Pates

If the club had rolled over this thing would have been over 5 months ago and we would've been on our knees begging for mercy. We publicly stated many times that we would fight and I reckon had it gone to court we would've have a massive crack. But this has already been drawn out and as Don said the costs of this going on for longer could do more damage than good. I support the clubs decision. No draft penalties and a financial fine that I believe we (as a collective) can cover. It's done, I'm happy.

A $500,000 fine for employing people that were found guilty is a bit rich and IMO an unofficial concession from the club that it played a part I what happened. Ultimately it is over, we will have to put with outrage from the Kero's of the world for another week, but this should put it to rest. Everyone dig deep for "Fine Demolition" night!

Incredible that after 7-8 months of this bullsh!t it's finally coming to head. Whether it's a conclusion or not......

So has a press conference been called yet? Usually they happen by either mid-morning or early afternoon, and if we haven't heard of one yet then again it might not happen today.

On a different note the march 9 match v st Kilda at Casey we should try to make a massive turnout. Show Casey that we (the entire club) are embracing the area as a part of us.

That third quarter was one of the best I've ever seen by a Melbourne team. I was devastated after the game.

It's still slanted against us but its infinitely more intelligent and better constructed than Kero's usual diatribe. Just shows there are good writers at The Age sports. Will be a very interesting week.

Nothing ventured nothing gained, it's a sad outcome but bare in mind when we first recruited him his community was pretty peaceful but what developed was completely unforeseeable for the club. If we take that sort of attitude I really think that there is talent that will go wasted. Yes this has been a very difficult situation for the club to be in, and there is merit to being cautious when entertaining the idea of recruiting someone from a remote community, but I'd rather them take the risk every now and then because you could find yourself with a real gem. As for Liam, it sounds like his life is in free fall, I just hope he can pull himself out of it.

I think the Ox has summed it up very well there. The 7 month investigation means the AFL must sanction us in some way, and I think if it gets a resolution we will be prepared to cop some kind if penalty as long as it doesn't cripple us. We will always be bitter that we're the only team that the AFL decided to go after though.

I get what you're saying mate, I really do. But I think the reality of the situation is that while fighting (something I will back the club 100% if it comes to it) will probably hurt the club with it being played out for so long and so publicly. If there is a way to come out of this with a fine that we can cop and no loss of draft picks then I believe we should accept it and move on. The best thing for the club is to get this done once and for all. The massive key is that we don't get done for tanking or engaging in match fixing. Because the ramifications of that with the gaming commission would be disastrous.

I only got there for the second quarter, but from what I saw Watts looked very good, no 10 for Blue (Byrnes?) was in amongst a lot and clunked a few goals, and Viney is very lively. Can someone help me, what numbers are the new guys?

I've been once before but I can't remember, do they have team sheets available? I don't think I'll recognise half of our team!

Well done Don! Good to hear a response from the club.

Probably the most frustrating thing about her and this latest article is that she's in a win/win situation. If we are charged and its harsh penalties she gets to say she was first on the scene with this crap, if the AFL don't charge us or strike a deal that allows us all to save face then she gets to write another article of outrage and she gets to bleat on about it some more. Thoroughly hate her, and will miss seeing Grant Thomas take her down a peg every Monday on FC.

I did the Scarlet Pimpernel in my last year of high school, and aside from this being a great trip down memory lane, that's really cleaver! Great job!

I must've missed the memo when Taylor joined the club! It was something that was always going to happen but I didn't hear any announcement! On topic, best of luck to the young kiwi!

No but his job is to make us financially successful, and the very simple fact is his job is made a lot tougher when the team isn't performing well and winning games. And on the topic of discussion, yes I have no doubt this tanking saga has hurt our sponsorship. Don essentially said that in his speech. If we are to be obsolved of any wrong doing whether down the track through court, or next week we should certainly be looking for compensation.

With the whole drugs issue I think the AFL has a massive opportunity to make this go away. If they announce next week that there are no charges (or something to that effect) then there'll be outrage for a couple of days but the fact of the matter is there are bigger fish to fry in sports journalism at the moment.

I disagree, they are going down uncharted waters trying to prove what appears to be the unprovable. Even Caro didn't seem to think in a court of law they'd be able to prove it. If they can get us to plead guilty to something and avoid the courts, especially with everything that's going on, then they'll try to make it happen. But that would mean us admitting guilt and I don't think that will happen unless we get a VERY good deal. Unfortunately it looks like another year of distractions.

I will also say this Barrett did not seem so convinced, in fact he seemed to almost seemed to question what Caro was saying. Maybe I was reading too much into it.

Our favourite journo has just said on FC that the MFC, Connolly, and Bailey will be charged in the next few days. She's unsure as to whether CS will be charged. A few things on what she said, if she's so confident on the others how can she be unclear on Schwab, her main target. The other stupid comment she made was that she didn't know why McLardy defended the players, clearly she hasn't been in on the story of late as accusations were levelled at players fumbling in the last 3 minutes v Tigers. Every time I see her she just makes me want to punch something.

I think the guy likes to big note himself, clearly doesn't care too much for the club if he's so willing to throw us onto this fire. Lloyd is shocking replacement for Thomas, he'll I'd even take Acker over him, at least you'd get an honest answer.

At the beginning of this saga I was just glad to see the focus of the blood-thirsty media personalities turning to another club. I'm still glad of that but this issue could really hurt the games image. I really feel sorry for the bombers fans, I know they can be real [censored] but end the end of the day they love their club like we do and they don't deserve the sh!t that's raining down on them.

I love the "2012 snapshot" in the Hun, "A shock loss to straggler Melbourne in Round 10 lit the fuse for Essendon’s dramatic demise in the second half of the season. The Dons were the first side to lose to the Dees under Mark Neeld". The papers are really trying hard to create filler material! Like our investigation, I'd like to see an "innocent until proven guilty" tact. Still I'm happy to see the Bombers getting the s-storm poured on them.

If we don't face any charges, then I think this blatant attack on the club needs to be addressed and be confronted. Otherwise she and other journalists will continue to say whatever they want with no concern of consequences.