bing181

Hard to see that having our two previous B&F winners and only senior mids out is "fielding a strong side". We've seen before what happens when Nathan Jones isn't present or having a bad day. Also, it's a long bench, and there are bound to be moments, even long ones, when we have a fairly second-string side out there.

If he goes, the only positive is that we'd receive the mother-of-all compensation. Anyone know who picks 1 and 2 are likely to be in the 2017 draft?

Not sure how this "ends speculation". I would have thought it would have the opposite effect ... as the couple of posts above confirm.

Also excited, of course, - which I'll need to be, as I'll be getting up at 4 a.m. - but not expecting too much. First hit out, a few key players missing, Port supposed to be bringing their A-team etc. etc. Most interest to me will be to see how the likes of Hunt, Harmes, Oliver, Wagner, and a few of the other newer/younger players go. But without Vince and Jones, our midfield is going to be pushing it uphill, especially when you look at what they'll be up against. Still ... bring it on!

He didn't say the same. In any case, there are still only 18 of them on the ground at any one time, so there's going to be a lot of resting and sitting out.

Worth following on Twitter, though he seems to be oblivious to the Essendon situation.

Won't really make much difference, at least on here. Some amongst us are probably already firing up their microwaves. But I'd take "best side all 3 games" with a grain of salt, especially once we start resting players - which we'll do. Gawn, Vince and Jones aren't going to play all 3 NAB games, and there may still be Round 1 possibilities who hardly play at all (Lumumba, Petracca, Dawes).

... because everyone rated O'Rourke and Plowman ahead of Stringer, Wines, McRae.

Not only ... he'd won two premierships and a Brownlow at Geelong.

Yes, understand that, but Freeo looked a long way in front of Hawthorn.

Anyone watching Freeo/Richmond? Be afraid, be very afraid, Fremantle in another class. Already.

Presumably covered by White, if not (cough cough) Terlich, or perhaps Wagner. Which frees up Grimes in any case, especially if Salem can stay on the park. Hopefully his disposal issues are helped when he has fewer disposal options to have to deal with.

I was wrong: "... has confirmed that German will be the 'procedural language' for the case." http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-02-17/the-essendon-34-appeal-frequently-asked-questions

Space on the list. On the other hand, given that he was drafted in 2009, the fact that he was only worth pick 94 probably tells us all we need to know. I'm all for giving players every chance possible, but there comes a point ...

Hopefully he'll get on the park at some point, but staying on it, and then fulfilling his potential ... it'll be a long road.

CAS is based in Lausanne, i.e., French-speaking, so you would imagine in French.

Agree, though without anything more than a hunch to go on, I suspect he may be a pre-season or two away from getting his body up to where he can get through a full season. He's still only young.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe he was joining in full training even before Xmas/the toe. Good to get the positive news, and let's all hope for Round 1, but he's missed a lot of actual football training, to the point that he hasn't done any at all since this time last year.

I believe we need depth players if we are to become a top 8 side.

That SEN article is a magnificent example of how to spell something out without ever mentioning it.

It's climate change denialism that makes me think of religion: no facts, but lots of leaps of faith.

"So the AFL rules did change, but can any amount of legal hocus-pocus give the players any sound basis of appeal? The short answer is, no; such an appeal will fail. The mere fact the AFL's rules did not expressly state WADA had untrammelled appeal rights does not mean WADA's rights were limited."

Interesting that we seem to be able to measure a distortion in spacetime 1.3 billion light years away, but somehow we can't even work out what's happening on our own planet and "the science is unproven". Interesting that we seem to be able use modelling to predict that gravitational waves disrupt spacetime, but somehow the models in regard to climate change are unreliable.

We've supposedly got some of the best development coaches in the league. Why should people be surprised if there's some actual ... development. Yes, even to players who we thought had none left in them.

The majority of governments world wide support and endorse the science of climate change and many, many of them are to the right, often well to the right. Carry on.