bing181

You're not and you know you're not. There are any number of "real" indicators out there as to how we're tracking. If you were (really) interested. But you're choosing to ignore them, instead preferring to be patronising and dismissive.

Just think from what we saw last year, Tapscott will end up up forward. As per the above, locks for the backs would surely be Garland, Frawley, McDonald, and Watts. Then, probably Dunn, then ... Jetta or Nicho, though one of those could have a defensive role through the middle, and I'd probably go for Jetta based on training reports. Strauss, Terlich and Gillies lurking if any of those falter. Gonna be some sh*tfighting for places, that's for sure.

Which you're trying to make up for by being a delusional pessimist?

Ultimately?

Don't know that it's worth the effort OD.

Don't know if anyone saw this: Brett Anderson ‏@BrettAndersonIF It will be announced today that the Dees have no case to answer in tanking allegations. The #AFL never had solid proof. #tankgate

Maybe it also says something about how far down the pecking order the rookies are.

As I see it: LTI is minimum 8 weeks. If we wait, and he's not ready by the start of the season, we can't then upgrade a rookie without starting the whole LTI process at that point - which then removes Max for the 8 weeks. By putting him on now, we can replace him with a rookie if necessary, or take him off the LTI when/if he's ready to go. LTI is 8 weeks minimum, but after that, it's week by week. Interesting that Trengove and Clark aren't LTI'd as well. Perhaps they're hoping to get them up sooner rather than later. Edit: Crossed posts with JM, but what the heck, maybe people are interested enough in Big Max to basically read the same post twice.

Twitter comes to our aid here: "Melbourne Footy ‏@MelbourneFooty Although Max Gawn has been placed on the long-term injury list (hamstring), he is still expected to return early into the regular season."

This: Hey tweeps. Brock McLean (@dirty_14) is copping some shrapnel on twitter after his outstanding effort in this morning's Age. Get around him! Retweeted by Rohan Connolly

STFU'ing IS taking a stance. For an organisation as influential and all-powerful as the AFL, saying nothing sends a fairly loud message.

Now on Twitter that SA Police say he wasn't arrested. Wait and see I guess. Still ... not looking good for him. Sad, if not tragic.

Useful enough to get into the leadership group, even though he wasn't able to do full training. Obviously doing something right around the club.

While agreeing that we need to take phantom drafts with a grain of salt, I would just add to that, that none of those phantom drafts take into account Barry's (very) impressive Combine results. From memory, we grabbed him only a few days after the Combine finished.

The Scully stats only confirm the gossip: that Scully's position in their B&F was artificially inflated. Not concerned about Jack. Elite athlete, gifted and gutsy footballer, has his head screwed on: it will come. The injuries in the last pre-season and this are only delaying the inevitable.

Well, that's come from one post from someone who claims to have heard it from [edit: a player's] father. Think I'd need something a bit more solid myself.

Something else we should keep an eye out for is any kind of hitout against Collingwood. They did it last year - only for players under 25 or something - and there was talk at the time that it could become a regular part of the pre-season buildup. I seem to recall that last year it wasn't announced anywhere, so perhaps keep our ears open.

This from Bigfooty: "What I have heard, and this is not from the media, is that there are two people who have stated that the club was actively tanking. No idea who they could be and I won't guess. Both were ex coaches who left the club under poor circumstances, everyone else was interviewed on multiple occasions to try to get an inconsistency in their replies. Threats were made, start/stop recordings, fist bangings on tables blah blah blah. No one else provided evidence confirming what these two said and the investigators knew they didn't have enough so that's why they looked into the matchday actions, things like the players fumbling in the final three minutes and Jack Watts only playing three games."

I don't know that our defense was our greatest shortcoming last year. We were mostly killed in clearances, and once you lose those, it puts the defense under the hammer.

i don't know that we'd be having this discussion if our Jack hadn't hurt his ankle and basically missed half a season, just when he was finding his feet. There were some more than respectable performances there. (e.g. 34 disposals and 11 marks against Sydney) With a more clearly-defined role, a full pre-season, improved fitness, a bit more experience around the club to lead the way, and some real competition for places, Jack should be due for another step up. And let's not forget, he's still only 21.

Not the place for a discussion of cycling, but this is at the very least, ill-informed. Firstly because in those tours, you don't ride up mountains for 3 weeks, and secondly we're talking about elite level athletes. Long before there was EPO, blood transfusions and steroids, people were racing up mountains, and at a fair clip as well. It's a bit like saying no-one can run 42 km, yet alone in just over 2 hours. I've ridden quite a few of those mountain stages myself, and they're not insurmountable - with a bit of (serious) training. And just to pick up on one of your comments re cycling and the olympics: the original comment was made by Dick Pound, ex-head of WADA, and if there's a bigger loose cannon in international sport, I've yet to see one. He's the Jeff Kennet and Greg Denham of the olympic movement all rolled into one self-serving bundle. His statement was subsequently dismissed by the IOC. Back to the tanking discussion.

"As part of the selection process, players were rated in the 10 most important categories of leadership, which included character, competence and competitiveness." Well, that's 3 out of 10. Wonder if "being most vocal" or "looking good in pre-season" are amongst the other 7?

And probably also have to question why he was fourth in the Bluey last year, and won the coaches award for 3 years in a row ... and under two different coaches. They obviously know nothing down at head office.

He'll be in the first 22 every week, whether you're convinced or not.

".... it smacks of indecision" Not judging?