rjay

Good to see the turnout this morning, the club must be happy with the support. As for training the reports are pretty much on the mark. A few things I will add are that there seems to be a lot of competition for places this year with a good even balance of players across the board. NAB cup form will have a big say in who makes it into the starting 22 this year particularly for the likes of Jetta, Strauss, Tynan, Taggert, Nicho and a long list of players who have yet to consolidate a place. Neeld showed last year he will pick a player who puts in early by picking Tynan in the first game. There is no doubt about Barry's skill and his running ability and if it translates on match day then we may see a bit of him this year, I hope so. A couple of passes into Dawes in the drills had his eyes light up. He will be a happy man if he gets this sort of service from Barry, Davey, Toumpas and Watts on game day. Interesting to watch big Max and Jesse Hogan kicking on the far side of the ground for a while. Everything was timed, videoed and accounted for, they weren't there to fill in time. They must be itching to get into the main group though. The year that Hogan gets at the club in advance of his peers where he gets to train and play in an AFL environment will pay off big time. It will be great watching him at Casey this year, I wonder if the club will get him a run in the NAB cup like GC did last year. Watching Jack Viney kicking before training with NIcho and he is a very good kick over shorter distance, low, hard and accurate. Like Joel Selwood I think he will be ready to go from game one, he is made for AFL.

Gosch's at 9.30 'WJ', I think a lot of us will be down to support the club. Cheers

Would like to think it was out of the way before we hit the NAB cup. With the evidence to date you would have to think it will be a distant memory by then.

The way we are going we're going to blow the first one out of the water.

Yes we are.

...and would add DM to that list.

We might just make the magic number before this is over.

Actually it was very funny commentary when they talked about the mismatch with Brown. Johnson read the ball better, was in better position and over ran it. Brown kicked the goal. It was a simple ground ball that sometimes Johnson got, sometimes he didn't and that's why he's not playing at AFL level anymore.

Yes you are entitled to your opinion and I understand where you are coming from in trying to lesson the impact on the club, but I don't think it is so easy to prove that we have done anything wrong or anything more than could be construed as list management which was condoned by the head of the AFL at the time. My opinion on the evidence to date is that we don't have a case to answer as there is no proof so why admit we have done something wrong when it was a part of AFL culture at the time and still is judging by some of the selection and coaching manoeuvres last season. This of course all changes if there is the so called "smoking gun", if that's the case then the club would be wise to take your preferred course of action. I do think however if this evidence did exist we would have heard about it by now.

That's not the point. Can you prove it.

Prove it!

'Ben' of course it's not his fault, my issue with him is the unnamed source as a method to bring Jim Stynes into the story. I mean if there really was one I would be surprised, you don't need a source to tell you that Jim Stynes was the President in 2009 and if the board has a case to answer then it reflects on his leadership. It is a pretty weak effort from Pierik and if he wants to bring Stynes into the story then he should do it under his name not some mystery person. ...and 'Fan' the AFL case is looking pretty silly, let's hope that's all they have. At the moment I would think we are ahead in the PR war.

This just gets more ridiculous by the day, an unknown source is required to make that observation. Pierik is a Hadley.

Nothing new to be added and most stuff covered now on this thread, I'm pretty sure it will be re opened when she is back from holidays and starts having pot shots at us and the AFL when this all wraps up.

Be interested to know how many beat their previous time for this pre season and how many PB's were run.

http://www.sen.com.au/display-article/New-blow-for-Morabito/53649 Yep, just posted same under the Max Gawn thread.

http://www.sen.com.au/display-article/New-blow-for-Morabito/53649 Not wishing this on Max but really bad news for young Morabito, really feel for the kid.

I've seen him over the last couple of years too and he has been below average when he has had to kick, I just seem to remember him being better in the past. I hope he turns that part of his game around, a pure tagger is becoming an endangered species in the AFL.

He may be a better kick than you think 'Old', the last 2 seasons he's been looking to give off at all costs rather than kick which may have more to do with confidence with an injury he's been carrying (this may be his first full pre season). I seem to remember him being a better kick when he came into the club but I may be off the mark, let's wait and see.

'Fan', I've thought the AFL would either use this issue to disrupt another major event like grabbing attention from the tennis or they would put it to bed during the holiday period when the major media are on holidays. It looks like they will make a grab for some of the tennis space, it will make a good lead in to the NAB cup. If it goes on longer than this then we will have a fight on our hands.

I think Neil Craig is a great asset for our football club.

They would have to have evidence that the players were instructed to lose to prove anything here. If they do, which I would doubt as it would have come out by now then we would be up the creek. Do they really have this sort of rubbish in their submission of evidence or is this just an aside in the media.

Doesn't look to be much or actually any substantial evidence for such a long enquiry. Give them the answers then we can get on with season 2013. Unless there is something that has been held back....well there really is nothing here.

This is not a good analogy at all. ...it's more like the banks lending money to all and sundry when credit policy is relaxed and then complaining about being unable to recover funds when things get tight and they change their rules. Our club and many others have taken advantage of the AFL's relaxed credit policy and now the AFL with a dose of hindsight after being forced to take their heads out of their........ don't like the results.

Riv struggled with the monsters like Cloke but Sellar has the size to go with them so maybe the mix of our defence will be a bit more balanced this season if he can hold down a place.