dpositive

Looks like another interesting year for you KC Looking forward to your fantastic insights again Thanks

Whats the opposite of Tanking??????

Sorry HT the zero tolerance point was definitely not directed at you but rather an extension of my as you say spurious arguments. The point of the spurious argument is that there are no facts, so any argument may be flawed. You are correct about the impact of drugs and I agree with you, but those facts do not conclusively deny unknown factors. Performance may be affected by gambling knowledge not even direct involvement. If you were going out to play and you know you are a 100 to 1 chance you may perform better or worse to prove wrong or as acceptance. I dont know how you could even begin to find facts for this and am not advocating for it. I would like to see less gambling but as you say its just another factor. I guess my openess and transparency lies within the team structure as it does at all levels its what is done about it thats important. The coach should be the one to know if "anything" is affecting performance and should deal with that. I dont believe a punitive first strike is the answer. thye relationship with the player and coach should be honesty and respect to ensure there is maximum performance.

You and I may not know the affect of tax evasion on a players ability, I didnt know the effects of the drugs now being exposed. It is not unlikely that a belief that you have successfully evaded tax to retain a greater income may indeed inspire enhanced confidence and improve performance. It could allow you to enter other illegal schemes to buy drugs , it could in fact have a huge impact BUT it does indicate the subjective nature of the whole zero tolerance position. Openness and transparency would be a lot more valuable.

It is an interesting excercise. I have always believed that mathematical laws can be applied to human circumstances. A former chair of the reseve bank said "everything is connected to everything else" I think that there are some fundemental laws of physics which reflect that truism and I think it applies to this topic. As others have said A champion team is that and will beat an ordinary team A team of champions may or may not be a champion team A poor team with 1 or 2 champions will probably still be a poor team (individual brilliance is too fleeting and too easily countered) I have always thought that to win a premiership you need a team with a champion. That champion may not be obvious and may not produce champion efforts every day but is able to rise and respond to the occasion Robbie was a champion We saw how good he was in state teams unfortunately his team could never get to the finals to see how they could support that champion. Andrew Jarman, Mcleod Aker were champions of the big occasion I cant remember them failing when it absolutely positively had to be done. But they were also sporadic on minor games. They were champions not only in their deeds but they lifted their teammates and inspired others to perform above themselves. I just hope we have one of those inspirational types in the new group that we have Theres plenty to choose from Viney Toumpas Trengove Mitch Hogan etc happy days

AAHHH we must be getting closer to footy and further from the tank Enjoyed the banter I did have the tanking conversation with the squash crew last night I used Rpfc line that we are the only club to have been proven not to tank and it was worth the 500 for that. The essendon supporters leading the conversation were already into the AFL and its bloody hopeless management and they shut up as soon as said my bit. Thanks again Rpfc restored respect

Thanks rpfc thats the best bit of advice ive seen in all the comments on this. I will add that it cost us $500k to do that and we are one of the few clubs with a strong and determined supporter base with the ability to subsidise the AFL costs. They will need all the money they can get to bail out other investigations they are involved in through the actions of other clubs. We have suffered with poor performance but we are also determined to improve. Watch us!!! GO DEES

Id have thought giving your doc your "ring" would be enough Wouldnt involve an acronym or you could end up with an 800 page report 18 months of inuendo before being found not guilty but having to outlay $500K

I think its ok coz its list management NOT tanking Seriously though if its a 500k fine and penalties for not tanking Id hate to think what it would have cost if we had It does give a new addition to the Phyrric victory examples. It is so hard without knowing the details (800 pages) and I sure hope that our reasons are sound but it does seem like we MFC have gone into another administrative, lesser of many evils, cut the losses and run Tank. I guess there will never be athink tank around our club again.

OUCH that hurts just coming back from a strained calf myself. Had to put up with all the calls of "OldMans etc" (which was true coz I am) But I was quick to respond that its the mark of a "finely tuned high performance athlete.. Can you please treat my ego at least a little sympathetically.

Tax Evasion could be a performance enhancing act I had sympathy for Carey who was trained as the King and told he could anything as he later tried that attitude in a number of incorrect circumstances. I think the testing regime has difficulties and have stated that before. I also think that the relationship between the player(employee) and the club (managers) should be open and transparent and actions should be recognised and treated thoughtfully. It is a problem with one size fits all solutions.

At 30 I know that Flash cant perform as he did when younger. But hope he can still perform a role when required. I reckon there are plenty of players who can substitute for another on the list. I hope we can use this as a competitive incentive to get the best out of players . It may also be that a player can peak one week or against a certain opponent or in a specific structure and so may not suit the next week opponent. I am really waiting to see how Flash and the whole squad go Really enjoying the training reports and the opinions that all DLanders provide

Certain substances are illegal and the court decides the penalty. The AFL does not have the jurisdiction to impose a penalty. The Law will treat the case on the basis of the circumstances and apply a penalty based on its consideration of the circumstances. Sometimes significant fines are imposed as the villian has the means to pay that amount and is considered the detterent by the court. If an employer (the AFL) took away the ability to pay they are adding to the considered sentance of the court and making the punishment harsher.

I certainly am not sure. Thats why i said its controlled in Australia not prohibited. Although better choice of words is probably still required I was really trying to make a tenuous link to the multiplicity of drugs and the complexity of control when considering the harshness of penalties.

The trouble with Zero tolerance is that it is that and leaves no room for tolerance. Circumstances may be different and a zero tolerance does not allow consideration of those circumstances. Drug use should not be encouraged but unfortunately drugs are an all encompassing and expanding part of society. Drugs which may be in uncontrolled and unidentified potions could affect readings. Horse meat is carefully controlled in Australian food production because it is recognised that horses treated with a variety of the dugs now being identified in the drug cases are often administered to horses. This is a significant part of the current horse meat scandal in Europe although most of that meat is alleged to come from Romania as they alter their mode of transport .Findus is a product that has been available in Australian Super markets. Who knows what was in it in what quantities? However I am using that long winded and slightly outrageous case to indicate the vagaries and circumstances of drug results. We need to have some flexibility in dealing with cases. NO tolerance is not an option. Informed decision making is essential. Education Understanding and support are far more important than outright rejection.

may be good for the progress of Dawes and Pedersen to know that they have an opportunity to display their talent as key forward before Mitch comes back. His presence at training is apparently enthusiastic but I would not want to see him, introduced too early Hopefully we can hold him back with Howe pedersen and Dawes still creating a winning forward line and allow Mitch to come back match fit bursting with the game he displayed last year as an even more potent forward line.

Just another unofficial press release "Supporters of the club at the centre of tanking claims initiated from newspaper articles of unfortunate comments by people connected with the club are now turning their attention to real football related matters. While the affair provided us with fantastic entertainment over the off season and took some of the attention away from the progress of our players we are happy to see that there will be a focus by many on historic references while we are able to forge ahead with renewed and united purpose. We know that as in the past our club has taken what were the correct decisions at the time. With hindsight not all these decisions have been successful, but we will continue to support the oldest club in the league which has a rich history. We await the AFL report which will add to our knowledge of our history, but more importantly we are focussing on the future Our club has adressed issues raised and has taken action to ensure the club will continue as a significant participant in and with the AFL to ensure that our integrity is secure. We anticipate that and our actions will be accepted by the AFL as reflecting the dynamic progress of the competitive environment inherent in sporting contests. We anticipate our season will be successful, an anticipation which has regularly been tempered with lack of premiership success however we are passionate supporters and we are doing what we can to support the club and will continue to do so." Got bored here back to intra club reports Go Dees

Biffo its the Mrytleford Times and the Wangaratta Chronicle but both are papers that have to report to a demanding local community and their standards may be a little too difficult for Kero to reach. Entertainment pages may well suit her fiction talents but she may need some training in timing and delivery if she wants to continue in comedy.

I like this Not sure if Irony Sarcasm Wit commentary or fact???????

I wonder if instead of calling it tanking we could call it "peaking" then i can stand with the believers. Only one side can win the premiership and even in the final stages of that quest there are doubtful actions which are taken to lead to victory but which can equally been seen with hindsight to cause defeat. Only one side can win but many will lose and some have known this very early in the season and their quest is then often directed peaking in the next season Call it what you will but I prefer to think of it as peaking and getting thatmix right is what will define us. For too long in my lifetime we have been defined as the losers rather than the winners we have not peaked at the right time/s to get the premiership. Despite peaking in many aspects at many times. I hope that we are peaking by not using stimulants. I am hoping yet again that this year our team will peak at the right times and we can see success and we can sustain that success. Lets forget tanking and concentrate on peaking

your correct thanks put off by lol at dandeman comment could be my favourite post

Do we change that Acronym to WMD now??? If W is pronounced F how is F pronounced???

Same from me Bm except add that those MIS mates etc still think it is great that it is my club and not theirs that is copping the attention and it does allow them to make some pretty painful (in a poor taste way) puns. interesting that the dons supporters are now sying less and have changed their view to be a little less derogatory

Not sure what Pedersen looks like. Haven't seen much comment on him from training reports. Can anyone add any insight as to how he settling in with the forward structure.

I think the AFL may already "look very silly" along with almost all sport related industries But it hasnt made any difference in the past Have enjoyed following all the commentary and still have NFI how any of this is likely to be resolved Just hope we are not emasculated.AFL has tried in the past and we have always managed to survive Re tanking and drug link. I would hope our efforts on the field (hopeless) are seen as an adherence not to take drugsand overdevelop our young fragile list. Unfortunately such an argument could be seen as tanking as we did not adopt industry standards> OOOppps that could be me getting "Very silly"