binman

It's funny you shopuld say this Jabber. One of the curious things for me on this thread and in broader online chatter has been the idea put forward by some (often in the context of why is booed and why he is disliked) that Goodes has been playing the 'victim card'. Very strange because like you i think the opposite is true. Another curious things is people (like Matthew Lloyd of FC last night) saying other Aboriginal players don't get booed so and implying that the fact he does therefore cannot be about race. Strange.

Good on you PD for taking the time and effort to reconsider your views. Few bother (on both sides of the debate with many polarising issues), which of course is part of the problem and i have respect for those that do. One only need to look at the numbers of children going into state care around the country to see that there is a serious issue of child abuse in many non aboriginal communities, particularly ones that suffer from entrenched poverty. But you are right to say there is a serious problem of child abuse in some (many?) aboriginal remote communities. A key issue is the causal factors for this problem, for it is only in understanding properly what is at the heart of it that effective, meaningful preventative responses can be developed. A failure to properly understand the cause leads to bad (and often damaging) public policy. As a poster noted way earlier a key causal factor is the history of colonization and all its horrors (horrors that Adam Goodes has been brave enough to make clear) and subsequent government policies and community values (Little Goffys posts a re a powerful reminder of these). These elements have caused untold damage for both the Aboriginal people and the broader Australian community since colonization. When communities, families and support systems are destroyed you end up where were are now. The same story has tragically played out in indigenous communities around the world post colonization. We can't spend our way out this problem. We can only heal our way out of the problem. And it is not just a problem for Aboriginal people it is a problem for all of us. I have total respect for Adam Goodes for using his platform to create dialogue and yes argument - for using his platform to speak plain truth, truth that need not only to be accepted but internalized by Australia if we are to move forward as healthy society. I loved the comments from Micky O in this article, basically saying if not Adam (and him) who is going to say what needs to be sad, to carry on the work of their elders? I appreciate that some people don't like the message or the delivery but i respect people who stand up for what they think is right.

Yep good call Dees2014, agree with all of your comments. If there is a guilty fining the reaction from EFC and Hird (and their media lackeys) will be fascinating. Their brains will explode with no further appeal option (outside the apparently very limited avenues with the Swiss courts system).

Spot on. People would have no problem if he did what many think he is supposed to do - shut up and entertain us.

I agree with this totally. in fact i'll hand it to Caro, she has never wavered from this very point ie it is about and the health and welfare of the players. Workcover really should have done something about this by now

Lance obviously loves the kerfuffle facts and unlike sanityprevails is actually pretty good at trolling, in large part due to the fact that he raises some valid points. One of these is that it remains a possibility that the players are in fact innocent of taking PEDs. Yes, based on what is public knowledge on the balance of probabilities it would appear the players took PEDs. However much of that info is scuttlebutt and unreliable and few if any on these board would have been privy to the evidence presented at the tribunal. So despite some people's furious rejection of any idea the players might be innocent, it remains one of the possibilities. Ipso facto it remains possible that WADA will not be able to mount a successful case. Indeed it remains a possibility that even if the players did take PEDs ASADA may still not be able to to mount a successful case.

I'm quietly confident about this match as i was reading Port have really dropped off this year (from last year) in terms of winning the contested ball and tackle numbers. I suspect they will come out breathing fire and really focused on improving in that area. But funnily enough that might actually work in our favour as we have been good in both of those areas and with Viney and Jetta back in will match their intensity. It is also a must win game for them which brings its own challenges Also, as i've noted before i reckon we have set for this run of 3 games (last week and the next two) and have been freshened up to maximse the chance of winning.

Fair point. It would have been better to say i rate Roos as a coach and i rate his ability to pick a team that gives us the best chance to win. Which is exactly what we did last week. All 3 of his left field selections paid of in spades. Fitzy thrashed Boyd, Jones negated their key play maker and Bail shut down on of their other key play makers Johansson. So they lost drive from half back and were impotent up forward. These selections (and of course the fact those 3 played their roles to a t) were a huge factor in our win. If some can't see that then i don't rate their capacity to analyse a game of football and therefore their arguments that Bail and Jones should be dropped hold no weight in my eyes.

Its also stupid. I reckon there have been one or two selection blunders this year - Mackenzie coming in and not being used to balnket Fyfe being one example but last week Roos got it spot on. People scratched their head at Fitzy, Bail and Jones coming in. But all 3 decisions turned out perfectly because all 3 played their assigned role perfectly. Which is why all 3 have been selected this week (and perhaps why Michie has been dropped when seemingly playing ok ie not playing his assigned role). Despite Roos saying it for nearly 2 years and every player repeating like a mantra in interviews some posters do not seem to get that the key expectation is that every player does their assigned role. Criticizing the selection of Bail and Jones (who both by the way do the other key expectation of Roos - hard gut running both ways) is essentially saying Roos is an idiot who doesn't really know what he is doing. Such criticism also suggests some people 'watch' games of football but don't realty understand what is going on.

Makes me wonder about why roos picked both players again. Not.

Agree with almost all of that also fndee. Exciting isn't it. The only point I disagree with is I reckon tmac is every bit as good as neitz and may end up being better. Only 22 and huge upside given his desire to improve. Love that he has continued to attack and if his disposal continues to improve he will be even more damaging

totall agree, especially in regard to Shwarz. I remember watching a game with a young Ox, pre any knee injuries, at Victoria Park. He was simply awesome and a big factor in a famous wins (close to my favourite game i've attended: Schwarz and Jakovich at their best. Fantastic stuff)

Spot on GNF, was going to post the same thing. I'm spewing i didn't take the $8 at the start of the season. He'll win and $3.25 is still overs. Its only that rprice becasue he is yet to be nominated but barring injury (heaven forbid) there's no way they won't nominate him, no way. Get on this week peeps.

'I'm jealous of Hogan. If i was playing against him i'd king hit him behind play when he wasn't watching. Like that good looking Smith fella. See how pretty he is after a broken nose. I could mark and crumb. Hogan will never reach my level. Did i say i'd king hit him?' At least i think he said that. I could be wrong.

I largely agree with the above, though i'm not sure if you are implying if the Toump is not consistent with his effort. I reckon he rarely shirks it and on Sunday was was hard at it all day. Lyon was right to point out the two Watts example and right to say the first could have cost us the game as it allowed them to maintain their momentum they had going (which bails should have also impacted on by slotting that shot after the 3 q siren). From my usal spot at the far end of the ground i could see he didn't go hard enough at ball and let out an audible "Wattsy!". But unluike other days there were a number of examples of him going hard at the ball. Interesting stat for Watts was that he had 14 pressure acts. Only 4 other players had more (Vanders had a whopping 26, but he was the outlier, the other 3 were around the 17 mark). He is usually good with this stat and i think it often goes unnoticed.

Head high hit. Concussed him - he was brought from the ground, obviously hurt. Subbed off and at risk of missing next game. Can't believe people don't think there is a very big chance he'll go. He should go. The rule is clear - hit them in the head when there is an alternative and you are in trouble. Ask Sam Day.

Smart really replay sucks. If you haven't used it before you'll find out why in a few minutes. The best bet for a free replay is big pond video . Go to AFL tab and scroll across and you will see each quarter. It only ever has the two games up (usually the last 2) so there is a window when you can watch it. The AFL now restricts their normal replay to AFL live pass subscribers, which bulltish. Also bulltish that they wait 12 hours before putting it up given they are charging people

THta's an unsettling photo of Grimes Barra

On the AFL highlights i just watched Leigh Matthews, honest to god, called it good clean play. Well perhaps that was his problem as a player - he thought ironing out unsuspecting players was good clean play. Crazy actually coz he says that it is fine when a player knows he is going to get hit from a sheppard, implying Jones is. He was saying this whilst the slow mo clearly showed Jones had stopped chasing and clearly was not expecting to get hit as evidenced by the fact he didn't brace for conatct at all (which obviously he would have had he expected contacted). Strange.

Bob that is so funny you should say that. I was thinking whilst at the game (after his brilliant effort to get around a player on the outer wing - no ground game Leigh, really?) that i can't wait for his 'break out game'. He just looks so rock solid. 3 lazy goals and 20 touches. His break out game will be a monster. By the by i loved after we got a goal in the second (i think Newtons free kick goal) that came after jessie either dropped a Lumumba drilled pass or didn't quite get to it he went to HL and apologized. Also dirty on himself for dropping a couple. Love it.

His one chance? His effort to nearly take a great grab in the third but not quite drag it down but fight on like a tiger , handball to Jones who kicked to Hogan for a goal was critical.

They looked pretty fresh. Ran away with it in the end. Good work Misso

Give the guy a break. It wasn't his job to keep records, it was danks. Good on him for reinventing himself and having the wherewithal to change careers, not to mention the discipline to get an MBA - difficult at the best of times let alone under the sort of pressure he has been under. EFC threw him under the bus at the first opportunity. He's not a villain.

Yes i agree, they train until stuffed then freshen up. Good point, well made.

Playing the long game