Wells 11

Agreed . Except if Gil goes down its going to be portrayed as he was guilty and the bombers were innocent. Part of me would love it to be opened up again and the real extent of the performance enhancing drug use to be made public, Essendon to shamed all over again and Gil to be sacked.

Its frikn unbelievable this resurfaces it really is. These c#ckheads at the Sun and at EFC ( is there a difference?) dont know when to take a break. It 100% exposes that a Gil spoke of a deal with the bombers that he had to change. Thats IT. Is it a scandal that the head of the AFL would try to do a deal to get a club off after it had monstrously flouted the most important rules in the game? . Yes. But we all already knew that and that this thing stunk. Does it in any way show that the EFC didnt drug their players ...no. Does it any way clear any of them ...no. All It shows their utter arrogance and outrage at being confronted by their own cheating. And how they are determined to get back at Gil for having the temerity to try and save them somehow. Somehow the story their spinning is how Gil backed down from his "deal" not that the bombers were drugging their players???? In some ways I think the dees had a small part in this. We lay down so easily over the tanking "scandal" that Gil thought he knew how to handle things. He accepted a "not guilty" from us but let the papers shame us unmercifully before and since. With the bombers the deal was the opposite. You accept guilty ( because we cant possibly rescue you from this) and we'll make sure the penalty is as small as possible and that the press support you. ie we'll try to make it go away. He forgot that the bombers had way more money than we did and were prepared to sacrifice several million to save face. But in the end...the players were still doped, Drugs were still in the club and being injected into the players. Forget the word "supplliments". I wish ASADA had banned the team for a year ....and I wish Gil wasnt such a [censored] and saw past his own need to have a " no mess" situation and get how SERIOUS performance enhancing drugs in football really is. Can we ban the sun for a year too? sheesh....this stroy made me angry

is there some way that he can he be impeached as well?

Is it just me ? I cant help but feel Dom is consistently under rated here. I see him as SUPER important to our set up. Kelly may be great...MAY be great. So MAY Salem. Dom is already on the cusp of that imo.

Great picks but the suffering involved in getting them was immense. Happy to leave that party!

Could have been worse. i think he's been carrying some niggles yep agreed. He's not the type to accept he needs time off for injury I don't thnk , so it may be a blessing in disguise. Gawd help us against the hawks though.

wow....thats scary. Jeez we've been shite haven't we. A nightmare in several parts. Im 100% confident we're out of those dark woods but its yet to be seen how good this team is or could be. We need CP and Weed in to really know what our potential is I think. But having a game we "should" win is a novelty all by itself.

Agreed. But for once I think this works in our favour. Let Parish wear all the heat of that and Oliver quietly go about his business. By seasons end Ill be happy if Olivers in the headlines ( for the right reasons) but only then. We learnt a hard lesson trying a marketing ploy with a young recruit ( Watts) Let Essundone suck on that lemon....we've got bigger fish to fry.

Way too early to come to this MD. If he puts off talks this time NEXT year then Im with you. What it does do is underline what a massive year this is going to be for our club. We have to either make or get close to the finals.

hope your right. Calling bronlow winners as draftees is loaded. But hey....its February! Footy is never as rosey as it is at thsi time of year.

Intersting stats. Reassuring. Weideman just looks so skinny in the photos! While that well may be revealing re Dawes and a beep test Im hoping Weid is twice the player Dawes is regardless.

No questions on the Oliver pick. Love that we got him. Its the other three Im worried about. If Weideman DOES get to play a full uninjured season at casey and significantly builds up his motor and size, and is at least sometimes in the best ,then Ill become more relaxed. But I still think we may have missed on Curnow. Hope Im wrong.

To be honest Im a bit torn over this selection. Maybe its the "waiting" we all did for Watts, Gysberts, Cook etc to fill out, to harden up, to get fit, to stay uninjured etc . Maybe I'm just burnt by those years but it seems like waiting doesn't often amount to much. Gawn is an example of the opposite I suppose but that was quite a few years and Id all but given up on him also. We picked up three kids we're gonna "wait" on and we have another kid we're already waiting on in King. Weideman is seriously down in fitness and bulk and I expect at least one full year in the VFL and even that's in the hope his injuries don't resurface. Given Curnow could have immediate impact next year and has a huge tank and talent to burn Im nervous that we let another " be patient and wait" win over "AFL ready" Im sure Taylor et al know what they're doing and researched the injury he suffered ....but I DO have a nervous feeling. Just saying.

To be fair, he wasn't the only one. I changed my mind almost daily this draft...as it seems did many.

Jeez he really does exude class. He's not quick...and he looks really awkward bouncing the ball, but beautiful evasive side step, vision, hunger at the contest and disposal. ( as least on the highlights) Mitchell isnt quick either is but that capacity to twist in both directions sets him apart. I think he's going to be great for us....and expect him playing early in the year also. As happy ton as I was last year.

Im just starting to take the prospect of us picking him at 3 seriously. Does anyone know how he speed tested at the combine. Highlights can be difficult to go by but he did look a little slow I thought....especially when we so badly need pace.

We did what we had to do. Unless we can create a sense of optimism and success free agents just wont be coming to us. So we had to invest now rather than wait a year. In my opinion the risk involved in this was entirely worth it. I cant even entertain the thought of us being bottom 4 again next year. Surely this worm is turning!

Its great he engages I agree but how about we supporters try to make sure its over something thats actually HAPPENED or is more than a floating piece of fluff. One thing you can be certain of is that, unlike Neeld, Roos etc, isnt looking to trade just for the sake of it. Give the boys some credit if they didnt see something in him they wouldnt be chasing. If they even are!

He's a very different kind of player but this passage brought back memories of the Schwartz glory year (s) Hope its at least a decade for Jesse.

No no stop.... I'll talk ... I'll tell u anything ...just no more torture!!!!

Definitely food for thought isn't it.

I have to agree with you but as demon supporters hope is the only currency we have! So I need to get a bit excited, The change, as I see it this year, is that all of the top 2 or 3 have really big bodies. I don't think any of them will get easily pushed around in 2015 and because of that they may well make a mark. Its true that their endurance will be low and their capacity to cope with the speed and pressure of the top level is unknown...so you're right its hard to judge. just when you look at the size of Brayshaw and Petracca it makes me feel a bit different than, Scully, Morton, Toumpas, Watts etc

Makes sense to me. We've all been burned...repeatedly. From Mclean to Trengove ( with way too many names in the middle....that dont need going over. Although, because Im a masochist, can I just say "Morton" one more time) they've ALL been more Slyvia than Dangerfield. So when I look at Petraccas highlights I seem to only see Sylvia signs. Lets hope whoever it is we get can help erase the deep Sylvia scars.

Maybe Im missing something with Petraccas highlights? I agree he's a great mark and great inside. Only that i cant see his pace or "explosiveness" that everyone keeps talking about and his kicking looked a bit shallow and wayward. He will, as will Mccartin, also be up against a lot of bigger bodies in the AFL and wont be able to dominate with strength in the way he was in a lot of that footage. Anyone who's seen him live want to talk about his pace? footage can be deceptive. We so lack in that department as a teamand I also feel with Tyson, Jones, Viney, Brayshaw we're not going to short on insiders.

where?