P-man

I'm not sure if you getting your knickers in a bunch AGAIN is over the Jurrah thread, but you need to stop taking everything so personally. My post wasn't directly addressed to you, it was a general comment about not pumping up a player's tyres too much so early in their career, as we have a tendency to do. Every time. If you disagree, fine, but there's no need for that response.

Cook, Morton, Gysberts, Watts, Tapscott, Scully, Trengove...all were anointed as future superstars. Can we just wait this time and let him develop without the fanfare.

I like him, but there's a fair bit of overestimation of Dawes in this thread. The next Neitz? On what basis? Early signs are that he'll be a good pick up and settle into his role well, but he still has it all to do performance wise and he also needs to stay on the field. He doesn't deserve a captaincy nod ahead of any of Jones, Grimes or Garland. Maybe in a couple of years the discussion would have more merit.

Whilst I agree that Collingwood aren't the team they were in 10/11. I'm beginning to wonder if the concept of teams coming to the end of their reign is as definite as it once was. The disparity between the haves and have nots is as big as it has ever been, and if anything looks to be becoming greater. I can't see a team like Collingwood or Hawthorn allowing themselves to slip too far from the top, especially now they've seen Geelong remain at the pinnacle, and the next generation looking to take up the mantle and keep the ball rolling. The Cats have set a benchmark and pretty much redefined the "premiership window". Granted they have been an unbelievable team, arguably the greatest we've seen. I'd love to be mistaken and watch them all plummet to the bottom, while the likes of the Dogs and Dees establish themselves in the top four. But the bottom line is that a club like Collingwood will always remain a favourable destination for players - best facilities, biggest supporters base, biggest crowds, biggest games, biggest profile. And no matter when they arrive, they have a better than aversge chance of success. For the foreseeable future, we have an uphill battle in selling the club to prospective recruits. It's pretty much the reason why Roos is such an important acquisition. He gives us something to sell. Apologies to the OP in getting off topic.

haha..it's truly horrendous. It looks like a a wig you'd find at the bottom of a bargain bin.

Granted he's only 20 years old, but I can not understand the hype around D Swallow here. I think it may have something to do with his best game of the year being against us. Would take any of Sloane, Rockliff or Shuey ahead of him, and it wouldn't be a hard decision.

It would appear the vast majority went the comedy route and of those, St Kilda is deservedly in front. Not riotously funny, but it's entertaining. Compare it to Hawthorn's for instance. God awful. However, even if I take my MFC hat off, ours is clearly the best. It's very easy to turn a theme like that into a sap fest, but it not only avoids doing that, you almost have to not be human for it not to leave an impact. Great subject matter, well produced, but more than that, it stays with you for some time afterward. if we're talking films here, however short, it ticks the boxes.

Former Demon coach Bailey a chance to coach Bombers This would be an interesting turn of events.

As an AFL listed player whose supposedly a ball magnet, that's pretty ordinary. He needed to be among the best most weeks. Had everything to prove this year and failed to do so. He's basically just not as good as what he was touted as by the Melbourne PR machine.

You have to laugh at the quiet smugness of Pendergast in that article, talking as if he had nailed the draft.

Those are pretty damning if true. I'm curious as to how you are on his friends list unless he will add anyone. But if genuine, this says to me he's learned very little from his recent experiences, which is sad more than anything.

From what I've read of him in the VFL, it's been a similar story this year.

Fair dinkum, read what I posted. I didn't say it was fake, outright. If you're going to make claims I think they should be backed up and this doesn't do that. 316 - not sure what part of his page you are "reading through" unless you are a Friend. I can't see anything other than a few photos, and no posts about getting drunk. Show me recent updates along the lines of what you're talking about and I'll pay it some credit.

No way to be certain it is his page unless you speak with him directly, but assuming it is, I can't see any updates about getting drunk or burn outs. You'd have to be friends with him to see that, and it's a personal page.

Yet somehow, you have his FB page? Yeah sorry, if you're not willing to back it up, I'm calling [censored]. I would be pretty shocked if after all that's happened, and his stated desire to make it back to the AFL, he would be updating his Facebook with nothing but stories of getting drunk. And frankly, he has enough written about him that's truthful.

Totally agree. Watching some of the clips from 10/11 is just shattering. All we needed was a coach to introduce a defensive side without completely retarding the development and confidence in the process.

Emphatic no.

Yep, Murdoch owns Sky, but Sky News Australia is split between Sky, Seven and Nine, each with a 33% stake.

This is just flat out wrong. Even if we were to say that Fairfax backed Rudd, and I don't recall any front page headlines as one sided as "Finally you have a chance to KICK THIS MOB OUT" or "Tony is our man", News Corp is still far and away the major player in the Australian media. For national daily newspapers, which are the most influential in setting the agenda, News Corp accounts for 65% of circulation. Fairfax accounts for 25%. All the capital cities outside of Sydney and Melbourne only have one major newspaper. On Murdoch press alone, that could be considered a bulk share. Murdoch is fully aware that he just has to influence a critical mass of malleable dunderheads who never think deeply about the issues, but are motivated by the most venal aspects of the human psyche: avarice, selfishness and cruelty, and he does so to great effect. The loaded prejudice in this election was like nothing I've ever seen before in this country, and that's saying something considering Murdoch's history. There was no impartiality whatsoever. The focus was all on the negatives and perceived failings of the Labor Government, and nothing on the successes. It seemed every second day there was a new smear campaign against Rudd. It was nothing short of shameful when you consider how Murdoch stands to gain under an Abbott government with plans to tear up the government's NBN, which would have greatly affected Murdoch’s profits. The reason to back Abbott was clearly motivated by money for the media empire. Fairfax shares some of this motivation, so again, I would question to what extent they backed Rudd. The only evidence remotely comparable to what was seen in the Murdoch press, that I saw, was a largely futile article in The Age on the eve of the election that endorsed Labor. They possibly realised in good conscience that the backward policies of an Abbott government were not in the country's best interests, but by then it was too late. I have no idea where you're coming from in suggesting Sky News has or had a Labor bias. Do you watch Sky News? I do, and I can tell you that the Liberal bias is more than apparent. They have Fox News-like "opinion" shows where the agenda is to fuel the conservative viewers and slam pretty much anything Labor does. Look up "Paul Murray Live" if you want an example. Plenty of clips on Youtube. The ownership of Sky News is split and complex, but Murdoch has a fair share, and that is somewhat reflected in their coverage. Liberal voters always bring up the ABC Labor bias. In truth it is nothing close to how the Libs present it, but certainly their funding is historically more favourable under Labor so it's true to a degree. I think they have tried to shift that perception in recent times, an example being the weighting of the Q&A audience with more Liberal voters than Labor voters. But even if we assume ABC's leanings to the left, suffice to say that anyone who doesn't think media prejudice didn't play a major part in Abbott's decisive victory is deluding themselves. It has been enough to spark up the media reform debate once more. Doubtful it will gain much traction, but I hope it does, as we are becoming more and more Americanised, which I believe is a sad thing. What's sad is how Rudd's personality somehow became a critical election issue, rather than his policies. Sure he seemed a bit of a [censored] with his twitter selfies. It doesn't impact me personally. Does it impact you? He saw it as a means to connect with a certain bracket of the population. It was perhaps unfortunate for him that alot of them aren't registered to vote. For me, it's a complete non-issue. I'm not going to question his supposed narcissism, and certainly his man management/inter-personal skills, or lack thereof, are part of what got him ejected in the first place. But the fact you label him a "borderline psychopath" is perhaps a demonstration of how well you have been sucked in by the smear campaigns I spoke of. It's those sort of character assessments that have contributed to the crap quality of debate we have now. I have strong objections to some of Abbott's deeply conservative beliefs, but I would never label him psychopathic. To do so would discredit me moreso than him. Careful, your cynicism is showing. If you're going to disregard the leader of the ALP, before you even know who it is, then seriously, what chance is there for informed debate? That said, Albanese and Shorten are the ones who seem to have thrown their hat in the ring. Only one of them, Shorten, has a history as a union leader. Sorry, "union hack". I need to work on my terminology.

Obviously, I hope you're wrong. Abbott is woefully out of his depth for the top office, but fortunate in having the bulk of the Australian media on his team. The absolute best I can say about his term in government is that there won't be a dull moment, but bound to be a bucketload of incompetency and insensitivity. I'm not in politics in any sense. I'd have no qualms admitting it if I were. I do however live in Canberra, so maybe I give off that vibe. I also don't have a strong allegiance to any party or ideology. I've voted Liberal in the past, when I deemed them the best option to govern. I judge policy on its merits and politicians by what they say and do. Incidentally, I can empathise with relief from listening to Gillard, but watching Rudd prance about on the world stage? Seems a bit petty. Rudd had his flaws, but he was considered to be a pretty well accomplished diplomat and strategist.

Robbie, if your role is going to be defending every ridiculous decision of an Abbott government, it's going to be a loooong three years for you. DC - I'm more concerned at the distribution of portfolios than the absence of female Ministers, but to cast it off as a PC witch hunt is a bit rich. Even those within Liberal ranks have aired their concerns over it. Are they on a witch hunt also?

Robbie, it's no longer 1991. Vanstone should be ashamed of her comments defending it, labelling all the female Labor Ministers as hopeless. Aside from the fact that the likes of Wong and Plibersek were extremely competent in their portfolios, It is irrelevant. To have one female Minister in 2013 is indefensible. Meanwhile, no Minister for Science, Aged Care, Disabilities, Tourism..the list goes on. Governance issues are going to become a right mess. Fair to say, this is only the beginning.

The last few years have been pretty much weeds and compost.

stu - That Ben Hur quote still makes me laugh. Ah. So good. In all seriousness, despite his injury concerns or whatever has been hampering him, Trenners looks to have been a good selection on the integrity front.

Will look forward to what she comes out with if he leaves. I've gone from 50/50 to would take. I'm willing to overlook the odd d-head act for a player of his ability. The talk of him being a culture cancer seems overblown when you look at the progress of Richmond. He will mature as he ages, and his talent is undeniable.