Bluey's Dad

I assume he'll "step down from the captaincy to concentrate on football" at some point during the off-season. This will then allow Roos to drop him. Once he learns that a boundary line is not in fact a player with a Melbourne guernsey, he'll be a good player.

I reckon new years is a good idea. New year is all about moving forward right?

I'd buy that Superman Tee if it didn't have the Southern Cross on it.

Not sure how much pressure they can put on, Robbie. Seems like a lot of them actually support Hird. I'd love to know hoe many #standbyhird members there are vs reasonable ones.

IMHO, yeah he's better than Toumpas, Viney, Mitchie, Kent and JKH as it currently stands. In all likelihood by the end of next year all of those players will have moved past him. Trengove doesn't count due to injury. Still wouldn't have him back though.

I have to say my recollection of Jobe's interview aligns more with you than with Jack. I don't remember him being cocky about it. He seemed confident that what he took was legal. Personally I'm not dancing on any graves. I just want the Essendon players to be punished proportionately to what happened. 2 year bans like any other athlete on the world stage would get, none of the backdating crapola that effectively reduces the punishment. I think a lot of the anger on here is because we can see the players getting off lightly and we just want them treated as they would be if they were playing any other sport (or club). Also there's a bit of a victim mentality when it comes to the MFC, which is probably justifiable after the tanking issue. To have so many clubs clearly do the same thing but only us be punished for it is a scar on our supporters' psyche. The NRL players got off far too lightly. If it happens with Essendon, which was a much much more institutionalised program, then Australian sport is officially a joke.

Any player who now goes into a contract negotiation should say "Tom Boyd's getting $7 million". Not saying Jones should get that much, just that Boyd's contract re-aligns what players can now demand. Jones is worth what any club would pay to take him. We need to make sure our offer is no different.

I am flabbergasted. The more fight the players and their lawyers fight this, the worse the ban will be. Them saying the NRL players regret their decision seems pretty far-fetched to me. Maybe the meat heads think they didn't do anything wrong and 3 weeks was too much. They got off very very lightly. Any chance of a deal like that for the AFL players goes right out the window the more they keep arguing.

No, but they weren't overly pleased. I think the big difference between Cronulla and Essendon is the duration and volume of injections. Cronulla's regime only lasted a few weeks. Essendon's was far longer and more systematic. I very much doubt any of the players will get less than 6 months of actual game time ban. Maybe a backdated 1 year ban that sees them miss the preseason and half of the 2015 season. Anything less and I reckon WADA would override. Just my opinion.

Here ya go:

This is where you lose me.

Concerned? No. It'll be a cold day in hell when the Dees win a premiership. It sure got a little more Frosty this arvo. Anything can be spun.

Someone in another thread suggested Dean Gore.

I'm hoping for a disgruntled, newly delisted, sanction-free Essendon player. Yes, I live in fantasy land.

Well [censored], there's a thought. First pick at the Essendon corpse.

I think we did. I reckon the Trenners trade falling through screwed our plans big time.

What the hell are we going to do with 40 and 53? Seems like way overs to me since we got Vince for a similar pick last year, and Greenwood went for 25.

That Howe for pick 6 thing seems like way overs. Love Howe but he's not worth pick 6. Having said that, GWS are probably the only team in the comp who would actually pay it. They need to generate some excitement for crowds and Howe will provide that. Having someone up for mark of the year every week wearing their jumper could help drum up supporters.

3 minutes. Nasher better be showering.

It really doesn't.

This picture makes me ill:

Seems reasonable.