binman

Full marks?

Yep i'm with you on this one. I reckon if Kent can avoid injury he is a huge chance for a break out year, in the true sense of the phrase ie going from an average to amazing. He does have a nice touch of aggro and confidence and has real X factor. His kicking is also really dangerous, love that he is a lefty and has great penetration. His confidence means that he has a crack at goals when he has a chance, which i love. Slots nicely into a half forward flank and with the Trac on the other flank we will have a formidable duo who both have a bit of a strut about them.

Agree that they might use him up forward as both tall player that will need to be manned up by a big guys, making it harder to cover Hogan and Dawes but also as a run with player as he seems to be athletic enough for that role. That said i reckon they might use him as a bit of a swing man who can cover a tall down back when needed and of course spend some time in the ruck. Where did Roos play him in the game agianst GC in round one last year?

He wouldn't be in ruck though, not as such. The role he played quite a bit last year was to come over the top as the third man, meaning you only need the 'ruckman' to take position, meaning the ruckman can be any biggish player. I actually noted a couple of times last season how effective he was in that role, frequently setting up scoring chances with really deft taps to players, who often times were streaming towards goal. Two taps to Jones immediately come to mind, with both resulting in goals. His ability to hit the ball into the path of moving players is a skill no doubt honed by his years playing basketball. A variation was that brilliant bit of work where he jumped up on the goals line and palmed a ball down to Garlett who volleyed it through for a goal (against GC in the first round?)

Yep, very much a Roos approach. And a sensible one at that given the physical demnads of AFL football.

Neigh (sorry)

That's right and IIRC roos was saying much the same things about him, even suggesting he was unlikely to play early on. I reckon if Trac is fit they'll unleash him at the G first round

I watched the Open Mike episode with Robbie Flower for the first time recently (brillinat TV btw) and he was asked about Barassi. Robbie said that even though they weren't successful whilst he was coach the success of the late 80's and 90s would not have occurred if not for his influence. Said he introduced a much more professional culture from preparation, training habits, mindset and game day.His legacy was the culture he built. Said when he first arrived he stripped everything back to basics, for example doing kicking drills and using both feet. Sounds very familiar.

Brilliant thread wj. DL at its finest. Love the last extract. How brilliant is it that we ended up with both brayshaw and the trac.

To a certain extant I have sympathy for all the players, including Jobe who seems like a nice person. But i do wonder about his culpability in all of this. He is (was?) the captain of the club and such the key leader among the players - the talisman really. Surely he, and other senior players but in particular him, have to accept some responsibility for not refusing to participate in the supplement program, or at the very least discussing it with their managers, AFPLA , parents or for that matter ASADA. If younger players had reservations it would have been very hard to take a different path once the senior players gave the program their approval.

I have zero problem them taking Crowley and if i was an EFC fan would be annoyed if they didn't. I'm surprised a club didn't rookie him. He did the crime (which was was pretty minor compared to the supplements regime and IIRC the drug he used was not designed to improve his performance, more manage pain) and has done the time. They have lost 9 senior player and 5 of their best 6. It is critical they get hardened AFL players playing for them or else they'll be cannon fodder. How many of them are floating around, who critically have done somewhere near an AFL standard pre season (Crowley apparently kept very fit during his suspension and has been training with a WAFL side).

Well he says he he wasn't part of the management chain for the "supplements" program and was in the dark about what was happening yet also says he knows that the players didn't take anything prohibited. I really only wanted an excuse to put a link to an aussie glam rock classic!

Hird likes it both ways

I tend to agree, though i wonder how the AFLPA could possibly afford to pay for something like that. I assume they get money from players and the AFL but also assume they are a not for profit and don't run up surpluses. So again how do they pay? Even running an AFL standard fitness program here in Australia would cost upwards of $200k you'd reckon, give you'd need to have a full time fitness person, pay for equipment and ground hire, insurance etc etc. Also not all 34 players live in Melbourne so you would need to sort relocation and accommodation costs. I agree with Lucifer that a settlement will be reached with the players and that it will be relatively generous. In which case the players might pay for such a camp or more likely their own personal training regime with personal trainer etc. On the point of a settlement if the players can't be paid for this year how does suing for lost income fit? I mean if they successful sue for the lost income and get an income they end up getting paid for the year!

Who would foot the bill for all of that? It would cost a small fortune

Melbourne's OH&S issues: players using wheelie bins as ice baths EFC's OH&S issues: year long pharmacological experiment involving thousands of off site injections of god knows what It's nice to not be the club in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Or posting about it....?

I watched the last half. Where do you start? A few random thoughts? I guess Hird only agreed to do the interview with agreed questions and no follow up ones. Trick i guess if you were keen to get the interview but the ABC had the opportunity to knock back the offer and should have if they were not able to ask the necessary questions. Leave the charades to free to air Reflective of, for me, one of the more interesting elements of this saga - how poor sports journalism in oz has become. With a few honorable exceptions the coverage of this has been hopelessly biased and riddled with spin and agendas. Thiswas like the crowning glory of all of that. Unfortunately went just as everyone here predicted The most galling thing for me was Hirds repeated assertion that CAS had sacrificed the fine 34 young men for the sake of the anti drug message (a message Hird said is the right one - cue his media advice). This is a completely slanderous allegation ie that CAS (an independent body) were not in fact dispassionately considering and weighing the evidence put to them by WADA and the player's lawyers but rather were making a statement about drugs in sport and pushing the WADA agenda. Not only is it slanderous for those 3 judges it is disingenuous to the extreme as it subtly conflates WADA and CAS, implying they are in cahoots and that CAs is not actually independent The one bit of new info, or at least for me (and interesting choice of a dorothy dixer) is that Hird could be pursued by ASADA if it all happened now but can't be as rules were different in 2013. Is this true?

Not as good as 666's but some good straining shots here: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-01-16/qld-preseason-camp-day-two-training

People not happy with the new La rams logo. Too similar to the St Louis one.

Maxy no hope. Only mids are a chance which gives Bernie a decent shot if we can win 10 or more games. I might have a nibble. Betfair will give much better odds than 80s i'm guessing

Clever. ta

Good old social media: http://beta.theage.com.au/afl/essendon-supplements-saga-social-media-mocks-james-hirds-explanation-20160114-gm6fib.html By the by the age is updating its website. The beta test site doesn't have a pay wall

In a way its the exact opposite to the AFL tribunal who felt it didn't have to establish if the players took TB4 one they weren't satisfied with the manufacture and supply chains

I might try the strands in the cable approach next time i have an argument with my wife