dropped to 2's apparently said Knighta

There goes the captaincy for him! He should have been doing everything possible to get back this week after letting his team mates down. Instead he goes out on Sunday night and misses the Monday training session.

Very ordinary performance by a leader of the club.

welcome back into the team David Zaharakis (or David Myers)

bad news.

WHAT?
Did you hear Knights say this or was it a rumour? If true then I will be extremely pissed off. With Jobe already missing the only silver lining was Macca coming back.

well done knights.

stupid stupid mark.

I don't see how he has hurt us. If he's done what he's done I'm all for him being banished.

How many wins has he been a part of this year? 1 I'd say and that was against Melbourne.

Myers, Zaharakis, Jetta could all come in and have as big an impact as McVeigh would have this week. Perhaps here's the spot for McPhee.

I have no words to describe this situation. I am so disappointed in his performance this season.

Based on foggy's assessment of the Bendigo game, Myers sounds like he'll be the man.

Job's right.

Get Lovett to have a talk with him.

We had watson in all of those games.

farking clown has let the whole team down.

+ about 1 million or so essendon supporters . God dam I hope we still beat the pies.. we need this game bad.

Not good for Mark if true, but he hasn't been in any kind of form anyway, so shouldn't hurt us too much.

Good work by Knights, standing by his guns. Jessica might not agree, but this is shrewd coaching.

Wasn't going to be captain anyway, but this just confirms it. Andrew Welsh, you are the next captain. Be sure to thank Spike.

Something has been 'off' with Spike all year, i know he's played very little but even when he has, he hasn't seemed right.

Knights said in his presser McVeigh missed Mondays training after socialising the night before.

'Flower' off?? That's what they say at tanking carlton!


WE HAVE A SPY!!!!!!!!

Big dickhead.

Deserves punishment. Good on Knights.

flower??

very disappointed in Spike, he's let the whole club down, he's kidding if he wants to be captain, you would never see Hirdy or Lloydy having to be disciplined.

Very, very stupid, especially by a leader of the club. Will never captain the club and he's got nobody to blame but himself.

Well done Knights for having the guts to drop him.

Very disappointing news - McVeigh's let himself, and the club down, which is a shame because he's always the first one to express his pride and loyalty to the club.

This is extremely uncharacteristic for one of our best clubmen - perhaps there's some circumstances surrounding Saturday night. Sadly, I don't think there will be.

Talks about leadership but very rarely actually displays it.

Theres got to be more to this

Damn shame. Something's going on in his head.

He had a stellar year in '08 gaining many Brownlow votes and was looking forward to a big year this year.

Pre season injury slowed all the plans right down, then he returned too early, only to exacerbate his injury and miss more games.

He returns to slowly improve his form then...
...his "trademark" aggression then costs him a spot in the Carlton game. His rhetoric was stupid in response to that. On radio he apologises for his stupidity, for letting his teammates and supporters down! That served as an admission of guilt even before the MRP had sat. Shallow rhetoric gets you NOWHERE Mr. McVeigh. When I heard that on the radio, it crossed my mind that he was playing a game, and that it was insincere.

It's what you do that matters, and you have not done anything this year that we have seen that entitles you to a claim of future captain.

It's a shame, because he can walk the talk very well, and can present well, and does have a crack on the field. With the right actions/behaviour, he would be a very good captain ... maybe he has thrown that away?

Why? McVeigh was a known party-boy in his younger days. Might be older but maybe not a lot wiser.

I can't agree with that at all. He's had an unusual year, sure, but to say he rarely shows leadership is false, and frankly, insulting.

well done Knights.

Hurley? Myers? Zaka?

I've gone to post about 6 times so far but words have escaped me on this one for a while.

Why Spike, WHY?!

There's always a back story on this stuff but to have this happen the week after he has been suspended and been in the media apologizing is a bit embarrassing for him and the club.

Having said that, a couple of comments on here might have gone a bit far. Yes what he has done is regrettable, but not irredeemable. So he most likely wont be captain, it's not the end of the world. Let's just hope he takes his licks, plays in Bendigo and comes back and plays like the good football player he is.


EDIT: Uncy Herb, any word when the press conference will be up?

He doesn't mind standing out on the ground spruiking about what Essendon is all about and how it should be done but when it comes down to business he gives us this??? Poor form.
Should've taken the 2 weeks and not had points hanging over him!

what a bloody idiot. if would be so much easier to accept if he were a known flog, but he's not, it's Spike! Spike! Spiritual leader, bleeds black and red, etc. Of all the times to stuff up. Damn shame.

I suppose I just look at him like a real professional, especially after the spray he gave the whole team after the Rd 22 game last year and hearing him on the radio speak about getting suspended and how disappointed he was.

I dont know...I mean how does one go about missing a training session? You'd have to know there would be severe consequences. Get blackout drunk and wake up in Hurstbridge with no pants? Its hard to believe that he just woke up hungover and simply couldnt be farked.

McPhee?

Bad form from Spike. Really didn't need this in the runup to the Pies game. Glad to see the club sticking to their guns over this one though. Painful, but necessary - all the players star or not need to be treated the same.

I disagree with you. He is much more talk than action, and I would prefer him to lead by example by being disciplined both on the field and off.

Spike's reputation has exceeded his output in recent times. He is having enough trouble actually getting on the park, how many games has he played under Knights?

He really needs to be knuckling down and making the most out of his last few years. When you start having leg injuries at his age it is not a good sign for his longevity.

Back to the good old days for Spike. Good to hear no report of any involvement from Woosha and co.

Out socialising. Linguistic garnish. Does that mean a vintage red over at Jim's house, or spewing your guts up on cheap beer at a meat market?

http://www.theage.com.au/news/rfnews/mcvei...6127511405.html

A SUNDAY-night drinking binge will prevent Mark McVeigh from bolstering Essen don's midfield for the Bombers' blockbuster clash with Collingwood on Friday night.

After receiving a one-week suspension from the AFL for striking Melbourne's Jared Rivers in round 12, McVeigh has been hit with the same penalty by his club as punishment for going out on Sunday night and missing a training session on Monday.

The Age has been told McVeigh was drinking heavily at a South Melbourne hotel until at least 3am. He notified the club later that morning he would not be attending the training session.

Essendon coach Mat thew Knights said the Bombers' football department's decision to demote McVeigh to play in the VFL for Bendigo had been made in consultation with the team's leadership group.

"Mark was unfortunately out socialising on Sunday and missed a training session on Monday, and that being the case his preparation has been hindered for this Friday night's game," Knights said this morning.

"Mark will be playing in the VFL and regaining some form and fitness there."

As well as form and fitness, Knights agreed McVeigh may also need to regain some respect from his teammates because the drinking incident occurred while he was serving the suspension for a jab to the jaw of Rivers.

"Yes, possibly, We'll speak to the playing group about it this morning as well. Obviously Mark's pretty disappointed with it all but that's part of it. He made a choice, he chose a path and he . . . missed a training session which is important to Friday night's build-up."

"Whether he's a first-year player or second-year player or a champion of the football club, if you're not going to get the trademark right you're not going to get that professionalism right to prepare yourself to play. We're not going to pull any punches with anyone."

McVeigh was expected to be a valuable replacement for injured midfielder Jobe Watson, but Knights said the club had no issue with having to turn to another player.

"It is disappointing . . . because Mark's a quality player. This year he's taken a while to get going because of injury but last year he was sensational . . . so it is disappointing not to be able to bring him into the line-up but that's the way it goes."

"I always tell all my players we've got 46 on the list and they can all play, and I'm not fussed who I put out there (instead of McVeigh) because I know they'll do the club proud when they go out there."

McVeigh's senior-team suspension will only be for one week, Knights said.

The suspension over shadowed the announcement that young Bombers defender Tayte Pears is the NAB Rising Star nominee for round 13.

He has sculptured a persona built around dogged footy, and enhanced by off field rhetoric. The off field rhetoric must be supported by off field behaviour if it's to be perceived as sincere.

He has some work to do.

That kind of attitude is why we're a great club and Carlton will continue to be mediocre.

What. The. Hell.

Something's not right in his head.

God farking damn it!!!
What the hell was he thinking?! I love Spike, I love his passion and I love what he brings to the team, but this is one of the more stupid acts I can remember from somebody who has aspirations to be leader of a club.
Fark I'm seriously pissed off right now. He's let not only himself, but his team mates and the 40000+ Essendon members down as well. He should be goddamn ashamed.

Gee, Knights handles himself well in the media.

One of the best attitudes I have seen in a coach.

What worries me is that Knights has put Jay Nash up there as coming into the team in the next couple of weeks.

Now I haven't seen his VFL form but from what you read on here it is anything BUT warranting a senior call up.

This is great to see - Knights obviously has a lot of faith in the list!

MK must see something in Nash that he just not show when playing. Much like he was with Ricky a few years ago (even though I think Ricky used to show much more than nash). If MK keeps playing him I hope he turns out to be right just like he was with RD.

Therein lies the problem.

You'd have to go out and see him for yourself if you wanted a reliable insight to his current fitness - that, or block out all the shit and pay attention to what a select few reliable posters have to say about his form (e.g. Koala, AN10, fogdog).

I absolutely fully support the decision by the club and the leadership group. They have made a strong stand here and while many other clubs would avoid such a decision, we have made a statement to the football public announcing that we mean business.

In our 7 wins this year, McVeigh has only been a part of one of them (Melbourne). In our 6 losses, he has played in 3 of them.

No doubt we'd all prefer this situation to be avoided and for him to play this week, but it's this sort of statement by the club that will have a greater long term impact on the players at the club. A scenario like this can hopefully push the players further on the field to demonstrate their greater need/will to play well, show leadership and contribute to the side in the absense of players like this.

Truly suprised and disappointed in Spike but 100% support the decision.

It sets a clear standard and tone for the rest of the team (especially the young guys) to follow and demonstrates that even the most senior of players must be 100% committed and disciplined if they want to play for the EFC.

As a player who has previously put himself forward (both on and off the field) as a leader and articulated on a number of occasions what it truly means to play for Essendon, Spike is going to have to work bloody hard to restore some of the lost faith.

I am sure he will.

Agreed Jimmy. Quite a few here seem to have a dislike for him and it wouldn't matter if he gathered 60 possies and kicked 10 goals from the back pocket they'd come up with the excuse that he didn't mind his man enough and went off searching for the ball and not playing the "team game".

In my opinion, this is the worst thing he has ever done by the club.
First, he goes and gets himself STUPIDLY suspended for a game against CARLTON, who at the time were equal on the ladder with us in points.

He regrets it, informs us how disappointed he is, and then proceeds to get smashed 6 days before another blockbuster, this time against a 'hot' Collingwood side, knowing full well that our major ball winner and arguably best player, would not be in the side, and a win would open up the possibility of a double chance.

This, is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

"We are Essendon" ?
Who is Essendon, Mark?
Because as far as im concerned, what you did is completely the opposite of what Essendon stands for.

We stand for being respected and being THE Melbourne club everyone wants to emulate, on and off the field. We are JUST getting back to this, ON THE FIELD, and you go ahead and make a fool of yourself and your own implied leadership ability, in the most important 2 week stage of the season in so many ways.

Way to go Mark, for me, this is going to take one helluva effort to mend.

Correct, McG - that's the other thing I forgot to mention - the amount of bias based on the feelings towards a particular player is incredible. Nash seems to be the whipping boy of late, so I'd be very inclined to turn to a Koala or a AN10 or a fogdog who have a mutual and educated opinion on a player's form.

fogdog is the one saying Nash should never play for essendon ever again Jimmeh.