Earl Hood

I have a mandatory annual leave day off tomorrow so I intend to ride my bike down to training at 9.30 am. Warning: I will be wearing some Lycra and due to injury I am carrying some extra weight but I will try to keep a low profile. My first visit under the new regime so I am hoping to see a difference. I have complained before about a lack of urgency and regimen at training last year but that was maybe because I was ducking out from work nearby and had limited time. But I still think training should be very regimented. Let's see how they go tomorrow

Oh and just to clarify things our spying on East Timor happened under J Howard. Raiding Lawyers premises who are representing East Timor is not a good look. Apparently there was a national security issue involved with East Timor?? What's George on about I wonder.

Good heavens Robbie have you realised we are under attack as I write this from East Timor. Thank heavens for George Brandis and his spooks. I mean I was on the look out for leaky boats from Indonesia for insurgents that would burst through our sovereign borders, now I find the East Timorese are threatening our sovereignty by taking us to an international court at the Hague. When will the siege end? Maybe today's raid by ASIO on an East Timor representative lawyers apartment will turn the tide. These are indeed worrying times we live in.

WJ what about us? Where do we stand?

Does anyone know what our situation was and is? Dr Norman Bate and his close mate Danks who knows what they were up to!

I hope they aren't because that would mean we could sleep easy; that the drug squad has moved on. But if the Bombers players cop itinfractions that would mean we are still in the firing line. We don't need that Shyte hanging around us next year. We need a clear run for the first time in how many years?

C&B stop beating about the bush! Tell us what you really think. Great rant.

Can you please translate?

That is one way of looking at it.

DC I have done some more reading on the subject, not from Fairfax or the ABC or indeed the Hun or the Oz, but it is now obvious Gonki is dead. Pyne had stumped up the money to match Labour but there are no conditions and that is what Gonski is about minimum funding for the relatively disadvantaged children. Abbott and Pyne have committed now to the same dollars but no conditions. The states will do what they want. Most suspect they will just cost shift to the Commonwealth. You give us a billion we withdraw a billion of state money. This was how the Pyne deal was done on the back of a few desperate phone calls. The LNP just don't get it. Improving education outcomes for all kids benefits all of us eventually, it is about lifting national productivity. But they seemed to be about maintaining the class divides and advantages. By the watt The Age is reporting that all evidence of the Gonski report has disappeared from the Department of education site. No mention at all of 4 years work by educational experts and no rational explanation of where it has gone. They have some explanation of a Goverment changeover. But other government offices have changed nothing. I suspect Chris Pyne is taking us into Orwellian territory. The ministry of truth is up and running.

WYL you make an excellent point. LT for the MFC management in previous years may have saved us at least 5 years of angst. Because its methods may have flushed out the dysfunctional management very quickly. Of that I am confident, but I suspect CS would have buried it all quick smart.

Although do you remember that scurrilous AFL.com article by an anonymous somebody inferring that Liam first learnt to drink on our tour to China in 2010. It was published when he was having his violence problems and when MFC were being beaten around for the tanking accusations. Absolutely a case of the AFL putting the boot in when we were down. Why the MFC did not protest I don't know. To me it was a cheap, unsubstantiated shot at us and Liam.

I am surprised we did not find this sought of role for him but a stint with another club may be the best for his development. Then we bring him back to oversee our indigenous boys down the track. Our record with indigenous players is patchy unfortunately. If only Wonna had stayed and Liam had stayed injury free we would have been a better forward line at least!

Whoops "the copping a blast" was my hamfisted, lazy summary of his opinion (not mine). He used words more like worrying about players who are often raw kids being intimidated or daunted by having to face their peers in a one on 35 open and honest discussion. No doubt he was old school, a long career in HR with large companies I think. And yes he was more focused on making players accountable for what they did on the field and at training. On field leadership was his gig. I have had some exposure to this stuff at live in leadership courses at Melbourne Business School. I can see its value but I never really felt comfortable with it. Open and honest conversations one on one between a manager and employee or amongst a small team can be very productive. Throwing an individual out in front of a larger group, not so sure. I know when I was first involved back in the 90's with the open and honest discussion forums where you had to sit out front of your peers, many of our older managers who I would equate to your Barry Halls and Akers really lost it at the open forum experience. They gave back what they copped but that was very early days of this concept.

Well you might be right but I suspect there is plenty of partisan politics involved. When the SOS went out Newman and Bartlett were quick to come on line with their LNP colleagues after spending last year playing the spoilers I am not cutting Pyne any slack as if he is the worlds greatest negotiator. Remember Gonski was unworkable just last week, now everyone is on board and happy! Miraculous.

He may be catching the MFC disease! It's been endemic since 65!

DC my default position is that Pyne has achieved JS on top of the existing Gonski arrangements. He hasn't met the committee, he hasn't met the recalcitrant states who refused to be involved he has just said we will follow the original recommendations and throw a billion at the other States and they have not said no so far. Anyone know anything else? But before Robbie jumps on me, this is a good outcome, it is good for kids.

I recently attended a dinner party where there was a mature gent talking footy when he heard I followed MFC he stated he would love to help Roosey and the club. I asked how and it turns out he has done a lot of "on field leadership" analysis in the coaching box with the likes of Paul Roos at the Swans and Rodney Eade at the Dogs. I assumed he was from Leading Teams but he was quick to say no way. He was quite scathing of LT and their demands that players sit out in front of the group and cop a blast. For what gain he asked, he would rather confront a player with some game day video where he did not take the game on etc and talk about the lost opportunity. He was about game day analysis of player leadership on the field. He was frustrated by Rocket who would not allow any negative feedback to his senior players even when they had obviously gone missing in action. Interesting dinner it was. He thought MfC had talent and Roos was a good start but LT was not his first remedy.

Abbott and Pyne the synchronised, double backflip with a pike to execute the full Gonski! That's something special as Bruce would say. I love it. It is good for education. But I must say Pynes ability to hold so many conflicting positions in such a short space of time and still manage to deny the obvious and get on the offensive is a gold medal performance. These Politicians are a special breed of people.

Yes it's all about time and space at this level. Terlich had none of that in 2013. If things go to plan in 2014 he hopefully has more time and more space to get the ball and deliver, along with the rest of the back line. If his tendency is naturally to attack, he could be a weapon for us. Maybe!

Are we talking about the same bloke? Talent issues, yes. Soft I don't think so.

Robbie I have a feeling you are familiar with the Gonski recommendations and are about to tell us about them and that Labour did not take on board all the committees ideas. All I know is the idea was for the federal government to provide a minimum level of funding for every school to match every child under their care based on their level of disadvantage. That is Government schools look after the majority of disadvantaged students and need extra funding to meet their needs. That's my layman's take on the Gonski committees in depth four year battle to build a model acceptable to all the stakeholders involved. Now we have Mr Pyne stating he will issue a new model in the new year. Based on what grounds we may ask!

My last visual memory of him was wrestling Fraser Gehrig to the ground after he tried to play on around him just before half time? Our last final appearance in 2006. I think Gehrig never reappeared that game. A month later he has had some altercation with Ben Holland and was banished from the club. Last I heard he was playing up north and working in mining!

The Coalition's pre-election promise to match Labor's Gonski schools funding has been misunderstood by some people, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday. Mr Abbott insisted that Education Minister Christopher Pyne had pledged that 'schools' as a whole would get the same amount of money under the new government. That was despite being played a clip during the election campaign in which Mr Pyne said: ''You can vote Liberal or Labor and you will get exactly the same amount of funding for your school''. Mr Abbott told Channel Ten's Andrew Bolt: ''I think Christopher said 'schools would get the same amount of money'. And schools, plural, will get the same amount of money. The quantum will be the same.'' Pressed on the apparent clear-cut promise to individual schools, Mr Abbott suggested there was confusion in the community. ''We are going to keep the promise that we made – not the promise that some people thought that we made, or the promise that some people might have liked us to make. We are going to keep the promise that we actually made,'' he said. No fair cop I say, it's us that are confused. Unity ticket doesn't mean what we may have thought, that's our fault. Is this an updated version Howards core and non core promises or Abbotts famous statement not to believe anything he says unless it is written on paper? I suppose it doesn't matter 53% of voters fell for it at the time.

I thought the team was already doing meditation. I cite as evidence first 15 minutes round 1 versus Port this year. We didn't get a touch I am sure we were still mentally preparing for battle.