John Worsfold

AFANA AFL POWER POLL (Round 2)
by Boris Kilpatrick, special to AFANA from Australia

1.    Western Bulldogs (Last Week - 1)
The Bulldogs retain top spot on the AFANA Power Poll after a stirring win over a gallant Sydney Swans. Marcus Bontempelli and Luke Dalhaus were once again magnificent for the Bulldogs who are showing no signs of a premiership hangover.

2.    Adelaide Crows (2)
Another big tick for the Crows who came from behind to beat Hawthorn for the first time since 2011. Despite losing tall forward Josh Jenkins early, the Crows were simply too slick for a Hawthorn outfit that is yet to hit their straps in 2017.

Brook “Boris” Kilpatrick Reporting for AFANA

Mason Cox had not heard of Australian Rules Football just two years ago. Today, he debuted for arguably the biggest team in the AFL – Collingwood – in front of more than 85,000 fans on a day that holds huge importance on the Australian and New Zealand calendar: ANZAC Day (the equivalent of Memorial Day).

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Former West Coast premiership player Don Pyke is the new Adelaide coach. Pyke, 46, played 132 games for the Eagles between 1989 and 1996. He played in the 1992 and 1994 Premierships and won the Eagles' Best and Fairest award in 1993. His career was cut short due to a shoulder injury but he did play for Claremont in the WAFL after his AFL retirement. Pyke began his coaching career at Claremont and was there for two years before becoming an assistant with the Eagles 2001-2004. He then became an assistant with the Crows under Neil Craig 2005-06 before making a move to working in the oil and gas industry and serving as a coaching consultant to Claremont and Fremantle. He returned to West Coast as an assistant in 2014.

by Johnson Leung reporting for AFANA in Melbourne

Adelaide has appointed its midfield coach Scott Camporeale as interim Senior Coach for the rest of 2015 season on Monday, replacing the late Phil Walsh. Former West Coast premiership coach John Worsfold also joins the club in the newly created position as Director of Coaching on a short-term contract. The two men will be working together for the first time since 2001 when Camporeale was in the middle of his playing career at Carlton where Worsfold was an assistant coach at the time. Camporeale played 233 games for the Blues from 1995 to 2005 (he was part of the club's 1995 Premiership side) and 19 games for Essendon from 2006 to 2007. He worked as the Bombers' assistant coach for the next four years before he joined the Crows as Midfield Coach in 2010.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Six minutes into the first quarter at Carlton's Round 10 match against Adelaide, Chris Judd landed awkwardly and his knee buckled. Later, the worst was confirmed. Judd had ruptured his ACL. When asked by a reporter later that night if it was probably the end, Judd replied "Yep". Two days later, Judd confirmed that he was retiring. Judd admitted that it wasn't easy to walk away from football, calling it his life's passion. Even he knew it was the end when the injury was confirmed. He described his career as "... an incredible fortunate journey" from which he will take many fond memories.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

THE VERDICT IS IN - NOT GUILTY
The saga that has lasted over two years is finally over with the Anti-Doping Tribunal clearing all 34 players involved in the supplements program.The verdict was unanimous and in a statement Tribunal Chairman David Jones spelled out the reasons:

• The Tribunal was comfortably satisfied that the substance Thymosin Beta-4 was at the relevant time a prohibited substance under the Code.
• The Tribunal was not comfortably satisfied that any player was administered Thymosin Beta-4.
• The Tribunal was not comfortably satisfied that any player violated clause 11.2 of the Anti-Doping Code.

The statement also said that a decision regarding "a former Essendon support person" (read: Stephen Dank) would be made at a later date. Whether or not the full 133-page decision document or part of it will be made public is left up to the players, the club and their lawyers. Leaked copies have apparently reached some in the media. In summary, the panel conceded there was insufficient evidence against the players to establish that they had taken TB-4 and it could not be established that the substance they were injected with was in fact, TB-4. The credibility of the key individuals involved was so low and the chain of custody and record keeping so suspect, exactly what was injected could not be proven.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Just ahead of the Round 18 match against Richmond, Eagle ruckman Dean Cox announced that 2014 would be his final season. Cox, 33, admitted that it takes him two or three days to recover after games and that he felt it was time to retire. He also said the current form of ruck partners Nic Nainatui, Scott Lycett and Callum Sinclair had made the decision easier. While he admitted it would have been nice to be the first Eagle to reach 300 games he said he had never planned on hanging around just to reach a certain number of games. Cox is planning on moving into a coaching role and has spent much of this season working with his fellow ruckmen in a coaching capacity.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Brisbane's Jonathan Brown, 32, was certain to retire at the end of the season. But another concussion, suffered in Round 13 when his head collided with Giants' Tomas Bugg's hip has seen him retire immediately. Brown was doing what he has always done - throwing himself into a contest and a pack of players. The impact left him dazed and brought down the curtain on an amazing career. Brown was advised by doctors to retire and Brown, who said he was still feeling the effects a week later, admitted it was getting more difficult to bounce back.