Jaded No More

It really isn’t. The league is currently facing multiple legal challenges relating to head injuries and negligence. It is by far the biggest issue facing the AFL currently. Hence the crackdown on all head high contact that we’ve seen this season from the MRO. Essendon suffered for years for what they did, and points were dropped in essence, since they made finals but were disqualified. That’s a far worse penalty than losing a couple of match points. Nobody is suggesting the same for Port, but they are REPEAT offenders in this space and deserve a hefty penalty, or else what sort of message is this sending to clubs?

Now Port wants an independent doctor. How about just get a doctor who does the right thing? 🙄

Danger is too busy commentating and running Geelong obviously

It is pretty annoying that we still don't know when we play in Round 24. I am heading up to Queensland that weekend for an early birthday celebration, and was hoping to arrange a time in the schedule so we can watch the game, but it's taken the AFL that long to sort it out, we had to arrange other stuff in the meantime. I would have guessed we would play the Saturday night for Buddy's farewell, but with that now off the table, we may well get an afternoon slot.

It’s less about Buddy hurting us and more about Sydney being really motivated to get him a win in his last game… not to mention the umpires 🙄

I’ll take it 😂

I feel like time has stood still while Clarry’s hamstring has been healing.

What I don’t understand is why the AFL doesn’t have a hard set of rules for clubs found to be in breach of concussion protocols? Why are we once again making things up on the fly? Surely the AFL should have put in place rules around concussion protocols breaches. Had Port known in advance that messing around with concussion will likely lead to them losing premiership points, or draft picks, or a significant amount of money from their soft cap, would they have risked it? Probably not. The AFL as always is reactive after the fact. Never ever should this have been allowed to occur. Now it’s a media circus and nobody has any idea how it all ends. And in all of this we’ve lost sight of the poor players, especially Aliir, who was made to go back and play with a concussion. I can only imagine the distress his family felt watching him return to the field.

I hope he can sleep at night, knowing that one of his star players could have copped another head knock on Saturday night and ended up with permanent brain damage, and he still couldn't win the Showdown. What happens if Aliir collapses on the ground or ends up with a brain bleed? How does the AFL come back from that? Port are taking the absolute p#$$ with this behaviour. It is a disgrace.

It was always my suspicion that Kenny was in self preservation mode this season. I have no idea what triggers he has in his current contract, but my feeling was that he knew he had to finish top 4 to have any chance of getting another contract at Port. So they went hard, and they went early. They "managed" a heap of players leading into the Carlton game, and haven't won a game since. It screamed of poor load management, and I don't buy for a second that all 7 omissions were due to injury. Their desperately poor handling of Aliir and Jones only further makes me think that they are worried about their position in the top 4. They would have expected to win 2 of their last 3 games. Now they're heading to Geelong, with Geelong in desperate need of a win if they are to play finals. Lose that game and the wheels may well fall off.

When he does play, I am 100% certain that it would be because he is 100% fit and ready. The club won't take even the smallest risk with him. If this week is the week he's ready, then he comes and plays and we can manage his minutes as you say. He can share TOG with Viney, which kills two birds with one stone, as Viney could use a lighter week, and Clarry could use some game time.

Ok thanks. It's telling me now the M34 has no tickets left. Might have to get them through the Demon Army which will make @WalkingCivilWar happy 😄

His leg of speed is ultimately the issue. He is a meat and potatoes midfielder who will go on to have a good career in a midfield that needs pure inside extractors. Unfortunately at Melbourne he is competing with A+ inside extractors like Clarry and Viney, and he is a C+ player. He also doesn't have the speed or kicking penetration of Sparrow, who is extremely underrated for what he brings to us. Injuries have opened the door for him, but unfortunately he hasn't done anything to suggest that we should tweak our first choice set up to accommodate him. JVR and McVee have both been able to dislodge senior players to stay in the side. Unfortunately JJ just hasn't done enough. I like him and he would be great depth, but it's completely understandable if he wants to be more than that elsewhere, just as it is completely understandable that he can't be a first choice midfielder for us right now.

Thanks. I paid $15 last week against the Tigers for M32. Strange. Do you know if they'll release more tickets in M36-M29? Or is M34 the only level 1 likely to be available?

Burgoyne retiring really hit hard.

He’s 36. Calf injuries are never good at that age.

Zorko is an eye gouging little [censored]. Him complaining that someone did him wrong on the field is both ironic and hilarious. I wish him and his tiny balls all the best going forward. Thoughts and prayers are with his wife.

You didn’t watch the first half of the Hawks game?

I learnt the hard way not to believe Goodwin when he tells me Oliver should be right in week x 😂

Poor Oliver. But I agree. A freak.

And Port… 🤌

Sparrow my underrated king!

Touk deserves 12 votes. 10 for his game, and 2 for grabbing Zorko by his teeny tiny balls.

At 32 and having missed 5 games Gawn > the rest

Yep. Trying to dodge not one but two players going into concussion protocol. Putting Aliir back on and subbing Jones out with a “migraine”. It is as deliberate as it gets. And all to win a bloody Showdown. Pathetic!