P-man

I truly hate reading stuff like this. Petterd was one of my faves for better or worse. Oh well, good luck to him at the Tiges. Will be interesting to see how he goes if they do intend on playing him at the opposite end of the ground when the real stuff rolls around.

Good form old chap. Bravo.

Fair point and well made.

Also noted she once again referred to the supporters as "rabid supporters". Simply can't help herself from having a dig. Such an offensive human.

Agree with this. Compare the way Gaz took her to task compared to Lloyd when they were discussing Hird and Essendon. He was like a meek kitty kat and Caro just stared back at him with that twisted smirk of hers. He needs to be replaced by someone who can actually handle the old crow.Garry did well overall. His three best moments were correcting her on the fumble accusation to which she had no answer, "water cooler talk" (loved it), and defending his own credibility in the matter. She definitely spoke with pride at the end on her being "unwavering" in her attack on Melbourne. She's a real piece of work.

Exactly. Makes you realise the gap between the haves and have nots is only widening. A $36m redevelopment of the Westpac Centre with new medicine and sports science facilities. FFS. No wonder they look like recruiting geniuses with the endless spoils they have to throw at the FD. Would Sidebottom be a star if he played for the Dogs? I have my doubts.

Jesus Ben..what's up with you lately? I'm putting your irritability down to a lack of football. At least Jose makes arrogance fun. You just seem angry all time.

Someone needs a hug.. We have a few new blondes in the squad now. Shave all their heads and we can become the new Adelaide.

She shifts units to unsuspecting plods. Idiots love her. The most consistent form of praise you hear is that she's "the only one ballsy enough to tell it how it is". It's possible that you have to be on the receiving end of one of her relentless attacks to see just how poor her work is. None of this changes the fact that she is working in a dying medium. Soon we may only be exposed to her on tv. So yes, things can get worse..

I actually think that is Sloonie having the cup of tea, with stuie lurking in the bushes behind her, getting ready to pounce..

I refuse to believe for one moment that Don McLardy would lie to the members in such brazen fashion, OD. What's his record like in terms of telling the truth and not misleading the public? What's Caro's record like? Has she really come out and labelled Don's response as "total [censored]" or is that Ben's unique spin on things? If true then wow, she has seriously painted herself into a corner on this one.

Have you read the article properly? What it depicts is the flimsy nature of the club's "stated excuses" for tanking. Do you refute McLardy's statement? I'm trying to understand where you're coming from because I'm not sure how you can possibly call it an accurate article and expect anyone to take you seriously on this.

haha..no retraction of your ludicrous comment then? Caro would be proud mate. Done well.

I'm gonna side with Don on this one. Sorry Ben.

Cheers mate. I recommend it as I said. I no longer feel like knocking her block off.

Brilliant stuff. Well done Don.

Sent. Quite therapeutic, I recommend giving it a bash. Afternoon Caroline, I don't know if you take the time to read through emails from the public, as I'm sure you get your fair share. Thus, I put the main underlying point in the subject. There was a general acceptance of your positioning yourself as the defender of justice and truth in the tanking affair. But I have to say Caroline, your latest "lame duck" article is actually more offensive for its shoddy journalism than anything else, for several reasons. It goes beyond poor fact checking. We previously overlooked the embarrassment of your calling the alleged (you should look that word up btw) tanking meeting the "vault", in an attempt to make it seem more insidious, when that nickname was revealed as the name of the room in which football meetings were held year round. Sometimes fact checking goes off the rails. [censored] happens. But to actually present to the public the defences of the club, that you label as "lame duck excuses," when the club has not come out with any of the stated defences regarding its conduct, is quite frankly disgraceful on your part. It is in fact blatant lying, Caroline. The club has NOT presented a defence, unofficial or not, that "everyone was doing it". Some of the fans might hold that view, but for the club to present such a defence would be foolishness. It would be an admission of guilt. Your stating that they have used any such defence is an outright lie. The club has NOT tried to use its registered complaint regarding the conduct of AFL investigators as some sort of defence or excuse for tanking. The two are unrelated. The club is however entitled to natural justice (which I'm sure annoys you to no end) and thus the concern was rightly raised. Your attempt to criticise the club for using it as an excuse for tanking is without ANY basis. Connolly had EVERY right as an individual to contest the accusations you put to print regarding his threats to staff, and yet you found reason to group that into these fictitious "lame duck excuses" by the club. You go so far as to admit that the club probably has a solid legal case, but in the same sentence label the excuses (the ones the club has not used) as "flimsy" and "childish". How does that work exactly? How does one have a solid legal case based on flimsy and childish grounds? What are we talking here, Caroline? "Sure, they probably won't be found guilty but they should be punished regardless"? Welcome to the world of law and order, where there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and only the guilty are punished. Not the reverse. You use statements such as "Melbourne manipulated football results in 2009", a slanderous statement, which you back up with further speculation. In essence, this brings me to what in my opinion is the worst thing a journalist can do, even one that is opinion based such as yourself. You speculate, but present that speculation as fact. You mislead your readers. I can not say with any certainty if you do this with any agenda, but the fact remains that you have done this continually in your covering of this matter. The basis of this article in particular is not only shaky, it's non-existent. It is by some margin the worst article I've seen you write, and that includes all of the disgusting and frankly hateful articles you've written about the MFC these past several months. So why write it? I believe because you know that Melbourne will likely get off and are getting your ducks in a row for the final judgement, to cause the least amount of egg on your face as possible. Honestly, I think you are better than the way you've conducted yourself recently, and if I were you I'd be doing everything I can to stitch together what remains of my reputation. The way you are going about it right now is just digging the almighty hole even bigger. Regards, Simon

The point I'm making is the club has NOT used the lame duck excuses to which she refers. Show me where the club has used the defence of "everyone was doing it". Show me where the club has stated that a complaint regarding the conduct of AFL investigators is in itself a defence against the tanking charge. She is providing criticism of something that has not happened. They are blatant mistruths that she is putting to print. My view is that I suspect we tanked, yes, but there is no way I will say outright that we did until I see irrefutable evidence and a guilty charge being laid. I wasn't privy to FD meetings that would allow me to say categorically that we tanked. It is one thing to agree with Caro's stance, namely that we tanked and should be punished accordingly. It is quite another to support the manner in which she has treated the matter by twisting facts and using downright lies to support her views. This woman is damaging your club on fraudulent grounds and you're sitting back and applauding.

Come off it Ben. You agree with her take that the club is defending itself using "lame duck excuses", none of which the club has actually used as excuses for its conduct? Her entire article is based on "facts" straight from her own head. She then cements this stupidity by admitting the club has a strong legal case...that is somehow based on lame ducks. I'm honestly mystified as to how this nonsense gets to print.

Yet again we see bold yet totally unfounded statements by Caro, stating that the club's "unofficial" defence is that others were doing it. Seriously, WHAT is she on about? At what point has the club come out and said this? And what exactly is an "unofficial" defence in this context? Is she actually stupid enough to confuse the defences of fans with those of the club? To me this looks noting short of intentionally defamatory to state that the club is defending itself on such grounds, be it "unofficial" or not. The "disgusting and pathetic" article had me seething, but this is just lame watching her desperately cling to what remains of her ridiculous witch hunt. It would be a bit easier to overlook if she showed a degree of humility when her accusations are shown to be untrue. Like all idiots do, she sticks to her guns with a disregard for the facts. Did the same thing with her vendetta against Brayshaw. Someone needs to take her arse to court. Until they do she will continue writing libellous drivel and shrugging her shoulders at the consequences.

Release the Hulk.

Welcome aboard Westy (pronounced "Wisty") Taylor's definitely making the right noises in that article.

...ever. When you combine the anticipation of seeing our new recruits in action both mature and first year, the anticipation of seeing the progress that has been made by some of the established players with another Neeld pre-season under the belt, the anticipation of whether this is the year Colin Sylvia puts us out of our misery and shows his wares as a #3 pick (admittedly a yearly event), the anticipation of the roles of Dawes, Byrnes and Pederson in our new look forward structure, the anticipation of a fit and firing Aaron Davey whose possibly on the comeback trail, the anticipation of the return of Mitch Clark....the list goes on and the anticipation alone could do your head in. But we have then combined all that with an unprecedented number of "scandals" that have occupied the footy press, not least of which has been one that has revolved entirely around our own club. Indeed the only thing that's been missing has been a scandal involving St Kilda, and that would likely be considered as lightweight compared to the current scandal that has struck at the heart of Essendon and swept the Australian sporting landscape. As a footy tragic, the wait has tested the patience to its limits. As a Melbourne footy tragic, the wait has been damn near torturous. Never before have I said this with as much gusto...but....bring on the NAB Cup! Go you mighty Dees. A new season awaits.

Happened in another training thread as well, on the same topic I believe. The phrase "give it a [censored] rest" springs to mind.

Gotta be camera trickery. He looks bigger than Chipper.He is gonna shut some mouths this year. Can't wait. ...we've checked his urine, right? (I kid..kinda)