Lucifers Hero

Always good to get some inside info. Thanks. Let us know if you pick up any other info around the traps.

Had a browse on bfessendon to see the reaction to the appeal and noticed this from none other than out occasional interloper, 'Lance Uppercut': "...And yeah, I've been pretty open about the fact I think the CAS probably came to the right decision, but got there in a very strange way..." He hasn't been back to DL since the CAS decision but kudos to him for taking the suspensions on the chin.

Good article - gives Misson update on some rehab players and some insight on how we will approach the NAB games. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-02-05/well-attack-nab-challenge-misson This bit from Misson is especially good: “Jack Trengove is coming towards the end of his rehab. He’s been doing a lot of work – and a lot of football work – in the last couple of weeks and he’s probably a week and a half away from joining in with the group. We feel like we’ve got his load pretty right. More importantly, he’s feeling really confident in that foot and he’s looking forward to joining in with the group – and the group’s looking forward to having him.”...Misson.

Good point. Lets hope not. The impression I had is not all 34 will appeal...read all about it in The Australian tomorrow!! Chip LG scoop.

Oh No!!! SEN have just announced the players WILL appeal. God knows on what grounds! If they lose they will get a year and maybe 2 EFC insurers to pay for appeal. Essendon insurers set to fund appeal to Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland As I said in an earlier post - easy to appeal when it someone else's money!

Thanks for the clarification...should have thought of that...all lawyers are 'street smart'

Peter Jess's 'thought bubbles' are going to get him into strife: "Essendon doctor Bruce Reid has also taken umbrage with the report, and is believed to have threatened defamation action". http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/essendon-saga-nathan-lovettmurray-reported-to-be-lodging-an-appeal-against-cas-verdict-20160204-gmm8fb.html 'Marsh also took a swipe at Jess, who earlier had said he hoped the players association would help fund an appeal against the CAS verdict. Marsh said his association had not funded any of the 34 players' legal bills so far during the supplements saga and would not change that policy. "Peter's comments probably show how disconnected he is to actually what's happening here with the 34 players," Marsh said'. For a lawyer Jess doesn't seem to have a lot of 'street smarts'. He needs to heed the the old 'engage brain before mouth' principle

An update: I was just listening to SEN and a comment from Paul Marsh of the AFLPA answered my question above about EFC funding appeals. He said the AFLPA won't be funding anything and are in discussions with EFC to fund appeals if any. He went on to say if Peter Jess believes the AFLPA will fund his appeal for NLM it shows 'how disconnected' he really is from the process. Peter Jess seems to come out with a new thought bubble each day...it is losing him more credibility each day.

You are so right TedF! Machiavellism in the extreme! For the part above that is highlighted: that sounds like MFC's predicament of recent years and some to come...the AFL determined to maintain the status quo: Fete the rich and powerful regardless of their crimes and shackle the weak. I despair at the state of the game and the connivance of the people supposedly 'managing' it.

The appeal costs being borne by ALFPA means it is being paid for by the AFL (who 100% fund it). As a fan I am outraged the AFL using monies that should go to clubs or game development elsewhere for this futile exercise. If all AFL players funded their union (the AFLPA) then they would be complaining loudly. As long as it is other people's money ie the AFL's no-one says anything. If Essendon is supposedly supporting all 34 players why is it not funding appeals, I wonder. A rhetorical question, I know but that is where the funding responsibility really lies. WJ, do you have any idea why other clubs are not up in arms about all the favours the AFL is giving EFC?

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/essendon-topups-gold-coast-suns-coach-rodney-eade-says-affected-clubs-shouldnt-sign-replacements/news-story/3ec9ac1fb727b8697f1866a810c1a117 Quote: "If the four affected clubs are granted permission to sign top-up players, Essendon will have to hasten its signing process with four new clubs on the prowl for state league talent...Alternatively, it is believed the AFL has canvassed a potential mini-draft which would eliminate the possibility of a bidding war between two or more clubs over a player". This smacks of the AFL stalling further so that EFC get all the players they want first! I don't care if we get a top-up or not and I doubt the club will be too fussed either way. But this is farce on farce! As Healey said: just make a decision, Gil! Footnote: apologies for bold font for some reason I can't get rid of it on this post

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/banned-bombers-consider-split-ahead-of-compo-bid-20160203-gmkv19.html Extracts: A group of between 10 and 15 are weighing up whether to link with renowned sports lawyer Tony Nolan QC and personal injury law barrister Gavin Coldwell. Lawyer Chris Pollard is part of the team put together by player agent Peter Jess: Former Bomber Nathan Lovett-Murray has signed, while Dyson Heppell, Dustin Fletcher, Jake Melksham, Mark McVeigh and Jake Carlisle are among those understood to be in serious discussions. Skipper Jobe Watson could also yet link with Nolan although, as part of a group of players managed by Elite Sports Properties, he may remain with Slater and Gordon, the AFLPA's preferred lawyers. Two former Bombers – Bulldogs Stewart Crameri and Brent Prismall – had engaged independent lawyers earlier in the saga. This is going to go on for years if they don't all settle out of court. At least they have the good sense to forget about the injunction. You would think this makes an appeal futile since by the time it is heard their suspension would be over.

A bizarre thing about this is that there are 5 clubs in the NT which means they will be duplicating their time and resources up there. Not very good use of AFL funds to my mind. Not only that we are up there competing with clubs who have buckets of money to splash around up there. I can't see us getting any leverage or benefit up there.

The EFC players that were instrumental in their 2015 win against us will still be there: Daniher, Goddard, Baguley and to a lesser extent Zacharakis. The only one that really played well that day that is missing is Hurley. As adec said they wanted the win more. Look at the list of their suspended 12. Only half were regular best 22. Many of the 12 were out injured last year. EFC will put in some decent performances in 2016. A few teams will get burnt for underestimating them. I pray we are not one of them. No room for complacency.

All good preparation for getting our Women's Team AFL License. After all these ladies are the coach and captain of our Women's team. Preemptive signing up the talent.

Good point! An AFL oversight? Hawthorn or North may yet claim it!

The AFL has announced its funding plans for academies, effectively club 'zones'. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-02-03/vic-clubs-handed-funding-for-academies The article says: "The clubs were consulted in the past 12 months and are understood to have accepted the allocation in general terms". Suitably vague making it hard to tell if clubs agreed or not! The zone allocations are: Western Bulldogs – Western Melbourne, Wimmera, Mallee, South West Victoria, Ballarat, (North Ballarat Rebels & Western Jets) Essendon – North West Melbourne (Calder Cannons), West Arnhem (NT) Melbourne – South East Melbourne (Dandenong Stingrays), Alice Springs (NT) Collingwood – Central Melbourne (Oakleigh Chargers), Barkly (NT) St Kilda – Inner Southern Melbourne (Sandringham Dragons), Frankston LGA North Melbourne – Melbourne and Wyndham LGAs (Calder Cannons & Western Jets) Hawthorn – Eastern/Whitehorse LGAs (Eastern Ranges), Gippsland (Gippsland Power), Katherine (NT) Carlton – Northern Melbourne (Northern Knights) Geelong – Geelong /Hampden (Geelong Falcons), East Arnhem (NT) Richmond – Goulburn Murray, Bendigo, Sunraysia, North Central (Bendigo Pioneers and Murray Bushrangers) I don't now why Vic 'power' clubs get so much of NT - yes I know it is big, but we are the ones that invested our team and games there and have built the relationships. Even having Dandenong Stingrays worries me (as a fan base) because Hawthorn will soon be moving to the neighbouring suburb of Dingley. They get Eastern Ranges and Gippsland Power and our bit of Dandenong Stingrays turf is hemmed in the middle. At face value that doesn't look very fair, especially if in time these zones bring 'academy draft bidding rights' with them No clues in the article how they were allocated! In light of recent decisions it could be the AFL looking after its 'pet' clubs and everyone else picks up the scraps. I would prefer we had a clear run at a zone rather than a team - hard to build an identity with a team, easier to do with a geographic zone. The allocations look a bit of a hotch-potch and not zones at all. Can't feel too enthused about our allocation (or lack of).

The Ox just reported that Port offered Jamar more money than EFC who had put a deadline on their offer. Jamar had to accept the lower offer. The deadline very conveniently ended before the AFL decision on top-up players. The 'handball' to Dillon and the other 13 clubs was simply a stalling tactic! How contrived!! Yep, let the cheats take the best available and b.....r the other 4 clubs!! I bet the AFL would have made a decision earlier and in favour of the other 4 affected clubs if one was Collingwood (Eddie would be squealing) or Carlton (we all know who the AFC Chairman played for).

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/stephen-dank-i-want-to-clear-the-names-of-the-essendon-34-20160202-gmjigs.html OMG!! Dank still wants to clear the 34 players!! A bit late I would think... That article contains so many Dank utterances contradicting what he has said in the past it isn't worth commenting. The only thing in the article I found believable was: "Dank, however, no longer has detailed documents outlining what the players were injected with, maintaining these were erased under the watch of the club's former administration". Very convenient. Bit by bit the truth comes out...

Looks like we may be joining the top-up party: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-02-02/demons-seek-topup-rookie-for-suspended-melksham?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS+feed%3A+AFL+Latest+News But we would upgrade a rookie to our senior list and top up the rookie list to maintain a full list. However, it seems we are not too fussed: "It is believed the Demons are in no rush to bring in a new player in place of Melksham, with the club under the impression the player would be inadequately prepared from a fitness point of view, as well as being behind in understanding the club's game plan". As Melksham was never really there, we are not going to miss him...its more a case of keeping the overall numbers topped up.

Further to that post. I can see the end result being: Jobe keeps Brownlow; players get all sorts of paid gigs by sponsors, media etc; players will get paid (hence why StK is making so much noise about who pays), take a nice holiday for the next 9 months and someone generously organises training for them at some exotic location. Then they come back to the game as heroes. So the only penalty is they don't actually play for a year...a bit like Hird not coaching for a year...no penalty at all really. Everyone wins: WADA get their conviction, CAS upholds the clean sport principle and sends a message to sports to not try the 'doped but duped'/'dog ate my homework' argument, EFC gets top draft picks, players get a soft landing. Losers: respect for ASADA and clean atheletes/sports. So much for 'cheats never prosper'.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2016/02/02/asada-says-sponsorship-is-an-issue-for-the-afl/ ASADA say: "it is up to the AFL to decide whether Dyson Heppell’s promotion of an Essendon sponsor is appropriate. But wait! When told of Heppell’s tweet, an AFL spokesman said it was up to ASADA to comment. Is this a case of 'pass the parcel'! More importantly it staggers me that: 'An ASADA spokesperson later said: “the sanctions are imposed by the AFL and any enquiries about appropriate activities should be directed to them'. My reaction is no, no no, NO! The AFL will push the envelope to advantage EFC and the players! Have ASADA learnt nothing about the AFL's potential for duplicity over the last 3 years? I understand that the AFL impose the sanctions but surely ASADA is there to ensure the sanctions are enforced! As a minimum I would have expected ASADA to say something like: the AFL impose the sanctions but they expect it to follow all the WADA/CAS rules for suspended players, to the letter and in the spirit of the law. I fear ASADA have gone soft, after all they were always in favour of the players getting off lightly. I'm beginning to think they have a 'now that WADA has its man/men convicted' lets give the boys a soft landing attitude.

This article is about Petracca http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-02-01/trac-back-on-training-track but there is a snippet about Jack's progress: Trengove remains in the rehab group but was running hard and testing his agility in drills at training on Monday, with a return to full training not too far away...."Jack's progressed every week with his running and he'll start to join in full training over the next little period, all things going well," Mahoney said. This appears to be on the favourable side of Jack's own expectations a few weeks ago. It doesn't say whether he is kicking but that he will start full training suggests he is just about there. A few more boxes ticked off toward getting him back on the park

You have to wonder what his manager was doing or not doing! You would think he would check out prospects with other clubs before letting his charge sign another contract. Cam played some good games before re-signing. His potential/ability was known. If nothing else his manager could advise him to wait a few months longer before signing. (That is exactly what Jesse's manager did. By all accounts Jesse was ready to resign with us during the summer but his manager had a word in his ear to hold off and let the season roll out. That is exactly the right thing for a manager to do). All very well for Cam's manager to shout from the rooftops that they will be back for a trade in 2016. He had options before Cam re-signed - the kid had just turned 19! The manager must share some responsibility here. Its his job to keep his charge out of these situations. What if Cam was your son or brother...would you be happy how it has played out. I'd be having a few stern words with the manager to be honest!!

There is much media discussion about top up players, payment of salary etc for the non EFC, AFL clubplayers. The press seems to have forgotten that we have one - articles like this one don't even mention MFC or Jake: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/essendon-to-pay-carlisles-st-kilda-contract-this-year-20160131-gmi4ai.html" I really like the position MFC has taken: An early, clear statement that Jake was recruited for the long term...nothing to see here folks. No hue and cry about top-ups or salary payments, no whinging etc. (that is not to say our lawyers are not having discussions with the AFL) Nothing to distract players, coaches, admin or fans from getting on with football. No attention from the media. No spotlight on us. We are quietly going about our business like a really professional club. People say a club needs to be successful off the field first to be successful on the field. Well, MFC is kicking an abundance of goals in most areas off-field, it is only a matter of time before the on-field results follow. I've moved beyond being hopeful; I'm finally ready to believe.