Earl Hood

If Clark and Frawley are headed for all Australian I think we would be all feeling very good about ourselves.

Actually you don't have to gut run yourself into the ground. It is more about having the confidence to present and re-present yourself for the slick 20 to 30 meter pass. Why is that so hard at AFL level but gee it has been absent from MFC play for the last 5 years? I can remember round 1 2011 was it? When we had a draw with the Swans at the G. We had fought tooth and nail to hold a lead and in the last minutes I remember, I think Petterd taking a mark at the 70 meter mark on the northern flank and screaming for a target. I was sitting on the opposite pocket and noticed Dunn actually run from a position in the clear to pick up a Swans defender. I could not believe it. He just needed to run straight at Petterd for the pass and a chest mark. Take it kick a point even and we win. But don't blame Dunn because he was just one, no one else presented. It has been a huge problem for us in recent years. We do not trust each other to back ourselves in the contest. I believe when we do we will see big improvement. The quality of the cattle is important but getting the herd moving as one is just as important and this is where Roos can make a big difference and quickly.

Conservatives by definition don't jump on anything except the status quo! It is about maintaining the pecking order of society. Lefties tend to be about reform and change so there is bound to be successes and failures along the way. Without some change the nation and society stalls, please refer to any society ruled by a dictator, re the Middle East or in the Soviet Block. Sometimes conservatives do bring in change, refer to the GST but it is not their default position. They spend a lot of their time dismantling the previous ALP Goverment's initiatives. Refer Tony Abbotts whole election campaign, it was about tearing down the C tax, the Mining Tax etc. The strength of democracies is that there are regular changes in government that resets the crony network links every 3 to 6 to 9 years. New ideas, new cronies that need to build or rebuild their relationships and advantages. The strength of our system is that it changes sides regularly. Some here believe it is a struggle of good versus evil but really both sides have more in common than against each other.

Jack Watts!! What?

Hey what's this tree hugging thing? Aren't you from Queensland! Do I have to ring Up Clive to see if you are legit?

I am still being cautious lets see what he can do in his first, hopefully injury free year. If it is what we are all hoping then let us get into his contract big time then.

Has anyone noticed at training whether we are looking at point kick in strategies? Here is one area where I hope Roos is looking at. Bit early I admit but gee I hope we construct some competitive strategies for getting the ball out of our backline and conversely how do we hold the ball in from opposition kick outs. Some serious progress in these areas would help stem the beltings we saw last year and the years before that.

Yes Robbie you are right the Age has put spin on something the public service has done. Just be as vigilant when the Oz does the something similar the other way. My advice would be to take anything written by Hedley Thomas with caution. Defending Glenn Milne is a futile exercise. Isn't he the one who took a swing at Steven Mayne at a Walkley night? Great entertainment but really. But yes I too have noticed the Fairfax media's tendency to put a negative spin on the new government. It seems to be part of a struggling print media trying to lock in their partisan followers. the companies are intent on differentiating their product to keep their customers happy. The facts need to be thoroughly examined from several sources before we can make a call.

Not on the skids if GMH or Toyota pull the pin in Oz I hope!

Gee Robbie let's call a truce I cant keep up with your arguments. i was responding to your extracted articles from the Oz, one of them about the allegations of Julia and her then boyfriend Wilson and a slush fund from a Fitzroy property bought in the 90s. Now you have bought Eddie Obeid into it! I had no idea he was involved. Or are you just dragging everything into the mix to make some point? The other article on the NBN is a classic. I had another read and can't work out what it is saying. A government project that doesn't pay for itself gee that's new. NPV negative, the private sector wouldn't touch it. Gee I think that is why we have governments. To build basic infrastructure that individuals could never afford. The billion dollar duplication of the Hume Highway, where is the income repayment stream for the Governments investment?

Very understanding of you for his circumstances! But ultimately I agree let us move on. The jump from Yuendemu to the 21st century was too much but only because his own community disintegrated and dragged him in to their mess. Jimmy Stynes always said he was making a bigger jump than Jimmy did to make it in the AFL. It didn't work unfortunately but gee imagine if it had. Liam at his best was something we have rarely seen before. Breathtaking I say but it is gone. Time to move on.

Do the allegations given their timing involve the ALP or just people at the time who were members of unions, legal companies and maybe junior members of the party at the time? We're Bob Hawke or Keating in on this as well?

As long as you don't find yourself standing between him and his objective!

I always thought one of the arguments for the NBN expenditure was that you could not do a reliable NPV because you are building basic infrastructure but you have no real way of predicting the income it may generate over the life of the asset, say 25 years because we are talking information technology that is reinventing itself every 7 years or so. So yes the private sector can't build it because they can't guarantee profits. We can stump numerous projects that were questionable at the time, a certain railway to Darwin, the desal plant, the harbour bridge, the Opera House, the proposed East West tunnell in Melbourne for that matter. How about the Snowy Mountain Scheme? Sometimes Governments of both persuasions, federal and state take a punt, sometimes there are secret reports too!

Well at least you have confirmed my suspicions that the Oz is merely running with Shyte coming out of that nut job Internet troll Smith. He has even managed to implicate Melbourne Water in massive payments to unions in the 90's and numerous other companies. I mean where does it end? Easy journalism for the Oz to regurgitate this rubbish. And even if there is something in it, it happened 20 years ago and what does it all mean to you Robbie? Is Australian politics really a battle of good versus evil or two parties who have more in common than they have differences these days?

Sorry Robbie can't get through the Oz pay wall to see whatever sleaze has been dug up by Ruperts henchmen. Can you direct me to the Internet troll site they are sourcing?

Biff I think the LNP big idea is about restoring the the status quo circa 2006. That will set their agenda for two terms and importantly keep Uncle Rupert happy. And there are plenty of list cloggers in the LNP but there is also plenty of aggressive grunt in the mid field in Tony, big Joe and Scott M with a nifty winger in Pyne to cover for some other very pedestrian performers in the team.

We are talking a Dromederry rather than a Bactrian then?

I see his value as back in his run with negating, tagging role that he played well a few years ago and again on Judd this year. He is big, has an engine and a bit of aggro. He can tag, defend and occasionally sneak forward for a goal. He has experience and could be useful in a side that starts to perform

Hasn't Tony done anything embarrassing in the last 3 days? I could start on Christopher Pyne I suppose!

You have reminded me of one of my footy captain coaches who had a habit of coming up to you in the communal club room showers after Thursday night training with an earnest look on his face to talk to you about the coming game and your selection only to realise he was also pissing on your leg! It was his idea of humour. I think he got most of the young blokes at least once. Same thing but I wasn't wearing a pocket at the time.

Haven't heard of "the reality bus" since it hit Neeld when he wasn't looking!

Who are you talking about, Ted Bundy? Or who?

Apparently an asylum seekers boat has been intercepted by the RAN and turned back in the last few days, but Indonesia would not accept the boat and its people! Well blow me down. What is going on here? Doesn't Indonesia listen to Tony's simplistic policies; we will stop the boats and turn them back when safe to do so. Well thy are saying you can keep them. And by the way I thought the boats had stopped but we are learning more about multiple boat movements from Jakarta then our own Government about what is really going on. The obvious question always to ask him was: "Tony where are you turning them back to?". "do you have agreements with our neighbours to take them?" but no one managed to corner him long enough to get an answer or really they never tried too hard. The fact is slogans don't work with your overseas neighbours that well. What is the latest Tony Slogan " Here is my bill to lower your bills" delivered in a monotone manner as if we are all imbeciles. How long can this go on before someone convinces him to actually talk openly to his people.