Im confused here, CO said Don's flight could not land. You said they didn't take a bus. How at fault didn't let this game happen?

Sensible stuff by the AFL....
They have given the match to St Kilda. http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/130029/default.aspx

A statement released by the League on Sunday afternoon said: "The AFL noted that extreme weather conditions meant that Essendon was unable to reach Wangaratta by air for the match. However, it also resolved that alternate travel arrangements were available to the club and therefore Essendon's inability to attend the match was ultimately within its control."

the afl approved the travel plans of essendon due to their next game being Friday night, so perhaps they should have voiced their concerns then.

take a bus and risk getting flooded in?? what the heck is with this decision.

essendon had busses on standby to use if the airline was unable to deliver the players. the airline took off with weather conditions ok to fly and land, but during the flight it got worse. so why is essendon punished when we did the right thing and had back up plans in place, its certainly not our fault the airline couldnt land. bloody stupid.

essendons statement
"Essendon general manager of football operations Paul Hamilton said the club was not at fault for the game being cancelled but considering the unforeseen circumstances St Kilda should be awarded the points."

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/a/AFL-awards-St-Kilda-the-four-points/8893

They flew to reduce the risk of getting stuck in Wang and missing this Friday nights match. Doesn't really matter anyway, it's only pre season!

I am angry about there being no tv broadcast organised had the game gone ahead. I will be calling austar to have my first two months subscription refunded. I'm not paying for a channel that promises every match televised when clearly they weren't going to!!

Especially as I'm a bombers fan!

Okies... here's my ladder for the end of the minor round...

Collingwood
Hawthorn
Geelong Cats
West Coast Eagles
Carlton
Fremantle
Adelaide Crows
Essendon

Melbourne
Sydney Swans
Richmond
North Melbourne
St Kilda
Western Bulldogs
Brisbane Lions
Port Adelaide
Gold Coast Suns
Greater Western Sydney Giants

Pretty hard trying to fit 11 teams into a final 8 lol...

Premier: Hawthorn
Brownlow: Franklin
Coleman: Franklin
Rising Star: Devon Smith or Chad Wingard

BTW - win ONE MILLION DOLLARS by submitting your final ladder here: http://www.afl.com.au/More/AFLHQ/MillionDollarLadder/tabid/18790/Default.aspx

Might have to move the Crows up a rung or two on that ladder.... haha.... yer it's only the NAB Cup but geeze we look impressive....

Looked alright for a bunch of scrubbers

Yes i will leave it a week or two before submitting my ladder but i think apart from Hawthorn and maybe Geelong i reckon the rest of the eight is up for grabs... i have even slapped some dollars on Port getting into the eight......at the expense of the cows

Actually the teams that will go backwards this year imo will be Saints, Bulldogs and.... (drum roll) Collingwood .

hrmmmm @ the score down at Kardinia Park at one stage in the 2nd qtr...
Geelong 2 Richmond 62 what's with that???
half time now its 24-63...

Its March, thats whats with that.

yes agreed.... but (a) its geelong (b) its richmond and (c) its at the Cattery...
And TBH, Geelong have looked woeful at times and the Tiges very good....

I agree, any score showing Richmond in front by a margin of that size will raise eyebrows. Typo on the report?

Edit: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/live-blog-nab-cup-week-three-day-two-20120310-1uqwr.html

Hawkins, Johnson and Jpod all playing for Geelong.

Been watching the game Ruckle.... as I said Geelong have looked woeful at times even with at least 14 of their likely round one team in the side...

Suns vs Giants playing each others for first time now.....this will be interesting.

Hey Ruckle dont bag the tigs!! Hah, nah Geelongs best team wasn't on the track but neither was Richmonds, positive signs ahead for us however, even if it is NAB.

Giants got up too which doesn't surprise me after watching them in that first round of matches.... look a much better side then GC looked at same time last year...

How good are Carlton going!!? scoreless in the 2nd half against the Lions at Maroochydore... beaten by 10 goals in the end!
And we had Judd, Walker and Waite back too! It's only the NAB, but it's got me dreading!!

And to think, I was gunna come on here and have a dig at the Bombers... not now!! lol

If ya's get a chance, check out Buddy's 3 pearler goals today... awesome showing from the big fella. I don't like the Hawks, but I'd pay money to watch Franklin play, and I think we'll be looking back on Buddy as a once in a generation player!

Carn a Blues!

The Richmond of today and the Richmond that everyone bags that has been crap for so long are in no way linked.

The players, coaches and boardroom, game plan, recruiting, club culture, quality of facilities, financial strength, membership etc. has all had a complete overhaul in the past few years since Hardwick has come in as coach and basically cut out all the deadweight and replaced it with quality.

Having said that, the team is not up to premiership standard yet and IMO will probably just scrape into the 8 this year. Geelong had the same attitude that Ruckle has and thought they just had to turn up to win as they were 'just playing Richmond'. They had already penciled in a 80 point + thrashing and they have been seriously humbled.

I know it's just the pre season and Geelong had heaps of their best 22 out where as Richmond only had a few out, but if they carry the attitude they had today into the premiership season they won't make an impact.

I was very impressed Coldsnap, i think your boys are gonna cause a few headaches for the "power" teams this year, (and for the tipsters)
Very happy to see Carlton getting whipped Monsoon Al, they have always had an unfair advantage with Rattens ears the size they are
I reckon this year is gonna be very even between about 12 teams.. i still think Hawthorn will be head and shoulders above the rest this year but am yet to be convinced about the pies and even geelong being there at the end...

Just saw a news report with Demetriou wishing Jimmy Stynes all the best. From the report he is in a pretty bad way. Life sucks sometimes.