Australian Football League News

In mid-October, the Kangaroos and Adelaide traded draft selections, allowing the Roos to move up a notch or two in the draft order. North received selection 23 in this year's draft in exchange for pick 59 and a future second-round selection. Gold Coast, Sydney, and West Coast delisted players while Essendon looks to get twin "favorite sons".

The Kangaroos also delisted midfielder Jared Polec. Polec was originally drafted by Brisbane but was later traded to Port Adelaide. He joined North at the end of the 2018 season and played every game in 2019. However, he was restricted to 18 games over the next two seasons due to injury. He was delisted at the end of 2021 and added to the rookie list. Polec, 30, was hampered by a foot injury early in the season and required surgery.

In mid-October, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Essendon, Collingwood, and North Melbourne all made more list changes and two Western Bulldogs players announced their retirements. 

Port Adelaide delisted forwards Martin Frederick and Dylan Williams but has committed to reselecting Williams in the rookie draft. Frederick, a product of the club’s Next Generation Academy, played 14 games after debuting against St Kilda in 2021. He played six games this season. against the Gold Coast in Round 15. Williams, 21, was drafted in 2019 but played just one game in 2021. He played every game for Port Adelaide in the SANFL this season, kicking 20 goals. 

Adelaide delisted James Rowe, Ben Davis, and Brett Turner. Rowe was drafted in 2020 and kicked 27 goals in his 36 games as a small forward while Davis was drafted in 2016 and played 11 AFL games as both a forward and rebounding defender. Turner was picked up in the midseason draft this season but did not manage any senior games. The club is considering redrafting him as a rookie. 

Just a few months after he signed a contract extension, Brett Ratten was dismissed as St Kilda senior coach. In a statement, the club said they "got it wrong". The Saints recently completed a thorough a review of their football operations, with the findings indicating a change of leadership and voice in the senior coach position was needed. Saints president Andrew Bassett and chief executive Simon Lethlean held a press conference in mid-October to explain their decision.

Bassat labelled it a “brutal process”, saying Ratten was “blindsided” by the club’s decision and had “no inkling” his position was under threat, “This has been a very tough few weeks and the decision ... has been a very painful one for the club and of course incredibly disappointing for Brett and his family ... our duty to members in the pursuit of success requires us to make the best decision for the club and for the members and not the individual ...".

The free agency and trade periods commenced in late September with the trade period following the free agency. The trade period ended October 12 and there was plenty of activity. Port Adelaide's Karl Amon officially became a Hawk on a four year deal. Port will receive a second round draft selection as compensation.

In early October, the AFL finally appointed their four person panel to investigate the racism allegations against Hawthorn, the then coach Alastair Clarkson and assistant Chris Fagan. Attorney Bernard Quinn, KC [King's Counsel], will head the panel and be joined by experienced barristers Jacqualyn Turfrey, Julie Buxton, and Tim Goodwin. Quinn has experience in commercial, public law and product liability law and extensive experience with class action suits. He was involved with the investigations in the Black Saturday bush fires. He also served as an associate to a justice in the High Court.

Jacqualyn Turfrey, Barrister, has extensive experience in multiple areas in commercial law and criminal law. She also worked in family and children's courts. She is an accredited mediator with experience in workplace disputes, community disputes, commercial disputes, and children's matters.  Ms Turfrey is a proud Palawa woman (Tasmania). Tim Goodwin, Barrister, specializes in commercial and public law with experience across commercial law, administrative law, government advice work, regulatory actions, and native title and land rights work.  He has experience in federal court and serves on a number of boards including the Human Rights Law Center.  He is a member of the Yuin people of the South East Coast of New South Wales.

After the racism allegations against Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan became public, the AFL said a four member panel would be appointed to investigate further. However, those allegedly affected by the alleged abuse said they were leery of giving their stories again to the AFL because of the way such issues have been handled in the past, or not handled at all. Age reporter Caroline Wilson said, “There’s genuine despair ... that it’s taken over a week already, and ... the aggrieved families who gave evidence in the Phillip Egan review (the Hawthorn club review which started it all) ... were still not over the line as agreeing to the process. They ... have been saying they want an independent judicial enquiry ... these people gave their evidence, are unwilling to do so again in an environment they don’t trust.”

Both Clarkson and Fagan have denied the allegations, with Clarkson saying he was never interviewed at the time of the initial review. Fagan has said he will cooperate with the new round of investigations. Both coaches are believed to have hired attorneys.

Source: sen.com.au, news.com.au

Following the end of the AFL season, roster changes affected West Coast, Geelong, Sydney, North Melbourne, Carlton, Port Adelaide, Essendon, and Gold Coast. 

Eagle midfielder and Jack Redden has retired. He was originally drafted by Brisbane where he played 129 games in seven seasons before crossing the Eagles in 2016. He played 134 games for the Eagles including the 2018 premiership. He was a key to that winning side and was voted Player of the Finals that year as well as finishing second in the best and fairest. West Coast delisted Jackson Nelson, Hugh Dixon, Patrick Naish, and Tom Joyce. Nelson, 28, was drafted in 2014 and played 102 games mostly in defense but could take a turn in the midfield. Dixon and Joyce were supplemental selections during the club's injury crisis. Dixon was originally with the Dockers and played 10 games for the Eagles while Joyce was sidelined for the year with an ankle injury. 

On September 30^th former North Melbourne coach and current AFL head of football Brad Scott was appointed Essendon's new senior coach. Apparently, Scott had been in talks with the club for a week before formally applying for the job the same day. 

In an email, president, David Barham said, “We believe Brad has all the attributes to be the long-term coach ... He’s a strong leader who will drive standards and establish a winning culture. We look forward to Brad getting started with us and working closely with the broader club and the football department for what will be an important preseason ... ". We are under no illusions about the hard work ahead of us. By the same token, we are excited about the challenge of building a club that our members are proud of and one that delivers sustained on-field success.” Scott coached North Melbourne in 211 games. After departing the Kangaroos, he replaced Steve Hocking at the AFL as head of football operations. 

Just days after Geelong's Grand Final victory, Joel Selwood announced his retirement. In making the announcement at a press conference, he said he had decided six weeks prior and said "win, lose or draw" that would be it for him after 16 seasons. He kept the decision from almost everyone so the team could focus on the finals. He did speak with football manager Stephen Hocking, but did not inform Coach Chris Scott until the day of the Round 23 game against West Coast. He said telling Scott was one of the hardest things he had to do but said he did not "... want to be at 85 per cent (next year). I know that’s not good enough. I actually told him (Scott) that I was OK. I had to turn around and have another hug before I walked out.”

Newly appointed North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson and Brisbane Coach Chris Fagan have become embroiled in very serious allegations stemming from their time together at Hawthorn. It began with an external review commissioned by the club to better understand the indigenous people, referred to as First Nations players, and their experiences at the club. The review led to the allegations being made and the club referring everything to the AFL Integrity Unit. Several of the involved players were interviewed and their stories - and those of their partners, paint a completely different picture of the "family club". The story was made public by the ABC which brought to light the treatment of the young players at the hands of the coaches and club officials.

Three players and their partners told their stories but had their names changed for the publication. The families allege that players were told to part ways with their partners, even though the women were pregnant, were forced to move out of their homes. Their partners were allegedly told to terminate unborn children. The families say the players had the SIM cards removed from their phones to further separate them from family. Essentially, they were told football came first and that was to be their primary focus. In many cases, they were bullied into choosing the club and those involved had no compassion for the players or their families. [Ed. note: the ABC has stated that Clarkson and Fagan were given multiple opportunities to respond before the allegations were made public.]