February 03, 2001

Hello fans:

So much happened on the day before Australia’s biggest national day ever: Rafter lost to Andre Agassi in epic five-set battle in the Australian Open, and the record A$30 million Powerball lottery was drawn and won by a WA couple, and the biggest of all: Channel Seven has decided not to bid for the AFL TV rights, thus giving the consortium comprising the Channels Nine and Ten, Telstra and News Limited free-to-air and pay-TV rights to AFL matches from 2002 to 2006 inclusive. Seven’s decision not to trump the consortium’s bid also ends the network’s 40-year relationship with the AFL and its predecessor VFL, but also marks the return of AFL to Nine and Ten. Seven, Nine and Ten has telecast VFL locally in some form in the 1960s and early 1970s. The loss of the free-to-air and pay TV rights to AFL matches is a personal blow to Kerry Stokes, Seven’s executive chairman. The league welcomed the end of the drawn-out negotiations, with chief executive Wayne Jackson and commission chairman Ron Evans insisting the deal would strengthen the development of the game, that it would be sensitive to free-to-air football spectators and that Seven had promised to make its final year of football its best yet.

AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson said that under the five-year deal, which starts in 2002, there will be as much free-to-air AFL as there has been before, with Channels Nine and Ten sharing five games each weekend and pay-TV Foxtel showing three games exclusively. “Obviously we’re sensitive to the footy fans and what they require to be seen on free-to-air television,” Jackson said on Melbourne radio after Seven’s announcement.

“Whether the free-to-air rights were taken up by Nine or Ten, we’re genuinely excited about that, or taken by Seven which had the right to match them, we think it’s a very good result for Australian football. It enables us to, firstly, spend more money on grass roots football, secondly, we do want to help our footy clubs and thirdly, we want to ensure that the players continue to get rises in salary without them being explosive rises. The players have to share in the on-going growth of the game as well.” 

He said under the News Ltd consortium, 11 Brisbane Lions games will be shown on Saturday nights in prime time as well as more prime time games in Sydney. Jackson, who was in Perth talking with the West Coast and Fremantle clubs, said he had not spoken with Seven’s chairman Kerry Stokes about the network’s decision to end a 45-year relationship with the VFL-AFL. (West Coast has a good relationship with Channel Seven Perth, who has been the city’s No.1-rating TV station since it was established in 1961. This change of network will surely change the viewing pattern of tens of thousands of fans of the Eagles, as well as fans of the Dockers, from next year.) AFL chairman Ron Evans conceded to mixed emotions over the announcement.

“It’s a sad day, because it’s been a 40-year relationship and whenever a relationship like that comes to an end there’s got to be a touch of sadness,” he said. “I think the support Seven has given the AFL over the years has been outstanding. But, on the other hand, it’s also very exciting that we can look forward to a new approach, new people and perhaps changes in the way we watch our game.”

Seven’s capitulation has raised fears of fewer AFL games on free-to-air television - a charge hotly contested by the winning consortium - and has set the scene for a long legal fight. From next year until at least 2006, the Nine and Ten networks will share all free-to-air AFL broadcasts, while Foxtel will have ownership rights to pay TV broadcasts, which it may sell to other pay TV companies. However, Seven has not completely given up on AFL. The network says a $20 million deal signed in 1997 giving it the right to match any rival offer does not expire until 2007, which would give it the chance to match any bid for broadcast rights beyond 2006. The rights will be up for grabs again in 2005. (Seven’s relationship with the AFL will also continue in some other way – see below.) Seven believes the consortium’s free-to-air partners, the Nine and Ten Networks, would not be prepared to pay A$500,000 per extra game. Fewer matches would therefore be shown on free TV. 

But a Ten Network spokesman rejected Seven’s interpretation of the deal, saying the A$500,000 fee would be payable only if it showed a game between two teams from different states to where it was being broadcast. Each of the consortium partners and the AFL last year gave assurances to the Federal Government that the amount of free-to-air AFL programming would not decline. AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson said there would be as much free-to-air AFL in 2002 as there will be this year. “Obviously we’re sensitive to the footy fans and what they require to be seen on free-to-air television,” he said.

For the past two weeks Stokes and his key executives had examined the consortium’s offer as Seven had paid the AFL A$20 million, back in 1997, to have the last right of refusal. But Seven said matching the News Ltd consortium bid would have more than doubled its cost of covering the AFL. Managing director of Seven Television Network, Maureen Plavsic, told Seven News that to match the bid would mean financial losses for the network.. Instead, Seven said it would pursue programming strategies which enhance profitability and build on key strengths in Australian production. Former senior Seven network current affairs executive Anthony McClellan, who was once executive producer of current affairs program Witness and is now chief executive of the issues management consultancy AMC Media, said the loss of football was a victory for Seven in Sydney and Brisbane but not for the Seven stations in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, which have a strong AFL following.

Seven’s reaction
Underlining the bitterness surrounding the bidding, Seven did not even bother to contact AFL chairman Ron Evans until almost half an hour after the information had become public via a press release and stock exchange announcement on Thursday afternoon. In the press release, Seven said to match the consortium would mean a huge hike in what it had previously paid for the AFL rights.

“The AFL’s offer includes a significant increase in the rights fee to $46 million cash and A$10 million in contra airtime on the Seven Network per year, for five weekly matches,” Seven said. “In addition, Seven would be required to invest a further A$33 million cash in rights fees each year to deliver free to viewers the same amount of coverage of the AFL from 2002 as the company has planned for 2001.

“In other words, to deliver in 2002 the free-to-air coverage planned for 2001 would have required an annual commitment of A$89 million, not including marketing and production costs.”

Seven said based on a five match schedule, and on a per-hour basis, its costs for the AFL would be more than 75 per cent greater than the cost of producing its high-rating police drama series, Blue Heelers.

“Agreement to the current AFL offer on free-to-air rights would have compromised Seven’s long-term profitability and significantly eroded shareholder value in the company - and as such, the company has decided to pursue other opportunities in programming for the television network,” Seven said.

Seven’s current AFL broadcast contract for both free-to-air and pay TV expires at the end of 2001.The decision places into doubt the future of Seven’s C7 pay TV company, which relied heavily on the AFL as a way of attracting and keeping new subscribers. (However, given Seven still has quite a long list of sports, including Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, C7 will not shut up shop just yet.)

“In the end it was determined that we were not able to match the price the News Ltd consortium was willing to pay - and at the same time continue our investment in other programming and production,” Stokes, Seven’s executive chairman and major shareholder, said. “Our decision not to match the purported offer from the consortium for future coverage of the AFL ensures that we continue to have the flexibility to deliver new and innovative programming to our audiences and advertisers, to increase our level of program production and enhance profitability.”

Seven will now focus its attention on commissioning a portfolio of new programs, including new drama. The network’s sports focus will now be on the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, rugby union, golf, tennis and soccer. Seven’s involvement in the AFL will not end with change of broadcaster in 2002, however. The company has a share in Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium, keeps pre-1987 TV footage of the sport, and partly owns productions company AFL Films, who will continue to produce highlights programs for overseas networks, using footage from Nine, Ten and Foxtel. Seven’s first casualty in the wake of losing the AFL rights, with the network’s new footy supremo, David Barham, quitting the post less than two months after being appointed. However, Barham will still be in charge of Seven’s Friday night coverage and Monday night’s Talking Footy program, roles that he took up at the start of last season, but overall control of Seven’s 2001 coverage is now back in the hands of the network’s veteran sports producer Gordon Bennett.

Barham’s decision to return to AFL Films (formerly Vuecast), which he part-owns, is an indication of just how big a role the company will play next season when three channels (Nine, Ten and Foxtel) will not only telecast AFL footy but will no doubt want flashback footage to back up their programs. Truth is that no one is perfectly sure how the archives issue will be sorted out because although the AFL owns all matches since 1987, all pre-1987 tapes are the property of Channel Seven, which, to complicate matters further, also has a 40 per cent-plus share of AFL Films. Seven’s withdrawal from the bidding race for AFL rights also partly explains why Nine and Ten withdrew from bidding for the Australian TV rights to the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England (Nine has secured the rights to 2006 Games here in Melbourne), giving Seven its first ever Commonwealth Games telecast.

Market reaction
At the close on the Australian stock market the day Seven pulled out of the bid, Seven’s shares were up 22 cents, or 3.6 per cent, to $6.38. Publishing & Broadcasting - which owns the Nine Network - was up 20 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $13.75 and Network Ten lost three cents to $2.16. Telstra rose five cents to $7.10, while News Corporation, parent of News Limited, rose 47 cents to $18. Market analysts had feared Seven would match the A$500 million, five-year deal put forward by the News Ltd consortium - therefore cutting into the profitability of the network, thus they applauded the news of Seven’s concession. But they said the impact on future earnings would become clear only when Seven gave details of other programming initiatives. “There was some concern that they might match the (News consortium) bid. If they had, that could have taken a further 40 to 50 cents off the share price. We believe if they matched it, they would be losing $20 million in EBIT per year,” one analyst said.

Happy faces at the consortium
The consortium – which stole the rights from under Seven’s nose – said it was delighted. Nine presenter Eddie McGuire was thrilled, declaring it a fantastic day for TV and football. “It’s sensational,” McGuire said. “On a personal note I am overjoyed.”

McGuire said the station would be innovative and exciting in its coverage of football. And he did not rule out using Seven’s final year of AFL coverage to head-hunt some of the network’s best talent, including Bruce McAvaney. Nine managing director Graeme Yarwood said the network’s plans for covering the game were well advanced, but he would not elaborate. However it is almost certain that Eddie McGuire, who hosts the hugely popular The Footy Show, will lead the coverage. Nine football personality and former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon is among those excited about a bigger role in 2002. “I’m absolutely delighted,” Lyon said. “But there is an enormous responsibility that comes with this decision, to make sure that the greatest game in the world continues to be televised and broadcast in the way the supporters deserve. I’ve got no doubt we’ll deliver the product.”

Sam Newman said he was unsure if the takeover would change his multi-million-dollar role at the network. “I’ll be doing exactly what Eddie tells me to do. As always, he’ll tell me to jump and I’ll say, ‘How high?’” Newman said.

Channel Ten boss John McAlpine said he was delighted by the news. “Obviously it’s fantastic for Ten to be able to telecast live AFL football on Saturday afternoon and Saturday nights, and to have the finals exclusive,” Mr McAlpine said. “It’s a great coup and with our partners I think we’ll do a sensational job.”

“We look forward to forging a close relationship with the AFL for the benefit of fans across the country,” said a spokeswoman for News Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of News Corporation. The Nine/Ten offer includes a A$46 million cash payment and a further A$10 million on such things as promotion and marketing to broadcast five matches a week (that’s A$56 million a year).. The networks would then have to pay A$500,000 a game to show anything but brief highlights of the other three games. So whether they want 10 or 100 minutes of one of those other three games, it will cost an extra half a million dollars. The winning consortium would need to start preparing quickly. It is believed that Rex Hunt, Bruce McAvaney and Anthony Hudson (he worked with Rex Hunt on 3AW for three years before joining Seven last year) are on a hit-list for Channel Nine and Channel Ten as they headhunt new football line-ups for 2002.

The future of Seven’s senior man, Bruce McAvaney, who has taken a less prominent role at the Australian Open tennis (he hosted the day sections of the championship), remains the subject of much speculation. Two years ago, he announced he would reduce his workload to spend more time with his parents in Adelaide. With three new broadcasters, including Foxtel, the demand for popular commentators has never been higher. Foxtel and Ten may consider Jason Dunstall, Dermott Brereton and Doug Hawkins. Nine is an unlikely suitor, thanks to strained relations after the trio’s defection to Seven. Tony Lockett, Paul Roos (now Sydney Swans assistant coach) and Todd Viney could also firm as contenders for any of the broadcasters. Steve Quartermain, Ten’s sports news presenter in Melbourne, is considered the anchor for Ten’s team and Dennis Cometti has already been approached. McGuire maintained that commentary line-ups had not been formally discussed. But poaching from Seven, which McGuire believes snapped up talents groomed by Nine, is likely to be on the agenda. McGuire said viewers should expect a significantly different football coverage to that provided by Seven. There would be an emphasis on behind-the-lines football news, an exploration of different camera angles, split screen coverage and special commentary by ex-players not long out of the game, he said.

In case you may have missed my earlier reports, the main features of the consortium’s AFL coverage are:

• Nine to show Friday night and Sunday afternoon games
• Ten to show Saturday afternoon and night games
• At least five games per week will be shown free-to-air
• Foxtel will show all eight games each week, three of them exclusively live
• Ten will telecast the entire finals series, including the Grand Final, for the duration of the contract, while Nine concentrates on rugby league finals.
• Special events such as the Brownlow Medal Count to be shared between Nine and Ten.
• Coverage of the Ansett Cup, International Rules, State of Origin and overseas exhibition games to be decided in the future, but likely to be shared between Nine and Ten
• Promotion through magazines under the Packer and Murdoch banners, e.g. women’s and lifestyle magazines.

Together, Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch has secured TV rights to almost all of the most popular sports and major sporting events around the world, except the Olympic Games. In Australia alone, the duo has access to the four most popular sports in the country: AFL, rugby league, cricket and rugby union. (Rob de Santos has also reported that the deal includes international rights. This could be mean that overseas AFL coverage will be concentrated on networks owned by Murdoch, e.g. Star TV in Asia, Fox Sports in North America, South America and the Middle East, and BSkyB in Britain, instead of more than 50 stations around the world.)

Analysts warn against alternative programming for Seven In making its decision in pulling out of the bid, Seven said it took nto account the maturity of the game in ratings and advertising revenue and forward forecasts on future growth in these areas. In the end the revenue and growth did not compare favourably with the substantial increase in costs associated with covering the game.

Jane Schulze, media analyst of The Age, says Seven’s internal analysis shows that without the AFL its prime-time ratings will drop one point in Melbourne, and less than that nationally. But when deciding whether to match the consortium offer, Seven considered the fact that AFL is now a mature” sport, so ratings are expected to plateau. Therefore, any increased advertising expenditure was unlikely to be much beyond inflation. And Seven says that with the A$46 million it could have paid for five AFL matches it can produce two new drama series, three lifestyle programs, four reality programs and two docu-soaps. However, media analysts warned those plans were highly risky. They said the success rate of dramas was not high and that Seven would need to be patient if it was to succeed. Lee Burton, a lecturer in media studies at the RMIT University, said that now Seven had lost a huge football audience, finding new audiences would be a challenge. “Capturing an audience is extremely difficult,” she said. “The audiences have become diversified with pay TV and the Internet, and loyalty to a television station has dissipated. Audiences are more fickle than they have ever been.”

Clubs’ reaction
Melbourne-based AFL clubs accepted Channel Seven’s decision to relinquish the AFL broadcasting rights it has held for more than 40 years, but remained wary of what the new TV deal would mean for them, warning that it would not necessarily guarantee every club’s future. They were also disappointed that football would be leaving its traditional home. Western Bulldogs’ chief executive Mark Patterson, whose president David Smorgon claimed the initial decision was, financially speaking, a “momentous day for football”, said that while the extra cash would be handy, it was still up to individual clubs to work to ensure their survival.

“It’s an excellent financial arrangement but it in no way guarantees anything,” said Patterson. “It’s especially important for the clubs, now, to work their businesses in a manner that ensures they’re profitable.”

Melbourne chief executive John Anderson said that, sentimentally, he was disappointed to see football’s long partnership with Seven end, and was surprised that the network had failed to lodge a counter-bid. He said, like Patterson, that the new deal would give the game a significant boost, and that spectators would benefit from a change of scene, but that he was still unsure exactly what the new money would mean for Melbourne.

“We’re a bit guarded on what it will mean for the clubs because we just don’t know how much of it is going to filter through,” he said. “There’s some issues we have to work through, with player payments and the like, so at this point we don’t know if it’s going to be a bonanza for the clubs or not.”

While similarly saddened to see football leave Seven, North Melbourne chief executive Greg Miller was more confident of the financial security the deal would offer Melbourne clubs. In a related move, all 16 AFL club presidents will meet the AFL Commission next month seeking more information on the new television rights deal - in particular how it affects the draw for the 2002 premiership season. Club leaders are led to believe the AFL will prepare a 22-week draw. But unlike previous programs, it will not spell out when a team is playing. The AFL draw for the following year is usually released in the fourth quarter of this year.

With the AFL having to split television allocations between pay-TV entity Foxtel and free-to-air channels Nine and Ten, the league is likely to formalise the draw on a monthly basis. While the clubs will know who they are to play week-by-week for 22 minor-round matches, they will not know if the match is on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday or in the afternoon or evening until the AFL and its television partners have struck an accord. This is likely to be done every four-to-six weeks so that Nine can ensure it is telecasting the best matches in the best prime-time hours. Such flexibility is paramount for television but concerning for the clubs. (If confirmed, the AFL could be following the trend of the National Rugby League, who in recent years has released draws with open dates, and only told the public when a team would be playing every five weeks or so. One of the reasons is to put the match featuring the top teams on Friday night, the next best on Sunday afternoon, and the match featuring bottom-placed teams on Saturday. However, the NRL is considering whether to release the draw, with dates and times included, in the future, so as to not keep the fans and clubs in suspense.) Port Adelaide chief executive Brian Cunningham said this format for settling the AFL program would challenge clubs in planning their travel and training programs. “Particularly when we are now used to making all our travel bookings for the whole season,” he said. “It is an issue that concerns us.”

Power president Greg Boulton said he would raise the issue of how television would affect the 2002 program at the AFL’s annual meetings in Melbourne on March 22.

The battle turns to Internet rights
The Seven Network will have no chance to lick its wounds over losing the AFL’s free-to-air and pay-TV rights as it now prepares to fight to keep the AFL Internet rights. Seven and Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd, which led the winning broadcast consortium, jointly own the rights to one of Australia’s most popular sporting Internet sites, the official website of the AFL (www.afl.com.au). But like the broadcast rights skirmish, this battle is likely to become bogged in legal arguments and corporate one-upmanship. And just as the broadcast battle featured luminaries such as Kerry Packer, Kerry Stokes and Rupert Murdoch, the line-up vying for the Internet rights includes notable people. Kerry Stokes again features with Seven’s online business i7 wanting a piece of the action. So does the country’s biggest telecommunications company, Telstra - said to be the AFL’s preferred bidder. Telstra is also part of the winning consortium. The Internet companies that own the clubs’ rights are also involved, including Sportsview.com.au (partly owned by Eddie McGuire and Steve  Vizard), TWI, the Internet arm of sports management group IMG and Sportal.com.au.

Whoever wins the rights will want to deal with these companies that operate Internet sites on behalf of football clubs. TWI creates the Geelong Football Club’s site; Sportal recently became Internet developer for the West Coast Eagles; and the Sports Australia Media Group runs North Melbourne’s site. Sportsview has the rights to the Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn, Carlton and Melbourne football clubs. Other clubs, such as the Adelaide Crows, have individual agreements with local website developers. Last year, Telstra made the first play in the Internet game, offering to buy the exclusive Internet rights of 12 AFL clubs. It wants to centralise all club sites and the afl.com.au. The deal excluded club sites operated by Sportsview as Telstra hoped to deal with Sportsview separately. It is believed that Telstra was offering Sportsview the job of creating and maintaining the afl.com.au site in return for access to its club sites. However, talks ended before Christmas when Telstra learnt that Sportsview had been a rival for the Melbourne Football Club’s rights, which Sportsview won. Telstra still hopes to buy out the deals that clubs have with website developers, but the state of the Sportsview negotiations is unclear. Sportsview holds the upper hand as any centralised AFL portal needs access to its five membership-rich club sites.

To other news:
Hanly says he is not afraid of Elliott
New Carlton chief executive Don Hanly won’t be un-nerved by the powerful figure of club president John Elliott. Hanly, who was St Kilda’s chief executive for six years before resigning last October after a disastrous season, was appointed to the Carlton position on Friday, replacing former chief executive John Gurrieri. Gurrieri had resigned in December after only 10 months in the job, a short tenure marked, among other controversies, by a legal fight with the AFL over ground control and television access rights, drawn-out contract negotiations with players, the end of a sponsorship deal with Hyundai and a salary cap breach. Hanly said he would be able to work alongside Elliott’s combative and confrontational style, and it would not pose any difficulty. “I don’t think I would be intimidated by John Elliott,” Hanly told the media conference. “I have seen him operate from the other side of the fence, obviously, in two fronts . . . at the AFL and St Kilda. I have to work with the board of the Carlton Football Club and the environment that provides for me.

“I think I worked pretty well with Andrew Plympton who is not of the same stature of a John Elliott but can be pretty intimidating at times as well.”

Hanly said Elliott rang him on Thursday night to suggest he attend a meeting the following morning where the appointment was confirmed. Hanly, 46, has worked in football administration for about 25 years, with the VFL/AFL and then for six years at St Kilda as CEO, a role he relinquished in October. Hanly recognised that the Blues’ future at Optus Oval, or any move from the ground, remained one of a range of issues still facing the club, including the fallout from the new television rights deal and the effect on Internet rights, and the proposed redevelopment of the MCG. He indicated the Blues would look at all options regarding future games at Optus Oval and much depended on how attractive other offers became. He doesn’t view the move from a battling club to a successful one as a lighter challenge. “When I first went to St Kilda it was a time when the club was almost on its knees . . . we ran the SOS campaign, (had to) restructure the club, rebuild the club...” he said. “I don’t think it is any easier (to work at Carlton). Costs are going up, every club is looking for additional income, seeking new members.”

In his time at St Kilda, Hanly presided over an intense two-year period in which he supervised the club's shift from Waverley Park to an indoor home at Colonial Stadium, a matter that had given him invaluable skills should such a situation crop up for Carlton in the future. Hanly feels no bitterness about his departure from the Saints. He said he had no view on any such shift for the Blues until he investigated the issues for the club at its present home, while also seeing what was on offer from the MCG. “Obviously, there have been some issues put on the club whereby there’s been talk of the Melbourne Cricket (Ground) being redeveloped ... It would be remiss not to explore those and how it may affect the Carlton Football Club.”

AFL changes advertising focus
This year, the AFL will focus its promotions on the grassroots, particularly families and especially women. The league revealed it had turned its back on advertising agency the Campaign Palace, which was responsible for the long-running “I’d Like to See That” series of ads. The high-profile advertisements featured celebrities such as Melrose Place star Heather Locklear, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, John McEnroe, Ray Charles and even a Russian cosmonaut on the space station Mir. The league said the decision to awarded its new multi-million dollar contract to Melbourne firm George Patterson Bates (GPB) was part of a strategy to let diehard fans know they were the league’s priority in 2001. “The ads will be largely fan-based, with a focus on families and, especially, women,” AFL commercial operations manager Ben Buckley said. “Our studies have shown women are a really important segment of the market which we should be concentrating on.”

Buckley said the AFL’s advertising strategy would build on the league’s decision to return to weekend-focused fixtures and other family-friendly initiatives. GPB national managing director Hamish McLennan said the aim of the strategy would be to “reinvigorate the AFL”.

Everett threw cans at car, court told
St Kilda ruckman Peter Everitt spent four hours in a police cell after he allegedly threw a beer can at a passing car before last year’s 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, a court was told last week. The AFL star, who appeared in the Korumburra Magistrates Court, is contesting charges of discharging a missile and being drunk in a public place in the early hours of October 29. A statement by the arresting officer, read to the court, said the footballer was “unsteady on his feet, his eyes were glazed over and red and (he) smelt of intoxicating liquor”.

Police alleged Mr Everitt was walking along Chapel Street, Cowes (a township on the north shore of the island), with two friends when he threw a can of beer. Police prosecutor Senior Constable Tim Bridson said Mr Everitt had told police he threw a handful of grass. Robert Hession, for Mr Everitt, said the charges would not have been pursued but for the fame of his client. He said the car that was alleged to have been struck did not stop at the scene and police had been unable to identify a victim. Mr Hession said an offer by the prosecutor to withdraw the charge of discharging a missile if Mr Everitt pleaded guilty to the drunkenness charge had been rejected because the footballer had not done anything wrong. He said a counter-offer by the defence to not pursue court costs if both charges were withdrawn was rejected by the prosecution. A legal fight was therefore looming all over an offence that attracted a small fine, he said. Mr Everitt was not required to enter a plea, but Mr Hession said he would fight the charges. Magistrate Phillip Rodda adjourned the matter for a further hearing on May 29 and released Mr Everitt on an undertaking to come before the court when required.

Port silent on Montgomery walkout
Port Adelaide has refused to reveal why reigning club champion Brett Montgomery walked out on the team on Sunday. The club also refused to allow the media to talk to Montgomery about the incident, saying the issues involved were personal and had since been resolved. Power Football Operations Manager Rob Snowdon said Montgomery had broken club rules by walking out on the team during its weekend trip to Darwin without offering an explanation and flew to his hometown of Melbourne. Channel Seven reported that Montgomery had a verbal argument with forward Bowen Lockwood in the team hotel after the Friday night practice match against the Northern Territory Football League All-Stars, left the hotel, and flew to Melbourne on the weekend without telling his coach Mark Williams or his other teammates. The report said that when Montgomery eventually returned to training on Tuesday and was told there would be a meeting to discuss the incident, he walked out again and was considering his near future.

“He left camp early on Sunday morning, he had a few personal matters that had to be dealt with,” Snowdon said. “He rejoined the other players at training on Tuesday, and he has had no altercations with other players. It was just a culmination of a pressure that he’s carrying within himself, he had a couple of personal issues that are not club-related.”

Snowdon said the club was upset that Montgomery walked out unannounced, but said it was not a major issue and he would not say what action the club had taken in response. He had also rejected suggestions that Montgomery had been involved in a fight with Lockwood. Montgomery, who joined Port Adelaide from the Western Bulldogs last season, had treatment for an irregular heartbeat last month. Snowdon said the interruption to his pre-season training campaign could have contributed to the pressure on Montgomery. As for the practice match, it was also notable for the return of clever forward Dean Rioli. Rioli, who missed Essendon’s premiership win over Melbourne last year because of a shoulder injury, played for the Territory team and came through the match unscathed. Essendon assistant coach Robert Shaw watched Rioli play and said he was delighted with the return to competition. Rioli played across half-forward and at full-forward, but failed to kick a goal and joked that “I probably laid more tackles than I had possessions”.

Port won by 33 points, 15.12 (102) to 10.9 (69), in front of 8000 fans, with Warren Tredrea booting four goals and draftee Kane Cornes, the brother of Chad and son of former Crows' coach Graham, performing well in his debut for the Power. Rioli is expected to play for the Bombers in the team’s practice match against Sydney at North Sydney Oval on February 10.

Croad in hospital
Hawthorn star defender Trent Croad has admitted himself to a Melbourne private hospital after feeling extremely unwell at home. He could be suffering from a mystery illness following a backpacking trip to Thailand.

“I was in all sorts (of trouble). I couldn’t move and I started shaking,” he told Channel Nine. “It was 30 degrees (Celsius) but I was real cold and then I decided to admit myself in here and find out what was going on.”

Croad was bitten by a mosquito during the last day of his trip to Thailand earlier this month, and believes that may be the cause of his illness. However the 20-year-old does not believe he has malaria, since he had the necessary injections before the trip. Dengue fever is another common illness that can be transmitted by a mosquito bite in Thailand and Croad will undergo further tests in hospital over the next two days. The illness could not have come at a worse time for one of the rising stars of the AFL after he enjoyed a fine pre-season, adding 4kg of muscle to his already impressive 190cm, 92kg frame. Despite the setback, Hawthorn coach Peter Schwab is hopeful Croad will be available for the club’s first Ansett Cup game against Richmond in Launceston on February 18.

Judge open-minded on Eagles’ captaincy
West Coast coach Ken Judge has opened up the market in the countdown to the announcement of the new Eagles skipper. While most of the focus since Guy McKenna’s retirement last season has revolved around Ben Cousins and Glen Jakovich, Judge has added two more names to the mix - Dean Kemp and Peter Matera. The Eagles won’t name their captain until next Wednesday (February 7) and, while co-captaincy remains a definite prospect, the inclusion of Kemp and Matera into the debate has added another dimension to the build-up. In a newspaper poll last year readers voted Jakovich, 27, as their favorite to lead the Eagles in 2001 and beyond. But the winner of the club’s best-and-fairest award four times has hardly trained since last month when he broke a bone in his ankle during a social cricket match, which has allowed other players to shine. At 22, Cousins would be the youngest captain in the league and Brisbane skipper Michael Voss issued a warning last week, which his coach Leigh Matthews backed, that players in their early 20s were too young for the burden of singular captaincy. Kemp and Matera are 31, so time is against them. But Judge said the match committee would appoint whoever stood out as the best option. Judge admitted that the club hadn’t made a final shortlist and was yet to discuss the issue seriously, but said that would change by the end of the week.

Briefly:

• Two months after Fremantle appointed Hockeyroos (women’s hockey) coach Ric Charlesworth as its high-performance consultant, West Coast has taken on former Australian men’s hockey coach Terry Walsh as a video technology consultant. The Eagles are hoping that the 47-year-old’s experience with analysing hockey matches will cross over into the football arena.
• Dual Brownlow medallist Robert Harvey has been named as St Kilda’s new captain for the 2001 AFL season, taking over from the long-serving Nathan Burke, who stood down as the Saints’ skipper after a disastrous 2000 when the club finished last. Harvey’s deputy will be last season’s best and fairest winner Andrew Thompson (who, you may remember, cried after his team’s loss to the Western Bulldogs last year). Harvey has served a long apprenticeship waiting for a leadership role, having made his debut back in 1988, but he feels the time spent in the wings will make him a better captain. Harvey has played 236 matches and is one of the game’s most decorated players. As well as winning the Brownlow in 1997 and 1998, he has also won four St Kilda best and fairest awards and has been named an All-Australian seven times, including the six years prior to his injury-hit season last year. The club is aiming to secure 25,000 members this year, an 8000 increase on last year, which is a modest target considering several other Victorian clubs have well over 30,000 members. Saints’ president Rob Butterss points out there are some 400,000 St Kilda barrackers out there but last year there were only 17,000 paid up members.
• Stephen Powell, Melbourne’s best player in last year’s AFL grand final loss, will miss the start of the 2001 season. Powell, a revelation in his first season with the Demons after crossing from the Bulldogs, is making a slower than expected recovery from a groin operation. “We were originally hoping he would be ready for round one or two but it looks like being a little longer than that,” Melbourne media manager Mark Evans said. “It’s just proved to be a slow-healing injury.” Apart from Powell and James McDonald, who will not be ready until mid-season following a serious knee injury last year, the Demons will have a full list to choose from for the Ansett Cup pre-season competition. Last year’s runners-up will head to Canberra for a five-day camp next week and will finish the trip with an intraclub match in their first serious hit-out before the cup competition, which starts on February 16.
• Collingwood ruckman Josh Fraser, last year’s No.1 draft pick, will play in the Magpies’ trial match at Victoria Park on February 9 after resuming training following a bout of chickenpox. Hawthorn, who will play a separate trial at the venue on the same date, may elect to rest reigning club champion Daniel Chick, who is battling shin splints, but the hard-running onballer will be ready for the Ansett Cup that Richmond coach Danny Frawley believes will more closely resemble genuine home-and-away action than ever before.
• Newlywed North Melbourne captain Wayne Carey has returned to pre-season training, after spending a short honeymoon with his wife Sally in Hayman Island, Queensland.
  The Kangaroos will be without forward John Spaull for the competition because of an ankle injury that will sideline him for six weeks.
• Brisbane vice-captain Chris Scott could be out of action for more than a month because of a knee injury. The defender underwent surgery this week after suffering problems throughout the Australian summer. The club said Scott had a 50-50 chance to be fit for the February 17 Ansett Cup opener against Adelaide in Wellington, New Zealand, but would be ready for the start of the regular season.
• Plans to again trial the four boundary umpire system have been put on hold until at least next year. The system was considered among the umpiring fraternity to be a huge success when trialled in a few practice matches last year, and was earmarked to be tested on a greater scale this season, however the AFL is not ready to absorb the cost. It’s estimated having four boundary umpires (three are used during each senior match) would cost the league an extra A$250,000 a season.
• 2000 Premiers Essendon has been installed at skinny odds to win back-to-back Ansett Cups. After dominating the Cup and premiership last year, the Bombers are red-hot favorites with TAB Sportsbet offering only $2.50. (That is, if you bet A$1, you win A$1.50 plus the A$1 you have invested. Thus the odds for Essendon will be 3-2.) Those odds, in a 16-team, round-robin event, and the fact no other side is quoted at less than $10, give an indication of their perceived superiority. Next in the market are the Brisbane Lions (A$10), who play all their group games in Queensland. Melbourne, grouped with Fremantle, Richmond and Hawthorn, is A$12. Last year’s wooden spooner, St Kilda, is seen as the wildcard at $13. Full Ansett Cup odds from TAB Sportsbet: Essendon $2.50, Brisbane $10, Carlton $11, Melbourne $12, St Kilda $13, Hawthorn $14, North Melbourne $14, Richmond $16, West Coast $16, Western Bulldogs $17, Geelong $21, Adelaide $23, Fremantle $26, Port Adelaide $26, Collingwood $31, Sydney $31.
• Collingwood remains optimistic that young onballer Damien Adkins will be fit for the start of the regular AFL season, despite being doomed to the stands for the Ansett Cup because of osteitis pubis - a groin complaint. The 19-year-old, who blazed into the team last year with 18 games and a Norwich Rising Star nomination, had problems with soreness last year, which has not settled down over the pre-season. Collingwood football manager Neil Balme said that even if Adkins had recovered from the complaint now, he would not have done enough work to be ready to play in a match. “Even if he everything clears up immediately it’s another few weeks before he is (able to do) full training,” Balme said. Adkins has been restricted to straight line running and gym work, and is still no certainty to be ready for the home-and-away season.
• The AFL has announced that former Essendon player and president Greg Sewell, former Collingwood premiership player and administrator Ron Richards, and the inaugural chairman of the Adelaide Crows, as well as SANFL life member, Bob Hammond, will be awarded AFL life membership for their service to football.
• David Barham, who has just resigned as the executive producer of AFL coverage for Channel Seven, has revealed changes to the network’s team for the 2001 season. Veteran caller Drew Morphett (who first called VFL football in 1987 for the ABC and joined Seven in 1988) and ex-stars Todd Viney and John Longmire are no longer part of its team. Barham revealed he had signed four new commentators for the network’s final AFL season - four men who will have one year to prove their worth in the hope of being picked up by Nine, Ten or Foxtel from 2002 onwards. Joining Seven’s Perth team will be 1985 Brownlow medallist Brad Hardie and former Hawthorn/Fremantle star Ben Allan, who both did commentary for local radio station 6PR. Adelaide will have also two new faces. Former Footscray and Adelaide champion Tony McGuinness will join the special commentary panel and Seven’s Adelaide sports reader Chris Dittmar, the former world squash champion, will be used by the network as a caller during the Ansett Cup. Depending on how he performs, Dittmar may continue in that role when the season proper starts.
  

Finally, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in its special Centenary of Federation comparison of prices, has monitored prices compared to the rate of inflation in 1901 and this year. In 1901, it cost 10 cents to get into the football. Adjusted purely for nflation over 100 years it would be just $5 instead of the average $21 fans now fork out at the gate. In fact, if prices had kept pace with inflation over the century, the $5 would not only have got you into the game of football, but it also would have bought 10 copies of a 50-cent newspaper, five loaves of bread worth $1 each and almost two $3 return suburban train trips. Unfortunately, the average weekly wage would be just $217.50 - not the  $830 it is now.

That’s all for today. See you soon.

Regards,

Johnson

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