Headlands Replacement

[Wizard]

I'm sure chops plays with his heart on his sleeve when he crosses the line too. However it takes more than crossing the line to be an elite athlete. It requires restraint when it comes to alcohol and drugs, it requires physical preparation and rigid dieting guidelines. Most would say Des failed on most of those counts, which all happened before going onto the field.

Did you see the physical condition Des was in for the start of the 2007 and 2008 season? Both looked to me like a guy that has followed a relatively strict diet guideline.

We're not talking about Ashley Sampi or Dean Riolo here, if he has carried extra weight it may be 1-2 kgs but it certainly isn't a huge amount that will make a massive difference to things.

Shit if we want to talk about drugs and alcohol i know a Brownlow Medalist that is no stranger to alcohol and smoking a bit of weed that also carried some excess weight around with him that had one hell of a career.

 

[Memories]

Nutrition and hormones yes. Drugs is not an issue with Des, if it were we would be fully aware of it by now.

No we wouldn't. Most drug use goes undetected like it should, if people want to do drugs let them. However being an athlete you know staying away from them helps you do your job.

Alcohol consumption will not affect bone density at such a young age. In fact alcohol has certain levels of vitamin B, iron, potassium etc which will do your bones no harm at all.

Haha, alcohol has vitamin B and iron does it. Alcohol that we consume is a chemical compound (C2H60). In case you never did chemistry, Iron (Fe) isn't in that compound, nor are the other things you mentioned.

Depending upon the drink you consume alcohol in it can have a variety of vitamins/minerals in it, however that is irrelevant. Alcohol consumption affects a variety of hormone levels, some of which take upwards of 48 hours to reach base levels.

Plus anyone who is a massive drinker would highly likely be unable to have good nutrition over a long period of time. Nutrition plays an absolutely essential role in lubricating joints, building joints and bones, hormone levels, among many other things. You are being absolutely ridiculous to think someone who is undisciplined enough to drink a lot of booze is someone who will prepare his body optimally for athletic activity.

 

[Wizard]

Would you like to explain Ben Cousins then?

Drug addict but still trained and prepared his body to the optimal athletic activity?
As i said i also know of another Brownlow Medalist in the same boat alcohol and drug wise that has never had any issue performing on the football field.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

can anyone here deny that des has been a complete disappointment for us? whether that is due to injury, discipline, lack of motivation, or just in general lack giving a stuff it doesnt matter..... i am not for chucking every kid into the deep end like memories, my posts in other threads are testament to that, however des would be on a bucketload of money, and he has never really delivered on a regular basis... is des in our best 22? yes, will des get his knee problems fully resolved? doubtful, is des past his best? yes..... i think that if he gets his knee good enough to play, he should be given a chance, but it should be on a hell of a lot less than what he is on now.

another thing, i dont agree with this "he is a great role model for the aboriginal boys" bullshit, if the young aboriginal boys need to look up to someone, look at roger, but even still what has race got to do with it?, they should all look to rhys palmers work ethic, or paul hasleby's skill level, just because hilly and walters are aboriginals, doesnt give des a right of passage onto our list if he isnt fit enough. we traded adam mcphee and high draft pick for des headland, essendon lost caracella....... caracella won a premiership with brissy, mcphee has been all australian, what have we got out of headland? one top ten best and fairest, what has he got out of us? a bucketload of money without ever becoming the talent he promised to be at the lions..... he was as big a trade failure as the fremantle football club has had had in my opinion. It burns me up that people call me an idiot for having this opinion because all the evidence suggests that i have not said one thing untrue, the stats and facts are there for all to see, but still people refuse to concede that he has not been up to scratch

 

[Memories]

Would you like to explain Ben Cousins then?

Drug addict but still trained and prepared his body to the optimal athletic activity?
As i said i also know of another Brownlow Medalist in the same boat alcohol and drug wise that has never had any issue performing on the football field.

Sure I will explain it. Cousins himself admitted he was more of a drug user than alcohol drinker. Alcohol affects a lot of the bodies systems in a negative fashion for a long period (relatively) of time. Amphetamines on the other hand seem to have fewer negative short term effects on the body as they are a stimulant, amphetamines are actually used for performance enhancing in a variety of fields (military, medicine, sports). They help you train harder, people use them to lose body fat and mixed with steroids (and other growth hormones) make growth happen really fast.

No one knows for sure if Cousins used on the field or not, he likely has in my opinion. Either way he would have definitely used it for training, there was an off season there where he bulked up a lot and also lost a lot of body fat (sure sign of drug use). Cousins is someone who puts a lot into his training, and anyone who is like that will always be looking for an edge.

Someone like Des is the opposite, people usually turn to booze to run from problems in their past. When he was at Brisbane he could easily forget most of his problems without the substance abuse, back over here all the problems come flying back so you turn to drugs to heal yourself. All it takes is to have booze sessions regularly over a long period of time (months), and tiny fractures in your bones which happen all the time from physical activity continue to build up due to lack of repair. More so in athletes. Tearing joints/tendons/muscles can also happens in a similar fashion from poor nutrition.

The thing is people only see the "major injury", ie him having a major knee/ankle problem and none of the build up which caused it. It's not magical, it rarely is.

 

[Memories]

It burns me up that people call me an idiot for having this opinion because all the evidence suggests that i have not said one thing untrue, the stats and facts are there for all to see, but still people refuse to concede that he has not been up to scratch

You should know by now supporters of clubs are a weird illogical bunch. People were defending Browne, of all players, 4 months ago. Headland is going to have even more blind backers who think he never did the club wrong.

 

[Wizard]

What has Des done wrong by the club?

 

[Memories]

What has Des done wrong by the club?

Not putting in his best.

 

[Wizard]

Not putting in his best.

How do you figure that?

 

[Memories]

How do you figure that?

Read the last post on the second page of this thread. Read it again after you finish it. Then comprehend what it means.

 

[footyfix]

can anyone here deny that des has been a complete disappointment for us? whether that is due to injury, discipline, lack of motivation, or just in general lack giving a stuff it doesnt matter..... i am not for chucking every kid into the deep end like memories, my posts in other threads are testament to that, however des would be on a bucketload of money, and he has never really delivered on a regular basis... is des in our best 22? yes, will des get his knee problems fully resolved? doubtful, is des past his best? yes..... i think that if he gets his knee good enough to play, he should be given a chance, but it should be on a hell of a lot less than what he is on now.

another thing, i dont agree with this "he is a great role model for the aboriginal boys" bullshit, if the young aboriginal boys need to look up to someone, look at roger, but even still what has race got to do with it?, they should all look to rhys palmers work ethic, or paul hasleby's skill level, just because hilly and walters are aboriginals, doesnt give des a right of passage onto our list if he isnt fit enough. we traded adam mcphee and high draft pick for des headland, essendon lost caracella....... caracella won a premiership with brissy, mcphee has been all australian, what have we got out of headland? one top ten best and fairest, what has he got out of us? a bucketload of money without ever becoming the talent he promised to be at the lions..... he was as big a trade failure as the fremantle football club has had had in my opinion. It burns me up that people call me an idiot for having this opinion because all the evidence suggests that i have not said one thing untrue, the stats and facts are there for all to see, but still people refuse to concede that he has not been up to scratch

I hear ya bruvva!!! Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Wizard]

Well if you work it out the trade was:

McPhee and Brennan
for
Headland and Crowley

We could've done much worse.

 

[Ripper]

can anyone here deny that des has been a complete disappointment for us? whether that is due to injury, discipline, lack of motivation, or just in general lack giving a stuff it doesnt matter..... i am not for chucking every kid into the deep end like memories, my posts in other threads are testament to that, however des would be on a bucketload of money, and he has never really delivered on a regular basis... is des in our best 22? yes, will des get his knee problems fully resolved? doubtful, is des past his best? yes..... i think that if he gets his knee good enough to play, he should be given a chance, but it should be on a hell of a lot less than what he is on now.

another thing, i dont agree with this "he is a great role model for the aboriginal boys" bullshit, if the young aboriginal boys need to look up to someone, look at roger, but even still what has race got to do with it?, they should all look to rhys palmers work ethic, or paul hasleby's skill level, just because hilly and walters are aboriginals, doesnt give des a right of passage onto our list if he isnt fit enough. we traded adam mcphee and high draft pick for des headland, essendon lost caracella....... caracella won a premiership with brissy, mcphee has been all australian, what have we got out of headland? one top ten best and fairest, what has he got out of us? a bucketload of money without ever becoming the talent he promised to be at the lions..... he was as big a trade failure as the fremantle football club has had had in my opinion. It burns me up that people call me an idiot for having this opinion because all the evidence suggests that i have not said one thing untrue, the stats and facts are there for all to see, but still people refuse to concede that he has not been up to scratch

Big rant , but not much else.

Des has not delivered on supporters unreal expectaions but has been productive never the less as his 26 brownlow votes would attest.

He gets called soft. To play most of 2004 with a fibreglass gaurd in his boot to protect a buggared ankle is not soft.

The soft thing would be to sit out.

He get accused of only putting in when the team is down.

That is simply wrong. He got suspended firing up the team to beat Richmond in 2005 when we won 5 on the trot.

He won the game for us against the Pies in 2006 at the start of the run.

He was our best player by a mile when we lost to the Hawks at the start of last year.

If the rest of the team bleed as much purple as this bloke does we wouldn't have a problem.

This "herd mentality" of supporters like you that get sucked in by the media in this state instead of watching objectively and assessing things on their respective merits gives me the shits.

Did you know WC have a dept that is dedicated to stuffing up the dockers?
It is worth mega bucks to be the number one team in town.

Memories is probably on the payroll.
Take a look at who they target , always a good player.

Croad
Medhurst
Headland
Farmer
Sandi
Even Pav.
Always the coach.

Crikey they have even started on Palmer this year.

 

[Wizard]

Big rant , but not much else.

Des has not delivered on supporters unreal expectaions but has been productive never the less as his 26 brownlow votes would attest.

He gets called soft. To play most of 2004 with a fibreglass gaurd in his boot to protect a buggared ankle is not soft.

The soft thing would be to sit out.

He get accused of only putting in when the team is down.

That is simply wrong. He got suspended firing up the team to beat Richmond in 2005 when we won 5 on the trot.

He won the game for us against the Pies in 2006 at the start of the run.

He was our best player by a mile when we lost to the Hawks at the start of last year.

If the rest of the team bleed as much purple as this bloke does we wouldn't have a problem.

This "herd mentality" of supporters like you that get sucked in by the media in this state instead of watching objectively and assessing things on their respective merits gives me the shits.

Did you know WC have a dept that is dedicated to stuffing up the dockers?
It is worth mega bucks to be the number one team in town.

Memories is probably on the payroll.
Take a look at who they target , always a good player.

Croad
Medhurst
Headland
Farmer
Sandi
Even Pav.
Always the coach.

Crikey they have even started on Palmer this year.

Here ****ing here.

Des is not the problem with this club. In fact if we had more people like him within the club we would be in a much more positive position.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

in my last post i said that des was in our best 22 if fit, but ripper for you to suggest that i have just based my opinion off what the media has said is wrong, i never listen to those uneducated tossers, i make my own views from what i see live, which is every game he has played for fremantle in WA.

do you suggest ripper, with his whopping 1 top ten best and fairest effort, that the des headland trade was a success? and do you deny that his best is past him? did des play best for brisbane or fremantle? at no point did i say that headland hasnt had good games for us, but lets look at his record for us when it counted, how well did he play against sydney in the preliminary final? how well did he play for us against adelaide that same finals series when we really needed an experienced finals campaigner to step up? he did SFA! he has had some great games for us, the one that comes to mind straight out was his 39 possession 5 goal effort against melbourne after the infamous selwood is a kiddy fiddler derby.

If you can honestly say that the Des Headland trade was good for us, then i seriously question whether you even watch AFL footy at all

 

[anchor man]

Thats right Ripper he got SUSPENDED firning up the team.Suspended for a stupid illdisciplined act.
Three games you mention and one caused his suspension for.what was it six weeks!!!

 

[Ripper]

Thats right Ripper he got SUSPENDED firning up the team.Suspended for a stupid illdisciplined act.
Three games you mention and one caused his suspension for.what was it six weeks!!!

Should be more of them , all the top teams are physical , play like pansies and you get pansy like results.

It was when He punched Campbell who attacked him after a bit of physical play and He got 2 weeks.

We won the game though that put us in the top eight.

Three games just off the top of my head.

No way would we have won the nine on the trot without D.j.'s incisive passing to the forwards (and his 21 goals ).

 

[Wizard]

Who else do we have that can turn a game on its head in the space of 5 minutes? Des can do something knowone else on our list can, he can break the 50 at pace and kick goals.
He bring the crowd into games and fires his teammates up. The down hill skier tag is ludicrous, its just the way he plays. He is predominently a reciever yes, but so was Craig Bradley, Matera, Mcleod etc and they are loved universally.
The difference is these guys had their bodies stand up to the rigors of AFL footy (Mcleod to a lesser extent). He is still 28 and has 4 yrs left in him if the body gets right. He hasn't copped the physical flogging in the past 2 years that others do.

He has plenty left to give and i hope he is given the chance, otherwise when he is playing somewhere else and killing us of kicking 5 and getting 30 touches every week and Subi we will look like grade A w***ers.

 

[Wizard]

Should be more of them , all the top teams are physical , play like pansies and you get pansy like results.

It was when He punched Campbell who attacked him after a bit of physical play and He got 2 weeks.

We won the game though that put us in the top eight.

Three games just off the top of my head.

No way would we have won the nine on the trot without D.j.'s incisive passing to the forwards (and his 21 goals ).

2007 is the perfet case in point of this, we had guys playing physical hard footy and not that concerned about the consquences.
We had the nigglers and the guys that wouldn't take shit, Des was always one of the first few to fly the flag.

 

[Memories]

Haha 4 years left in Headland... that's a good one. Even if it was true, we aren't going to be competitive for 4-5 years. He is a list clogger. Another Browne.

 

[Bradesmaen]

You're replacing headland with Josh Head? We're in trouble.

 

[Wizard]

Haha 4 years left in Headland... that's a good one. Even if it was true, we aren't going to be competitive for 4-5 years. He is a list clogger. Another Browne.

No he is nothing like Browne because he has some ability.

How many times have you seen Browne kick goals from outside 50, or bring the crowd to their feet? How many times has Browne torn a game apart in a 5 minute spell.

They are nothing a like.

 

[Memories]

They are nothing a like.

What about the fact they both cannot get on the field?

 

[Wizard]

Browne 27 games in 6 seasons (prior to 09)
Headland 100 games in 6 seasons (prior to 09)

Headland avergaing 16.6 games per season since he has been @ Freo. His final 2 years at Brisbane he played 20 games each year.
Browne averaging 4.5 games pre season.

Hmmmmm good point.

 

[Memories]

Over the last 20 months, Browne has played 7 games and Headland 6. Browne is actually on the park more than headland in recent times.