DEE fence

I think Rivers, while a different character, will do a Pike and have a great run at Geelong.

Good luck and thanks to Mrs Jones for supporting the lad it worked.

Just trying to back my opinion with facts from what I've observed and can be measured, wasn't stating that I had anything like those levels of fitness. If its chest beating to talk about experience well then blow me down I'm a hairy arsed gorilla, I've seen a lot of people stuff up on the grog after being under real pressure, including some people I consider decent and upright in every important way, that's why I mention Somalia. Am sick of people slagging these players with very little evidence and I'm saying BS because I think a lot of the opinion posts are based on little real life experience on what was a minor incident. The reason I have posted extensively on this subject is because I think the forum has been too harsh and I feel like defending the players on the evidence presented to date. As for your wife go for it, lets hear what she says about a big day out on mid strength beer against the backdrop of their training environment and regular diet, I'd say a dietician is a subject matter expert do some chest beating of your own. Personally I think your fitness (and mine) are probably much more susceptible to beer than the players.

What do you get? I'm willing to bet that these guys are not remotely having enough beer to affect any of their endurance, fitness, or strength levels. A day out in what will be a long season for them (which I'm reasonably sure will be quite dry) will only help them in terms of mateship and dealing with stress, something a stupid day at the cricket helps with. I have worked with elite military and police officers, tier 1 types, that would punish just about any footy player in terms of fitness and they enjoy a beer when they get a chance, and they have the discipline to go six months or even twelve when the occasion demands but the occasional big sip does not hurt their fitness or professional attitude. A human being is not a machine even if they are getting a six figure pay check. Often people including our hero Woewodin, eschew alcohol as part of a lifestyle choice, I totally respect and find the discipline impressive however I have not seen that the alcohol is the deciding factor in their abilities, they are just very motivated people who have set up a framework that works for them, but this must be a choice not something imposed. If our players have fallen off any targets set for them then I am happy for them to be sanctioned, if they broke a team rule re booze then sanction them, but if they did not then lay off. I am not condoning this behaviour week in and week out or even monthly but your and many other responses are OTT. It was dumb, could be smarter, not a good look etc but no more than that and I have never heard of these guys having priors for bad behaviour so I think they deserve some grace and definitely not the harsh unfounded judgement they have copped here. So Bing get back to me with your medical expertise and tell me how your going to quantify how much they did in fact drink, measure this against their standard alcohol consumption combined with their diet versus their training loads and we'll see if any agreed expert will allow for a discernible effect.

I also live with a code of conduct that extends to my private life and can be terminated for bringing my organisation into disrepute just from private non criminal actions, (I also have to enforce and arbitrate this with colleagues) so have had some practise with the follies people can get up to, especially after say 8 weeks working in Mogadishu Somalia.

Having spent 12 years dealing with drunks at the G and other venues and locking up many I can say the following, they passed the attitude test and went quietly so my expert opinion is not drunk, just 'affected by alcohol', very smart decision to leave without trouble, and that is what I'd focus on as the coach. No fights, no drunk driving, no sexist behaviour reported just beers watching the cricket and then going peacefully when told... After a few shennanigans.. I have seen lawyers, politicians, senior civil servants, teachers, CEO's and others who would all make the news if someone chose to dob on them. Could they have got drunk in private and kept up some sort of BS choir boy appearance, of course they could and it would have made people here happy obviously. I always found the people pouring out of the super boxes the most shabby after a long day. Now we either have an extraordinary over representation of the temperance society amongst Demon supporters or a truck load of hypocrites everyone has been bent out of shape sometime and it's what happens at that point is key. Footballer player had a drink!!! don't make me laugh, more than a few premiership players who have done that. I can also say that I found the security at the G to be cowards and snipers (up until 2006, so if they have improved since then i'm sorry) and that on more than one occasion they were either charged or close to being charged with assault, including a 14 year old girl getting pummelled by four 90kg+ blokes one time. I reckon they'd be nervous of the footy players as in their dreams they couldn't touch these guys and most of the guards are on our power trip, as bad as G4S guards at an airport. And finally so what if its in the paper, can we stop being so frigging scared of the media and just stare them down at least once or twice. God our politics would be better if the pollies didn't live by every sound bite.

Would love to know how our team stacked up against the army guys on some of the obstacle courses, are we par, above or below a commando squad? Wouldn't think we're at SAS level yet

Darwin, that'd be where someone waltzed onto a Navy boat and stole weapons right....

LFR , I could live with fixed cameras if the spider cam was a problem, my main point is the production managers need to pull their fingers out, coverage can improve. Especially with the definition available on our televisions, btw what's up with HD in Oz, whenever I watch a match on ESPN It's fairly grainy compared to the other content.

My chief grumble about footage, well identified, with the large screen HD tellies we have now days i really think the studios could do some more work with how they show the game. Some sort of spider cam sitting above the boundary so you see the player with the ball and where the play is likely to go so that you can see more of the tactics and leads etc. I notice how useless most of the footage is when I try and explain the game to people with You Tube videos, while they like the pack mark and bumps etc, they do not get the sense of how it is played out.

Sorry but when has membership ever been about value, we need as a club, to go through a period of growing the club's supporter base, games against port, GWS, GC at the G are not going to do that. when we are in our next period of sustained success we can start dictating terms and make it more about the G. it is not a good look 18-20k at the best stadium on earth. I would love to try and see the club reach out across the land and become the 1st amongst equals I.e. ' the team that identifies 'Australian football' getting Darwin on board would be part of that, if we start playing well we have a tradition that we can use in marketing that is unparalleled , even by the filth. Richmond could do the same if they got their poo in one sock but that's not going to happen, The bombers are hampered by their name, seriously they should be sponsored by Al Quaeda with a name like that. Hawthorn will always have a jumper sponsored by werribee. Carlton I guess but they have been almost for a while now (the AFL got those penalties right). So go Darwin, free tickets to the marines and soldiers based there, mining companies and freight forwarders (does anyone know how expensive property is up their now?). Townsville as well, getting ADF links will not hurt us and ties two great aspects of Australian identity together the club needs to grow beyond the 32k brilliant people who already love the club and the zealots on this forum (and I do get the desire for g games, we're just not doing them justice yet.)

Personally Chuck Norris doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Robbie. Chuck might qualify as Robbie's boot studder, but he'd have to wash his hands first before touching Robbie's boots. Robbie and all of his acts of bravery make me very proud to be Australian. Thanks HT for the video am going to go online and see if there is a DVD I can buy.

Living in Kenya has been interesting, I play a weekend comp and its always funny when some fit young guy (20's) turns up to join in (we're at 1800m) and after 30 mins they are shattered, and I'm running off them (in my 40's). Down side is you need to train heavily to keep the effects and I never seem to be able to time my travel back to sea level to actually sand bag a colleague with my increased fitness back in Australia. Also golf at 2100m becomes a challenge although the ball flies, a 3 iron becomes a 2. I have however read that children raised at altitude get to keep some of the physiological effects, am keen to see how this works out for my son who has spent the requisite first 2 years of his life above 1600m. Quote Wiki 'populations have better oxygenation at birth, enlarged lung volumes throughout life, and a higher capacity for exercise.' Maybe all prospective father/son selections should be encouraged to live at altitude pre/post birth... :-). Anyway there are many physiological shortcuts to be had that don't just come from pills and needles, personally I hope the club does more with muscle cooling for weights work outs.

Have you contacted the herald sun, I know they are a piece of kaka rag, but having been there I was super impressed by their library, I remember getting a print of my brother shaking Steve Waugh's hand in the west index during one of his centuries. They are very happy to share prints.

^ +1

take it for granted that I hadn't read this topic, my apologies, you stay up past your bed time as well do you?

I am a huge fan of the trades, think there is a plan and can't wait to see it put into action. But all I expect is some tougher more competitive (dare i say it bruising) football. Last year was a log jam between 7 and 12, I don't expect our percentage to be brilliant (we are still new and young there will be some blowouts - lets not lose the plot as long as there are no 186's) so I can see us on the outside of the eight despite a much better improvement in style and effort etc. What I really want to see change from the 2000's is losing the 'F%&^&*%*( games we should win... the only reason I don't try and shout down people who criticise the club as useless in the last 20 years is because even in our strong seasons we had a penchant for dropping the games we could bank, used to drive me spare, more than anything I want that to go. I think we've played some attractive footy during and since the Northey years, now I want to see ruthless. But I do think we are on the right track and I'm not going to drop my bundle if we don't make the eight as long as I see strong improvement-2014 must be finals though. If Neeld has some sort of Midas touch with who we've picked up and we do make the eight I'll be surprised, top four and I'm on the plane home baby. edit: every trip home to oz in the last seven years I've only seen miserable losses, you have no idea how much that bites after travelling for a few days, makes a trip to Perth small beer.

I installed some strong protection for my computer and logged onto the filth site to see what they had to say, and was amazed how many were going 'probably' re Swan... does anyone else check out the opposition forums? BTW they must have strong dirt on Swan put that picture of powder in the shape of a field over his image is pulling no punches at all. still think she is a troll though. I wonder how Flanagan gets on with her? I miss his articles.

its very late here btw, sorry

lets role it out a bit further Pedders shocks and just go with Shock, as in shock and awe (hopefully) the ck is a hard guttural sound that will lend its self nicely to expletives as well

Stynes not a champion of the game...putting aside what he did after the game i think it is fair to say a Brownlow medalist is a champion of the game.

I so hope your right, would love nothing more than to be wrong, and I do think having an improved midfield with the recent recruiting could help take the pressure off, I noticed that when he was playing recently he was always well marked. He is a great and humble guy, I have nothing but love for him and will hope for a father son somewhere down the line. That said soft tissue injuries are the death of speed and that was his ace, it's gone, I know he muscled up but that didn't help Hird and Buckley was stuffed with his hamstrings no matter how strong he got - I just think Davey is cooked I hope it isn't true. BTW I think he deserves his money, people forget how cheap he was at the start and I really enjoyed him playing, I said it before and will say it again, one of the bravest players to take the ground for the MFC. FNQ, many thanks for the reports they are the best thing about the forum, something actually written that was observed by the author rather than a rumour or an opinion. If I had my way you would become the MCG Demon and write all the training reports they make me feel much better about the club to know that the team is positive. Things like hearing why programs are modified are gold because I admit in the past to think, 'bugger, another player injured'. That goes for everyone else that has written a training report, thank-you much appreciated. edit for the bloody automatic spell checker, gets me every time

Great post, key point. I do have sympathy for those that feel aggrieved, it's a bit like your GF dumping you, it hurts, but you still treat her with respect, even though the green eyed monster is lurking, about her new BF.

Often not on the same page as BB but it seems like Davey is done, so sad about it wanted him to go out doing miracles but it seems not be. Will always remember him as super brave. I hope others do too, the way he tackled CHFs was a revelation and he invented fwd pressure. He was the must stop guy for a while, that's a fair thing to have achieved.