binman

this doesn't make sense. As noted above all players (or their lawyers) will have received a brief of all WADAs evidence etc in preparation for the hearing. As i understand it EFC would not have received anything as they are not parties to this hearing (nor for the matter are the AFL). So the club hasn't left any players in the dark and if a player wasn't aware of the evidence of elevated TB4 in 2 samples it could only be because they haven't bothered reading the brief or the lawyers haven't bothered to tell them.

Yep. The original Fairfax article said as much (ie all parties get a copy). So there is any number of copies floating about.

Took him less than 24 hours. Can't access the Hun site but the article today from Slobbo contains DIRECT QUOTES of two text messages from Paul Little to Hird. The thrust of the article is what a bastard Fitzpatrick is and how badly Jamesy Wamsy has been treated, with the text messages as proof (Little telling Hird the AFL has said he has to take 12 months out and to to refuse to do would be very bad for EFC and bad on his part being the thrust of one). Now i think it is safe to assume Little would not have shown Slobbo his phone. So given they were private it could only be Hird, who presumably saved them for this very reason. Can't imagine Little would be too pleased. It is staggering how Hird could be so indignant about he AFL leaking info to journos when he has clearly fed Warner and Slobbo for 2 years. James is adamant it is wrong to do so yet has no qualms doing so himself, one presumes because he can rationalize it somehow. On another note there is another article in the paper (Warner and Slobbo i think) that just hammers the AFL. It is about the TB4 tests and is just hilarious how different it is in tone to the Fairfax story on exactly the same topic. The vibe of the article is that far from being bad fro EFC players it could actually be good. Their pro Hird bias (and feral anti AFL sentiment) is surreal. For example quoting rent a quote Ings that it is not a 'smoking gun' ie it is not a positive test. Well der. It helps build a case of comfortable satisfaction though doesn't it.

Watts 1 then a big space to Salem and Vince. i reckon

This is an often under rated factor. He clearly is a great club man and his team mates love him. That's clear. In a team sport it is critical to have blokes like Vince and Watts around the club. He's also a solid citizen with his head on straight and seemingly good values. On top of all that he seems like a ripper bloke. Roos (and all coaches) talk about how critical good culture is and Watts is one of those blokes who brings people together and connects them. His team mates also now trust him onfield and the pattern him being ignored on leads seems to be long gone (and perhaps was a symptom of the culture problems at the club?). A related factor is he rarely misses through injury which suggest a high level of professionalism in his preparation and training. In short he is reliable. Crucially we are more likely to win when he plays well. If you look at our wins in the 3 years he has been a vital element in almost all of those games (the win over the bullies this year being perhaps the once exception this year). He is involved in so many of our scoring chains, either through direct assists or scoring involvements (eg def taps, handballs to space, accurate kicks to the corridor etc etc) that it could be argued he is our most influential player in terms of our chances of winning and losing. It dumbfounds me how anyone could argue that a 23 year old 100 game player that is the best user of the ball in the team, has the best footy brain and helps us win is a dud selection. On an unrelated point another area he is becoming important is going third man up and hitting it to advantage (reflecting his basketball background perhaps). I have lost count of the times he has gone third man up and hit to straight to a running player to set up a scoring chance.

This is the key. Yes improved intensity, tackling and attack on the ball is important. But to an extent they have masked the key issue, given the role he is best suited to (ie the utility role he now plays) - over his career he doesn't get the ball enough. As you say he needs to average low to mid twenties for disposals, which he has in the last few weeks (or close anyway). With his skill and calmness under pressure if he can get the ball more often he will be vital to our chances of going to the next level as a team. I can honestly say i have always been a huge fan (though not blind to his weaknesses) and still believe he will make AA, perhaps even next year.

This is (I assume) unintentionally funny. If it is in fact a satirical attempt to display how dimwitted people are who make such comments then well played

Could not agree more rostit, on both points. In regard to the latter one only needs to read this thread for proof

Spot on. Top post. Our skills are woeful and our turnovers mean many of our attacking forays come back to an exposed defense, a point roos made in his presser. Very hard for a coach to improve skill level.

All you want with umpiring is consistency. So where are all our bloody frees for dropping the ball not to mention high to Vince. So frustrating

In all seriousness, one of the worst journalists I have ever read

Watching a scratchy feed from Berlin. Suits the game. Terrible kicking for goals. We should be 3 goals up. We'll win. The worst commentary team ever. Ever. It says something when j brown and king are the best in the box. Seriously eddie is appalling. At the one point the ball got over the back and was rolling towards our golas 15 meters out and eddie is babbling on about some unrelated rubbish. One job. Call the game.

F, it is me. I think he is a troll. I cannot understand why any intelligent person would spend such a large amount of their time on an opponents site. Or perhaps that is the answer.

It is rubbish we play thte every year. Do an exspenive fact finding trip to the us to work out equalisation strategies and send a lowly club to a ground where all away clubs struggle to win (and whose fans can't get in). Go figure. And od please visualise a wattcha talking willis about gif. We go there because it can't cope with a large crowd?

So do. I agree with others that he has been disappointing this year, (but had his best couple of weeks the last two) but i hate dees players voluntarily leaving.

I took the kids to that game and sat behind city end goals. No cover and didn't realize it was going to rain. Blimey we got wet. It sheetedvdown. Had to leave at half time. The toump played well

Disagree. I reckon there is every chance he will be an A grader. He is competitive, self driven and has the tools.

Also a good call. Watts did it a couple of times didn't he. In fact he was surprisingly strong when getting tackled, holding the ball and then still being able to get a handball off. There was a few examples where he got caught and i though oops he is gone but he was able to give it off. I heard Stan Alves criticize Watts for his laconic style and lack of physicality, in reference to the tackle he got caught in in the last when trying a baulk. Honestly i wonder if some of those commentators watch the same game as i do. This was a match to highlight his improved physicality and intensity not to lament their absence. And as for the tackle he go caught but i for one love it when he takes them on and i reckon he should do more of it.

Good get, i noted that as well. It caught my attention because he had made an earlier where in our back half he hand-balled, whilst being pressured, to someone too close who immediately got tackled. It occurred to me that perhaps a coach had told him to take the tackle, which as you say he did in that instance (and i think still got it off?). The play i loved from the Toump was his shimmy in the centre square that wrong footed a would be tackler and gave him time and space. Great stuff.

I can't believe i tipped Melbourne. Crazy stuff. Not because of any hoodoo but because they have virtually no injury concerns and we have 5-6 of our best 22 out injured (and Tyson coming back from injury). I have said it for years but the number of players out is the single biggest determinate of a team's success, yet amazingly is often minimised with the culture long being to not blame them for poor performances. Obviously clubs down the bottom are hurt more by injuries to best 22 players, but all clubs struggle with them. So i guess both this week and last can be seen more positively.

As i say it beggars belief Miller wouldn't have checked the time left before he ran out onto the ground for what i assume turned out to be the last time. I'm guessing he didn't because otherwise surely he wouldn't have needed a message from Roos. I wonder what his last message from Roos was by the by (it should have been if we score tell them to flood back - and if it wasn't it is also on Roos).

Spot on. Vince said the players assumed there was 5-6 minutes to go and unfortunately the runner (Miller) was stuck out on the ground. Before running onto the ground surely Miler would have checked the time and therefore would have known that after Howe kcked his goal there was barely any time left. In which case he should have made sure players knew too and could get back. I suspect however that he din't check the time and had no idea, perhaps also assuming there was 5 mins left. If this is the case it is a huge stuff up on the coaches behalf. If not (ie Miller knew aprox how much time was left) its on Miller. Still even if the players guessed there was 5 mins to go they have gone super defensive given only 2 goals had been kicked that quarter. Unbelievable. Well sadly not. The way i deal with such a loss is by thinking we will end up with a higher draft pick that we otherwise would have and down the track when it really matters we wont be so stupid (a great learning experience for the young uns).

And if so i hope he's not dyslexic

Saty a query. Did any of the drills today involve forwards bringing the ball to ground against the extra defender? I reckon Roosys comments in the after game presser about players not listening, whilst said with fairly limited heat was his version of furious. No wonder he bellowed if the players ignored advice at training.

A random question, which i thought i'd ask here rather than start a new thread. I'll be in Berlin for a few weeks from next week. Does anyone have some ideas about the best way to watch footy overseas (oe ven in Berlin). I checked out the AFL site and it is $12 a week for live games which is ludicrous (how moronic is that in terms of promoting the sport - it should be free!). I have an AFL live pass which enables tablet live viewing and access to replays but i assume i will get geo blocked. Thanks in advance for ideas.