John Crow Batty

If he continues to build on last weeks very good performance and plays out the year without anymore of his hissy fits I will lay off his back.

I was told SEN. Maybe I was told crap.

If Carey can help with his footy know how that will be great. Master of controlled competitive aggression. BTW had anyone heard Carey this week on SEN radio say we didn't come to play and he also was alleged to have said that a mystery punter backed Essendon for 2 million at 7 to1? I didn't hear it. Someone who listened told me. Did anyone else hear it or is it all bull?

If he is going, then the quicker the better so we can sort out our forward line and future direction with more clarity and certainty. We can't put up with the ever increasing rumours and speculation along with his petulance. So far this season he has been one huge distraction. A trade on the cards at end of season.

Freo are taking a huge risk if they try to get both McCarthy and Hogan IMO. Bringing big guns to fix structural problems does not work as well as most think and can be a destablishing influence. Reminds me of the Swan's situation. Tippet and Franklin have been negative net value so far and the Swans are not the tight close knit side they were before them. Similar also to when we recruited both Templeton and Moore. More trouble than they were worth. Some consolation I can take with this uncertainty is that we have demonstrated we can play well without Hogan and also when he's having an off day. Interesting to see how things develop in the next few months. If his contract uncertainty becomes a destabilising influence I would prefer he leaves with haste. It has been my concern that he may be too high maintenance for a fragile developing club like us.

One comment we won't hear from Hogan is; " I've made my bed, been rusted in, call it what you like. I'll leave the money and contract talk till later. Right now my ambition is to help drag this club kicking and screaming towords premiership success." Is just not done in modern football speak.

Well JB and NR are bona fide one club champions. Maybe there is something cryptic in the Ox's comment?

Last season we showed we can play well without him. Against Geelong our forward line was the most fluid and functional for years. Of course I want him to stay but if he goes I hope he plays like a true demon so he can leave with dignity if so. But I don't want to see the club held to ransom and everything revolving around him for the next two seasons. Last season we tended to make him the be all and end all focus of the forward line. I prefer him to be a role player and let's see how much he gives. PS. I thought I saw him or someone that may be impersonating him at a Perth restaurant last Sunday night with a female companion.

I'm glad to see him come over even for pick 25. I hear he is a pretty good boxer also.

At least he won't be over rated by supporters when he arrives unlike many before him.

No such thing as fair dinkum test cricket any more. Once it was an arm wrestle with ebb and flow for how long it took and battled out to the finish, win, lose or draw. Now when one team gets the upper hand the other folds in a blink. This game is now [censored].

Yeah, the difference between Jonathan Brown and Matthew Richardson. Who would you choose? I want to see him educated right. He is our biggest player hopeful for decades.

Do they post here?

it is a refreshing change at our club that a player signs a contract and his form actually improves afterwards.

Not really comparable at early stages of their careers. Neitz made his name as one of the better key defenders. He did become the gorilla forward relatively late in his career. Hogan is starting where Neitz left off.

Let's hope there is no cross contamination. I would not let HH near our players unless wearing a full body condom.

He did his sums and worked out he could sell more newspapers and make more money if the bombers won.

Makes my face screw up to see that ratbag Murdoch as a supporter. He is the biggest cheese in controlling world sport but has done bugger all for us as far as I can tell. Shameless meddler only interested in power and making more money. If one deserves a punch in the nose for getting into people's space it is him.

I might be tempted by Fyfe but only if we could secretly clone Hogan first.

That has a lot to do with wide lens distortion and camera angles. Those interviews always position the camera closer and to the right of the interviewer. They use a wide angle lens which makes the closer subject look far bigger than the one slightly further away. If the camera was positioned in front of Hogan's left side the percepted size diferential will be reversed making Hogan look bigger.

In the current game a 100 goal plus goal kicker is a bit unrealistic. Last happened in 2008 for any club. Though Hogan is as good a bet as anyone to get there someday.

We need to knock off at least five. One or two per season will still keep us in limbo land.

IRISH GHOST STORY This story happened a while ago in Dublin , and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a big storm. The night was rolling on and not a single car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stopped. John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door, only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on. The car started moving slowly. John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared out of nowhere through the window, and turned the wheel. John, paralyzed with terror, watched as the hand came through the window, but never touched or harmed him. Shortly thereafter, John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road, so, gathering strength; he jumped out of the car and ran to it. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just had. A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was crying. And he wasn't drunk. Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked in from the dark and stormy night. They, like John, were also soaked and out of breath. Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other ... "Look Paddy ... there's that fooking idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it!!!"

First post on this topic and I pigeon hole this sad episode to the era in the recent past where every recruiting gambit was a [censored] up on top of [censored] up. I hope since Roos has come it it wont happen again. Last seasons recruiting was very encouraging. I hope the line in the sand is permanent.

The only problem I have with him the moment is the lack of his signature on the contract waiting for him at head office.