La Dee-vina Comedia

The risk for the AFL is that now that the curmudgeon has spoken, it might find the public start to support Essendon again just to spite Malthouse.

That will be the death of him. Haven't we already proven that young players can't be leaders?

If you mean AFL Commission, a departure of one Commissioner was announced today with Justice Linda Dessau being appointed as Victoria's next Governor. For the conspiracy theorists out there, that means Victoria's Premier and incoming Governor are both mad-keen Essendon supporters.

Sorry, DC, but I need to correct your spelling. It's "fulminator" - with an "o", not an "e".

Sorry Bing. Your statement that Kent, Jetta and Toumpas are "standing out today" can be read two ways. I originally read it the way I hope you intended - that they are the star performers today. But you could have meant they are not training and just standing on the boundary line. Was my initial interpretation correct?

I'll add a possible fourth. Could it be that players are less likely to run away from their man when we get possession because they don't have the confidence that the kick (or handpass) will find its target? If they've run off their man, he's now free on the rebound and our player then feels he's let the side down. Or worse, our man is criticised by the coaching panel for letting his opponent get free. If I played for a perenially losing team it would be hard to shake the mindset of being defensive and trying to stop your man from scoring rather than providing an option for the disposer of the ball.

I apologise if this has been discussed previously, but why did Matt Jones not get drafted earlier? Was he ignored? Or did he not register for the draft until the Neeld team encouraged him to do so? While he has some deficiencies, one wonders whether he may have overcome the weaker parts of his game if he'd been "in the system" earlier.

Saty, you haven't got Garlett in the forwards for the NAB cup. Accidental oversight or do you think he'll be rested from the NAB cup as Roos already knows what he can do?

I must have missed something. I thought that was ASADA's job.

Saty, Welcome back. I clicked the "like" button before I even read your post out of gratitude.

I seriously doubt anything McLean said or did helped us secure Jackson and Roos. We were bad enough on- and off-field for long enough without McLean's help to warrant AFL intervention.

I understand the spill motion has failed and Saty's been asked to start posting training reports again.

Ironically, if he'd been pick 53 he may have worked harder to prove himself. That may have made him more professional and subsequently more successful. But, of course, we'll never know.

Allen, lighten up. If anyone thinks that I'm describing Colin Sylvia as a tool for making one throwaway line like that I apologise. But I'm quite happy to say a person who has a professional career and cannot do the fundamentals like turn up in an appropriate condition, who runs away from a car accident in a city where every move of a professional footballer is scrutinised and who has been in trouble with the law for a domestic issue...is a tool. He might be a nice guy, but that doesn't change things. He has a gift and hasn't been using it to his best advantage. That's my definition of a tool.

My biggest fear is that we are forced to play a sub-standard Essendon team made up of young kids and some of their VFL team...and we lose. Actually, it could be worse. Someone might get injured, too.

It's a fine line between having all the tools and just being one.

I'm not sure about the need for pre-game music...but if it were needed, 'Turn Up Your Radio' by the Masters Apprentices has the driving beat and sound that would suit the occasion. Pity the lyrics don't match. (And what's not to like about big hair, flares and in and out camera zooms).

I thought this thread was about Sylvia. Why are you quoting Tony Abbott?

Normally I would agree that making a statement that we won't make finals this year seems inconsistent with marketing 101. But given we've been so bad for so long any other statement would place unimaginable pressure on the club and in particular the players and the coaches. Yes, he could have said "We aim to make finals every year" or something like that, but that would just be seen to be the cliche that it is. I'm interested that Plapp and Byrnes are on the MFC payroll. There's a lot to like about having that control...but I wonder if the real story is that Casey doesn't have enough money, or at least there's not enough confidence that it will continue to have enough money, to pay them for the 2015 season.

North have a great song? Really?

Idea just needs a little tweaking. Get the opposition to enter the ground through the fire. Problem solved.

I'm neither here nor there on "leadership groups". But I really like a single Captain and a single Vice-Captain. Adds gravitas to each role.

While I've said that I don't think Dunn has been good enough long enough to be on the banner, I've also said the Captain and Vice-Captain should be there. I therefore have no hesitation in saying that now that he's VC, Dunn should be on the banner.

I don't understand why anyone is surprised that Hird and his legal team are saying they won't rule out a High Court challenge. It seems to me common practice for the avenue of appeal in any legal action to be kept open for as long as possible. Doesn't mean that an appeal will eventually be forthcoming, though. Any comment about the possibility of an appeal should be given the same credence as a club President stating that a coach has the full support of the Board. Or a politician saying, well, anything, really.

Saty, I love your use of the expression "he is what it says on the tin..." Mind you, I hope we've stopped buying our product from the Reject Shop.