That’s how St Kilda coach Malcolm Blight described league officials over an ban on post-match on-field warmdowns

Hello fans:

It's nice to be back after three weeks' break for my uni exams.

St Kilda coach Malcolm Blight has escaped sanctions after his outburst at the AFL for its decision to ban the Saints from performing their post-match warm-downs on the field. Blight called league football operations officials “jerks”, “imbeciles” and “dingbats” during a panel discussion at Melbourne’s Crown Casino.
Blight has already attracted criticism by asking his players to warm down on the playing field after the Saints’ round-10 loss to Melbourne. The Saints tried the on-ground warm-down in only one more game but were then warned off by the league before the match against Fremantle at Subiaco. The Saints were asked to demonstrate why they needed to follow the procedure, and after doing so, were sent a second letter by the league, signed by league official Rod Austin, again rejecting their request.
St Kilda is furious at what it says was the AFL’s implication during correspondence over the matter that the club was threatening player welfare by sending injured players back out on to the ground.
The AFL said in a press release that it did send a letter to the Saints, in which it said the ban was necessary based on medical concerns and player security.
Blight said the move against the exercise, introduced to the club by its new fitness adviser Chris Jones, was a backward step, and the AFL should “open its eyes”.
“Some jerk said something about putting injured players back on the ground,” Blight said. “It’s best practice around the world. We’re actually trying to look after players better so they can recover quicker. For some imbecile, some dingbat, to suggest we would risk a player by doing it, makes me absolutely furious.”
When Caroline Wilson, chief football writer of The Age, suggested to Blight that one of those who said he had taken injured players on to the field could have been either Austin or general manager of football operations Andrew Demetriou, Blight replied: “If that’s his name he is a jerk.”.
Demetriou responded by saying the decision was made by his department for a multitude of reasons after discussion at last week’s football managers’ meeting. He said various factors had been taken in to account, the issue was discussed with all 16 clubs and that St Kilda had not been singled out for attention. Demetriou said the AFL discouraged St Kilda from doing it because it could not happen at all grounds.
St Kilda football manager Brian Waldron said that while the club disagreed with the AFL’s decision, it respected the edict.
Blight rang Demetriou on Friday to partly apologise, stressing he was not referring to any particular individual and should have used more moderate language.

AFL to tighten gambling code after cricket’s betting scandal
After a spate of betting-related scandals which had rocked the cricketing world in recent years, and claiming several high profile players from South Africa and Pakistan, the AFL is considering tighting its gambling code to outlaw players and officials providing information to bookmakers and punters.
Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were both fined by the Australian Cricket Board in 1998 for providing information on weather and pitch conditions to Indian bookmakers.
Under the current gambling code, AFL players and officials already face fines and suspensions if they bet on games.
AFL football operations manager Andrew Demetriou said said the present code would be studied during the next few months and enhanced if necessary before next season. He said it would naive to think that bookmakers and punters would not ask players, even team officials and coaches for information on team selection and player injuries and fitness.
Asked whether it was wrong for a player to provide information on team selection, Demetriou replied that it depends who he says it to.

Swans to Dockers: hands off our staff
Sydney chairman Richard Colless said the club would be prepared to use “legal redress” (i.e. legal action) if Fremantle sought to induce Rodney Eade to break his contract that expires at the end of next season, or to induce any other Swans’ staff, including outgoing chief executive Kelvin Templeton, to join the Dockers.
Colless said the Swans had not had any communication with the Dockers about Eade, but the Swans would not tolerate any attempt by another club to lure their contracted staff.
Eade, one of four men being pursued by Fremantle to replace sacked coach Damian Drum, told reporters that he had been contacted informally by the Dockers earlier this week but no further discussions had been made.
The Western Bulldogs had also warned the Dockers not to approach Terry Wallace for its vacant coaching position.
Fremantle is pulling out all stops to secure a proven coach for next season. The club is believed to be prepared to offer a package of up to A$800,000 a season to land a big name and would also allow the successful applicant to pick his own assistants. The Dockers are also likely to make major cuts to their playing list, which could free up a quarter of their salary cap.

Frawley cans talks on contract extension
Richmond coach Danny Frawley will put his contract renegotiations on hold to ensure nothing distracts the Tigers from making the AFL finals for only the second time since 1982.
The recent good term has prompted Richmond to move swiftly to add long-term stability to its on-field success by starting negotiations with Frawley’s management on a new contract. The new deal will supersede the final year of Frawley’s present contract, and keep him at Punt Road until at least the end of 2004.
Richmond’s keenness to retain the former St Kilda captain is prompted not only by his impressive overall performance in just 34 games as senior coach, but by the Tigers’ projections that his present playing group is capable of consistent finals appearances leading to a premiership within the next four years, and the club board wants Frawley to remain in charge of that group.
37-year-old Frawley, the second of four first-year coaches from last season to have his contract extended, has the opportunity to become Richmond’s longest-serving coach since Tom Hafey’s 11-year reign, which ended in 1976 and resulted in four premierships. Since Hafey, the only coach to have lasted more than three consecutive seasons at Punt Road has been Kevin Bartlett, who was at the helm between 1988 and 1991 before he was unceremoniously sacked.
Casey said he expected Frawley to be one of the league’s great coaches, and would give Frawley time and security to finish his task. Casey described Frawley as a no-nonsense coach who demanded the strongest possible discipline from his players.

Seven seconds that could have changed the game
Two timekeepers have been reprimanded by the AFL for an incident just before the end of last Saturday’s Hawthorn-North Melbourne match, which could have cost the Kangaroos the game.
Channel Seven picked up the error when preparing film for last Tuesday night’s Talking Footy program. The footage, taken behind the goals at the scoreboard end, showed that with 30 seconds to go, Roo Shannon Grant passed the ball to teammate David King, who immediately ran for goal but was tackled by Hawk Jonathan Hay, and King had to release the ball quickly. Roo Shane Clayton grabbed the ball near the boundary line and was tackled.
It appears the timekeepers sitting in the Northern Stand thought the ball was out of bounds, but the footage cleared showed the umpire blowing time-on for a ball-up which stopped the clock at nine seconds. When the umpire blew the whistle again to restart the game, he did not even have time to bounce the ball before the siren sounded for Hawthorn’s three-point win.
When told of the error, AFL general manager of football operations Andrew Demetriou, who was special guest on the program, said he had asked umpires’ director Jeff Gieschen to check the incident.

AFL, Pies angry at Seven’s delayed telecast of Pies-Bombers clash
The AFL and Collingwood are angry that Seven would televise a rugby union international between Australia and South Africa live from Subiaco Oval in Perth on Saturday, 18 June, from 7pm, delaying the round-20 blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon until 9pm. (New Zealand is also involved in the tri-nations series.) The AFL has retaliated by declaring it would reschedule the game on Saturday afternoon.
It is Seven’s second snub towards the Magpies following the decision to delay this Saturday night’s Adelaide-Collingwood game into Melbourne until 9pm, in favor of another rugby clash between Australia and the British and Irish Lions (the Lions, composing players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, only visits Australia every 12 years, so this is a rare sporting event).
Rugby union and Australian rules has an uneasy relationship since last year, when Seven decided to telecast live rugby union internationals involving Australia around the country, including Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
AFL corporate relations and communications director Tony Peek said the game had been moved to Saturday night to suit Channel Seven. He said the league was very surprised given the network had actually asked to schedule the game on Saturday night, when the game was originally pencilled in for Sunday afternoon. He said the league would have a further discussion with Seven about the telecast.
Peek said he was only aware of the telecast arrangement when the league received a proposed telecast schedule for round 20, showing the Pies-Bombers clash would be shown live on Seven’s pay-TV channel C7.
Both the AFL and Collingwood pointed out that Channel Seven requested last year that the match be scheduled at 7pm on Saturday night in order to program a delayed 7.40 telecast.
Collingwood chief executive Greg Swann said he was not happy about the snub. He stated there was no way the rugby union Test could possibly outrate Collingwood versus Essendon, and said the Pies would be happy to play on Saturday afternoon if the AFL asked for it.

Magpie duo escapes disciplinary action
Collingwood duo Heath Scotland and Ben Kinnear have escaped disciplinary action from the club after the pair were charged with being drunk in a public place early on Sunday.
The players said they were in a taxi on their way home with friends. The driver called the police before driving the group to Flinders Street station and waiting for the police to arrive. The players were then placed in separate cells at the Melbourne Custody Centre for three hours.
Collingwood football manager Neil Balme said after taking legal advice and considering the consequences the club had decided against fighting drunkenness charges against Scotland and Kinnear. He said both players, who trained with the Magpies during the week, were upset by the weekend’s events.
Balme also said Scotland saw a violent fight between two other prisoners in the same cell, but police have denied the players were in any danger.
No penalty was expected when the pair faced court.
*Police have charged a 33-year-old man over a break-in at the Collingwood Football Club Tabaret at Victoria Park early Tuesday morning.
The man, who entered the empty venue by cutting one of the locks, apparently tried to cut into an ATM machine inside, police said.
Police were called to the Tabaret entertainment venue after an alarm was triggered shortly after 2am. Having observed a man inside, police called for reinforcement, including a canine unit, to surround the premises.
The man was apprehended a short time later and taken to Fitzroy Police Station for questioning.
Oxyacetylene cutting equipment was also seized. The man was bailed to appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on August 31.

Spreading the footy gospel around the world
Volunteer organization Australian Volunteers International (AVI) and the AFL have teamed to send a football development officer to South Africa to try to turn the country into a breeding ground for Aussie rules footballers. 21-year-old Dale Alsford will spend six months in the Mafeking region and six months in the Cape Flats area around Cape Town, setting up schools and community programs, as well as training co-ordinators and umpires to carry on his work once he returns to Australia.
Apparently, Aussie rules was played at the turn of the century in South Africa, mostly by Australian miners in the Transvaal. Three years ago, Damian Cupido, who lived in Cape Town until he was six, became the first SA-born player to play in the AFL when he was drafted by the Brisbane Lions.
AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson said the league’s relationship with AVI is the first step in a long journey to reestablish an interest on Aussie rules in South Africa, and to establish the sport as an international game. He said the country had a great sporting heritage and they hoped Aussie rules could be attractive to a large population.
Under the AFL’s international program, the amount it will spend on developing Aussie rules around the world this year is:
New Zealand (14 teams): A$150,000
Papua New Guinea (14 teams): A$30,000
Samoa (6 teams): A$10,000
Nauru (10 teams): A$5000
USA (28 teams): A$120,000
South Africa, Canada (6 teams), Denmark (7 teams) and England (9 teams): A$15,000 total
*A group of Indonesian journalists recent got a taste of Aussie rules at Monash University, thanks to Richmond ruckman Brendan Gale.
Gale, a graduate of Monash’s Faculty of Arts, impressed the visitors, 24 journalists from Indonesian press agency Antara, with the skills and drills of the game.
The journalists visited Monash for six weeks as part of an educational and cultural project, funded by the Australian Agency for International Development. Aside from learning the basic football skills, they also polished their journalistic skills with further training, and visited news organizations.

AFL boss relives his brush with death
Exactly one month after Wayne Jackson’s brush with death on his farm in South Australia, the AFL chief executive has revealed he has only himself to blame, in his first detailed interview about the accident that appears in last weekend’s AFL Record. “I was not being careful, I was not taking sufficient care in an environment that we know has the potential to cause a lot of accidents.”
Jackson was spending time at the 1500-hectare property near the Victoria-South Australia border when the accident happened as he spread hay from the back of a ute being driven by farm manager and friend David Gilbertson. Jackson recalls feeling a slight bump - possibly when a trailer wheel hit a small hole - and he started wobbling and then fell backwards from about 3.5 metres, landing on the A-frame between the ute and the trailer. Jackson was rushed back to the farmhouse and then driven by his daughter Meridie to Keith, 40km from the farm, to a waiting Royal Flying Doctor Service plane. He was flown to Adelaide's Calvary Hospital, where he spent three days in the critical care unit.
Jackson said in the interview he knew straight away he had a serious chest injury but he had never been in so much pain.

Matthew Lloyd to score more than Fremantle? Not everyone would like to see that
Betting agency Centrebet has vowed to continue offering bet types similar to that of Essendon forward Matthew Lloyd v Fremantle, despite objections from coaches of both sides.
The Dockers have been given so little chance of beating Essendon last Saturday, with the Bombers quoted at the ridiculous odds of $1.01 (that is the odds of 100-1), that Centrebet, due to heavy demand, decided to offer odds on Essendon spearhead Matthew Lloyd outscoring Fremantle on his own. The Dockers were hot favourites at A$1.25 per dollar bet, with Lloyd at A$3.50.
Docker Peter Bell has called the bet an insult, his team’s interim coach Ben Allan said the bet was a big wake-up call for the club, while Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy said he might consider moving Lloyd to centre half back just to annoy anyone that wants to make a joke of the game.
For the record, the Dockers “beat” Lloyd by 41 points: Dockers 10.12.72, Lloyd 5.1.31. The Dockers also averted a potentially massive defeat by only losing by 46, after Fremantle actually kicked the first four goals of the game.

In Brief
*Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy has joined the call for the AFL to change the assistance rule that aids struggling clubs with a pre-draft pick if they don’t win more than five games in a year.
He said clubs that were performing well would be penalised if West Coast, St Kilda and Fremantle all got a pre-draft selection this year.
Sheedy said the added number of concession picks likely this year should be a concern for any team that finishes in the top four or six. He said the Eagles can turn their fortunes around quickly - as early as next year.
*Melbourne chief executive John Anderson has denied rumors that club legend Robert Flower would join directors Bill Guest and Ian Johnson in standing against Joseph Gutnick in board elections to be held at the end of the season.
There were rumours in football circles that Flower, who played for the Demons in the 1980s, would stand for election, however Flower had told Channel Nine that he had no intentions to do so.
But he indicated he might be prepared to act as a peacebroker during the election process.
*Former North Melbourne and VFL president Allen Aylett has returned to the club board after a 25-year absence following a vote by the club’s directors.
Aylett has taken up the position vacated by former chairman of selectors Mark Dawson in a move widely regarded as the 65-year-old’s first step towards a move for the leadership of the board. But Roos’ interim chairman Andrew Carter, who nominated Aylett, denied that Aylett had been purposely put forward as his successor.
Aylett presided over the club’s first premiership in 1975 and returns to the club which is battling for survival and financial stability following a loss of A$1.14 million last year.
*North Melbourne fears its plea of a fairer slice of Friday night games will fall on deaf ears because of the AFL’s obligations under its new A$500 million TV rights deal. Roos chief executive Greg Miller said that because his club pioneered Friday night football, it should have a large number of Friday night games. He said one of the factors behind the club’s A$1.14 million loss was that it only played four home games on Friday nights last year.
*Carlton midfielder Simon Beaumont had extended his contract with the club for another three years. While the terms were not revealed, it was thought to take him through to the end of the 2004 season, when he will be going on 29 years old. Beaumont made his AFL debut in the Blues’ premiership year of 1995 and has been a consistent performer in recent seasons, playing every match in 1999 and 2000.
Former champion wingman Gary Crane has been inducted into Carlton’s Hall of Fame, receiving the honor before Saturday’s match against the Bulldogs.
*Carlton assistant coach John Worsfold was forced to miss last Tuesday’s training with a serious finger injury after being attacked by a dog.
Worsfold was walking his own dog on Monday when another canine approached and the former onfield hard man was bitten when he tried to intervene.
Worsfold also missed a training section with the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, who was in Melbourne to promote the upcoming Sesame Street live stage show during the July school holidays.
*Jack Hale, the Carlton premiership player who became the first man to take Hawthorn to the finals, died last Monday, aged 87. Hale played 123 games for Carlton from 1933 to 1941 and coached the Hawks from 1952 to 1959. In 1957 Hawthorn finished third in its first finals campaign after joining the VFL in 1925, with Hale as coach and John Kennedy as captain. Hale stepped down in 1959 and was replaced by Kennedy, who took the Hawks to its first ever premiership in 1961.
Hale is credited with introducing the famous Hawthorn practice of pitting the Catholics against the Protestants in so many training pursuits.
*St Kilda assistant coach Peter Jonas has warned careers of the players will come under scrutiny in the second half of the season. Jonas said he would not identify who they were, because most of them knew who they were. Jonas said the Saints should be strengthened by the return of a number of players, despite losing Loewe, Harvey and Burke to injuries, and they would try to win more games in the second half of the season than the first half.
*Irish singer, songwriter and saxophonist Van Morrison may be invited to perform at this year’s AFL Grand Final. Described as a true music innovator and lyrical visionary, Morrison has produced many well known songs in more than 20 studio albums, including his most famous, Brown-Eyed Girl, during a jazz and blues career that dates back to the 1960s. The release of a greatest hits collection in 1990 got him back on track after a career slump, culminating in his latest studio CD, featuring the successful single Where the Leaves Come Falling Down.
*The first ever AFL garage sale was held in Melbourne last Sunday, attracting hundreds of football enthusiasts. Items including jumpers, footballs, medals, photos, cards, and other football memorabilia, were sold at the stalls or by auction. The highest priced item sold was a Big V jumper previously worn by triple Brownlow medallist Bob Skilton, which was sold at auction for A$1500. Proceeds from the sale would go to the Variety Club of Australia and AFL Past Players Association.
*The Roy Morgan Poll mentioned in Lisa’s latest report, which reveals Sydney as Australia’s most-supported AFL team with more than 1 million fans (you got to be kidding), has also revealed an estimated 49 per cent of Australians supporting an AFL team, compared with about 40 per cent supporting a National Rugby League team.

General silliness
*North Melbourne star Glenn Archer was in Canberra this week umpiring a tournament named after himself when a brash youngster approached the rugged defender.
“Why is it called the Glenn Archer Cup?” the youngster casually enquired. “I don’t even know who you are.”
Roos officials are still laughing at the expression left on Archer’s face.
*While closing an interview with St Kilda president Rob Butterss on Wednesday night regarding the Saints training at Monash University (see story above), David Hookes, co-host of 3AW Sports Today program, threw in a little story about an adventure he and Monash vice-chancellor shared years ago in France. Hookes mentioned something about too much to drink and something about stolen mopeds. Dare to say Professor Robinson may face practical jokes from his staff or students as a result.
*The host of Channel Nine program This is Your Life (which honors famous Australians), Mike Munro, has caused groans of anguish from the Bomber-strong audience when coach Kevin Sheedy was honored by a special filming of the program at Nine’s Melbourne studios last Tuesday night. When Munro introduced Sheedy at the start of the show, to be screened during grand final week in September (still three months away, mind you), he listed his great success at Essendon, including four premierships ... “with a chance for a fifth on Saturday”. Well, should Sheedy’s men dip out again on preliminary final day (or, heaven forbid, before then) - editors will simply cut out the “with a chance for a fifth on Saturday” bit and nobody will know the difference. The night was a big success though, with many of Sheedy’s friends and foes from a lifetime of footy, including almost all of the 2001 senior Essendon team, arriving on stage after the Great Man was surprised at his home earlier.

Footy Show in London a great success
After a false start four years ago, the ever-popular Footy Show had held a special edition at the famous Theatre Royal in London’s West End. The show was a big success, with the four tiers of the theatre filled by 2000 screaming fans, most of who are expatriate Aussies. It was estimated to have cost A$500,000 to stage the extravaganza, in which Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell performed her latest single “The Raining Man” dressed in a Collingwood jumper cut at the tummy, and Dannii Minogue, younger sister of Kylie, also sang.
Other highlights of the show included:
*interviews with Australian cricketers Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Damien Fleming.
*interviews with Australian tennis stars Andrew Ilie and Pat Cash.
*brief interview with England cricket great Ian Botham on the upcoming Ashes series.
*a visit to Clapham Common to see a match between the Australian All Stars and the British Bulldogs, a country-of-origin match between the Aussies and the locals who play each week in the British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL).
*a Street Talk segment outside Buckingham Palace, in which an Aussie female tourist flashed her breast after request from Sam Newman!
Eddie McGuire, Sam Newman and Trevor Marmalade took up their usual positions, with Garry Lyon, Bill Brownless and Australian cricketer (and St Kilda fan) Shane Warne on the panel.
The program was most watched program in Melbourne last week, averaging 776,750 during the first hour. It attracted a peak rating of 34 (an audience of 833,000) at 9.45pm after the Geri Halliwell performance. It will surely feature in Melbourne’s ten most-watched program list.

Ashes cricket coverage
A note on ABC Radio’s coverage of the upcoming cricket test series between England and Australia. I had told you during the one-day series (which Australia won) that the ABC might drop some AFL matches on Saturday nights in order to cater for cricket, however it was proven to be wrong, with fans able to hear football on the net. I believe the coverage of the five tests, with the first one due to start at Birmingham on Thursday, July 5, should have minimal effect on the ABC’s football coverage. Nevertheless, it is essential to visit the ABC’s football website (www.abc.net.au/afl) on Wednesdays and click on “broadcast matches” to check the matches to be covered by ABC Radio.

Finally, American freelance journalist Dann Halem told his website readers last week how much he liked Aussie rules and that it was “far superior” than American football. In fact, Halem, who writes a column on slate.msn website, is such a rap for Aussie rules that he bemoans the fact that a TV mogul has not recognised the game’s potential, jumped on the bandwagon and telecast more of it to US audiences (a fact that will be on the mind of every Aussie rules fan in North America – Johnson).
Halem wrote last week that Americans never warmed to games such as cricket or squash, not least, he said, because they are too complicated and not violent enough.
To support his argument about plenty of action, Halem talked about the round 10 of AFL matches, in which Brisbane Lions beat Essendon 15.12.102 to 10.14.74, and Carlton thrashed West Coast by almost 20 goals, 21.23.149 to 3.12.30, in a game that included 70 tackles, almost 400 kicks and goals by 12 different players. “Plus – and this should put NFL kickers to shame,” said Halem, “seven of those goals came from distances between 40 and 50 metres.” Halem also went on to explain the rules of the game, which he insisted “aren’t as confusing as you might think.”

That’s all for today. See you soon.

Regards,