hardtack

And Bailey is guest On the Couch next week.

I think that should be plural.

Nice bit of tautology there.

I see your point and in essence, I agree... however, after just half the game had been played on Friday, it became very apparent just how important it is to keep him at the club. The guy is unbelievably focused, knows exactly what he wants out of himself and (I would think) his teammates and might be just what is needed to lead this club out of the doldrums; I get the feeling the Judd comparisons go further than just his ability to play.

Yes, things like climate, lifestyle, real estate opportunities etc. The only thing that I could possibly see being more important to someone like Scully will be family or position at the club. Forget club loyalty... direction of the club might be a factor, but so might the opportunity to play at a club full of fresh talent and pioneering the game in a new frontier (the wild west) - and I don't mean the Dees at Casey :-). During the game last Friday I tweeted @DemonsHQ suggesting they offer him a guarantee of the captaincy if that would help to keep him - it could be in one year, or it could be two or three years down the track, but I would suggest that something like that could be enough to get him over the line. Perhaps they need a flood of such tweets to get the message across?

Yeah, but the average man on the street is not necessarily going to be suffering the medical ailments that many players will be suffering from - particularly knees and shoulders, and in some cases as has recently been publicised, brain damage. So what they gain in material comforts may well be offset by a reduced quality of life in other areas.

Yes it is sad, but it's also a fact of life in the new millenium. If loyalty was an issue, we would have Judd as well as Moloney, but the rest would be trying their hardest to get to the teams they supported as kids growing up. Why should someone (particularly a number one pick) feel any loyalty to a club that they have played just a handful of games with. He owes us nothing in terms of loyalty yet... unfortunately it's the system that's flawed and until they get that right, the AFL is limiting the ability of clubs to develop the bonds between player and club that eventually lead to loyalty - they allowed this situation with Scully to occur and he should feel no compunction regarding any decision he makes.

You are correct... and unlike an office situation, the average footballer has a very limited shelf life and is generally out of employment by the age of 35; this would make the dollar even more important, particularly when you consider many of the medical conditions that they are likely to inherit and carry for the rest of their lives. Loyalty was all very well when it was an amateur sport and you had more chance of ending up at a club you supported as a child... but that is no longer the case.

I based that response on your closing sentence: "Whether it is right or wrong is not my problem, but I think buying a ticket to a game comes with the *conditions apply that maybe just maybe some passion will be shown." Anyway, as I have also clearly stated, it comes down to the delivery of the language rather than the language itself (within reason).

Seriously... it's got me beat as to how any of that can be construed as passion.

gotzy8... I think you will find that it isn't so much the words, but more the way in which they are used. Passion and letting the odd "F" bomb slip out is one thing and acceptable within reason, but some drunk (or not) yobbo who is practically foaming at the mouth and letting loose a string of abuse should not be tolerated in any shape or form. To draw a comparison between the use of abusive language and racist language, the line has to be drawn somewhere. It is pretty apparent that a zero tolerance approach is taken with racial vilification, so maybe for consistency's sake, they are considering the same approach with abusive language, even though there are grey areas in both - for example, the use of the term "wog" or "[censored]" or "jap" etc... many people may use these with no intent to vilify, but simply because they have never considered them to be racist terms (and because they are often used in humour etc - eg "Wogs out of Work"), but removing them from the football arena, is part of the education.

Hey, maybe you have inadvertently hit upon the solution right there - anyone caught swearing could be marched 50 metres back from their position in the stands... repeated infringements will result in an appearance before the Russell Street tribunal.

Well, if you can't show passion without swearing like the proverbial trooper, then I don't think the problem is the PC brigade... I would say the problem is a distinct lack of imagination and vocabulary on the part of the person doing the swearing. While we are all off at the netball or tiddlywinks or whatever, you lot can be off at wrestlemania or the coq-fights or some truck racing meet... the footy will be a very lonely place.

Loved that last line about being reprimanded for failing to refer to an indigenous player as "exciting".

Since when has repeatedly dropping the "F" bomb been a part of the tradition of sport? When I was growing up and going to the footy, there was very little of that and I honestly cannot see why today should be any different. Do you drop the "F" bomb etc in these forums? If not, why not? Seriously, if you can't go to and enjoy a game without yelling abuse, then you either have a major self-control issue or a very limited vocabulary, particularly in the area of adjectives. My kids know to avoid me when I'm watching the game on TV and they expect to hear a few expletives, but regardless of what you think, many children do find it intimidating/frightening if someone who is a complete (and often drunk) stranger to them starts screaming abuse at anyone and everyone as can happen at a footy match. Sure, leave all of the "biffo" in the game (assuming "biffo" refers to violent behaviour - which it traditionally did) as long as you don't mind the family element staying at home as has occurred in the NRL here in Sydney; the reason being that often in footy crowds it's an unfortunate case of monkey see, monkey do; that is, violence on the field begets violence in the stands.

Jurrah did not squib any contested marks... if anything, I would say that with all of the criticism he has come under for constantly going the speckie, he is probably a little too conscious of it and is holding back - which is not necessarily a bad thing as his crumbing ability and ability to score those opportunistic goals is not too bad at all. As for Strauss squibbing, I'm with Roost It on that.

Scully, Trengove, McKenzie and Gysberts aka Human Torch, Invisible Guy, The Thing and Mr Fantastic

I've been praising him all season, but even I was surprised to hear tonight that he has been averaging something like 28 disposals over the past few weeks.

And I'm a semi-Canberran... out-posted in Sydney, so I have to make regular trips to Canberra for my work.

I guess this thread, if nothing else, debunks the myth about Dees supporters always being up at the snow instead of attending games. It's obvious we are all globetrotting... Kenya, Thailand, UK, France, Virgin Islands...

6 - Rivers 5 - Jones 4 - McKenzie 3 - Green 2 - Bennell 1 - Martin

What I am liking is that you can see the deep respect that Bailey has for those players and the feeling is so obviously reciprocated.

I think it's safe to say we have won it now :-)

You've not been watching the game? He was subbed off with a badly corked thigh.

Happy birthday.... 5 goals lead going into the last; it's theirs for the taking if they want it bad enough. And I'm talking all credit as I tipped the Bummers to win knowing that would play in our favour :-)