Bombers defender out for two matches

Hello fans:

Dustin Fletcher’s 2002 season is effectively over after the AFL Appeal Board has upheld the two-match suspension handed to the champion Essendon fullback.
The Bombers spent more than two hours arguing against Tuesday night’s tribunal verdict and penalty, but the Appeal Board took less than five minutes to reject the bid.
Fletcher was suspended for a misconduct charge after an incident involving West Coast rookie Chris Judd during last Saturday’s elimination final at Colonial Stadium. The tribunal determined Fletcher was reckless when he flung out his left leg to trip Judd in the second quarter of the match.
The Bombers presented video evidence and the testimony of two bio-mechanists during the hearing.
Deakin University bio-mechanist Dr Tony Sparrow again gave evidence that Fletcher’s leg movement was an involuntary consequence of his attempt to lunge back at Judd in a tackle after the Eagle had baulked him as he ran in to take a shot at goal.
Geoff Hosford from RMIT University testified that Fletcher would not have had control of his leg. Hosford said Fletcher would have had not thought process and hence the contact was an accident.
Appeals board chairman Peter O’Callaghan said that the board was “easily satisfied” that Fletcher’s contact with Judd constituted misconduct. Although the appeals board arrives at its conclusion independently, he said: “We take the view that the tribunal’s findings and reasoning are appropriate.”
The board also heard from former Richmond and Hawthorn player Barry Rowlings that Judd had a special ability to move off the straight line and wrong-foot opponents. Rowlings, now director of football at Caulfield Grammar, said he had observed Judd from year 7 onwards.
But as did the tribunal, the appeals board was not convinced by the expert evidence to disagree with the conclusion to which the video of the incident pointed.
The Bombers also tried to have the case thrown out on a technicality, arguing reporting umpire Mathew James had not followed correct procedure when originally laying the charge. That argument was also rejected.
The failed appeal means Fletcher will only play again this season if Essendon reaches the grand final.
The latest penalty added to Fletcher’s poor tribunal record: he had three striking convictions, had served three matches for kneeing and missed one game from tripping last season. He was also fined once for misconduct and once for engaging in a melee.

Collins launches 10-man ticket to challenge Elliott
Former Carlton chief executive Ian Collins has launched a 10-person ticket to contest the Blues’ club elections, before launching an extraordinary verbal attack on club president John Elliott.
Collins, the current CEO of Colonial Stadium, questioned Elliott’s record at Carlton and the problems he faced in his personal and business life.
Collins said the club was $A9 million in debt, three times more than any other club, and at financial risk.
The Carlton One ticket includes Collins, pokies king Bruce Mathieson, AFL Full-back of the Century Stephen Silvagni, Lauraine Diggins (daughter of 1938 captain-coach Bright Diggins), former director and premiership player Ken Hunter (who quit the board last month because he would not support Elliott), former premiership player David “Swan” McKay, lawyer Simon Wilson, merchant banker Marcus Rose, and businessmen John Valmorbida and Graham Smorgon (ex-director).
Collins, who wants to become president, said his board, if elected, would call for an independent audit of the club’s finances. Collins also questioned whether the social club was solvent.
Collins said the Carlton One ticket would fulfil all existing contracts, but questioned whether it could meet or sustain Pagan’s contract understood to be worth more than $2 million over three years, although he acknowledged Pagan’s coaching credentials
Collins also:
DENIED he had any unmanageable conflict of interest because of his role as Colonial Stadium chief executive.
SAID Elliott’s personal court battles had a detrimental effect on Carlton’s image and many suggested he should stand aside until matters were resolved.
SAID the board had lost touch with its supporters.
NOTED Elliott often said Carlton did not accept failure and the same rule should apply to him.
CLAIMED Elliott’s autocratic style and public image had tarnished the club’s reputation and position.
SAID Carlton’s brand, arguably once the most revered franchise in the AFL, no longer commanded that position because of poor decision-making by the board.
FEARS the club will lose $A1 million this year and there will be more “skeletons” revealed.
Collins was also critical of the way Carlton treated Wayne Brittain, who was sacked after Pagan was appointed the new coach.
As expected, Collins’ group has organised a petition of more than 100 signatures from members and, under corporations law, has drawn up a resolution that would lead each of the nine members of Elliott’s board to be removed by a vote of the members at an extraordinary meeting.
This could mean there will be two meetings, since the anti-Elliott group, “the unofficial selection committee”, has already organised a motion of no confidence in the current board.
Elliott’s response to the challenge was that Collins, 60, was the same age as him and the not the right successor when a younger man was needed. He also disputed the financial loss the social club could face, putting the figure at $A500,000.
Last weekend Collins confirmed he is interested in standing against John Elliott for the Blues presidency, after he was given the all-clear by Kerry Stokes, owner of the Seven Network which controls the stadium, to join the rival ticket.
Collins had been linked to the Mathieson ticket as far back as early June, but had refrained from declaring his potential involvement until receiving the OK from Stokes.
Channel Seven sports presenter and Blues fan Jim Wilson is also believed to have been approached by the rival camps, but he is believed to have declined the invitation.

AFL announces Grand Final plans
The AFL has announced arrangements for this year’s Grand Final.
AFL football operations manager Andrew Demetriou said that Richmond legend Kevin Bartlett will present the AFL premiership cup to the victorious coach and captain of this year’s grand final.
Peter Knights, a three-time premiership player for Hawthorn, will present the redesigned Norm Smith Medal to the player deemed by a selection committee to be best on ground in the grand final.
The Jock McCale Medal (awarded to the coach of the premiership team), which was to be presented by the late Dick Reynolds, will now be presented by a member of his family.
Former Adelaide and Fremantle player Tony Modra will present the John Coleman Medal to Melbourne captain David Neitz.
After a 20-year absence, the Grand Final Sprint will make its return for the 2002 season with a representative from each of the 16 clubs competing in two eight-man heats. The first four placegetters in each heat will then go through to the final.
Joining the sprint will be the Grand Final kick, a contest to determine the best sharp shooter on the day. Four of the leading goalkickers from the 2002 season will shoot for goal from five different positions in the 50 metre arc during a set time limit.
The pre-match presentation will open with the RAAF Roulettes and two Navy Seahawk helicopters heralding the arrival of the Premiership Cup into the MCG. The Cup will be personally escorted into the arena by Bartlett.
Former Hunters and Collectors lead singer Mark Seymour will then perform before this year’s Hall of Fame inductees are honoured with a motorcade and the handing down of their large replica guernseys onto the field.
The retiring greats from the 2002 season (members of the 200 club) will be honoured and accompanying them on a last lap of the ground will be a groups of Auskick children wearing the uniforms and guernsey number of each great player who has left AFL Football this year.
Two of Australia’s most successful and exciting contemporary bands, the Whitlams will perform “I Will Not Go Quietly” and “Best Works”, while Killing Heidi will perform “Mascara” and “Outside Of Me”.
Long-time football performers Greg Champion and Mike Brady will perform “That’s the Thing About Football” and “Up There Cazaly” respectively while the honour of singing the Waltzing Matilda and the Australian national anthem has been given to Kate Ceberano.
The run down sheet for the entertainment is as follows: (all times AEST)
9.15am Under 18 TAC Cup Grand Final
12pm - 12.25 Grand Final Sprint
12.25 - 12.50 Kicking Competition
12.55 - 1.10 Preliminary On-Field Warm-Up Opportunity
(1.00 Channel Ten’s worldwide TV coverage begins)
1.10 - 1.18 Aerial Opening (RAAF Roulettes and Seahawk Helicopters)
1.25 - 2.05 Mark Seymour, Holy Grail
Hall of Fame Motorcade and Retiring Greats
The Whitlams, I Will Not Go Quietly and Best Works
Killing Heidi, Mascara and Outside of Me
Kate Ceberano, Waltzing Matilda
Greg Champion and Mike Brady, That’s the thing about Football and Up There
Cazaly
2.14 Umpires introduced
2.15 Team One Introduced
2.17 Team Two Introduced
2.20 - 2.26 Pre-Match Warm Up
2.27 Kate Ceberano, Australian National Anthem
2.28 Coin Toss
2.30 2002 AFL Grand Final
5.15 approx Post-Match Presentations

More day games in 2003 fixture
The 2003 AFL fixture could feature foundation games, fewer Friday night clashes in Melbourne, more Saturday matches for some teams and interstate derbies in Round 22.
And the opening of the pre-season competition, expected to feature mostly block-busters, could be repeated in the first round of the home-and-away season.
In a briefing in the AFL headquarters, the 16 club chief executives were presented with a draft of the draw by league football operations manager Andrew Demetriou, who said changes would involve fewer night games for some teams, some Friday night interstate games and more day games at the MCG.
The club was informed that the provisional fixture for 2003 would have the team playing seven home matches during the day, an increase of five on the two played in daylight this season.
Essendon will be granted its wish of more Saturday afternoon games and fewer Friday night clashes. They are expected to play only four home night matches next year.
The West Australian and South Australian teams are expected to remain home in Round 22 engaged in their local derbies, rather than travelling interstate.
A round could be set aside for the foundation teams to clash during the seasons. The AFL has pencilled in mid-August with a clash between the league’s two oldest clubs, Melbourne and Geelong. Players would wear replica jumpers from 1897.
Several matches played for charity trophies will be played in round 17.
Carlton has been allocated nine games at Optus Oval and two at the MCG – against Essendon and Collingwood.
But Blues president John Elliott said he was confident he could negotiate a deal for the Blues to play fewer games at Optus and double their allocation of MCG games from two to four. He said he was negotiating with two clubs to each play a home game against Carlton at Optus Oval next season.
Elliott conceded non-Carlton games were not well attended at Optus, but said that was the reason two clubs could play a home game against the Blues.
Elliott said the deal offered to Carlton this year to trial Colonial was no longer available, so they now wanted seven home games at Optus and four at the MCG.
And Melbourne and Sydney will play in a night clash at the SCG or Telstra Stadium on Anzac Day, following the traditional Anzac Day Collingwood and Essendon clash at the MCG. The Demons are expected to have nine home MCG games, one at Colonial and another at the Gabba.
*In a new initiative, AFL clubs will travel to regional Australia throughout next year’s pre-season, hosting promotional camps outside the capital cities and major centres.
Based on Collingwood’s successful venture to Darwin earlier this year, all clubs will stage training camps, holding daily clinics and rebuilding football’s image in regional areas.

Saints could train with Premier League clubs
St Kilda players will fund their own pre-season training camp in Britain in late November and are working towards an agreement with a leading English Premier League soccer club so they can train alongside some of the world’s most famous professional footballers.
The Saints’ leadership group voted several weeks ago to abandon their end-of-season trip but instead pay for the trip to London where the players will hold sessions with former British Olympic athletes Sebastian Coe, Daley Thompson and Steve Cram.
Aaron Hamill, a leading candidate for the captaincy next season, said the players had voted against a traditional end-of-season holiday because they did not think they deserved one as a group, so they put forward the idea of an overseas training camp to coach Grant Thomas.
Thomas, a group of St Kilda directors, and training manager Chris Jones has spoken with English clubs Leeds, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Manchester United and is understood to be close to completing a deal soon.
The Saints players have requested at least one training session with an English soccer team, a meeting with some of its players and to attend some Premier League games. The 12-day trip will include two training sessions each day.
It is the second year under the Thomas regime that the players’ end-of-season trip has been abandoned.

Stop calling me God: Ablett
AFL legend Gary Ablett wants fans to stop calling him “God”.
Ablett, the former Geelong player regarded as one of the game’s greatest, said it was inappropriate for people to refer to him as God.
“I realise that most people don’t mean any harm by it and it’s just their way of paying me a compliment for my football,” he told the Herald Sun. “But it’s quite inappropriate to refer to me, a mere man, as God.
“It is also disrespectful and dishonoring to God.
“Not only am I human, but probably more human than most and I would appreciate it if the tag was dropped.”
The 41-year-old also spoke on the controversy surrounding his failure to be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame. “The Hall of Fame is not exactly what I’d hang my identity on,” he said. “My sense of significance and security are based on my heavenly father’s unconditional love and acceptance of me in Christ and in what he says is true of me and not in the opinions of people.”
Ablett also told the newspaper he was concerned about an unauthorised biography of his life, which he said “really isn’t about me at all”.

Parkin says Chick hard to replace at Hawthorn
Hawthorn football director David Parkin said the club would have “awful difficulty” in finding a replacement for club vice-captain Daniel Chick, who wants to return to Western Australia.
“His form on occasions has been terrific,” Parkin told 3AW. “He was still a very punishing player and played a very unique role in our front half, I think, in games which we won.
“He was clearly a good player when the side was good, so he’s a bit of a barometer. I wouldn’t be hassling him out the door and making it easy for him to go because I think we’ll still have awful difficulty in replacing him as a very unique talent.”
Parkin said while the club managed to talk the talented midfielder out of a return home in 2000, he understood the situation to be different this time, given Chick has an American wife and could choose to go and live in the US in the future.
26-year-old Chick confirmed two weeks that he wants to return home to Western Australia to play football next season. He has linked with West Coast.

No guarantee for Everitt’s place in St Kilda next year
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas said he could not guarantee Peter Everitt would be at the club next year.
Thomas said it would be wrong to limit the Saints’ options by making the controversial ruckman “untouchable” in the trading period.
Thomas will hold key discussions with an under-performing Everitt within a week, hoping to glean just how hard he is prepared to work to achieve greatness. It will be a follow-up to what Thomas described as a “compelling” discussion between the pair in August.
Everitt earlier this year signed a one-year contract extension at Moorabbin, meaning he is tied to the club until the end of 2004. But contracted players can still switch homes in the trading period.
The 28-year-old managed 12 games this year after returning from a pre-season knee injury and struggled to recapture anywhere near his best. He averaged just 12 disposals and four marks a game.
Everitt was an All-Australian representative in 1997 and 1998 and won the best-and-fairest last year.

Saints’ base to get a facelift
St Kilda’s training ground at Melbourne’s south-eastern suburb of Moorabbin would be turned into a sports and housing complex under a proposal by Kingston City Council in a $A10 million facelift.
The grandstands and the club’s administration and training centre would be demolished under the plans. But a new social club, offices and training rooms would be built for the Saints in the upgrade.
Five housing sites, with space for 46 houses, would be developed around the Linton Street oval in place of the grandstand. An undercover area would be built next to the oval for fans to watch training.
The plans also include a new four-court public basketball and netball centre.
Kingston chief executive Rob Skinner said the oval would be opened up to the public under the plans. The council hoped an upgrade would ensure the Saints stayed at Moorabbin in the long term, he said.
St Kilda chief executive Brian Waldron said redevelopment would bring the club’s home base into line with those of other clubs.
Work on the upgrade, which would be financed by the housing development, is expected to start within two years. It is expected the Saints would contribute financially towards the project.
Kingston Council owns the Moorabbin Reserve, but leases it to the St Kilda Football Club and Moorabbin Bowls Club. St Kilda still has a 38-year lease on the ground.
Plans have been sent to 5000 residents for public consultation.

Barry Cable linked with child abuse allegations
Aboriginal football legend Barry Cable has been named as the subject of a police child abuse unit investigation in documents submitted to a royal commission.
The submission alleges the investigation was dropped after intervention by a senior Perth police officer.
Perth radio station 6PR named Cable, a dual North Melbourne premiership player in 1975 and 1977, as the former high-profile sportsman accused of sexually abusing a woman from the late 1960s, when she was 12 or 13, to the early 1990s.
For two days in a row, 6PR morning show host Paul Murray called for the West Australian Police Royal Commission to properly investigate allegations that claims by Cable’s alleged victim were swept under the carpet.
He did so after the woman went public and held a press conference earlier in the day.
Murray, who pointed out he was not saying the sex abuse allegations were true, read out, on air, a letter from four child abuse unit detectives which named Cable. It was sent to the head of the royal commission into police corruption, Geoffrey Kennedy, QC, on March 22.
The four want the royal commission to investigate why senior officers allegedly interfered with the investigation.
Cable was interviewed by detectives on November 17, 1998, but the interview was allegedly terminated after five minutes by another officer.
In the letter, the detectives said they had concerns about the conduct of certain police officers.
“By way of explanation, in May 1998 officers attached to the child abuse unit received a complaint from . . . (name deleted) alleging that Barry Cable had sexually offended against her some years ago,” the detectives’ letter said. “Experienced investigating officers assigned to the inquiry were of the firm view that there was enough evidence to support Mr Cable being charged...”
The detectives said they met with a senior officer who told them he considered there was insufficient evidence to charge Cable. They said the senior policeman claimed a Crown prosecutor agreed with him.
They alleged the senior officer said: “Regardless of whether Cable confessed or not, you are to release him and I will reassess the evidence.”
In their letter, the detectives wrote: “We believe that procedural irregularities and interference in this inquiry occurred both before and after Mr Cable was interviewed by the inquiry team.”
The alleged victim, now in her 40s, read out a statement at her lawyer’s Perth office, saying she hoped the royal commission would investigate the case.
The ex-footballer was alleged to have escaped charges because of his connections with high ranking police. He allegedly committed the offences over about 15 years, beginning in the late 1960s, and was investigated by Western Australia’s police child sex abuse unit in 1998.
The incident is alleged to have occurred in 1998 after a woman complained that she was sexually abused by the former footballer for more than a decade. The woman said she was sexually abused by the former footballer from the age of 12 or 13 until her mid 20s. The time span was from the late 1960s - when the two were neighbours - until the early 1980s.
The allegations, which have long been the subject of rumour, were brought into the public spotlight by John Hammond, who is acting for several police officers from the state’s child abuse unit.
Hammond said the matter was drawn to the attention of the WA royal commission into police corruption in March, believing it was the only authority suitable to hear the case as it had all the necessary powers and investigatory processes for this to happen. He has yet to hear any response.
Hammond said his clients interviewed the man and formed the opinion that he should be charged. However, senior officers stopped the interview after five minutes and refused to allow charges to be laid, because his clients believed the man was a close friend of a very senior police officer. The investigation was subsequently dropped.
Hammond added that the investigators had a statement from the alleged victim’s mother stating that the former footballer had confessed to her.
The case was subsequently investigated by an anti-corruption body, which also decided not to proceed with it, much to the disappointment of the officers.
WA Police commissioner Barry Matthews said that “on available evidence” and as a result of advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions, no charges were laid against the former footballer at the time. He said the allegation against the senior officer was referred to an “external investigative agency”. “During its inquiry no evidence was provided, nor was any evidence discovered, which was capable of substantiating the allegations,” he said.
A royal commission spokesman said he was unable to say whether or not the matter would be investigated.

Clubs rely on pokies for survival
AFL club bosses have said their teams rely heavily on poker machine revenue for much-needed revenue.
The findings follow claims would-be Carlton president and pokies king Bruce Mathieson is unfit to hold the Blues’ top job.
Anti-gambling campaigner the Rev Tim Costello (brother of Federal treasurer Peter Costello) suggested Mathieson was unsuitable because he earned money from a “socially destructive industry,” but Melbourne chief executive John Anderson said his club was one of many that would battle without pokies income.
The Demons operate pokies venues at Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs of Oakleigh and Bentleigh -- one run by the Mathieson group. Revenue is believed to be about $A1 million a season for the club. Anderson rejected claims money raised from pokies was tainted.
Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon said the loss of pokies profits would mean higher membership and gate entry costs, and would make life more difficult.
Richmond chief executive Mark Brayshaw said the Tigers’ social club, with 80 poker machines at the Royal Oak Hotel in Richmond, was a popular meeting place for supporters, especially when the team play interstate.
St Kilda chief executive Brian Waldron said the pokies are an important source of income for all clubs.
More than half of Hawthorn’s $A1.5 million profit last season is believed to have come from pokies proceeds at its Waverley Gardens (near the closed Waverley Park) and Glenferrie Road venues.
North Melbourne is to move 50 poker machines from their Arden Street base to Colonial Stadium to boost funds. The Kangaroos are also keen to open a venue at the northern suburbs of Broadmeadows, but are facing opposition from local residents,
Collingwood was reluctant to move from Victoria Park because it was told its 50 poker machines were not welcome at Olympic Park.

Former boundary umpire wins bronze
Former AFL boundary umpire Kris McCarthy has won a shock bronze medal in the 800m final in the 17th Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
A late addition to the Australian team after missing the selection trials with injury, McCarthy found form at the right time and made some intelligent moves in the running.
With his great size and strength he stormed down the home straight and burst through the pack like a half-back flanker streaming goalwards.
“It was a dream to make the final and to win a medal in that field was fantastic,” an elated McCarthy said after clocking 1min 46.79sec behind South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (1:46.32) and and Kenyan Joseph Mutua (1:46.57). The defending champion Japhaet Kimutai finished fifth (1:47.46).
“I didn’t believe I had a medal until I crossed the line,” McCarthy said. “This is a great reward for me and the hundreds of people who’ve helped me. I’ve had so much support from so many people ... the herofaxes, everything. It is a reward along the way and hopefully I can kick on and keep going.”

International Rules series under threat
This year’s International Rules series between Ireland and Australia is under threat due to a wage dispute between Irish players and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).
Dessie Farrell, chief executive of the Gaelic Players Association, which represents Gaelic footballers and hurlers, said the players are dissatisfied with progress in negotiations between their association and the GAA over expenses for inter-county players. Dessie Farrell said no inter-county player wanted a players’ strike but if negotiations with the GAA weren’t concluded satisfactorily, then a players’ strike would be an option.
The wider issue of negotiations between the GPA and the GAA is now reaching a critical phaze. The GPA is seeking recognition for the association from the GAA and an allowance of 127 euro per week for inter-county players for as long as their involvement in the championship lasts.
Meanwhile, the presence of more than 20 members of the Cork hurling panel at their meeting illustrated the level of their dissatisfaction with their treatment by the Cork County Board of the GAA. The Cork hurling panel are due to meet with their county board meeting to try to iron out their differences before the end of the month.
*The GAA has announced tickets to the two-match series will be sold approximately three weeks prior to the start of the series (October 13).

Carey-spotting
Former North Melbourne captain Wayne Carey and his wife Sally have flown to Hawaii for a holiday.
The couple boarded a 7.15am Qantas flight to Honolulu from Melbourne Airport on Sunday, September 1.
It is the first time the Careys have stepped out publicly since the sex scandal that put the champion’s career on hold broke in March.
The couple arrived together in the back seat of a yellow cab around 6am.
The pair are believed to be holidaying in Hawaii for two weeks before Carey returns to Adelaide to rejuvenate his career with the Crows.
Carrying little luggage, the pair checked in at the Qantas first-class counter. An airline official escorted them to the international departure lounge.
Carey appeared relaxed, while Sally refused to comment when asked whether she was looking forward to moving to Adelaide with her husband.
The Careys did not hold hands, refused to pose for photographs and seemed upset when approached by the media outside the Qantas terminal.
The flight was the most significant indication yet that the couple have reconciled.

Woman denies stalking Stafford
A woman accused of stalking a Richmond footballer claims they are soul mates and in love.
Jo Cramer said Greg Stafford had even shifted to Melbourne to continue their relationship.
Speaking out for the first time since the Tiger ruckman publicly described her as a stalker, Cramer said she wanted her man back.
“I am not guilty of stalking Greg ... I am guilty of loving Greg,” she told Channel Seven’s current affairs program Today Tonight. “I am his soul mate. It is not just some crazy, disgusting, fatal attraction.”
Cramer claimed they met in Sydney when she was working as a waiter and she fell in love with the former Sydney Swan after a couple of dates. “We used to make each other laugh, we used to feel comfortable together, we used to have fun,” she said.
Cramer said they connected like two people who were meant to be together. “I fell in love with a beautiful person,” she said. “I’ve never met a guy like him before.”
But Stafford said he does not share the same affection.
On August 19, Richmond held a press conference so Stafford could have his say after Cramer approached him at the MCG after the Tigers’ 14-point victory over Hawthorn. Channel Nine’s cameras caught him pushing away a woman who broke security and ran up to him.
He labelled her a serial pest who had troubled him for more than five years. “I’ve received letters and all sorts of things from her over the years,” he said.
But Cramer said these were not his true feelings and he had been brainwashed by the club and its coaches. She also said she has since had to go to church every day to heal her pain. She said she is just a young woman with a beautiful heart and a really strong soul.
She claimed the couple were supposed to celebrate both their birthdays recently, but she was left to celebrate her 25th alone with her mother.
Cramer said she was very upset the police had been involved. She said she would leave Stafford alone if he told her he did not want her in his life.

Man escapes jail for assaulting Carlton player
A court has heard a man who assaulted Carlton footballer Matthew Lappin in a pub on St Patrick’s Day this year was trying to give the Blues’ forward some helpful career advice.
Brett Robinson, 35, of Mentone, assaulted Lappin in Finbar’s Irish pub in Brighton on March 17 this year after a discussion about football.
Sen-Constable Sarah Hose told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court Robinson struck Lappin’s head with his left elbow for no apparent reason, then dragged him to the ground in a headlock.
Lawyer Simon Zebrowski, for Robinson, said his client was a former footballer, who had, like Lappin, played with St Kilda under-19s, and had even been recruited by the same person.
Zebrowski said ill-discipline had ruined Robinson's career, and that during the drunken St Patrick's Day conversation he was trying to warn Lappin from following the same path.
Robinson pleaded guilty to assault.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Dan Muling released Robinson, an unemployed father of three, without conviction, but fined him $A400.

High AFL production costs hurting Nine
Channel Nine has conceded it is unlikely to make a profit from its first season of AFL football and is already looking at a series of measures to cut production costs for 2003.
Nine’s production costs this season came in at an estimated $A12 million.
Network chief executive Ian Johnson, who said he regretted that Nine had been unable to secure any AFL finals for the next five years, confirmed that budget cuts would be put in place for next season’s coverage which could include fewer cameras at most games. But he denied industry reports that predicted Nine could lose at least $A10 million from its AFL investment this season.
Johnson said Nine had settled its contractual differences with ABC broadcaster Tim Lane, who departed the network shortly before the start of the season after it was revealed that Nine had broken a clause in Lane’s contract that stipulated that Collingwood president Eddie McGuire would not call Collingwood games. The two parties are understood to have settled out of court with Lane receiving a financial settlement.
Johnson said it would be great if Nine was able to have some or all of the finals. As it is the network would schedule a movie on Friday nights during the finals, just like last year when the matches were shown on Channel Seven.
Johnson said Channel Ten had paid a heavy price for the finals in agreeing to televise Saturday night Sydney and Brisbane games into both those developing AFL markets prime time. “That was a sacrifice in terms of ratings so they had to get something in return,” said Johnson. “Friday nights enabled us to have network sponsors for Friday night football around the country.”

Radio ratings
Rex Hunt’s 3AW footy team has backed up its claim to be Melbourne’s No.1 footy station with the release of the second-last ACNielsen radio ratings for the year, winning three of the four major weekend timeslots. It finished top on both Saturday afternoons and Saturday nights, was narrowly beaten by Triple M on Friday nights but in a big surprise leapt by 3.8 points on Sunday afternoons to win the timeslot, eclipsing the last survey’s winner, ABC Radio, by 0.5 of a point.
In fact, 3AW will argue it won Friday nights as well, beating Triple M 12.5 to 11.3 for the period between 7pm and midnight. But Triple M insists the fairer way to compare Friday audiences is to make the cut-off point 11pm, when Triple M and the ABC cease their footy coverage. Regardless, 3AW football coordinator and stats man, former Richmond and St Kilda player Graeme Bond, said the station was thrilled with the results, in particular its numbers for Sunday afternoon, a period in which Hunt and his team have sometimes struggled.
Triple M’s fall has been dramatic given it has been highly competitive over the past these years. In those seasons it’s always had Eddie McGuire at the helm, but his availability this season had been severely restricted because of his commitments with Channel Nine. However, the station has stated it will honour its final two-hour commitment to radio football broadcasting.
Overall, the AFL would be concerned with an across-the-board drop in audiences, perhaps a result of more people deciding to take advantage of there being more footy on TV, most notably two live games every weekend on the Fox Footy channel.
The ratings breakdown:
Friday nights: overall (7-11pm): 3AW 12.3, ABC 9.9, Triple M 12.7; call (7.45pm-10.15pm): 3AW 11.8, ABC 10, Triple M 14.
Saturday: overall (12-6pm): 3AW 14.4, ABC 12.9, Triple M 10.3; preview (12-2pm): 3AW 12.8, ABC 10.6, Triple M 8.6; call (2-4.30pm): 3AW 15.8, ABC 14.7, Triple M 11.3.
Saturday nights overall (6-11pm): 3AW 9.1, ABC 8.7, Triple M 5.2.
Sunday: overall (12-6pm): 3AW 12, ABC 11.5, Triple M 7.4; preview (12-2pm): 3AW 10.7, ABC 8.1, Triple M 6.1; call (2-4.30pm): 3AW 13.2, ABC 13.6, Triple M 8.3.

Media news
*The owner of new AFL broadcaster Channel Nine, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL), has recorded a normalised profit of $A280 million for the 12 months to the end of June, compared with $A286 million for the previous year.
Net profit came in at $A268 million, compared with a net loss of $A84 million for fiscal 2001.
In that year, a $A400 million writedown was booked relating to PBL’s investment in failed telco One.Tel.
The profit result, which was in line with expectations, was achieved off slightly lower group revenues of $A2.5 billion.
In a statement, executive chairman James Packer said the group’s Nine Network advertising revenue targets had not been met and “consequently, management was taking every opportunity to reduce the cost base and increase efficiencies”. PBL owns Nine stations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Television earnings fell 24 per cent to $A192 million. Chief executive PeterYates told a briefing that ad revenue remained soft but it would outstrip GDP in the long term. He blamed “the disappointing result” partly on the unusual “flurry of one-off sporting events”.
Programming costs were up 4.6 per cent for the year, reflecting coverage of the AFL games, Goodwill Games, September 11, World Cup Soccer, World Cup Swimming and Australian Survivor. The network did, however, maintain its ratings lead over Channel Seven.
On the gaming front, Yates said Melbourne’s Crown Casino had a good year, despite revenue falling 2 per cent to $A1.1 billion.
In the publishing arena, the Australian Consolidated Press division increased earnings by 23.7 per cent to $A111 million over the previous year.
*Despite being hit by difficult advertising conditions and a ratings slump during the second half of 2001-02, Channel Seven has reported a strong profit increase for the period and confirmed plans for a capital raising to sharpen its balance sheet.
Seven posted a more than 300 per cent jump in net profit for the 12 months to June 30, 2002, to $A65.3 million from $A15.824 million previously.
Plagued by softer ratings and an expected 2 per cent fall in advertising market share to an estimated 33 per cent for 2001-02 (which included the last three months of the AFL season), the core television business’ performance was disappointing, said broadcast television head Maureen Plavsic.
Television earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to $A143 million in the 2002 fiscal year, from $A190 million in the previous corresponding year.
Plavsic remained hopeful that the programming line-up this year would produce better ratings, following unexpected fluctuations during the second half.
Seven executive chairman Kerry Stokes, who has 36 per cent control of the network which also owns online and magazine businesses, said the company is budgeting for growth in profitability over the coming 12 months.
Stokes said Seven’s television business was well-positioned for the coming twelve months – with a strengthened audience delivery performance over the past two months, and a continuing focus on enhancing the network’s competitive position in audience ratings and advertising revenue.
He said the company had made significant progress in the development of its integrated media business – with the completion of its acquisition of Pacific Publications, its AOL7 online joint venture, and a new financial and management structure for Colonial Stadium.
He added the acquisition of Pacific Publications and Seven’s AOL7 partnership provided strong platforms to capture the commercial benefits and synergies of asset integration with Seven’s broadcast television business.
Seven reported revenues of $A1.187 billion, up 0.4 per cent from the prior corresponding period.
It said broadcast revenues totalled $A777 million, mobile phone company B Digital (in which Seven is an 80 per cent share holder) revenues totalled $A174 million, Colonial Stadium revenues totalled $A42 million, and Pacific Publications $A147 million, with other revenues at $A40 million.
*Channel Ten has launched several innovations for its first ever coverage of the AFL finals.
Not only do producer David Barham and his team plan to use three extra cameras for all matches, making it 16 cameras all up, but there will be also new graphics. Among those will be charts showing how far every match’s top 10 players have run in the game and also how well the respective coaches have preserved their players during the season.
And look out for Robert Walls using a “spy camera” to monitor any behind-the-play action that he deems pertinent.
Another feature of all the finals coverage, which will run for three-and-a-half hours a match, is to include a 30-minute preview instead of the normal 10 minutes. The preview has already forced the AFL to amend the starting time of all night finals from 7.45pm to 7.30pm local time.
*With attendance figures down for the weekend’s first round of AFL finals, it has been suggested that perhaps more fans preferred to stay at home and watch them on TV. Well, that theory was shot down as well, with official ratings showing that Channel Ten’s figures during week one were down on those obtained by Seven in its last season as the league’s host broadcaster in 2001. The weekend’s national average viewing audience for all four finals was 994,700, a drop of 17,800 on last year.
Ten fared well with Friday night’s Port Adelaide-Collingwood match (average 1.5 million) and Saturday afternoon’s Essendon-West Coast game (up 121,800 and 43,000, respectively) but for Saturday night’s Brisbane-Adelaide encounter the numbers dropped 4600 to 1.058 million and for Sunday’s Melbourne-North Melbourne match slumped a whopping 230,800 to 737,700.
In Melbourne, the Port-Collingwood match was a big ratings winner for Ten, becoming the second-most-watched program in the city last week behind Nine’s Sunday news. The qualifyinf final attracted a peak audience of 825,000 and an average of 668,893. Overall, Ten had 41.7 per cent of all Melbourne viewers between 6pm and midnight on Friday, well ahead of Nine on 21.6 and Seven on 19.7.
The surprise came on the following night when the Lions-Crows match recorded a peak audience of 594,000. The match, combined with the last hour of Bombers-Eagles clash, gave Ten a big win overall on the night: 35 per cent of all viewers between 6pm and midnight.
On a city-by-city comparison the weekend’s average finals audiences in Melbourne and Brisbane was almost identical to 2001, the slumps being felt in Adelaide (down by 17,900 despite both of its teams playing) and Sydney (down 25,700) although Perth was up by 24,800. Regardless, with attendances for the four finals down by 41,368, the TV audience drop of 17,800 means that, all up, 59,168 who watched the first four finals last year, either at the ground or on television, went missing at the weekend.
*Channel Seven said the ratings for the 2002 home-and-away season had dropped substantially. It said the ratings dropped by 12 per cent in Melbourne and 11 per cent nationally. Only Brisbane recorded a substantial increase (no surprise given the Lions are the reigning premiers).
What Seven did not mention but was aware of was that one other major beneficiary was Channel Nine’s Sunday news in Melbourne, which saw its viewers jumped from an average of 550,000 during the 2001 AFL season to more than 750,000 during this season, and topped the ratings list in Melbourne a record 16 times during the 22-week season. The figure was boosted largely due to Nine’s delayed coverage of Sunday afternoon match in Melbourne, which started at 4pm. The strong figures also had a flow-in effect on Nine’s programs between 6.30pm and 8.30pm, with each recording an average of more than 500,000 each week.
In contrast, Seven’s news languished at around 250,000 viewers, and the programs shown after the news suffered as a result.
*Channel Nine has announced it will cover the International Rules series in Ireland on October. Nine is expected to use footage and graphics from host broadcaster RTE, just as Channel Seven had done when it last covered the series in 2000.
In addition, Nine said it would cover the AFL All-Australian awards night on September 17, the Richmond-Essendon exhibition match from London, England, in October, and the National Australian Bank AFL Draft from Melbourne on November 24.
*Terry Wallace might have lost some face over his controversial decision to quit the Western Bulldogs but at least he is still in favour at 3AW, which has reversed a programming department decision that would have had him sacked from his regular Monday spot on the daily Sports Today show.
Station boss Graham Mott said Wallace would keep his job but was still undecided if he will be used as a special match commentator during the finals, depending on which games are played where.
3AW will decide on its finals teams on a week-by-week basis, mainly because special comments man Robert Walls also has commitments with Channel Ten.

In Brief
*Geelong has re-signed star ruckman Steven King for an additional two years.
King, the club’s best and fairest player in 2000 and an All-Australian in the same year, was not due to come out of contract until the end of 2003 so this new deal will tie him to the Cats until the end of 2005.
*Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon has revealed a rival AFL president approached him with a merger proposal earlier this month.
Smorgon said the anonymous president discussed the proposal with him at a function a month ago and floated the idea of merging the two AFL clubs.
Smorgon, speaking before the Round 22 game against Collingwood, said the rival president was “half joking, half serious” and wanted to test him.
Smorgon told radio station Triple M he laughed and scoffed at the proposal and rejected the proposal immediately because a merger proposal would end up as a takeover.
Smorgon was determined the Bulldogs would survive their latest plight. He said the club had been working its way up for 50 years.

General Silliness
*By losing to Collingwood in the qualifying final last week, Port Adelaide moved into equal-second on the all-time list of most finals lost before winning one, joining North Melbourne, which lost its first four finals between 1945 and 1950 before breaking through for its first finals victory in its second final of the 1950 series.
The Western Bulldogs hold the record. They lost their first six finals as Footscray in 1938, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1948 and 1951 before breaking the ice in 1953.
*After Port Adelaide lost the match, the team was accused of “choking” in important matches, given it had dominated for much of the regular season. Now from across the Victorian border comes a reworking of the Power theme song, a witty, albeit disparaging, piece of writing that has just bobbed up on Demonland, one of the Melbourne footy club’s unofficial websites. Take a listen:

We’ve got the Power to choke,
We are such a joke,
C’mon Port Adelaide pretenders.

We are the losers from Port,
We should give up this sport,
’Cause it seems we can’t win a final.

We’re such a flop, flop, flop
Let’s just stop, stop, stop!
There’s embarrassment here in the making.

Forget Port Adelaide Proud,
We’re just obnoxious and loud,
As a contender, we really have been faking,

A final we cannot win,
It’s too hard – let’s give in,
Let’s go home and have a cup of cocoa.

On us the Magpies did romp,
We belong in the local comp,
This may be our very darkest hour,

We’re such a flop, flop, flop
Let’s just stop, stop, stop!
There’s embarrassment here in the making.

September 6 if you saw us,
Just grab your Thesaurus,
Look up chokers, it now says Port Power.
*When you have got a family of eight children with only 15 years between them, it does not leave much time for sorting out names for them all, but it's never been much of a problem for Grant Thomas and his wife Kerry.
Quite simply, thanks to some decision-making by the St Kilda coach, before the first of his tribe began arriving in the mid-1980s, he had a plan based on the fact that he is a sports nut (in particular a boxing one).
Apart from Jamison (the youngest) and Kacey, two names that the couple liked for no particular reason, the rest of the children have been named after sports stars, mainly former world boxing champions. First their was Claye (after Cassius Clay), followed by Tyson (after Mike Tyson), Jordan (after basketball icon Michael Jordan), Hollie (after Evander Holyfield), Ally (after Muhammad Ali) and Bailey (after sprint champ Donovan Bailey).
Which is all very good, except if you ever got to sit at the Thomas dinner table, you would discover that 12-year-old Tyson is more often than not referred to as “Buster”.
And for good reason, too, as his dad explained on the Sport 927 breakfast show. Tyson, you see, was born in January, 1990, when “Iron Mike” was the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight world champion.
A few weeks later, however, at the height of his rape-charge scandal, Tyson was taken on and beaten by James “Buster” Douglas, so poor young Tyson Thomas has been “Buster” ever since.
*Several football identities were noticed in attendance in Colonial Stadium last month for the WWE Global Warning Tour.
Among the notables who turned out to see the likes of The Rock strut their stuff at the wrestling extravaganza were Geelong trio Matthew Scarlett, Darren Milburn and Kent Kingsley and Blues duo Scott Camporeale and Justin Murphy.
Injured Bulldog Matthew Croft was also there although he had one ear on the action and the other tuned into a radio listening to his boys do battle with Brisbane.
Channel Nine commentator Dennis Cometti was also an interested spectator as was a group of Port Adelaide players, including Che Cockatoo-Collins and a pumped up Stephen Paxman, who opted not to attend a club function in Melbourne so as to take in the wrestling instead.
And not only was the crowd of 56,754 a record for the venue but the troupe left its mark elsewhere, booking out an entire two floors of Crown Towers for the duration of its stay.
Not that most of them got to enjoy the comforts of their five-star accommodation on the last night, however, because despite the show finishing at about 11pm they were up, packed and on their way to Melbourne Airport to catch flights to the States, some of which left as early as 8am.
*Geelong’s Kent Kingsley has been awarded the title of the AFL’s sexiest man. More than 35,000 votes were received via SMS, and Kingsley won by more than 12,000 votes. However the results could be said to be rigged, as Kingsley, who collected the prize of a Hyundai coupe on the Footy Show, revealed he had called the SMS voteline more than 4,000 times and his girlfriend more than 1,200 times so he could win the prize.
*It might have seemed like a good idea at the time but Port Adelaide can expect a good old ticking off after the club used an inventive countdown clock to let its players know exactly how much time remained in the round 21 match against West Coast. With coaching staff able to keep track of the time remaining on their TV monitors, they then passed the information on to another official sitting on the interchange dugout. The bench official then simply posted on the roof of the interchange bench dugout - in full view of the players - a number to indicate the minutes remaining in the match. The process was highlighted on the Fox Footy Channel program On The Couch, its footage of the match clearly showing the countdown, starting with five minutes remaining and then
continuing right to one minute to go.
“The league has a clear ruling that a countdown clock, or anything resembling it, should not be available to players and Jill Lindsay (the AFL’s ground operations manager) will be writing to Port
for a please explain,” league media boss Patrick Keane said. In fact, Port’s football operations manager Rob Snowdon revealed the club has used the device often this season, not just for the final quarters but for all quarters, even on occasions when the final result has not been in doubt (such as
on Saturday, when it won by 38 points). No doubt the club thought it had a good tool ready for use in the finals. But, given that the AFL now knows about it, one that suddenly seems doomed.
*The Round 22 match between Port Adelaide and Brisbane was the sixth time in 70 years that the minor premiership has been decided on the last home-and-away round, according to stats man Kevin Taylor. And on every occasion the top team at the time has lost that final game. (In this case it was the Lions.)
Worse still, in all but one of those five years the same club has also gone on to miss out on the premiership, the exception being Melbourne in 1941, which lost to Carlton in its last game that year but went on to beat Essendon in the grand final.
The four final-round occasions that threatens to haunt the Lions are 1963, when Hawthorn was beaten by eventual premier Geelong, 1949, when Carlton lost to North Melbourne and Essendon was premier, 1943, when Essendon lost to eventual premier Richmond and 1931, when Richmond lost to eventual premier Geelong.
*A Perth man is so obsessed with his favourite team North Melbourne that he spent a six-figure sum on turning his property into “fortress kangaroos”. A Channel Seven camera crew was recently invited to see the home of Peter and Cheryl Brady, who has almost everything in either blue and white or Kangaroos logo: walls, curtains, furniture, swimming pool, cell phone, garage, etc. Their single-storey house is decorated with posters of Kangaroos players. Even the driveway of his property is named after the Roos’ former captain Wayne Carey, and there is also a speed limit of 18km/h (18 being Carey’s jumper number of course).

Hammerheads update
Made-for-TV team Kensington Hill Hammerheads has won its first ever premiership in its debut season.
The Hammerheads defeated North Footscray, the same team they beat in the second semi-final, to win the Western Region Football League second division trophy, the Dunlop Sport Cup, in front of a huge crowd of 8500 at Whitten Oval. Scores:
Kensington Hill 2.3 3.6 9.8 11.12 (78)
North Footscray 2.5 2.7 5.12 7.11 (53)
Hammerhead Matthew Chaplin was awarded the best-on-ground award for the final. This came after teammate Andrew Jacobs won the Alan Smith Medal for the best-and-fairest player in the division.
However, all was not well in the Hammerheads during the finals. One incident saw the Western Region Football Umpires Association threatening to boycott the Hammerheads’ matches over comments made by coach David Rhys-Jones. In an address to his players during their qualifying final against Central Altona on August 17, the former Sydney and Carlton champ called umpire Alan Pascoe “a dog” and even suggested that he and his co-umpire on the day cheated to try to stop the Hammerheads reaching the grand final. Pascoe was so incensed that he and his association demanded a personal apology from Rhys-Jones on the following week’s show, otherwise further action could be taken.
During the August 29 show, Rhys-Jones showed some remorse over his comments but refused to apologize to Pascoe on-air, even after club president Sam Kekovich and chief executive Greg Miller demanded him to so. Rhys-Jones eventually wrote an apology letter to Pascoe after the show.
Then there was a small player revolt, resulting from the network deciding to ask the viewers to help decide the make-up of the Hammerheads’ grand final side after some players missed out initially. After the August 29 show some players stormed the set, saying it was not fair that the program gave four out-of-form players one last chance for premiership glory without consulting the group, and threatened to not training with the four. The situation was eased after urgent discussions between players, Rhys-Jones and Miller.
The Hammerheads, which finished 3rd at the end of the home-and-away season, beat the Devils 15.15 (105) to 8.9 (57) at Whitten Oval in sunny conditions in the second semi-final.
The Hammerheads finished the 17-game season strongly, defeating league ladders Central Altona 17.12 (114) to 11.10 (76) in Round 16, then thrashed Gladstone Park 16.23 (119) to 4.6 (30).
The Hammerheads met Central Altona again in the qualifying final on August 18. This time, however, the Hammerheads had to overcome a poor start, a large free kick count against the team, the loss of three players through injury, and inaccurate goalkicking, to beat Altona 18.18 (126) to 7.11 (53).

AFL Live 2003 update
The release of AFL Live 2003 by Acclaim has been delayed for unknown reasons. The PS2 and PC version of the game was supposed to be released in Australian stores on September 6, following by the Xbox version six days later.
You can play with all 16 AFL clubs and all AFL players as you go head to head, round by round in the ultimate quest of an AFL Premiership.
Features
- All the Players from the AFL based on playing lists for the start of the 2002 Season
- All the Teams from the AFL
- 1 - 4 Players
- Force Feedback feature
- Play the official 2002 AFL round-by-round fixture
- Day and night, wet and dry weather conditions
- All the guernseys including both home and away versions where applicable
- Same statistics used as the official supplier to the AFL and AFL Clubs so you can fully and realistically analyse your teams performance
- Games played in 5 states across Australia across 6 different, realistic
football stadiums (MCG, Colonial, SCG, the Gabba, Football Park and Subiaco Oval)
- Listen to your club song as the teams run out through team banners
- Animated crowds with banners, club colours and genuine atmospheric sounds
- More than 40 animated characters on the ground - more than any other sports game
- Cheats to reward game progression i.e. moon cheat, extra kick distance, extra player stamina, new (suburban) ground, improved kicking accuracy
- TV broadcast style look and feel of game
- Commentary featuring by Channel Ten anchor Stephen Quartermain and ex AFL champion, Garry Lyon from Channel Nine
- Sydney Swans players Nick Daffy and Paul Williams used for kicking, marking, handballing, running and heaps more motion capture.
- Game modes include Season, Finals and Quick Play
And special gameplay strategies devised exclusively for the game by Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy.
You can find more details on the game at Acclaim’s new Australian website (www.acclaimau.com).

That's for today. See you soon.

Regards,