Round 1 AFL News

by Lisa Albergo, reporting for AFANA from Chicago.

GENERAL NEWS

Irish Discussions In Dubai
Officials from the AFL and GAA met last month in Dubai during the Collingwood-Adelaide preseason game to discuss the future of the International Series. The GAA made a number or proposals for regulating the game and penalty procedures which the AFL will need to approve. The recommendations were:

The appointment of a 4-member Match Control Committee. The committee members would be the AFL and GAA CEOs or their respective nominees and one member each from the AFL Commission and GAA Committee. This committee would oversee the International Rules Tribunal. The host country's CEO would chair the committee.

The Tribunal would consist of the respective CEOs or their nominated representatives as well as a mutually agreed upon independent member.

The appointment of a Video Match Referee. This referee will be drawn from a country other than Australia or Ireland and will have the power to report Yellow and Red Card infractions not witnessed by the match officials. The referee will report the infractions to the match officials during game breaks so they may respond accordingly.

The review referee and match officials will have the power to report players to the Tribunal, which will act much in the same manner as the AFL and GAA Tribunals. Penalties will also be in accordance with both bodies. However, penalties against AFL players will be akin to those meted out for Grand Final indiscretions which are more severe than the season proper.

Match Officials from Australia and Ireland shall be appointed on the following basis: one Match Referee, one Linesman from each country to act as standby referees and two Goal Umpires from each Country

The Linesman and Goal Umpires shall have the power - during the course of the game - to bring Yellow/Red Card infractions to the attention of the Match Referees which have not been detected by them

The AFL and GAA shall each appoint a Playing Rules Moderator. Their responsibilities will be to produce and distribute materials relating to the Laws of the International Series, meet with match officials to provide training input, and brief players, team officials and media representatives.

Other Recommendations:

The Match Referees to address the respective teams and team officials in their dressing rooms prior to the games.

The Match Referees to officiate at training sessions with each team ahead of the first game.

Match officials to travel separately from the teams and to stay at separate accommodations from the teams.

Players to be escorted onto the field of play by children, including non nationals based in the host country, and all players to line up and shake hands in advance of each game

The Match Control Committee to introduce the Playing Rules Moderators at media briefings in conjunction with the launch of the series

Members of the Team Panel not listed on the Official Team Sheet to be accommodated with the interchange players

The two codes will also share information regarding injury research, rehabilitation and prevention; research findings on playing rules and disciplinary actions; IT systems for ticketing; the integration of indigenous and non-national players; ground preparation, condition, maintenance and lighting; referee and coaching education; game development and the promotion of indigenous teams in a sporting and cultural heritage context

Source: Herald Sun

AFL Growth
The league announced that 2007 was another year of record growth for the game. The annual report, which was sent out late last month, listed record revenue of $285 million. This represented a 34% increase from 2006. The league also recorded a $26 million profit and record distributions of $176 million. Fifteen clubs recorded profits in 2007. Attendances were up 4% on 2007 with 7.05 million fans attending games and club memberships rose to an aggregate 532,697.

Source: Patrick Keane, AFL Media Release

AFLPA
Eagle forward Ashley Hansen and former Bomber Simon Madden have been appointed to the executive committee of the Players Association. The association held their AGM last week at which time the duo were elected. Hansen is the first Eagle to join the Executive since John Worsfold, who served on the committee 1995-99. Hansen replaces the just retired Darryl Wakelin who served on the committee for nine years.
Madden, a past players representative, takes over the position from former Swan/Bulldog Simon Garlick who was a committee member for five years.

The appointment of Hansen gives the committee representation from all AFL states. Tiger Joel Bowden was re-elected president while Geelong's Tom Harley was also re-elected to the committee. The 2008 AFL Players' Association Executive Committee is made up of: Joel Bowden (RICH) - President; Brett Burton (ADE) - Vice-President; Luke Ball (STK), Adam Goodes (SYD), Ashley Hansen (WCE), Tom Harley (GEEL); Nick Maxwell (COL); Robert Murphy (WB); Luke Power (BRIS); Simon Madden - past player representative;
Brendon Gale - AFLPA CEO

Source: Jason Murnane, AFLPA Media Release

Medal Honor For Hird and Archer
A new medal has been struck to honor the retired duo. The Archer-Hird Medal will be presented to a player in games between Essendon and the Kangaroos. The medal will be awarded to the player who is judged to have best shown the values of determination, courage, skill and loyalty. Kangaroo CEO Eugene Arocca said the idea came after Hird and Archer showed their mutual respect for each other when they swapped playing jumpers after their final game against each other.

Source: Melbourne Age

Aussie Sailors Guilty in Footy-Sparked Fight
March 11, 2008
The two Australian sailors who were charged with beating a San Diego man have pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. Several other charges, including that against one sailor for possession of cocaine, were dropped. The outcome came as the result of a plea bargain which will see the assailants avoid lengthy jail terms. Philip Ferres, 26, and Kolis Barba, 24, will be sentenced next month, will be on probation in a work furlough program. That program will see the pair work during the day - possibly at the San Diego naval base - then return to a low-security prison at night. It is believed the two sailors will be sentenced to approximately two months in jail and then return to Australia.

The sailors were arrested in November after beating a local man, Jeffery Wilkinson, with whom they had gotten into an argument. The three had met at a local bar before heading to a party at a nearby apartment. It was there the trio argued first about the merits of American football vs. Australian football. The argument then turned to politics and the involvement of Australia and the USA in the Middle East. The victim became increasing uncomfortable as the argument became heated and left the party. The sailors, who claimed they feared for their safety thinking the man would return with a gun, followed him and assaulted him.

Source: Herald Sun

Umpire Retires
Field umpire Darren Goldspink announced his retirement. His last game was the preseason opener. Goldspink, 43, said he could no longer keep up with the demands of the job. Goldspink umpired 371 games, putting him third on the list behind Hayden Kennedy (412) and Rowan Sawers (410). In 2007, he managed just 12 games.

Goldspink officiated six Grand Finals 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2006 and was named All-Australian umpire in 1993, 1995 and 2005.

Source: Geelong Advertiser

Captains' Poll
One week before the start of the 2008 season, all 16 club captains gathered in Melbourne for the official season launch and gave their opinions in the annual poll. Five questions were put to each of them.
The full voting was:

Which seven other clubs do you think can make this year's top eight? (16 times seven selections)

Geelong (15), Hawthorn (14), St Kilda (14), West Coast (12), Port Adelaide (12), Adelaide (11), Sydney (11), Fremantle (nine), Collingwood (six), Western Bulldogs (three), Brisbane Lions (two), Essendon (two), North Melbourne (one), Carlton (nil), Melbourne (nil), Richmond (nil).

Which other club is most likely to reach the Grand Final?

Geelong (14), St Kilda (two).

Who do you think will win the 2008 Brownlow Medal?

Gary Ablett, Geelong (six), Chris Judd, Carlton (three), Adam Goodes, Sydney (two), Jonathon Brown, Brisbane Lions (one), Daniel Kerr, West Coast (one), Joel Corey, Geelong (one), Nick Dal Santo, St Kilda (one), Brad Johnson, Western Bulldogs (one).

Who do you think will win the 2008 Coleman Medal?

Jonathon Brown, Brisbane Lions(six), Brendan Fevola, Carlton (five), Matthew Pavlich, Fremantle (two), Lance Franklin, Hawthorn (two), Matthew Lloyd, Essendon (one).

Who do you think will win the 2008 NAB AFL Rising Star?

Matthew Kreuzer, Carlton (five), Cyril Rioli, Hawthorn (three), Matthew Leuenberger, Brisbane Lions (two), Craig Bird, Sydney (one), Tom Hawkins, Geelong (one), Brad Ebert, West Coast (one), Jarryn Geary, St Kilda (one), Andrejis Everitt, Western Bulldogs (one), James Sellar, Adelaide (one).

Source: Patrick Keane, Club Media Release

TRIBUNAL
The AFL has introduced a new rule which will see players suffer heavier fines for brawling in 2008. The new offense of "misconduct - instigator of a melee" has been added for this season. Previously, a first-time offender was fined $2400 which could be reduced to $1800 for an early guilty plea. That fine will now be $3600 which would be discounted down to $2700. Further offenses will incur $4800 ($3600) fines. However, fines for players involved in melees have been decreased to $1,600 ($1,200 for an early plea), $2,800 ($2,100) and $4,000 ($3,000).

AFL Operations Manager Adrian Anderson said the new ruling and increase in fines came about as the AFL felt that instigating a fight was the more serious offense. In other changes, the words "unreasonable and unnecessary contact to the face" were added to the wording of the misconduct offense for eye-gouging.

The Tribunal will also be allowed to take action against anyone who does fully cooperate with the panel. This comes in the wake of Hawk Campbell Brown's admission in an interview that he fibbed in his testimony against Chris Judd, who had been reported for alleged eye-gouging. Brown, who said he only did it so as not ruin Judd's chances at another Brownlow Medal, was fined $15,000 by the AFL.

Source: Melbourne Age

MILESTONES
Automatic AFL Life Membership: Tyson Edwards (ADE) qualified for automatic AFL life membership with his 300th official game in Round One. Since his debut in 1995, he has played 266 premiership matches, 30 pre-season matches, one state of origin match and two international rules matches.

Most Games: Robert Harvey (STK) played his 360th game, taking him into outright sixth position in the history of the game, behind only Michael Tuck (426 games), Kevin Bartlett (403 games), Simon Madden (378 games), Craig Bradley (375 games) and Bernie Quinlan (366 games).

300 games: Brad Johnson (WB) became the 54th player in the history of the game to reach 300 games, and the sixth for the club to reach 300 games behind Chris Grant, Doug Hawkins, Ted Whitten, Scott West and Rohan Smith.

Most consecutive games: Adam Goodes (SYD) played his 192nd consecutive game, the fifth best streak in the history of the game, behind only Jim Stynes (244 games for Melbourne between 1987-98), Adem Yze (226 games for Melbourne between 1997-2007), Jack Titus (202 games for Richmond between 1933-43) and Jared Crouch (194 games for Sydney between 1998-2006).

Members of one family: Selwood brothers. If Scott Selwood is selected to make his debut for West Coast, following on from brothers Adam (West Coast), Troy (Brisbane Lions) and Joel (Geelong), the Selwood family will become the first since the Daniher family in 1987 to have four brothers reach VFL / AFL level and the 13th family in the history of the game. The full list (in order of matches played) is the Daniher family (752 games for Terry, Neale, Anthony and Chris), the Cordner family (376 games for Don, Ted, Denis and John), the Hiskins family (375 games for Fred, Arthur, Stan and Rupe), the Rose family (374 games for Bob, Bill, Kevin and Ralph), the Grace family (220 games for Jim, Mick, Billy and Joe), the Gibb family (214 games for Percy, Len, Reg and Rupert), the Strang family (197 games for Doug, Gordon, Colin and Allan), the Rush family (190 games for Bob, Leo, Bryan, Gerald and Kevin), the Daykin family (187 games for Robert Bert, Richard and Percy), the Fogarty family (140 games for John, Joe, Chris and Tom), the Robinson family (116 games for Bill, Alex, Fred and Gordon) and the Holligan family (97 games for Teddy, John, Mick and Joe).

100 consecutive games: Ryan O'Keefe (SYD)
100 games: Josh Hunt (GEEL)
50 games: Ricky Dyson & Andrew Lovett (ESS), Nathan Foley & Jay Schulz (RICH), Mark Nicoski (WCE), Damon White (PA)

Source: Patrick Keane, AFL Media Release

TEAM NEWS

ADELAIDE
Rhett Biglands re-injured his knee in the preseason and underwent another knee reconstruction. He will be sidelined for most, if not all, of the season.

The Crows have joined the recent trend of clubs signing unproven footballers. 15 year old Sam Martyn is a star long-distance runner but has played football for just one year after concentrating on athletics and soccer. Martyn is the second NSW junior the club has signed under the AFL's Scholarship Program.

Martyn is rated second nationally for his age group over 800 meters (875 yds in 1:56:38) and 1500 meters 1640 yds). At last year's national under-16 championships in Sydney he was runner up in both races. He posted a 1:56:38 time for 800 meters and 3:59:84 for 1500 metes. At the scholarship testing, he completed a 3 km (1.86 miles) time trial in 9.19 minutes, a better time posted by any of the juniors who attended last year's Draft Camp.

Injury Update:
Rhett Biglands, knee, indefinite
Trent Hentschel, knee, 4 weeks
Greg Gallman, knee (bone bruising), 1 week
Nick Gill, calf, 2-3 weeks
Chris Knights, quad strain, indefinite

Source: Inside Football; & afl.com.au; David Burtenshaw, Club Media Release

BRISBANE
The club may have missed the finals last year, but hope once more springs eternal in the Lions' den with fans showing their support with memberships. Anticipation that the club will rise again has boosted membership sales to 18,094 in mid-January. It is an increase of over 2000 members over this time last year. In 2007, the club's membership was the lowest in the league with just 21,976, compared to almost 31,000 in 2004 when the club was still a powerhouse. Brisbane CEO Michael Bowers said the club was on track to reach their goal of 28,000 members in 2008.

The club has signed a second scholarship player under the AFL's scheme. Jack Lawson, 17, will continue his studies at Sydney University and play with the NSW/ACT Rams. When time allows, he will also train with the Lions and be advised by specialist coaches. Club recruiting manager Craig Brittain described Lawson as a skilled and agile halfback/midfielder. The Lions will have the option of adding Lawson to either the senior list or rookie list next year.

A horror run of injuries has forced ruckman Beau McDonald into retirement. McDonald notified Coach Leigh Matthews and informed teammates of his decision ahead of the first preseason game last month. McDonald, 28, had a knee reconstruction in 2003 and has since suffered a number of complications related to the knee injury and subsequent surgery. He missed the entire 2004 and 2005 seasons with recurring knee problems. He returned in 2006, but played just eight games in the past two seasons.

McDonald was drafted in 1997 and debuted the following season. He earned a regular senior spot when Matthew Clarke was traded to Adelaide at the end of 1999. He worked in tandem with now retired ruckman Clark Keating.

BEAU McDONALD
DOB: Nov. 3, 1979
Height: 203 cm 6'6"), Weight: 102 kg (224 lbs)
Guernsey No: 43
Games: 91, Goals 22
Finals: 7
AFL Rising Star Nomination 2000
Third Place – AFL Rising Star Award 2000
Lions Best First Year Player 2000
Lions Premiership Player 2001, 2002

Source: Sam Lord, Club Media Release & Herald Sun

CARLTON
Bryce Gibbs signed a two year extension to his contract in mid-March

Forward Brendon Fevola was dumped from the leadership group after yet one more alcohol fueled incident last weekend. Fevola relieved himself in a bar in the wee hours and got into a scuffle with staff. Fevola was fined $10,000 by the club. He has been enrolled in alcohol education and welfare courses and the club has warned him that he will be terminated if he offends again. Fevola's contract expires at the end of this season.

Injury Update:
Brad Fisher, thumb, 3-4 weeks
Andrew Walker, shoulder (injured in practice match), indefinite

Source: Melbourne Age & Stephen Wilson, Club Media Release

GEELONG
Some 40 odd years ago, a power outage hit the east coast of the US. Nine months later, hospitals reported a higher than usual birthrate. The same has happened in the city of Geelong, or is about to happen. Hospitals and doctors have reported a 30% increase in expected births due in July, nine months after the Cats won the 2007 Grand Final.

Ahead of the opening round, the Cats had already signed 31,400 members, 6000 more than at this time last year. The club's greatest membership figure was 32,290 in 2006. The club is confident they can have at least 36,000 by the mid-June cutoff date.

Injury Update:
Matthew Egan, foot, long term injury list
Nathan Djerrkura, quad, 1 week
David Wojcinski, finger, 2-3 weeks

Source: Herald Sun; news.com.au;Kevin Diggerson, Club Media Release

HAWTHORN
Promising youngster Beau Muston will miss yet a third season of football as he requires third knee reconstruction. Muston, drafted by the Hawks despite his first knee injury in the U-18 competition, required a second reconstruction in 2007 due to the first not healing properly. He re-injured the knee during a running drill in which he attempted to change direction.

Defender Danny Jacobs announced his retirement just before the start of the season. He cited ongoing problems with a hip injury as the reason. Jacobs played 126 games for Essendon and the Hawks, after making his debut with the Bombers in 1999. He jointed the Hawks at the end of 2003 but has been plagued by injury since his arrival. He has undergone eight surgeries in the past three years.

Injury Update:
Max Bailey, knee, 4-5 weeks
Luke McEntee, hamstring, 1 week
Beau Muston, knee, season

Membership: 29,406

Source: Melbourne Age; abc.com.au; & Sara Kalaja, Club Media Release

KANGAROOS
The club has made another front office change with the appointment of Eugene Arocca, lately of Collingwood, as their new CEO. Club chairman James Brayshaw said the club was delighted to secure the services of Arocca, a lawyer by trade, whom he said knows football and football clubs. A year ago, Arocca was overlooked as Collingwood's CEO in favor of Gary Pert. Arocca said the appointment was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that the Kangaroos represented "...the very essence of AFL football".

The Victorian Government recently announced they would provide $10.5 million in funding for all nine Melbourne based clubs. The Kangaroos will receive $2 million of that funding to improve their facilities. The redevelopment project will take about 2 years to complete.

Lachlan Pryor, 17, from the NSW/ACT Rams has been signed by the Kangaroos under the AFL Scholarship Program. He joins James Wilsen under the scheme. He will continue his education at home and play with the Rams, but will be monitored by the club and train with them when possible. The Kangaroos will have the opportunity to draft Pryor when he becomes eligible under AFL Rules.

Jess Sinclair will miss at least a month of football after requiring surgery for torn finger ligaments. Sinclair injured his thumb in last week's practice game.

Membership: 25,852

Source: Melbourne Age, Herald Sun & Matt Harrington, Club Media Release

MELBOURNE
David Neitz has been named team captain for a ninth consecutive season. He is joined in the leadership group by Brad Miller, Adem Yze, Brock McLean, Russell Robertson, Cameron Bruce and James McDonald.
Neitz, who debuted in 1993, has played 301 games, 168 of those as captain. Last year, Neitz became the first Melbourne player to play 300 games. In 2006, he broke the club's goalkicking record as well as the games record as captain, set by Robbie Flower.

Injury Update:
Matthew Bate, hamstring, 2 weeks
Jack Grimes, groin, 6-8 weeks

Membership: 20,203

Source: Melbourne Age & Leigh Newton, Club Media Release

PORT ADELAIDE
Young stars Travis Boak, Robbie Gray and Nathan Krakouer have each signed new two-year deals with the club. All three joined the club via the 2006 draft. Boak and Gray won NAB AFL Rising Star nominations in their first season last year, while Krakouer made staggering early progress by playing nine of the first 11 games of the season.

Warren Tredrea was appointed captain for a third season. His vice-captains are Shaun Burgoyne, Chad Cornes and Brendon Lade. All four continue their roles from 2007. Michael Wilson was a vice-captain last year, but was dropped as he will miss half the season due to injury.

Tredrea is only the club’s third captain in the AFL, following Gavin Wanganeen (1997-2000) and Matthew Primus (2001-05). In keeping with club tradition, Tredrea will retain the No. 1 guernsey.

Source: Hitaf Rasheed, Club Media Release

RICHMOND
The club announced their leadership group for 2008. Kane Johnson has retained the captaincy for a fourth season with young guns Nathan Foley and Chris Newman named vice-captains. Foley, 22, and Newman, 25, both had impressive seasons in 2007 and the club believes it is an opportunity for younger players to help shape the future of the club. They replace Joel Bowden and Nathan Brown who still remain part of the leadership group alongside Troy Simmonds and Kayne Pettifer. According to Coach Terry Wallace, both Newman and Foley are hard workers, set a good example for others, and are well-respected among the players.

Mitch Morton will miss the 2008 season after damaging his knee in a practice match last month. He will require a knee reconstruction to repair the damaged anterior cruciate ligament.

Source: Melbourne Age

ST KILDA
Membership: 26,000

Source: Matt Schmidt, Club Media Release

SYDNEY
Coach Paul Roos faced an AFL inquiry last week over allegations that he told one of his players to throw an NAB Cup game. Roos was one of a number of coaches who vehemently opposed the new NAB rule of limiting interchange rotations to just 16 per quarter. Prior to the start of the preseason competition, he made facetious comments about the possibility of not fielding his best team so the Swans would lose and be knocked out of the single-elimination NAB Cup games.

Roos was reportedly to have been overheard telling Jarrad McVeigh not to kick a goal as he was sent out onto the ground late in the final term. However, Roos explained that his comment was meant to be a humorous reference to McVeigh's poor kicking for goal n 2007. However, the comment took an ominous turn as the Swans failed to score in final few minutes of the match and lost.

The comment was also overheard by an interchange steward who reported the incident to the AFL. The AFL, in turn, sent a "please explain" letter to Roos and launched an investigation. Former Court of Appeals Judge John Winneke, now an AFL investigator, interviewed both interchange stewards and several Swan players.
After 38 years involvement with the club, Ricky Quade stood down from his board position at the club's AGM in mid-March. His position on the board was taken by a local business man who has been a long-time supporter of the Swans.

Quade played 164 games with the Swans from 1970-1980 and was captain from 1977-1979. He won the club Best & Fairest in 1976. He was appointed as senior coach of the inaugural Swans team in Sydney from 1982-1984 and had a number of terms as Chairman of Selectors. He has been a club director since 1995 and is a life member of both the Swans and the AFL.

“It has been a great honour to have been involved with a Club which has such a fantastic culture and I’m proud when people talk of the top teams in Australian sport and the Swans are invariably mentioned right up the top of the list.”

Rick Quade played 164 games with the Swans from 1970–1980 and was captain from 1977-1979. He was acknowledged as Club Best & Fairest in 1976.He was appointed as senior coach of the inaugural Swans team in Sydney from 1982-1984 and had a number of terms as Chairman of Selectors and has been a Director of the Club since 1995. Rick is also a Life Member of the Sydney Swans and the AFL.

Source: Melbourne Age, Herald Sun & Stephen Brassel, Club Media Release

WEST COAST
WCE
The club was the subject of an in depth review conducted by the AFL. The league appointed Victorian Supreme Court judge Bill Gillard to conduct the review which involved interviews with club officials, staff, and players as well as league officials. The review examined the club's culture, off-field incidents by players, and the processes the club had put into place to rectify matters. According to the report, the club has done well to clean up their act. However, several recommendations were made to the league: a new body appointed by the Commission to deal with serious off field-matters, inclusion of a clause in player contracts outlining serious off-field indiscretions and resultant penalties and increased fines and suspensions for any breaches.
Andrew Demetriou was pleased with the work the club had done and the results, but believes the Eagles still have a lot of work to do.

Former Eagle defender Glen Jakovich has been appointed to the All-Australian selections committee. He replaces his former teammate, the late Chris Mainwaring who passed away last year.

Jakovich, who played a club record 276 games for West Coast between 1991 and 2004 and won the best and fairest in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2000, joins Andrew Demetriou (chairman), Adriane Anderson, Rod Austin, Kevin Bartlett, Mark Bickley, Gerard Healy and Robert Walls on the All Australian selection panel. The All Australian selectors, along with Kevin Sheehan, also choose the winner of the NAB AFL Rising Star Award. Jakovich himself was twice named All-Australian in 1994 and 1995.

Anderson said he was delighted Jakovich had accepted the invitation to join the committee, after a stellar career on the field in which he also won All Australian selection himself twice in 1994-95.

Source: Melbourne Age & Patrick Keane, AFL Media Release

WESTERN BULLDOGS
Roslyn Smorgon, wife of club president David, passed away on January 27 after a lengthy battle with cancer at the age of 59. Mrs. Smorgon was very active throughout the community, helping to raise money for Jewish women's health, arts, and sporting organizations. AFL boss Andrew Demetriou issued a statement on behalf of the league in which he said Roslyn would be sadly missed and was passionate about the Bulldogs and a great friend to many within the community.

The club announced their leadership group for 2008. The retirements of Chris Grant, Luke Darcy, Brett Montgomery and Matthew Robbins opened the way for Matthew Boyd and Dale Morris to join Brad Johnson, Scott West, Robert Murphy, Daniel Cross and Daniel Giansiracusa. Eade said adding defender Dale Morris and midfielder Matthew Boyd gave the team a good cross-section of age and positions within the leadership group.

Morris debuted in 2005 and has played 62 games. Boyd was rookie listed in 2002 and elevated to the senior list in 2003 for his debut. He has played 90 games to date.

Source: Herald Sun & westernbulldogs.com.au