February 10, 2001

Hello fans:

The AFL will break its tradition and schedule Saturday afternoon matches in Perth (and possibly Adelaide), as a result of the ground-breaking deal between the league and a consortium comprising Channel Nine, Channel Ten and Foxtel. AFL football operations manager Andrew Demetriou will schedule up to 10 Saturday afternoon games involving West Coast and Fremantle from Subiaco Oval next season. Ten will broadcast these matches back into Victoria, while the AFL will continue its Victorian blackout of Melbourne matches to protect suburban and country football competitions (these matches will continue to be broadcast to the rest of Australia). The league has softened its stance on telecasting matches live against the gate into Victoria after a long-standing blackout designed to protect grassroots football.

AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson this week emphasised that the league’s philosophies had to change to keep pace with its expanding contributions to football at grassroots level throughout the country. Last year it contributed almost A$16 million nationally in grants outside of the AFL. Market research in Perth also indicated a growing public demand for AFL games on Saturday afternoons. Games from Football Park in Adelaide could also be televised live into Melbourne next year if a ban by the adjacent West Lakes Shopping Centre is lifted for Saturday matches (the ban is to make enough parking spaces are available to shoppers). The South Australian Football Commission, which has also bought land for extra Football Park parking, is optimistic it will soon be able to use the shopping centre car park. The SANFL is keen for both the Crows and Port Adelaide to play some Saturday afternoon home games. The AFL last week advised the Western Australian Football Commission of its intention to play Saturday matches in Perth for the first time.

Demetriou said it was now up to the WAFL competition to be more creative in attracting people to its games after years of predominantly Saturday games. “It was a sacred day for the WAFL competition, but now they will perhaps have to play on some Sundays or perhaps play some twilight games,” he said.

Demetriou said he hoped the interstate time difference would allow for minimal conflict between Ten’s AFL coverage and the VFL’s game of the day telecast on the ABC. This would mean the interstate coverage would start at 4pm Melbourne time, two hours after the start of VFL coverage and Melbourne AFL matches. “We don’t want to clash with the VFL, our aim is to work with them, but the reality is that it’s part of moving forward,” he said.

Football Victoria chief executive Ken Gannon said he was nervous about the AFL's decision to go head-to-head with community football. “We’re worried about the impact on community football in Victoria and how it will affect the ABC’s coverage of the VFL,” Gannon said. “It’s a huge challenge for us and we’ve got 12 months to work on it.”

AFL communications manager Tony Peek said research carried out over the past four years in rural areas indicated live AFL telecasts did not hinder local football. “For example in the Mount Gambier region (in the south-eastern corner of South Australia), which includes 25 per cent of broadcast area in country Victoria, there was no impact on local football whatsoever,” Peek said. “They haven’t lost a sponsor, their crowds haven’t declined and in fact, some crowds went up.”

It is believed Channel Ten could program at least 10 double-headers on Saturdays next season with a news break in between the interstate games televised live and its Saturday night coverage.The AFL will not schedule Saturday afternoon games in Brisbane or Sydney next year because of the Lions’ preference for Saturday night and the Swans’ desire to play on Sunday.

AFL tips loss of up to $24 million
However, the broadcast deal is not all good news for the AFL, who forecast it would lose up to A$24 million over two years. AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson said the league expected to announce an A$8 million loss next month for season 2000, with the potential for a loss of double that amount the following year.

“We’ll have a substantially greater loss in 2001 because we’ve reinforced that we want to pay our clubs an increased special distribution so that they can meet their payments to players,” Jackson said.

But he did not consider players were being overpaid. Jackson said clubs were told a year ago to expect an overall AFL loss next year of A$14 million. The poor result will not put an extra burden on clubs, which can expect an increase of about A$500,000 on this year’s annual AFL dividend of almost A$3.2 million. “We’ve got a $30 million payment to make to Colonial Stadium this year, so there’s no mountain of cash available in 2002,” he said.

He said the heritage listing on Waverley Park should be withdrawn. “You can’t on the one hand not sell Waverley and, on the other hand, be asked to contribute to the redevelopment of the MCG. I think common sense will prevail.” Jackson said the league’s inability to sell Waverley Park was costing each club about A$400,000 each year.

He reiterated the league’s position that its broadcast rights windfall would not necessarily guarantee the future of all the current clubs, and the league was concerned by the amount of spending at some clubs. While all current clubs are guaranteed to remain in the competition until the end of 2006 as part of the new broadcast rights deal, Jackson could not guarantee their futures beyond that. AFL football operations manager Andrew Demetriou said the biggest challenge facing the league was “how to apportion those (broadcast rights) funds appropriately and responsibly”.

The AFL has also announced it would conduct a six-month review of grassroots football throughout Australia, after spending A$15.5 million in development grants via state and territory bodies last year. Jackson said the review panel would include two AFL staffers and two to three people from outside. Jackson hinted that the league would try to keep AFL gate prices affordable.

News Corp to pay AFL’s Colonial bill
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation will take care of the league’s first $30 million payment to Colonial Stadium in a move that will save each club an estimated A$150,000. Before signing the historic new media deal with News Corp, the AFL had been facing a massive bank loan to meet the March Colonial payment following its inability to sell the heritage-listed Waverley Park. AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson has confirmed that the News Corp consortium which includes the Nine and Ten networks and Foxtel, would cover the Colonial Stadium payment, saving the AFL a massive interest bill.

“We won’t have to borrow the money,” said Jackson, speaking from Perth, where he was attending Wednesday night’s combined season launch of West Coast and Fremantle (see below). “It’s part of our broadcasting agreement that the first payment of broadcast rights money was to be paid this year. It was part of the negotiations. It’s a big positive for the clubs that we won’t be making repayments on borrowings.”

Meanwhile, Channel Nine has appointed former South Australian TV sports journalist Cos Cardone, who turned 31 yesterday, as the chief of Nine’s AFL coverage. He will also replace Stve Perkin (who has been sacked by the network) as the producer of the hugely popular AFL Footy Show, hosted by Eddie McGuire.

Grand Final ticketing changes ruled out
The AFL has ruled out any major changes to the Grand Final ticket allocation for this season. AFL football operations manager Andrew Demetriou said that any alteration to the formula for 2002 would be made before the end of this year. He was responding to the latest call from Essendon for a fairer system to boost the members’ Grand Final allocation for the competing clubs.

“We advised all the clubs we would be undertaking a thorough review this year to look at the situation for 2002,” Demetriou said. “We need to give clubs some proper notice. It is an extensive exercise and needs a lot of consultation.”

Demetriou said a new system for AFL members and club support package members hopefully would alleviate some of the problems associated with club support members not being able to get seats.

“We are aware that is it a problem (but) if anyone had had a solution we would have resolved it a lot earlier,” he said. “I think in the coolness of day we will be able to come up with a resolution.”

The Bombers want ticket allocations to all clubs for sponsors, players and staff cut from 1500 to 1000, freeing 8000 more seats for members of the competing clubs. Essendon had more than 34,000 members last season, but was allocated only 13,000 seats for rank-and-file fans.

AFL inspects MCG redevelopment plans
The AFL got its first comprehensive look at the new A$400 million plan for the redevelopment of the MCG on Thursday, but is still a long way from giving the overhaul its approval. The league, the MCG’s tenant clubs and the cricket authorities were all invited to Thursday’s briefing where they were given details of the plans and feasibility study.

“The AFL is very appreciative of the briefing of what lies ahead for the MCG’s redevelopment,” said the AFL’s communications manager Tony Peek. “There is still a long process to go with consultation with both the AFL, the clubs and the MCG.”

Issues such as how the A$400 million redevelopment will be financed are yet to be tackled. The league had floated the idea of a A$2 levy on all MCG football patrons to finance its contribution, but the scheme has been rejected by the Melbourne Cricket Club. Under the ambitious plan, the Olympic and Ponsford stands, as well as the members’ pavilion, will be razed and rebuilt in time for Melbourne to host the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The plan has already attracted some community ire, with the National Trust objecting to the proposal and some MCC members concerned about the fate of the pavilion and the Long Room. Under the plans, the famous Long Room will be rebuilt, becoming more 
spacious, with more room to exhibit the club’s impressive memorabilia collection. The redevelopment of the MCG will also increase the crowd capacity of  the ground by about 5000.

Richmond sets up a tighter code of conduct
Richmond players have made a pre-season pact to formalise and strengthen the club’s code of conduct, under which Nick Daffy and Brad Ottens were suspended last year after being charged with drunkenness. The Tigers, led by new skipper Wayne Campbell, have voted to disregard an offer from coach Danny Frawley to abandon the disciplinary code, despite the risk to the team that has played in only one finals series since 1982. The club has sent copies of its new three-tiered disciplinary structure to both the AFL and the AFL Players Association, but has been warned that those bodies could insist upon re-writing the Richmond code, declaring it at odds with the players association’s collective bargaining agreement. Frawley summoned his senior list of players to a summer team meeting at Punt Road after instructing the 10-man leadership group that he would scrap the one-match suspension policy should the players vote that it harmed the team too much. The players, too, had strongly considered abandoning Frawley’s policy, implemented following his years of experience with off-field demeanors at St Kilda. But an emotional plea from the club’s all-Australian half-back Darren Gaspar is believed to have changed the mood of the players. As teammates argued how the club would react if a player committed an drinking offence during the finals, Gaspar said that he would not want such a player in the team.

Under Frawley’s attempt to change the culture at Tigerland, David Bourke and Brett Evans were suspended during the 2000 pre-season and Daffy and Ottens suspended for one match. Campbell said: “There’s no question now we're going to stick with the code. The coaches were open-minded about it and probably would have been OK if we’d scrapped it. It’s a pretty important decision. It would have been easy to take the easy way out. Not only the public but other clubs saw us as sorting things out and as a group that sort of reinforcement helps. But we don’t have a drinking culture at Richmond…When I started, most young players would be out until 4am at least once a weekend. Now I reckon they’d have one drinking night a month.”

The spectre of serious injury returned to haunt star Richmond forward Matthew Richardson when he injured a knee in a low-key practice match on Friday. Richardson, whose career has been dotted with significant injuries since his 1993 debut, appears to have escaped serious damage in his latest mishap. But he will return to his orthopaedic surgeon for a further examination of his left knee on Monday to determine whether he requires an arthroscopy. If it is no worse than it appears now, Richardson could still miss the entire pre-season competition. He went down on his locked left knee as he lunged forward to recover the ball after a marking contest in the second quarter of the Tigers’ intra-club match at Sandringham, where North Melbourne had played an intra-club match earlier in the day. He left the field, fearing he had done serious damage, and went to the nearby rooms of surgeon Simon Bell for an examination.

The report was good, although with some reservations. Richardson has not damaged the cruciate ligament repaired in a 1995 reconstruction, but stirred up the ligaments at the back and side of the knee damaged in an earlier, less serious injury. “The best case is two to three weeks,” said club medical officer Dr Chris Bradshaw. “The worst is four to six. It’s more likely to be better than worse.”

AFL investigator under police probe
A high profile AFL investigator and policeman is facing a probe over alleged abuses of police e-mail. Victoria Police has suspended Det-Sgt Rick Lewis on full pay pending an investigation into allegations he sent pornographic e-mails on the police computer system. Police sources claim the offensive material under investigation was “hard core”. Det-Sgt Lewis, the first officer appointed to the role of AFL investigator and reporting officer back in 1996, is regarded as a “tough” AFL investigator and has been involved in such controversial cases as last year’s West Coast-Fremantle clash, which saw almost half the players charged.

Sources say police ethical standards officers have interviewed the 49-year-old as part of an investigation into e-mail abuses within the force. However, Det-Sgt Lewis told the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper he had had major heart surgery and was on sick leave. He denied he was under investigation over the e-mail scandal or that he had been suspended. The AFL would not comment on the investigation or whether the allegations would affect Det-Sgt Lewis’ position with the league, which he has held for four years. The AFL spokesman would not comment on whether the league had a policy about staff sending pornographic e-mails. Det-Sgt Lewis was among the first of nine officers suspended last September on full pay after a secret four-month investigation into the abuses of the police internal e-mail system, according to sources. Police can use their computer log-on to access internal e-mail at any police station. It is not known if Det-Sgt Lewis is alleged to have abused the system at St Kilda police station, where he was based. Before his time with the AFL, Det-Sgt Lewis worked at the South Melbourne Criminal Investigation Unit.

Sources say Det-Sgt Lewis became ill after he was interviewed by the ethical standards department and underwent surgery late last year. Now that the detective is on sick leave, ethical standards officers can not further interview him or proceed with a disciplinary hearing without his consent. Sources claim that despite Det-Sgt Lewis’ seniority, he could have faced demotion because of the hard line taken by command over e-mail abuse. Police command initially suspended five officers last September, then a further four, over allegations of sending pornographic, violent or abusive computer messages. The officers were ranked from constable to sergeant and came from suburban and country police stations, with one from the Crime Department.

A police spokesman refused to confirm the identity of any of the officers under investigation, only saying nine officers were suspended and the investigation had not concluded. In his role as AFL special investigator and reporting officer, Det-Sgt Lewis interviews players and officials involved in on-field incidents behind play, as well as acting as prosecutor at the AFL Tribunal. Det-Sgt Lewis is one of three police officers used by the AFL to investigate incidents behind play. The AFL pays the officers an “honorarium” to cover expenses, but does not provide a wage. Although the officers are still on duty, the police force releases them to conduct AFL investigations. Det-Sgt Lewis was involved in the AFL case in which Bulldog Jose Romero was suspended for two matches over allegedly scratching Brisbane’s Simon Black.

Eagles appoints co-captains; Dockers retain leadership
West Coast has appointed Ben Cousins and Dean Kemp as its co-captains for the 2001 season, while Fremantle confirmed Shaun McManus and Adrian Fletcher as its co-captains for the season. The announcements were made at a season launch that also showcased the news that brewing company Carlton and United Breweries would become a major sponsor of both teams and the local West Australian Football League competition. The deal is believed to be worth up to A$30 million over 10 years. Melbourne-based CUB has been associated with VFL/AFL football for the major part of the 20th century, and was the naming sponsor of the AFL premiership competition from 1990 to 1994.

At 22, Cousins is the youngest captain or co-captain in the AFL competition. West Coast’s move is clearly a vote of confidence in the leadership abilities of Cousins, who has been one of the mainstays of the Eagles’ midfield since his 1996 debut. He won the Norwich Rising Star award that year and was nominated as an All-Australian in 1998 and 1999. The Eagles’ choice overlooked a public poll which made veteran defender Glen Jakovich the overwhelming public choice for the job but took some account of reservations expressed by Michael Voss, who became co-captain of Brisbane in 1997 at the age of 21. The Eagles named Jakovich among three vice-captains. The other two were his equally distinguished teammate Peter Matera and outstanding young defender David Wirrpunda. 27-year-old Jakovich is now one of the few survivors of the great Eagles teams of the early 1990s. He has won the best-and-fairest award four times, but injuries have caught up with him in recent years. That includes this pre-season, a broken bone in the ankle sustained during a special cricket game having kept him off the track since last month.

Kemp, the 235-game champion, will ponder retirement at the end of the year and a season assisting Cousins to settle into leadership would cap Kemp’s decorated career. Jakovich’s disappointment at missing the Eagles’ leadership has been offset with an all-clear report on his nagging ankle injury. A scan on Friday confirmed the powerhouse backman had fully recovered from the hairline fracture he received in November. Jakovich resumed full training this week. Fremantle also retained Jason Norrish as vice-captain. The Dockers expanded the leadership group, however, adding Peter Bell as joint-vice-captain. Bell, who began his career inauspiciously with Fremantle playing just two games in 1995, returned at the end of last season after four outstanding seasons and two premierships with North Melbourne.

Bulldogs aim to be No.1 this year
Western Bulldogs’ players being told another limp finals exit will not be tolerated in 2001. The message to the players is part of an extensive four-year plan formulated after the side was thrashed by Brisbane in an AFL elimination final last season, the second successive year the Lions ended the club’s campaign with a mauling at the Gabba.

“Up until now, I, and this club, have not been public about saying we aim to be No. 1,” Bulldogs’ president David Smorgon said. “But we are comfortable saying that publicly now because we are confident enough in our own ability, and confident enough with the people we have in place at every level. We aim to be No. 1 in 2001 -- we are not going to take comfort from finishing sixth, seventh or eighth. Those days are gone.”

Smorgon said Phase 2 of the blueprint is “about everyone at the club being bolder, smarter and harder.” It includes three key components:

*Not allowing a finals berth to be considered a success
*Aiming to be No. 1 in 2001
*Continue to retain key personnel and introduce others with key qualities.

“Spider” Burton boxes himself out of pre-season
North Melbourne have suffered another injury blow on the eve of the season, with ruckman Matthew Burton being ruled out of the Ansett Cup after breaking a finger in a sparring session with a teammate. Burton, at 210 centimetres the AFL’s tallest player, was boxing with Leigh Colbert on Tuesday afternoon when he broke the knuckle on his right index finger during a training session. The nextday, Burton spent the Kangaroos’ training session at Royal Park on an exercise bike. His right hand is in plaster, where it will remain for the next month. Burton, who has played 93 AFL games including 23 last year in his first season with the Kangaroos, will not need surgery on the injury. Although he has been ruled out of the entire cup competition, “Spider” Burton is expected to be fit in time for the Kangaroos’ first match of the AFL season against Essendon.

It is the second serious injury to a Kangaroos’ player this week. On Monday, rookie full-forward Rod Tregenza injured his knee and will miss the season. The 22-year-old from East Fremantle was hurt when he landed awkwardly in a marking contest during a practice match at Whitten Oval. He had a full knee reconstruction this week

US, Irish rookies to play together
Sydney coach Rodney Eade and Essendon’s Kevin Sheedy have set up a deal to play the Swans’ Irish experiment Tadgh (spelt “Todd”) Kennelly on the Bombers’ US recruit Dustin Jones in their practice match at North Sydney Oval this afternoon (Saturday Sydney time). Kennelly, 19, is in the second of his two-year trial at the Swans, while 20-year-old midfielder Jones joined Essendon this week on a US AFL scholarship. While the high-profile players will be in action, with Paul Kelly to lead Sydney and James Hird and Matthew Lloyd likely to turn out for the premier, both clubs will use at least half a dozen untried youngsters in the 15-a-side game.

As well as Kennelly and Jones, the tight confines of North Sydney Oval have forced further experimentation, with the ground too small to accommodate 18 players on each team. But Sheedy said smaller grounds such as North Sydney Oval could be used to develop the game in New South Wales and Queensland with a regular 15-a-side, or even 12-a-side, pre-season carnival matches. Swans captain Paul Kelly, Brad Seymour and Matthew Nicks have all withdrawn from the practice match, suffering back soreness since last Sunday’s intraclub trial in Canberra.

Bombers seek inspiration from sportspeople
Essendon has sought wisdom from beyond football’s provincial field of ideas. In just one day, players and officials alike listened to, admired, questioned and even hunted out autographs from West Indian cricket legend Isaac Vivian (Viv) Richards, Australian Olympians Cathy Freeman, Nova Peris-Kneebone and Tamsyn Lewis. The great West Indian No.3 batsman (who was one of West Indian cricket greats during its golden age from 1975 to 1995), a man synonymous with confidence and certainly acquainted with the notion of arrogance (for he was often accused of being so), reminded all that belief is all. Should things not go so swimmingly for the Dons as they did last year, Viv’s advice was to “remember that you were good”.

“Tell yourself, ‘Geez, I was damn good’,” he told the audience.

Richards spoke of the pressure the Dons would face in maintaining their premier status, and the importance of maintaining a family atmosphere. He admitted he was nervous when he first started, but the younger players should use that nervousness as a motivating force. “I always believed in the motto that he who knows the way, shows the way, all the way,” Richards said.

Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy said the invitation to Richards to address the team came after a chance meeting at a sportsman's night in Perth late last year. The pair hit it off and Richards had no hesitation in journeying to the northern suburbs to catch up. Sheedy said it was great to hear what some of the best performers in other sports had endured to make it to the top. After the queue of players who sought autographs for their bats, books and posters had subsided, and obligatory photographs were taken, the team headed to nearby Parkville for a meeting with Olympic gold medallists Freeman and Peris-Kneebone and Australian 800 metres champion Lewis. The three track stars related some of their Olympic experiences to the players, talked of how they motivated themselves and how they prepared for competition.

Freeman will be trying to win her third consecutive world title at 400 metres later this year at Edmonton, Canada, Essendon its second AFL premiership in a row. “There’s a lot of similarities between Catherine Freeman and Essendon Football Club,” Essendon fitness coach, John Quinn said. “She’s looking to motivate herself to a new level.”

Peris-Kneebone, who switched to sprinting after the 1996 Olympic Games where she won a gold medal in the hockey team, told the players about believing in themselves and grabbing opportunities when they came, Quinn said. And Lewis spoke about how missing the final in Sydney by one place was motivating her to higher performances this year, something the Essendon team of 1999 could undoubtedly relate to.

Sydney’s Olympic Stadium may have to lift the field for AFL matches
The playing field at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium may be raised by more than a meter so Australian Rules spectators can get a decent view of the game. An architect’s report commissioned by the Sydney Swans has identified sightline problems that would spoil the view for 92 per cent of spectators. The chief executive of Stadium Australia, Ken Edwards, said one possible solution to sightline problems that threaten plans to use the ground for Australian Football League games was to raise the field by up to 1.3 meters. The report by architects Cox Richardson says widening the field by 24 metres to make it useable for AFL matches will mean that 92 per cent of spectators won’t be able to see some of the action. Rugby and similar sports will not be affected.

Once the front 10 rows of seats on the East and West stands are removed, many spectators will find their view of play on the sidelines obstructed by the heads of people in front of them, the report says.“In AFL mode up to 19 per cent of the playing field area between boundary lines is blacked out ... this zone is virtually continuous around the playing field, hence all seating levels have a portion of their view of the field obstructed,” the architects say.

The report is at the centre of a dispute between the Sydney Swans, the AFL and Stadium Australia about whether the ground can be made suitable for Australian football. It identifies other difficulties – “that 30 per cent of all seating areas are further than 190 meters from the furthest boundary line”. This, it says, is beyond acceptable standards. Edwards conceded there was an issue over sightlines for AFL games, but said this was common at grounds used for AFL because they were so much bigger than rugby grounds. A review of the Cox Richardson report conducted by the Stadium Australia architects, HOK Sport, also downplayed the problems.

The review said viewing at Stadium Australia was below acceptable standards over 16 per cent of the playing surface for about 86 per cent of the seats. But the design of the Colonial Stadium in Melbourne meant that 95 per cent of the seats failed to give a satisfactory view of 20 per cent of the playing area. The review also dismissed concerns about the 190-meter distance from the action. This was less than that of all AFL grounds and was standard for rugby and soccer. Apart from raising the ground, the HOK Sport document says the easiest solution would be to reduce the proposed width of the field from 128 meters to 120.

The New South Wales Government’s Olympic Co-ordination Authority has given A$6 million and lent A$3 million to help make the ground suitable for AFL. An OCA spokesman said the Government was aware of the sightline problems, but it was a matter between the AFL and Stadium Australia. Edwards said the dispute had delayed plans to begin redesigning the ground, but work should be finished before the end of next year at a total cost of about $59 million. He said representatives from Cox Richardson and HOK Sport were working with him to resolve the sightline issues. Although the AFL has scheduled none of the 11 games that had been planned for the ground this year, Edwards said the stadium would be ready for AFL by the middle of the year. However, with no agreement between Stadium Australia, the Swans and the AFL on the sightline issue, there is no 
certainty about when the first games would be played there.

Port Adelaide players disciplined for city hotel brawl
Port Adelaide has suspended midfielder Peter Burgoyne and fined other players over a city pub brawl on Saturday night. At least two of the players are understood to have been injured in the fight at the General Havelock Hotel, in Adelaide City, last Saturday night. Rookie-list player Steve Brosnan is believed to have a broken nose while rover Peter Burgoyne reportedly was left with a black eye. Veteran Shane Bond and other rookies Adam Morgan, Toby Thurstans and Allan Murray are also understood to have been involved. Police were not called to the brawl which ended when another player, Bowen Lockwood, encouraged his team-mates to leave the hotel. Hotel management had refused to discuss the incident.

A witness said the fight began when Brosnan was forced to leave the premises. “He looked very agitated with the security staff who were trying to eject him,” the witness said. “Security staff tried to control him and had to pin him twice, once to a wall and then later to the ground. Shane Bond and Peter Burgoyne also had separate exchanges with 
security. Burgoyne threw several punches but none of them connected.”

Port Adelaide chief executive Brian Cunningham confirmed his club had received reports of the brawl. He said there were 13 players at the hotel at the time, and all had been interviewed by the club on Monday. Cunningham said the club had suspended Burgoyne from the club’s opening Ansett Cup match, against Essendon on February 17. He said other players would be fined for their roles.

A large group of Port players was at the hotel for the last free weekend before the new season. (Sidenote: Port Power has a new official website: www.portadelaidefc.com.au 
)

Briefly:
*Carlton tagger Anthony Franchina has been dealt a big blow, with a broken right foot set to force him to miss the start of the season. The 23-year-old was carried from the ground by two trainers during the Blues’ demanding training session on Monday and scans on Tuesday revealed he had a broken bone. The injury rules him out of the Ansett Cup and the opening few rounds of the season. The Blues’ No.1 player, Anthony Koutoufides, hurt his knee at the end of training at Optus Oval last Friday. After meetings with club medical staff on the night and at the weekend, Koutoufides did not run on Monday and swam with coach Wayne Brittain on Tuesday. It’s understood his knee, injured against Essendon in Round 20 last year, ballooned with fluid on Saturday. The Blues, who have ordered another revision of Kouta’s preparation, are confident there’s no structural damage and that a third operation is not needed. Their worst fear is that he may have slightly strained the posterior ligament again.

*Geelong’s scheduled Ansett Cup match at Shell Stadium (Kardinia Park) on March 3 is under a cloud, with the ground yet to be given the all-clear after a troubled summer. A “lethal dosage” of fertiliser has killed some sections of grass and attempts to repair the ground have caused other problems. Cats’ chief executive Brian Cook said the stadium was by no means certain to hold next month’s match against Port Adelaide, but said there was still plenty of time to repair the playing surface. The AFL’s ground manager, Jill Lindsay, will inspect the ground in the next fortnight before a decision is made.

*Talented Melbourne midfielder Stephen Powell has had a setback and could miss the first half of the season. Powell, sidelined with groin problems, recently was reported as likely to miss the season’s start but now a report has him grounded for much longer. The Demons’ football manager Danny Corcoran said Powell’s injury was related to the dreaded osteo pubitis, football’s latest injury scare. Corcoran said it was a possibility that Powell wouldn’t play before the second half of the season, and would now be restricted to the pool and to performing non-weight bearing work until the pain had eased. Powell had an outstanding first season with the Demons last year after transferring from the Bulldogs.

*Two weeks after Channel Seven conceded defeat in the AFL TV rights battle, the entire 2000 Talking Footy team has been replaced, with Bruce McAvaney returning to head up a new-look Monday night crew, consisting of The Age journalist duo Robert Walls and Caroline Wilson. Panellist Malcolm Blight is gone (he is now coach of St Kilda), so is Herald Sun football writer Mike Sheahan (almost certainly to Channel Nine), and missing, too, will be Gerard Healy, although he still has one year of his Seven contract to go and 
assumedly will remain a special comments man during matches. It seems that at the heart of the friction that resulted in Healy and Sheahan leaving the program was Seven’s decision to bring back the show’s original host, McAvaney. The move shocked Healy who, under his hosting last year, saw the Monday night program record its best ever ratings. Seven wanted Healy to go on to the couch to replace Blight but Healy also feared such a move may have been interpreted as a demotion and affect his long-term future.

The 1988 Brownlow medallist also believed Seven should stick with tradition and give the job to a former coach like Blight, and before him,  Leigh Matthews. Sheahan’s shock departure came after he was given a one-day ultimatum for his decision on continuing with the show after six years. Sheahan said he wanted a week to consider but did not get it.

*1985 Brownlow medallist Brad Hardie has called Seven to say he had changed his mind and had decided to join Nine instead. Hardie, who previously worked for Perth radio station 6PR, was appointed by David Barham (who resigned as Seven’s football producer two weeks ago) as a commentator for the 2001 AFL season. Retired Hawthorn ruckman Paul Salmon will replace Hardie as a commentator at Seven. He also will host Around The Grounds on Saturday afternoons, replacing reporter Craig Hutchison, and is likely to join Rex Hunt and Robert Walls on Sunday’s Footy Panel. Salmon, who resigned an on-air position role with Nine last year to take up his role with the Medallion Club at Colonial Stadium, will start his new job during the Ansett Cup.

*Paul Roos has left Seven to join the Sydney Swans’ coaching panel, leaving Tony Lockett as the lone former footballer-cum-boundary rider in Sydney. Seven’s head of sport, Gordon Bennett, said veteran commentator Drew Morphett, who had been released by the network after 13 years, might be utilised again on a game-by-game basis.

That’s all for today. See you soon.

Regards,

Johnson

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