I have no idea why we let Josh Gibson leave. Our defence would be completely different if he were still at the club.

That's such a shit result. 33 scoring shots to 27. Accuracy let us down badly.

Edited by afromanGT: 24/4/2011 07:26:33 PM

I mean...when you've got Josh Gibson, Blake Grima and Michael Firrito that would be just about the best defensive three in the competition. Why we let Gibson go...for a SECOND ROUND draft pick....I'm fucking dumbfounded.

North's accuracy has been a thorn in their side since Carey left. They need a big forward who they can turn to more often. They lost that dimension up front when they let David Hale go and settled on one big forward in Petrie - Aaron Edwards is a talented player, but he's too inconsistent and he's a dick.

Freo didn't deserve to win tbh. They kicked three behinds and two out on the full in the last minute and a half.

Also kicked more than their opposition for the entire match, generally means you deserve to win tbh.

Tell that to North Melbourne.

Kennett hits at rich clubs' hold From: AAP April 26, 2011 3:13PM

HAWTHORN president Jeff Kennett says the stranglehold the AFL's richest clubs have on success is the code's "big sleeper" issue.
Kennett said there was no obvious solution, because as well as winning more often, the powerhouse clubs tend to receive broader television exposure and more blockbuster games.

That brought more revenue, enabling more off-field resources, which helped deliver further on-field success, in a self-propagating cycle.

Kennett said within the next two or three years, 10 of the league's 18 clubs would be receiving special financial
assistance from the AFL, an imbalance that countered the equalisation effect of the draft and salary cap.

"The big sleeper is how we are going to be able to offer consistently a fair competition between those clubs that make up the AFL," Kennett said at a pre-match function before the Hawks played Geelong .

"There is no simple answer, but it's not of much value if some clubs are never really going to be given the opportunity to climb the ladder.

"Even with the draft, if a club isn't financially strong, it has very little chance, I think, of getting into the top four."

Kennett said the AFL was currently occupied with three big issues - a new media rights deal, which could be finalised this week, a new agreement with players and firmly establishing expansion clubs Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.

But he said the financial divide needed to be their next key agenda item.

Kennett cited Collingwood and Essendon's annual Anzac Day game, which drew almost 90,000 fans on Monday, and the Hawks' stand-alone MCG clash with the Cats, as examples of the valuable exposure provided for clubs that needed it least.

"The clubs that really need the opportunity to have an audience are never given the opportunity to do so," he said.
Kennett opposed the notion of a cap on off-field spending, saying the weak clubs needed to be strengthened, not the strong clubs weakened.

He said the fact that the Hawks, Geelong and Collingwood had all emerged from dire financial situations not too long ago, to become strong should give hope to current strugglers.

But he said the current divide was so entrenched, the AFL needed to help fix it.

- AAP

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/kennett-hits-at-rich-clubs-hold/story-e6frf9jf-1226045091405

Players 'very aware' of role in $1b game: AFL Players' Association

Scott Gullan From: Herald Sun April 29, 2011

AFLPA chief executive Matt Finnis said the players were "very aware'' of the role they play in growing the game which is now valued at $1.253 billion.

"Players are not only legitimate stakeholders but they are also avid consumers so they are very aware of the role they play in what is a growing sporting business,'' he said.

"From our point of view we think the scope of the arrangements that have been entered into allow the game to secure the future of the competition, secure the future of the clubs but also to establish careers of AFL players as the pre-eminent sporting career in the country.''

The AFLPA is seeking a fixed 27 per cent of all future revenues which would effectively get the players a $50 million pay rise per year from 2012.

Payments to the AFL's 750 players reached $170 million last year, about 21 per cent of the game's gross takings.



The major sticking point in negotiations, which started in December, is over the players desire for the fixed percentage which the AFL is against.

"We have a view that a percentage and revenue sharing arrangement is a sensible way to go forward,'' Finnis said.

"It is used in other sports around the world that have a salary cap like we do. I think it is important to preserve the interests of the players over a duration of an agreement.''

The AFLPA boss said he was confident negotiations would reach an appropriate settlement by the June 30 deadline.

"What the players seek is a professionl and business-like relationship and that means if it takes time to come to the right outcome then we take that time,'' Finnis said.

"We go into it in good faith, that's not to say negotiations won't be wary at times but we have an expectation of a successful outcome.''

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/players-very-aware-of-role-in-1b-game-afl-players-association/story-e6frf9jf-1226046510732

Show us the money: Goodes

Michael Cowley, Samantha Lane

AFL players are demanding their share of football's new billion-dollar-plus broadcast deal, with Adam Goodes last night leading the call for what he said is an entitlement.

No sooner had the ink on the fresh broadcasting arrangement dried, than AFL Players Association executive member and Sydney co-captain Goodes said the pressure was now on the AFL to repay players for their part in the record windfall.

''It's something we feel we deserve,'' Goodes said in an unashamed indication of how the AFLPA will attack its new Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations with the AFL.

''With two new teams coming there is more job opportunities for more players but we feel like we have been doing the hard work for the last five years and we want to start reaping a bit of the benefits.

''If you are at the end of your career like I am, or you are one of those players who is three or four years in, you really want to see some benefits for the hard work we've been able to do in the last five years. We just want what we think is fair.''

The $1.118 billion cash component of the new five-year deal is a 50 per cent increase on the $749 million paid for the current deal, which is in its final season.

The players' association wants to lock in 25-27 per cent of AFL revenue, but AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou is fighting against that.

''We don't talk in percentages, the players are entitled to their absolute fair share of the revenues of our competition, they deserve it, we plan to look after our players,'' he said.

''We don't like tying them to a certain percentage because they may actually deny themselves some money.''

AFLPA chief executive Matt Finnis said if salaries increase in the way he thinks they should, football would be able to attract the nation's best athletes.

''This deal provides a wonderful opportunity for the game, its clubs and players to achieve this goal,'' he said.

Goodes said a significant pay rise for players is just one of many pressing issues the AFLPA executive has identified while the broadcasting deal was negotiated.

''We [the AFLPA] went to the AFL with about 36 things that we wanted to talk to them about, and they have come back to us and said we need to put these things on hold until we tick off the TV rights deal. Hopefully now with the deal being done, we can really hit home some of the biggest things we want and obviously a bigger piece of the pie would be nice,'' Goodes said.

''We want better wages for our rookie list players and those discussions will definitely heat up in the next couple of months.

''Hopefully we can get the deal we want. It's been much talked about and I know from a players' point of view, all the other players are really keen to tick it off … this is something we are really big on. We really deserve our piece of the pie and we feel like we have done the work over the last five years to really get that TV rights deal for the AFL.''

Goodes had backing from his Sydney chairman, Richard Colless, who told The Age yesterday: ''I think for all clubs this means there's going to be demands from players, I don't think there's any mystique about that.''

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said it was the players who made the game the spectacle it was and they deserved to be suitably rewarded.

''It's not just monetary rewards, it's about looking after the total athlete and their professional development,'' Lyon said.

Goodes accepts that much of the money should be spent on growing the grassroots of the game.

''We love the amount of money the AFL puts into the grassroots of football and we want that to happen. The community level of football, that's how we all started to play football.''

With AAP


Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/afl/afl-news/show-us-the-money-goodes-20110428-1dyuj.html#ixzz1KuDozDWd

Ex-Collingwood footballer Ryan Cook sued over street bashing

Shelley Hadfield From: Herald Sun April 30, 2011

FORMER Magpie footballer Ryan Cook is facing civil action for punching a man who taunted him in a street.
Cook escaped criminal conviction for breaking 10 bones in Jason Millar's face in Sale in January 2009.

Cook was fined $3500 in Sale Magistrates' Court last March after pleading guilty to negligently causing serious injury.

Mr Millar's lawyers have filed a writ in the County Court claiming damages.

Cook had been in Sale for teammate Scott Pendlebury's 21st birthday.

Collingwood delisted Cook at the end of last year and he is now playing for South Fremantle Football Club.

In his statement of claim, Mr Millar's lawyers say he suffered facial fractures, an altered bite sensation and facial appearance and has suffered anxiety and psychological impairment.

The statement of claim alleges "the assault was committed by the defendant intentionally and with the intention to cause injury to the plaintiff".

The court documents claim Cook assaulted Mr Millar, now 30, by "striking him twice to the face with his left clenched fist, on each occasion using considerable force".

Sale Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Millar had been drinking at a wedding.

Cook, now 23, crossed paths with Mr Millar in the street when he left a nightclub alone about 3am on January 18.

Magistrate Edwin Batt said the victim had to be partially accountable for the events, saying Mr Millar appeared to be "goading" him.

Cook's lawyer, Tony Burns, told the court Mr Millar and another man began yelling at the young footballer, calling him a metrosexual and making fun of his Batman T-shirt.

The court was told Mr Millar swung a punch at Cook, but missed. Cook then punched him twice in the face.

Mr Millar was in hospital for three days.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/ex-magpie-sued-over-street-bashing/story-fn7x8me2-1226047149006

Alex Fevola blames AFL culture for 'creating a monster'

Staff writer From: Herald Sun May 01, 2011 8:43PM

THE ex-partner of Brendan Fevola has lashed out at the AFL culture for "creating a monster'' of the fallen footy star.

Alex Fevola said her ex-husband's bad off-field behaviour - including infidelity, gambling and drinking - was excused by the system because he could play footy.

"There are different rules that footballers think they can live by and that's the culture that needs to be changed," Alex said.

"They excused all his bad behaviour because he could play football."

She said Fevola stopped growing up the day he was drafted to the AFL in his final year of high school.

Fevola was shown storming out of an interview which aired last night on Channel Seven's Sunday Night program after he was accused of "visually raping" Lara Bingle for photographing her nude in the shower against her wishes.

He said his chances of being re-drafted to an AFL team were "zero", but said he didn't want to rule out a comeback.

"You never say 'never'," he said.

He said he had not had anything to drink since New Year's Eve and had not gambled for 18 months, maintaining his recent visit to Crown Casino was to play poker, which was a "game", not gambling.

The father-of-three girls said he was a good father, but had not been able to see them as often as he wanted.

"I've seen them only twice this year, which is too little, especially when you've got a one-year-old. It breaks my heart."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/tv-radio/afl-culture-created-a-monster-brendan-fevolas-ex-wife-says/story-e6frf9ho-1226047961737

I can't explain it, says Ricky Nixon

Nick Leys From: Herald Sun May 01, 2011 8:14PM

RICKY Nixon has failed to explain why he was in schoolgirl Kim Duthie's hotel room wearing only a pair of underpants.

The disgraced sports agent instead accused Duthie of "setting him up'' and "conning the world'' they had sexual relations and that he gave her drugs.

Nixon said Duthie was a member of "Gen-Y who is very tech savvy and who is very good at making up conversations and texts".

"We are talking about a habitual liar, a habitual liar who strips down to her G-string on Lonsdale street,'' he said.

An angry and emotional Nixon struggled to answer many questions put to him tonight by Channel Seven's Ross Coulthard. Several times Nixon walked out of the interview or reminded the journalist of legal ramifications.

Asked bluntly of the central allegations, Nixon said - "Let me be very clear, I had no sexual relationship with that girl, I never have at all.''

But Nixon failed to explain why he was in his underpants in a hotel room with Duthie.

"No I can't (explain it),'' he said.

"And no one can provide any evidence to me of sex or drugs. You've all been conned.''

Nixon admitted texting Duthie at one stage to tell her he would look at pictures of her in his phone "when I am on top of you'' but said the comment was being taken out of context.

He also denied telling her he would share a line of cocaine with her and after one heated exchange with Coulthard said - "I was not using cocaine with this girl.''

Nixon also spoke for the first time about allegations he threatened to kill the girl and her family and of taking his own life while in London because of the pressure.

Denying he threatened to kill Duthie over the allegations and the video footage, Nixon said he told her he may as well driver his car into the Yarra.

Nixon described Duthie as a "habitual liar'' when confronted with the claim he had sent Duthie a text saying - "Why did you film? You will have a nice life because it will be a short one. I'm not going to kill you, just your mother, father and little sister. Then you will know what its like to have your life ruined.''

The accusation prompted Nixon to confess you had wanted to kill himself.

"I was in London in total shock in the lowest ebb of my life, wondering what the hell had happened,'' he said.

"Have you ever stood on a bridge across the Thames and nearly tried to jump off it? Have you ever done that? Have you ever thought your life was over, Ross?

"Have you ever thought you're sick and tired of a 17-year-old girl playing with your life, and your family's life, and your kids life, and your grandmothers life? Would you enjoy that?"

Nixon was banned last month from practising for two months by the AFL Player Association after an investigation he described as ``media driven and unlawful.''

"The only person they didn't speak to was myself,'' he said.

"I was under a medical condition in recovery. I wasn't allowed to speak to the board or given adequate time to do it. It was a witch-hunt, it was media driven and I'm not sure they lawfully had the right to investigate me anyway.''

The fiery television exchange left more questions than answers.

"People forget that the two people standing at the top of the pyramids are her and I. Underneath it are parents, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, clients, business staff they're all affected by this. They're all affected by it and they're very tired of it.''

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/tv-radio/i-cant-explain-it-says-ricky-nixon/story-e6frf9ho-1226047948352

About 10,000 votes will decide Adelaide Oval's fate

Political reporter Daniel Wills From: The Advertiser May 01, 2011

ABOUT 10,000 SACA members are expected to abstain from voting on the future of Adelaide Oval.
The Advertiser understands that of the 20,000 South Australian Cricket Association members about 8000 have cast proxy votes with the SACA expecting up to 2000 people to cast ballots in person at the Wayville Showground tonight.

It also can be revealed SACA has legal advice shattering claims a constitutional loophole would allow cricket bosses to approve the plan without the support of members.


Members are voting on whether to relinquish control of the Oval to the Stadium Management Authority - a move which would bring AFL football into the city.

The breakdown of expected voter turnout result indicates the future of the $535 million redevelopment proposal hangs in the balance, but the outcome will largely be decided by those who voted early and online.

SACA chief executive John Harnden said yesterday he was "nervously confident" the development would be approved and made an eleventh-hour appeal for all members to vote.

Seventy-five per cent of members must back the plan for it to be approved, and a result is expected about 10pm.

Mr Harnden would not comment on reports early votes had delivered about 60 per cent support for the overhaul.

Mr Harnden and SACA president Ian McLachlan will make presentations to members at the meeting urging support and Cox Architects' Jonathon Gardiner will detail designs for the stadium.

"It will be incredibly close," Mr Harnden said yesterday.

"Seventy-five per cent of those who vote is a large number, but there has been a large amount of support in the meetings we've had and talking to people."

"If people haven't voted, I'd say that they should come and have their say.

"We have our destiny in our own hands.

"If come the 3rd of May and the vote doesn't get up and people are suddenly disappointed that this mightn't go ahead, they shouldn't sit there feeling sorry for themselves.

"If they want it to happen, they need to act."

Mr Harnden said the SACA had received legal advice, including from a QC that the member vote was binding.

Lobbying on both sides intensified yesterday as Adelaide City Councillor Anne Moran raised fears of secret plans for mass carparking she claimed would destroy the parklands.

The Stadium Management Authority planned to dig up soil from parklands surrounding the Oval and replace it with sand, she said.

No-vote campaigner Greg Howe asserted the time-sharing deal would deliver a major windfall for the football fraternity and short-change cricket fans.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has warned it would be a "great tragedy" for SA if a "small group" opposed to progress scuttled the build.

Senior Country Cricket committee chairman Ian Ravenscroft said failure to back to plan would deprive the sport of revenue needed to spark a revival and train emerging talent to reaching full potential.

Premier Mike Rann urged SACA members to "vote for the future". "I hope common sense prevails and that SACA members put cricket and their state first," he said.

The Government has been reticent to detail its plans should the vote fail, but has pointedly refused to rule out legislating in Parliament.

A failed vote tonight could provide the Government an opportunity to walk away from the project, and free up more than $500 million to spend.

The project has split Labor MPs who consider it could be better spent elsewhere.

Failure of the Oval deal would allow the Government to address country hospital funding, transport infrastructure and forestry jobs. But it could shatter confidence in the Government's ability to deliver on promises, including the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond said yesterday the vote was a matter for SACA members and rejected claims of broad public support for it.



"My job as the Leader of the Opposition ... is to hold the Government to account in how they spend taxpayers' money," Ms Redmond said yesterday.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/about-10000-votes-will-decide-adelaide-ovals-fate/story-e6frea6u-1226048017749

Wiping debt can buy self-respect

Patrick Smith From: The Australian May 03, 2011

THE AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has the right to make some pretty severe financial evaluations. Being integral to the league securing a record $1.25 billion broadcast deal does enhance your reputation for artful negotiating skills and knowing the value of a dollar. People tend to give you an ear. And, it seems, a lot of money.

In the vernacular, he has the bragging rights. Thus Demetriou has been almost off-handed when others have suggested to the chief executive how he might spend the fortune that has been committed by his broadcast partners.

First, it was put to Demetriou that the league might use some of that money to wipe the debts of the poor AFL clubs - North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, the Bulldogs and the Tigers which already receive annual subsidies from the league's special assistance fund.

Demetriou gave this not a twiddle of consideration and replied: "Wiping out their debts is just a lazy, silly solution that is a throwaway line that is going to be the salvation of the clubs. That is a ridiculous suggestion".

"We have got strong clubs that have got debt. Collingwood has got $10 million of debt. Why would we wipe out their debt?. . .

I can tell you some of the biggest companies in this country have got debt. So wiping out debt is a nonsensical, lazy throwaway line."

Next on the agenda was the collective bargaining agreement between the players and the AFL which determines what monies will be set aside over the next five years for the footballers' incomes.

The players' association wants its take to be quantified as a set percentage of the league's total revenue. Somewhere between 25 and 27 per cent.

Demetriou didn't think much of that idea either. "First of all I would say it is just a lazy way of doing business. I mean, once you lock in a percentage of revenue, then you may as well just go home and not do any more work. It's just a lazy way to look after your members if you really want to know," the boss said.

The players should have no sympathy. They have been badly advised, running a campaign in the media that has been obvious and embarrassingly contrived. The public cares little for the lot of the AFL footballer.

Supporters, members and neutral observers don't lay awake at night pondering the lousy lot of their players.

They may worry over their collective future as a team and whether they will be successful in making the finals, making a grand final but whether some of them are paid $560,000 instead of $600,000 is a sleeping tablet.

Central to this is a belief within the community that the AFL commission wants the players fittingly rewarded for they are the dominant part of the financial formula.

It is of no benefit to the commission if the players are unhappy, underpaid and, as a consequence, restless to the point of rebellion.

The AFL's strength is that it draws the best athletes because the sport is profitable with a national profile and salaries of $1m possible. The community wants them paid appropriately and has no reason to think they are not. They have money to buy snazzy cars, invest in property and apparently head overseas as soon as their season ends.

They have more programs available to them than a Foxtel subscriber. They are counselled on drugs, sex, gambling and grog. They are given every opportunity - encouraged in fact - to study, learn a trade, prepare for life after the Sherrin. Financial advice is available. How to save, how to invest. They have doctors to treat their sniffles, managers to wipe their noses.

The community knows the footballers will get a pay rise in the next CBA and they trust the AFL will deal fairly with them. A public relations campaign on behalf of the players is a waste of money. As is a demand for a set percentage. Demetriou is right, it is lazy.

However, Demetriou's comments on club debt eradication were not a fair addition to the debate. First off, Collingwood generates the revenue of a small nation and can service a debt of $10m from the sale of its scarves alone. And big companies run debts that are manageable and important to their expansion and investment in technology. They are accountable to their shareholders.

The clubs that the AFL assists annually run a debt to survive and because they do not have the income streams to pay them off. They manage interest payments and nothing more. At the reckoning of the Western Bulldogs, the annual interest payment before they type the word budget is $500,000.

But the plight of the likes of the Bulldogs and North Melbourne is more than economic theology. It is about culture and passion and how both can be crushed by time and pessimism. Financial doom has hung over these clubs, crushing self-belief and faith.

The AFL has a mantra that all clubs will survive. It also has a cloudy policy yet to be clearly defined that all clubs have enough income to run football departments equipped to ensure their on-field prospects are not inhibited by lack of facilities, sport science technology or coaching strategy. So the AFL is happy to give financial support to the clubs which function on a modest revenue. So are the richer clubs.

But clubs thrive on more than sensible financial management. It might not be possible to quantify passion and loyalty, but they are as essential to a club's profitability as sponsorship and gate receipts. And passion and loyalty are fed, in substantial part, by hope and self-respect. Clear the debt of the clubs weighed down by historic liability and revenue might not rise exponentially, but officials, players and supporters will lift their heads, push back their shoulders, look you in the eye. Weariness will disappear, enthusiasm be rekindled. Self-respect will return, drudgery of debt disappear.

It is an investment in the very soul of the game.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/wiping-debt-can-buy-self-respect/story-e6frg7mf-1226048690892