Macca

Goodwin generally knows how to get the best out of Jack ... the key to it all will be the timing. Also, Watts it at his best when he's the 3rd forward/utility/part time ruck. When needed as a focal point, he struggles. I'm astonished that Hogan is back so early but him being back will help with Jack's return to the side. I'd expect to see Watts back for the Pies encounter - 2 weeks out should do the trick. We need his assists and finishing skills.

Ha ha ... that's it in a nutshell. However, Tottenham no longer seem to drop points inexplicably so top 4 is attainable if augurs well. Spurs are well coached & well managed. Winning the league will probably come down to how the big 6 teams all fare against one another. For instance, your blokes could get the 3 points against a slightly dishevelled Chelsea this week. Win that and you're right amongst it. I liked the look of Man Utd on the weekend ... Lukaku & Matic have already made a big difference. This might be the most competitive season we've seen for an age. Hard to fathom why a 28 year old Diego Costa isn't playing anywhere at the moment - I'd have him at the Hammers in a heartbeat. He's a maverick but knows how to get on the scoresheet.

That is sad news rjay ... one of my favourite jazz guitarists. Another musician to be taken by cancer. 'The Music Inside' is a track of his that I never tire of ... at his best on that one. RIP Chuck Loeb ... his music will always live on. Here's 'The Music Inside' & 'Blue Kiss' ...

Ha ha ... I'm very much the same with the Packers divisional rivals. Especially the Bears. Packer fans really hate the Vikings as well. I've got a mate who is a more recent convert to the NFL and he picked the Lions just so we can be rivals (he's also a bloody Collingwood supporter!) The divisions staying with the same make-up of teams for long periods must build up intense rivalries over there. The Packers/Bears rivalry is an ancient one and is ongoing. Outside of the NFC North I always take a keen interest in the NFC East games.

Highlights of last night's game .... And here's the line-up of EPL games to be shown on SBS (assuming SBS are going to be covering the Saturday lunchtime fixtures - ongoing) Sat Aug 12 ... 9.30pm Burnley vs Liverpool Sat Aug 19 ... 9.30pm Swansea vs Man Utd Sat Aug 26 ... 9.30pm Bournemouth vs Man City Sat Sept 9 .... 9.30pm Man City vs Liverpool Sat Sept 16 .. 9.30pm Crystal Palace vs Southampton Sat Sept 23 .. 9.30pm West Ham vs Tottenham Sat Sept 30 .. 9.30pm Huddersfield vs Tottenham

That was a decent opening fixture .... Leicester led twice and ended up losing 3-4 to the Gunners. It could be quite a season with 6 teams having a genuine chance at the title. Here's my finishing order (for what's it's worth) ... Man City Man United Arsenal Liverpool Chelsea Tottenham West Ham (14th)

It's what clubs do as a matter of course. And we put the time into these top-end picks and all the other clubs do the same because of the general belief system in drafting. Top-end picks nearly always get more time to prove or establish themselves. We gave Morton 5 full years but Roos called stumps on Toumpas after only 3 years. From an overall perspective, there are a myriad of other, similar stories. Drafting is a flawed system. There have been over 200 threads (it's true) pertaining to Jack Watts. To say that figure is out-of-whack in comparison to most of our other recruits would be understating things to an extreme level. He gets way too much attention, all things considered.

We will almost certainly be talking about the very same issue in the same way in 5, 10, 20, 30 years time ... unless a sporting body decides to get ultra-serious about illegal PED use. I'm holding out hope that that will happen. The AFL can and should be at the forefront but they've put the whole issue into the too-hard basket as well. They like to portray themselves as the moral crusaders but only if there's a dollar in it for them. If we saw something like that (a sporting body clamping down on PED use) we could at least say that they're doing everything possible. Weekly blood tests with blood passports is what is needed (as a minimum) Across the board in all sports. Oddly enough, cycling & a number of the Olympic disciplines are doing a great deal of blood testing with blood passports attached etc etc. However, those sports are so tarnished with the cheats being exposed so recently that most still view those sports as being the worst. But the 'worst' is what we can't readily see. Big time Soccer does virtually nothing, the big 4 American sports turn a blind eye and so on and so forth. Baseball has more stringent testing now but it's miles off being enough. And Baseball was forced to act after that sport was completely over run with steroid use. All their records should include asterisks. As previously stated, drug cheats will cheat in any sport. Anywhere, anytime.

Yep ... and another back-up ruckman , a ruckman forward and a KPD And we need a dynamic midfielder or 3. King might come on and so might Filipovic but the MC would know. Most clubs have to make-do with what they've got though ... building a super-list is extremely difficult with an 18 team competition. Unless they implode, GWS should be thereabouts for at least another 5 years. They were smart enough to offload their busts earlier than usual and have replaced those players with more top-end picks. Double-dipping (so to speak) And if it is a numbers game which can be understood, they're getting it right. Most clubs persevere with top end picks until the obvious is even more obvious. We've done it.

If we just simply judge any player on form alone (sometimes players are left in the team to gain experience or such-like) then Watts should be viewed by the MC like any other player. But here's the thing ... who do we replace him with? A player who may not be much better or perhaps a player who can't play his role? (3rd or 4th forward type) Sometimes you just have to keep playing blokes and then hope for the best. We know he can play better but he's not on his Pat Malone in that department. Watts is also the sort of player who can play quite well against the lesser teams. A lot of players are like that though. I'm with @rjay ... it's time to throw him into the ruck periodically. The physicality of rucking is forced upon him and the rucking seems to improve the other parts of his game.

Our best is better than St Kilda's best ... ditto for Brisbane & Collingwood. So if we can produce our best in the next 3 games, we'll win all 3 games. I'm expecting a 100% performance against the Saints ... we're coming off an 8 day break so we should be freshened up. At this stage of the season it's not a matter of fitness, it's more so getting over little niggles and the trackwork wouldn't be heavy. The way footy is played these days not having Hogan is by no means a catastrophe. You'd obviously rather have him playing but we can still have a functioning forward line without him.

All this talk about Watts would be negligible if he was just another recruit like most of the rest of the players. Gawn is rarely referred to as pick 36 and Hunt is also rarely referred to as pick 57. I could give you numerous other examples. But if a player is a top-end draft pick such as Watts, It's a completely different story. Collectively we then often judge the draft pick number, not the player. We really do. And by now, most should have realised that the draft and the order that we pick these schoolboy footballers is a misnomer and majorly flawed. Watts is turning out to be the footballer that he was always going to turn out to be - the issue is that we like to forecast greatness according to a draft pick number and if that greatness isn't forthcoming, we lash out. Not all, but many think that way. All because of a numbering system that is by no means accurate. All of the following players were standout juniors and in some cases, absolute star juniors ... Pick 2 - Sylvia (C+) Pick 5 - McLean (C+) Pick 1 - Johnstone (B) Pick 4 - Morton (D) Pick 4 - Toumpas (D) Pick 1 - Watts (C-) Pick 2 - Trengove (C-) Of the rest, It's too early to tell with Petracca, Brayshaw & Weideman although Oliver looks to be the goods. Nearly half of all 1st round draft picks are busts and in nearly every case, those players referred to as busts were standout juniors. By the same token, it would be interesting to see where Jack would be if he was a pick 50 or thereabouts.

The huge ongoing issue of doping in sport is only going to get worse. Way way worse. The Gatlin story is a mere pimple on the World's ass. There is no easy fix and the reality is that there is no fix at all. Not a feasible one anyway. Those expecting WADA to be able to address the issue in even a minor way are dreaming. WADA's funding is unbelievably minuscule and they need billions. But the other real issue are the sporting bodies themselves. Most couldn't give a rats clacker and most are doing virtually nothing to test and catch their own cheats. And the cheats are everywhere, in every sport. Even suburban sport. Take the AFL for example ... on average they conduct 1 urine test per player per year. And you won't catch drug cheats doing urine tests. So why don't they do more? Because they don't want to. Transparency has its price. If I was to hazard a guess I reckon about 7-10% of current AFL footballers have either dabbled or are using performance enhancing drugs. And that's without factoring in the Essendon club. And why wouldn't they? Their chances of being caught are negligible (if they're smart about it) And don't expect the sporting media to give a full account on how things are either - they'd rather dumb it all down to Justin Gatlin.

The Record Fakers A country of just 17 million dominated track and field for a decade. But they did so illegally. The truth is that it was more like 2 decades and it wasn't just 'Track & Field' events. The BBC audio documentary (above) gives a shocking account about a Country once known as East Germany. The 'Stasi' were heavily involved and thousands of young lives were completely ruined in the pursuit of gold medals. The State-sponsored steroid program was practiced on athletes as young as 11-12 years old. As a consequence many of these athletes were thrown out of their own gender's. Of course, history has a habit of repeating itself so we've seen the Russians, Chinese, Cycling, Baseball, Weightlifting, American football, various sporting clubs (e.g. Essendon & Cronulla) and numerous individuals go down the same murky path. Cheating (doping) has never been, nor will it ever be peculiar to any particular sport. But East Germany took things to a level perhaps only rivaled by the Russians.

You're probably right but the club needs to to take it as a given that the Eagles will prevail in that match against the Giants. Where as us supporters can look ahead all we like, the club needs to just make sure we get any sort of win next week ... and then attack the Brisbane game thereafter. We have to get to 13 wins though ... no good complaining about missing out on percentage with only 12 wins. We get to that number (13) and we should see some September action. In at least the last 20 seasons, not 1 team has missed out on the finals after winning 13 or more games.

I wish I shared your view on the Giants but they're not always switched on either - that's their main issue as they've got plenty of talent. The optimist in me believes that if we win our last 3, we're in. Lose next week and we're almost certainly done. .

If we can beat the Saints then we should then account for Brisbane. The Pies game then looms large with that mob running into a bit of form. 13 wins should secure us a spot but we'll still need 1 loss from each of the Eagles & Dons (or beat them both out on percentage) The Crows should beat Essendon next week but they might be in a position where they can rest their good players (tank) in round 23 against the Eagles. The Bulldogs tanked their round 23 game against Freo last season. Looking ahead it wouldn't be a bad thing if the Pies reappointed Buckley in the next week or so. The Pies under Buckley are terribly inconsistent. Whilst he's coaching for his football coaching career they are dangerous. I reckon we'll turn our form around but we now need a bit of help (elsewhere) to make the finals.

For those without cable or a game pass the Seven Network will be covering 3 live games again on Monday's (our time) ... and that includes SNF. That agreement is for the 2018/19 season as well. There's a decent line-up of Thursday night games again this season ... the Pats & KC kick off the season on Sept 7th (Friday 8th our time) and here's the full line-up of Thursday night games.

I don't agree ... I reckon you've convinced yourself that he was some sort yes-man who didn't make his own decisions. In the end, he would have always known that the buck stopped with himself so if he did kowtow to others, that's on him anyway. As a coach, you have to own all the decisions as if you made them all yourself. I reckon he was much more of his own man though and was just simply not up to the task. Most coaches end up that way though - the emphasis on premierships is so profound that we end up with an enormous number of failed coaches. Personally, I have a high regard for Bobby Rose, Neale Daniher, Rodney Eade, Ross Lyon, John Northey and a number of other coaches who have never attained the ultimate success - but in the eyes of many, they failed. It's never been one size fits all in my eyes.

I agree with you on that to a degree ... but if we judged Dean on how the team performed and the state of the list, he wasn't successful by any means. The final press conference was poor form by the club but we also left Neeld out to dry for his final few weeks as well. Of course, Neeld was universally disliked in the end so I suppose no one seemed to notice. The Daniher exit was rather messy too. It's any wonder Roos organised his own exit plan before he even started coaching us!

You can believe what you want to believe - but your bias towards Dean Bailey influences your opinion. I judged Bailey on how the team played under him and his list management. We were terrible on all fronts. With regards to the tanking I reckon they were all in on it - except the players. But again, who cares anyway? All the clubs were doing it and it still goes on now. You don't see Hawk fans uttering a word about their tanking years ('04 & '05) for one simple reasons - the benefits of their tanking resulted in premierships. We on the other hand kept drawing the short straw with our top-end draft picks so the tanking ended up rearing its ugly head. It's all connected for those who can see things clearly. A lower pick gives a club greater bargaining power though - e.g. pick 1 can be converted for a better reward than pick 3 (in theory)

It's not just the footy clubs, all sorts of businesses & companies have invested into these despicable revenue machines. Your friendly neighborhood supermarket is right into them. The whole gambling industry needs to be pegged back in a dramatic way but unfortunately, we're seeing it going the other way. The AFL could get all the clubs to sell out of these ventures but that isn't going to happen - we're dependent on the machines but so are all the other clubs (save for North Melb and the 'Company-store' clubs) I'm all for free enterprise but I'd rather see the end of these dastardly contraptions. They are a scourge on society.

I saw Dean Bailey as one of the main instigators with the tanking based purely on his role as head coach. Without the coach being totally involved in the tanking, it's hard to see the tanking being successful. And like it or not, we did manage to tank successfully for those priority picks (just like so many other clubs did on numerous occasions) But I had or have no attachment to the bloke like you obviously do. I never play faourites and I never have anyone in the gun. Also, I don't have a problem with tanking when the ruling bodies continually turn a blind-eye. We never had any tanking before drafting. Anyway, apparently, ... "There's no such thing as tanking"

Speak for yourself Wyl - you should never assume that everyone 'knows all that' Mine was an opinion anyway - not a statement of fact. If you want to continually beat yourself up about what many would describe as a complete witch-hunt, you go right ahead. You'll get support here though - misery loves company. I saw the whole thing as a media beat-up from a bunch of clueless journo's (led by Carro) with nothing better to write about. It still goes on now - the subject matter just changes. A 6 month investigation and the only quotable reference was some innocent off-the-cuff remark about 'Zulu's' and some absolute BS about some sort of 'Vault' ... and the CEO was apparently on one occasion 'Ashen-faced' over a result. That was it, that was the evidence. By the way, who do you think is behind the tanking? Do you honestly believe that the Coach, CEO, Pres, Footy ops manager and all the rest of them aren't all involved? The Coach is the main man and if you believe otherwise you really are naïve.

Tanking has happened at least 30-40 times by up to a dozen different clubs ... for a while there the issue was completely out of control ('03, '04 & '05) But here's the deal - so what! Most teams who tank are garbage teams anyway. I've never understood the angst. After 13 rounds in '09 we had a record of 1 & 12 and for the most part of that season we were virtually unwatchable. Yet some here (and often elsewhere) carry on as if we were somehow finals aspirants that year. The godawful football we displayed in that year was on a par with 2012/13 (ditto for '97, '03 & '08 when we also received draft concessions) AFL clubs started tanking in the early to mid 90's ... coinciding with the early years of drafting of course. It's an age-old issue for sports the world over that use drafting as a means of recruiting. And it is never going to go away.