Talking Footy

Posted: **Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:56 pm**

Onions wrote:
They ****** the system and punters struck back!!

IS the same ******* thing, merkin!

ah no

read the thing properly
the system being talked about where the dogs are concerned is the Salary cap
we have no draft .. no need to tank .. our players are ALL free agents & can play where they want.

your comprehension is remarkable
I have seen gold fish with a better grasp then you

Posted: **Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:58 pm**

I can read. You live on fuckinh hope, kid!

Posted: **Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:10 pm**

Raiderdave wrote:
http://www.smh.com.au/AFL/AFL-news/lega ... .html#poll

BOOKMAKER Gerard Daffy says the AFL could never admit tanking existed because it would leave the league open to legal action by punters who backed the losing club.

AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson yesterday refused to concede Melbourne had tanked to receive priority draft picks in 2008 and 2009, but admitted the league was concerned about the public perception that clubs used this ploy to secure draft advantages.

Anderson's comments came after sacked Melbourne coach Dean Bailey all but admitted on Monday he had been instructed to tank in a bid to finish as low as possible to secure prime picks in the national draft.

Advertisement: Story continues below Former Melbourne forward Russell Robertson, who had claimed ''this whole tanking vibe has disgruntled a few players at the club'' and played a role in Brock McLean leaving the Demons in 2009, did not want to reignite debate yesterday out of respect to Melbourne president Jim Stynes, who is battling terminal cancer.

But Robertson, who played in that infamous final game of the '09 home-and-away season against St Kilda when almost every Demon was played out of position, added: ''I would like to say a few things, but I think the right thing to do right now is not say anything.''

When asked by Anderson to explain his comments, Bailey said he had only put players in unfamiliar positions to aid their development.

Daffy, of Sportsalive, last night said the AFL would never admit matches had been compromised. ''There is a little bit more to all this that hasn't been looked at and hasn't surfaced,'' he said.

''That is, the moment somebody puts up the white flag and says 'we tanked' or, 'we pulled up', there is quite a strong possibility that anybody that backed that side could sue and get their money back. I can't see why you wouldn't win.''

If a club was deemed to have tanked, it could be stripped of points and face a heavy fine.

Daffy said a class action against the NRL's Canterbury Bulldogs in 2002, when the club was stripped of its points because of salary cap rorting, was an example of how punters could impart their wrath.

''There were a group of punters, about 100 of them, that sued the Bulldogs for loss of earnings,'' he said. ''The punters [had] backed the Bulldogs to make the eight, or make the top four, and, at that point, they could not miss. That was settled out of court by the Bulldogs.

''That's why nobody will put up their hand and say 'this happened [in the AFL'].''

Many in the football industry believe Carlton tanked in the final match of the 2007 season against Melbourne - dubbed the ''Kreuzer Cup'' - in a bid to secure a priority pick. The Blues lost, and secured Matthew Kreuzer in the draft.

Tony Liberatore, who was part of the Blues' coaching staff at the time, later said he thought the club had tanked. That claim was denied by the Blues. Liberatore did not want to comment yesterday.

The priority pick, given to sides that win four or fewer matches, will be reviewed at the end of the season.

Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas yesterday said the AFL was treating supporters like ''imbeciles'' by denying that tanking exists.

He also launched an attack on commentator Kevin Bartlett, whom he claims will not admit tanking exists, and West Coast, which he claims tanked last season, citing as proof its leaking defence - the Eagles ranked 14th for points conceded.

''What were West Coast doing last year? Did [coach] Johnny Worsfold just have a revelation one night and bolt upright, and say, 'Now I know, it's about defence as well','' Thomas said.

West Coast, now with an impressive zone, has the sixth-best defence this season.

Thomas said he vividly remembered that season-ending match in '09 as one example of tanking by the Demons and other clubs. ''It happened all the time because draft picks were absolute gold,'' he said.

''If you weren't going to play in finals, the competition parted like a river at a particular point in the season. Those that could make finals would go like cut cats, those that couldn't, they went just as hard the other way - their premiership was finishing lower.

''If anyone denies that or contests that, they are not being honest to themselves or the footballing public.

''I can't for the life of me understand how the AFL treat supporters and the general footballing public as complete imbeciles. It riles me.''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/AFL/AFL-news/l ... z1TvwZsYR3

its easier to treat someone like something ...if they act like it
why oh why do you lot put up with this

what a sick , pathetic game!

You can almost feel the passion

Ps. Onions is definately one of those imbeciles

Posted: **Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:46 pm**

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/af...-1226107012777

How Melbourne tanked in 2009

Jon Ralph
From: Herald Sun
August 03, 2011 12:00AM

DEAN Bailey didn't have to admit he tanked - his actions had already spoken for him.

What was more revealing was that he suggested the entire football club was involved in the strategy.

Those of us who were there on August 2, 2009, came away feeling various emotions.

Dirty. Shocked. And deeply ashamed that our game would allow such a farce.

Melbourne went into that Round 18 game against Richmond aware it could not allow itself to win.

Here were some of the tactics used to ensure that did not happen:

THE club's best midfielder in James McDonald being banished to the backline to guard small forward Robin Nahas.

RECOGNISED forwards Russell Robertson and Colin Sylvia being overlooked for VFL battler Michael Newton and rookie Jake Spencer.

Spencer hadn't kicked a goal in his career, and Newton had managed 3.9 in four games.

REGULAR defenders James Frawley and Matthew Warnock being pushed forward for much of the day in an utterly baffling move.

RUCKMAN Paul Johnson (all 199cm of him) playing at full-back and at one stage standing 181cm Richmond forward Nathan Brown.

Asked about whether he could sense the strange tactics, Brown told the Herald Sun: ''I could sense Paul Johnson was on me because he is about six foot eight.''

BRAD Miller, who had never played ruck before, all of a sudden thrust into the centre square to take the tap-outs.

A RAFT of midfielders who began to dominate suddenly rotated to the bench or put into a back pocket or forward pocket.

Richmond was so bad that they still took Jordan McMahon's last-minute goal to win the game.

But any impartial observer that day knew what was going on - Melbourne was doing everything in its power to lose a game of football.

If this was experimentation, why has none of those players ever played in that position again?

What was Andrew Demetriou's response?

He called Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab that week to congratulate him on the club's development.

''Andrew basically called to say, 'Hang in there','' Schwab said in the days after the game.

Demetriou was adamant nothing was wrong: ''I discussed the game with Cameron and agreed with him some of the conjecture and commentary has been absolutely disgraceful.''

Three weeks later against St Kilda the Demons were at it again.

When the Demons somehow found themselves three goals in front in the last round of the year, James Frawley was taken off Nick Riewoldt and midfielder/forward Lynden Dunn became the lamb to the slaughter.

Liam Jurrah and Aaron Davey were quickly dispatched to the bench, and Nick Dal Santo was left to run amok without a tagger.

When Jurrah returned to the game and kicked two goals in quick time, the Demons dragged him for most of the next quarter.

They got the draft pick they were after - into the club came Tom Scully and Jack Trengove.

Demetriou says tanking is no panacea to success.

Yet in 2008 Hawthorn won the flag with Jarryd Roughead as a priority pick.

In 2010 Collingwood won the flag with Grand Final hero Dale Thomas as a priority pick.

This year Gold Coast will get the least-deserved priority pick in history.

Last year West Coast got one (Jack Darling) and could still win this year's flag.

Finally a review is in place to consider the draft pick. Only their total abolition will do.

again
why has nothing been done .. & how do you merkins .. you brainwashed AFL zombies .. put up with this utter disgrace of a system ?

Dimetriou or woteva his name is .. congratulated a club for this abhorent behaviour
a sad .. sad sport

Posted: **Wed Aug 03, 2011 6:49 pm**

I've never heard of anything more disgusting. As a fan you spend your hard earned on them each week, often following them to all parts of the country. You fork out for membership and season tickets. When they lose you feel sick and depressed all week . You follow your club through thick & thin - you would walk through fire for your club. And this is how the sick bastards repay you. There lower than green scum that floats at the bottom of a fish bowl.

What stupid F'n game!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't understand how your own club could do this to you. Obviously they have no compassion for there fans.

Posted: **Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:07 pm**

No, you people don't understand our great game. The AFL will say, and with credibility, that the club was working on a developmental strategy. It is not a tank but rather a risk. An experiment. It all depends on what one takes out of it.

But I did say before that the system of priority picks should be reviewed and given on an as needs basis rather than simply based on number of wins. Whether tanking exists or not. I can say that a bunch of NRL fans are not going to make the AFL do anything but laugh at them.

I note that Tom Scully was mentioned. It should be noted that he is another big name that is being sought by GWS so getting priority picks is not the nirvana that everyone claims that it is. You make what you can out of what you get. These top picks are still raw young recruits who still have to peak and be trained properly to play the elite level of the game.

Posted: **Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:39 pm**

I note now that the review will be taking place.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/AFL/p ... 6107004966

Posted: **Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:58 am**

Truthsayer wrote:
No, you people don't understand our great game. The AFL will say, and with credibility, that the club was working on a developmental strategy. It is not a tank but rather a risk. An experiment. It all depends on what one takes out of it.
But I did say before that the system of priority picks should be reviewed and given on an as needs basis rather than simply based on number of wins. Whether tanking exists or not. I can say that a bunch of NRL fans are not going to make the AFL do anything but laugh at them.

I note that Tom Scully was mentioned. It should be noted that he is another big name that is being sought by GWS so getting priority picks is not the nirvana that everyone claims that it is. You make what you can out of what you get. These top picks are still raw young recruits who still have to peak and be trained properly to play the elite level of the game.

Its not that we don't understand your stupid game
its the fact your own fans are too dopey & brainwashed to understand it themselves
I mean ... if anyone with an ounce of sense swallow's that garbage about development .. then they need to be committed & the key thrown away
& the fact that many AFL fans do ... speaks for itself

I feel very sorry for the poor fools
they simply don't know any better

Posted: **Thu Aug 04, 2011 10:20 am**

You're a fucking joke! You're the one who needs to be fucking committed, kid!

Posted: **Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:35 pm**

Don't bother with him, Onions. Mr Raider is seriously ill.

Posted: **Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:29 pm**

I'll bother with the kid, Truthsayer. He deserves everything he fucking gets! he's that fucked in the head!

Posted: **Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:19 am**

Raiderdave wrote:
Truthsayer wrote:
No, Mr Raider, you are not correct and until you start thinking like a human being I feel that now is the time to stop speaking to you. You are clearly unable or even unwilling to maintain a reasonable argument or debate. Good morning to you.
I am correct

& you & most AFL fans know it
& all I can say is how pathetic is that

sad empty lives
nothing else to do ... so much so , you'll watch your team disgrace the jumper

Yes it is a worry. PErhaps this is one of the reasons why TLPG didnt support an AFL team but preferred to follow grass roots footy?

If this was the case then perhaps the guy only had methane rather than poo between his ears.

Posted: **Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:48 am**

What the fuck has that got to do with tanking?

Posted: **Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:00 am**

I think Mr Eliagh is insinuating that this TLPG person doesn't support an AFL team because he objects to tanking. If so that second sentence is something of a contradiction because I would call that a correct and smart reaction.

Of course I could be wrong, but Mr Eliagh had already demonstrated a lack lustre education level.

Talking Footy

Tanking.... the AFL Achilles Heel