Lucifers Hero

On Ch7 this morning Goodwin was asked about the list turnover...about 22 in last 2 years and maybe another 12-14 coming up (before he takes over in 2017). Goodwin said: yeah that is a huge change. My take was that the players we on DL complain about will be gone end of 2016. So any player coming our of contract in 2015, 2016 is in strife if they can't become a regular 22. We have enough newer Roos recruits for depth to not keep the pre Roos NQRs. I then wondered if, given this year is a shallow draft and the lack of trade value of many of our NQR player, we could see all 4 rookies upgraded. Then bring in 4 new rookies that we can groom and have a good look at. Would be quite happy with all 4 rookies to be upgraded to seniors eos. BTW Bernie was asked about the 'mansion' he has bought a few doors from Roos' house. In his cheeky style Bernie said it was the old wooden shack at the back. Allowing for any sort of house in the area is $1m+ it was interesting that Bernie is settling into Melb.

GWS 6 goals up on Saints at half time! That and yesterdays game, shows what a ridiculous result the Saints vs Ess was last week. We didn't take Ess seriously enough.

Not really. He was in and out of the pies side and not always because of injury. He wasn't ever a key forward - Cloke and Brown were ahead of him. Dawes was a 3rd forward decoy. His best goal kicking was 30 in 2010, and 27 in 2011. Those included finals and the GF replay in 2011. He has had a calf problem since 2011. His effort and attitude are great. But there isn't anything in his career that suggests he is or will come good. For us he has been an expensive 1st or 2nd forward decoy. Jesse will be a champ but he doesn't need a decoy he needs real help up forward. IMO Dawes isn't that person as yesterday showed.

The only reason ANB, Stretch or Harmes should be go back to Casey is if the coaches said...we will play you for X games then give you a 'recovery' game or 2 at Casey. ie # of sequential games played is part of their development. No point having them in and out of the team like yo-yo's. Its no way to build form or confidence or trust.

The Walsh family had a small private funeral yesterday. I hope the crows can come out and do what Port did last night and play out of their skins. Barracking for Crows tonight. Wish them well, whatever the result.

Tired of focusing on our misery...Suns giving doggies a football lesson!

Probably watched more football than you over the last 50 years! Hogan was thrashed no matter how you look at it: in the air, on the ground, in contests and in hunger! You don't want to see it well that is up to you. But as I said he is a kid and he will learn.

Lets face it stuie most of our players were shite! There really wasn't any player (except Gawn) who won their position. Basically the whole team let us down!! Crap result for a team that played like crap!

Too many apologies for Hogan. Hurley had 9 marks and 24 kicks to Hogan's 6 and 13. It wasn't the delivery today. But he is a kid, he will learn...I hope

A wary and sober assessment of the game by Garry Lyon. http://demonland.com/index.php/index.html Basically he says we have been crap for years but somehow managed upset wins against the bombers after we were thrashed the week before. He asks now that they are crap and were thrashed last week, can they reverse the tables and beat us? Players take note, he says! He says win and we have shown improvement, lose and it might be so bad for players to deal with that a repeat of last year, where we win no more games, might happen. I had to go and find the real paper to see who he tipped: Dees to win by 7pts. I guess that is a fair prediction as the weather and Roos' game style will ensure it is a low scoring game. But if we win, I don't really care what the margin is.

What a tower of strength and great leader is Travis Boak! He consoled Ollie and other players last night, looked after his coach during the week, did interviews before and after the game, gathered the whole club in the rooms to sing the song. (BTW, I thought it was neat they sang it as their tribute even tho AFL had asked clubs not to). He showed similar maturity after Port lost John McCarthy. Boak strikes me as an extraordinary young man. Not as experienced but up there with Hodge as one of the very best captains IMO. Not a bad player either

My observation on events: AFL: targeted Dank on enough of ASADA 'doping' charges to ban him for life but (rightly or wrongly) not enough to implicate players. (AFL targeted and sanctioned Hird/EFC on Governance) ASADA/WADA: targeted Dank as demonstrated by the number of infraction notices (35?) and appeal items (20?) to CAS (and none of either to Hird/EFC). ACC: Target is drug traffickers but no idea how this relates to Dank (Charter seems to be their guy) Gov: The EFC Worksafe 'inquiry' has a narrow scope on process (not in the administering of the long list of substances listed in the AFL charges sheet to Hird/EFC). That is not to say it could not be widened. They seem to have no interest in targeting Dank.

Your commentary thru this saga has been interesting but this post has a number of assumptions and a decent dose of wishful thinking rather than realistic/probable outcomes. Just saying... I would agree that the players were never the main game. But neither were Hird and Co otherwise they would have already received infraction notices. Can't see ASADA/WADA going after them for TB4. The real target was Dank (in addition to the integrity of the anti-doping rules/process). I don't have the same faith in Worksafe as you do but time will tell.

Apparently Hocking and Melscham have been withdrawn from the game. On paper it looks good for us. Just hope it does not lull us into thinking this will easy.

My understanding is that if the players are found guilty determining sanctions comes back to the AFL Tribunal where ASADA rather than WADA make a submission on penalties, so ASADA is the relevant party in this regard...I may be wrong tho.

The other good part is that Harmes, Vandenberg and Brayshaw bring fresh legs which the team will need after the Darwin game.

This might be a reality check to those who have been predicting armageddon for the EFC: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/court-of-arbitration-for-sport-case-against-essendon-to-be-held-in-sydney-20150709-gi90c1 My take is that if the AFL Tribunal verdict is overturned ASADA/WADA will be satisfied. Summary: - likely to be held in Sydney in mid Oct - ASADA accepts a token sanction to players if found guilty (quite appropriate in my book) - Michael Beloff QC has been appointed as Chairman of the CAS panel...a cursory glance at his background makes him eminently suited to the role. Some extracts: Education "A wise and brilliant lawyer, who is an outstanding advocate." European law Absolutely excellent." "His advocacy is always a masterclass in how things should be done." BB and Dees2014 you may need to prepare for a lot less than you hoped for. Hird may go down if players found guilty but that probably is as bad as it gets. Or Hird may just go down for incompetence if the bombers don't lift their game!

Aaron is also in back! So is JKH! That Jimmy is not named as an emergency...must mean he has work to do...

WOW. His excitement is jumping off the page! Really liked this: Harmes said Bernie Vince and Nathan Jones had taken him under his wing. “From day one, Jonesy was getting around me, so probably those two boys [have had the biggest influence on me],” he said. Comments like these (and that by Vand about Cross) show how good our leadership is now. Our senior guys are really mentoring the young guys as much as our coaches are developing their skills. At last we are becoming a professional club.

If I ever I needed another reason to loathe Sheedy this is it: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-07-09/essendon-to-drop-three-or-four-for-melbourne-clash?utm_medium=RSS Sheedy recalled one of the worst days of his coaching career: August 1, 1992. "We got smashed by Hawthorn and, the next week, we played Melbourne and we won." The 160-point loss to the Hawks was followed by a 32-point victory over the Demons, which remains the Bombers' best form reversal to this day. You can just see them using this to rev up their players, trying to rub it in to us. I just hope Roos uses that quote to rev up our players and make them 'eat Sheedy's words' so to speak.

This is a good game to debut Harmes as it looks like Ess are going to 'play the kids' and ease out their 'dad's army', injured or not (Watson, Fletcher, Cooney, Chapman, Wunderlich). If its going to be kids vs kids then Stretch, ANB, Brayshaw (if fit), Hogan and JKH will make it a good battle. The games we have won or done well in have been where the opp has not had a half decent ruckman, which Ess don't have...and our kids will smash theirs! That would make it a Dees win

Amazing what a bit of on-field form can do. Speaks as he has been playing recently: smart, composed, confident, team oriented. Both on and off field he is showing a lot more self-belief. Great to see.

You may be right about us being too tall forward in the wet but in that case surely the first tall to go would be Dawes. Also, in recent week Jack has lined up on the wing where his smarts have been really valuable and his job has been to set up goals rather than kick them.

Good story...seems it will be a special day for his family as well: Harmes says his Demons allegiance runs deep. "My two pops went for Melbourne and my mum and dad also," he said. He says the day he pulls on the famous Melbourne jumper will be special. "It will be a proud moment for me and my family," he said.

(Also posted on the Changes vs Ess thread): SEN just announced that Harmes has been elevated to the seniors list. A sure hint that he will be selected! Wish him well for his debut.