Diamond_Jim

I saw those stats fndee but perhaps they did not really feed into dominating the clearance stats (I think). For example our top ranked player was Viney ranked 14 in clearances, Jones at 25 and Tyson at 44. My feeling is that at present the opposition often rove to our mid field at the centre bounce (tackle... close down ) and then we have a secondary ball up. Could not find rankings for centre clearances or clearances from ball ups. Would be interested to see where we ranked. Interestingly North Melbourne players with their dominant ruckman were ranked around the same as ours. Perhaps the ruckman is dead and his worth is measured mainly by his round the ground skills ?

Interesting posts Pleasure to read many of the well thought out theses. As some have said the world cannot be reduced to a slogan. What Fidel did back in the late 50's was probably justifiable but at some stage over the next 50 years the ideal was lost. I always have a bit of a chuckle about Guantanamo and the American excesses at that place given their complaints about the lack of human rights in Cuba. Would like to think that Cuba can find its way without the need to become another Caribbean Las Vegas pandering to middle class America. Unfortunately with its rural based economy I do not hold out much hope.

A large part of the key to success in 2017 will be our tactics to take advantage of Gawn's ruck dominance. He gave great value around the ground but I feel that we did not take advantage of his ruck dominance. I have no idea of what the required tactic(s) might be but if we can master them and Gawn can remain fit nothing is impossible next year.

Farewell Aunty Jack....

The Essendon love in is interesting....... wonder if it is just the gambling industry keeping themselves safe from the sentimentality of Bomber supporters Along with many others I would be extremely disappointed if we do not beat and finish above Essendon, North and St Kilda

Cynicism is the natural protective blanket of most Melbourne supporters but I think there is a lot of sense in your post Beelzebub. When you combine the factors you mention with the natural enthusiasm injected by a new coach (okay not new in the ordinary sense) the players can enter the season with a feeling of confidence and commitment. Confidence can be a brittle thing however so it is very important that we get a few good performances under our belt early in the season. From there.... who knows....we may even come to look upon the Darwin game as a welcome winning break from the winter slog

Breaking news A charter flight carrying 81 people including 22 members of the Chapecoense Football team has crashed in Columbia. Six survivors reported. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/nov/29/brazilian-team-chapecoense-onboard-plane-that-crashed-over-colombia-latest shades of Man U plane crash in Munich 1958

The basket ball in the US is interesting I think they need one year in College. In the past drafting was done at the end of college. In recent years starting with Carmelo Anthony (IIRC) the stars have been disappearing to the NBA after year 1. (Money and risk of injury are the main drivers). On the other hand NFL requires that you have been out of high school for three years (Just looked up NBA... they require one year post high school and a minimum age of 19 years.) Not so worried about them being pinched by other sports. If anything it might improve our cricket stocks but that is only a very few players. Soccer... the kids start at under ten at the latest. Hard to see an Australian Rules player changing to the round ball code

Looks like he could play in the Under 15's Makes you question the drafting age. Year 12 school is not the big decision point it used to be so why not move the draft age out a year or two. It could be done over 4 years with six month increments each year so as not to kill the draft.

There is no reason why we should not aspire to the Grand Final. The power teams are on their way down. Only GWS are a stand out. In reality we will most likely continue in our mediocrity but one can hope. Probably 8-11 at end of home and away. Maybe win a final depending on who and where we play.

This thread got me thinking Do attendances matter or more correctly is it only attendance by general admission attendees that matter? The club and the MCC get membership fees irrespective of whether we attend. Corporate boxes are rented by the year so again no difference. No wonder no one wants to play an interstate team ........... the revenue must be almost nil. On the other hand if you are a team where memberships outnumber available seats ( Geelong and the Crows spring to mind) you can increase your revenue by the sale of season reserved seats. Collingwood and Essendon seem to be able to do this at the MCG by creating an artificial shortage by means of nominating part of the ground as their "supporter area." Interested in hearing peoples thoughts on how we might grow the revenue base as we enter what should be a period of relative success (fingers crossed of course).

Time to remember that AFL players are no different to employees in any medium to large size operation. I am sure everyone knows of a former employee who had employment issues and left threatening to sue etc. Nothing much really. The only issue for us fans is whether he cuts it as a player (seems the vast preponderance of opinion is NO) and what the timing of his departure does to our salary cap and drafting position. ( I fear that we may lose out in this area at least in the short term.) You may recall that he was put on the long term injury list with only 6 weeks to go in the 2016 season. As the season had less than 8 weeks to go this required the express approval of the AFL under their rules. This approval was given. It is readily apparent that the club has a strategy to deal with a difficult employee (no different to the usual HR issues in any organisation.) Overall what I am saying is there is no need for the vitriol that is shown in many of these posts. Time to move on and think of summer or whatever one calls it in Melbourne !!

Interesting article Bombers have just posted a one off loss for 2016 of just under $10M. They attribute $4.5M to legal fees and compensation. (Sounds light.... perhaps the insurers have footed a rather large bill.) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/nov/16/essendon-post-98m-loss-in-wake-of-cas-ruling-over-players-doping-bans

The real question is whether footballers are subjected to higher standards than their equivalent non playing mates. I think we all know the answer to that and therefore this is an irresponsible and disappointing event. Some punishment over and above the legal fines etc is justified.

avoiding a test has almost always had the same result as "failing" the test. A good example is avoiding a drink driving test. Does not matter if you didn't have one drink the penalty is heavy. If you consider it the reasons for this approach have merit.

six months..... the vast bulk of which is served out of season......... why am I disappointed but not surprised I will watch with interest to see if he is paid during this period.

Makes you wonder whether the teams need a few more long term rookie positions. This guy is a short term ...No.... but if you could warehouse him and give him one or two years in a controlled system ..... I would be interested Hope he gets a role at a VFL club. Without wishing to sound racist or patronising perhaps a few '"refugee rookie positions" could be an idea. We seem to have rookies in a lot of other categories.

Of all the players.... he is the most culpable........ he was the Captain of the Club.......... he was THE leader

I think you have hit the nail on the head. None of the above admitted wrongdoing and other than "resigning" none have been punished and if anything they were financially rewarded Anyway you should feel free to move on but for me it continues to be one of footballs darkest moments

But isn't that the problem Saty... people just want to forget it and move on but you can't do that until the perpetrators have admitted guilt If you want a fantastic example of the required process look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the end of the apartheid era. (And just to make it clear there is no comparison between drug taking in sport and the crimes of the apartheid era but there is a lot in the process of admission of wrongdoing, forgiveness and moving on )

Sainthood faster than Mother Theresa perhaps ........... he deserves no less !!

You are correct. They signed up in 2006 and were the last Olympic sport to do so apparently. Interesting that the NBA is also outside WADA. Penalty for a first offence for a PED is only 10 games (In NBA that is around 3 weeks) Strangely a "drug of abuse" gets you disqualified. Mind you there have only been 8 players caught since 1983 taking any form of PED. Baseball is perhaps a little tougher with an 80 game penalty for taking PEDS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_the_United_States#United_States_Anti-Doping_Agency

They would love to do that. The NFL and I think the EPL are examples of major sports that operate their own drug codes outside WADA. The problem is that the Australian Federal Government have made it a condition of sports grants that the code signs up to WADA. Many clubs have received significant Federal grants with the revamp of Whitten Oval being one example.

six months?..... would that start now meaning that two thirds would be served in the off season ??

Not sure how to read this news but methinks it is the AFL trying to spin that what GWS is not that bad ..... them again I just might be cynical http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/seven-afl-clubs-fined-for-breaking-doping-rules-in-2016-about-players-whereabouts-20161109-gslklv.html " Seven AFL clubs broke the league's anti-doping rules in 2016, but the league has found they did so unintentionally. The AFL announced on Wednesday Hawthorn, West Coast, Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon, the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda had all failed to do so on one more more occasions this year. But none of the players involved missed a test and the failures were found to be of an administrative nature, not intentional." Just remembered one of the radio commentators saying that today with the US election it was a perfect day to release news that you wanted buried!!