Diamond_Jim

Bancroft's press conference was an example of what we should have got from the Essendon players. It goes a long way in healing the hurt suffered by the Australian public. I will have no problem welcoming him back to cricket when he has served his suspension.

an example of where the bigger clubs can invest their money to remain at the top, size wise. The fan experience or whatever you like to call it is very important.

just looking up Winx' prize money to date and came across this interesting point: Unlike many elite racehorses, Winx does not have a particularly long stride – her stride was measured at 6.76 metres (22.2 ft) compared to nearly 8.5 metres (28 ft) for Black Caviar and Phar Lap. Instead, her success has been attributed to a "freakish" stride rate that allows her to take 14 strides every 5 seconds, compared to 12 for her rivals. "This means she can settle or accelerate at any time during a race," said Dr. Graeme Putt, who has studied the science of racehorse success. "I think this makes her unique."[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winx_(horse) Would have loved to see her at Ascot.... perhaps we can get some stars from overseas to come and contest the Cox Plate. I see the second favourite for the Cox Plate is Humidor which is a little like ground hog day.

Won't happen but I would like Australia to stand out of international cricket for the year. The way we play cricket is toxic and a circuit breaker is required. To argue that everyone does it and that we are just taking the rules to their limits etc etc is just not good enough. As to those directly involved I hate to say it but two year suspensions are in order. That is light.

no... you miss the point Both last year and this we have suffered key injuries which should have given a chance to several fringe players. No one was expecting him to star either last year or this but the fact that he is not considered capable of filling a short term gap is as Dr G just said ... "underwhelming". And don't say he isn't getting a run this time because he lacked a pre-season. He wouldn't have been considered anyway. Lists require analysis and this is what we are entitled to do as followers of the team. Just accepting the mediocrity of the last fifty years got us to where we are. By the way good luck to the young man and we all hope he makes it.

boy ,,, what else would you expect from Goodwin. Don't tell me.... "he's on track"

The pressure on Weid perhaps comes about because he was a number 9 pick. At that level the player is expected to contribute to the senior team within a year. This includes talls. Look at Moore and Daniher. Similarly look at the pressure on McCartin. If he had been a pick 40 development player the debate today would have a different tone. Football has changed and the need to get a player from a team's first round pick is essential. I haven't written him off but this is the year where we need to see repeated signs. As an aside longer term you have to wonder if he has a role to play in the modern game even if he develops in the classic FF mode. That role seems to be going the same way as the ruckman

He needs to show this at VFL level let alone AFL level. The fact is he had one decent game for Casey last year ... Even the great Juice Newton killed it at VFL level. Unfortunately yes Dr G ... and we all want him to succeed. Finally I will make the point again that the shortened VFL season means Weid misses 3 games in which he might show development.

Here's the latest report: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/judge-reserves-decision-on-latest-twist-in-essendon-supplements-saga-20180321-p4z5jc.html Our legal system is not really designed to deal with cases such as this so I suspect it will go no further "AFL lawyer Gregory Harris QC argued any case would be expensive and should be limited. He said a trial should not involve lengthy cross-examination of many witnesses and discovery of documents. Harris added the matter was not a usual one, where a plaintiff seeks damages from a defendant but was a case brought by a "punitive plaintiff" enlisting the help of a "highly qualified" and "sophisticated" lawyer like Burnside. Burnside said a limited or "mini-trial" before a trial would not be the best way to decipher the facts on whether the league had acted in ways to protect its commercial interests during the scandal which became public in February, 2013. Justice John Dixon reserved his decision to a date to be determined about which form a trial should take. In his statement of claim, Taylor alleges several statements by McLachlan about the AFL's joint investigation with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority were misleading or deceptive. He also alleges several statements made by AFL executives – about former Essendon coach James Hird, player welfare, an interim report by ASADA and the AFL's decision-making – are examples of misleading or deceptive conduct."

It was additional members we were speaking of. Have a look at the Essendon increase as an example of what a finals performance can do.

I think the Bulldogs premiership got them an additional 20% or around 8k members. If we managed that we would move up one rung perhaps and challenge Carlton. Would be interesting to see what flags 2 and 3 do but I would think the improvement is incremental. Would love to see some age group analysis done of the supporter bases as I fear our demographic may be edging towards the Tobin Brothers end of the field. The Blues are obviously a problem for the AFL as they are in danger of being the repeat of Melbourne in the '70's and slipping into irrelevancy. It is so obvious that the Friday night games are all about reversing this trend but of course it comes at the cost of the less powerful clubs such as ourselves.

Ignoring GWS and GCS we are heading for the lowest membership figures in the comp after North and Brisbane. Line ball with Saints and Dogs. Disappointing given the "potential" of this team.

Is this the end of Mourinho at Manchester U after this morning's performance against Sevilla The comments section of the Guardian is on fire: Here's a sample: "Just woeful. The away leg was the worst United performance I have seen in years, this evening’s nonsense struggled to reach the dizzy lows of that debacle. If ever proof were needed that The Joyless Twatknuckle (TM) is in no way a United manager, then the first half of this evening’s farrago. It was anti-football, which is what TJT (TM) is. He is the antithesis of United and he must go." "Don't care whether United win or lose, but that was just bad football. There isn't room in any eleven for Lukaku, Sanchez, Rashford and Lingard, particularly if you then tell your full-backs (both wingers of yore) not to cross the half-way line. A collection of talented players can only be so dysfunctional, but Mourinho's personality is writ large on this team and no good will come of it." https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/mar/13/manchester-united-sevilla-champions-league-match-report

350 in front with 6 wickets in hand. Touch wood but I think we have this one ....... about two mins after I post this we lose a wicket so I will shut up !!

They have just finished a test series at home against India which was a very exciting series. If you think about it a Test series played at this time in Australia would not rate that well either. Not sure how you solve the problem that other than England most of the Test teams are in the Southern hemisphere and in India they like to play in their winter when it is a little cooler. Was in Kolkata last week ... 33 degrees every day at the end of winter !!

Is Winx still heading to Ascot later in the year? Good luck with your selections guys

Thought it might be time for a World Cup logistics update for those who are interested. I planned to drop into Moscow for three nights before heading onto my base in Kazan. Booked a hotel through Agoda in the normal way with attendance guaranteed by credit card and then started hearing all these horror stories about hotels in Moscow cancelling bookings for the WC. Emailed the hotel twice but no reply. Did a dummy booking at the hotel and was told 4 nights minimum stay (I had booked for 3 nights) and the rate had increased.I got in touch with Agoda and they had their Russian speaking consultant phone the hotel and supposedly my booking is good. Who knows... so if you guys know of a couch that I can share in Moscow it could be good back up. Now onto Kazan where I have booked an Air bnb. Have used airbnb all around the world for the last few years and they are great. The big plus is the payment system. Airbnb act as the broker and no probs with false sites etc and payment is so simple. Russia however has a twist for foreign visitors. Usually if you are in any city for more than 7 days you need to formally register your presence with the authorities. For the WC the requirement to register has been reduced to 24 hours if you are in a WC host city. Registration requires a personal visit by you and the host to the authorities. Nobody knows how this mass registration is going to work in practice. My Kazan airbnb host with whom I communicate by means of google translate has no idea either. Such joys ... but all part of the adventure.... PS Is Timmy ever going to get onto the park with Milwall??

Interesting I assume he got a raise for 2018 and then a good amount for 2019 and 2020. Must have meant that they had some salary cap movement left for this season which is no surprise given the renewals we are facing at end of season. Well executed by the club and would love to see one or two others signed in the next few months.

I agree Dr D...that is the point .. we should be on an upward trend at this time of the year. Have a look at Essendon for example with their push for 70,000 members. There is no doubt that the Collingwood game not to mention a few others put a spoke in the wheels of our sputtering bandwagon. Win the first three games and we might still be able to trend upwards but to stand still in this game is to go backwards.

some useless info for you guys as you watch the match... From the Guardian live report: It might surprise you to learn that going to the Superbowl is incredibly expensive. Tickets aside, once at the stadium a bottle of water costs $6 and a slice of pizza with a soda is $21. ESPN sent their writers into the bowels of the US Bank Stadium to check out the prices. Here are their findings results. Personal favorite: the Justin Timberlake inspired J-Tea cocktail. $35.

a $600 million valuation on a "revenue" flow of $500K... now that is what I call a seriously unbalanced P/E ratio. Ok guys I'm sure that between us we can come up with the next best version of sliced bread and we'll all be in clover

What did you guys think of Halt and Catch Fire? I thought the first three seasons were great but perhaps the last season could have been a little tighter in its scripting and plot line. For those who liked the Good Wife, the cable version now just about to start of its spin off (second season), the "Good Fight" is a very watchable show. The new British dramas, the Girlfriends and MacMafia are okay also, without being up there with some of the more recent British shows. And of course there is a new season of Spiral (Engrenage).... one of my long time favourites. Glad you are enjoying Ozark Macca...wonder how many seasons it will run And I'll also vote for Maigret !

What did you guys think of Halt and Catch Fire? I thought the first three seasons were great but perhaps the last season could have been a little tighter in its scripting and plot line. For those who liked the Good Wife, the cable version now just about to start of its spin off (second season), the "Good Fight" is a very watchable show. The new British dramas, the Girlfriends and MacMafia are okay also, without being up there with some of the more recent British shows. And of course there is a new season of Spiral (Engrenage).... one of my long time favourites. Glad you are enjoying Ozark Macca...wonder how many seasons it will run And I'll also vote for Maigret !

When the market starts shorting your stock watch out. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Profits though are over rated it seems... just look at Facebook, Uber etc and the other darlings that lose money hand over fist. Facebook will probably come good simply because marketers cannot ignore the platform (unfortunately)but Uber will always be an easy target for competition. In Asia it is Grab for example. Good Luck Macca .. if someone's going to make the money it may as well be an ex Demon

Looking at that list other than Petracca and Tom Mc Donald (UFA) you would think that most would sign on as the year progresses. Good players among the rest but no real stars. 2019 has Hogan and Oliver amongst others. Would like to see them both signed this year but who knows.