hardtack

"Wet Toast"...

Forget Carey and forget the Ox, I see him as having the physical attributes and aggression of one "Plugger"...and that's something you won't hear me complaining about.

You are right DC, but the reason I raised the subject of gambling was that the AFL is now more accountable than ever. Yes, these players have a "moral" obligation to their team and supporters, but once money is involved, their responsibilities and the affects of their actions are felt much further afield.

Ok, firstly let me clear one thing up.. I have NEVER stated anywhere in this thread or anywhere else on this or any other site, that I am in favour of a zero tolerance stance; in fact I am NOT. Secondly, yours is a very spurious argument as it it "supposes" many possibilities, but provides no solid facts... it IS however a known fact that drugs (regardless of whether they be marijuana, speed, smack, alchohol, nicotine, performance enhancers etc etc) DO affect performance levels for better or for worse. My whole line of argument was that if players are using drugs, then they are affecting their ability to perform (either artificially enhancing it or reducing it) and so on the day, this can affect the outcome of a game. Whether we like it or not, agree with it or not, a lot of money is passing through gambling agencies and a lot is riding on the results of matches... the last thing the average punter wants, is for his money to go down the gurgler because players were either be pumped up artificially (those on the team being bet against) or unable to perform at their best (those on the team on which a bet has been placed).

I thought it was pretty obvious I wasn't commenting only on performance "enhancing" drugs when I said: "Possibly because drugs (and alchohol) can have a direct affect on on-field performance and as a consequence affect the outcome of a game... and when you take into account the amount of money being bet on AFL games, the affects can be far reaching..." Drugs such as marijuana, alchohol, LSD etc. as you rightly say, "adversely affect performance", and so still can have an affect on the outcome of games - that was my point.

Possibly because drugs (and alchohol) can have a direct affect on on-field performance and as a consequence affect the outcome of a game... and when you take into account the amount of money being bet on AFL games, the affects can be far reaching... can't say I can recall any incidents of tax evasion that have affected a player's ability to deliver on-field (unless they have been locked up in a cell).

You may well be right.

Two things to take out of the Renmark assignment... firstly, we had an intensive training camp in the NT that will stand us in good stead as far as the conditions go, and secondly, the other team playing is Renmark is Port Adelaide who we meet in round one... at least we will have a level playground as far as the affect of the Renmark game goes and we will have the MCG advantage.

He was way too far out to shoot for goal when awarded the free, and I am pretty sure that if you opt to take the 50m (which would take you inside the arc) then you must take the full fifty and must shoot for 6 points only - in other words, even if you pulled up just outside the 50 and took your shot, you would still only be awarded the 6 points.

Well, as they say in New Zealand: "It's late and I'm off to beard"

What do you mean unrelated? I was responding to your post, a post that was in direct response to my post referencing/comparing both our performance and that of Hawthorn.

I want to know what set off Dustin Martin at the end of that game when he was wanting to have a go at Nathan Jones... wonder if someone wanted his opinion regarding issues facing the sporting world of late.

Much like us in our game against Richmond... those who played both were tiring and the best were rested. And against Richmond for us, that is a much bigger ask than Hawthorn against GC or Bris.

With all of those gnashing their teeth over our two losses, should we take heart over the fact that it looks like Hawthorn are going to have an even worse season than us, given the fact that they are about to go down in their first two games against worse opposition than North and Richmond?

Match reviews on the AFL website include all stats including those of individual players.

Look up 2 posts above yours :-)

Jeeeeesus... do you never see any good in anything? Last year we won one (just) and lost one against two teams who were near the bottom with us (Bris and Gold Coast)... this year we came close to two teams who were substantially better than us in 2012 and that was with a team that has a lot of new players (many more than would be usual). Let's see what happens next week before we start slitting our wrists and calling for sackings etc etc.

The kid is good and is only going to get better... however, the most surprising thing for me is that this thread has gone to its second page and still no-one has suggested he is a future captain.

Perhaps they play like you support. First games up against teams that are coming from a much better starting point and having had a major reconstruction... you should make some allowances.

The last game between Roos and Toigs is a great game... and am enjoying the odd thing that Majak does; don't care who he plays for, I just love watching guys like him who have that certain, dare I say it, "X" factor!

Spencer, Dunn, Davey... anyone else you would care to put the boot into while you're at it? Spencer played a reasonable game, Dunn did well for the most part and as someone else mentioned, Davey played almost his best game in two seasons. Considering where those two teams were last year, and considering we have had a MAJOR rebuild, we didn't do too badly.

Hey, that would be like cutting off Sampson's hair... how do you think he manages to take those marks where he seems to float above the pack?

If you have access to Foxtel, the replays start at 10pm, again at 2am and then during the day on Saturday.

I think you're being a bit over-sensitive here... these are players who are coming up for free agency so despite possibly being a bit premature, the thread does have relevance. We were obviously limited in the number of players we could recruit and hardly have expected to cover all shortcomings in one year.

As they are all answerable ultimately to the AFL, perhaps he should be asking why Demetriou hasn't tendered his resignation.