year's second pick would become less appealing as a trade in the Hibberd/Essendon transaction if we were more likely to move up the ladder ... which is the case with Lewis onboard. Wouldn't give Lewis back for anything ...

I'm not sure why the Brownlow question is even being asked. In any sport, if you're found guilty of a doping infringement, you lose all victories, awards and prize money for the period when you were found to be doping.

Getting in Lewis hasn't helped the next year scenario. We suddenly look like a decent side, and if we get into the finals, that second-round pick is going to be even further back than where it is now.

He's basically been banned from all sport.

Only real surprise out of today's announcement is that Dawes wasn't included. Would have thought that he'd be one of the first cabs off the rank. A couple of others as well ... Newton for example, hard to see how he has a future, so why delay the inevitable? Of course, I could be wrong on both counts!

Demonland logic.