What A BIG Week It Has Been In Football

G'Day Footy Fans -

TWO SAINTS ACCUSED OF ASSAULT
NOTE: before getting to the story itself, we at AFANA have had to modify certain words and use phrasing in such a way that certain words are not picked up by unscrupulous website raiders who then inundate our website mailbox with extremely graphic, unsavory, disgusting, and inappropriate junk mail - Lisa

St Kilda footballers Leigh Montagna and Stephen Milne are under investigation by Victoria Police over allegations of adult assault on two women. The Brighton CIB is investigating claims by two women that they were assaulted by the pair at the home of one of the players last weekend. The police investigation was revealed by St Kilda chief executive Brian Waldron at a media conference at Moorabbin on Tuesday. Waldron said that the allegations are of a serious adult nature, but that no charges have been laid against either player. He said it's not known how long the police investigation may take.
Waldron stressed that both Milne and Montagna have fully cooperated with the police and have made full statements. The pair have denied the allegations.
Waldron would not comment on whether the two women had claimed they were totally violated, but did say the allegations were of a "serious s-xual nature". Despite the gravity of the allegations, Waldron said the club would back its players because they had to be presumed innocent, given that the matter was still under investigation.
St Kilda has informed the AFL of the allegations and has undertaken to keep the AFL updated on any further information. The AFL has honored the police request not to conduct an investigation of its own until the police finish theirs.
Still celebrating the Saints preseason premiership, Milne and Montagna had received a text message from the women, who picked them up at a bayside hotel and drove them to Montagna's home on Sunday night, according to St Kilda officials.
On Monday, both women alleged they had been assaulted by the two players. One of the women, according to the club, was known to at least one of the two players.
Police raided the home shortly after midnight and the players were interviewed by police. Coach Grant Thomas was then called and he also interviewed the players several hours after the police interrogation.
Thomas denied reports that he told the pair he would sack them if he discovered they had lied to him. Club president Ron Butterss conducted his own interrogation of the players about 3am. Queen's counsel David Grace, who has been hired by the club to represent the pair, arrived to question Milne and Montagna at 4am.
It is understood the club was confident of the players' innocence after their stories proved consistent in four separate sets of questioning. Milne, 24 and Montagna, 20, spent several hours undergoing counselling at the home of Ron Butterss.
Teammate Justin Koschitzke, who shares a house with Montagna and was incorrectly named by Channel Seven as being part of the police investigation, was also being counselled. Despite an apology to Koschitzke and a retraction by the network, St Kilda officials said the club would take legal action against the journalist who named the player and the network.

The timing of the allegations could not have been worse for the AFL, coming after repeated statements by league chief executive Andrew Demetriou that Australian rules does not deserve to be tarnished by the assault allegations surrounding rugby league clubs Canterbury Bulldogs and Melbourne Storm.
The allegations against the St Kilda players also came on the same day that the SBS Insight program featured unrelated claims by an unnamed woman that a prominent AFL player took part in a gang r-pe on her several years ago, and on the eve of the AFL's official launch of a season in which it has vowed to welcome more women to the game.

St Kilda players had been recently counselled on the issues raised by the gang assault allegations against the Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league players.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he was disappointed by the allegations and that being a footballer didn't excuse any individual from abiding by the law.
Demetriou said AFL clubs had used the recent rugby league scandal as an opportunity to remind players of their responsibilities.

Once the initial storm blew over, it was back to business as usual for the club.
Milne and Montagna trained with the Saints on Wednesday afternoon, with coach Grant Thomas stating the club was coping well under difficult circumstances. He said it was important for the two players to join their teammates at training so as not to feel ostracized and to feel a part of the club. He said both were receiving great support from their teammates.
Thomas spent much of the first 24 hours after the incident with the pair and said they had been ‘very distressed' since it was revealed they were the subject of a police investigation.
Thomas hosted a barbecue for the entire St Kilda list at his house on Tuesday night, an event that left him feeling that the club was united and determined to move on from the controversy.
While at pains not to downplay the serious nature of the allegations, Thomas said the episode had the potential to further solidify the playing group.
Thomas admitted he was relieved that the season wasn't starting this weekend and said that Milne and Montagna would have been doubtful to play, given the stress they've been under.
The club has also received strong encouragement from its supporters and sponsors in the wake of the controversy. Within 2 days of going public with the allegations, the club sold 700 memberships, boosting that figure to over 22,000 with the 2004 target at 28,000.
And the club's sponsors - Mortgage House, Crazy John's, Piping Hot, and Meneres - are sticking by the club.

One side effect of the allegations against Milne and Montagna, is that many of the other Melbourne clubs scheduled team meetings to again remind players of their off-field responsibilities.
All clubs hold such meetings at least once a year, usually in conjunction with the AFL and the AFL Players Association, but several also held extraordinary meetings in recent weeks in the wake of the allegations against six Canterbury Bulldogs players.
Hawthorn CEO Steven Leighton addressed the Hawk players in a lecture concerning conduct issues, warning the players of the pitfalls they can face, and reminding them of the need to conduct themselves responsibly and intelligently in their off-field activities.
Hawthorn football manager John Hook said the club took such matters extremely seriously and, as with all other clubs, held yearly programs tackling a broad range of issues including s-xual behavior, and racial and religious vilification.
But Hook, as with several club representatives, said the clubs could do only so much to educate players, and that at the end of the day, the buck stopped with the players.
Collingwood player development manager Derek Hine said the club included every new player in its annual program, which had a follow-up after two years. The program involves the police and covers dealing with women in a social environment, and issues such as recreational drugs, avoiding confrontation, harassment, and stalking.
When the St Kilda incident came to light on Tuesday, 15 Collingwood players were participating in the social awareness workshop. One of the players, halfway through the workshop, received a text message from a friend telling him of the trouble at St. Kilda.
He said clubs needed to take such matters seriously because not only did they affect the victims and players, but had ramifications for "sponsorships, clubs, families".
Richmond player welfare manager Dale Weightman said the Tigers had already tackled the s-xual conduct issue this year. It had gone back to the players in light of the Canterbury scandal and had done so again already this week in light of the St Kilda matter.
Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson said the club addressed this issue annually in conjunction with the AFL and the players' association as part of its annual counselling of players.
Each year, the AFL and AFLPA hold a two day seminar for the new draftees which covers topics ranging from alcohol, drugs, conduct, social responsibility, etc. Many clubs also constantly warn players of the social hazards they may face when out late at night.

And another report of misconduct surfaced later in the week. Apparently, Port's Peter Burgoyne and former Brisbane Lion Adam Heuskes (now playing in the SANFL) paid a woman $200,000 in 2002 as a settlement against her accusations of r-pe, which allegedly occurred in 2000. A current Swan player - not named by Sydney but later revealed to have been Michael O'Loughlin - also contributed to the payout.
Apparently, both Heuskes and Burgoyne faced charges in magistrates' court, but they were dropped by the South Australian Director of Public Prosecutions, who determined there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction on any criminal charge".
The woman subsequently took civil action against the players and sought a financial settlement, which was paid by the players, not the clubs.
Port CEO Brian Cunningham said that the basis of the monetary settlement was that "all three players denied the allegations and the woman accepted that the settlement was not an admission of liability".
No findings surfaced in a civil action, but Cunningham said a woman allegedly involved in the incident sent a letter of demand, seeking a financial settlement.
The payout was revealed in The Sunday Age two weeks ago, before the scandal involving Milne and Montagna surfaced. The Sunday Age report, which was primarily about gang assault allegations in rugby league, did not name the players.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he was unaware of the payment.
Late in the week, both Brisbane and Sydney issued statements regarding Heuskes' and O'Loughlin's involvement in the Burgoyne settlement. Brisbane stated Heuskes was not at the club at the tine of the 2000 incident, nor was it party to any payments made.
Sydney officials, who refused to name O'Loughlin out of respect for privacy, stated that he player was no way involved in the Port incident nor was he ever investigated or questioned by police. A later report did state he was present either during or shortly before the incident.
O'Loughlin later issued a statement saying that he remained anonymous in order to spare his family the trauma and humiliation of defending his innocence. He was also bound by a confidentiality agreement. The woman involved also signed a statement at the time exonerating O'Loughlin of any involvement.

The details of the payment emerged as the AFL and its captains launched a spirited defence of the game and its players.
Demetriou said that while there were times individual footballers would "transgress", he believed the bulk of the 640 AFL players were "outstanding community leaders".
His thoughts were echoed by club captains, including Collingwood skipper Nathan Buckley, who felt he "owed" football for instilling an ability to make socially responsible decisions.
Demetriou said he was convinced female football supporters would not turn away from the game, and said the AFL's image remained good.
Demetriou named James Hird, Michael Voss and Nathan Buckley as "outstanding leaders in this community".
Buckley said he had made more right decisions than wrong because of football. He believes the discipline instilled in him as a footballer has been beneficial in other areas of his life.
He defended the players, saying most respected women but the small minority who transgressed should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Geelong captain Steven King said he would again address his players on the dangers of off-field indiscretions, while the Kangaroos were again lectured by Victorian Police on their social responsibilities.

And two prominent organizations against s-xual assault have written to the AFL to offer their support in devising a code of conduct to educate and provide guidelines for players about the treatment of women.
Marg D'Arcy, manager of the Centre Against S. Assault at the Royal Women's Hospital, said CASA and Men Against S. Assault had both written to the league to offer their help in the wake of the scandals.
D'Arcy was optimistic AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou would accept their offer and take a pro-active approach.
D'Arcy said the AFL should tackle the issue of the treatment of women in as vigorous a manner as the way it transformed the attitude towards racism within football. She said a code of conduct towards women was vital, with a set of guidelines needed that would provide clubs and players with procedures for players accused of assault, what is appropriate behavior rather than adopting a mentality of avoiding being caught, and working to reduce "the whole thing of treating women disrespectfully".
Sarah Vessali, principal lawyer with the Women's Legal Service Victoria, said it had been disturbing that much of the focus had been on the fact footballers had been involved, rather than the actual issue of assault itself being discussed.
She also supported the idea of a code of conduct, done in tandem with an education program, and encouraged clubs not to cover up such unacceptable behavior.
Vanessa Swan, chairwoman of the National Association of Services Against S. Violence, would not comment on whether Port Adelaide or the league should stand Peter Burgoyne down given the claims made against him. But she said the AFL needed to form clear policies stating what was and was not acceptable behavior, and what the punishment for any transgression would be.
She said the league had before it a "fantastic opportunity" to encourage its players to pursue "equitable relationships with women," in and outside football clubs, rather than simply understand what they could and could not get away with.
She said it was important for clubs not to just warn players about going out late at night, but to provide training and education regarding their conduct and relationships with women.
She believes the issue goes beyond just players, rather extending to commentators and officials as well. She said in areas where the male culture dominates - such as football clubs and the like - there is greater responsibility to act appropriately.

GENERAL NEWS

Sledging Crackdown
As a result of a remark made by Saint Stephen Powell to felled Cat Cameron Ling during the Wizard GF, the AFL has decided to try and put a stop to verbal abuse of players by players.
During the game, television viewers heard Powell taunt Ling, who had been felled at the opening bounce. The microphone worn by the umpires picked up Powell saying to the wounded Ling: "You got what you deserved, you red-headed c---."
Ling left the field minutes later under the blood rule and Saint Brent Guerra was later booked on video evidence for rough play.
Operations manager Adrian Anderson wrote to all clubs, warning that verbal abuse of an opposition player could result in a a free kick, or in extreme circumstances, a report.
He also contacted AFLPA CEO Rob Kerr about the tougher interpretation of the rules.
Over the past four years, the AFL has applied "zero tolerance" to verbal abuse of umpires. The number of incidents involving players sledging umpires has dwindled to the point that no reports have been laid for the charge in the past two years. Now the league wants to implement that policy for players as well.
A communications system that allows the field umpires to speak to each other during play has the benefit of allowing broadcasters to feed the audio into living rooms across Australia. The system, maintained by a company directed by former Demon Matthew Febey, was used during last year's final series and in the Wizard Cup.
While the AFL views the system as an excellent coaching aid for umpires and a useful tool for allowing fans to understand decisions, it concedes the system also allows abusive language from players to be broadcast.
Anderson said players need to be aware that their comments can be picked up by the miked worn by umpires.
The technology will not be used in all games.
Channel Nine will use the equipment for its Friday night broadcast and Channel Ten is expected to use the system for Saturday night broadcasts. Foxtel may use it for one Sunday afternoon game, leaving potentially five games a week free of audio from the umpires.
The sledging crackdown has already come under fire from several sectors. Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley says players should not be blamed for on-field sledges inadvertently broadcast during the telecast of matches.
Buckley said audio from umpires' microphones should be delayed by AFL broadcasters to prevent the airing of expletives from players. He said the broadcasters could then play back anything they might think would be interesting to viewers.
Buckley said players should not be penalized for doing what they do, that curbing emotions during a game was impossible, and that the responsibility of what might be heard over the microphones, which are not put on the umpires by the players and not there for the players' benefit, lies with the AFL and the broadcasters. Buckley summed up the old adage of "what happens on the field stays on the field" saying that emotions run high, players become very competitive and combative, and say things that should stay on the field.
Buckley took the issue to the AFLPA meeting last week.
Bulldog Coach Peter Rohde said it was impossible to stop players from swearing on the field, and echoed Buckley's opinion that it was the responsibility of the AFL to manage the miking of umpires.
Rhode was quoted in the Melbourne Age saying, "There's no doubt the boundaries have shifted a little bit with microphones on umpires. I don't think there's been an expectation that those microphones would be used to monitor what players are saying to one another."
"The AFL need to consider whether that sort of stuff is allowed to go to air and if it's going to be allowed to go to air then they have to control it in some way. There's a fair bit said out on the footy ground that you wouldn't want repeated in your lounge room at home," he said.
Of Powell's clash with Ling, Rohde said: "It's almost impossible to expect after that sort of collision that there's not going to be words said and that people are not going to swear. It's been going on for a long, long time and for the AFL to come out and say that it won't happen from now on is pretty unrealistic, in fact, impossible."
Association chief executive Rob Kerr shared the view that concern over abusive language had come about only because of the microphones. He shared Buckley's view that it was the responsibility of those in charge of broadcasts over what gets aired. He said it was unrealistic to expect the players to be aggressive and play to win and not verbally express frustration.
Collingwood president and Channel Nine broadcaster Eddie McGuire said his network - which has used umpire microphones for three years and has an audio technician to edit the feed - understood it was intruding into footballers' workplace. He shared the sentiments of Buckley and Kerr that the nature of the game made the utterance of expletives hard to stop. But he countered that opinion also by saying it would be a positive for the league if bad behavior could be stamped out.
Former Collingwood coach and premiership captain Tony Shaw was less gratuitous, calling the crackdown "embarrassing, ridiculous", and a move that would make the league and the game a "laughing stock".
Shaw, one of football's best-known "sledgers" during his 313-game career, was stunned when told of the likelihood players would concede free kicks and in extreme cases face report for directing expletive-laden abuse at their opponents on the field.
He said if broadcasters couldn't edit what is being heard, it should be gotten rid of. He also pointed out that primary school kids are already swearing out on the playgrounds.

AFL umpires boss Jeff Gieschen has put all players on notice saying late contact in marking contests will not be tolerated this coming season.
As part of their consultations with the 16 clubs to clarify rule changes this year, Gieschen and Rowan Sawers showed players a 20 minute video highlighting how the umpires will interpret several areas this season including marking contests, holding the ball, high contact, ruck, contests and the often contentious deliberate out-of-bounds rule.
While there are no specific rule changes involved, the video leaves the players in no doubt about what is and is not acceptable and Gieschen has vowed these interpretations will not change throughout the season.
And players have certainly been warned that once a player has taken a mark he will be protected.
Gieschen said if a player decided, for example, to drop his knees onto a player that had marked and was lying on the ground it would result in a 50 metre penalty and a possible report.
And he again reiterated the different interpretation that applied for the deliberate out of bounds last year would again apply in 2004.
And that is players can still be penalized for deliberate out of bounds even if their kick or handball travels forward – if the umpire believes the players' sole intention was to put the ball out of play.
Gieschen said the determining factors in such cases would be the force of the players' kick or handball – for example if the ball just dribbled over the boundary line it is less likely it would be ruled deliberate as opposed to if it virtually went over on the full – and whether the player had a teammate nearby and may have instead been trying to handball to him rather than going straight for the boundary line.
And players have also been warned the league will not tolerate time-wasting.
This will not only result in free-kicks being paid for players who kick the ball after it has already been ruled out of play – such as at a boundary throw-in – but for the first time also for players who continue to ignore the instructions of the umpires.
An example of this could be a player losing the ball when lining up for goal if they continually refuse to be put on the correct angle by the umpire after marking.
The umpiring department has also announced several minor rule changes for the upcoming season with the most important being a change to the play-on law.
Under this new rule, any player that takes immediate possession of the ball after what is deemed a poor field bounce by the umpire will not be ruled to have had "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball, if he is then immediately tackled.
Under the previous rule a player could be penalized for holding the ball in such a situation, in much the same way ruckmen are penalized for holding the ball if they grab the ball out of a ruck contest and then are immediately tackled and do not dispose of the ball.
The other significant rule change is the decision to extend the centre square from the previous 45 metres long and 45 metres wide to 50 metres long and 50 metres wide.
This follows a successful trial of the larger centre square in last year's Wizard Cup.
However none of the trial rules from this year's Wizard Cup have been introduced into the home and away matches for the coming season.
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Sawers also clarified why Saint rover Leigh Montagna and not Aaron Hamill had the controversial shot at goal during the final quarter of the Wizard grand final.
Sawers explain that because Montagna had not played on when Hamill was felled by Cat defender Tom Harley, the ball stayed with him because a 50-metre penalty brought the rover - and the Saints - closer to goal than awarding the ball to Hamill, who was about 30 metres out at the time.

New Faces For AFLPA
Sydney's Adam Goodes and Melbourne's Alistair Nicholson have joined the committee of the AFL Players' Association, replacing James Hird who did not stand for re-election, and Andrew Leoncelli, who resigned from the vice presidency and the committee in December 2003. Leoncelli retired from footy midseason last year.
Peter Bell was re-elected as AFLPA president at the Annual General Meeting on Thursday. He welcomed the election of Goodes and Nicholson to the committee.
Both players have been involved in the AFLPA as delegates at their respective clubs. Alistair is also a member of the AFLPA's Education and Training Working Party.
Richard Champion was re-elected as the past player representative on the committee. The position of vice president will be decided at the next committee meeting.
The AFLPA Committee: Peter Bell (FRE) – President; Michael Voss (BRIS); Darryl Wakelin (PA); Nathan Buckley (COL); Nigel Smart (ADE); Glenn Archer (KANG); Adam Goodes (SYD); Alistair Nicholson (MELB); Simon Garlick (WB); Richard Champion – Past Player Representative

AFL 2004 Captains' Survey
The AFL again posed several questions to all the club captains as part of its promotional launch of the new season.
Overwhelmingly, the view of the game's on-field leaders is that the Brisbane Lions, Essendon, Port Adelaide and Fremantle will set the pace on the field this year but the captains are divided when it comes to nominating the stand-out individuals.
All answers were anonymous. The questions were:
Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight?
Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final?
Who do you think will win the 2004 Coleman Medal?
Who do you think will win the 2004 National Rising Star?
Who do you think will win the 2004 Brownlow Medal?

Port Adelaide, Essendon and the Brisbane Lions all received a maximum possible 15 nominations from the other captains as clubs that can make the final eight this year while the Lions received eight nominations as a potential Grand Finalist.

Essendon and Port Adelaide received three nominations each as a likely Grand Finalist.

All but two other captains in the competition believe that Fremantle can make the finals again this year after their debut appearance in 2003 while the Dockers and Sydney also received nominations to reach this year's Grand Final.

Essendon's Matthew Lloyd was nominated by 11 captains to win his fourth Coleman Medal while Western Bulldogs youngster Adam Cooney received seven votes as a likely winner of the Rising Star, the only player to draw more than one vote.

Last year, three captains correctly nominated Nathan Buckley or Mark Ricciuto to win the Brownlow Medal and, this year, Ben Cousins led the way with four votes as a possible Brownlow Medallist.

The full voting was:
Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight?
(16 times seven selections) Adelaide (seven), Brisbane Lions (15), Carlton (one), Collingwood (nine), Essendon (15), Fremantle (13), Geelong (one), Hawthorn (three), Kangaroos (one), Melbourne (one), Port Adelaide (15), Richmond (two), Sydney (six), St Kilda (11), West Coast (11), Western Bulldogs (one).

Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final?
Brisbane Lions (eight), Port Adelaide (three), Essendon (three), Fremantle (one), Sydney (one).

Who do you think will win the 2004 Coleman Medal?
Matthew Lloyd, Essendon (13), Barry Hall, Sydney (two), Fraser Gehrig, St Kilda (one).

Who do you think will win the 2004 National Rising Star?
Adam Cooney, Western Bulldogs (seven), Jared Brennan, Brisbane Lions (one), Andrew Browne, Fremantle (one), Raphael Clarke, St Kilda (one), Ryley Dunn, Fremantle (one), Aaron Davey, Melbourne (one), Brent Reilly, Adelaide (one), Kane Tenace, Geelong (one), Steven Salopek, Port Adelaide (one), Jason Winderlich, Essendon (one).

Who do you think will win the 2004 Brownlow Medal?
Ben Cousins, West Coast (four), Nathan Buckley, Collingwood (two), Shane Crawford, Hawthorn (one), Shannon Grant, Kangaroos (one), Lenny Hayes, St Kilda (one), James Hird, Essendon (one), Travis Johnstone, Melbourne (one), Nigel Lappin, Brisbane Lions (one), Andrew McLeod, Adelaide (one), Robert Murphy, Western Bulldogs (one), Matthew Pavlich, Fremantle (one), Matthew Scarlett, Geelong (one)

Fraser Promoted
Mark Fraser's progression from AFL player to umpire continued last week, when he was named as an umpiring "rookie".
Fraser, the former Essendon and Collingwood player, was one of eight new field umpires on trial during the recent Wizard Cup.
He was not added to the senior panel of 32 umpires, but could be upgraded during the season should another umpire retire or be hit by serious injury.
The four new umpires this year will be Victorian pair Matt Stevic and Simon Meredith, Queenslander Adam Davis and Stefan Grunn, from South Australia.
Fraser began training for an umpiring career four years ago.
NOTE: It can take 7-10 years for an umpire to progress through the ranks to AFL level - Lisa

Decision Close On Tribunal TV
Pay-TV station Foxtel has been pushing to broadcast the weekly hearings this season and while the league's consultation with the AFLPA uncovered widespread opposition to the broadcasts, the league looks set to push ahead with the plan.
The league's general manager of broadcasting, Ben Buckley, said that consultations with interested parties such as the tribunal members, umpires, players and broadcasters were now complete.
Many club captains, including Docker and AFLPA president Peter Bell, staunchly opposed the proposal, believing the telecasts would add extra pressure to players already in the spotlight.
Last month, the head of Fox Footy, Rick McKenna, said his station would not force the issue thorugh unless everyone involved was happy.
But Ben Buckley last week said if the AFL believed it was good for the game, the plan would proceed despite player reservations. Buckley said the league was looking for player feedback, not approval.
Peter Bell, speaking on behalf of the players, said the having to appear before the Tribunal was intimidating enough without the added pressure of others watching what was happening.
Hawthorn skipper Shane Crawford believes 80 per cent of footballers are against tribunal telecasts, but he is convinced the proposal will be pushed through. He believes "in for a penny, in for a pound" as far as the telecasts are concerned - show everything, including the panel's discussion before rendering a decision.
Port captain Matt Primus said it could be especially unnerving for young players having to deal with the extra media attention along with the reporters, umpires giving testimony, etc.
Kangaroos captain Adam Simpson said there was enough pressure on players at the tribunal without the extra burden.
West Coast captain Ben Cousins said the telecasts would take "the focus away from actually playing the game.
Tiger captain Wayne Campbell is one not in favor of the idea. He said he could see no positives coming out of it, except for the broadcasters. He also believes it would not be good for the image of the game.

Derek Kickett Joins AFL KickStart
Derek Kickett has been appointed the Victorian AFL KickStart development officer.
A first for Victoria, Kickett's appointment is part the AFL KickStart program's national expansion. In the past six months AFL KickStart activities have expanded to Sydney and Adelaide. Kickett, who played 157 VFL/AFL games between 1989-1996 for North Melbourne, Essendon and Sydney, will be working from the Football Victoria office.
Speaking at AFL KickStart Indigenous Football Forum in Melbourne today, the Chairman of the AFL Indigenous Football Foundation Michael Long said AFL KickStart's expansion will shift the program's focus from northern Australia to metropolitan and regional Australia.
AFL KickStart was implemented in 1997 for Indigenous Australian children living in remote communities across northern Australia. The mission of the AFL KickStart program is to enhance the life skills of Indigenous Australians and increase participation in sport through the AFL game. The program involves a number of development officers conducting sporting clinics, also delivers a number of important health and safety messages.
The AFL is supported financially by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), the state governments in Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland as well as the Australian Sports Commission.

Status Quo On Rules
AFL Operations Manager Adrian Anderson met with the 16 club coaches and football managers last week for the annual discussion of the Wizard Rules. First up, he announced that the contentious and unpopular 5 message limit would be completely scrapped.
Anderson said the meeting had been extremely productive.
The other trial rules were all discussed extensively to see if any particular rule needed modification to work better. A number of ideas were discussed and will be considered, including a suggestion that if any player who marks from inside 50 metres now having the option of moving the mark back to the 50-metre arc, so as to take a nine-point shot for goal.
Any final decision will be made later in the year.
No New rules will be introduced this year, despite unanimous support for umpires to throw the ball up at stoppages rather than bounce it.
After the conference, AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said the ‘throw-up' will be reviewed for next season.
He stressed that the bounce would remain for this season and whatever the outcome of the review, throwing the ball up would only apply 'around the ground', as occurred during the recent Wizard Cup.
Collingwood football operations manager Neil Balme is one who believes that the bounce could be on the way out. However, he concedes that it's a unique part of Australian football and doing away with it will take a lot of thought. Balme said the main concern with the bounce is how long it takes.
Hawthorn coach Peter Schwab said coaches would be happy for the ball to be thrown up at stoppages, because it kept matches moving and limited the risk of umpires colliding with players as they backed out after bouncing the ball.
According to Anderson, the coaches weren't in favor of many of the other initiatives brought in for the preseason. Opinion was divided on the play-on rule when a mark is taken from a kick backwards to a teammate. The rule will be tried again next year.
Some coaches view kicking backwards as a defensive play and should not be interfered with. Others believe it has the potential to create more flooding.
The expanded centre circle will also be examined during next year's preseason competition.
Schwab said the coaches were also satisfied with the rule that allowed ruckmen to contest each centre bounce with no other player permitted within a 10-metre circle, but needed to evaluate it after another preseason before deciding whether to push for it to be applied full-time. He conceded it did lower the risk of contact knee injuries to the ruckmen and created less congestion around the center bounce.
Anderson also indicated that the league would approach all broadcasters regarding audible obscenities picked up from umpires wearing microphones. He said the league was keen for umpires to continue wearing microphones throughout the preseason matches, because it offered a valuable insight into their work, helped fans and broadcasters better understand umpire decisions, and also kept them honest.
AFL Tribunal Chairman Brian Collis also addressed the meeting and re-stated the preseason announcement that any off-the ball incidents would result in stiffer penalties from the panel, compared with the 2003 season.
Another topic raised at the meeting by Andrew Demetriou was the use of recreational drugs by players. He received a 3 month report from the ASDA last week which revealed that
positive tests were returned for less than 2-3% of players tested.
Demetriou raised the topic in the context of a discussion regarding players' off-field behavior. No player has tested positive to performance-enhancing drugs since a new testing program was begun in 2002.
AFLPA CEO Rob Kerr said he had held discussions about the most recent test results and he would review the association's anti-drug program. Kerr said that no player who tested positive to recreational drugs could be identified under the AFL's agreement with the ASDA.
The testing program was implemented as the result of an AFL forum on drug use among footballers. The forum followed claims two years ago by retired Sydney Swan Dale Lewis that recreational drug use was rife among league players.

More AFL Players For Auskick
AFL players will have a greater presence in community development programs in 2004 than in any previous year.
In a new initiative, the AFL announced that every player from the 10 Victorian clubs will be assigned to a metropolitan AFL Auskick center that they will attend during the season. Participants at centers in country Victoria are anticipated to get the chance to meet AFL Players through primary school visits.
The greater involvement of the players is part of the AFL's recently announced strategic plan to develop a greater link between the elite level and community football.
There are 424 players (including rookies) on the 10 Victorian club lists and all will be visiting a metropolitan AFL Auskick centre in 2004.
In 2003, national AFL Auskick participation increased by 10 percent to more than 123,000 children. This represents 28 percent of the total Australian Football participants nationally. There are over 2000 AFL Auskick centers throughout the country. In Victoria, there are over 47,000 children aged 5-12 registered in more than 500 Auskick centers.
Each AFL Auskick participant receives a backpack with a football, cap, CD Rom, membership card, drink bottle and publications pack.
The new CBA provides for each player to undertake 21 half-days of promotional and development work – six of the half-days are being managed for Game Development purposes in secondary schools, primary schools, junior clubs, country regions, and Auskick centers.
Auskick, which also depends on numerous volunteers - usually parents of kids involved in the clinics - is sponsored by Simpson Home Appliances and the Australian Sports Commission. Auskick is a junior footy clinic program which teaches boys and girls the skills of the game. Former Hawk champ Robert DiPierdomenico has been the Auskick ambassador for the past several years, proving to be very popular with the kids he visits at schools and clinics across Australia.

AFL Profits Up
The AFL has pledged to chase more revenue in the future, after releasing its annual report last week, which showed 2003 to be of the most successful seasons in history.
Revenue, television ratings, and attendances were all strong last season and the league recorded a net surplus of $4.66 million in 2003.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou admitted the league faced a "great challenge" in following up the strength of 2003.
Figures in the annual report show that home-and-away attendances in 2003 were up by 4.1 per cent to 5.87 million. Combined with the finals series, 6.35 million people went to league football last year.
Earlier this year, when it released its three-year strategic plan, league chairman Ron Evans said the AFL was looking to double-digit growth in its revenue in coming years. Last year, revenue increased by 7 per cent, growing to $170.9 million from $159.7 in 2002.
With the league determined to cut costs at clubs, its own costs grew last year by 3 per cent to $50.9 million.
Still, the AFL had a record operating surplus of $114.7 million, an increase of $4.6 million, and returned almost $80 million to clubs.
The net surplus was $4.7 million, which exceeded the budgeted amount of $4.5 million.
The report reveals that the league used its operating surplus to make payments of $79.6 million to clubs, $16.5 million towards game development, $7.7 million to the AFLPA and $6.2 million in ground improvements.
The new media rights negotiations are expected to keep league officials busy for much of the next 2 years. The current rights expire at the end of 2006.
Ben Buckley said that while the television industry was known for its volatility, the existing broadcasters were pleased with the way AFL broadcasting was working for them and that he expected there to be significant interest in the next round of rights from ‘all sectors of the industry'.
The AFL expects to earn a similar amount, if not a little more, from the next round of negotiations.

Robert Walls' Top 20
He was a top player, coached 3 clubs, is a highly respected match commentator, and panelist on a footy chat show (On The Couch with Gerard Healy and Mike Sheahan). He is also a regular columnist for the Melbourne Age. Every year, he lists his top 20 players. So without further ado, here are the 20 he rates as the best of the best

Robert Walls
Melbourne Age
3/20/04
How fortunate the game is to have three men such as Michael Voss, Nathan Buckley and James Hird. Strength of character, courage, leadership, amazing talent and respect for the game - just some of the virtues that these three possess.
The top three of my list of 20 pick themselves.
The top 20 are predominantly seasoned veterans of the game. It shows you can't buy experience, and such is the toughness of the competition that kids can't step out of underage football and dominate.
Matthew Pavlich and Jonathan Brown are the youngest at 22. Both are entering their fifth seasons in the big time and both are monsters in the physical sense.
Reigning premiers Brisbane Lions boast five in the top 11. Only three of the top 20 didn't play finals football in 2003 (Shane Crawford, Matthew Scarlett and Robert Harvey).
Half the players would be considered key-position players and half running midfielders, although players such as Hird and Pavlich can do either. Seven are currently club captains and several (Pavlich, Warren Tredrea, Brown) will be in the future.
They are simply, the best of the best. Players have been selected on the basis that they are all fit and ready to go.

1. Michael Voss (Brisbane Lions)
The Brisbane captain is undoubtedly the best. Excels when the heat is on. Teammates and opponents look on in awe at his on-field physical presence. Plays with a touch of mongrel that neither Buckley or Hird have that makes him both feared and respected.

2. Nathan Buckley (Collingwood)
In the past decade, no player would have delivered to his club the amount of quality games that Buckley has provided to the Magpies. A class act on and off the field. Last year's Brownlow was well overdue. It's taken a while, but even his knockers now concede that he is a champion.

3. James Hird (Essendon)
Nobody has greater awareness on the field than Hird. Do yourself a favor and keep your eyes solely on him for a quarter. He constantly moves, assessing when to attack, drop back or tread water. Now as a veteran, he is totally team-oriented. May not play much longer so looks to gain the maximum from each outing.

4. Matthew Lloyd (Essendon)
In his prime years, the full-forward times his leads to perfection, hits the ball at full pace and marks strongly and cleanly. Accurate kicking tops his game off. Even on bad days, he manages to eke out two or three goals. Should forget trying to be a tough man as it isn't in his nature.

5. Warren Tredrea (Port Adelaide)
Consistently good key forwards are hard to find. Tredrea is one. Averaging nine marks and 2.5 goals a game from the toughest position on the field takes some beating. Throw in a strong physical presence and developing leadership qualities and you have a gun player.

6. Justin Leppitsch (Brisbane Lions)
The leader of the best, most experienced back line in the business is Leppitsch. Confident and attacking, he calls the shots. He knows when to close down on the key forwards and when to throw caution to the wind. Intimidation and bullying tactics come with the package that includes a lot of skill.

7. Adam Goodes (Sydney)
A super athlete and gifted footballer, he was given confidence and a licence to run by his new coach. End result - a 2003 Brownlow. When played as a ruckman, Goodes is too quick and mobile for his opponents. When played as a forward, he is too big for most defenders. The bonus is that we should enjoy many years of the big Swan taking advantage of his situation.

8. Nigel Lappin (Brisbane Lions)
The smartest player in the best team, and the highest possession getter (26 a game) is the modest Brisbane champion. Lappin doesn't get or seek the kudos that comes the way of Voss, Akermanis and Black, but, next to his captain, is the most important midfielder in the side.

9. Simon Black (Brisbane Lions)
Over the past three seasons, Black has earned three premiership medallions, one Brownlow Medal, one Norm Smith Medal, two club best-and-fairest awards and two All-Australian selections. In recent times, there would not have been a more decorated player. The bottom line, is that his sterling performances have justified all that he's got.

10. Shane Crawford (Hawthorn)
Super-fit, bouncy and at times brilliant, the Hawk captain is the smallest man in the top 10. Now recognized as one of the best captains in the AFL. With four club best-and-fairest awards over the past six seasons, he is the dominant player at his club.

11. Jonathan Brown (Brisbane Lions)
At just 22, the Lions' powerhouse centre half-forward already has three premiership medallions in the cupboard. Brown's capacity to deliver well on big occasions is what makes him such a valuable player. With scope to develop further and a preparedness to work hard, the sky is the limit for this young man.

12. Barry Hall (Sydney)
At age 26, Hall played his best season of football last year. So good was his season - 64 goals and sixth most marks in the AFL at an average of seven a game - Hall has to be considered the biggest improver in the competition. With his mobility, controlled menace and talents, he is now one of the best in the business.

13. Mark Ricciuto (Adelaide)
They don't come any tougher than the Crows captain. Respected throughout the competition for his unflinching attack on the ball and his tear-through style of play. Combine that with a sound football brain and super skills and the package becomes complete.

14. Mathew Scarlett (Geelong)
The present All-Australian full-back is a nightmare to play against. He embarrasses the best of full-forwards with his ability to shut them out of games, and then rubs salt into the wounds by winning plenty of ball himself to be the Cats' best rebounding defender.

15. Ben Cousins (West Coast)
Last season, the Eagles captain won his third successive club best and fairest by a mile. The 25-year-old is in his prime, and with his speed, skills and endurance, he looks set to lead one of the best emerging midfields in the AFL.

16. Mathew Pavlich (Fremantle)
Young, keen, powerful, talented and smart. There's not much this Docker doesn't have. Pavlich would be the most versatile player going around. He can dominate in any key position, can take a turn in the ruck and cover the ground with the best midfielders. Should be top three in years to come.

17. Gavin Wanganeen (Port Adelaide)
The 30-year old veteran is one of the game's most decorated players. Freed from captaincy responsibilities, Wanganeen is playing with the dash, flair and aerobatics of yesteryear. Last year, he was sensational at saving goals or setting them up. With 433 kicks, he was second only to Nathan Buckley.

18. Chris Tarrant (Collingwood)
The top marking player last season. A magnificent reader of the play, Tarrant times his leads to perfection and marks cleanly and strongly at full stretch. Took the mark of the year with a special at Telstra Dome, and with his long left boot nailed 54 goals to lead the Magpies' goalkicking list.

19. Robert Harvey (St Kilda)
Quite simply a class act. Takes the hits and never complains. Just keeps on accumulating possessions and delivering to advantage. Won this year's Michael Tuck Medal to add to his collection, and, more importantly, to put the footy world on notice that he is still at his best.

20. Peter Bell (Fremantle)
A little man with ordinary skills and appearance on the football field. That's where the ordinary ends - Bell is an extraordinary man. Clever, articulate and driven, he is the ideal role model for the young men he leads. His courage and never-say-die on-field approach has won the admiration of all football fans.

One More Run For Some
A number of Brisbane players were cleared by the AFL to play competitive football this weekend. Blake Caracella, Chris Johnson, Craig McRae, Brad Scott, and Aaron Shattock lined up for the Suncoast Lions in a practice match against AFL Queensland premiers Morningside at Coorparoo on Saturday afternoon. Suncoast has 10 Lions in all.
With no AFL practice matches permitted in the weekend before the home-and-away season kicks off, clubs are required to seek permission from the league for their players to take part in state league matches.
Carlton had 14 players, including Brendan Fevola, Anthony Franchina, and Andrew Walker lining up for the Northern Bullants.
Brownlow medallist Shane Woewodin, Alan Didak, and Simon Prestigiacomo were three of Collingwood's 10-strong contingent joining Williamstown on the weekend.
At Essendon, the return of Adam Ramanauskas from cancer treatment and Mark Alvey from a knee injury 12 months ago continued to gather pace, with the pair among seven Bombers playing with Bendigo.
The Saints had Barry Brooks, Raphael Clarke, Matthew Ferguson, Leigh Fisher, Josh Houlihan, Brett Moyle, Allan Murray, Justin Peckett, and Daniel Wulf - all who weren't in the club's preseason premiership-winning side of last Saturday - with Springvale. Leigh Montagna was another notable inclusion.
Sydney forward Michael O'Loughlin, who missed the preliminary final last year with a hamstring tear, headlined a list of a dozen Swans to have one final hit out before the season proper.
Bulldogs Steven Koops and Jordan McMahon had another run around before taking on the Eagles in the opening round.
Leigh Colbert, who ruptured his pancreas in a sickening collision in round 11 last year but miraculously came back nine weeks later, was the lone Kangaroo to run out with Port Melbourne.
With Geelong's VFL affiliate not scheduled to play this weekend, the Cats were the only club where the entire squad has the weekend off.

Full list - club by club
ADE - Nathan Bock, Matthew Bode, Ronnie Burns, James Gallagher, Luke Jericho, Chris Ladhams, Martin Mattner, Jacob Schuback, Hayden Skipworth, Jason Torney

BRIS - Jed Adcock, Blake Caracella, Chris Johnson, Joel McDonald, Dylan McLaren, Craig McRae, Matthew Moody, Michael Rischitelli, Brad Scott, Aaron Shattock
Michael Voss and Jonathan Brown were scheduled to play, but both were withdrawn. Voss was out due to his knee and Coach Leigh Matthews said he was still a chance to play in Round 1 provided he could put in a decent week of training.

CARL - Callan Beasy, Blake Campbell, Cameron Croad, Justin Davies, Brendan Fevola, Anthony Franchina, Luke Livingston, Jon McCormick, Cory McGrath, Ricky Mott, Karl Norman, Kade Simpson, Andrew Walker, Simon Wiggins

COL - Tom Davidson, Alan Didak, Brent Hall, Ben Kinnear, Mark McGough, Billy Morrison, Simon Prestigiacomo, Rhyce Shaw, Brayden Shaw, Shane Woewodin

ESS - Mark Alvey, Damian Cupido, Ben Haynes, Aaron Henneman, Mark McVeigh, Adam Ramanauskas, Joel Reynolds

FRE - Troy Cook, Ryan Crowley, Ben Cunningham, Brett Peake, Dion Woods

HAW - Luke Brennan, Rick Ladson, Michael Osborne

KANG - Leigh Colbert

MELB - Ben Holland, Mark Jamar, Guy Rigoni, Peter Vardy

PA - Cain Ackland, Dean Brogan, Stuart Dew, Brett Ebert, Damien Hardwick, Roger James, Jarrad Schofield, Toby Thurstans, Darryl Wakelin, Damon White

RICH - Bill Nicholls, Rory Hilton, Duncan Kellaway, Matthew Rogers, Brent Hartigan, Simon Fletcher

StK - Barry Brooks, Raphael Clarke, Matthew Ferguson, Leigh Fisher, Josh Houlihan, Justin Koschitzke, Leigh Montagna, Brett Moyle, Allan Murray, Justin Peckett, Daniel Wulf

SYD - Jason Ball, Matthew Davis, Sean Dempster, Stephen Doyle, Andrew Ericksen, Ben Mathews, Michael O'Loughlin, Mark Powell, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Tim Schmidt, Jarrad Sundqvist, Josh Thewlis

WCE - Zach Beeck, Sam Butler, Trent Carroll, Callum Chambers, Michael Collica, Michael Gardiner, Jaymie Graham, Daniel McConnell, Adam Selwood, Beau Waters

WB - Daniel Bandy, Scott Bassett, Steven Koops, Jordan McMahon

Rookies Eligible For Seniors
The league has nominated 4 rookies who will be eligible to play senior football this year.
Under AFL Rule 21.11, a club is eligible to nominate a rookie player if it has 38 players on its list (not including veteran players) and it satisfies the Total Player Payments requirements.
Collingwood -- Zane Leonard
Melbourne -- Aaron Davey
Sydney -- Aaron Rogers and Paul Bevan

TRIBUNAL
Brent Guerra's senior debut for St Kilda will be postponed until at least round four, after he was suspended for three matches for rough play.
Guerra was found guilty of making head high contact with Cat Cameron Ling.
The players collided on the centre circle of Telstra Dome, after Guerra ran into the square immediately after the opening bounce.
Guerra pleaded not guilty to the charge, saying he saw Ling in the square and thinking Ling had taken possession of the ball because "..he was on his way up", decided to lay the bump.
The tribunal found there was nothing untoward about Guerra's approach to Ling from about 25 metres away, but said Ling never gained possession of the ball.
Tribunal chairman Brian Collis described Guerra's bump to the head and body of Ling as ‘dangerous' and ‘reckless in all the circumstances' and stressed the importance of players being protected when contesting for the ball.
Collis described the three week ban as ‘minimal in the circumstances' and noted Guerra's previously unblemished record at the tribunal over a 65 match career.
Ling said he had suffered momentary memory loss after the incident, but told the tribunal he had suffered no lasting injury.
Umpire McLaren paid a free kick on the night and noted that Ling appeared dazed after subsequently kicking the ball into the man on the mark. The umpire said he did not see reason for laying a report until viewing the incident in its full context.

MILESTONES
The AFL presented Life Membership awards at last week's launch of the coming season. All players reaching the 300-game milestone this season received life membership.
Mark Bickley, Wayne Carey, umpire Darren Goldspink, Ben Hart, Robert Harvey, Peter Schwab, Nigel Smart, Anthony Stevens, and Mark Thompson all automatically qualified for life membership last year with a combination of 300 official matches in home and away games, state of origin matches, and international games. Carey, Smart and Hart were not be present to collect their awards in person, due to prior commitments.
Schwab and Thompson have notched up 300 combined games as players and coaches.

St Kilda great Neil Roberts, South Australian football administrator Leigh Whicker, and four-time Coleman Medallist Doug Wade were also awarded AFL life membership.
Richmond legend Tony Jewell was awarded the 2003 Jack Titus award for his outstanding service to football. A premiership player (1967) and coach (1980), Jewell recently lost his place on the Tigers board, but has been associated with the club for more than 30 years.
Roberts won the 1958 Brownlow Medal and was twice awarded the Saints best-and-fairest award. He captained the club between 1958 and 1962, and in 1961 led the side to its first finals series in 22 years.
One of the game's best-ever forwards, Wade was a premiership player for Geelong and North Melbourne, Wade is fourth on the all-time goal kicking list with a total of 1057 career majors. He was an inaugural inductee into the AFL's hall of fame in 1996 and topped the ton in the 1969 and 1974 seasons.
Whicker is the executive commissioner of the South Australian Football Commission and was rewarded for almost 40 years service as a football administrator.
An instrumental figure in the entry of Adelaide and Port Adelaide to the AFL competition, Whicker has been the general manager of the SANFL since 1984.

TEAM NEWS

COLLINGWOOD
Collingwood has signed Sony Australia as its major sponsor for the next two years, in a deal worth more than $1 million to the club.
According to Magpie president Eddie McGuire, the new alliance is one of the most important in the club's history, and will also revolutionize the way Collingwood will run its interchange bench.
Coach Mick Malthouse believes his side will gain an advantage over rival sides through the introduction of a computerized communication system between the coaches' box and the interchange bench.
Instead of the traditional magnetic whiteboard, football manager Neil Balme will use a laptop computer to monitor player movement and communicate tactics. The laptop will be linked to Malthouse's in the coaching box.
Malthouse said not only would the instant visual messaging save time, but using a computer diagram would cut out any confusion in what was required of a player. He said a player seeing an example of the instructions being given will be a huge advantage.
The ‘smart board' system has been trialled over the preseason and skipper Nathan Buckley said the majority of his teammates responded best to visual instructions. He said the team psychologist told him that 80% of the squad were visual learners.
Sony technology will also be installed throughout the club's new base at Olympic Park, which is still under construction.
The Sony deal replaces the sponsorship with Volvo that has needed to be terminated in order to clear the way for a much larger deal being brokered with Toyota and its premium brand Lexus. The Magpies are understood to be negotiating an eight-year deal with Lexus worth as much as $16 million that will figure in the club's relocation to Olympic Park.
According to industry sources, such a deal would be easily the largest sponsorship of its kind in the country. While the final figures involved in that deal are still being negotiated, sources said that it would eventually proceed and could be concluded within weeks.
For the biggest financial outlay on a single club in the country, though, Lexus is believed to have demanded exclusivity, a demand that has required Malthouse's existing Volvo deal and another club partnership with Renault to be brought to an end.
It is also likely to include prominent exposure for Lexus at Olympic Park although the Magpies have denied that they had concluded an Olympic Park naming-rights deal with Lexus, a plan that must first be agreed to by the Melbourne and Olympic Park Trust.
The club is still in negotiations with a number of organizations regarding naming rights at the new facilities. It would be no surprise, however, if the playing oval was named for club legend Bob Rose, who passed away last year from cancer.

Vice-captain James Clement has been cleared of any facial fractures but he will miss the season opener. The injury did cause bleeding in his eye, and Clement was ordered to rest until the end of the week, at which time the injury was reassessed. The club is uncertain at this time how long Clement will be out of action.
The Pies will be without all three vice-captains against the Tigers in Round 1 with Anthony Rocca (suspended) and Tarkyn Lockyer (foot) also certain to be sidelined.

ADELAIDE
Adelaide forward Ronnie Burns has been charged with drink-driving after crashing his car in the early hours of Sunday morning Burns' late-model, four-wheel-drive vehicle rolled over after striking a gutter near his home in the northwestern suburb of Tennyson.
It is believed he had been out celebrating his 31st birthday with friends after having played for Adelaide against Port Adelaide in a practice match at Kadina on Saturday.
Police attended the scene and it is believed Burns' breathalyzer reading was 0.129, more than twice the legal limit of .05.
Adelaide communications manager Matthew Robran said on Monday Burns ‘suffered no major injuries – just a few cuts and bruises', and ‘no-one else was involved in the accident'.
Burns' most serious injuries were a cut to his elbow and slight concussion.

The club's action was swift. They considered sacking Burns, but opted to fine the Crow forward $3500 and ordered him to have counselling.
John Reid, Adelaide's football manager, said Burns also would be fined $1500 "for each non-appearance at counselling sessions".
Club official John Reid said Burns has not demonstrated any drinking problem at the club, but said the incident was a drink-driving problem.
Reid said Burns is disappointed in himself and feeling a bit down.
Reid agreed with suggestions that Burns had been "a terrific role model" for Aborigines.

Injury Update:
Fergus Watts, groin, 2 weeks
Mark Stevens, knee, 3 weeks
Adam Parker, A/C joint, 3 weeks
Ben Rutten, foot, 3 weeks
Josh Krueger, back 4 weeks

ESSENDON
Injury Update:
Aaron Henneman, hamstring, 1 week
Courtney Johns, hip, 3 weeks
Mark Johnson, hamstring, 2 weeks
Mark McVeigh, hamstring, 1-2 weeks
Mark Mercuri, hamstring, 2 weeks
Dean Solomon, finger tendon, 4 weeks
Sean Wellman, foot, 3 weeks
Adrian Wilson, knee, indefinite

BRISBANE
The property development company QLD Group signed on to be the club's ball sponsor.
The booming property developer's distinctive logo will appear on the ball used by the Lions at their home games.
The QLD (pronounced Q-L-D and not Queensland) Group is built by Queenslanders for Queenslanders. It was established in 2003 by Director George Cheihk, and his partner is Con Bassili.
The company develops property from hundreds of acres of land to luxury apartments, and master-planned communities. The QLD Group is currently marketing developments in several locations around south east Queensland, most notably Collingwood Park, 28km west of Brisbane.
The QLD group is aiming to establish a reputation as a provider of quality, environmentally friendly, economical, cost effect products to the housing sector.
Fittingly, it was ace full forward Alastair Lynch who was present last week to launch the sponsorship.
Lynch joked that he hoped to see a lot of the logo in his hands during the season.

Coach Leigh Matthews has admitted he had reservations about preparing a corporate video in which he speaks openly about how he has handled sensitive in-house matters with the club.
The four-time premiership coach and architect of the Lions' hat-trick of flags showed the video to the players he mentioned in Coaching Corporate Australia - Team Building, which uses examples from Matthews' coaching experience as an instructional tool for business.
Matthews showed the video to players to ensure they had no problems with what was said about them.
In the video, Matthews details his 10 "building blocks" for a successful team and outlines his people-management philosophies. In the video, Matthews reveals:
- How he handled a Brisbane player who turned up to a recovery training session tipsy "a couple of years ago". Matthews asked the player - whom he didn't name - to devise his own punishment, which was to apologize to his teammates. In the end, Matthews said he apologized to the group on the player's behalf. The "under the weather" player was informed that if it happened again, he would "probably" be sacked.
- How he has warned the outspoken Akermanis, whom he defines for the business audience as a "high-performing individual", not to criticize opposition teams or players, or to divulge confidential team information.
- How he believes his bond with Collingwood players was damaged, perhaps irreparably, in a game following a thrashing by North Melbourne at Victoria Park in 1993 after which, he says, he tore strips off the Magpie players.
In the video, Matthews explains that his management style is now more positive and encouraging than it was earlier in his coaching career. He said harshly criticizing players is no longer a motivational tool and its no good being negative when a team is struggling as players are already down.
- How he had used his "tip of the iceberg theory" - that if he can spot a trend, there might be far more beneath the surface - to warn his players against arrogance following derogatory comments about Collingwood players by Akermanis, Jonathan Brown and Robert Copeland. The former pair questioned the courage of Magpie players following the 2003 grand final.
- How he had a respectful, but not overly friendly, relationship with former Hawthorn teammate Don Scott. Matthews used this as example of how one should "respect" workmates.
That coaches/business leaders should resist the urge to hone their players'/workers' faults, some of which can't be fixed.
Matthews endorses an "honesty with diplomacy" approach to dealings with player shortcomings.
That he has learnt not to be as defensive when he is criticized.
Interestingly, Matthews suggests in the video that he believes in appealing to the enlightened self-interest of players, rather than asking them to sacrifice. "Forget about sacrifice! It is more about individuals investing in the team cause in the belief that their individual needs will be met through team success."
Organizational psychologist Yvonne Willich, who helped put together the video with Matthews, said the Brisbane coach's self-taught "insights into people" would make him an excellent chief executive in business.
She said what set the coach apart was his capacity to critically analyze his own performance and methods. She believes CEOs could learn a lot from the master coach.

Shaun Hart, described by Coach Leigh Matthews as the most selfless footballer he has known, has been elevated to the Lions' leadership group.
Hart, 32, set for his 15th and probably last AFL campaign, will join Justin Leppitsch, Chris Scott, and Nigel Lappin as understudies to Michael Voss in the club's first leadership change since 2000. Hart replaces Darryl White, who stepped down after three years in the role.
White said he wanted to make way for a younger player, but Matthews opted for a player two years older and the second-oldest behind Alastair Lynch.
Hart, the 2001 Norm Smith medallist, was preferred to Brad Scott, Chris Johnson, and heir apparent to the captaincy Jonathan Brown.
The selection of Hart keeps with Matthews' preference for older players as leaders, and rewards the remarkable team-first qualities of the veteran.
Hart was an overwhelmingly popular choice when it was announced to the Lions players at training last week.

Michael Voss was the only absentee from the official launch of the season. As part of the launch, all the club captains gathered at the MCG for a group photo. However Voss was excused from the promotion after medical staff advised him against flying to Melbourne due to his injured knee.
The AFL said it appreciated that Voss' fitness for the season ahead was paramount.
An AFL spokesman said Voss had posed for photographs earlier in the week and his image would be superimposed on the photograph of the 15 other captains.

Injury Update:
Well performed rookie list member Daniel Pratt has suffered a setback with a stress fracture of the foot ruling him out of action for the start of the season. A second scan late last week also revealed a fracture in premiership player Richard Hadley's wrist, although he is expected to be available for selection in Round 1.

Michael Voss, still on knee rehab, expected to be available for Round 1
Richard Hadley, wrist, expected to be available for Round 1
Jonathan Brown, excellent progress for knee, available Round 2 after his GF suspension
Daniel Merrett, glandular fever pre-Xmas, closely monitored, indefinite
Chris Scott, gradually building training, expected to play early in the premiership season
Justin Leppitsch, training strongly, still on shoulder rehab, hopes to be back early in season
Llane Spaanderman, shoulder reconstruction, hoping to be ready around the start of the season
Dylan McLaren, corked thigh, should be OK for Round 1
Troy Selwood, back, receiving treatment, hoping to play early in the premiership season
Tom Logan, broken jaw, 1-3 weeks
Matt Pardew (rookie), has not played yet due to hip flexor problems, 1-2 weeks
Aaron Shattock, calf tightness, available for Round 1
Daniel Pratt (rookie), stress fractures in foot, 4-6 weeks
Beau McDonald, knee progressing well, hoping to be back early in the premiership season

WEST COAST
Injury Update:
Ashley Hansen, shoulder, 6 weeks
Darren Glass, shoulder 3-4 weeks
Travis Gaspar, foot, 3-4 weeks
Adam Hunter (knee), 1-2 weeks
Adam Selwood, groin, 1-2 weeks
Michael Gardiner, hamstring, 1-2 weeks

GEELONG
Coach Mark Thompson had a slightly veiled criticism of the umpire decision awarded a 50 meter penalty to St. Kilda in last week's Wizard Cup. Speaking at the club's family day function the day after the match, he called the decision a "terrible tragedy" for the club and said his players were shattered in the rooms after the game.
Thompson said the incident was trivial and the decision to award St Kilda's Leigh Montagna a 50-metre free kick, with the Cats leading by four points midway through the last quarter, was a telling moment in the game.
Montagna, who had the ball almost 75 metres out from the Saints goal when Cats defender Tom Harley knocked Aaron Hamill to the ground, duly converted from 25 metres to give the Saints a lead they never relinquished. Hamill appeared to be blocking Harley from chasing his opponent Nick Riewoldt.
However, Thompson said he remained confident about the team's prospects and said he was pleased with the team's preseason games.
Club president Frank Costa asked fans to be patient, but believes the Cars are good enough to make the eight.

Captain Steven King conceded last week that he may have erred by playing through the early rounds of last season after he first felt pain in his injured Achilles tendon.
King, who had surgery to remove scar tissue last month, was able to discard his protective boot last week and will next move his rehabilitation program to the pool, eventually progressing to running.
The ruckman insisted he could not have known at the end of last year that he would require an operation so close to the new season. But had he known what he was in for when he first felt pain in round three, King said, he probably would have taken a break.
He sad he was motivated to continue playing because of the club's poor start to the season - losing the first 3 games - and the fact it was his first year as captain.
Having carried his initial injury, Achilles tendinopathy, for the first half of last year, King's first season as skipper was over by round 14. He aggravated the tendon again in January, disrupting scar tissue that had failed to settle, but is satisfied that the important first month after surgery had gone entirely to plan.
The pool work will help strengthen his calf muscles so he can begin running in 2 weeks' time. He is hoping for a Round 5 return.

Injury update:
Will Slade (osteitis pubis) - unavailable
Steve Johnson (ankle) - unavailable
Steven King (ankle) - unavailable
David Loats (knee) - unavailable

ST KILDA
While St Kilda has kept a lid on celebration and self-congratulation following its preseason premiership, club legend Neil Roberts declared this emerging team to be the best collection of talent since the Saints won their sole premiership in 1966.
Roberts, the 1958 Brownlow medallist who works in player welfare at Moorabbin, said the present group of players was the best since the mid 1960s group, which coach Allan Jeans piloted to the club's only premiership in 107 seasons and which contained such outstanding players as Ian Stewart, Darrel Baldock, Ross Smith, Kevin "Cowboy" Neale, Verdun Howell and Carl Ditterich (who missed the grand final).
Roberts said the club was also better managed than it was in 1997, when it was defeated in the grand final by Adelaide, and that this emerging unit was superior to the 1997 Saints. Roberts admitted the Saints have had a capacity for squandering their potential in the past.
Roberts spoke amid the festivities at St Kilda's family day, when several thousand supporters greeted the victorious team. Earlier, the club had officially declared its $500,000 profit for 2003 at its annual meeting.
While the blue skies above Moorabbin symbolized the bullish outlook of what was a basket-case club not so long ago, the club's party line remained that despite cause for optimism, nothing had yet been achieved.
Forward Aaron Hamill and emerging young midfielder Luke Ball both said finals were the benchmark for 2004 - Ball said the club would have failed if it didn't play finals this year.
But coach Grant Thomas, true to his faith in process rather than outcomes, said if the players achieved their own internal goals - which could be measured statistically - "we won't have (to) worry about finals".
Thomas said although external expectations of St Kilda's talented squad were bound to rise, "it doesn't change us one iota".

Recent history shows:
- Ten of the 12 teams to have made the preseason cup final in the past six years have gone on to make the eight in the season proper.
- It has been a decade since both cup finalists missed September.
- Essendon (1993 and 2000) and Hawthorn (1991) were the most recent teams to do the flag-cup double.
- Richmond (14th in 2002 and 1993) has the worst record of converting cup final form into the season proper.
Roberts said the club had weeded out "dead wood' and "dissenters" - a clear reference to the trading of Peter Everitt and perhaps, to a lesser degree, of Barry Hall.
Roberts said he believed the club could make the top six in 2004.
Jason Cripps, a member of the 1997 team who, like Roberts, has returned to Moorabbin to assist the football operations and coach, said the foundations had been laid for lasting success. He praised Coach Thomas for a fantastic job and putting a structure and process in place which should bring long-term success.
Thomas, however, cautioned that the Saints had not proved themselves even to be a good team.
Thomas said the Saints had gained belief from the Wizard Cup competition.

SYDNEY
As part of last Monday's National Launch of Harmony Day Sydney's star Irish recruit Tadhg Kennelly pledged to become a citizen of Australia in a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House.
After an illustrious career playing Gaelic Football in his homeland Tadhg traded in the round ball for a Sherrin at the end of 1999, arriving in Sydney just in time for summer.
Less than two years later, at the SCG, Tadhg Kennelly made his senior debut for the Swans, coming off the bench and playing on a wing in the home sides 10-point victory over Carlton.
Since then, the gifted Kennelly has chalked up 52 games in just three seasons with the Swans, including the last 37 in a row. He also represented Ireland in the 2001 and 2002 International Rules Series' and was a nominee for the 2002 AFL Rising Star award.
On Monday his acceptance of Australian citizenship completed the fairytale rise from an Irish youngster who had never played a game to a fully-fledged "Aussie".

Injury Update:
Daniel Hunt, sprained ankle, 1-2 weeks
Ben Fixter, hamstring, 2-3 weeks
Nick Malceski, ACL rupture, season
Matthew Nicks, back, has resumed running
Andrew Schauble, torn hamstring, 3-5 weeks
Adam Schneider, hamstring, 1 week
Rowan Warfe, back, has resumed light running

HAWTHORN
Hawthorn's injury-plagued preseason has continued with defender Jonathan Hay requiring knee surgery. He had the surgery last week to repair hamstring tendon damage sustained during the club's practice match against West Coast. Hay came off in the third quarter complaining of knee soreness.
An MRI scan showed the tendon had pulled away from its attachment at the head of the fibula.
Hay is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
Joining him on the sidelines in the season-opener will be Steven Greene and Kris Barlow with posterior cruciate injuries, and Lance Picioane and Chance Bateman (hamstring).

The bad luck continued late last week with Tim Boyle out for the season. Boyle landed awkwardly from a marking contest during an intraclub match and suffered a spiral fracture of his lower leg
Hawthorn assistant coach George Stone said the gruesome impact of the injury left no doubt that Boyle was in serious trouble.
Boyle is expected to have his leg in plaster for the next three to four days before having a rod inserted into the lower leg. He could be sidelined for more than 12 months.
The injury could not have come at a worse time for the former Geelong Falcons player, who was expected to make his debut in the early rounds of the coming season.
Hawthorn captain Shane Crawford said Boyle had been closer to selection than most people realized.
Boyle was drafted in 2002, but spent his first season developing with Box Hill.

Better news is that forward John Barker has been cleared of any structural damage to his injured knee and was cleared to start running last week. It is a welcome change of luck for Barker, who missed the first half of last season with the debilitating osteitis pubis.
It is believed he will be available for Round 1.

MELBOURNE
Exciting rookie Aaron Davey has been rewarded for an outstanding preseason with elevation to the senior list.
A family of Melbourne supporters, along with a club coterie group, raised the necessary funds to enable the cash-strapped Demons, who still had room on their playing list and in their salary cap, to promote Davey.
Davey's promotion allows rookie-list players to play AFL football regardless of injuries or delistings to senior-listed teammates – due to the fact that Melbourne has a senior list of 38 players and no veterans on its list.
A delighted Davey, who has shown electrifying pace and silky skills during the preseason competition, said he was ‘rapt' to find out that an anonymous family and coterie group had financially backed his elevation. He said he would love to meet his anonymous benefactors to thank them and have a chat.
Melbourne coach Neale Daniher said it was ‘fantastic' to have Davey available for 2004 and said that he was right in contention to make his AFL debut in round one.
Originally from Darwin, the 20 year-old was brought down to Victoria by Kangaroos' recruiting officer Neville Stibbard, on the recommendation of Davey's cousin – Roo forward Daniel Motlop.
Although he didn't play with the Roos, he spent 2003 with Port Melbourne – the Kangaroos affiliated team – and proved to be an outstanding find in the VFL, winning the Fothergill-Round Medal for the most promising youngster in that competition.
His was then seen by many to be a certain draftee in the November National AFL Draft, but he was surprisingly overlooked and subsequently taken in the December Rookie Draft.

Injury Update:
Peter Walsh - Strained quad, 1 week
Colin Sylvia - Groin, 1 to 2 weeks
Luke Molan - Knee, 8 weeks
Ryan Ferguson - Shoulder, 3 weeks

PORT ADELAIDE
Defender Damien Hardwick has ruled himself out of Power's season opener against his former club, Essendon.
After an injury-riddled preseason, the 31 year old says he will need quality game time in the SANFL with Glenelg before being ready for AFL football. He believes two games at Glenelg will give him the match fitness he needs.
Hardwick needs seven more games to reach the magical 200-game mark.

CARLTON
Carlton director Lauraine Diggins believes the next avenue of involvement for women in the AFL should come via the male-dominated arena of player agents.
Diggins, the first woman to be elected to the Carlton board, said having women working as player agents would be a positive influence, and women agents could bring greater inter-personal skills to the job than she believed was currently being wielded.
AFL Players Association operations manager Peter Mann confirmed that there was only one female player agent - based in South Australia - out of roughly 60 accredited agents.
He said that he was personally surprised by the extreme minority in this area of the game, having seen - in his playing days and administrative capacities - the large contribution that women made to football in other areas.
He said the accreditation process was a "reasonably open" application procedure with the association's main concern in accrediting agents to ensure that "competent and ethical individuals are representing our players".
Mann also said the AFLPA provided training in a number of areas for agents to complement their primary focus of contract negotiation, including counselling.

New captain Anthony Koutoufides has torn the scar tissue in his right hamstring for a second time and will miss the opening game of the season against Fremantle at Subiaco.
Koutoufides suffered the original injury during Carlton's Wizard Home Loans Cup match against Sydney in late February. The scar tissue is a result of his knee reconstruction 2 years ago.
His recovery was on schedule for round one, but ie-injured himself at training last week.
Koutoufides is likely to be sidelined for two or three weeks before he resumes full-scale training, making a round two return the best-possible scenario, though Kouta rates himself more likely to resume in round three.

Injury Update:
Laurie Angwin, right shoulder bruising, 1-2 weeks
Glen Bowyer: hamstring strain, 1-2 weeks
Anthony Koutoufides, damaged scar tissue, test prior to Round 1
Jarrad Waite, stress fracture in left foot, will be reassessed in mid-April

WESTERN BULLDOGS
Five-time best and fairest winner Scott West has been replaced as the club's vice-captain for 2004.
West, who was a clear winner of the club's best and fairest award in 2003 and was captain in the absence of Chris Grant for 21 games last year, will have no official role in the leadership group this year.
Instead, the Bulldogs have promoted Luke Darcy and Brad Johnson to joint vice-captains, while emerging youngsters Robert Murphy and Mitchell Hahn have entered the leadership group as deputy vice-captains.
West said he understood the reasons behind the decision - the need to give some of the younger players more responsibility. West pledged his support to the new leadership group and said just because he no longer had an official title won't mean he wouldn't continue to show the sort of leadership qualities.

GENERAL SILLINESS
After all the dramas above, time for a few laughs here. I'm still catching up on videos from last season. Not watching them in any particular order, I am currently watching Round 1, 2003. And of course, there was the Round 1 Footy Show. Being the 10th anniversary of its debut, the show brought back several of the original panelists in Jason Dunstall, Doug Hawkins, and Tim Watson. Jason got a huge cheer when introduced and remarked that he used to get booed. So Eddie got the audience to comply with a resounding "BOOOO", to which Jason responded "That's more like it".
Tim Watson, with a very pointed shot at Sam Newman, joked that they all left because they had read the fine print in their Channel 9 contracts, which stated they had to be run over by a car, have a child out of wedlock, and get punched out by a plumber.

And Sam read a letter from a reader who figured out that the first letter of the clubs represented on the panel one week spelled Western Bulldog Luke Darcy, Adelaide's Nigel Smart, and Richmond's Matt Richardson.
Trevor responded that the show once had a CAB on the panel - Shane Crawford, Jason Akermanis, and Nathan Buckley

On to a few scores:

NOTE: not so much match reports, but a few assessments of how some of the senior players did in these final hitouts before Round 1 - Lisa

Northern Bullants 16.8 (104)
Box Hill Hawks 4.11 (35)
There were plenty of positives for the Blues out of this win.
A total of 14 senior-listed Carlton players took part in the match along with four of the club's rookies with midfielder Jon McCormick and forward Justin Davies the standouts.
For the Hawks, there was an injury scare when young forward Rick Ladson injured his right wrist. Box Hill coach Andy Collins is confident, however, there's no structural damage.
Bullants coach Barry Mitchell was upbeat about the efforts of McCormick, who knocked-up getting the ball around the middle, and Davies, who didn't figure at all in Carlton's preseason games.
Enigmatic forward Brendan Fevola, who needed the run after being dropped for the Blues' final practice match for disciplinary reasons, finished with four goals and was rested for the final term. He also had a hand in several others, led well, and presented himself as a target.
For the Bullants, ruckman Ricky Mott dominated at the stoppages, but Mitchell expected more, saying Mott should have taken more marks.
Nevertheless, Mitchell rated Mott a good chance to be selected for Carlton's opening premiership match against the Dockers.
Other Blues to stand out were Cory McGrath at wing and half-back, Karl Norman at centre half-back, fellow defender Blake Campbell and Andrew Walker who was matched-up with Ladson in the first half.
Collins said Osbourne and Ladson improved as the game wore on and was pleased with their performance.
Ladson sat out much of the second half with his arm in ice after tumbling on his wrist early in the third quarter. But Collins said the injury was minor.
Collins said that the Hawks' other senior-listed player involved on the day, 19 year-old defender Luke Brennan, would benefit from his assignment on Fevola.

Port Melbourne 12.2 (74)
Werribee 6.11 (47)
The Kangaroos were well-satisfied with the performance of key defender Leigh Colbert with Port Melbourne
After missing the last three weeks of the Roos' preseason campaign with an ankle complaint, Colbert played the first three quarters at centre half-back for the Borough, before sitting out the final term.
Bulldog duo Steven Koops and Jordan McMahon both played well for Werribee.
Looking fit and strong, Colbert was a steadying influence in the Port Melbourne defence.
Watched on by Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley and football manager Tim Harrington, the courageous defender ensured that he will be a certain starter against Adelaide next week.
Koops made a successful return to competitive football just four weeks after dislocating his elbow against Richmond in the first round of the Wizard Cup
He played the first 3 terms in defence and then had a stint on the wing before being rested late in the final term.
His form improved as the match progressed, reading the play well and taking several marks.
McMahon won plenty of the ball, playing the entire match in the midfield before coming off with cramp in the final five minutes. The skillful midfielder is coming off a bout of osteitis pubis.
The pair were watched closely by Bulldogs assistant coaches Chris Bond, Alan Richardson and Leon Cameron. Bond said both Koops and McMahon were now ‘in the mix' for selection against the Eagles.
Daniel Bandy (groin) and Scott Bassett (hamstring) were also due to play for Werribee, but missed with injury.

Sandringham vs Frankston (no score given)
Demon Ben Holland looked impressive as he booted 4 goals for Sandringham. Holland said he gained more confidence as the game progressed and added that it was a mutual decision by the Melbourne hierarchy and himself to play this weekend.
Another Demon looking to return next week after an interrupted preseason is veteran ball-winner Guy Rigoni, who was also a fine contributor for Sandringham.
Rigoni missed about 4 weeks with a quad strain suffered during an intraclub match.
More importantly, Rigoni said he had no longer had any problems with his back, which debilitated him to the point where it almost ended his career at one stage.
The other two listed Demons who lined-up for Sandringham – ruckman Mark Jamar and rookie-list defender Paul Newman – were also among the Zebras' best.
Jamar – who is another in the mix for the Demons next week – was a fine contributor in the ruck with his aerial tap work a feature of his game, while Newman continued his impressive preseason form down back with his strong pack-marking and classy skills.

And that's it for this week.

GO BLUES!