It's a Ground Hog thread, started by the same person this time last year.....The sky is falling 
No that wasn't me, but hey the sky did fall last year and Ground Hog day, please, we have been living that for 30 years....
If Collingwood lose to Carlton tonight can the Pies still win the flag?
My word they can. It will be disappointing for them but I'm sure they can recover from it.
Whilst the last 6 days have hurt we can recover from this we are 6-7 with upcoming games against Melb and Gold Coast.
You will always find or make hurdles for yourself in anything in life but based on the past you just can say that history will repeat.
I for one am glad something like this has hapenned and the club has taken this stance it has.
From a playing perspective it gives some kids a chance to cement a senior spot and some blokes who have been around the club an opportunity to grasp knowing that their footy clock is ticking.
Furthermore just to compare Geelong for a sec Steve Johnson, Brad Ottens as at Richmond were some high profile players who erred and were suspended by that club. It's not pretty but it is effective and it does work and look at them since Steve Johnson came back from his suspension. His first game back was a 157 point thumping to us.
Now to compare their list to ours would be remiss but to take a group of 21 year olds who have played 40 or so games and to suggest the sky is falling and its groundhog day and history is repeating as it did last year and the year before and the year before that and so on and so on would be even more remiss.
Despite this I feel the culture is changing. If Dusty and Daniel were in the armed forces would it be fair to say given the daily discipline and routine that goes on there that the defence force has culture issues and that our soldiers are not fit or mentally strong enough to go into combat or serve proudly as they do now. I am sure drinking binges go on there and alot of other things given what the news is reporting.
I don't think finding a hurdle in life or a pot hole whatever you want to call it has meant we have ceased in pursuing any achievement in our goals or ambitions and feel that the sky is falling and that failure is inevitable. Life faces obstacles every day some small some big as do footy clubs and our club coming from where they did at the end of 2009 has jumped many and given the Benny and Daniel fiasco in Sydney in 2010 the club got through it as rightly it should, stood firm and the club's culture was better for it. If anything Connors played his best footy in 2010 so the stance the RFC took right there proved to be a good one. Bad eggs are everywhere in all walks of life and in all industries we weeded one out and punished someone before they turned into one. I for one believe Dusty's return will coincide with a breakout game coinciding with that either against Nought or the Scum and his lacklustre season will be behind him.
Whilst I do admit this is not pleasant I do not think the sky is falling nor the mountains crumbling nor the seas drying up and with young men things like this can and will happen and the deterrent is there for the rest of them and Connors is no longer at the club. A refocus and kick up the bum is always good. If we struggle to 8-7 and have a couple of ins of the ilk of Dusty and Foley for 8 pointer against Nought who says the sky is falling and is Ground hog day.
One day whether it be this year or next we will look on the events of this week as one of those defining moments of this club and the change in the clubs fortunes. Sometimes its not a win its how you react and deal with a situation that can undo the psyche and fabric of a club and expose the fragility of that fabric. I think this week is that moment in a positive way and Dusty will be better for it and so will the club.
I am confident of this and assure you just as the sun will set in the West tonight and rise in the East tomorrow morning so too will the club move on and show how far we have come and gain some more maturity and credentials from the events of this week.
