binman

That's (I assume unintentionally) funny. Because single term liberal governments just make so many smart decisions

This is just too funny: — Ben Smith (@BenSmith94) August 18, 2015 Hird was a class act to the end. Always put players ahead of himself. Eventually he will be remembered as a Mandela type figure #standbyhird

Me being one

Only 121 points off....

This post has touch of what have the romans done for us

Call me crazy but i reckon we'll win this week. We have been competitive against the bullies in the last couple of years and our defensive systems should hold up and help negate their run. They won't smash us in the centre like the Roos, they don't have a player like Brown who stretches our defense for a match up and if we bring our top shelf intensity we can beat them in the stoppages. And we have Hogan who scarily for opposition teams is yet to have his break out game. Call it the vibe but the dees by 23 for my money.

360 next week might be a bit frosty

This comment (in response to why he didn't return the call) from Mags is gold: jamesmagner ‏@jamesmag23 1m1 minute ago @Robbo_heraldsun I'm a busy man and only got the voicemail today! Not a huge fan of your work so there's no point in calling you back...

You expect 100% of all trades and picks to work out? Unrealistic expectations come to mind. My full rebuttal can viewed at post 32 in this thread

It has been said on here time and time again, so some of us must see the same thing as the coaches. Jones is fit, fast, prepared to gut run both ways and most importantly does jobs he assigned. I assume they have a specific role for him to play and as someone mentioned it wouldn't surprise if it was to sit on Harvey. The other factor in his favour is he has been in the best for several weeks at VFL level and as Roos has been at pains to say they want to see blocks of strong performances in order to get a call up. This factor probably counted against the Toump who has been okay but perhaps die to his head knock a little inconsistent.

Jason Taylor part, albeit a key one of a recruiting team that includes Kelly O'Donnell and Todd Viney. In my humble in the last two years the recruiting team has done the best recruiting job in the time i have supported the dees (i started regularly attending games in about 78). My justification for this claim? Bernie Vince has been gold and the best recruit to the dees from another VFL/AFL club since Steven Icke (a player i hold in the highest regard). Vanders has been a revelation. As a mature age player only Barlow comes to mind in recent times who has so immediately adapted to AFL standard football, something that is all the more remarkable for the fact that he was playing in Canberra and not one of the recognised second tier comps (eg VFL, SANFL). Also he perfectly fits the bill for the type of big bodied ball winner Roos's game plan requires (as well as providing some protection for younger mids) We could not have hoped for any more from Gartlett - he has been brilliant. We have not had a really high quality small forward since the Wiz left and it was a huge hole the last few years. 30 odd goals, forward pressure, excitement and seems to be loving his footy. His team mates also seem to love him Whilst it was a no brainer to pick Brayshaw they didn't go all creative and picked him. He is a gun. Total gun. One of the most natural football players i have seen. Full stop. The jury is out on Petracca obviously but all pointers seem to be that we have another gun there. Salem and Tyson: 10 year players and keys to our progress Lumumba? The jury is out. I'm not sure i agree with Baghad Bob, though i see his point. I would argue that he does bring speed and a willingness to run of the half back flank. Has played every game thus far this year and seem a real pro. Frost: jury out but was selected above others and early on and shows a bit Newton, Neal-Bullen and Stretch: have all played senior footy and showed a bit and i love that NB and Stretch are best mates I also love that they got T-Mac junior to the club I reckon White and King could be be bolters and end up being important players Impressive roll call i reckon.

Like H-H i noted his enthusiasm, but alos noted how engaged other players were with him, particularly after the last goal of the game. The game was dead and buried when he kicked it yet it seemed most of the team wnet to him, like the reaction after a young players first goal. It me wonder if they knew he was staying. That said i have no doubt he can get a much bigger contract at another club than we will be prepared to pay him so the odds are that he is gone.

Absolutely - and to be fair that's what you have $1000 a day lawyers for

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.