Agreed Funky - and Voss will learn from it as much as any of the players.

But crowds are fickle up here, we'll try and get a quick fix from somewhere to keep them interested, and it won't work. A la Fev.

I don't know. New management have been impressive so far, the back staff that we hired, trying to re-engage the Melbourne fans a lot more. I think they've realised we're shifting between generations, and are in for the long haul. I hope so anyway.

If Vossy were to be fired, I hope we just throw wads of cash at Paul Roos till he agrees.

MvFC - Sam Sheldon? Not good enough for AFL level IMO. Was the poorest of a poor season last year.

West Coast told to burger off

Simon White
April 12, 2011 - 3:14PM

The familiar HJ's logo likely to disappear from the Eagles' guernseys.

Fast food giant Hungry Jack's is set to completely sever its 25-year relationship with the West Coast Eagles in the wake of last week's dumping as the AFL club's major sponsor.

Hungry Jack's has been a sponsor of the Eagles since their inception and the club's chief executive Trevor Nisbett said last week he was hopeful the relationship would continue next year and beyond, despite BankWest taking over pride of place on West Coast's jumpers.

But Hungry Jack's chief Jack Cowin was reported saying on the weekend that he was disappointed at the lack of "loyalty" shown by West Coast, after the two parties had struck a verbal agreement for the major sponsorship to continue in 2012.

A Hungry Jack's insider told WAtoday.com.au the Eagles were kidding themselves if they expected Cowin to keep kicking in the cash next season in the wake of the past week's developments.

"From everything I've heard there won't be any kind of sponsorship at all,'' the source said.

A Hungry Jack's spokesman confirmed the company had known for several weeks prior to last week's announcement that the Eagles would be going with BankWest.

The spokesman did not rule out seeking other high-profile WA sporting sponsorships to replace the Eagles deal but said there had been no discussion of switching allegiances to cross-town rival Fremantle.

"We are always on the lookout for appropriate, mutually beneficial sponsorship relationships,'' the spokesman said.

Cowin was unavailable to speak to WAtoday.com.au.

http://www.watoday.com.au/afl/afl-news/west-coast-told-to-burger-off-20110412-1dc43.html

I hope they don't. He needs more time. We're currently entering the stage Melbourne and Richmond were a few seasons ago. Lots of inexperienced/young players. But also lots of talented youngsters at the same time. It's going to be a few seasons of progress, but it'll be worth once guys like Polec, Bewick, Lester, Rockliff, Redden, Banfield, etc. We have tons of players that are going to provide the basis for a strong team in seasons to come. Sure we're going to struggle while they get experience, but that's what happens. While we're down here, we'll pick up a few future stars, and our next generation will be set.

101 AFL players seek pyschological help

Mark Stevens From: Herald Sun April 13, 2011

ONE in seven AFL players sought psychological help for personal problems last year.

Stress and relationship issues were the most common reasons for counselling under the AFL Players' Association wellbeing program.

The AFLPA's seven psychologists also counselled players on gambling, anxiety/depression, self-esteem and even football performance.

Almost half of all players who required assistance were in the 19-23 age group.

The AFLPA has released details of counselling referrals for the first time, intent on underlining how proactive players are in seeking help.

In total, 101 players approached their union looking for assistance last season.

"It's a really high number," AFLPA wellbeing service manager Matti Clements said yesterday.

"Young guys experience a whole range of different stresses and they are proactively seeking assistance. I think it's fantastic."

Melbourne star Brent Moloney this week lost the vice-captaincy for a late night and declared he would seek counselling to help curb binge drinking.

The AFLPA numbers from last year do not include instances where a club mandated counselling as part of a penalty.

Players referred to a psychologist averaged three to four visits.

There were 46 separate referrals for stress and relationship issues combined.

"Guys might present a little more frequently for stress around contract time, which is not surprising when you are talking about someone's career and future," Clements said.

"There is also stress around injury as well."

The AFLPA has revealed there were four referrals for gambling last season, with seven for alcohol.

Relocation, to a new club or interstate, was also a major issue, sparking 11 referrals.

The most common age for a player seeking help last year was 19, with 16 referrals.

But Clements played down suggestions the AFL's younger players were struggling with the stresses of the game significantly more than seasoned veterans.

"There is less security among the younger players, but we need to put it into context that the Generation Y coming through are probably a little bit more comfortable in seeing a psychologist," he said.

The AFLPA's seven psychologists are spread around the country, with three in Melbourne and one each in Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane.

The program is free to the players, funded by the AFLPA.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-players-seek-pyschological-help/story-e6frf9jf-1226038108953

Eagles stay quiet on new stadium

Simon White
April 13, 2011 - 9:35AM

Be the first to comment
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Goodbye Subi location? Latest rumours suggest the die had been cast on Burswood site.

The West Coast Eagles would support a new Burswood-based football stadium but will wait and see what the State Government has to say about it.

It was reported last night that Burswood would be the site for a new 60,000-seat stadium, which would cost up to $1.2 billion and result in the State Tennis Centre being moved elsewhere.

West Coast communications manager Gary Stocks told WAtoday.com.au the club would leave it to the government to announce details of any project but would support the Burswood site.

Advertisement: Story continues below "Any site (for a new stadium) would have the support of the club,'' Stocks said.

"We will sit and wait to hear from the government.''

Meanwhile, Tennis West chief executive Andrew Stanbury said he believed his organisation had a "strong hand" to play in any negotiations with the government.

Stanbury said Tennis West was yet to be officially advised of the government's intention to locate the new stadium at Burwsood but would be open to considering alternative locations for the STC, provided it was looked after financially.

"We have not been through this before. But we have an expectation that the government would be fairly forceful about its position,'' Stanbury said.

"But we have 37 years left of a 50-year lease and we believe there is a lot of value in that.

"We would expect the government to recognise the 37 years of that lease and that they would have an obligation to look after us."

Stanbury said Tennis West had not placed a figure on the value of the remaining years of its lease and was happy in its current location, but had begun investigating possible scenarios if a move became necessary.

http://www.watoday.com.au/afl/afl-news/eagles-stay-quiet-on-new-stadium-20110413-1ddbb.html

[youtube]JwT-YBu4vQ8[/youtube]

Cannot wait. Comes out next week. Won't be getting it straight away, because I'm still sceptical. Small Company, Small Budget. But reports of gameplay, and pretty much everything have been incredibly positive.

Might be a fizzer just like the NRL one was.

PS3 and Xbox?

Both.

\:d/ \:d/ \:d/ \:d/ \:d/ \:d/ \:d/
Hopefully it is not a let down

I have high hopes. At worst, I think it'll be like Ricky Ponting cricket. Has it's flaws, but is still fun with mates, and for the occasional half hour/hour where you're really in the mood to play it.

The Player/Club creator section should be sweet though, gonna resurrect Fitzroy.

AFL 'leak' puts state on notice: it wants more

Caroline Wilson
April 15, 2011

THE AFL yesterday revealed one key element of its strategy to extract public money from the state government and the Victorian Major Events Company.

As it prepares to put forward a bid for public funds for a jazzed up 2011 grand final week extravaganza, closely followed by an Irish-inspired festival surrounding the 2011 International Rules series, the league let slip that the New South Wales government had put forward a somewhat flimsy bid to host the Brownlow Medal. Of course it has. The NSW government also wants to host Collingwood versus Essendon on Anzac Day next year, something AFL boss Andrew Demetriou let slip to Eddie McGuire on Triple M yesterday.

Clearly these negotiations will go nowhere, at least in the short term. But what the AFL has done is put the Victorian government on notice. Demetriou might not have mentioned it four days ago when he held talks with Premier Ted Baillieu, but there is a growing sense of disenchantment at football's head office over a perceived lack of support from the Victorian Major Events Company. The last time VMEC supported the AFL was in 2008 when an Australia-Ireland International Rules game took place at the MCG. Many years earlier it put $1 million into the AFL's centenary celebrations. Jeff Kennett was Victoria's premier then, and now, as president of Hawthorn, read yesterday's strategic Brownlow leak for what it was - a bid by the AFL to entice the state government to treat it as the major event it believes itself to be. He warned Baillieu and co. not to fall for it.

This is a complicated argument. It is true that by certain definitions most AFL games in Victoria are major events. But do they attract genuine tourism dollars into the state? Does the Brownlow count at Crown? And it's not as if the Victorian government has not supported the AFL. Only last week, Geelong announced funding of $25 million for the next stage of Skilled Stadium's upgrade. The MCG's southern stand redevelopment has been funded by the government to the tune of $30 million. Not to mention all the new club facilities built thanks to the public purse in recent years.

On the other hand, VMEC is an annual $80 million industry, with three-quarters of that going towards the loss-making Australian Grand Prix.

The AFL would not have missed the fact that NRL boss David Gallop secured $45 million from the NSW government last year in a 10-year agreement which tied the grand final to Sydney's ANZ Stadium. Gallop had cleverly played off his state against Queensland and managed to win $20 million more than the league had expected in a scenario in which Queensland had not even bid.

The AFL, having won $45 million from the former NSW Labor government to fund a new stadium for Greater Western Sydney, is seriously considering shifting the 2012 season launch to Sydney, along with this year's National Draft.

Less complicated, however, is the fact that the grand final cannot leave Melbourne for decades thanks to a long-term deal with the MCG. Equally simple is that the Brownlow belongs in Melbourne for as long as it remains part of grand final week. And Anzac Day between Collingwood and Essendon? If it ain't broke …

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-leak-puts-state-on-notice-it-wants-more-20110414-1dg0b.html

AFL tries to stem the tide

Greg Baum
April 16, 2011


"MATE,'' the voice at the other end of veteran Sun News-Pictorial reporter Jack Dunn's phone would shout, straining to be heard above the background din of the pub. ''Mate, I've got a bet with me mate here: who won between Rose and Gattellari in 1967?'' This was long before the internet.

''Rose,'' Dunn would reply. ''Beauty! I win,'' the voice would exclaim. ''Hey, I'm just gonna put my mate on the line, so you can tell him, OK?'' After a pause, another voice would come on the line: ''Hello?'' ''Gattellari,'' Dunn would say, and promptly hang up.

Wherever sportsfolk gather, they bet. It is human nature, but especially human sporting nature. David Parkin argues that sportsmen tend to be punters because the essence of what they do is a wager - their skill against another's, again and again. One meaning of sportsman is gambler. The Sportsman is not a manifesto of sportsmanship; it is a form guide.

A football official, arguing this week to Caroline Wilson the case for the widening of legalised betting on the game, said that it was in the culture. ''For a lot of people, watching the footy is about having a beer and having a bet,'' he said.

As history, I dispute that. People watched football, and bet on the races. Betting always has been incidental to football, but is the whole purpose of racing, which is strictly regulated and policed to reflect this. Around the time Dunn was making his mischief, it was not unknown for a footballer to tuck a Record down his socks so he could check off the race results as they were posted on the scoreboard.

Three years ago, laws restricting the way bookmakers could advertise and promote themselves were relaxed. Now they are swarming over the football landscape, and changing it. They are outside every ground, on every scoreboard, and in every ground announcement. They are on club guernseys, in deals which - as noted during the week - depend perversely on supporters losing their bets. They are in every newspaper, on every television and radio show, on every website, on your Facebook page and your twitter feed. Last year's Brownlow Medal count might as well have been telecast from a betting shop.

Especially, they are in journalists' inbox. They arrive half-a-dozen at a time, special after special - more or less than 80,000 at the Collingwood-Carlton game, for instance, Collingwood not to lose a match, Gold Coast not to win one. Reviews follow, detailing brilliant winning bets, as if to let the journo in on a scam: this is easy! ''Mate,'' one intimately addresses his missives, to 100 ''mates'' at once.

It is a blitz, intended to normalise gambling terminology in the football discourse. It appears to be working. It cannot be long now before it will be declared ''un-Australian'' not to bet on football. It scarcely needs to be spelt that wherever there is betting, there is the risk of corruption. Racing, for all its supervision, still suffers periodically. In cricket, it has become endemic, and immensely damaging.

Now rugby league is enmeshed in a fixing scandal. AFL folk tend to look down sniffily on NRL misdemeanours, as if to say that it could not happen in their code. In fact, often, they are only a few months behind.

The football conversation has changed. Watching the footy for many is about having a beer, perhaps a bet - hundreds of variations are possible; how can you lose? - also to muse on dream team competitions. These are in themselves innocent, a sideshow, like betting. But they are seductive, too. The players are as engaged as the fans.

In this reshaped environment, winning and losing remains paramount, of course, but thousands of other discrete happenings within a game - a goal here, but not there, a margin, a tally of kicks - also matter, and can be turned to profit.

Not everyone can be presumed to be scrupulous. Do not doubt that some of the sportsmen who back themselves to beat their man, contest after contest, will be sorely tempted to back themselves to beat the system, especially if it is loose and the money plentiful. Do not doubt that approaches already have been made.

Cricket learnt its lesson the hard way. It is problematic whether the AFL even bothered to take lessons. Brett Clothier has served as ''integrity services manager'' for three years, but only now is getting an off-sider so that they can compile a database to help identify anomalous and suspicious gambling activity. This was surely a minimum safeguard from the start.

Meantime, the AFL wishes it had tighter control of scoreboards, and even of its own website; both have been hijacked by oddsmakers. To make itself feel better, last year the AFL clapped in irons a handful of junior officials for making bets of a few pence.

That creaking and screeching you might be able to hear is the sound of the AFL trying to jam the lid down on Pandora's Box.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-tries-to-stem-the-tide-20110415-1dhu3.html

Showdown has lost sheen Andrew Faulkner From: The Australian April 16, 2011


AS the AFL blitzkrieg rolls north and west in search of converts to the indigenous game, there are mounting signs of discontent on the home front.


Consider the loyal legions in Adelaide, for example.

Showdown tickets were the hottest in town when the Adelaide derbies routinely sold out the 51,000-seat AAMI Stadium.

Yesterday afternoon 9000 seats remained for tonight's Showdown XXX, even though some tickets have been discounted from $29 to $26.50.

Such is the enmity between Adelaide's two clubs, promoting each other's nominal "home" game was once unthinkable.

Well, this week Crows boss Steven Trigg joined his Port counterpart Mark Haysman in spruiking the Power's home match in the local media.

They need to.

Just 23,000 came to Port's first home game of the season against West Coast in round two.

This after Haysman issued a rallying call for a minimum of 30,000 to stream through the gates.

Just 33,000 saw Adelaide succumb to Fremantle last week, after 43,000 attended against Hawthorn in round one when a full house was expected to celebrate the club's 20th anniversary.

The latest desperate move in these hard times is creating "Crows-friendly bays" where Adelaide fans can cheer their heroes free of taunts from Port fans.

Myriad factors are being put up for the early season torpor among Adelaide's football community.

The swirling debate about football's planned move to Adelaide Oval from 2014 is said to be playing its part.

SANFL chief executive Leigh Whicker did not help matters when he recently said the move must proceed because AAMI Stadium was "trashed" as an AFL venue.

On the broader canvas, telecasts live against the gate are said to be eating into attendances.

But most importantly of all, the two sides' form -- after pre-seasons coloured brightly in shades of hope -- is another factor in the apparent drop-off in interest.

Port's winless season includes big away losses to Collingwood and Geelong.

After just three rounds, the Power is a heartbeat away from being a write-your-own-ticket chance for the premiership. Yesterday one betting agency had it level with the Gold Coast at $301 for the flag.

After beating Hawthorn in round one, Adelaide was looking formidable until its young side was hit with injuries in a repeat of last season's crippling casualty rate.

Of course, Neil Craig and Matthew Primus were keen to talk up the game at yesterday's joint coaches' press conference, flanked as they routinely are by a gyrating giant frog cake (an Adelaide delicacy produced by the Showdown's bakery sponsor) mascot.

Asked if the twice-yearly derby had lost its sheen, Craig quickly replied the opposite was the case.

"It's two great games for our state," Craig said.

"I can only speak for our club and our players. It's two special games.

"They tend to be finals-like intensity and atmosphere.

"So we look forward to it immensely. I think we're very privileged.

"And the reality is you can get a mixture of supporters as well.

"Which probably in Melbourne you get every week."

The game gives Primus's young charges an increasingly rare chance to play before a big crowd.

"Most of the games people remember pretty fondly because they're good contests," Primus said.

Indeed, the Showdowns have tended to be close no matter the clubs' ladder positions. Port leads 16-13 but Adelaide enters tonight's match as a warm favourite. And both coaches say they will not take a Showdown-generated lift in effort from their players for granted.

"We'd be kidding ourselves if we did," Primus said. "We're not going to produce anything as a football club of any great strength if we rely on a game or an opposition to get ourselves up."

But Primus said the Showdown was a perfect opportunity for his young players to show they could play a defensive game in a pressure match.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/showdown-has-lost-sheen/story-e6frg7mf-1226039927912

Gold Coast Suns recruitment policy is already showing signs of cracks

Andrew Hamilton From: The Courier-Mail April 16, 2011

ONLY time will tell us what the Suns have done right and what they got wrong, but after two weeks cracks are starting to appear in their recruitment strategy.

It is looking like they've picked the wrong Krakouer.

The Suns deliberately opted for a recruitment strategy based around the draft - not established uncontracted stars.

Their rationale, which we accept, was that their first premiership would be won by stocking the club with the country's best teenagers and then pumping as many games into them in their first three years so they mature.

List manager Scott Clayton's strategy was to go after a couple of star midfielders, Gary Ablett and Michael Rischitelli, a ruckman, Josh Fraser, to nurse star-in-waiting Zac Smith through his first year, and then a bunch of defenders who could stem the bleeding in the early years while the young guns found their feet.

But it fails if the uncontracted recruits aren't playing. And that is what has happened this week.

Nathan Krakouer has been dropped and Campbell Brown rubbed out for a month, leaving two vacancies in a six-man defence.

The Suns have said they didn't want to stock their side with 16 uncontracted players and have them taking games off draftees.

But surely they didn't want a situation where draftees are taking games off uncontracted signings? At least not two games in.

If they were to only choose seven uncontracted players, they had to pick seven that would play week in, week out. Brown was always a longshot to do that and besides, he was recruited to set the standard in the physical stakes, so it's hard to condemn him when he delivers.

For the record, I'm not climbing on the Vic-centric bandwagon that has been painting Brown as a violent thug.

His actions against the Bulldogs weren't violent, just stupid.

If he'd hit Barry Hall flush and legally he would have been hailed a hero by his coach and teammates. His hit on Callum Ward was just stupid.

But Nathan Krakouer is a different matter. He has not lived up to the faith shown in him by Clayton, which has in turn let coach Guy McKenna down.

Meanwhile, over at Collingwood, former inmate Andrew Krakouer is setting the world alight.

The Suns had first dibs at Krakouer and decided to trade him to the Pies.

Why? There was no risk he wasn't up to standard. After his 16-month prison stint, Krakouer returned to the WAFL and produced the most dominant season in the competition's history.

He is already repaying the Pies with some sizzling performances.

Suns vice-captain Nathan Bock's task now is to show the Gold Coast they picked the right man.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/gold-coast-suns-recruitment-policy-is-already-showing-signs-of-cracks/story-fn842gep-1226039873532

Port Adelaide faithful take chunk out of debt

Staff writer From: Herald Sun April 16, 2011

THE Port Adelaide Football Club has raised $1million in a spectacular start to its Back In Black debt reduction mission.

The money was raised by more than 140 Foundation Leaders who were honoured at events at the Allan Scott Power Headquarters and Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The Power faithful contributed a minimum $5000 to the debt reduction campaign.

Port Adelaide president Brett Duncanson described the Foundation Leaders as the club’s “newest heroes”.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/port-adelaide-faithful-take-chunk-out-of-debt/story-e6frf9jf-1226040127765

Fucking Kade Simpson.