La Dee-vina Comedia

Doesn't mean Neeld was necessarily wrong. Might be the players who needed the kick up the backside. Nevertheless, what's done is done. My hope is that the Neeld toughness provides some residual benefit so the next coach, whether it's Craig or not, is building on what Neeld put in place and not tearing it down and starting over. I don't think any of us can stomach a rebuild of a rebuild of a rebuild.

But does he have enough pace to go with his height and strength? I'd say he doesn't. Pedersen does - but doesn't have enough height. So, I'd play McDonald on Tippett, Frawley on Reid, Dunn on Mumford/Pyke and Garland on Bolton. And prey for rain on Sunday. And while I'm predicting match-ups, I suggest Nicholson will tag Hannebery.

Gee...put your neck on the line with that prediction!

I suspect the Jesuits at Xavier College don't spend a lot of time educating their students about what's kosher and what isn't. Conversely, not a lot of Jewish kids have made it onto AFL lists, although there have been a few including Ezra Poyas, Mordy Bromberg, Henry Ritterman and most famously, Ian Synman.

And listen to Kevin Sheedy regularly starting sentences with "To be perfectly honest..." which I suspect means he's about to tell a porky.

Not to mention "yeah, nah" If he was being interviewed by Andy Maher, I wonder whether we heard the marvellous "comparisons are onerous" - which I've heard the aforementioned use at least twice.

As a matter of interest, what did this say before you edited it? I'm guessing you're making a "bold prediction" that Melbourne will beat Sydney this weekend by 6 points. But what does the "I have just come back from" mean?

Is that correct? Wouldn't he have been at Richmond when PA won the flag? And, of course, he wouldn't have won a premiership with the Tigers.

No and no

For those who didn't see the game and haven't got the time to watch the replay, this sums up the game in just a few seconds.

Not only will we have a different coach, but half the team will be different. Seven players named on that day are no longer with the club and another five are questionable because of known injuries (Grimes, Blease, Jamar, McKenzie, Clark). In addition Magner can't be picked if Grimes is.

Does being captain make a difference? Not just at Melbourne, but at any club. Didn't Luke Hodge come back after an injury via Box Hill? Having said that, if he's fit - and that's a big 'if' - I see no reason for him not to come straight into the seniors.

Oh well...forget everything I just wrote, then

Perhaps I should have said someone who works for him read Demonland and mentioned it to him...

My reading (which I admit is not extensive) leads me to believe that the players and the people in charge at Essendon were deceived. I don't want to suggest by whom as to do so could be defamatory - but it doesn't necessarily have to be the first person one might think of in this situation. Could be a supplier, for example. I wonder if that means the players didn't check whether AOD-9604 was prohibited because at the time they were not aware they were being injected with it. There is a similar precedent for that player in Western Australia who was excused (I think) for having a positive drug test because the drugs were introduced via a surgical procedure when he was under a general anaesthetic and he had no knowledge of, nor did he give consent, to their administration. I can't believe Essendon continues to be confident that their players did nothing wrong unless there is a genuine reason for that confidence. Surely it can't just be spin.

Or maybe Hutchy just misread Demonland where a number of posters have been promoting him as our possible next senior coach.

Oh...there's already a thread on this topic called Top Heavy. Better to put any discussion there.

Don't want to hijack the Fitzpatrick thread, but Dunn while a good long kick for goal is not a good field kick. He kicks the ball too high so it takes forever to reach its target thereby allowing the opposition to spoil. Now, back to Fitzpatrick. What's our preferred long-term big man combination once Jamar is no longer playing? Can we play all of Gawn (or Spencer), Hogan, Clark, Dawes, Watts and Fitzpatrick in the same team? Given our dearth of midfielders and other teams' shortage of ruckman, do we trade out one of the big guys (and if so, which one) for a midfielder (or two)?

Having both Pedersen and Sellar as emergencies worries me. Could this mean one or both of Frawley and Dawes might not quite be right?

Particularly if WADA or ASADA were approached and didn't provide a clear or definitive response. I could imagine a conversation along the lines of: Ess: "AOD-9604 is listed on the ACC website as not being prohibited. Is that correct?" WADA: :"Yes" Ess: "Thanks"

I should have a look at the legislation. I suspect they can make him appear but they may not be able to make him answer questions. I know we have some lawyers on Demonland - does an individual always retain the right to refuse to answer questions? or can legislation over-ride that basic human right?

I think it was this one from the Australian Crime Commission's website which states (look particularly at the last line): AOD-9604 is a variant of growth hormone which has fat burning properties and may be used by athletes to increase power to weight ratios by better utilisation of fat stores. AOD-9604 is about to enter phase three clinical trials.12 During phase two clinical trials it was also found to have an anabolic effect on cartilage tissue and may promote cartilage creation and repair and have a capacity to enhance muscle formation.13 AOD-9604 is not currently a WADA prohibited substance. I don't think anything Jobe Watson said on TV makes a difference as I assume he said exactly the same to the ASADA investigators. I suspect that Essendon believe that they can either prove that WADA or ASADA advised that AOD-9604 was OK to take (even if the WADA/ASADA official who told them was mistaken) or that there is sufficient doubt about the status of AOD-9604 that it would be impossible to take action against the club or players. That's not to say the AFL won't take some sort of action against the club for its poor governance of the issue. In fact, Watson might have deliberately said what he did to exude the confidence necessary to get journos to start reframing the debate by writing something similar to what I've just written. Finally, I wish we had a captain with the on-field skill, off-field personality and obvious leadership which he gives Essendon. Edit: typos

In last night's Ess v WCE game, Channel 7 displayed the teams in a way that I've never seen before. Each team was presented with 5 defenders, 3 forwards and the rest as mids. I didn't like it - but I can understand the media's frustration when teams consistently publish their teams in positions they clearly won't play.

Neil Craig might sue you for defamation

Replace the words "Mark Neeld" with "Julia Gillard" and "senior coach" with "Prime Minister" and it could be an article in any newspaper in Australia today.