Diamond_Jim

There's the facts, the story and the spin. The fact is that Bailey clearly believed he had been actually or impliedly threatened with the sack by Schwab and Connolly if the team won more than five games. (read the interview...it's all in there.) The story... write what you will. Now the Spin... Confront your mistakes and learn from them. Give the subtle message that other teams should do the same including those who have been involved in far more damaging scandals involving the future health of young men who entrust themselves to the camaraderie of a football club etc etc. It happened a long time ago and there is nothing for the present club to be ashamed of IF they learnt from the mistake. The win at all costs mantra of a sporting club breeds a toxic atmosphere sometimes just as it does in business. The challenge is to find the balance and leave the club a better place after you leave. I think Peter Jackson did that. Can this administration and group of players do the same.

Don't ignore it .... that's what Essendon have done. Face the truth ...learn from it and be a stronger organisation

Dean Bailey: There was no question I wanted to win. I remember Schwaby walking in andputs his head down and I can’t remember exactly what he said but it was something like:“F---ing Jesus, gee.” You know, shaking his head. Oh, I thought we are OK, we won. Hemumbled something about “difficult”, “hard”, what we’re doing to get to the end of the year,“gotta think of the club’s future” ... words to that effect. Chris said something to me about“F---ing Jimmy had just fallen out of his bloody hospital bed” or something. Oh, right. I justignored Chris, to be honest. Then the Monday morning meeting occurred exactly as yousaid. Chris is good with colour texta, he loves writing things on boards. He wrote up Scullyand I think he wrote (Tom) Scully and (Jack) Trengove’s names up on the board.

Bailey's defence is clear in the record of interview. In his view Schwab and Connolly impliedly if not actually threatened him with the sack if he won more than 5 games. Bailey's regret is that he didn't complain to the Board and in particular to Andrew Leoncelli. He admits that while he never deliberately threw a game he was at best ambivalent (my words) about winning

wow have read the first ten pages or so of Baileys record of interview not good stuff but it's great that it is now out in the open

Adelaide are happy to take their shots from 55 metres which gives them a lot more space in which to play their forwards. It's almost the antithesis of our bombing to the hotspot.

so LH according to your breakdown of favoured gameplans Adelaide v Crows should be a controlled game plan (Geelong) playing a hybird style. I will watch with interest

Bit hard to get excited about the other games this round given our form in the first two weeks but even for cellar dwellers such as the MFC there are a few 8 point games this weekend. Collingwood v WCE could decide top spot at the end of the season. Can the Tigers scrape through without their stars against the Giants. Who's top of the heap between Hawks and Roos. Finally can the Doggies continue on their winning way against the Suns. And of course the Cats have the chance in Adelaide tonight to show that once again they are a force to be reckoned with.

on the AFL site everyone seems to have tipped Melbourne to win.... https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-04-04/the-tips-are-in-our-reporters-find-you-a-r3-winner

after the bye perhaps

and that is a gameplan issue ...it just doesn't work

I love ethical debates What would Justinian have said on the subject, I wonder. On a more relevant issue as many of us did we goal umpired etc for our kids as they played football. One would notice the onfield niggling and my comment was.. just enjoy the game. The kids take it way too seriously... this was at around under 14's. There's a balance somewhere... just ask the Australian cricket team

BB.. excellent post.. there's a thread presently on the various game plans that would benefit from your post. The only thing I would add/query is where does the zone fit in.Last year when we were successful the zone protected the ball on the way out of our forward line and often sent it flying back in to advantage. Something has happened and our zone is now being picked to pieces. An 80 point loss where the game plan worked (far more inside 50's) but we lost by 80 points seems to me to demonstrate a dramatic failure of the game plan rather than player's failure to execute.

So if we take LH's excellent post as a base 8 out of the 18 teams are playing controlled possession football whereas only three are playing the chaos brand. Interesting and when people complain of bad delivery into the forward line that is what the chaos brand entails... just push it forward. Problem is that it just doesn't work if you don't have forward pressure..ergo the last two weeks

do the coaches get access to the aerial shots of competing teams. I would expect that the methods of play by the opposition are highly analysed.... at least I hope they are. This is where the pay tv product can shine with fans being able to get multiple camera angles on replay.

money...going through the list of free agents both restricted and unrestricted there weren't many at all that inspired much of my interest. Not sure where the Pies are at with salary cap so there may be some leverage. Just throwing it out there for discussion given our need for a "smaller" defensive forward

Lose this one and top 4 is gone. With the 80 point loss to Geelong our percentage will be a problem so we will need 14 wins to make the 8. Possible but throw in those two home games we have sold to the NT and the equation becomes unlikely. The upside is that we will have ample opportunity to trial the likes of Petty and Baker, get a decent draft pick and an easier draw next year. Big game to say the least.

Jamie Elliot ?? 26 years old and a restricted (?) free agent From the official Collingwood site... "A small forward with incredible strength and speed, Elliott marks unbelievably well for his size. His style of play has seen comparisons drawn with Paul Medhurst and Stephen Milne, but it is through his tackling and defensive work in attack that he has impressed his coaches "

Miss Haversham says hello......

don't think we've ever had an easy season that I can recall. Even 1988 we won seven of the first 8 ( I was overseas and missed it) and then proceeded to win regularly with a few losses until ... yep we lost five straight and just made the final 5 on 13 wins. And then there was ??? when we topped the ladder with two rounds or so to go and beset with injuries we lost every game

I think that like most MFC supporters I am feeling a little like a punch drunk fighter going into the final round. None of us really saw this coming.Losses perhaps but not the haymakers of blows that we have suffered. Anyway in the spirit of optimisim I have adopted this classic song as my MFC theme song for the season.Let's hope it holds true.

that's very good !

9 goals to 1 final quarter by the Bulldogs to beat the Hawks... we can only dream

that's a gameplan issue. Commentators were quite proudly saying last year that we have increased scoring by taking shots from much closer to goal etc. When you become predicitable one can easily see the result.