I love watching Walla play. He’s an excitement machine. I remember when he was first listed and the joy he had was infectious. I want to see that back as that joy and excitement motivated him to lose weight, train harder and tackle ferociously. I really want my Walla back. All the best mate and get well soon. Love you so much!
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Draper IS X factor.
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I’m sure Walla will be training hard between now and Round 1 like the rest of the team.
Club will put him on a programme over for the Christmas break with extra assistance for the physical stuff.
He’ll drop the extra kilos
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Well, no wonder if you’re running off to the US with a hooker, on a regular basis.
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I was told today the reasons behind it, and I think a few people on here would really regret their choice of words if they knew the whole story.
Everyone should be encouraging him and his return next year.
Edit: should have realised what the response to this would be
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Care to elaborate at all?
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i get the distinct feeling he’s going to enjoy having a few extra Territorians around the club the next few months, even if they are all from Darwin 
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There is some carry on about a lot of things on blitz at the moment.
I am aware, like many, that Walla has had some issues to work through.
But when you are paid 500k a year to perform at your best, having some down moments is ok, and should be understood, but fundamentally you are paid to perform on the field and if you cannot present yourself fit enough to do that then that is disappointing.
Now that doesn’t mean being impatient or insensitive. But if Walla missed parts of last year due to lack of physical fitness, and is not ready to go for Rnd 1 this year, then the club and supporters have reason to be disappointed. That doesn’t make them bad people, that makes them people who realise this is a performance industry and eventually you need to be ready to perform.
This is all yet to conclude, so if he is ready to go Rnd 1 then I will be cheering him on like all other punters. If he isn’t ready round 1, I’d be disappointed and that doesn’t make me nor anyone else wrong, in fact, he and Essendon would also be disappointed.
Like WOB has previously said, this is not a polarising scale, you can be empathetic as well as disappointed. However, I should of realised this is the internet, and there is no room for nuance.
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Did Walla tell you?
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Just wow.
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If you’re disappointed that you’re not seeing Walla out there playing, that’s fine. If you’re suggesting he needs to suck it up because he’s on “500k”, then that’s wrong. Money has nothing to do with it.
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I can’t see what he wrote (well I can if I want to but I don’t) but surely he didn’t suggest Walla has to suck it up because he is paid well? No one is that bereft of understanding surely.
It’s hard to tell what he was actually saying, that’s why i wrote “if”. I think bringing money into it is poor form regardless.
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Terms I dislike in 2021; Virtue Signalling, Nuanced, Freedom of Speech, Snowflake, Cancel-culture.
Good to hear the watchers at training mention he’s looking a bit trimmer already (which sounds ridiculous to thing he could have lost a few kg’s in a week), that’s much better than hearing he isn’t putting in the effort or hadn’t improved.
I’m pretty positive about most things and I’d like to think that whatever the issue (medical/physical/mental/social/whatever) he has taken a proper break and will be better for it.
It’s around 3 months until round 1, that’s plenty of time for him to get back into into physical shape.
If any factors are out of his control, then they are out of our control too and we have to trust the club and his support network to do their best to assist him to achieve what’s best for Walla.
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I don’t think what L2L wrote is all that controversial or worthy of backlash. It was fairly balanced.
It is absolutely not harsh to have some disappointment that he’s not in great shape physically after how things trailed off on that front last season. We all love watching him at his best and he brings such joy when he’s happy and at his best.
But being disappointed doesn’t mean that you are angry at him nor is it grounds for being malicious or anything.
It just means that he obviously has stuff that he needs to work through and we all support him in that process and hope that the club and his family do all they can to assist, which I’m sure they are.
When he’s happy the rest will follow 
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The fact that the players are being really supportive shows the regard they hold him in and also that his struggles are real. This isn’t a bloke who has just got on the pies and grog, come back overnight because he’s been lazy and unprofessional. Hooksey was there with him at AP, pushing him along. To me the care for each other at EFC is as high as it’s been maybe since 1999-2001. It makes you feel good about us again.
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I reckon you need to re-read what you wrote and think a bit more about it.
If a player is injured and cannot play then we understand. If a player has emotional or pyschological issues then it is no different, and we should either try to understand or just shut the fark up.
I do not recall Francis copping this type of criticism when he could not play.
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I agree with your broader point, but Francis copped a lot when he took time off last year to go back to SA for a bit.
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Spot on. Some people have a very limited experience of mental health issues and boy it shows.
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