rumpole

Verbal diarrhea

As long as one of those three clubs is not Melbourne I'll be very happy. I find it incredible that the captain of a team could come out on the eve of trade week and make a pronouncement that Fevola is not welcome there. Nick Maxwell either had the blessing of his club to say those things or he's very stupid. Usually, it's the football department and recruiting people who have a say and not a player or even the club president for that matter.

Good stuff. Look forward to more over the trades.

That's exactly what Essendon scored against our 10.9 in the 1948 Grand Final draw. We flogged them in the replay!

Just wondering if the other clubs with alignments to AFL clubs have as much trouble getting players from those teams to play at finals time.

A fifth to Jamar. Bless my soul!

Snap goal to Betts and they're 27 points up halfway through the third. This is going to be a high scorer!

4 to Jamar! We're closing in on them.

It's a real problem and something that has to be investigated. It looks very much like we have 20 fit players at half time in the second last game with only 2 or 3 available for Casey including Paul Wheatley who's starting in the twos and is probably there just to qualify for the finals. Meanwhile, Collingwood have all bar one or two players available for their two sides this weekend.

Jetta has two and we trail by only 7 points - 6.2.38 to 7.3.45

Blues now 2 goals in front. You can stop chewing the nails.

Very powerful.

It's an insult to the oldest football club on this planet and to DB and the football department to suggest we're tanking. The three players out this week are all injured. Sylvia let his team down with an undisciplined act that should not have occurred given his past history. A week at Casey is not going to hurt him. It's all about managing your list, instilling discipline and nuturing your players for future success. Nothing to do with tanking whatsoever.

WJ. Just wondering if you've ever tried to run a case using that colourful translation of the time honoured legal maxim of caveat emptor?

Got to stop Goodes!

A good mate of mine from SA reckons that Jack Trengove has been playing in the seniors at Sturt the past couple of weeks and says that he's been "superimpressive" against the men. His verdict? "Think Rich!" If Scully is as good as he's cracked up to be and a couple of meaningless wins at this stage of the season prevent us from getting these two players they will go down in history as monumental defeats. Do we need Carlton and Richmond's (Wallace has already 'fessed up) efforts in 2007 to show us how to do things properly and get an advantage in a competition that's hopelessly compromised anyway?

Shane Valenti is one of those players who never put in a bad game at VFL level but struggles in the AFL. This is probably due to the fact that he doesn't get much game time when he plays for the Dees where he is competing against players with bigger reputations.

There's always room in the team for players with Wheels' class and experience. Besides, Jamie Bennell will probably need a break soon and they do tend to rest the younger players. Whelan could also be played off the bench.

I don't know what the fuss is with Wallace. Has anyone seen how the Dockers are being coached lately?

Martin Flanagan is doing a great job again as the Age journalist embedded inside the Melbourne Football Club - Devil in the Dee-tale. However ... he did commit one clanger: Please bone up on your MFC history mate! Either that or don't sit next to to people suffering from memory loss and believe what they're telling you is true. By 1967 our # 1 member was already in his third year as captain coach of Carlton.

Chook. Haven't I seen you before on a You Tube clip?

Touchy aren't we? WJ's point is right though and you proved it with your throwaway line about Newton. Throughout the alignment Melbourne gave way to Sandy on most issues. Here's an example of Casey doing something for its alignment partner and it rightly gets praised. No need to throw a hissy fit now - just worry about when the Saints start embracing Frankston.

Great stuff fellas. Different views - interesting.

$4.8m for 3 years. That's considerably more than has been stated previously! Are you sure?

The only way for Spencer to get on the list sooner than later is by a player going onto the long term injury list which means the player in question has to be genuinely injured and would have to remain on the lti until at least round 9 i.e not even a game with the Scorps (or even school footy for that matter). Robbo wants to play in April, Jamar has a toe injury, Wheats a calf, Aussie has a hammy and McNamara and Maric are back in training. We don't have any options ATM.