2nd time poster, long time reader. Relieved to hear you and others say this Cazzesman. I was dumbfounded when I heard Parko on AFL Teams say that he suspected Walker's preparation was sub-par. I've always heard that Walker absolutely trains his arse off.

He does - the best I've seen in a long while. No rush. Came off a 5 day break after playing Sunday...all is good. Parko's a great bloke - but it's the jugular vein in his neck that controls him and makes him talk out the side of his mouth while nodding uncontrollably.

Personally I expect to see him playing this evening.

i hope he isn't getting traded and that's why he's a bit angry, i keep hearing stupid rumours (from crappy sources it must be said) that he's off to west coast for kerr.

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Last edited by true_blue3 on Mon Sep 26, 1981 5:07 pm; edited 92 times in total

No that's NOT happening so stop reading big footy.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

That's right. There's a bloke on there who calls himself 'Sezzac1' who just shouldn't be taken too seriously imho

Walks is going to rip this competition a new one very soon.

Can't wait to see him back - was desprate to see him get a game this week, but we'll have to accept the MC's verdict that he isn't quite ready.

Judging by the way he trains, there's no doubting his attitude or commitment.

Rolls Royce.

Agree 100%. Imagine how fired up he's going to be when he does come back. He will want to cement his place back in the side & will run amok when he gets his chance.

Murray Vance - COME BACK!

Lets face it.....You have to be a bit backward to go on Big Footy.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

Walkers training ethic has been praised by the coaching staff on several occasions. Parko is off the mark on this one. As Cazzesman says, why rush him back when he re-injured himself in a praccy match coming back last time.

Great to see how much he wants to play for the Blues. Onya Walks!

Perhaps, Parko in his elderly age was referring to one of the Irish boys.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

If you have a look at the CFC TV interview with him a couple of weeks ago, he said that Ratts had told him that he would be back in the team against the Saints as long as his fitness was up to scratch. If Walks is right about that, then I'd say Ratts needs to avoid making promises he might not be able to keep. I'm not sure the fitness thing was a big enough loophole.

What if his fitness isn't up to scratch?

If you have a look at the CFC TV press conference with Brett Ratten during the week, it's pretty obvious there that Ratten is very uncertain as to if Walker would be ready for the St Kilda match.

Then it gets back to his training. If he's been training at 100%, it's a bit weak to then say, "Oh, in the 10 days or so between my comment and me telling you you're not in the side, your fitness hasn't improved enough". His comment was made after Walks played a game in Preston, so he should have had a good handle on his level of match fitness, and his performance against Tasmania hardly detracted from that impression. There's not much you can do in 10 days, and if that's what Ratts wants to hang his hat on, I wouldn't blame Walks for being angry.

Ratten said, a number of weeks ago, that he expected Walker to be ready for tonight's match. It's hardly Ratten's fault that as it turns out they don't consider Walker to be ready. It's not really Walker's fault either. It's just the way things are. Probably if it was a sunny Sunday afternoon game we would've seen Walker in the side. But it's not. Such is life.

Indie your making massive assumptions here but assuming you are right, I don't think Tex has had a dummy spit based because he isn't playing tonight.

If Ratts said the Saints game and it didn't pan out that way, then fine, you get to play the following week.

Tex hasnt played in almost 4 months of footy, two games back isn't ideal preparation.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Have a look at the interview. Seemed to me that he'd just had a talk to Ratts, and that made it a week rather than weeks before selection night. Not enough wiggle room to use the things change excuse.

You've never played team sport? Things change by the day, all the time.

Without being close to the scene, I can say with a fair degree of confidence Ratten never guaranteed Walker's place in the side tonight.

Again, listen to the interview. Do so and you won't keep on arguing that Ratts told him something much less clearcut. Either Walks misinterpreted what Ratts said quite badly, or Ratts made the mistake of making a promise he couldn't be sure of keeping. Either way, the coach has to take the blame for poor communication.

If, like Howard, you have to explain that something was a non-core promise or things have changed, there's a loss of trust. A coach can't afford to break promises. It just isn't good enough to say that the player shouldn't have taken the comment so seriously. What's wrong with saying, "Keep up the effort and you'll be considered for the Saints game, but there's no guarantees"?