Pates

If Tom can recapture some form and confidence in defence again it will almost be like we have a new recruit down there. Could allow more flexibility for Lever to play more of the floating intercept marker which is what he's suited for. I also have a soft spot for Tom so I want him to be able to find a regular place in the team whichever end of the park it may be. The first round of pre-season matches will be very intriguing to see as there's very little for the footy media to go on with how teams will look until they're out there again.

Amazing work @Lucifer's Hero, blimey I’ve been missing training reports!

I think your last line is probably the big one, I wouldn’t necessarily buy the idea of him blaming the incidents on mental health, but certainly the week he’s been through would weigh heavily on anyone. It stands to reason that he’d go into a depressive spiral with his shameful actions being played out in the media as one of the leading stories on news outlets and papers. Importantly it doesn’t condone his behaviour but I think it should be a signal for the media to back down a little and let the investigations run their course. It could also trigger a number of other women to come forward on other players doing similar things.

Apologies for getting this conversation onto something training related but I’m starting to get really frustrated at the lack of info coming from the club with training. Pictures are nice but they lack context, there’s also word there was a time trial but is there any article about who performed well? Maybe I’ve been spoilt over the years by D-lands track watchers, and ok I don’t want to hear the usual “boys are flying” but just something about how they are handling training in groups or how Ben Brown is fitting in would be nice.

The lack of info coming from the club is really starting to bug me, if this is the case I’d love a little write up of them asking him how it feels to beat senior players at the time trial and words from Burgess about how the players performed.

It’s a very interesting question, I had a little argument with someone once saying that it appears (on the surface) that it’s a very common occurrence for public figures who have made morally poor decisions/illegal acts to end up pulling out the “taking time away for mental health reasons”. It’s difficult not to see it from the public’s point of view as the person not taking proper responsibility for their actions and using mental health as a screen to hide behind. That said, I have no doubt that the nature of this story being made public has caused him great distress and affected his mental health because it probably would to anyone.

Unfortunately BDA this is most certainly not something that’s confined to the bubble of a footballer with entitlement issues or the state of mind of a bloke. This is something that is extremely common for women/girls that have public social media/chat accounts. Many of my female friends who have social media accounts and online dating profiles have had it happen to them several times I agree with @Lucifer's Herothat of this was in the public he would have the book thrown at him and with regular behaviour probably be put on the SO registry. The law is so far behind when it comes to sharing/sending content over the internet. Teenage girls can get done for creating/distribution of underage pornography by sending a picture to a boyfriend, what should someone get for repeatedly sending pictures of his dong without consent?

If she's on social media (instagram etc) my understanding is that if your account is public anyone can send an instant message to you without requiring your consent. Not saying that is 100% what happened but the days of needing a phone number to contact someone are gone, and even if she gave him her phone number I would've thought a "hey, how's it going. wanna get a coffee or a drink?" might be what someone would go for rather than a d---pick.

I gotta say, I get completely baffled as to why guys thinks it's ok/a good idea to send pictures of their junk to women without it being made clear that it's something they want. What a nob-head Patton is, so glad he's gone to Hawthorn, they're made for each other. Will be very interesting to see the response from the AFL on this.

Weiderman - I really think he has the talent to be a top 10-15 forward in the competition, I think it’s largely down to confidence so hopefully reaching out to Jonno Brown will help Ben Brown - big off season recruit, naturally would like to see him do well and create a dangerous Buddy/Roughead-like combo with Sam Brayshaw - I feel like Angus needs clear direction as he is better than what we saw largely in 2020. Unfortunately I think it’s a bit to do with Viney’s style, this gets sorted and we get back a player who came 3rd in the Brownlow Kozzie - 2020 was a year of “almost’s” for Kozzie. His first shot at goal should’ve gone through the big sticks after creating a great opportunity. He got into dangerous positions lots of times but failed to finish too many times, hopefully a year of experience will help with him taking these chances in 2021 May - had a cracker of a 2020 and it was a disgrace he didn’t even get into the AA squad. I want him to back it up in 2021 and demand he be given AA honours

I would’ve thought this is a measure of the AFL/clubs to ensure that COVID doesn’t get into the AFL bubble.

Yep, no other player leaving cut deeper for me. I was 15 at the time and he was one of those players that almost always created a moment every game that made it worth the price of the ticket. Really happy the club has reached out to him, perhaps he’ll be a supplementary rookie. I’m sure he’s a long way off given he hasn’t been drafted but it’s totally worth the effort to have the possibility of Wiz Jnr kicking goals on the MCG for the mighty Dees!

Can only be a good thing for Sam. I think he’s got the talent to become a really good forward for us, not in the category of Neitz but someone who can kick upwards of 40 goals a year most years. There was one game this year (which I think we actually lost) where he was doing things that I really want him to focus on for the rest of his career and it’s simply being a presence. He has to be able to make an impact even if he’s not kicking goals or taking marks. Would love to say 12 months from now that Brown has been the catalyst to Sam being forward to be feared in the competition.

I would say we're on about level pegging with the Saints but credit to them the thing they showed that was different to us was they had a hunger to do well, we didn't. I basically agree with the summation, the pieces of the puzzle are there but making them fit together is the next step in this journey.

That's exactly it OD, we've been waiting and waiting and waiting for a base in the Melbourne Sporting Precinct. I'm not saying it's impossible, and I take Pert and Co at their word that there is hope for it, but if it's not going to happen let's get ourselves into an elite base because EVERY OTHER TEAM in the competition has bolted out of the gates on this issue while we continue to just sit there and wait.

I still think that extending the Trainline down to Casey from Cranbourne could actually make it a viable location for boutique stadium. I also would have no issue with us making it our primary base of operations provided the facilities out there are elite. I’d still prefer us being closer to the G but I’m also sick of us being nomads.

I’m not a fan of Eddie the person or the personality, I think he’s one that hides poor comments behind the old “we were only joking”. But I have to tip my cap to him for the work he has done at Collingwood, let’s be honest if we had someone doing that for us we’d see him as a god. I don’t have any issue with him saying he’s standing down at the end of 2021, unless the there is a clear succession plan that already exists they will need to make sure that whoever they get in will be fully up to speed and there really isn’t any reason to rush. So long Eddie. ?

This I think is nailing the point, closed sessions until further notice for “COVID” reasons but I think secretly the club would not be unhappy about it being closed off to the public and opposition. Mind you how much can you learn at this stage, it’s mainly fitness until after NY.

“Sources within the AFL said the league wanted to stop the possibility of such a messy outcome occurring again. One obvious solution being considered would require both clubs to verbally indicate the exact amount being paid by each club in the future years of the traded player when the trade is finalised.“ I’d say it’s incredible this doesn’t already happen but honestly the AFL quite often chooses the messiest path. Just ridiculous that this is not one of the conditions for a trade deal being finalised.

I know nothing about them, but good luck to all three of them. Glad to see we’ve brought in players with good foot skills and a bit of x-factor.

Personally I was a fan of his, when he targeted players to get from other clubs we mostly got them over the line. He was highly regarded by Paul Roos and I think he made some good moves throughout his tenure, that said I’m not super sad for him to go. The reason behind that is that he has been in his job for quite a while, and while we have improved since he began we haven’t made enough inroads to say he’s been successful. For that reason I think a change will be good for both the club and Josh. If he was going anywhere else I’d say good luck to him but I gotta say I hope Essendon continue their downward trajectory! That said I hope it’s through no fault of his own and he’s able to continue to have a good career in footy. EDIT: is it likely we’ll promote someone internally to take on the role he’s filled for the last couple of seasons or try to bring someone in from outside?

Great pick up, he’s a very good and experienced operator. The club is putting together a good team to with with Goodwin, can’t say he’s not being provided the best people around him. Lots of experience in successful systems.

Something that always stands out when I see pics of Petracca at training is he is quite often the guy that’s laughing or smiling the most (and others around him doing the same). He’s so clearly a character and teammate that others like to get around and soak up his energy. I’m not saying he should be thrust into a leadership position next season but it’s clear his standing at the club isn’t just from his playing ability but his passion and upbeat attitude.

Given that it appears we’ll be spending more time there due to COVID precautions it’s good that the boys have access to a new facility with good equipment. Compared to all other clubs it’s probably at the bottom but better than before.

One of Melksham's attributes (at least in the past) has been his ability to one on one aerial contests with clever body positioning and good overhead abilities. I think this is one of the major things that allowed him to survive the chop, despite him deserving it IMHO. I'm not sure that Salem has that ability to affect contests in the air. Salem is a little bit of a tough cookie, I like him off half back but I'm not entirely sure if that's utilising his abilities. I'd like to see him tried potentially on the wing opposite to Langdon but I don't think he's quick enough or has a big enough tank. Half forward I'm not sure there's a place for him with a number of similar sized players already there. I'd really love to see him further up the ground but I'm not sure how it would work.