John Crow Batty

The immediate interest for me is how he approaches the first few games. If his form is good then that will be great and understandable that he can drag out talks to maximise his value. On the other hand if form is ordinary with or without injury excuses and no sign of pen to paper before mid season then no crystal ball is required.

Ridiculous to the extreme if this is the case. A lot of effort is going into trying to engineer a "decision".

So we may see players already out of the game receive the harshest penalties with a sliding scale down to the Watson's Heppel's etc receiving a mild slap..

Ok, the discount is for good attendance at the hearing and keeping their smart phones turned off.

The decision may read something like this. " Essendon's conduct has been found to be the most blatant systematic episode of cheating and illegal drug use in the history of sport. The AFL is detirmined to stamp out this vile practice for ever and will hand out the harshest punishment to all miscreants. Punishment is 2 years suspension for all players found guilty. Punishment reduced to 6 months for first offence. Suspension to commence retrospectively from date of infraction notices."

Working hard to get the correct decision? I imagine there are several different outcomes possible depending on the slant the tribunal has been directed to find. I am sure a decision has been already worked out.

Said like it is but supporters find it is hard to tolerate players that are put on high pedestals dragging their arses for a whole season or having excuses why they cannot even play to then confirm all the rumours at end of season. As far as I am concerned Gary Ablett has set the bench mark for acceptable departure. He played some of his best ever footy as a parting gift before he left the cats. Not surprising he received a standing ovation on his return back to Kardinia Park with the Suns.

Blokes like Danger will be sorely tempted to come to us if we can crack at least 8 wins for the season. Not only will it indicate we are on the way up but also able to pay well for his services.

If he pissfarts around in the first six or so rounds with or without excuses and still fobs off re-signing then I am going to make up my mind pretty quickly of his likely intentions.

Good hit out in trying conditions in Freo's backyard.

Good effort from the boys. Some poor disposal in late stages put us under the pump. Hogan done nothing so far. Jones as usual doing a great job.

I don't expect much today. I am in Freo now and it is stinking hot and sunny at the moment. And playing at Freo oval is about as foreign as it gets for us. Not much breeze either.

Diehards and malcontents have little influence on numbers. A matter of a few more or less year by year. It's all about attracting new supporters and getting a commitment from casual supporters to buy in. At this stage it all depends on the how the players respond on the field.

The insipid end to last season was a real killer. Must have cost us at least 5000 members at the current moment.

Watched that game. He seemed to move well and looked strong. Nothing to show he may have had a problem.

And Jessie Stringer whacking his girlfriend.

Understandable he took up the offer of a life time. Understandable he had to lie. Unforgivable for malingering his way through the season.

Yes, but you must not forget to pork barrell the club or you will end up labled as a sellout.

Surprising no has mentioned Jeremy Howe. Most of the others mentioned are of known quantity and limitations. This guy promises much more but only seems to play for the highlight reel.

There must also be gay/lesbian, junior and senior citizen commisioners. That will cover most bases.

He had 28 days The judgement was handed out on the 30th of January as I recall so he has till the end of this month.

I thought those Union boys got their highs from sniffing bum crack.

As fas I am concerned our next premiership will be the greatest ever. Dwelling on fast fading past glories gives an empty feeling. Gives us more reason to feel morose. If anyone may happen to have MFC number plates with that elusive yet unknown date could be sitting on a small fortune to boot.

Only feasable if his opposition are handicapped.

Cale Morton for outside run?