binman

Love it Red. That's actually a really funny coincidence because just a couple of days back i was talking a fella who was talking about who he played with as junior. He mentioned Laurie Fowler (one of my favorites) i was trying to remember the other stocky little tough bugger we had in that same team. For the life of me i couldn't recall his name, which is so annoying. It was Henry Coles i was trying to remember. Thanks. Good player. Was his number 9? Edit; no of course Fowler was 9, Coles was 13 - thanks Demon Wiki (what an amazing site that is, i just love it). According to Wikipeadia:'Coles career deteriorated from 1978 onwards, playing only four games in 1979 and seven games in his final season of 1980. His VFL career ended in disgrace when he was fined $600 and suspended for a week after getting into a fight with his captain-coach, Carl Ditterich. He played his last game for Melbourne in round 18 against North Melbourne.' Getting into afight with yout captain coach is never a good career move. Brave man though. Big Carl was one scary dude when angry

Which Doctor?

Wow. And PJ cut staff!

Spot on.

Not sure about Dixon. We're OK for big forwards but still 4-5 good mids short. Yes to prestia. No to benell

Well that remains to be seen. I will say one thing - if wada do appeal you and dee2014 will have every justification to crow about it. I hope you both get the chance

All bluster aside the clock is ticking on the WADA appeal.

Sorry. I'll try harder next time to post something truly unique and new. I'm guessing there would be considerably less posts in most threads if the rule was you had to say something new with each post.

I was making a point in isolation - ie there is every chance other clubs operated within the grey area and a chance some have used PEDs. And the AFL would prefer people to think this is not the case. Not making any comment about EFC. The bolded bit is actually interesting. Whilst there is no evidence the AFL condoned PED use there is evidence they knew EFC (and other?) were sailing pretty close to the wind and did not act. AD has acknowledged this and said one of his biggest regrets is not acting sooner to reign in the rise and rise of the influence of sports scientists prepared to go to the edge of what is legal. Indeed ASADA tabled evidence in the Midleton case that the AFL warned Hird about the risks. Despite this awareness of what was happening at EFC they chose not to put in place the sort of controls they subsequently did after EFC self reported (ie after the horse had bolted). And by the by, like it or hate it the EFC have not been found guilty of taking PEDs. And despite what people may believe it is is possible that they are indeed innocent of the charges.

Yep, he most definitely was not alone. Really only Garlett and TMac could hold their head high, with some other working reasonably hard (Jamar being one, Pedo another). I suspect though that Roos had Newton (and maybe one or two others) in mind with his rather pointed comments about players trying to pad their stats and not giving the ball off to their 'mates' to score. Twice he burnt team mates badly, in particular the one in the last quarter where he took a very low percentage snap at goal (40 metres out, in the pocket, on the wrong side for a lefty) when he had Hogan streaming to the goals square 15 metres in the clear. The rather considered Freo fan directly in front of me was sport on with his cry of hungry. A bad look.

An excellent point. It is not just EFC who have been desperately trying to control the narrative (we were duped by a rogue operator, its all about the players welfare, we are innocent, it is all an AFL/ASADA conspiracy, heck even close to we are the victims!) The AFL have sought all along to control the narrative and one of the most important parts of their narrative is that it was the EFC alone who undertook an illegal supplement program. Look at their recent response to suggestions that they ignored suspicion about Gold Coast - where they have largely been cool and quiet they quickly put out comments about heir thorough examination of them. Whilst it might be true only EFC had a program that if not illegal was dangerously close to it (the grey zone as Dank has cutely called it) it is also a distinct possibility, if history of drugs in sport is anything to go by, they were not the only club to do so.

Hulk Hogan better be careful. He's too old to be playing with such fire

Nothing from wada yet on an appeal? What's the hold up?They would have had all the material since the decision was handed down and if that decision is so obviously flawed surely they wouldn't need much time to decide to appeal. Curious

It's a confidence thing. Should be dropped for a few to Casey to sort it out.Insert joking symbol

Dees2014 I'm one who thinks that you may be talking out of your hat. But I really, really hope to be proven wrong. If so I will be the first to chow down on humble pie.

This is what is nonsense. By all means lets acknowledge where he's at: one of our most valuable players and one of the first handful picked each week, as demonstrated by the fat he keeps getting picked, he doesn't start as a sub and his statistical output. That is where he is at. What is this nonsense about 'a path back". A path back from where? By all means dees fans should highlight what Jack can improve (eg his competitiveness in the air) just as they would abut any player (eg "Tyson needs to improve his kicking and stop getting caught holding the ball') but peddling untruths hard"and myths (Watts is soft, doesn't work hard, is on thin ice in the side, would benefit from a spell in the seconds, adds nothing to the team blah, blah, blah) should be left to other other teams' supporters and fuckknuckle clueless football commentators. Any way this is a futile effort so i better stop posting in this thread, after a final comment. Watts is a valuable MFC player who has stuck fat when the easy thing to do would have been to swan of to another club and play regular finals (something a truly soft player would do). I'l be there on Sunday cheering him on (and no doubt wincing at the bone headed MFC supporters giving it to him when he makes an error)

As BB siays not really much of a pro Watts argument but what his resilience does show is that he is professional about his training, injury management and preparation. For the last 2-3 years coaches, MFC players and DL training watchers alike have commented on how hard Watts works at training, which should, but won't for some, dispel the myth that he doesn't work hard to reach his potential. Or perhaps i'm wrong and his capacity to reach 100 AFL games in a relatively short period is just another example of his luck not hard work. Perhaps all his coaches have just gifted him games because he went to Brighton Grammar and is a nice kid.

Oh for pets sake Bob do you honestly think roos would have picked him all last season and again this year if he wasn't best 22? Watts would be one of the fist picked not on the fringe. 4 games? Don't worry about that sample size. Look at at last years stats. In particular look at goal assists, goals and score involvements. The coaching staff do. But if you want to focus on the four he has played, he was OK last week, OK against the crowd (in conditions that didn't suit him), average game against gas and one of our best in our win against GC. On what basis then would he be dropped?

Top job dom

Great stats Rev, ta. Third in marks. No 1 for goal assists. Shows his value. Would love to see his GPS figures Where can i find those stats

I disagree but perhaps we are at cross points The public debate (as opposed to ongoing critiques of his game on DL) in the last couple of weeks has been on whether he ducked his head in Adelaide and again against the tigers - not whether he goes hard enough in the air. In fact i don't recall any one outside of DL discussing how hard he goes for marks. But as i recently posted i agree that he should commit himself to more marking contestants as he has a habit of staying down for crumbs but as i also said i think he really addressed that against the tigers flying for lots of marks. I admire someone who works to address issues and Watts has addressed many of his short comings, for instance his appetite for contested ball and tackling skills. Jones did it with his kicking and i hope Tyson and Viney do the same

Yes I agree that part of jabbers post is fair. But I can not recall one other occasion watts has been accused of ducking his head (which is what this faux 'crisis' is about, not taking his eye of the ball)

Indeed. He has almost played 100 games of afl and it has never been an issue. Two dropped marks in the wet and it is a crisis.

I agree

...but telling the club someone else was driving