Macca

You don't have to mention his draft pick number - it's what you're not saying about other lower placed draft picks which is the issue. Where was all the angst over Tynan, Taggert, Davis and co? Hardly a word. There is no denying it - we do judge young recruits according to their draft pick number - over 125 threads on Watts, another 100 on Sylvia. Trengove the same. We drafted Jayden Hunt at the end of 2013 yet I barely ever see his name even mentioned here. Of course, he was pick 57. That must be why - yeah? .

The draft is an ass. You're argument seems to be based on the draft being accurate - and it's not. Never has been in fact. If you and others were to judge players as recruits only, you'd see things differently. Are you fully capable of putting the top end draft pick number aside? ... be careful how you answer that because I've asked numerous people over the years (whether they can put a top end draft's pick number aside) and not one person is able to do it easily. It's even hard for me and I spend a lot of time rubbishing the draft. If you're expecting A grade from a top end draft pick you shouldn't be - the facts, data and results back up that claim ...here's an example of the drafts from 2000 through to 2009 ... Bad Luck or Bad Recruiting I know many like to think that it's impossible to muck up so many top end picks but I see that as an unintelligent way of looking at a poor system. Lift the draft age by 2 years to 20 and we won't see anywhere near as many busts - lower the draft age to 15 or 16 and you'd see a truckload more busts. 17 or 18 years old is just simply too young an age to get the desired results from the draft. Blame the system.

Contador still leads by 2 seconds over Fabio Aru with Porte still 3rd (20 seconds behind the Spaniard) Tonight and tomorrow night the riders have a few climbs ahead of them ... here are the 2 profiles ... coverage begins tonight from 10.30pm (SBS & Eurosport)

Ability is attitude though Wyl ... attitude mainly comes from within and it's not easily taught - some players have it, many don't. The best players are generally the hardest workers (obviously with good base skill levels) Hopefully today we might see an improved performance - long term though (and short term), we're going to need new players to replace those that are established right now (much like many of those who were established in 2012/13 have now been replaced) Many of our experienced or established players are what they are. Most have maxed out unfortunately. At least our youth looks to have some promise - I still wouldn't have unrealistic expectations with our youth or throw them all to the wolves though - quite the contrary, our established and/or experienced players need to have the onus put on them. They need to carry the can whether they can succeed or not. .

Hoping for a Blackhawks/Rangers final but of course, anything could happen. I just reckon a Chicago vs New York final would be great for the sport.

Yep, Roos must be incredibly frustrated ... he's currently wielding the axe when many here thought he may not go down that track. I always saw that type of strategy as a possibility. But here's the issue - we can't just completely dump our more experienced or established players like we've done in the past - Roos needs to find a way to get them to perform to their maximum. No easy task. He's got quite a job on his hands - I'd expect him to try and bring more and more experienced players into the club but again, that is easier said than done. Drafting is fraught with danger and then there's all the time and patience involved with drafting - you rarely get instant results. The solution is to wave the magic wand and bring in 6* 'A' graders - but again, it's just not possible to do things that way. Once again, we need to buckle up for the long haul. *I believe it is possible to snag 2 'A' grade players in the off-season (either through free agency or trades) What's not impossible is possible and as a club, we need to find a way. .

All jokes aside, a see smiling assassins or a 'non smiling' assassins all the time in footy - ruthless footy players where nothing is going to stand in their way (these types do of course need good base talent levels) Unfortunately, we don't have too many of those types at our club but previously we have done. Salem & T-Mac look to have those qualities (hope I haven't spoken too soon with Salem!) but those qualities weren't all that obvious when they were drafted. Jones is another who maximises his base talent levels. We've a few more on our list who may fall into that category too - but to be a good team, you need lots of these types. Of course, 'Shifter' Sheehan (the National talent manager amongst other things) will tell you otherwise - all the top prospects are going to be guns according to Kevin - the sad bit is that people actually believe him (or want to believe him) .

'Nice' draftees often turn out to be ruthless smiling assassins and many 'tough' kids get a rude awakening at senior level. That's my experience anyway - those who make it, often have a quality not easily detected when they're immature teenagers. If these teenagers were the finished product I'd have a completely different stance. But all the best with your venture FD

A couple from Stone Temple Pilots (from their 2013 album 'High Rise) Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) replaced Scott Weiland in lead vocals ... to each his own but I reckon it is still a great sound.

Yeah, the West is harder to pick but I reckon the Cavs should beat Atlanta or Washington. As you said, injuries are playing a part. The Warriors best is probably better than the other 3 remaining teams in the West but you never know.

Spoken like a true Lakers fan there pantaloons I reckon Leno had the Clippers in nearly all of his monologues over the years - as soon as he his tonight show ended, the Clippers finally came good. Cavs through and now Houston have home court for game 7.

You're right up with the scene 'nb'... Good on ya! Jeff always had a great voice, I'm assuming his voice has held up over time yeah?

Contador holds a 2 second lead over Fabio Aru whilst Porte is 3rd (20 seconds behind the Spaniard) Things may hot up on the weekend though - the stages on Saturday and Sunday contains some reasonable climbs. I'll post up the profiles of both days on Saturday if I get a chance. The SBS coverage has been first rate as usual. Stage 5 highlights

No worries Earl ... never a problem. Whilst I'm here ... a couple of classics from Bowie ...

Here you go EH ...

The issue the AFL have got is they probably have to wait until all this is over (unless they do opt out or restructure their current agreement with WADA in the meantime) But if we assume they wait until all this is over, much will depend on whether there is a guilty or not guilty verdict anyway. And then there's the penalties involved if there is a guilty verdict. And what if the public sentiment sways away from where it sits currently (if the details of the case paints the Essendon players in a different light) There's still a lot to be played out yet. The AFL are almost duty bound to stay with the current agreement for the foreseeable future (in my opinion)

The other thing to consider is that all or some of the 34 players might know that records were kept. Or they might have assumed that records were going to kept considering they were injected hundreds of times. First of all, they all agreed to be injected on numerous occasions (albeit signing waver forms as part of the injection program) ... then they may or may not have been told that the substances were "close to the edge" (and we all know what that means) As a player, you'd have to assume that records would have been kept ... or to put it another way, you wouldn't assume that they wouldn't keep records. You can imagine Dank (or whoever else was conducting the injections) writing notes or entering information as the players were being injected - like, on the spot. So why aren't the players demanding that the records be produced? The answer is a very simple one in my opinion. Why would they want to possibly incriminate themselves? If they truly are victims as they're being portrayed, I'm not sure that they are acting as victims normally would ... although Hal Hunter seems to be. .

You make a good point ... how accurate would the records be anyway? They could have put anything down (with nothing incriminating of course) However, it's my bet that they just didn't think they'd ever get caught and the records were incriminating - so they either got rid of them or they're in safe keeping. Or Dank has them. Alavi (the South Yarra compound chemist) may well hold the key here - unlike Dank & Charters, he hasn't become an unreliable source or witness over time. The paper trail which could nail Essendon would almost certainly need to include Alavi so the CAS just need to find a way for him to give evidence. The dominoes may fall from there. You'd reckon that the CAS are going to need something reasonably substantial to get a guaranteed favourable outcome. However, they might have something else up their sleeve anyway - maybe some new evidence that only they know about.

Records were obviously kept (and later destroyed?) The media should have been all over that part of it right from the word go but our media sold out long ago - we should never have expected them to be unbiased and transparent. The cover-up (destroyed records or lost records?) was very public yet it was somehow believed (and still is believed by a large percentage of people) Normally cover-ups need to be unearthed - not this one. It was right in our face. The public have been deceived to a point that they don't know what to believe - of course, the AFL & the EFC played on the fact that the public they are dealing with is a footy adoring public - "Tell 'em what they want to hear." Nice to see Whateley finally jump on the right side but he doesn't get my congratulations - he likes jumping on the strong suit and should have shown some real courage and stuck his neck out when he could have. Don't trust him or any of them really. I guess it's better late than never but most of our footy media have been on the other side of the ledger until now. There may be more like Whateley who switch sides. As more details come to light the pendulum will switch with regards to public opinion. We need an open hearing and some stuff to come out before the hearing for that to happen (it might come from 1 or 2 of the players - especially those players not listed anymore) The release of the players names (albeit for 24hrs) was an interesting development .

There's being duped and then there is allowing oneself to be duped Ignorance is bliss? Yeah, go ahead and inject me hundreds of times to the stomach region with unknown substances at some dodgy anti- aging clinic - I'm fine with that Later on - we were duped. I'm not buying it.

If that ex footballer had have said that stuff to me I wouldn't have been surprised but I still would have questioned it all I can see your point 'nb' but I just have a different viewpoint. People are responsible for their own actions ... I do have a degee of sympathy for the young draftees at the time - not sure they can be judged differently though.

The young chinese swimmers didn't really have a choice - many of them were quite young when that countries drug program was in full swing and because of that fact, they could be easily coerced into taking various coloured pills given to them by their coaches. The East German athletes - much the same. Some of the older ones might have known better but they may not have wanted to take on the stasi. Besides all that, not many people had sympathy for them then or now. We have double standards in this country when it comes to drugs in sport. Players like Watson, Stanton and Fletcher should have known better.

If one player only acts upon himself to allow himself to be injected hundreds of times then isn't that on the player? Do you honestly believe that the public would have any sympathy for him if he acted alone? My argument is a kind of strength in numbers argument - because there's so many of them (34), they must have been duped (according to the general public) In the public's eyes, they can't see how all 34 players could have all bought into an injection program (I can by the way) Narrow it down to one person only and things are seen differently. Are the 2 pies players who have tested positive going to get any sympathy? How on earth is that arguing against myself? I understand your sympathetic approach but I don't agree with that approach.

The players had a responsibility to know what was being injected into their bodies - part of being a professional sportsperson requires that responsibility. That responsibility can't be just put aside - these injections weren't forced upon them - they had a choice. I've never bought into their victim mentality. Just imagine it was one player only and not 34 players? So, if it was one player only and that one player allowed his club to inject various substances into his body on hundreds of occasions (to the stomach region) would anyone have any sympathy for him? I doubt it. The same circumstances would be involved too - he'd have to have walked across the road to a dodgy anti-aging clinic to receive these hundreds of injections. And why are we so sure that the players didn't know what was being injected into their bodies anyway ? It's quite possible that it's all a collective lie - there's a lot at stake.

He and Gisele might decide to have a nice little holiday in the Bahamas for a month. The Pats won't miss the draft picks going by how they normally go about their drafting (picking up good players late in the draft is their specialty isn't it ) As for the million dollar fine - chump change. They got their Super Bowl - that's all that counts, Gorgo