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ABC Boss Blasts AFL Stance on Radio Rights

by Johnson Leung, reporting for AFANA in Melbourne

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Managing Director Mark Scott has warned of consequences for the AFL if the government-funded broadcaster is not allowed to cover the best Saturday afternoon match as part of the new radio rights.   In a newspaper interview, Scott, who joined the ABC in June, criticised the league of being more interested in money than letting the ABC take the game to a national audience, and not recognising the broadcaster's role of promoting Aussie Rules around the country.

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AFL Weekly Review Week 2 Finals 2006

by Tim Murphy

AFL Semi-Finals

Grant Thomas exited out! The Stainers dropped a bomb last Tuesday by sacking Thomas, for reasons which are still not clear. Apparently the Sainter board believed Thommo would never win a flag, after finals failures in the last three years in which the Saints led all three games at three-quarter-time. A lot of ‘threes’ in that sentence. Injured players were a clear factor in those losses, but other reasons for the axing emerged, such as Thomas’s autocratic rule over the Saints’ footy department. But the axing reeks of things unknown. Thomas, while disagreeing with the decision obviously, took it with reasonable grace. The Stainers have certainly come a long way from mid-2001

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AFL Reveals New Spending Plan

by Lisa,  reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Cash For All
Last week, the AFL announced its new spending plan for the next five years. Called the "Next Generation - Securing the Future of Australian Football", the plan will see massive amounts of cash invested in the AFL clubs, the competition, game development, and facilities with a view to the future. The "strategy" details the distribution of a record $1.4 billion over the next 5 years and includes a $650 million package to shore up the future of the 16 AFL clubs.

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said the Next Generation "strategy" was a responsible and prudent balance between providing for clubs and the competition today as well as  investing in building the next generation of supporters, participants, members and viewers.   Demetriou acknowledged the supporters and their passion for the game and said they would also benefit from the improved funding
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West Coast Not Done Yet

By Tim Stone, reporting for the AFANA from Subiaco Oval, Perth.

 

An emphatic 74 point victory has put West Coasts Premiership plans back on track, systematically dismantling the signature running game of the fairytale Western Bulldogs in the first Semi Final on Saturday night at Subiaco Oval.  The heartache of last week's 1-point loss to Sydney has been converted into a sense of optimism, with the Eagles now poised to battle against the Adelaide Crows in the Preliminary Final for the second consecutive year.    West Coast won the encounter last year by 16 points at Subiaco -- this time around they must travel to AAMI Stadium to earn a spot in the 2006 Grand Final.

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Fremantle Overcomes Finals Demons

By Tim Stone, reporting for the AFANA from Subiaco Oval, Perth.

 

It has been 12 years in the making, but Fremantle has at last achieved Finals success, overcoming a feisty Melbourne side by 28 points in the First Elimination Final at Subiaco. Their success on a balmy Friday night was the equivalent of reaching the summit for their season 2006 aspirations -- Coach Chris Connolly and the Fremantle Football Club's goal of “making and winning a Final” .

 

The victory is reward for players such as Shaun McManus and Shane Parker who have been with the club since its AFL debut in 1995. Their only Finals appearance before 2006 came in 2003 where they finished fifth,

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Canadian Grand Final Coverage Confirmed!

As of Fri 15 September, live coverage of the Grand Final in Canada has now been confirmed!

Canadian Grand Final coverage, will be on Fox Sports World Canada as it has been since 2001.   Coverage will begin at 12:00 MN EDT 30 September and run for 4 hours.  (This is a slightly different schedule than in the US.  US coverage on Setanta Sports will begin an hour earlier.) For the full schedules see our TV schedule page.

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AFL Weekly Review Week 1 Finals 2006

AFL Elimination and Qualifying Finals
by Tim Murphy

Swans in position to go back-to-back after the weekend. They have Freo or Melbun to play in a preliminary final and both those sides would be happy to get that far, you feel. Remaining heavyweights the Weevils and Camrys are now in the other ‘half’ of the draw and get to belt each other in a fortnight (probably).

Some news last week, Port’s speedy rover Danyle Pearce won the Rising Star Award, comfortably from Tiger Andrew Raines and Pieman Heath Shaw. The farcical Carlton blundered into all sorts of trouble when they met to sack Denis Pagan and invite former Siddey and Bloo rover Barry Mitchell to become coach. But then they didn’t, for some reason, possibly financial as Pagan faced a huge payout if they did knife him.

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Bulldogs Speed Run Over Magpies

By Barry Kennedy, AFANA Reporter in Melbourne

The gulf in finals experience between the seasoned Collingwood side and the greenhorns from the Western Bulldogs loomed as a decisive factor in the first Elimination Final at the MCG yesterday. A lack of Finals experience had already proved detrimental to Fremantle in Adelaide. Additionally Collingwood were back on the Finals stage for the first time since its humiliation by Brisbane in the 2004 grand final and for skipper Nathan Buckley and company, surely this was their day for the Magpies to reassert themselves in Finals play. After all, the Western Bulldogs had experienced an awful year on the injury front and had no forwards over six foot, unheard of in almost any era of Australian Football. Seemingly the Bulldogs didn't read the script,  with a swag of well manufactured goals and an unstoppable combination of flair, pace and instinctive football overwhelmed the flat-footed Magpies. 

A bruising intensity underlined the first quarter, established from the opening bounce when Magpie hard-nut Brodie Holland cleaned up the Bulldogs Brett Montgomery in one of the most ferocious hip-and-shoulders seen in many years.

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Feds Want Players Named

by Lisa, reporting for AFANA from Chicago

The Australian Federal Government has urged the AFL to review its current anti-drug policy, abandon the secret testings, and reveal the names of players caught.  Federal Minister Rod Kemp, who was one of the forces behind the push to adopt WADA' policy, said the AFL's current system of sanctions and reporting were "out of touch with community expectations". He said the government had "zero tolerance of doping in sport".  Relations between the AFL and the Federal Government became fractured when the league initially balked at signing WADA's code, but was eventually forced to do so under threat of losing government funding on multiple projects.

Kemp went on to say he believed clubs would want to know the names of players who tested positive,

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Swans Win Finals Epic

By Tim Stone reporting for the AFANA from Subiaco Oval, Perth.

 

The Swans have taken a decisive next step in their bid to claim their second consecutive Premiership. A one point thriller has seen Sydney beat West Coast in what has been hailed as one of the greatest Finals in recent years. Syndey earned themselves a home Preliminary Final and are now just one win away from another crack at the coveted trophy.

 

An enthralling battle took place between two quality teams that left nothing on the field, the lead changing 7 times from the last 7 goals before O’Loughlin was able to put the winning goal on the board in the dying minute of the game. In an era which is producing one of the most memorable rivalries for the ages, this match was a showcase for why the Swans and West Coast have joined the likes of the Brisbane Lions as the dominant teams of the 2000's. 

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