rjay

I've been thinking along similar lines 'Diamond'... Whilst I fully get the romance of being around the 'G' the practicality may not match. It's only a matter of time until the Pies & Tiges move on...

I think we often look at the fully formed C/wood centre and wonder what could have been. ...but like him or not, without McGuires political savvy & vision they wouldn't have been able to develop that ground & in turn the facility they have. Say if we did get the building I think we would probably still be arguing about where our training ground would be and the athletes would still be training at Olympic Park...

Came across from Oakleigh 'Diamond', a little like Fritsch and co, he had to rack up the numbers at VFA (now VFL) level to get noticed.

As I said the other day, don't be so sure. There seems to be a bit more unravelling going on now... I'm not sure any policy the AFL sets up will stop some players falling off the rails.

I like Jake's article and makes a lot of good points, nails it as you say....but he's incorrect here The irony of the AFL situation is that, outside of football, the drug debate is heading in the opposite direction - towards medical/health solutions and away from law and order - particularly in the United States, due to the opioid crisis. The opioid crisis is due to prescription medication...think Prince as a prime example. There is no loosening up law & order as far as illicit drug use is concerned in the States, particularly with the current regime. There is too much money to be made by benefactors in the incarceration industry for that to happen.

Hi Mark...

For me 'Laughing' it will always be just about the game. Take away the game and you've got nothing...

Funny thing is I never knew what a player rolled up to the game wearing. If you asked me what they wore I wouldn't have been able to tell you. I'm not at all interested until they are out on the ground playing the game. I guess I'm just part of the old breed who just wants to see a good game of footy and my team win.

I'm not so sure it is 'Chazz'... Let's say in our realm of AFL football that the outward expression of racism seems to be on the decline even though you get the odd case like the current Betts incident. I have a feeling that it still bubbles away under the surface. In its own peculiar way social media lets us know there's a long way to go before we get any semblance of togetherness, understanding, acceptance & tolerance.

The trouble with the AFL policy is any player who takes time off with mental problems (or a long term mystery injury) will be painted with the drug brush even if it is far from true.

Not this case 'Grimes' ...but Sam Murray who was tested positive on match day. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/magpie-sam-murray-being-investigated-by-asada-20180824-p4zzh0.html

If nothing else 'DV8' you might have managed to get 'Sat' and 'dazzle' to agree on something...

...and they are treated as such if they are found in their system on game day as happened to the C/wood player last season. So there is no problem if the AFL don't test, the performance enhancing aspect is already covered by WADA.

Don't be so sure about that 'Dee'...it's still early days & there have been more than Ben who have destroyed/lost their lives.

I think you're not being tough on Hogan here 'bin'... Marking is probably Tommy's strong point, I remember seeing him at Casey before he got a senior game and it was apparent then that he took a good grab. He's more consistent in the air than Jesse, when he gets his hands on the ball he usually holds them.

Unfortunately non performance enhancing drug use is rife in the AFL...fact. I've been reliably told the figure is above 60% at one top club, so you can take it to the bank it's similar across the board including our club. The only reason the AFL should be involved in policing non performance enhancing drugs is the issue it may cause down the track with gambling. In other words players getting involved with criminals. Any punitive actions taking on drug use are counterproductive to my way of thinking. Get serious on the performance enhancing stuff and the opportunities to fix matches or outcomes.

I've not been a fan of the AFLW in the past but watched a little bit of the first and second Q's today. I thought the standard had lifted significantly from what I'd seen before and would have liked to watch a bit more. Life gets in the way at times. The handball game was really poor in previous years but seems to have picked up markedly. I thought if anything we over used it and sold ourselves into trouble when I was watching but the intent was good. ...as you say it was a glimpse into the future and I was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps the AFL could now forget about AFLX and really get on board to make this a proper competition...

'Mach', it's not cut & dried as you say but my guess is the person that posted it knew exactly the double meaning and was being a total Smart A..... It's not great mate and as you say a coward will hide behind that kind of ambiguity.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-02-24/crows-players-call-out-racist-slur-on-betts It seems Eddie Betts has been the subject of racist comments yet again. Good on the AFL community for getting behind Betts, he seems a really decent guy. He was my dear mothers favourite player, she was not big on footy but would always watch Friday nights when Eddie was playing. One thing I'm interested in understanding is that when reporting on these kind of social media posts, the offending post (or person postings name or online name) seems to be blocked or removed. Shouldn't the person posting be saddled with the responsibility for what they post along with the flak? Is there a good reason to block this content? Are we really protecting the poster? Do they deserve to be protected from their own comments, stupid, ill founded or otherwise?

You say Tomato, I say Tomahto... Was he moved on or did he choose to move on for better opportunity. In Pruess' case I say it was for opportunity...

Whilst Lewis might not get caught with the ball, his pace does get shown up when opponents take advantage in transition and when they have the ball. This will be the make or break for him this season, along with the ongoing problem with his discipline. We can't afford the brain fades. Having said that I think he's been a good acquisition for a young group on the way up. I think his job may well be done here...

So, I watched about 5 to 10 minutes just to make sure I wasn't being a bit harsh in my criticism. That's 5 to 10 minutes I will never get back...

Must be hiding it well...

Don't panic 'Clint'... We've still got 2 list spots to fill.

'87 prelim was hard to take, but it was a great ride that year. ...the following years record GF loss to Hawthorn shattered me. That was soul destroying stuff.