rjay

You know what 'tona' I was going to let this slide but, no I'm not going to. I may not have played in the big league but I played and coached over 400 games of local football, no big deal but I loved every second of it, no money in it plenty of hard yards, training in 40 degree heat throwing my guts out making sure I could out run anyone over whatever distance even if i couldn't. It was all about playing with my mates and loving the game. Had the pleasure of catching up with some of them last Friday, it's just great to catch up with old team mates. I was one of those skinny kids, did some training with another skinny kid one summer when we were both trying to put some weight on, same size, same height only difference was he could really play, I was a battler, Fitzroy champ Gary Wilson may not mean anything to you and by the way in those days VFL players were not making money out of the game. The point is pretty much any kid that is brought up in Victoria would give their eye teeth to play AFL, these guys if they are prepared to put in are set up for life, so give me a break on the hard life they lead. You have no idea.

It's not great 'WYL' and I'm not sure it really gets people off in the long run, having been close to people who have had problems with drugs and I still am with some , also having a team mate pass away many years back now, well.....you know I can still see his face the last time I saw him, it took a while to register that it was him.

I wish I could have expressed it as well as you 'Pennant', well written post.

I would think running the country might be right up there. The problem is you just don't harm yourself, you take a lot of others down with you.

Funny enough I agree with you on the live and let live and don't think the AFL should be testing for non performance enhancing drugs at all, they've really opened up a can of worms with that one. If players want to screw up their lives it's their business as it is with any of us. Where you have it wrong is I haven't said anywhere in my post that I know for sure they are taking drugs, I was replying to 'tona's' post where he seems to think they have a reason too with the extra pressures they are placed under. I would argue that they are under no more pressure and indeed in many cases less pressure than the average man on the street. We then got onto the Garlett issue, I know you are pro Garlett from your posts, my point here is that off field issues are a problem at a club whether they be from alcohol, drugs, gambling whatever and you don't go and invite those problems if you can help it. I have no idea if Swan or Martin are on drugs, I really don't care but I do know they are both causing their clubs grief. We don't need any more of that. It's also interesting this issue has come up just when there has been talk of action on revenue sharing being more equitable, taking away the advantage a club like Collingwood has in big FD spends. This is the biggest issue in footy, the other is a huge social issue.

Come off it mate, drugs are an issue for all not just AFL players. By the sounds of your argument every player must be on drugs to survive their miserable existence, hardly and it's a long bow then to bring Garlett into the argument. I would have thought the Swan and Martin situations might have pushed you away from that one but it seems you haven't had to deal with someone with a drug problem. Lucky you, if you had you would know it's not just about having a little something every now and then, it gains a life of it's own and brings with it lies and deceit, unreliability, clouded thinking, all the things you don't need to have in a football club where you need to trust one another. I'm not running down what is involved in playing AFL these days but it is a charmed existence compared with what most do and earn. If you ask most people on here if they would like to work their regular job doing hard hours (9 to 5 doesn't exist anymore) with little time off, trying to look after their families, or would they like the lifestyle and income of an AFL footballer that could set them up for life what do you think they would say.

There is no doubt that these are the issues that turn her on and there will be a lot of denial but as many here know the issues she is talking about are real and as with society in general there seems to be no answer. It's a pity she has to name names with no real proof, just assumption, this is were she lets herself and the issue down.

Not boomer, Rob Harvey

Without actually knowing it pretty much seems to be the case, the loss of depth in his kicking was another sign that all was not right.

Find what you like, Barassi, Whitten, Skilton, Bartlett, Harvey, Voss, Carey, Mathews and the like are champions of the game. Neitz was a terrific Melbourne champion and if we had of been able to leave him at CHB he may well have risen further but in his true spirit he played the role the coach asked of him and sacrificed his own game. He was probably our last club champion.

Sorry guys, I agree with 'C&B and Ben' on this. In my mind the last true champion of the game we had was Flower, the others are club greats and we haven't had too many of them as of late either. Let's hope we uncover a few with this group.

Exactly, and in football terms I trust you would have more of a clue about him than most on here because you see him play week in week out, not just a highlight reel of a few minutes.

That is just about the most stupid comment I have read. Remember a club did take Darling in their first round, the same club has not gone near Garlett. Darling had a couple of issues but if you ask recruiters his image was only part the problem, he had a very ordinary final junior on ground year. His previous years had been good but the thinking was he didn't have the advantage his size (man child) had given him earlier on. Guess what, they were wrong. His off ground issues by comparison to Garlett were minor and could be put down to him being a bit of a lad. If Garlett was just a boy being a boy he would have been drafted already, his issues run far deeper than that. He is a multiple offender and besides as football watches from Perth who are part of this forum have said, he is a down hill skier, he's not Cyril and hasn't done 1% of the work that Cyril has to get where he is. Give it a break 'tona', it aint going to happen.

The only way to tackle with more players becoming adept at lifting arms in the tackle and getting clean use away. Forget the idea of pinning the arms, you only risk tackling high. Take them low, take their body off the ball which does 2 things it hurts (takes the wind out) and they will be thinking preservation rather than getting off a good handball, the ball will go into dispute.

Why don't we have a look at your man Garlett if he's still available.

Not wanting to get into the definition debate again but I would say since Flower.

Most probably right there.

I don't agree with this, Martin, Gysberts and Morton were all on contracts and we couldn't move them on quick enough. The FD obviously think he is more value than a lot of people posting on here.

What enormous talent, due to your potential talent we will put our program at risk of being derailed like it was in 2012 because we admire potential talent so much and realise that Barassi never knew what he was talking about.

So who was the full time mid you are talking about, it was't Trengove.

For one they haven't taken him yet and for another these are the same genius's that thought they could fast track physical development of a young team and destroyed them last season. Michael Voss with 3 flags also took his team apart with poor trading a couple of years ago, they may now be slowly recovering.

I wouldn't have thought so, lets judge it at the end of his career. Stalled a bit last season but fair chance he was carrying injury. By the way Trengove sits comfortably with the names you mention if you compare first seasons and which one of those guys is captain of their club?

A real get out of jail free card when other options are covered or under pressure just put it out to Howe, one on one he will be his opponent in the air pretty much every time.

I get what you are saying 'Curry', nothing has been proven yet but at least we have taken some steps that at this stage look positive. I know at this time last year I was really excited about the year ahead with the new FD in place only to be left flat before the NAB cup was finished. I'm not sure many saw 2010 as a false dawn with expectation for a big 2011 but the subsequent poor performance despite the wins gave more than warning signs that things weren't right at the MFC, 2012 was proof. I am excited to see what 2013 brings, to see if we may be on the right track this time. It won't be the wins but it will be how we go about it that will be the measuring stick for me. The NAB cup will again start to show the story, I reckon I will have a pretty good handle on where we are by March 2013.

I think you are right, he has too many cheer leaders in WA.