Striker475

So in summary: She mad.

Laughs were had, and they were hearty. I wonder if we'll get a retraction?

Don't know if Mike Pyke was. The basketballer that the Roos took was. Heatherly at Hawthorn will almost certainly make it onto an AFL list at the end of this year as he becomes draft-eligible.

He qualifies for this year's ND, all reports are Hawthorn are following through on him, meant to be a real talent.

I'm okay with leaving Mitch for as long as required - the Lisfranc is one of the worst injuries a footballer can have. Took a year out of Richo's career and ended Croad's. If we get him back, ready to go, even if it's as late as round 15 or 16 but without re-injury I'd much prefer that.

Is getting an invite an indicator though? I thought a lot of blokes turn them down to stay TAC/SANFL/WAFL

There was an article years ago where he has had issues even when he was playing, can't remember if his vision was actually affected.

I don't think it can. Even with contested football as we're seeing it's not generating those sorts of collisions that the NFL get. The NFL tackles have one guy specifically trying to block and stop the momentum that another guy has. Think of it like a car crash with the seatbelt - you've got that forward momentum, the seatbelt locks and you're stopped and thrown backward. It's that kind of incident with less force, but with head impact added and made to repeat for years - high school (2-3 years), college (3 years) and NFL for however long. The AFL doesn't have that. The vast majority of our tackles don't see those awful head impacts with the ground, and when we do see them they're remarked upon. Furthermore, they don't have that car-crash style force that the NFL has, because it's tackle-and-evade rather than tackle-and-block. Finally, there's also the disposal point; NFL players can't really get rid of the ball in order to prevent the hit, while AFL players generally do. It may happen, but it's much less likely because of the simple mechanics of AFL.

NFL is different. The problem in NFL that the AFL doesn't have is that repeat-force collision stuff. If you watch NFL you know what I mean - a Junior Seau, who is the most recent and famous case, played linebacker. A linebacker's job is either to work in coverage, or more importantly, function in a blitz - where multiple guys attempt to rush the QB. Their goal is to gain speed and hit as hard as they can, repeatedly. You're talking 15-16 times a game, sprinting at full speed, running into a 100kg guy who is pushing back at you. The AFL doesn't have those kinds of collisions. Pure and simple. You'll find the NFL will have less problems proportionally among quarterbacks and special teamers because they aren't taking the same frequency of hits. In terms of the AFL, there's only one REAL possible case of what the NFL calls CTE - Chronic traumatic encephalopathy - that I know of; that's Daniel Bell. No other cases have been identified as of yet (publicly), but cases out of the 1980s where we had [censored] like Derm's kidney should have happened. They haven't. It's a problem, but frankly it's being overblown because of the NFL's problems. It's simply not the same.

In, say hello to the Sporting GHRP-6ers

Hrm...maybe it's time to start to nudge Dad along the path...he thought about it a couple of years ago...

On us, you would think Misson would be clean with track record with CA, Sydney and St Kilda; known for managing injuries rather than Essendon-style masses of ST problems. NC is questionable. Not for conduct at Adelaide or at Melbourne, but years earlier; there's been rumours for as long as he was coach at Adelaide regarding his conduct when he was at the AIS. That is questionable, but it's so long ago that who knows if it could ever come to light. I doubt he has done anything since though.

Clean up the [censored] sport. You guys talk about Lance. You want true success? Go and watch Cadel's first proper presser after winning the Tour de France. All the journos got up and gave him a standing ovation - not because he won, but because they knew he was clean. It's worth it to win clean.

It's getting BIGGER. http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/organised-crime-and-drugs-in-sports-feb2013.pdf Multiple codes, multiple sports. Surely couldn't have been us though right? Might even explain us falling away seemingly...

Just to clarify. - Players would be individually charged by the ASADA and charged. There is a 2-year penalty for a first offence. - The club, the coaching staff etc. would all be dealt with by the AFL.

Just PM'd you. I'm back in but adminning on my own will be a bit rough - I'm in the US right now and will be until the end of the month, plus I've got another league to commish for. I'm happy to help out and split with someone, but if someone wanted to take over outright it wouldn't phase me either.

Listening to SEN. First footy fix in months being overseas too which is good... I reckon they're stuffed here. Seriously. ASADA won't back down.

haha, I have posts from 6 months ago on BF suggesting the exact same thing.

WJ, that's MY idea!

Essendon won't get banned for two years. What would happen is the individuals would get banned. The problem is, the worst case where nearly their whole list is implicated sees 30-odd players suddenly gone for 2 years. They'll be forced to emergency draft players who nominate out of the VFL, WAFL and SANFL. Guys like Gartlett and Manson would probably get a crack.

I'm so glad I've been away from it for nine weeks. I've just started catching up on footy properly in the last week or so, and to be honest, the case isn't any stronger - in fact, in my opinion it's quite possibly weaker due to the departure of AA. The key investigation into those last three minutes of the Richmond game are very interesting, because, well...what if McMahon missed? That's the variable that the AFL absolutely has to take into account in all of this. There's no smoking gun here. It's a tough sell to convince me there's tanking here.

Couple of things: - If we go down as a club, it'll be under the 'bringing the game into disrepute' clause. That'll happen for CS and CC too. - That said, I don't think we will. Adrian Anderson gone hurts the investigation, considering he would have been leading it. Further to that is the reports in the AA-resigning articles which suggests that DB agrees with the humour contention that has been going around. - Furthermore, the AFL do now have their fall guy. They can claim Anderson was dumb about it all.

I doubt it. -> Neeld noted that in many midfield KPIs in the second half of the year we were on par or even better than our opposition. The problem here was a total lack of a forward line. Mitch went down, and we had noone behind him, hence Judy and Riv playing at CHF and FF - total joke. Assuming we keep pace with the KPIs, the return of Mitch as well as the addition of Dawes and Pederson will simply give the midfield a target. -> In addition, you have to look at the reasons for departure. Dawes was forced into that 2nd ruck/forward role - a role which he himself said didn't suit him, and which Neeld has stated he will not use him in. Pederson was trying to break into a forward line which had Petrie as the lynchpin. Byrnes was shut out due to Scott going to a 'play-the-kids-where-possible' philosophy - and I don't necessarily think he just came in for onfield impact anyway. Same with Rodan. -> If you straight-swap Viney for Moloney, Terlich for Rivers and Morton for Toumpas, are we REALLY any worse? Terlich probably, but he'll offer rebound off half-back that Rivers didn't. Furthermore, Sellar can slot into that stop-the-gorilla role that he did well at times this year. The reality is, 2013 is Neeld's true *first* year. He took 2012 to evaluate where the list was at and was found wanting. So he culled heavily, brought in tools he could trust in and is seeking to push from there.

For the record: - The last out-and-out superstar I'd consider Melbourne had was Farmer. - The 'OP' calls for JT were made by numerous posters, myself included, over the season. It wasn't just the seeming loss of pace - in particular it was a loss of power in his kicks. He lined up at one point from around 50, 45 degree angle on the members side, kicking to the PRE. Was fairly early in the season, can't remember the exact game. Kick would have been lucky to go 30m. Classic OP symptom. I think he'll be much better in 2013. Partly because I think more heat will go elsewhere from about Rnd 3 or 4 once everyone realises how f---ing dangerous (sorry mods, but it needs to be said in this case!) JV is out of the clearances, and seek to counter him, as well as attempting to stop the outside carry of a Blease or a Nicho.

The rumours around, particularly concerning a certain high-profile player from a team that no Melbourne supporter would like, are concerning. What the AFL should do though is difficult though, particularly when so many aspects of these guys' lives are already so regimented by the professionalism of sport. I like the diversions to drug programs for players, but there needs to be more. It's going to blow up sooner or later. It'll either be Dustin Martin (where the reports are equally as concerning as the player I mentioned above) or another high-profile player which changes things.