FARMER CAN'T BE STUFFED

JEFF Farmer's AFL career hangs by another thread after the Fremantle forward missed a club session and was stood down for this week's game.

Farmer was a no-show at the Dockers' compulsory recovery session in Melbourne last Saturday following the club's eight-point loss to St Kilda the night before, and will now miss Sunday's clash with Essendon.

It is unclear why Farmer missed the session.

A club spokesman said that as it stands, Farmer's penalty is just the one-match ban.

The latest indiscretion could not come at a worse time for Farmer, who turned 31 on Tuesday.

He is in the final year of his contract and fighting to prove he is worth retaining beyond this season.


Just three weeks ago Fremantle coach Mark Harvey publicly warned the mercurial forward that he must prove his value to the team in the second half of the season for a new deal to be penned.

But Farmer's latest stunt could prove to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Last year Farmer was suspended and fined $5,000 by the club after he punched a security guard at a Perth nightclub.

Later that year he was charged with and pleaded guilty to criminal damage for smashing a car's side mirror after being ejected from Perth's Burswood Casino.

Farmer has played 242 games and booted 479 goals since making his debut for Melbourne in 1995.

He has played all 13 games this year for the struggling Dockers, who have won just two games.





WHAT an absolute tosser & loser...





MEANWHILE on a serious note.

WINDERLICH OUT FOR SEASON

Emerging Essendon midfielder, Jason Winderlich, will miss the remainder of the 2008 season with a back injury.

The 23-year-old will have surgery on Monday to repair an on-going problem that has troubled him since preseason.

"I knew I wasn’t good when I woke up the morning after the Hawthorn game and couldn’t really feel the back of my left leg," Winderlich said.

"I knew then that it was something major but having surgery is not something I am looking forward to." Winderlich said.

The decision to rest the midfielder - who has played 56 games for the club - came after Winderlich experienced severe pain following Essendon’s Round 11 match against Hawthorn.

"I had a split disc this preseason and missed 10 weeks of training straight
after Christmas which involved missing a heap of conditioning work that meant I
was always behind the eight ball coming into this year," he said.

"I had only played about three quarters in a VFL practice match before I came
into the side which resulted in a pretty slow start to the season.

"Trying to play football without a proper preseason is hard these days with
the amount of running you have to do. At least after the operation I will be
fully conditioned and ready to go by the time preseason starts this year which
is the key.

"I don’t want to keep waiting for it to heal itself." Windelich said.

Jason Johnson, who is recovering from a calf injury, has suffered a minor setback during training and is now likely to resume in a month.



Injuries, what can we say about them that hasn't been said already?



Unfortunately nothing. Mind you someone like Jeff Farmer has an injury, mental, that cannot be healed by anyone, but himself. I do hope he plays against us, c'mon Harvey slip the fool in, now there's one player I would love to see REIMERED!



Cheers,



CHRISTOS BOMBEROPOULOS