Jaded No More

Drove past the G' not long ago on my way home, and the sky was looking pretty gray and miserable. I don't think the rain will disadvantage us too much, but it may take a toll on the already under-done Saints. Having said that, the sun just came out in Bayside, so who knows.

Taking nothing away from Bruce, but how can you not love and respect that man?! He WANTS to be a leader, he craves that responsibility.... I can't wait for him to take over, be it next year, or in 3 years from now. Finally feeling confident that there is life after Neitz!

You're right, the use of some illicit drugs can lead to the development of bi-polar disorder, which is Hay's condition. At the same time though, I would be very surprised if any doctor would give his patient anti-depressents without finding out the patient's drug history. Mixing illicit and anti-depresent drugs, is just not on. Maybe it explains why Hay couldn't put hand to foot and kick a ball. At the end of the day, the cause of the illness is not all that relevant. Just like with Cousins, I wish Hay the best of luck in trying to recover from what is a really difficult situation. Whether he got paid for the interview or not makes no difference. He didn't make this stuff up, and the pain he was feeling was very evident. On a side note, I think he should have disclosed his issues to the Roos before they paid up big to get him. If he knew that his mental illness could affect his playing at some point, than he should have made it very clear to his new club. Without this knowledge, North Melbourne end up looking stupid and waste a lot of money that they don't really have, and Hay doesn't get the help he needs. A real shame for both parties.

Not so much a kid anymore, but your heart has to go out to him. Mental illness is still a very taboo subject, although it is rife in our society. He looked so defeated, as if life has completely beaten him down. People who suffer from a mental condition have nothing to be ashamed of. They have no more control of the situation than a cancer patient. I wish him all the best. It's not easy to come out on national TV and air your dirty laundry. He's a brave man for doing it, and hopefully now he can move forward and get on with his life.

Very very surprised to see Bartram. He played just 5 days ago! Good line up, except the backline could rival an Alzheimer's clinic in terms of brain-fades potential. Not sure where the drive will come from, given that Ward and Miller can't kick, and Holland can't run. I'm guessing a late change if the weather turns particularly nasty, that is Holland out and possibly Godfrey (hopefully Buckley) in.

A 10 goal win will do me fine (and no injuries)... the rest is details.

I realised that what I wrote was confusing, and made it sound as if the AFL pays the salaries, and not the club. What I meant by the cap being handed out by the AFL, is that they set the top amount clubs can pay their players, a percentage of which has to be used. The point I was making is that our membership money is needed for extra things, not player payments. We can afford to pay the salaries, and probably the minimum amount of staff and equipment. If we couldn't, than no amount of memberships sold could help us. Basically our money is not needed to help fund player's mortgages, recreational habits and so on... I just made it sound very confusing. Should teach me not to post when I'm tired and out of it Seekers, if you have a personal issue, send a PM. I assure you, nobody cares!

Justice served. The AFL could learn a lot from the VFL tribunal. They always seem to hand out much fairer sentences.

Every AFL club has the same salary cap (more or less, some interstate clubs get concessions, but that's a whole other issue <_< ). This is basically a bank of money from which clubs can pay their players. Some clubs choose, or can't afford, to pay 100% of that money, but all clubs must spend a minimum of I think 95% (not sure about this figure) of that cap on player payments. I don't think a club would ever get to a point where it couldn't afford to pay its players. But a lot of clubs are left with pretty much nothing once their players are paid. The reason the salary cap exists is to ensure that richer clubs don't poach players from poorer clubs by paying them more. So yes, it is the club's own money, but a lot of that money is given to the clubs by the AFL through things like TV rights. This is where players negotiated a pay rise when the new deal was made. No amount of memberships sold is going to cover the salaries of 44 players, but it could help fund the salary of another specialist coach, or better training gear, or wireless helmets or whatever

Not really. Player payments come from the salary cap which is handed out by the AFL. Whether a club had 100 member or 100,000, the set amount they can pay their players would remain the same. Membership money goes towards things like facilities, extra staff, training equipment, etc etc.. We need people to sign up because we need to try and catch up to the big clubs who can afford to hire 20 extra staff, have state of the art facilities and equipment, and therefore have an unfair advantage over us. Everyone should buy a membership IF they can afford it. It's not exactly the same as giving money to a charity, but it's certainly the most significant (and easy) way you can help support something you love. And given our financial position, I'd say we're bordering on becoming a charity!

The best thing about the 3 word anaylsis, is that it generates discussion, which is the reason why we're all here. As long as we all stay friendly and calm.... which I know won't happen the moment we lose a game <_<

That's terrible news. Condolences to all of his family and friends, and hopefully the boys have a big win for him this Friday night!

True, especially with Bartram still out. Perhaps they'll surprise us all, and choose someone like Buckley to replace Junior. Bruce or Green can tag. In fact, we should be able to beat their ruckman-less midfield without tagging them. Even without Junior. As long as Brock, Jones, TJ, Bruce and Green are up and running, we'll have them covered IMO. Oh who am I kidding, Godfrey is a certain starter <_<

No mention of that on Ch. 10 news. Said Rivers and Byron will have fitness tests tomorrow, along with plenty of Saints who are under injury clouds. Reiwoldt is unlikely to play, with Kosi and a couple of others only a 50-50 chance.

Has that kid ever made it to Round 1 un-injured? Hopefully it rains, or at the very least Reiwoldt doesn't play, thereby reducing the need for Rivers.

3 more sleeps.... :D :D :D :D

Congratulations, you just won the award for most ridiculous comment written on Demonland, ever. Oh and yeah, the club should appoint Bruce captain because he isn't injury prone... except for those seasons where he got injured and missed a huge part of the year because of those injuries, and when he came back he wasn't having any impact (unlike McLean, who came back from his injuries and made significant impact).

4 more sleeps... :D :D :D :D (18 degrees with rain is the early forecast. Brock for BOG! )

That just proves that you don't read what I write, instead you pop up whenever you feel like picking a fight. Too bad for you that I have better things to do in life than indulge your childish needs. I agree with SJ, Bruce doesn't have 'inspirational' written all over him. He isn't very intimidating, despite being a very VERY good footballer (again for those who can't read... a very VERY good footballer), and he doesn't strike me as the type to stand up for his mates in a battle and drag their sorry behinds over the line. When you compare him to great leaders like Voss or Roo, his ability might not be too far behind, but the killer instinct is just not the same. Talking about the way he trains or prepares for games is irrelevant. Yze is apperantly the most prepared, best- trained player at Melbourne, does that make him worthy of being captain? Of course these elements are important, but there is an apperant lack of ruthlessness about Bruce. When Neitz is out there, you know he will hurt anyone who gets in his way, as will Brock. I can't say the same for Bruce. This doesn't make him less of a player of course, and he is still enormously important to our side. But just because someone is a good player, does not mean they will make a good leader. There is absolutely no debate over his ability as a player. None.

I love that you can sum this up in 3 lines. Absolutely spot on.

Because we'd rather be safe than sorry. Most people are well aware of who Players A, B & C are. If people can't figure it out, they can do a bit of investigating or they can try and PM the original poster to see if he wants to give them the information.

Well I guess thats one less genuine star to put on the table during Judd negotiations. Very happy to see players signing early though. It makes for a less nerve-wrecking trade week.

True, but they will be underdone, and so if our new fitness regime is really as good as what we've heard, we should run all over them in the last quarter. Lyon is kidding himself if he thinks he has inhereted a list that is as physically strong as the Swans. Recent history would suggest that the Saints are highly sensitive when it comes to injuries, and many of their players break down consistently, especially when played underdone. Maybe Lyon will pull out the tape from the last time we played each other, the same game where the Saints ended up having no bench. At least back then it was a must-win final. Friday night is only the beggining. I just hope that Melbourne don't act as desperately as the Saints, and play Rivers, Pickett or Bartram if they are underdone. It's a long season!

First kick: McLean .......................................... First handball: Green .......................................... First free received: Neitz (yeah right! ) .......................................... First free given away: Carroll (in the back rule) .......................................... First goal: Neitz (as a result of the free for, or just because he likes tearing the Saints a new one :D) ..........................................

Talk about manipulating the argument! I never said Bruce wasn't a great player, in fact I'm pretty sure I made it very clear that he is one of our best. But if I remember correctly, you were one of many who were dirty with Bruce a couple of years ago. Yes, he was good last year, and yes he was injured the year before, but he was also very much in the same group along with Yze and Green and some other senior players who often didn't go hard enough, and often didn't show up when it mattered most. Has he changed since? Yes, absolutely (not as much as Green mind you), does that automatically make him captain material? I don't think so. My expectations of Bruce are very reasonable. I want him to perform at his best 9 out of 10 games, and I'm confident he can do that. I don't expect him to lead the team while he does it though. My argument isn't that Bruce is not a good enough player to be captain, it's that he isn't a natural leader. If we were appointing captains on skills alone, we'd have to hand the job over to TJ... a perfect example of why it takes more than an ability to play, to be a good leader.