Jaded No More

Indeed. Video games, Xbox, poker, repeat.

The show does not and will not interfere with his training or playing schedule. To suggest otherwise is just stupid. Since when are players not allowed to do anything other than play/train/recover? If he was doing a private gig every week (which he used to), would that have bothered you? Or is it just the great publicity he is bringing to the club that is your issue? If Robbo has a poor year it will most likely be a result of injury, possibly a drop in form, but it certainly won't have anything to do with the few hours he dedicates to the show. At least he is filling up his spare time doing something positive (all the voting money goes to charity). You don't want to know what most footballers do when they are not training or playing Btw, do you not think that Robbo would have got the club's permission before putting his hand up for the show?

"a ligament made of industrial-strength polyester fibres is used to replace the torn natural ligament" That knee is going to sweat something fierce It's great news if it works, but it's also good that someone else is being used as the lab rat for this procedure first, because a lot can go wrong with such a delicate body part. Good luck to him though!

I got nothing... all I want are my stickers so that I can decorate my new car

They are pretty feral, that's for sure. That we have to be escorted by police/security because we are opposition supporters, is pretty bad. I couldn't believe it was happening the first time I was there for a game, but you get used to it (and the abuse) fairly quickly. Also had the 'pleasure' of sitting in the Port Adelaide cheer (read: feral) squad on the night we lost to them by a couple of points (2004?), and I nearly got beaten up... they show no mercy even on females!

I don't know that I'll have the patience to sit around and wait if Demonland decides to go into meltdown again, and I'm not going to [censored] myself between the two sites either, so Demonologists will have to come on over. But then a half-arsed update is better than no update.

Prove that Bailey is only worried about Round 1 at this stage No wonder we're having closed training sessions at the moment.

If you want I can give you my mobile number and you can send me updates via SMS and I will post them up here. Then again, you might just want to go and watch the game in peace and quiet... :D

While I passionately hate the Saints, I really do feel for Max Hudgton. He can't get a break when it comes to injuries. As for your point Graz, I've been saying all along that we should keep our key/senior players safe and protected for as long as possible. You would think that an injury-prone list like Saint Kilda's would have learnt that by now.

St.Kilda Carlton Collingwood West Coast Hawthorn 5 is a silly number... 13 is more reasonable :D I hate every team, except Brisbane (mainly because I admire Leigh Matthews and have a rather disturbing fixation with J.Brown).

Fat load of good it did us. FFS, come Round 5 I bet nobody here will remember who we lost to in the NAB Cup and by how much. To put it simply, nobody cares. Do we want to be July champions again? Or do we actually want to pick up the momentum when it counts, with a list that hasn't been overworked? I am willing to bet that, if we keep our injury list to a minimum, we will finish the year with more victories than Richmond.

Fudge! Who is actually occupying our forward line as we speak, with no Neita, Robbo or Juice? ... Ben Holland, come on down

Screw the score... stupid pre-season games! :angry: I rather we lose by 789 points, than suffer a single injury. Hopefully 'neck brace' means good news. Most of the time it's better than 'player clutching knee'/ 'player taken off ground with collapsed lung'

Haha, 'Jamar' and 'two top ruckmen' in the same sentence...ouch!

Thanks! Also any info you can get on Morton would be much appriciated. (This is a fantastic way to distract me from doing a uni assignment... cheers :D)

Don't waste all that sarcasm on practice games... make sure you save your energy for when the real season starts and you really need it Great news about Moloney. faultydet, any ideas how Petterd is going?

Who was on him before?

Thanks for the report 77. Very worrying signs for Whelan, but great news about the other guys.

Really pleased to see Ricky back in the swing of things. He really does deserve all the luck in the world after what he went through last year. Fantastic news for Moloney too. I'm going to assume that our senior players (e.g.- Robbo) will be played on a rotational basis until probably the last week of practice matches where we will try to get a full side together. That goes for anyone who is not 100% either (Brock, Dunn etc...).

Yes please! Note to everyone: print this paragraph, hang it on your wall and memorize it, because you will probably never read a better explanation of what this pre-season is all about. Thank you Old! :D

It's a short term view taken by those who are impatient and nervous, and just want to see a victory so they can lay rest to their own self- doubt. Seriously, you can get McLean or Neitz or Rivers to play one practice match before Round 1, and they might be a bit rusty come the first match, but they have all played enough footy to get back into the swing of things fairly quickly. As I said, I rather we have kids losing by 12 goals, than senior players getting injured and missing 12 weeks. We all know that a horrendous injury list will see us dwindle at the bottom of the ladder again, as we don't have the depth to cover multiple injuries to key players. So if there are any senior players who are not 100%, than they should be rested until such time as we are playing for premiership points. Of course if they are fit, than they get to play in the practice games, but I rather be safe than sorry, especially with those players who have had long injury battles (Moloney, Rivers, McLean, even Neita).

It's not so much the skills that bother me, but the stupidity with which they are executed. No wonder Bailey is putting them all through school. So far it seems as though many of them don't understand the concept of handballing to advantage. They handball for the sake of moving the ball quickly, but if your teammate is not in a far better position than you, you have to KICK the damn thing and at least get the ball out of the danger zone. That was my biggest issue last season. I don't mind the run and carry game plan, but in order to execute it properly you need 22 smart footballers. It's not good always taking the 'move it on at all costs' option, and hopefully what we saw on Saturday is Bailey trying to get it all out of their system, before trailing the real game plan.

Buckley has what we desperately need... PACE! Even if he doesn't make the greatest decisions out there, at least he can outrun the opposition. Hopefully he continues to back himself and his pace, and with time he'll learn how our forward line operates and his decisions will become smarter. He actually has a good kick on him, so he's half way there already. As for Garland, he just lacks the dreaded C word (it's confidence ). He definitely has a nice skill set, and with time and backing from the coach I would love to see him take up the FF/CHF position.

Any chance it's going to be televised on Foxtel?

The biggest silver lining is Injuries: Melbourne: Nil Sydney lost a player for the season with a knee yesterday. All the pre-season victories in the world are not worth losing a key player for the rest of the season. I rather they keep all our key players in cotton wool until Round 1, and let some inexperienced rookies get smashed and earn some much needed time on the ground. It's a win-win, even if there are no actual wins.