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Tippett is not on as much as you think - my understanding is that his contract was very heavily front-loaded to prevent him being picked up in the draft by someone else, and taking advantage of a large number of retirements and delistings that year. He's not cheap but is definitely not a Bondi millionaire. Buddy definitely is on the big bucks and his contract is middle-loaded (biggest dollars in this year and the next two). But he wouldn't be on a whole lot more than Ablett, Cameron or Fyfe.

Sydney is in the middle of a rebuild with 9/22 players on Saturday having less than 50 games and most of those not close to that. They are not setting up around the field the way they have in the past few seasons and that's creating a lot of pressure that should be avoided and increasing the error rate. That will come with experience. That said they were very poor at times against Carlton and the run of losses seems to be getting into their heads.

The first half of Melbourne-Essendon was some of the worst football I have seen in a long time. You missed nothing there except an exercise in turning the ball over from kicks. It did pick up after the long break though and was a decent contest until the Demons pulled away. On the other hand the first quarter of Adelaide Richmond was lovely to watch and the Crows just maintained that intensity and quality of four quarters. They deserve to be clear at the top as the only team that hasn't looked fallible for a second so far this year.

The structure across the field is all wrong for the Swans - a lot of ball going through the middle into congestion resulting in turnovers. Although the young players coming in are performing well in their own right there is no cohesion as a team. But this week Rohan, Tippett, McVeigh and Heeney are all available. It will be a tough game against GWS (who are 3-1 rather than 4-0) but I think the Swans will perform a fair bit better this week.

Melbourne should have buried Freo after their first half but they still have that weakness to teams that get on the roll - the 3rd quarter killed them. But Freo would have given up at half time last year so good signs that they pushed on. Should be to good for North this week. The Dees might be the team to break the Richmond run this week.

Hawthorn will have it tough against the Eagles and might well go down again. That said, WCE on the road are rarely the same as WCE in Perth.

Elsewhere the Cats will be too good for St Kilda, the Crows will beat the Gold Coast, and the Bulldogs should be able to beat Brisbane. Carlton are unlikely to get up against Port Adelaide but the Power aren't that solid for me.

The Anzac Day game is always an impressive spectacle but I doubt the actual football will live up to it. I can't say I care too much who wins but it would be good for Collingwood to get just enough wins to hang on to Buckley as coach so let's say go Pies for this one.

So only Sydney, Hawthorn and North Melbourne are winless now, while Richmond are undefeated. Clearly the Russians are interfering with the results here.

Collingwood only dominated for the first 20 mins and didn't win a quarter after that - but that was enough. A number of key Swans are out of form but all credit to the pressure from the Pies. Sydney now have to take on West Coast then GWS so could be 0-5 in a couple of weeks.

Hawthorn looked terrible against a team that are supposed to be sunk already.
Brisbane put the effort in but if St Kilda had kicked straight they would have been out of sight long before- 14.23 to 11.10.
The Essendon-Carlton game was played in pouring rain which accounts for the low score - Carlton were 3.10 at half time so accuracy in the conditions kept it close.

Well round 1 was an odd mix. Sydney, GWS, Hawthorn all beaten and the Bulldogs run closer than they would have thought.

The new ruck rules with the third man up banned will have a big influence on the season. Genuine top draw ruckmen will be able to give their midfield first use of the ball much more often than in the past. It is one of the gaps we have at Sydney with a number of ruckmen but no one really top class.

Deliberate out of bounds rule is also as random as ever. Some very odd calls already.

Freo will definitely improve - bottom half of the 8 I predict. Sydney will be top 4 but the noisy neighbours at GWS have as good a chance as any of taking out the flag.

The Eagles might be missing Naitanui to start with but Mitchell will give them some structure in the middle alongside Priddis - they will be neck and neck with your boys.

North Melbourne will sink like a stone in a continuation of their form in the second half of last year. Essendon will start slowly as they get their old and new players working in combinations properly but will be decent later in the year. And Collingwood and Richmond will massively disappoint their fans as is customary.

With the midfielder's medal (aka Brownlow) voted on by clueless umpires it is a bit of a lottery. Fyfe, if he comes back well from his injuries, is a fair chance, but my money would be on Josh Kennedy (the Sydney one).

Frank Murray, manager of The Pogues and Thin Lizzy

http://www.hotpress.com/news/19408124.html

[It's not to bad when I'm there but who's bright idea was it to tweak the words of the parayers ffs]

Eldest fella is making his First Communion this year in school, so they've started a programme where he attends a mass with all the other P4/R4 kids in the area there are 9 organized mass before First Communion and one for after.
It's not to bad when I'm there but who's bright idea was it to tweak the words of the parayers ffs

It must be years since you were at mass!

it is, i'd be in the weddings, funerals category when it comes to mass only go when i really have to.

Same as that. Was at a funeral recently and there was all this "and with your spirit" craic that I don't recall back when I was conscripted to attend Mass.

And a change to the act of contrition. Most gravous or something like that. Must have been a way for the clergy to apologise for their major failings....

It's more in line with the original Latin - "et cum spirito tuo" and "mea maxima culpa" was always in the Latin but the English translation from the 1960s went a bit free and easy with some bits.

Hawthorn doubles up on the Irish Conors

HAWTHORN has signed its second Irish rookie in 12 months, luring emerging Gaelic football and rugby star Conor Nash to Waverley.

As reported by AFL.com.au in August last year, the Hawks have been circling Nash for some time and the talented Irishman has finally joined the club.

The youngster, who hails from Navin about 45 minutes north-west of Dublin, will link up with the Hawks when pre-season training begins next month.

Blessed with height, pace and natural athleticism, Nash is set to learn AFL craft as a key defender.

"I'll learn the trade there hopefully and then they'll maybe look later down the line a bit more forward," Nash told the club's website.

"Key back, especially having the rugby background with tackling and stuff like that, should be all right."

Nash has visited Hawthorn to train with the squad three times since he was first spotted by Hawks recruiting and special projects manager Mark McKenzie three years ago.

He will follow in the footsteps of Northern Irish prospect Conor Glass, who signed with the Hawks last October.

Glass, a running half-back with tidy skills, played in seven games for Box Hill's reserves this season, including the VFL development league premiership victory over Casey Scorpions, treading a path Nash will soon follow.

"It's wonderful to have him (Glass) there, you can relate different things from Ireland to him," Nash said.

"He's good craic as well. It's massive to have him go before me, being able to see the path before me and the process it takes and how long it takes.

"I've just been following his footsteps."

Nash is already an accomplished kick of the Sherrin and is keen to get to work learning master coach Alastair Clarkson's game-plan.

"The oval ball wasn't too bad because I play rugby," he said. "But I suppose positioning and all that will come with a lot of time and a lot of work."

It is as yet unclear whether Nash has been signed as a Category B international rookie.

Under AFL rules, clubs can sign one Irish player directly to their rookie list as a Category B international, which the Hawks used to sign up Glass last year.

Any further Irish players added to the list must be signed as Category A rookies and sit on the main rookie list, with their club forfeiting its last pick in that year's rookie draft.

The Hawks have been willing to take a punt on international players in recent times, with mixed results.

Former New Zealand basketballer Kurt Heatherley broke new ground as the first born-and-bred Kiwi to play AFL this season when he made his debut in round 20 against Melbourne.

However, his compatriot Shem Tatupu quit Hawthorn in March after two seasons at Waverley and joined rugby league club Melbourne Storm

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-10-30/hawthorn-doubles-up-on-the-irish-conors-in-signing-conor-nash

Zach Tuohy gets his move to Geelong on the last day of the trade period - swap with Billy Smedts and some future draft picks

Warwickshire GAA has John Mitchel's, Sean McDermott's, James Connolly's and Roger Casement's, while London has Thomas MacCurtain's, Michael Cusack and Robert Emmet's.

Here in Australia we have two Michael Cusack's (Sydney and Perth), while Melbourne has Padraig Pearse and Dan Breen.

How's Cian Hanley getting on over there? It obviously took him a while to recover from his ACL so he probably hasn't made much headway yet

Not sure that he has played a game yet - after the ACL he had groin surgery. After 2 years on the sidelines you would think he would need to make an impression this year or that will be it. Still, with the Lions in the bottom 2 this year and a new coach a lot of things would be up for grabs.

Trade period starts next week - a couple of Irishmen rumoured to be on the move with Pearse Hanley talking to Gold Coast Suns and Zach Tuohy a potential target for North Melbourne.