AFANA News - 08/06/2000
Provided by our man in Melbourne, Johnson Leung
Hello fans:
Round 22. The business end of another home-and-away season. Only five teams have been confirmed to play in the finals before this weekend, and we
only knew that Essendon would finish first and Carlton second, with the last six finals positions still in doubt. During the week local fans had been
bombarded with so many permutations and combinations which look confusing, but one thing was certain: your team must win.
The major part of this report was written before the eight finalists had been decided. However, by the time you, the fans in North America and
beyond, reach the end of the report, you should be able to find out the line-ups for the first week of the finals.
Now to the news:
I’ve lost my appetite for football: Heuskes
Heuskes Thursday night ended his silence over his shock decision to retire from AFL football.
In a recorded interview for Channel Seven’s The Game, Heuskes said he had lost his passion for football and wanted to pursue other interests.
Heuskes said it was boredom that finally drove him away from football, denying rumors of a sex change and a rift with Brisbane coach Leigh
Matthews. Heuskes, 24, walked out of the Lions last Monday and moved home to South
Australia, vowing never to return to the game. The Lions, who first became aware of Heuskes’ exit when he failed to turn up for a massage
session last Monday morning and told of his decision by telephone, sent their football
manager Graeme Allan and close friend Stefan Carey to meet Heuskes on Tuesday, but failed to persuade him to change his mind.
“I’ve lost the passion and I've lost the drive,” Heuskes told his manager and former
Sydney teammate Troy Gray in the interview. “I just think it is time for Adam Heuskes to try new things and really set himself
up as the person that I want to be and make myself happy and that’s what I'm aiming
a, “Sometimes Adam Heuskes doesn’t understand Adam Heuskes, but when it comes to this decision I totally understand what I’m doing and I know the
direction that I want to head. … All I’ve ever done is play football and hopefully over the next few years, and the process starts now, I'm searching
to find out if there is more to life than football, so wish me luck.”
Heuskes, renowned as one of the game’s last characters, said life as an AFL footballer was too demanding and too intrusive for his outgoing personality and had choked his love for the game. “As a footballer you are 24 hours a day on the job and I suppose it is probably more mentally demanding than 90 per cent of the jobs out there in the workplace,” he said. “Maybe the characters leave the game because they are characters. It happened with Andrew Jarman as well and (retired Bulldogs player) Danny Southern . . . football in this day and age doesn’t allow for that and I suppose that is the reason we are seeing a lot of the characters leaving the game.”
Heuskes, who has a reputation as a cross-dresser, said there were many rumours circulating about his decision to quit. He was even asked by a close mate whether there was any truth he had returned home for a sex change operation. The former All-Australian defender said he understood comments he was letting his team-mates down, but believed the side was better off without him. “I really, really think this will be a beneficial move in the finals for the Lions . . . I honestly believe in the last two months that I have been a negative influence. Hopefully it is a step in the right direction for the Brisbane Lions,” he said.
Battling injury, form and weight problems in the past two months, Heuskes was recently chided by coach Leigh Matthews for being overweight and
had been ordered to shed the extra kilograms as quickly as possible. Heuskes, who turned his back on a A$250,000-a-year contract, said it was
unlikely to resume his AFL career in the future, but there was a chance he might one day resume his football career in a lower grade. He declined to
answer questions over his alleged involvement in a rape investigation being carried out by British police, but said he was concerned he was a negative
influence at the Lions. (see also below)
Retirements galore
Round 22, or the last round of the AFL season, has been known not only for the intriguing scenarios of who must do what to reach the finals, but
also for the high number of retirements. This week alone, no less than 12 players have announced their retirement.
Apart from Adam Heuskes’ walkout of Brisbane, the other retirements, in order of announcements, are listed below.
*Dual Adelaide premiership player Peter Caven was the first to announce his retirement this week. He is best known for being the player flattened by former champion full forward Tony Lockett in a sickening collision at the SCG, in Round 8, 1994, one incident he did not want to be remembered. In his own words, he wanted “something else to hang my hat on rather than that incident”. Caven, who was in his first season with Sydney after a three-year stint at Fitzroy, was felled in an ugly incident in the match with St Kilda, Lockett’s club before his move to the Swans. The clash left Caven with a badly broken nose which required surgery, while Lockett copped an eight-week suspension for striking. Caven, who has been troubled by knee and back injuries this season, told his club a fortnight ago of his intention to retire after the Showdown VIII against Port Adelaide. His exit from professional football will give him more time at home with his two children and for his studies for a marketing degree. Caven played 39 games with Fitzroy (1991-93) and 14 games with Sydney (1994-95) before joining the Crows in 1996, where he played a further 81 games. He effectively blanketed Wayne Carey in the 1998 Grand Final.
*Western Bulldogs captain Scott Wynd and teammate Steve Kolyniuk both announced their announcements on Tuesday. A fortnight ago the 30-year-old, 236-game veteran ruckman informed his club that this would be his last campaign. He said it had been a viable option to keep playing up until this year, but knee injuries have restricted him for much of this season. Wynd, the 1992 Brownlow medallist, would end up as the second-longest serving of the club, behind the legendary Ted Whitten. Steve Kolyniuk was overcome by emotion as he tried to announce he would not play again next year, first to teammates and again to the world. Kolyniuk, also 30 years old, has spent almost half his life at Whitten Oval, playing 175 games, but has finally been beaten by nagging back injuries.
*Like Kolyniuk, West Coast captain Guy McKenna could not hold back tears as he announced his retirement to a packed media conference in Perth. As soon as McKenna read the words “it’s the last day you need as a footballer” from a prepared statement, he was unable to continue, asking Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett to finish the task. A dual premiership player, who played 267 games since his debut in 1989, he was one of the Four Musketeers (McKenna, Dean Kemp, Peter Matera and Glen Jakovich) who provided foundations of a team that contested the finals every year during the 1990s. This year, though, he had succumbed to a serious back problem, which dates back to birth, when he was born with Scheuermann’s Disease. (Consult a medical dictionary if you don’t know what it means.) McKenna’s career also had a fairytale ending on Sunday when he kicked his team’s 15th and last goal at the dying stages of West Coast-Melbourne clash at Subiaco, and he was embraced by his teammates afterwards. Fans cheered and waved big placards with the words “Thanks Bluey (McKenna’s nickname)”. Unfortunately, Melbourne was already 64 points in front and it kicked the next goal to win by 70 points. Still, he was given a big sendoff.
*Geelong midfielder and former captain Barry Stoneham had decided to end his injury-ravaged career at the end of the season. Twice an all-Australian, the Cats’ club champion in 1990 and a member of two Geelong grand final teams (1989 and 1992), Stoneham suffered in his latter years from the after-effects of severe leg injuries. “I am humbled in acknowledging the way he overcame injury to play 240 senior games (since 1986),” said Geelong chief executive Brian Cook. “He is a true son of Geelong because every one of those games was with our club after he came to us from St Joseph’s.” Stoneham, 32, said he still harbored hopes of playing in this year’s finals. “It would be a great way to go out,” he said. His injury meant he would miss out on the Cats’ last home game this year at Kardinia Park against Sydney.
*32-year-old Brisbane Lions veteran Richard Champion has announced his retirement. Champion has played 183 AFL matches for Brisbane since moving from Adelaide club Woodville in 1991. “This is a day you don’t want to come but it comes to everyone eventually and I’m just very proud of the contribution I’ve made to the club and thankful for all the good times,” Champion said at the press conference. Champion was one of the AFL’s premier full-backs during his prime but he struggled for opportunities this season, spending time in the reserves. He said he was uncertain of his future but wanted to stay involved in football, preferably in a media or assistant coaching role.
*Former Collingwood captain Gavin Brown and defender teammate Gavin Crosisca, both members of the 1990 premiership team, announced their retirements. Brown and Crosisca started their careers at Victoria Park 14 years ago when both were members of the Magpies’ 1986 under 19s premiership side and will finish together tomorrow when the Magpies take on Essendon at the MCG, the scene of their greatest joy in football. Together they have played exactly 500 games including this weekend – 254 for Brown, 246 for Crosisca. Although the Magpies tried to talk the former skipper out of retirement, Brown said he knew the time had come to quit the game. “The body has probably had enough and I don’t think to go on next year would be the right decision in trying to play productive footy for Collingwood,” Brown said. “I have put everything I could in in the last 14 years and I have got no regrets whatsoever. I have had a fair crack at it ... I am really looking forward to the next phase of my life.” Crosisca has been troubled by a foot injury for much of the year, but he harbors no bitterness for his lack of senior games this season. “Mick (Malthouse) has had the overall good of the club to look for. I think when you start taking individual needs into hand, I think you are on the wrong track,” Crosisca said. Both players are hopeful of a career in coaching. Brown will step off the field and into the coaching box, taking a job as an assistant coach with the Pies. Crosisca is to be offered a similar role with the Collingwood VFL side. “The future for me is that I am wanting to coach senior football at some stage, so obviously I have got to put in an apprenticeship somewhere, and that is an ambition of mine that I will be working for over the next five to eight years,” Crosisca said. Coach Malthouse praised both players for their integrity and honesty, singling out Brown for putting the team before his own desire to continue playing. Collingwood player Stephen Patterson also announced his retirement this week. The retirements of Brown and Crosisca mean that Damian Monkhorst, now struggling at St Kilda, is the sole survivor of the 1990 premiership team.
*Wade Chapman has called an end to his Port Adelaide career without playing a game for the club. He has announced his retirement at the age of just 24 because of a debilitating groin injury that has plagued him for three years. “I gave it a crack but my body just wasn’t up to it, which is bitterly disappointing,” Chapman said. “It was unfortunate that I couldn’t go any further at AFL level and that I haven’t been able to show Port Adelaide what I was capable of.” Port gambled on the courageous midfielder in this year’s pre-season draft in the hope he could overcome his injury and make a return to top-grade football. Originally from Geelong, he was delisted by Sydney last year after 51 games from 1994-99, including the 1996 grand final loss to North Melbourne. Chapman, who played 10 senior grade and five reserves matches for North Adelaide this year, will return home next month and take a six-to-12-month break from the game before reassessing his future. He will not play for North again this year. Port football operations manager Rob Snowdon said the club was disappointed Chapman was unable to prove his worth to the Power but he commended him for his professionalism.
*Veteran midfielder Craig Lambert will join the Brisbane Lions coaching panel next year after confirming on Friday he would call a halt to his 13-year AFL career at the end of the 2000 season. Lambert, a veteran of 219 AFL games with Richmond (1988-93) and the Brisbane Bears/Lions (1994-2000), will retire due to on-going injury problems. Lambert, a B&F winner at Richmond and Brisbane, has been plagued by injury in the last four years and has played 47 of a possible 92 matches since 1997, including 12 games this year. The 31-year-old vice-captain and former All-Australian, still with one year of his playing contract to run, will instead fill one of two vacancies on Leigh Matthews’ coaching brain trust. Already 1999-2000 assistant coach Michael McLean has announced he will return home to Darwin to pursue his own coaching aspirations, and on Thursday, Mathew Armstrong, another two-year member of Matthews’ coaching panel, announced he would do likewise in Tasmania. The last eight weeks have typified the frustration of the in-and-under specialist. He missed Round 14 through injury, spent Round 15 on the bench, missed Round 16 through injury, played Rounds 17-18, including a sensational performance against the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba, missed Round 19 through injury, resumed in the Reserves in Round 20, and played again in the Reserves last weekend, when he broke down yet again. Lambert and Champion were honoured on an open car parade around the Gabba before the Lions-Dockers match.
*Sean Denham, a premiership player and best and fairest winner with Essendon, also announced on Friday that he is retiring from AFL football at
the end of this season. “The time is right to walk away at the end of this season. Injuries have made it pretty tough for me over the past couple of
years but even so this was not an easy decision to make,” Denham said. “Retirement is not something you think about much as a young player but it
creeps up on you very quickly. I will be able to look back at the end of this season and know I gave football everything I had. I've enjoyed every
minute of it.” Denham was the 1997 W. S. Crichton Medallist (Essendon’s club champion
award) and a member of the 1993 Premiership side. Geelong traded him to the Bombers at the
beginning of the 1992 season in a swap that saw John Barnes join the Cats. Since his debut in 1987, Denham has played 185 AFL games -
44 with Geelong and 141 with Essendon. “He has been a fantastic player for this football club and he might yet
have an important role to play in season 2000,” Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said. “His courage has inspired teammates throughout his career - he is
just one of those players who lays it on the line every week he plays. He told the players of his decision earlier this week and that is his way - his
teammates have always come first.” The 31-year-old veteran was named in the Essendon side to play
Collingwood last Saturday at the MCG.
Massive penalties from the weekend melees
The three melees last weekend had long repercussions at the AFL tribunal this week with 45 players from six clubs facing a total of 55 charges, with
Fremantle’s Dale Kickett charged with six offences alone. After three days of hearings, the result was 32 players fined a total of A$87,000 and six
players suspended a total of 17 matches, of which Kickett accounted for nine. Let’s look at the results.
*Essendon v Western Bulldogs (Friday)
Essendon ruckman John Barnes was suspended for one match for charging Bulldog Brad Johnson, which sparked the half-time melee. Johnson in turn
was suspended for one match for striking Barnes in the third quarter. Five Essendon and Bulldogs players were fined a total of A$35,000. Essendon’s
Gary Moorcroft and Bulldog Steven Kretiuk were hit hardest, both receiving a fine of A$3500 for their involvement in the melee. Melee charges against
Bombers Blake Caracella and Sean Wellman were withdrawn.
*Melbourne v Geelong (Sunday)
Two Geelong and five Melbourne players were handed fines totaling A$20,500 for their half-time melee. Demons David Neitz and Adam Yze
received the heaviest fine: A$3500 each. Demons Shane Woewodin and Jeff Farmer were cleared of melee charges and a charge against Cats skipper Ben
Graham was withdrawn.
*Fremantle v West Coast (Sunday)
Fremantle’s Dale Kickett was booked six times: two for striking Phillip Read and one striking Andrew Embley, and one each for involving in a melee,
wrestling and attempting to strike Embley. He was suspended nine weeks for the striking charges, but the other three charges were withdrawn.
Eagle Michael Gardiner was suspended for two matches for striking Docker Matthew Pavlich; Phillip Read was suspended for two weeks for striking
Docker Brad Dodd. Also on Wednesday, seven Dockers and three Eagles were fined a total of A$28,500. Docker defender Shaun McManus got the heaviest
fine of A$4000. The hearing resumed on Thursday afternoon, with melee offences leveled
against Eagles Phil Read - practically dubbed public enemy No. 1 by the Dockers on Wednesday night - Andrew Embley and Chad Fletcher. Fletcher’s
charge was withdrawn, while Read and Embley pleaded not guilty. Read was fined A$3000 to add to his two-game suspension for striking Docker Brad
Dodd, while Embley was cleared. Michael Thomson, sports reporter for Channel Nine in Perth, said the
western derby melee has divided Western Australia and the “football landscape in WA has been changed forever”.
A new tipping competition on the cards
The Victorian Government announced this week it would call for expressions of interest from the private sector to run a new national AFL
tipping competition. It would cost about A$2 to play the competition. But anti-gambling groups have criticised the move, saying the national
competition would introduce more gaming to the states. The government has proscribed that a minimum of 60 per cent of turnover
will be returned to punters, with the government collecting more than half the remaining 40 per cent for health and sports programs. The AFL will
receive 7.5 per cent of the money. Victorian gaming giants Tattersall’s (who operates several lotteries in
Australia) and Tabcorp have already expressed interest in management rights for the competition
and confirmed they would lodge expressions of interest. The government will introduce footy tipping legislation in the spring
parliamentary session, which begins on August 15. Interested operators will undergo probity checks by the Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority. The
competition will begin at the start of the 2001 season. Gaming Minister John Pandazopoulos said he had had several approaches
from hopeful operators. He also pledged the process would be run independently of government, but said no decision had been made on whether
the final tender would be awarded by state cabinet.
North Melbourne wants to go national
The Kangaroos have revealed a radical plan to become Australia’s first national football team, continuing to play home games in Sydney and building
support and membership across the country. In a push that has been cautiously supported by the AFL Commission,
Kangaroos chief executive Greg Miller said the multi-layered strategy also included at least one home game in Canberra next season as well as another
four at the SCG. “I believe our future is there as a national team,” said Miller. “If
you open yourself up like we’ve done, of course you’re going to have problems in the early days but Sydney’s
where we want to go for starters and we don’t want to pull back on that in any way.”
Miller, who spent two hours outlining his proposal to the AFL Commission on Tuesday, has emphasised to the league that the Kangaroos have no interest in joining a Swans’ home-games ticket in the manner of the Western Bulldogs this season. Senior AFL sources confirmed that the league had been impressed by the depth and research of the Kangaroos’ presentation. The commission is expected to answer the Kangaroos within a fortnight. The club faces strong opposition from NSW-ACT Commission chairman Richard Colless, who is also the chairman of the Swans and who has been a vocal opponent of the Kangaroos’ push into Sydney and the manner in which the club has carried it out. While emphasising that the club would retain its Melbourne base, Miller appears determined to push for a new identity for the reigning premiers. Should the AFL reduce the Kangaroos’ Sydney games, he plans to talk to the Tasmanian Football League with a view to taking at least one home game to Tasmania next season.
Miller believes the Kangaroos’ future lies in the first instance with home games in three cities in 2001 - preferably Melbourne, Sydney and
Canberra - and for the next few years, with hopes to expand further should those new markets prove successful.
“We’ve made it clear we want our Sydney games to be against big-drawing teams,” said Miller. “We wouldn’t want the situation of a 12.40 Sunday game
against Port Adelaide, for example, with the Harbour Bridge closed like this year.” (The Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed that Sunday morning for a Walk
for Reconciliation between Aborigines and the wider Australian society.) Following the death of Ron Casey, the Kangaroos have appointed two new
board members in outgoing Merrill Lynch boss John McGowan - widely considered future presidential material - and former National Mutual (now
AXA) chief executive Jeff Tomlinson.
Forget about AFL games at Adelaide Oval, SACA told
The AFL yesterday called on the South Australian Cricket Association, to give up its chase for AFL matches at Adelaide Oval - or risk losing other
events from the cricket ground. The league also predicted its 15-year agreement with the SANFL to play exclusively at Football Park would stand up
to any legal challenge from the SACA. A legal challenge, arguing the AFL’s 15-year pact with the SANFL is a
restraint of trade, could be met with the AFL league challenging SACA’s monopoly hold on cricket at Adelaide Oval.
AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson did not rule out the AFL applying to the Australian
Cricket Board to host a one-day cricket international under lights at Football Park.
However, the SACA has vowed to continue negotiating with Victorian-based AFL clubs to have them play as many as four games at Adelaide Oval,
despite the AFL ruling it would not sanction any matches at the city ground for at
least 15 years. This could see the AFL respond by matching any proposal the SACA offers to Victorian clubs and transferring these matches to Football
Park or venues in Queensland and NSW. The SACA also is at risk of the SANFL taking local league football away
from Adelaide Oval. The three-year SANFL-SACA agreement to play SANFL football at Adelaide Oval
expires next month. SACA chief executive Michael Deare said it would be “very petty” if the SANFL took domestic league
football from Adelaide Oval. Jackson said in Adelaide the issue of AFL matches at Adelaide Oval
should be considered closed, at least for the next 15 years. “It is the AFL that
ultimately decides where matches are played,” Jackson said. “We do not believe Adelaide needs any more AFL football (other than 22 games at
Football Park). Rather, it is more important for the development of Australian football for matches to be played in Brisbane and Sydney. The
SACA knows our position, very clearly.”
SANFL chief executive Leigh Whicker said his league did not want to damage sound relations with the SACA over a futile issue such as AFL games
at Adelaide Oval. He said the SANFL would stick to the current position of top-line football at the headquarters of SA football at Football Park and
top-line cricket at its traditional home at Adelaide Oval. Deare reaffirmed the cricket association had legal advice that the
AFL-SANFL pact at Football Park may contravene the Trade Practices Act. The SACA would continue to talk with Victorian-based AFL clubs and, if it struck
an agreement, would approach the AFL Commission. The SACA would not confirm nor deny the AFL and SANFL’s understanding
that the cricket association had offered a Victorian club a deal of A$500,000 up front and A$2 million in total to play one match a season for
five seasons at Adelaide Oval.
Suburban game dead, says historian
AFL football has become a sophisticated national game and lost its suburban rivalry, an AFL witness told a Victorian Heritage Council hearing
on the possible heritage listing of Waverley Park, which the AFL objects. Architectural historian Robyn Riddett, an expert witness for the AFL, said
the notion of Fitzroy and Collingwood fighting out on a weekend was long gone. Ms Riddett said football fans expected more from the game and its
stadiums these days. She said Waverley’s days as a sports ground have finished and did not deserve state heritage protection. She said Waverley
did not work for football, was in a rain belt (hence its nickname “Arctic Park”) and did not meet fans’ expectations.
The hearing continues on August 15. (Johnson says: Ms Riddett’s comments are nonsense and her integrity as an
architectural historian has been tarnished by her support of AFL’s rejection for a heritage listing. AFL wants
to get rid of Waverley ASAP and force fans in eastern Melbourne to travel to MCG or Colonial to see their teams
play. As I wrote in previous occasions, the main drawbacks for Waverley were lack of a railway line, which would make travel to footy much more
easier; and lack of support from successive state governments. Waverley is not finished, what it needs is money to fully develop it into a viable venue
for all types of sports, including Australian Rules football outside of AFL. Ms Riddett also tries to separate AFL football, who had its origins in
suburban VFL football, to current suburban football leagues in cities and towns across Australia. Such comments would only alienate fans, especially
with the AFL finals coming up.)
Jokes of the week:
1. Form Adelaide Crow Andrew Jarman, elder brother of former Hawthorn
premiership player Darren (who now plays with the Crows), wrote in late February that Carlton would not reach the final eight, otherwise he would go
to Optus Oval to be blasted with tomatoes by Blues fans. As things turned out, Carlton had a 13-match winning streak and finished second on the
ladder. Thus, Jarman was tied on a pole at the middle of Optus Oval, where Blues fans
happily threw tomatoes at him. Sweet (or is it sour?) revenge.
2. After it was reviewed this week that tests had found Collingwood recruit Steve McKee (former Richmond player) had traces of deadly legionella virus
in his body, former Geelong player and media personality Billy Brownless said: “There’s a new game in town, and it’s called ‘Who Wants to be a
Legionnaire?’” (with reference of the successful game show both in the US and Australia)
-Footnote: the young female masseur, who was in a critical condition in hospital after contacting legionella virus via a spa bath at Collingwood, is
now recovering.
Briefly:
*It had been revealed that Essendon captain James Hird had two cortisone injections in his lower back in a bid to relieve pain in his troublesome
buttocks. The injections have reduced the inflammation and pain in his gluteus maximus muscle, which are then referred from the joint in his back.
(The gluteus maximus are the muscles of the buttocks which are important in moving the legs outward and pulling the leg inward.) However, an MRI scan
had cleared him of a season-threatening disc injury. Hird only trained for a day and missed the Bombers’ win over Collingwood at the weekend, but
should be ready for the finals.
*Adelaide forward Peter Vardy has been fined A$1000 by the Crows and avoided an AFL tribunal hearing for his gestures to the crowd at the MCG last weekend. The AFL this week found Vardy did have a case to answer for allegedly bringing the game into disrepute for his hand gestures to the Hawthorn fans mocking him in the last quarter of Saturday’s match in Melbourne. Vardy was booed by Hawks fans as he walked to the interchange bench, doing a one-finger salute. The league left it to Adelaide to either fine Vardy up to A$5000 for breaching the players’ code of conduct or to send him to the tribunal. “We chose to handle the matter ourselves and Peter has accepted the fine,” Adelaide chief executive Bill Sanders said. “We have certainly told Peter that his behavior was unacceptable and told every other player that such actions will not be condoned. As much as Peter acted out of frustration, his reaction was not acceptable.”
*The AFL has fined Carlton A$2000 for presenting an incorrect match sheet to Port Adelaide at the start of Sunday’s match. The match sheet, exchanged 40 minutes before the game, declared Aaron Hamill would start the match. Hamill had been ruled out with a groin injury.
*The AFL has offered to pay the Melbourne Cricket Club a yearly development fee to help with the proposed A$250 million rebuilding of the northern stand at the MCG. But the league said it would only pay what the clubs and the game could afford. AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson said any increase in the rental price of the MCG would be passed on to the AFL’s 16 clubs. He said the league had to know from the MCC what the increase in the rental and development fees would be when the northern stand was re-developed. “But we reject categorically that the cricket ground has access to the broadcasting rights, or that we will pay an access fee. They don’t have any more of a right to do that at this ground than they do at any other ground in Australia,” he said in a radio interview. Jackson also said the costs to play at Colonial Stadium had been trimmed back to about A$60,000 a game. He said there had been no shortage of clubs which wanted to play games at Colonial and there would be no problem filling the quota of 37 games in 2001.
*No action is expected to be taken against AFL players questioned over the alleged rape of a woman in London during an end-of-season trip last year. Adam Heuskes was one of several Brisbane Lions players questioned by Scotland Yard after a 20-year-old told police she awoke in a West London hotel room to find two players sexually assaulting her. However, it emerged late this week that the case against the players is expected to be dropped. It is understood solicitors for the players have been informed it is highly unlikely that any charges will be laid, and that a formal announcement was imminent. The woman alleged she was raped on October 6 after she was invited by one of the players to meet him for a drink. Two London detectives flew to Brisbane in April to investigate the allegations and interviewed about 10 players. A report by the detectives was then provided to the Crown Prosecution Service about six weeks ago. But a spokeswoman for the service said that a decision was not expected for “some weeks”.
*Hawthorn this week started negotiations with Nick Holland’s management to secure the centre half-forward on a deal believed to be between three and five years. It is believed initial discussions between Hawthorn and Holland’s Adelaide-based agent Greg Griffin were positive, leaving the Hawks hopeful that Holland will play out his career at Glenferrie Oval.
*After months of negotiations, Chad Morrison has agreed to a new three-year contract to remain at West Coast until at least the end of 2003, after teammate Michael Braun recently re-signed for the same period.
*Geelong secured key forward David Mensch for the next two years after he agreed to the terms and conditions of a new contract. Mensch, who was close to joining Collingwood two years ago, will stay at Shell Stadium until at least the end of 2002 after Geelong and his agent Ricky Nixon struck a new deal. Collingwood’s Nick Davis agreed to a new two-year deal on Friday.
*John Northey declared himself out of the race to coach St Kilda next season. Speaking from the Gold Coast where the former Sydney, Melbourne, Richmond and Brisbane coach runs a popular restaurant, Northey said he was not interested in the vacant St Kilda position.
*Outspoken Carlton president John Elliott said the AFL should grant all football clubs Internet rights to guarantee survival of the game. “The clubs, not the AFL, need a new source of revenue (Internet),” Mr. Elliott said at a Melbourne Press Club luncheon. “I believe four or five of Melbourne’s clubs are likely to go broke unless they get (this) new source of income.”
*AFL footballers who fight on the field are sending a dangerous message to young fans, a child psychologist says. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said seeing their role models use aggression to cope with anger taught children it was an OK way to behave. He said football violence sent a negative message about the appropriate ways to express anger, and parents and schools needed to teach children how to express anger effectively. Dr Carr-Gregg said the football field should be used as a venue to change the way society dealt with aggression, in the same way it had led the charge on racial issues.
*Carlton star Anthony Koutoufides is still the clear favourite to win this year’s Brownlow Medal, despite being sidelined with injury. The biggest mover has been Melbourne’s Shane Woewodin, whose odds has firmed from A$31 before Round 21 to A$15 at the present. Latest markets (TAB Sportsbet, Melbourne; payouts per A$1 bet): A$2.75 Koutoufides; A$3.75 Nathan Buckley; A$4.50 Scott West; A$8 Wayne Carey, Scott Camporeale; A$10 Brett Ratten; A$15 Shane Woewodin; A$18 Andrew McLeod, Mark Ricciuto, Michael Voss.
*Melbourne midfielder Adam Yze has agreed to a new contract. Yze has been in discussions with the Demons and his management company ESP for several weeks. He will soon sign a two-year contact. The Demons are close to finalising a three-year contract with ruckman Jeff White.
*AFL umpire Troy Burton has announced that he will retire at the end of the season.
*Adelaide chairman Bob Hammond announced just before the Crows-Port Showdown VIII that he would not be at the club board next year.
*Brilliant Melbourne midfielder Shane Woewodin is the AFLPA Most Valuable Player for Round 21.
Now, are you ready? Here is the schedule for the first week of AFL Finals Series 2000:
Friday: 1st elimination final – Geelong v Hawthorn (Colonial Stadium, 7.45pm)
Saturday: 1st qualifying final – Essendon v North Melbourne (MCG, 2.30pm)
2nd elimination final – Brisbane Lions v Western Bulldogs (The Gabba, 7.45pm)
Sunday: 2nd qualifying final – Carlton v Melbourne (MCG, 2.30pm)
(All times in Australian Eastern Standard Time, 14 hours ahead of US Eastern
Time)
As previously stated, the winners of the two qualifying finals go to preliminary finals, the two losers to meet the winners of the elimination
finals. Melbourne, who thrashed West Coast by 70 points in the last game of Eagles captain Guy McKenna and the last game of the home-and-away season,
finished third (their highest finish to a season since their last premiership win of 1964) and has been rewarded with a Sunday afternoon final
as requested by the club, so that not only they have a week’s break, but also to let club president Joseph Gutnick to attend. Brisbane is the only
interstate club in the finals – West Coast missed for the first time since 1989 -- while St Kilda finished with the wooden spoon, scoring only two wins
all year. Since St Kilda jointly formed the VFL in 1897, they have won the wooden spoon a record 27 times, the last being in 1990.
Richmond, which needed to beat Carlton by five goals to make the eight, again narrowly missed for the fourth time in seven years. (Coincidentally,
the years they have missed the finals are all even numbered years: 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000.)
AFL chief Wayne Jackson told Channel Seven today (Sunday) after the finals announcement the league tried to reward the teams
which finished on top of the ladder when it formulated the finals draw. “The major thing we
take into account is, firstly, where the teams finished and we try to give some support to the teams that finished top,” Jackson said. “Secondly the
number of days between when they last played and will play this week. “The third thing we took into account was the anticipated crowd size and
that’s relevant for the determination between the MCG and Colonial Stadium,”
he said.
Finally, I would like to tell you the story of 4-year-old Taylah Stephens, who is one of Australia’s leading footy tipsters. After Round 20,
the girl from Portarlington near Geelong, who does not start kindergarten until next year, was leading her local tipping competition with 120 points
(i.e. she correctly tipped 120 winners out of 160). She was also in the top 10 in the Victoria-wide Carlton Draught SportsPick competition, who has more
than 57,000 entrants. Even more impressive was that her younger sister Mollie, who is just two, was on 112 points after Round 20! Dad Phil
admitted to giving the young daughters just a little help with their selections. Taylah (spelt “Taylor”) correctly tipped two winners in Round
21 and seven in Round 22 (missing out on Hawthorn), for a grand total of 129 points, just four less than the overall winning score of 133 points. Not
bad for a toddler, huh? (For myself, who played in Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s tipping competition, the score was a mere 91 points.)
Coming up: the AFL Players Association’s Most Valuable Player for 2000, along with the All-Australian Team, will be announced at a gala dinner
tomorrow (Monday) night, Australian time. I will bring you the results, plus the latest finals news in the next report. See you then.
Regards,
Johnson Leung
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