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future view Andrew Demetriou discusses the game, where it is heading and the challenges it has faced in 2009.
Finals week one, September 4-6, 2009 F e at u r e s
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Andrew Demetriou
One-on-one with the AFL’s CEO.
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Seize the day
Former stars share their memories of finals.
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The year in photos
The best images of 2009.
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Rodney Eade
Analysing the opposition.
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Daniel Rich
Young Lion is the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star. regulars
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Backchat
Have your say about the football world.
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The Finals Bounce
Views, news, first person, facts, data, culture.
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Matchday
Stats, line-ups and Denis Pagan’s preview.
Answer Man 120 Collectables 122 Talking Point 119
Tony Peek reflects on 20 years with the AFL.
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ADELAIDE vs ESSENDON
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THIS WEEK’S COVERS There is a souvenir cover for each of the four finals, featuring club captains or key players. Go to slatterymedia. com/images to order prints of these covers and all Record covers throughout the home and away season.
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Protect the player with the ball
IN FORM: Adelaide’s Tyson
A former Victorian Country Football League umpire proposes a way to eliminate “repetitive ball-ups”. The way to eliminate repetitive ball-ups would be to protect the initial player with the ball, by awarding him
Edwards, here trying to avoid Carlton’s Chris Yarran, is one of several players making the Crows a dangerous finals team.
a free kick for ‘in the back’ or ‘general interference’. The current congestion would be eliminated. Players would be rewarded for being creative and getting the ball.
Opposition players, by necessity, would have to guard their opponents down field. As a result the current amount of flooding would be minimised. Inevitably this would lead to a greater degree of flow-on football and add to the excitement and constantly changing spectacle of our game. LEN WILLIAMS, CAULFIELD NORTH, VIC.
Give quiet achievers credit I’m constantly amused at the lack of respect teams like Adelaide receive from the Melbourne press, even though they finished the season magnificently and have to be considered a worthy premiership chance. The way we manhandled Carlton last week was a delight, and it’s about time some in Melbourne realise how strong this team is. HAMISH, OVINGHAM, SA.
Editor’s note: Several Melbournebased commentators including Gerard Healy (3AW/Herald Sun/ Fox Sports) believe the Crows are a legitimate chance to win this year’s Grand Final.
AFL CHIEF BROADCASTING & COMMERCIAL OFFICER Gillon McLachlan AFL MANAGER CONSUMER BUSINESS Darren Birch AFL RECORD MANAGING EDITOR Geoff Slattery AFL RECORD EDITOR Peter Di Sisto
It’s time, Tigers As a Richmond member of more than 30 years, I’m quite frankly tired of watching yet another finals series without my team participating. There have been too many false dawns. Too many promises made without results. Come on Richmond, please get serious about reclaiming a spot as one of the most feared clubs in the AFL. ROBERT, WHEELERS HILL, VIC.
PRODUCTION EDITOR Michael Lovett WRITERS Nick Bowen, Ben Collins, Jim Main, Peter Ryan, Callum Twomey, Andrew Wallace SUB-EDITORS Gary Hancock, Howard Kotton STATISTICIAN Cameron Sinclair CREATIVE DIRECTOR Andrew Hutchison DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Sam Russell
HAVE YOUR SAY The best letter receivess two DVDs courtesy of the Visual Entertainment entt Group – Down At Kardinia ia Park and Sam Newman’ss Great Characters Of Footy. This week’s winner is Len Williams. Email aflrecordeditor@slatterymedia.com di or write to AFL Record, Slattery Media Group, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, VIC, 3008.
DESIGNERS Jarrod Witcombe, Alison Wright PHOTO EDITORS Natalie Boccassini, Melanie Tanusetiawan PRODUCTION MANAGER Troy Davis PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Stephen Lording DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Adele Morton COMMERCIAL MANAGER Alison Hurbert-Burns
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Nathan Hill AFL CLUB ACCOUNT MANAGER Anthony Palmer ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATOR Deanne Horkings Advertising (03) 9627 2600 PHOTOGRAPHY Sean Garnsworthy, Michael Willson, Lachlan Cunningham AFL Photos (03) 9627 2600 aflphotos.com.au
EDITOR’S LET TER
A duty of care Recent incidents involving Hawthorn’s Lance Franklin and Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd (right) have, not surprisingly, attracted a range of opinions from industry observers and those involved at club level. Some claimed Franklin’s two-match suspension for rough contact on Ben Cousins in round 21 marked a major shift in how the game is to be played, with bumping no longer an option. (Lloyd was suspended for four weeks for engaging in rough conduct after an incident with Hawthorn’s Brad Sewell.) Incidents of the nature Franklin and Lloyd were involved in generally attract attention, especially when high-profile players are involved. In round one this year, the AFL Record published an essay explaining that, while the hip and shoulder (or the bump) was still a unique part of the game, players and coaches had to be aware that rules surrounding rough conduct had been tightened, primarily to reduce the potential for serious injury. Players were told that applying a bump that made contact to an opponent’s head or neck, when the bumping player had the chance to tackle the opponent or contest for the ball, would be deemed reportable. Community attitudes have changed significantly in recent years, and no one wants to see a player suffer a serious neck, spinal or PETER DI SISTO head injury.
PRINTED BY PMP Print ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO The Editor, AFL Record, Ground Floor, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, Victoria, 3008. P: (03) 9627 2600 F: (03) 9627 2650 E: peterd@slatterymedia.com AFL RECORD, VOL. 98, FINALS WEEK 1, 2009 Copyright. ACN No. 004 155 211. ISSN 1444-2973, Print Post approved PP320258/00109
4 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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SNAPSHOT
but now a new season begins... REACHING THE FINISH LINE:
From top (left to right) – Richmond pair Nathan Brown and Mark Coughlan; Collingwood’s Dale Thomas took a fine mark in the Pies’ loss to the Western Bulldogs; Brendon Lade bid farewell to Port Adelaide fans; Raphael Clarke helped the Saints return to the winners’ list; Peter Burgoyne also played his last game for Port; Jonathan Brown and Michael Voss fine-tuned the Lions’ finals preparations; Russell Robertson said goodbye to the Demons; Jason Akermanis celebrated as the Bulldogs grabbed third place; Eagles Chad Fletcher and Adam Hunter retired; Brad Ottens returned for Geelong; Kurt Tippett starred for Adelaide, and Essendon won a bruising encounter against Hawthorn to make the eight.
T
he 2009 season was another telling example of how strong a hold Australian Football has on the nation. Despite the global financial crisis, footy fans flocked to AFL venues across all states and territories to see the game’s best players in action. In all, a remarkable 6,370,350 people attended this season’s 22 home and away rounds – the third-highest figure in League history, behind only
last year (6,511,255) and 2007 (6,475,521). They saw exhilarating football. Of the 176 home and away games, 25 were decided by a goal or less, including two draws. Among the most memorable were Essendon’s last-gasp win against Collingwood on Anzac Day, St Kilda’s epic battle with Geelong in round 14 and the Cats’ after-the-siren win against Hawthorn in round 17. Last week, as images on the following pages show, the regular season reached a fitting
climax with Sydney Swans premiership heroes Michael O’Loughlin, Leo Barry and Jared Crouch farewelling the game; Tiger Ben Cousins catching up with old Eagles friends in his first game against his former club at Subiaco; Shaun Higgins kicking a late goal that helped the Western Bulldogs knock Collingwood out of third spot on percentage; and Michael Hurley inspiring the Bombers to victory over Hawthorn, to clinch their first finals berth since 2004. NICK BOWEN
AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 7
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MOVING ON
Swans say farewell
SNAP SHOT
SYDNEY SWANS vs BRISBANE LIONS ROUND 22, SCG It was the saddest night of the year for the Sydney Swans, saying goodbye to three retiring stars – Jared Crouch (left), Leo Barry (front) and Michael O’Loughlin, and fans showed full appreciation of their years of service. All three had played in the Swans’ 2005 premiership side and ended their careers together in the final round against the Brisbane Lions. Unfortunately for the Swans, there was no fairytale finish, despite fighting their way back from 38 points down halfway through he third quarter to get within striking distance. The Lions won by eight points. However, the retiring trio had fine individual performances. O’Loughlin showed some of the brilliance we saw in more than 300 games with four goals (including the first of the match), Barry took eight marks and racked up 21 possessions and Crouch was at his tight and reliable best in defence. The Swans, who lost other premiership players Nic Fosdike (retired pre-season), Tadhg Kennelly (returned to Ireland pre-season) and Barry Hall (stepped down mid-season), missed the finals for the first time since 2002. JIM MAIN PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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HOMECOMING
SNAP SHOT
Cousins consoled d WEST COAST EAGLES vs RICHMOND OND ROUND 22, SUBIACO OVAL Richmond headed west in round 22 to take on the West Coast Eagles and, if you had been studying the fixture early in the year, you might have been salivating at the prospect. Ben Cousins, a former Eagles captain, would return to Subiaco and face the fans who once adored him. But, in the end, it was a bit like Richmond’s season – forgettable. The Tigers lost by 80 points and their year ended much like it started in round one when they went down to Carlton by 83 points. Cousins played his heart out on his old stomping ground, gathering 28 touches, but there was little support. After the game, it took a consoling hug from former West Coast teammate Dean Cox, who was out injured in the latter part of the year, to lift Cousins’ spirits. It appears Cousins will continue next year to help guide the Tigers through a major rebuilding period under new coach Damien Hardwick. MICHAEL LOVETT PHOTO: DANIEL WILKINS/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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P SNAOT ON A MISSION SH Sign-off S ign with a snarl COLLINGWOOD vs WESTERN BULLDOGS ROUND 22, DOCKLANDS The stakes were high in the final home and away game of 2009, with the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood fighting for third spot in a Sunday twilight match at Docklands. In a dramatic finale, the Bulldogs – having started the game in fourth spot, a rung below the Magpies – needed to secure victory by 22 points or more to leapfrog their opponents, but the cause appeared lost when young Pie Dayne Beams snapped at goal to cut the Dogs’ lead to just seven points in the dying stages of the final term. However, the Sherrin slammed into the post, opening the door for the Bulldogs to launch a typically breathtaking counterattack. The brilliant Shaun Higgins gathered the ball and streamed through the middle of the ground, taking two bounces before nailing the crucial goal from 30 metres to stretch the advantage to 18 points. Higgins’ celebration told the story: we are the Bulldogs and we will not be denied. With barely a minute remaining, skipper Brad Johnson sealed third place with a decisive set shot from long range. After 176 games, the ladder positions were final. ANDREW WALLACE PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 11
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A S TA R I S B O R N
Hurley Burley
SNAP SHOT
HAWTHORN vs ESSENDON ROUND 22, MCG Some observers rated Michael Hurley best-afield in Essendon’s must-win match against Hawthorn last week. With four second-half goals in just 35 minutes, the fresh-faced teenager was certainly the game-breaker. Hurley’s third goal (the aftermath of which is shown here) stamped an exclamation mark on the performances of both player and team. Deep in the final term, the first-year Bomber marked just outside the 50-metre arc, swung on to his non-preferred left foot and drilled it over the goal umpire’s hat. Game over. Teammates came from all directions to ruffle his blond locks and pat his broad back. It wasn’t a fluke. It was actually the culmination of years of practice – well, one year in particular. As a junior, Hurley injured his right leg and, on medical advice, spent a season exclusively using his left foot. His first two goals, late in the third term, were also pivotal – the first from a set shot from the boundary line, on the ‘wrong’ side for a right-footer; the other from a contested mark on the goal-line. To perform with such composure just three months after turning 19 spoke volumes for the player Hurley already is, and the superstar he might become. BEN COLLINS PHOTO: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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PUBLICATIONS: AFL Record REVISED SIZE
M AKE YO U R FAT H E R ’ S DAY. C ALL M U M A S W E LL . Yo u k n o w w h a t w o u l d r e a l l y m a k e d a d h a p p y ? Ta l k i n g t o y o u r m u m a f t e r y o u ’ v e f i n i s h e d chatting to him. Then he won’t have to repeat everything you’ve said af ter you hang up.
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14 AFL RECORD visit arecord.com.au
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Ball Life’s a
On the eve of what promises to be an open and exciting finals series, AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou speaks candidly with Ben Collins on football, family and the future. PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/AFL PHOTOS
AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 15
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life’s a ball
AFL Record: Has the 2009 season met expectations?
AR: How has the global financial crisis (GFC) affected the AFL? AD: It hasn’t affected memberships. In a year where people are finding it hard, we’ve been amazed at the response of our supporters. For club membership to reach 586,000 is phenomenal. People want something to belong to and be part of, particularly in hard times, and football has always filled that void in people’s lives. Strategically, we put ourselves in a good position in anticipation of what was going to happen with the GFC. We buffered a lot of its potential impact by locking away agreements beforehand, and we cut our expenditure. It could have been a lot worse, but we’ve done pretty well because we’ve acted very responsibly and prudently, and so have the clubs.
NORTHERN EXPANSION – GOLD COAST & WESTERN SYDNEY AR: How confident are you that they will be successes? AD: We couldn’t have done any more preparation, risk assessment or due diligence on either of these new ventures. Nothing of this scope has ever been done in our game. We’ve learned some lessons from mistakes our code made in the past. We’ve also looked at what’s happened overseas with new franchises in other codes, particularly in the NFL. We’ve taken care not to impose the AFL’s will on those
PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/AFL PHOTOS
Andrew Demetriou: From a football perspective, it has been a fantastic season. The football has been some of the best we’ve seen in a long time, and it’s been really competitive, particularly for about 14 of the 16 clubs. We’ve seen some wonderfully close games, some thrillers, after-the-siren kicks, draws, you name it. We’ve also seen the emergence of some stars of the future, which is always exciting.
communities. Make no mistake, the Gold Coast Football Club is being built by the Gold Coast community. Locals on the advisory board have been telling the AFL what’s required, not the other way around, and that’s the way it should be because they have intimate knowledge of the issues that relate to them. It’s been the same with Greater Western Sydney. Those communities will decide what their clubs will look like, what they will stand for, their colours, their name, their song, etc. That’s why, in some sense, it’s better to start a new club than relocate an existing one that might be caught between identities and have the locals questioning whether they are actually representing their community. The Gold Coast has been a fantastic exercise. The community is right behind it, we’ve procured a venue, we’ve identified some really good people, got a good CEO (Travis Auld), a good coach (Guy
People want something to belong to and be part of, particularly in hard times, and football has always filled that void in people’s lives McKenna), a good board, and there’s been the acquisition of Malcolm Blight (as a director). I’m really confident about the future of the Gold Coast. I’m even more confident about Greater Western Sydney. It’s not a traditional AFL area, but it has a population of 2.5-3 million, a large catchment area and offers huge scope and potential. The AFL and Greater Western Sydney have a lot of synergy because it is an area that is culturally diverse and has great pride in what it stands for, and AFL is an inclusive game that appeals to families and children. If we can win some hearts and minds of people in Greater Western Sydney, we will go a long way with this club. We won’t see the results in the first five or seven years, but it’s a huge investment in the future of our game and, hopefully in
20 years, we will be able to say: “That was the right thing to do.” Neither of them have been overnight developments. We’ve been investing in Queensland for a number of years; that’s why quite a few draft picks have come out of there in recent years. And with Greater Western Sydney, by the time the club comes into the competition in 2012, it will be 31 years since the Sydney Swans came into the Sydney market, so it’s not as if it happened yesterday. We also invested money into Homebush (ANZ Stadium) to ensure it was a multi-purpose venue to host AFL football, and matches have been played there since 2001. In 2003, we also got together with Cricket NSW and the City of Blacktown to build the Blacktown complex, which was only completed this year,
16 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
ARF1 p14-24 Demetriou.indd 16
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We live for the finals. Every round, every kick, every long, cold training session, all comes down to this. It’s do or die and only the best will do. It’s what Sherrins are made for. To check out the latest range visit your local stockist, call 1300 367 582 or go to sherrin.com.au
life’s a ball so that’s been six years in the making. We’ve been building for this for a long, long time. There have been a lot of hurdles and challenges, but nothing’s easy in this world, and we’ll confront lots more challenges. AR: What are the greatest challenges? AD: In Western Sydney, while we’ve got the infrastructure in place – a training venue and a base in Blacktown, and a playing venue – we haven’t got a fan base, a volunteer base. AFL doesn’t roll off the tongue of this community. So our greatest challenge is to interest, educate and persuade them. We’ll get good local government and corporate support, but we must get community/fan support, through schools, local shops, etc. It’s a massive exercise in building from the bottom up. We accept it’s going to take a long time to get young people
interested and then get people to matches – much longer than the Gold Coast, where football is already established and they have a ready-made fan base. AR: How prepared is the AFL for a backlash from clubs and fans over player concessions for the new franchises? AD: There hasn’t been any backlash, and we don’t expect any, because one thing we were keen to do was include club representatives – and there were eight of them – in that decision-making process. The clubs have been consulted every step of the way, and they have driven and signed-off on the extent of the concessions. In the past, the AFL has imposed list concessions, but we’ve chosen not to do that and it has proven a much better exercise. Clubs understand it’s good for the competition. From their
FA M I LY
Has fatherhood made you a much different person?
PHOTO COURTESY HERALD AND WEEKLY TIMES
FAMILY FUN: Andrew Demetriou with daughters (from left) Mattea, Alexandra and Francesca
AD: Your life takes a whole different perspective when you have children. We have three daughters – twins Francesca and Alexandra (five) and Mattea (two) – and our fourth child is due in November. It puts all your priorities into context. I’m blessed, fortunate and grateful to have a wonderful wife who is also a wonderful mother. We try to bring up our children to have good values, so that they are respectful, courteous and polite.
Watching them grow is the most rewarding thing. I’m constantly amazed by the things that come out t heir mouths. Sometimes they can make you cry with how sweet they are. We love getting away together. We’ve got a holiday house down at Mount Martha that we get to as often as we can. We could be reading books or walking along the beach – they love water – but any time you spend with them is special.
perspective, it’s like: “You’ve given us notice, we know the next few drafts will be affected, so let’s plan accordingly. Let’s lock away our players and coaches.” Clubs tend to ensure they re-sign their good players. Club representatives have already met three or four times to discuss Western Sydney. That’s a far more inclusive, consensus approach than just telling them what’s going to happen without any consultation. AR: What do you tell people who think the concessions are excessive? AD: Simply that the clubs have determined them. From day one, everyone acknowledged that when these two clubs come in, they have got to be competitive. There is no point bringing in clubs like the (Brisbane) Bears who get belted every week. I have to compliment the clubs for embracing the expansion plans. They are much more mature now and they understand that every time the competition grows, everything else grows too: revenues, talent pool, broadcast rights, online, attendances, viewership, memberships.
A TASMANIAN TEAM? AR: Will there ever be a Tasmanian team in the AFL? AD: I don’t see why not. It could happen one day, but I couldn’t say when. Our two priority areas are the Gold Coast and Western Sydney, but we’re working closely with the Tasmanian Government to put together a submission. If we were to expand again, Tasmania is the next logical place. It’s a state that is rich in football tradition and has contributed so much to the game through its passion and its players. If they continue to have government support and if they get the corporate support, it could be viable. They certainly wouldn’t have trouble getting a fan base and local support. They have also got a great ground (Aurora Stadium). Who knows?
THE FIXTURE AR: How will it work with 18 teams? AD: We haven’t finalised our views on it. Do we have a 22-, 23- or 24-round season? We know that when we have 17 teams, we will have byes for a
year, but we are yet to decide on what the 18-team competition will look like. Will it be a final eight or final nine? Will the finals run over four or five weeks? There is a lot to consider. AR: What about the controversy surrounding scheduling of the CollingwoodBulldogs game last Sunday? AD: They are playing their finals on Saturday and Sunday, which isn’t a bad thing – it’s happened in the past. However, we accept it wasn’t ideal. We considered moving that game to an earlier time slot to give them a longer break, but St Kilda (which played Melbourne last Sunday afternoon) finished on top and it deserves a seven-day break. One option is that we don’t schedule any games for the last round, that we just name the eight games, which would give us flexibility to schedule games according to the make-up of the final eight. That’s something we have learned.
PRIORITY PICKS AND TANKING AR: Will the AFL Commission consider modifying or scrapping priority draft picks? AD: The AFL Commission acknowledges the priority pick system is an advantage, but we unashamedly believe it needs to exist to give a club hope. This year, Melbourne is the only club eligible for a priority pick. They have won 12 out of 66 games and, if anyone tells me they don’t deserve a priority pick, I’ll dispute that. If we removed the priority pick, people would then turn their attention to who gets the No.1 pick, and it would basically become the same issue. AR: Do you publicly deny that tanking takes place because you have to be seen to uphold the integrity of the game? AD: That’s a nonsensical argument fashioned to suit people’s arguments. I don’t say it because my head is in the sand, as some people believe. It’s not only my view, it’s the commission’s view. And we are certainly not in the business of second-guessing coaching moves – if we were, why wouldn’t we do it over the other 175 home and away games? Speculation about
18 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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life’s a ball FREE AGENCY
why Dean Bailey made particular moves in a certain Melbourne game are fanciful at best, because the problem with that argument was that Melbourne was in front when the siren went.
BOLD MOVE: Karmichael
Hunt with Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna.
STADIUM DEALS AR: What is the state of play with stadium deals at the MCG and Docklands? AD: We are getting closer to finalising a deal with the MCC (Melbourne Cricket Club, managers of the MCG). We just want an equitable share of the upside – for our clubs, not for us – and I’m confident we will get there. In fairness to the MCC, there is a genuine sense of goodwill and they have acknowledged that football is delivering in spades. I’m not as confident with Docklands because we are dealing with a different group of people – shareholders whose primary objective is to get a return on their investment. We are arguing, “That’s fine, except you can’t treat your major tenant like that.” They are not sharing any upside. These stadium deals are very important decisions – they are critical for our Victorian clubs – and we’re thrilled to have the support of all our clubs on this issue, even those that aren’t directly affected. AR: What is the status of the equalisation paper that is being drafted? AD: We are still ploughing through it. It’s a huge body of work. It’s about seeing if we have got equalisation right, is our gate levy right, is our ASD (Annual Special Distribution) formula right, and what will happen if we consummate these stadium deals. It’s all predicated on what happens with the MCC and Docklands.
KARMICHAEL HUNT AR: Was the signing of Karmichael Hunt (pictured) by Gold Coast a PR stunt or opening a new horizon? AD: Absolutely opening a new horizon. We are not interested in publicity stunts. I laugh when people say it’s a stunt and that he is a million to one to play AFL football, because I have no doubt he will play, and he will be very good at it. I’m going on the opinions of people in the know who spend
AR: What is the latest? AD: The AFL and the AFL Players’ Association have been in on-going discussions about how a form of free agency might operate in our competition. I don’t wish to discuss the options while we’re still working through this issue with the AFLPA. Over the past few years, our draft working party has recommended changes designed to free up players to change clubs. They include the ability to exchange rookies, the removal of restrictions on numbers of players in trades, the removal of the requirement to exercise all traded picks, and the removal of limits of numbers of players that can be traded in a year. AR: Are you concerned about the potential for legal challenges on the grounds of the current system being a restraint of trade? AD: No. We are confident our rules stand up to any examination. Our rules in totality – which cover a draft, trading, salary cap, etc. – have produced an evenness of competition that is virtually unmatched in world sport. However, we still look at our rules every year to see how they can continue to work best for our competition, players and clubs.
their lives identifying talent. People like (AFL Queensland talent manager) Mark Browning and (Gold Coast recruiting manager) Scott Clayton. Mark identified Karmichael as a 15-year-old and said he was the best AFL talent to come out of Queensland. But Karmichael signed with the Brisbane Broncos and was always lamented as the one that got away. But then this great opportunity came when he decided to leave the Broncos and the NRL. This guy has succeeded in everything he has done, and I’d imagine it will be exactly the same with AFL football. I have met him and I was really impressed with him. He is not doing it for the money; it is about the challenge. He is an elite athlete who has achieved great things at the age of 22 – represented Australia, played
State of Origin, won a premiership – and he wants to become an elite performer in our code. AR: What impact do you expect it to have on the rugby-dominated states? AD: At least now it makes young people up there think a bit harder about the sports they decide to play. If it encourages or persuades a few more Queenslanders, New South Welshmen or islanders to switch codes to ours, fantastic. But it’s not the be-all-and-end-all. We’ve got a rich pool of talent: indigenous players, Irish lads, and we will get South African lads because that is the most exciting frontier for us. The Pacific islands will be exciting – how many Nic Naitanuis are in Fiji? Karmichael Hunt has a Cook Island background. The world is getting smaller.
AR: What do you think of the alarmist view that free agency will make it harder for some clubs to hold on to players? AD: I don’t agree with that. A salary cap is still a fundamental part of our competition and it ensures that no club can automatically buy all the best players in the competition.
PLAYER BEHAVIOUR AR: How would you rate player behaviour this season? AD: Outstanding overall. Touch wood. We are always conscious that a very small percentage of players are going to make the odd poor decision. The clubs, the AFLPA and the AFL have worked diligently to educate players on various issues to encourage them to make the right decisions at the right time. The responsible alcohol policy has been a success, the illicit drugs code is having a positive effect, and the players also understand the gambling rules. The punitive course of action isn’t always the best course of action.
20 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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life’s a ball AR: What has the AFL learned from the various off-field dramas associated with players such as Ben Cousins, Wayne Carey and Alan Didak? AD: It’s not just the AFL; it’s also the clubs and the players. Clubs are working tirelessly to keep educating their players and we’re producing much better rounded individuals. Our industry is always prepared to give people a second chance, wrap our arms around them and try to rehabilitate them. It’s an admirable part of the industry. For Richmond to take on Ben Cousins when other clubs weren’t prepared to was a very courageous decision, and I think he’s repaying them. We’re pleased to see Ben playing. Football has offered him a lifeline and is playing a big role in his rehabilitation. For St Kilda to persevere with Michael Gardiner and get him back to his best football is a testament to them. For Collingwood to make the stand they did last year with Alan Didak and Heath Shaw, the results speak for themselves: both of them are playing terrific football and the club is thriving. As a player, if you blow it, it’s not the club’s fault; it’s your fault because you haven’t heeded the message and your peers won’t accept you. Steve Johnson’s career has been turned around because the Geelong leadership group took a stand. Look at Barry Hall. He retired because he didn’t trust himself and, out of respect for his Swans teammates, he didn’t want to put himself in a position to let them down again. Barry has been a great player and I hope he comes back.
AR: Is the illicit drugs policy working? AD: My word it is. We’re doing significantly more tests and logically there should be more failed tests, but the percentage of failed tests is dropping. But we won’t relax. AR: Are enough tests being conducted? AD: Absolutely, and it measures up on a world scale. We will conduct 1500 tests this year.
RUNNING THE AFL AR: How do you feel about being referred to as a dictator? ‘Vlad’ seems to have stuck after Kevin Sheedy coined it. AD: I laugh about it. I get along well with ‘Sheeds’. But I think I know myself, and I’m not sure if that is me. I haven’t had anyone who works here say that to me. AR: Maybe they value their jobs. What about Terry Wallace calling you ‘Fonzie’? AD: I also had a coffee with Terry a few weeks ago after he finished coaching. There’s nothing wrong with people coining nicknames, having a go, and a bit of fun. Long may it be. People get too precious about things, but I honestly don’t care. AR: How would you describe your leadership style? AD: That’s for others to decide. I just do my best to vest my faith in our people and empower them to make decisions. I try to be as supportive, inclusive and consultative as possible, while trying to act as honourably as we can. I believe the primary role of a leader is to develop people, and make them better at what they do. In return, I ask for their commitment to the organisation. If that happens, we can do fantastic things
WRES TLING AFFICIONADO
Can you elaborate on your childhood obsession with Australian wrestling in the 1960s and ’70s? AD: Being the son of migrants, and the youngest of four brothers, television was an important part of our family time. On Sunday mornings, we’d watch World Championship Wrestling with Jack Little, followed by World Of Sport, which would lead into a family lunch, which was usually a roast chicken or beef. My father would watch TV with
us four boys while my poor mother was preparing lunch. We were sucked in by the wrestling – we thought it was the real deal – but as we got older we thought it was hilarious. It was a personalitydriven show. The American wrestling has never interested me. It’s not the same. The Australian wrestling was real.
together. It’s not about me; it’s what we do as a collective. AR: What is the best part of the job? AD: The people. Great people. While we’re trying to do the best for our supporters, players and clubs, the people you meet are extraordinary. To meet such a broad crosssection of people with so much passion and ideas bubbling out of them is quite inspiring. AR: What do you pride yourself on? AD: Honesty and integrity are the most important non-negotiables. I can negotiate. I’ve been lucky in selecting good people to work on the executive. People would say I’m decisive. I’d much rather be decisive than indecisive. Sometimes that may mean decisions aren’t popular, but people don’t want procrastinators. I don’t know if I’m a good administrator or not. Others will make that determination, but whatever they decide won’t matter to me. If the Commission came to me one day and said: “We’re not happy with you,” so be it, because being judged is part of the job. AR: Do you have any weaknesses you are prepared to admit to? AD: Plenty. The day you think you know it all is the day you should give it away. Every day I come into this place I learn something. I’m always striving to learn – in all areas. AR: Anything specific? AD: In my time here – and I’m in my ninth year (having started as football operations manager) – I’ve developed far greater understanding and empathy for the hardships faced by clubs. When I started, I didn’t have that. It can be easy when you’re working at AFL headquarters, but we didn’t understand what it’s like at the clubs because none of us have worked at clubs. They have different challenges, and it’s hard, and I’ve got great admiration for them. AR: In light of the global financial crisis, how do you justify your salary increases in recent years? AD: Firstly, I don’t determine what I get paid. It’s done through a corporate governance structure, by a remuneration committee comprising (commissioners) Mike Fitzpatrick, Bob Hammond
and Sam Mostyn. I also have a performance-based agreement. If I don’t perform, I don’t get rewarded through a bonus system. It’s reviewed every year, and I’m happy with that. Touch wood, the organisation has been going OK. I’m fortunate, privileged and grateful that I get remunerated accordingly, but I have no say in it, and nor should I. AR: How have the hardships in your personal life equipped you for dealing with the hardships of your job? Is it all water off a duck’s back in comparison? AD: In many ways, yes. Before I took on this role, then-AFL chairman) Ron Evans told me it was important to
22 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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COMMUNITY CONSCIOUS: AFL stars including the Bulldogs’ Robert Murphy joined forces to help raise funds for the Victorian Bushfires Appeal.
understand the obligation we have to the game, as its custodians. We only borrow the game and hand it on to the next person. Not a day goes by where I don’t fully understand that obligation. It’s a great honour and privilege to have this job. I also understand it comes with scrutiny and criticism, so I’ve never despaired about it. It’s what you signed up for. However, things have happened during my tenure where I’ve questioned how unjust they are. Two of our executives – Ian Anderson and Ben Buckley – have lost their partners. I lost my mother. We lost Ron Evans, who I was very close to. We lost Rob Dickson earlier this
year. (Demetriou also lost his first wife, Jan Bassett, to cancer in 1999.) When significant things happen in your life, your whole perspective changes. Things that were important to you suddenly become really, really important. While football is very important, the most important thing in my life is my family. I never lose sight of where I came from.
IN THE COMMUNITY AR: Do you tire of being criticised for not doing enough in the community? AD: I don’t, because people generally understand that we do quite a bit. I become
more puzzled when they complain about the work we are doing, and they say it’s not genuine. The fact is seven million people go to our games each season, we have 586,000 members and 4.5 million watch on television each weekend, and if we can raise awareness on any important issue, and influence some people in a particular way, it has to be a good thing. People say: “Why are you doing that?” We say: “Why not?” The AFL is committed to putting back into the community because our game has been built on community support and volunteers, and we never take it for granted.
INFLUENCES AR: Do you look up to other business leaders? AD: I do. I always read about leaders and leadership. I really admire the way some leaders go about it – I won’t single out any, though – and there are others I look at and think: ‘I’m not going down that track.’ AR: Who have been the biggest mentors in your business life? AD: There have been two main ones. The first is Giovanni Piazza, one of my partners in our dental business in Italy who has become a great friend and mentor. He has been a major influence in dealing with people, negotiating and doing it honourably. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 23
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life’s a ball Ron Evans is the other one. Ron was an amazing person. We talked to each other a lot about football, but also about business, family and striking the right balance between the two.
By 2020, apart from two new teams, all I know is the game will look a whole lot different in ways we can’t even imagine Our chairman, Mike Fitzpatrick is another. My wife (Symone) is in many ways, too, because you’re always sharing things of a very private nature. My parents were always great mentors. I always look to my father (Tony) for words of advice. He’s in Cyprus at the moment, where there’s a big Demetriou clan. He’s like the Richie Benaud of Cypriots – he’s there for summer and then he’s here for summer.
THE FUTURE AR: How much longer do you plan to stay in the job? AD: Haven’t even thought about it. I’m really enjoying it and I haven’t planned too far ahead. The time will come at some stage but I don’t know when that will be. If people get sick of me, they won’t have to ask me for long. But I have no idea what life after the AFL will be. AR: Is there an AFL CEO succession plan? AD: If you’re a CEO and you haven’t got your mind around a succession plan and creating options for the AFL Commission or your board, I don’t think you’re doing justice to your role or your organisation.
! WIN
There are at least a couple of outstanding people here, and club CEOs, and there will be other candidates. But it’s not a decision I get to vote on, and nor should it be. AR: If it was up to you, where would footy be in 2020? What’s your footy utopia? AD: There’s no such thing as footy utopia because the game changes so quickly, and it’s constantly changing. Go back 15 years and it seemed inconceivable that we could have an 18-team competition, a stadium with a roof, that 10 Victorian teams would still be here, the Brisbane Lions winning three flags in a row, a Karmichael Hunt would be signed up, and so on. By 2020, apart from the two new teams, all I know is the game will look a whole lot different in ways we can’t even imagine.
A S A P L AY E R
How would you describe your playing career? AD: I was fortunate to play 100-odd games with a great club, North Melbourne, and spend two great seasons at Hawthorn when they won premierships (1988-89). I got to play alongside a lot of wonderful players and be coached by John Kennedy, Allan Jeans and Malcolm Blight. That’s luck. I wasn’t a great player, I wasn’t terrible, I was just average. I did the best I could with the
ability I had. I probably relied more on using my brain than my ability because I wasn’t a great mark or kick. AR: Is there a modernday equivalent? AD: I don’t think there’s anyone these days who is as bad as I was. AR: What did football teach you? AD: Lots of things. The importance of team and the collective, and time management because as a player you always have to be somewhere by a certain time. Being punctual is something I’ve continued to do.
AR: Have you softened your stance on a potential political career? AD: No! Not interested. It’s just not for me. I admire politicians for what they do, but I feel they’re underpaid for the significant contribution they make; they’re unfairly maligned when it comes to pay rises and travel, and it can’t be a great life living away from your family in Canberra. AR: Apart from your current role, what would be your dream job? AD: I’d love Amanda Vanstone’s job – ambassador to Italy. love Italy. It would be a nice place to live in your latter years. If someone wants to give me a call about that, I’d be all ears. HUMBLE ROO: A young Andrew
Demetriou in his playing days with North Melbourne.
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24 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au AFLS-GOTY-RECORDQTR-v2.indd 1
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L F A A T O Y O T 9 0 0 2 A E T A M I T L U L A N I F D GRAN * E C N EXPERIE
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AFL Authorisation Code: GFAFL09/82.
Se BOMBER BRAINS TRUST:
Captain James Hird and longserving coachKevin Sheedy guided theBombers to their last flag in 2000.
26 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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ize Finals pressure can do funny things to players, with reputations made or broken as a result. But what are the secrets to September success? What is it that elevates some to produce their best when it matters most, while others succumb and fall by the wayside? GLENN McFA R L A NE
B
e aggressive but ensure you control that aggression. Be daring but always adhere to team rules. Get your hands on the ball as quickly as possible. Don’t rely on others – go out and make it happen for yourself. They sound simple enough instructions; follow them and you may just be on your way to finals success. Hawthorn premiership player Shane Crawford, who had to wait more than 300 matches to finally play in a Grand Final last year, describes this year’s finals series as “the most open” in his memory, so it seems appropriate to look at what past greats did to excel at this time of the year.
It is difficult to quantify exactly what it is that elevates some players to another level when the furnace of finals football is at its most intense. Is it innate? Is it a fear of failure? Is it ambition? Or is it simply pride? Whatever the case, the coaches of the eight teams playing in this year’s finals series would love to find what drives individuals to perform at a superior level for the ultimate good of the team. Football in September is played under intense pressure, with everyone under scrutiny. It is the most exhilarating month on the football calendar. What will happen over the next month will make some players’ careers; their names and deeds will be long remembered. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 27
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COOL BLUE: UE: Greg
Williams says he turned hiss finals to a nerves into orce. positive force.
Conversely, those who struggle to perform will learn how unforgiving it can be, and may be damned forever. In many ways, it’s the sort of pressure that drove Gary Ayres, one of the most consistent finals performers in Hawthorn’s spectacular run through the 1980s. He played 28 finals, equal-sixth on the all-time list. “Playing in a final is a special moment, and if you let that moment get to you, you are rarely capable of putting in your best effort,” Ayres said. Ayres claimed it was as much about being honest with yourself as anything else. In most of his 28 finals, he had one main motivating factor. “‘Yabby’ (Hawthorn coach Allan Jeans) used to say that once your career is finished, you need to make sure you can look at that guy in the mirror every morning, and if he smiles back at you, then you are pretty satisfied,” the dual Norm Smith medallist (1986 and ’88) said. Ayres’ teammate Robert DiPierdomenico has never shied away from telling people he was “born to play finals”, as he did at a recent function recognising the club’s 1988-89 premierships. (‘Dipper’ played in 24 finals from 1978-89 including 22 consecutively.) Ayres is somewhat more modest about his accomplishments. But a quick check of his date of birth – September 28, 1960 – shows he might have been as qualified as DiPierdomenico believed himself to be. Four days before Ayres was born, Ron Barassi ended his first year as Melbourne captain, having led the Demons to their fifth premiership in six seasons. There would be one more flag with Melbourne four years later, and another four as coach of
I looked forward to the contest. But there was no doubt some players did suffer. Losing can be a noose around your neck KEVIN BARTLETT
Carlton and North Melbourne in following years. Barassi had always excelled in athletic pursuits when it mattered most at school, and somehow he managed to translate that ability to rise to the occasion to his football career. “Playing to the best of your ability in the matches that matter is so important, not only to the team but to yourself. If you don’t, you won’t last long in the game,” Barassi said. Only once in Barassi’s career did nerves get the better of him in a final. It was in what was his last game with the Demons (the 1964 Grand Final against Collingwood) but he regained his composure and his team
won, by four points. “It remains one of the great mysteries of my career,” Barassi said. “We won. If we hadn’t, I don’t think I would have ever forgiven myself.” Players deal with nerves in high-pressure matches in different ways. Dual Brownlow medallist Greg Williams owns up to feeling some nerves in finals, but he managed to turn those fears into a positive force. Still, he maintained: “Pressure can do funny things to people.” Richmond great Kevin Bartlett agreed with Williams’ assertion, though he claims to have never suffered from nerves before a final.
“I looked forward to the contest. But there was no doubt some players did suffer. Losing can be a noose around your neck.” Four-time Essendon premiership coach Kevin Sheedy always told his players they needed to get their paws on the pigskin as early as possible in a final to make a statement to the opposition, and also for their own confidence. “His message was simple,” said former captain James Hird, a superb performer in finals. “Put it on your boot and nice and early.” Players with a dash of speed always seem to come to the fore during finals. In some ways, that might explain the extraordinary record indigenous players have had in the games that matter in recent years. Five have won the Norm Smith Medal: Maurice Rioli (for Richmond in 1982), Peter Matera (West Coast in 1992), Michael Long (Essendon in 1993), Andrew McLeod (Adelaide in 1997-98) and Byron Pickett (Port Adelaide in 2004). Long produced one of the most memorable Septembers, in 1993 – the Year of the Indigenous People – when he was the Bombers’ best player in three of Essendon’s finals (the qualifying and preliminary finals and the Grand Final), as well as third best in the semi-final. His teammates believe he set the scene for the Baby Bombers in those early finals. “It wasn’t purely an indigenous thing – I think it comes back to attitude and the ability to go out and win your own ball,” Hird said. “But it is fair to say the indigenous players I played with, particularly Long and Gavin Wanganeen, didn’t sit back and wait for anyone. That attitude seems to work in finals.” We have been told what it takes to win the games that matter,
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28 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au NAB_Tipping_60x179_Finals W1.indd 1
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AFL RECORD visit afl .com.au 29
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so which teams appear best placed this season? It is a tough call, according to Crawford. He believes the top-four teams are genuinely capable of winning the premiership, but says the others are not without a legitimate chance. Getting a good start in finals is essential. In time, the theme of this year’s finals series could be the end of the long wait. Long-suffering St Kilda and Western Bulldogs fans would agree. Collectively, their wait for a premiership stretches to almost 100 years. The Saints have not won a flag in 43 years, the eighth longest drought in League history. Their only flag, in 1966, coincided with the arrival of decimal currency in Australia. This is St Kilda’s 14th finals series since its famous win over Collingwood by one point. The Bulldogs have waited even longer. For them, it is 15 finals series without a flag since their triumph in 1954. That was the year Roger Bannister broke four minutes for the mile run, at the time a monumental athletics feat. The gap between their only premiership and today is 55 years, the third longest in history. Geelong ended its 44-year premiership drought two years ago, but this year it must fight just as hard as it did in 2007. Having dominated the competition in terms of wins over the past three seasons, it faces a massive test. A litany of injuries and a drop-off in form in the second half of the season, plus the spectre of last year’s Grand Final day implosion against Hawthorn,
BIG STAGE: Carlton and Colling Collingwood share the record for m most times as finals rivals.
MOST TIMES AS FINALS RIVALS 22 Carlton v Collingwood 22 Carlton v Richmond 22 Collingwood v Melbourne 20 Collingwood v Geelong 19 Carlton v Essendon LAST TIME THE TEAMS MEETING THIS WEEKEND PLAYED IN A FINAL Essendon 17.9 (111) def Adelaide 14.16 (100) PRELIMINARY FINAL, 1993, MCG
Geelong 12.11 (83) def. Western Bulldogs 7.12 (54) PRELIMINARY FINAL, 2008, MCG
Carlton 23.13 (151) def. Brisbane Lions 10.9 (69) SEMI-FINAL, 2000, MCG
It wasn’t purely an indigenous thing – it comes back to attitude and the ability to go out and win your own ball JAMES HIRD
has made this talented team look vulnerable for the first time since early 2007. Carlton, which has played in more finals series (65) than any team bar its bitter rival Collingwood (78), finally gets a taste of September again after an eight-year absence. In that time, the Blues have mostly struggled, collecting three wooden spoons. Their return to September football ends the longest finals drought in club history, and leaves Richmond alone with the longest current finals absence. The Tigers have not played a final since 2001, when they lost a preliminary final to the Brisbane Lions.
If the Blues meet the Magpies in September, it would be their 23rd finals meeting, surpassing the 22 contests between Collingwood and Melbourne and Carlton and Richmond. Collingwood knows a thing or 32 about droughts. It took the club 32 years – not to mention eight Grand Final losses and a draw – to finally win another premiership (1990) and bury the notion of the Colliwobbles. But it is almost 20 years since that Grand Final win over the Bombers. And it is 15 years since Mick Malthouse last coached a premiership side (West Coast in 1994). Then, there’s the Brisbane Lions, who are to play in their first final since the 2004 Grand Final loss to Port Adelaide when they were aiming to tie Collingwood’s record for four consecutive flags. Their captain from that day, Michael Voss, is now their coach.
St Kilda 17.4 (106) def. Collingwood 9.18 (72) SEMI-FINAL, 2008, MCG
Adelaide is also seeking more glory after more than a decade without a premiership, and just four months since coach Neil Craig reconstructed the club’s game-plan on the run. It has been a remarkable performance to do that in the midst of a season. Then, there’s Essendon, which has not played in a final since 2004 when Sheedy was coach, and beat Hawthorn in a tough affair last weekend to claim eighth position. The players from the eight teams will, in some shape or form, be reminded of the Latin carpe diem principle. They will be told to make the most of their opportunities, to seize the day. Past greats are steadfast about this. As Barassi likes to say, you need to make it happen. Don’t wait for it to happen.
THE FINAL EIGHT: Path to the 2009 Grand Final ST KILDA
QF1
QUALIFYING FINAL 1
COLLINGWOOD
QF1
ADELAIDE
EF1
LOSER QF1 ELIMINATION FINAL 1
ESSENDON
SEMI-FINAL 1
WINNER EF1
WINNER QF1 PRELIMINARY FINAL 1
WINNER SF2
EF1
WINNER ER PF1 GRAND FINAL
BRISBANE LIONS
EF2
ELIMINATION FINAL 2
CARLTON
EF2
WINNER EF2 SEMI-FINAL 2
LOSER QF2 GEELONG CATS
WINNER SF1
WINNER ER PF2
PRELIMINARY FINAL 2
WINNER QF2
QF2
QUALIFYING FINAL 2
WESTERN BULLDOGS QF2
30 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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Simon Black is still in the finals.
If you drink or take drugs and drive, Sergeant Simon Black, or any of the thousands of other police on the roads this September, will catch you before someone gets hurt.
FINALS WEEK ONE
GOLDEN BOOT FINALS HERO: Harry Vallence twice kicked 11 goals in a final for Carlton in the early 1930s.
In tough times, ‘Soapy’ provided brief respite TON Y DE BOLFO
F
SEVEN GOALS OR MORE IN A FINALS MATCH: 1897-2008 Goals Name
Club
Final
Year
11
Harry Vallence*
Carl
FS
1931
11
Harry Vallence*
Carl
PF
1932
11
Ron Todd*
Coll
PF
1938 1939
11
Ron Todd*
Coll
PF
11
George Goninon*
Geel
SS
1951
10
Garry Lyon
Melb
SF
1994 1928
9
Gordon Coventry*
9
Lindsay White
Coll
GF
S Melb
PF
9
1942
Jack Dyer
Rich
PF
1944
9 9 9
Peter McKenna Gary Ablett snr* Tony Lockett*
Coll Geel St K
SS GF EF
1970 1989 1991
9
Billy Brownless*
Geel
QF
1992
PHOTO COURTESY CARTLON FOOTBALL CLUB
or the thousands forced by cruel circumstance to scrape through Depression times, men such as Carlton’s Harry ‘Soapy’ Vallence brought welcome respite, if only for an hour or two on a Saturday. Like that Saturday in September, 1931, when Vallence rewrote history. In a final. Against Collingwood. Vallence’s record return of 11 goals (11.3, including a poster) in the first semi-final has since been equalled, but never bettered. (Vallence did it again the next year and Collingwood’s Ron Todd did it twice, in 1938-39.) Vallence formed part of a two-pronged attack that included ‘Micky’ Crisp. Crisp overshadowed Magpie halfback Harold Rumney (a former Carlton player) while Vallence made life difficult for full-back Charlie Dibbs. Vallence managed 5.2 from marks, 5.1 from snaps and a further goal from a free kick – prompting rave reviews. Beneath the headline VIGORCRISP-VALLENCE, The Herald extolled the virtues of Vallence and his golden boot, which contributed more than half of his team’s then-record score of 20.10 (130) to 5.12 (42). “Vallence played his part by making good position to receive the ball. His ability to kick goals from long range enabled him to move well out, making the task of his guardian, Dibbs, exceedingly
* INDICATES GOALKICKING RECORD FOR EACH TYPE OF FINAL
difficult,” the report said. “Marking high and punting truly, regardless of the gusty wind, Vallence drove home Carlton’s attacks with remarkable certainty. Never before had more than seven goals been kicked by a player in the League semi-final, and the previous record for any match in the second round was nine – by Gordon Coventry in the final of 1928.” Correspondent ‘High Mark’ added: “Any doubt about the determination of Carlton vanished quickly when the
Blues tore into the game and buffeted their opponents with shoulder and hip. In the main, the ruggedness was legitimate, and opponents playing the ball were met in the manner specified by the rules. “For those numerous critics who during the week pooh-poohed the idea of a Carlton victory, the result was a staggering blow, and Carlton must be congratulated accordingly.” The cartoonists were equally glowing. On the Monday
after the match, The Herald’s Sammy Wells depicted Vallence as a straw-sucking hayseed having just reaped a vintage crop at the expense of the hapless black and whites. The cartoon showed Farmer Vallence dumping a cartload of 11 footballs on to a Collingwood player, as his talking horse declared, “That’s what I call a bumper harvest”. In the winner’s circle, and to the sound of raucous applause, Carlton coach Dan Minogue CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE
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declared that, with a new grandstand (the since-demolished Robert Heatley Stand) in view at Carlton, all wanted to place the premiership flag on it. Geelong put paid to Carlton’s premiership aspirations when it emerged victorious by just six points in the preliminary final a fortnight later. Not until 1938 – and Vallence’s last senior game – would Carlton next savour Grand Final victory, yet again at Collingwood’s expense. But by then, Vallence’s legend was already well and truly forged. In the club’s 1931 annual report, Carlton secretary P.J. Cain said: “Reference to the team would not be complete unless some special mention is made of the excellent goalkicking performance of Harry Vallence. “Playing in 18 matches, he kicked 86 goals, or an average of nearly five goals a match, which eclipsed the club record of 64, established by himself in season 1929.” Remarkably, Vallence backed up his 11-goal haul of 1931 with another 11 in the preliminary final of 1932, again against Collingwood. He ended the ’32 season with 97 goals, having been sidelined for two matches following an injury sustained against Geelong at Corio Oval, where he reputedly thumped his longest goal, and delighted in re-telling the story decades later. “How far did it go? I couldn’t tell you, except to say that it took me five minutes to walk back to full-forward,” he said. This is an edited version of a story published in Out of the Blue (Carlton Football Club, $49.95 RRP).
FINALS FACTS
My game was pretty basic and that helped in finals where you are not trying to overuse the ball MARTIN PIKE
SWEET SEPTEMBER:
Martin Pike loved the scent of finals time.
T H E B I G S TAG E
For Pike, consistency was the key C A L LU M T WOMEY
M
artin Pike knows all about September. He knows how the game changes, he knows how it feels to win, and he knows how gutted a loss makes you feel. He also knows how the start of the finals generally brings a change of attitude. “You play the home and away season and you think you are doing everything to the best of your ability, but when finals come around, you just naturally step it up,” says Pike, now 36. “The grass is always freshly cut and you can just smell it.” Pike is well qualified to talk about finals, having featured in 27 of them. The tough utility player played three finals for Melbourne in 1994 before being traded to Fitzroy. With the club floundering at the bottom of the ladder and on the brink of extinction, Pike won Fitzroy’s last best and fairest award in 1996 before moving to North Melbourne, which had just won the 1996 premiership. He played a key role in finals in his four
seasons with the Roos, including the 1999 premiership. At the end of 2000, Leigh Matthews recruited him to the Brisbane Lions, and Pike repaid the faith, being an important member of the Lions’ three premiership teams from 2001-03. From 1998-2004, Pike played in every Grand final bar one (2000). Understanding that he found himself in the right place at the right time, Pike still says “you don’t get too lucky if you don’t work hard” and that his consistency was a
key aspect of his success. “My best wasn’t the greatest, but what I tried to do was have a consistent effort, and I think that lent itself to playing finals,” he says. “Some players can be hot and cold in some ways, and when you have a couple of cold ones, it can be hard to get that hotness back. My game was pretty basic and that helped in finals where you are not trying to overuse the ball.” Uncompromising and hard, the 247-gamer believes a team has to be in strong form going into the finals to make an impact, and that individuals need to win their own ball, which Pike’s coach at North, Denis Pagan, says was his outstanding quality. “He was assertive, aggressive and never intimidated. He just loved a contest,” Pagan says. Now an assistant coach a t VFL level with the Northern Bullants, Pike has aspirations to move into higher coaching ranks. Doubtless he’ll be able to pass on a few handy secrets about playing on the biggest stage.
MOST FINALS MATCHES 1897-2008 Finals Player 39 Michael Tuck
Span 1974-91
Prem. 7
Coll
1920-37
5
29 Leigh Matthews
Haw
1971-85
4
29 Bruce Doull Wayne 29 Schimmelbusch 28 Bill Hutchison
Carl
1972-85
4
N Melb
1974-85
2
Ess
1942-57
4
28 Chris Mew
Haw
1982-92
5
28 Gary Ayres
Haw
1982-93
5
31
Gordon Coventry
Finals club(s) Haw
27 Harry Collier
Coll
1926-39
6
27 Dick Reynolds
Ess
1940-51
4
27 Kevin Bartlett
Rich
1967-82
5
27 Martin Pike
Melb/N Melb/Bris
1994-2004
4
26 Albert Collier
Coll
1926-39
6
26 Dermott Brereton
Haw
1982-91
5
26 Stephen Silvagni
Carl
1986-2001
2
25 Rod McGregor
Carl
1905-19
4
25 David Dench
N Melb
1974-83
2
25 Chris Langford
Haw
1984-96
4
25 Dean Kemp
WCE
1990-99
2
25 John Blakey
Fitz/N Melb
1986-2002
2
25 Jason Akermanis
Bris/WB
1997-2008
3
Carlton great John Nicholls will present this year’s Jock McHale Medal to the winning Grand Final coach.
34 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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MAGPIE HITS THE MARK:
POLITICS
After bitter feud, Sunday became a League day
Mark Williams kicked six goals in the first final played on a Sunday.
TICKETING
A $2 plan amounted to nothing C A L LU M T WOMEY
A
ASHLEY BROW NE
W
hen Collingwood and Fitzroy clashed at the MCG in an elimination final on Sunday, September 8, 1984, it marked the end of a long – and at times acrimonious – battle between the Victorian Football League and the Victorian Government over the right for the League to play matches on a Sunday. Except for a match in 1970 attended by Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British royal family and several trial games staged in mid-1981 to gauge public interest, League football in Victoria was played on Saturday afternoons and public holidays. Sydney Swans games were televised back into Melbourne every second Sunday afternoon from 1982-84.
Cain’s refusal to yield stuck in the craw of League president Dr Allen Aylett and general manager Jack Hamilton However, Sunday footy in Melbourne was reserved for the Victorian Football Association. Buoyed by live telecasts, the VFA was a powerful and popular football body in its own right with influential friends, none more so than the Victorian Premier of the time, John Cain, who when asked who he barracked for would always say Preston, a popular northern suburbs VFA club. Cain’s refusal to yield stuck in the craw of League president Dr Allen Aylett and general manager Jack Hamilton. Their main point, quite reasonably, was that every other major sport
FINALS FACTS
in Melbourne – cricket, tennis, golf, soccer and motor sport – took place on a Sunday, some of them at the MCG. At the same time, the League was at loggerheads with the State Government over plans to increase the capacity of its own ground at Waverley to more than 100,000 and move the Grand Final there. Eventually, the compromise was reached. Sunday football got the go ahead and the Grand Final would stay at the MCG. Lights were installed at the MCG the following year and before long, the ground was hosting up to three matches a weekend. This increase in patronage led to massive redevelopments, with the Great Southern Stand opened in 1992 and the rest of the ground rebuilt entirely in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In that historic first Sunday final 25 years ago, Collingwood skipper and now-Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams booted six goals as the Magpies kicked away in the final term to beat
Fitzroy by 46 points in front of 73,994 fans. The following week, Hawthorn outlasted Essendon by eight points in the second semi-final, also on a Sunday, in what was hailed as one of the best finals matches ever.
ccess to finals tickets has long been notoriously difficult, and some punters in 1967 found out the hard way. The fans thought they were adding to their chances of success with finals tickets applications by pinning a $2 note to the form as a ‘sweetener’. Instead of receiving preferential treatment for the bribe, they paid the price for their lateral thinking, with the note being returned and their applications stamped ‘Invalid’. The bribers had good reason to want their forms to stand out. Of more than 30,000 applications for finals tickets, only 3000 had been successful by late July. Country fans were at a further disadvantage. Applications closed the day after the coupon appeared in The Herald newspaper and, as such, there was little chance the booking agency would have received the applications in the mail in time. Now, the internet has more or less replaced the snail mail option of 1967. But 42 years on, the demand for finals tickets remains as strong.
230 Most games without a final Late St Kilda great Trevor Barker thrilled fans in 230 home and away matches, but sadly, the Saints teams he represented were never quite good enough.
North Melbourne’s Paul Spargo (1985) was the last of 32 players to debut in a final. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 35
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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE
FINALS WEEK ONE LOOK OUT: Future premiership
BRISBANE EMERGES
stars Michael Voss (let), Alastair Lynch (behind Voss) and Justin Leppitsch celebrate finals success in 1996.
The birth of a giant
The number of qualifying finals that have been played, along with 43 elimination finals. The first qualifying final was between Richmond and Collingwood in 1972. The first elimination final, also in 1972, pitted St Kilda against Essendon.
SH A NE McNA L LY
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he premiership hat-trick of 2001-03 was still a few years away and some tough times lay ahead, but Brisbane’s efforts in the 1996 finals series were the foundations on which a dynasty was built. Brisbane was still the Bears, but several future Lions premiership players, including Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Nigel Lappin and Justin Leppitsch, got their first taste of finals success that September. They experienced overwhelming exhilaration, beating powerhouse clubs Essendon and Carlton in contrasting fashion before losing to eventual premier North Melbourne by 38 points in the preliminary final. If the one-point win over Essendon in the second qualifying final at the Gabba gave the emerging players belief they could win a pressure final, the 97-point hiding they handed Carlton a week later in the second semi-final at the MCG let them know they had the makings of something special.
I don’t know whether we really thought we could win a flag that year. We were just looking forward to the next game ALASTAIR LYNCH
Two years later, they endured a disastrous season and claimed the wooden spoon, but the 1996 finals series remains a key turning point for the players who went on to form the nucleus of the Brisbane Lions, as the club became known after a merger with Fitzroy at the end of 1996. The Lions eventually became one of the all-time great League squads. Alastair Lynch was one of the most experienced of the Bears’ 1996 side, but the Essendon match was particularly memorable as it was his 150th and his first final.
FINALS FACTS
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QUICK FACTS
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He had missed Brisbane’s first final the previous year as he battled chronic fatigue syndrome, and to win by one point was, at that stage, his greatest football moment. “I think (Gavin) Wanganeen kicked a point late in the match when he could have snuck one through, so we had a bit of luck in that first final and we improved a lot the following week to thrash Carlton,” Lynch says. “I’d had health issues and reaching the 150-mark and getting a win that way, it showed me what it was all about. “It was a remarkable time personally but also for a great group of young guys coming through. “By the same token, I don’t know whether we really thought we could win a flag that year. We were just looking forward to the next game.”
DA S H I N G D E B U T
Dermie’s arrival was start of new era ASHLEY BROW NE
D
ermott Brereton’s five-goal effort against North Melbourne in the 1982 first
semi-final remains one of the most audacious debuts in history. The Hawks were coming off a 62-point hammering from Carlton in the previous week’s qualifying final, further confirmation to coach Allan Jeans that the glory days of the 1970s were a fading memory. So, it was out with dualpremiership spearhead Michael Moncrieff and in with Brereton. The 18-year-old from Frankston in Melbourne’s outer south had been tearing up the VFL reserves competition for most of the year. Brereton’s role that day signified he was largely ahead of his time. He played as a lead-up forward, with a pair of hard-nosed, old-style North defenders, David Dench and Ross Henshaw, as his opponents. “I ran to all the wrong spots and almost got annihilated by Kevin Bryant in the first term, but then I woke up,” Brereton said recently when asked about his famous debut. Following that wake-up call, he ran amok with three goals in the second term, and one each in the third and final stanzas, as the Hawks romped home to win by 52 points. Brereton’s recollection is that he took advantage of the North backline’s absolute focus on Leigh Matthews, the resting forward pocket. “One of us was the greatest player ever, the other was an
The number of fans who have watched matches in the first week of the finals, with a highest attendance of 104,239 for the St Kilda-South Melbourne first semifinal at the MCG in 1970.
198
Essendon’s 31.12 (198) against North Melbourne in an qualifying final at the MCG in 2000 is the highest score in a qualifying or elimination final.
125
The Bombers’ 125-point thrashing of the Kangaroos in that match is the biggest winning margin.
34
West Coast’s 4.10 (34) against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium in the 2004 second elimination final is the lowest score.
90
The number of charges laid from the opening week of finals, with 65 players found guilty for a combined 171 matches in suspensions. The heaviest penalty was 24 matches, dished out to Carlton’s Dan Keily in 1917 for abusive language in the first semi-final against Fitzroy.
CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE
Hawthorn’s 1991 Norm Smith medallist Paul Dear will present this year’s medal to the best player in the Grand Final.
36 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE
18-year-old kid. They afforded me no respect, and with complete justification,” he said. He also remembers doing the maths after the game and figuring that if he played 200 games of League football, he would end up with 1000 goals. “Suffice to say, it didn’t quite work out that way,” he says, with a chuckle. But it was a pretty spectacular career all the same.
Bartlett said. “I always enjoyed playing finals, and I enjoyed testing myself against the best and I think all players should relish that opportunity. “It’s a great opportunity to stamp yourself as a player, and also as a team.” Going into the Grand Final against Collingwood (coached by ex-Richmond premiership coach Tom Hafey), Bartlett remembered his team being “on a roll”. In the end, the momentum was far too strong for the Magpies, with the Tigers winning by a then-record Grand Final margin of 81 points. Bartlett kicked seven goals to win the Norm Smith Medal. He had kicked 21 goals for the finals series, another record at the time. Before most games, Bartlett would take an old footy into his backyard and have a few shots at the fork in his gum tree. He would imagine himself snapping a goal, or roving a pack, playing games by himself like he had as a kid. He said it was a “confidence booster, (a way to) see myself, and imagine myself, doing good things”. Even Bartlett, though, would admit his 1980 finals series went beyond his imagination.
THE VETERAN
Having stayed loyal, ‘KB’ set finals alight C A L LU M T WOMEY
A
t the end of the 1979 season, Richmond champion Kevin Bartlett had a falling out with his club. Having played as a rover for the majority of his career since his debut in 1965, the skipper had been moved to half-forward. The flank was seen as the “graveyard position”, with limited opportunities to make an impact on the game. Bartlett gave up the captaincy and looked to resume his career at a rival club, most likely Collingwood. He was 33 and thought the Tigers wanted him out. However, having done all his pre-season training on the streets of Glen Waverley in Melbourne’s outer south-east over summer, Bartlett and Richmond resolved their issues and the durable star returned to the club ahead of the opening round of 1980. It was to be one of the best decisions Bartlett would make. The Tigers finished the home and away season in third spot, facing Carlton in the first qualifying final. “There was a big build-up for the game, and it also happened to be the day I was breaking John Rantall’s League record of 336 games,” Bartlett recalled. “I was playing my 337th, and FINALS FACTS
ON A ROLL: Kevin Bartlett and the
Tigers were in red-hot form during the 1980 finals series.
MOST GOALS IN A FINALS SERIES Goals Player
Club
Season
27
Gary Ablett snr
Geel
1989
23
Ron Todd
Coll
1939
21
Kevin Bartlett
Rich
1980
20
Jack Mueller
Melb
1948
20
Harry Vallence
Carl
1932
19
Billy Brownless
Geel
1992
18
Ron Todd
Coll
1938
18
Jack Mueller
Melb
1946
18
Peter Sumich
WCE
1992
obviously winning the game was the most important thing, but it had that little bit extra on it as well.” With three goals in the first quarter, Bartlett had a dream start. He finished with six, and the Tigers were comfortable 42-point victors. It was the first finals series Richmond had played since 1975, and Bartlett and long-time teammate Francis Bourke thought it might be the last chance to achieve something special.
Match by match
Wk1 Wk2 PF 3 7 8 6 11 6 8 8 4 11 9 2 5 4 11 4 8 4 8
GF GFR 9 6 7 6 6 5 3 3 6 6
Having beaten the Blues, the chance of a big finish was quickly becoming realistic. In the second semi-final, the Tigers faced the top-placed Geelong. In a tough battle in which Richmond lost many quality players through injury, it was Bartlett who was the difference. He kicked eight goals from half-forward to send the Tigers into their first Grand Final since 1974. “It’s very exciting when you win through to a Grand Final,”
BREAKTHROUGH
Crows come of age SH A NE McNA L LY
F
or most of its first three seasons, Adelaide struggled away from home and was often humiliated when it ran out to play on Victoria’s suburban grounds. Now, the club’s first final beckoned at the MCG, and it had the chance to redeem itself in the most important match of its short history against powerhouse Hawthorn. Adelaide went into that first elimination final in 1993 a despised outsider after losing to the Hawks just two weeks earlier, but turned in a brilliant and tough display that defied its reputation as an easybeat away from home.
Former Bomber Ted Fordham, the League’s leading goalkicker in 1966, will present the Coleman Medal to Carlton’s Brendan Fevola.
38 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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After an even first quarter, in the second term the Crows dominated a team boasting greats including Jason Dunstall, Gary Ayres, Chris Langford, John Platten and Darren Jarman and then withstood a second-half fightback to win by 15 points.
Greg Anderson, Tony McGuinness and Nigel Smart were all outstanding and Stuart Wigney kicked three GRAHAM CORNES
Inaugural Adelaide coach Graham Cornes recalls going into the historic final unfazed at meeting a champion side at the MCG, despite some ces at inglorious performances suburban venues. “We got some bad beatings da’s former at Moorabbin (St Kilda’s ictoria home ground) and Victoria Park (Collingwood’s) but our as pretty record at the MCG was good,” he says. “It was the last yearr of the final six system and we’d won our last minor round game to slip into fifth place. horn “We’d played Hawthorn ier at a couple of weeks earlier d by about Waverley and they led nine goals at half-timee before ack, so we we worked our way back, gave ourselves a real chance. They weren’t going to get a n. big start like that again. “In that final, there nces were great performances from a lot of players. Greg Anderson, Tony McGuinness and Nigel Smart were all outstanding, and Stuart Wigney kicked three goals. “We kicked seven goals in the second quarter and were in control at rked half-time but they worked na their way back into it in tight last quarter. “Then Matty Liptak kicked a really long goal to put it beyond ad them doubt. I thought we had when they moved Garyy Ayres from the back pocket to the forward line late in thee match.” CROWING: Greg Anderson was
one of the stars of Adelaide’s first finals win in 1993.
FINALS FACTS
LOVING LLOYD: Matthew Lloyd (circled) is mobbed after kicking his 100th goal during the 2000 finals series.
CENTURION
Familiar faces made Lloyd’s moment special ASHLEY BROW NE
I
t wasn’t enough for Essendon to be the dominant team of 2000, with 24 wins in 25 matches, culminating in a 10-goal victory over Melbourne in the Grand Final. The Bombers also had the premier full-forward of the competition, with 22-year-old Matthew Lloyd booting 109 goals for the year, which represented 23 per cent of all majors kicked by the Bombers. Lloyd made his debut in 1995 and, by 1997, was his club’s main key forward, with 63 goals. Returns of 70 and 87 goals in the next two seasons showed he was tracking nicely for the century. On an overcast August afternoon in 2000 at the MCG in a qualifying final against the Kangaroos, his third goal of the day was his 100th for the season, making him the club’s first century goalkicker since Geoff Blethyn, who booted 107 in 1972. The legendary John
Coleman was the only other Essendon player to have kicked 100 goals in a season. It was a triumphant day for the Bombers, who trounced the reigning premiers by 125 points, 31.12 (198) to 11.7 (73). Skipper James Hird kicked five goals and Joe Misiti four as Essendon served notice that the battle for the flag was merely a formality. So matter-of-fact was it for the Bombers that Lloyd recalled in a newspaper interview several years later that the highlight was that one of his best childhood mates was among the hundreds of fans who mobbed him on the ground after the 100th goal.
It was claustrophobic, but you are with 17 of your mates, and they were as excited as I was MATTHEW LLOYD
Also among them was his brother Simon, now a football department staffer at Collingwood and regular Record contributor. “I had my brothers run out and I saw guys I played junior footy with and went to school with. (There were) high-fives; I got right into it,” he told the Herald Sun last year. “It was claustrophobic, but you are with 17 of your mates, and they were as excited as I was. We were just jumping on top of each other.”
Tigers Bill James and Robert Hay, Hawk Michael Cooke and Swan Gil Miller only ever played in finals, combining for six matches. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 39
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F I R S T WAV E R L E Y F I N A L
Saints ground the Bombers C A MERON SINCL A IR
T
he first elimination final was between St Kilda and Essendon at Waverley Park in 1972, in the first season of a final-five system. St Kilda had finished fourth and Essendon fifth to set up a cutthroat clash featuring some of the biggest names in football, with the Saints boasting Barry Breen, Carl Ditterich and Ross Smith, and Bombers Geoff Blethyn, Ken Fletcher and captain-coach Des Tuddenham. In front of 52,499 fans, St Kilda was the better team early and led by 21 points at the first change. Essendon fought back in the second quarter, but the Saints steadied to maintain their lead to half-time John Stephens was dangerous in front of goals for St Kilda, Smith was starring around the ground and its defence was tight. The Bombers desperately needed a lift as full-forward Blethyn struggled to get into the match
and the midfield was unable to win enough of the ball. Essendon’s woes continued in the third quarter, with the Saints kicking five goals to one to lead by 54 points at the final break and the contest was good as over. The Bombers’ season drifted to a disappointing end as St Kilda romped home by 53 points to set up a first semi-final clash against Collingwood the following week.
BIZARRE
Plans to confuse Demons had little support C A L LU M T WOMEY
A
s far as requests go, it was audacious to say the least. At a VFL match arrangements committee meeting in 1961, before the finals series started, Fitzroy suggested a plan “to stop Melbourne from kicking too straight in finals matches”. The Demons were hot favourites to win their
sixth premiership in seven years and the Lions wanted the League to move the goalposts at the MCG on the Friday night before the finals. Fitzroy claimed Melbourne had an unfair advantage because it trained at the ground where the finals were held. Lions secretary W. Stuchbery reportedly told the meeting that “my committee doesn’t care where you move them, just so long as they are shifted”. It was met with an uproar of laughter, but Stuchbery maintained his club was serious and that the Demons had a clear advantage by playing finals on familiar territory. The League’s arrangements committee chairman A.R. Jennings said he “could not dream of supporting such a crazy scheme”. “I don’t think the goalposts have got anything to do with Melbourne’s success. It is simply superior to other teams at the moment,” Jennings said. North Melbourne delegate Tony Trainer suggested that to overcome the psychological benefit Melbourne held, it should be made to use the visitors’ rooms on match-day instead of the home rooms. In the end, common sense prevailed and neither proposal was upheld. In fact, Fitzroy’s plan was defeated 10-1, and Melbourne was knocked out in the first semi-final. As if Fitzroy’s plan wasn’t strange enough, the club didn’t even qualify for the finals.
CONTROVERSY
Police probed BomberPie clash C A L LU M T WOMEY
I
t was well before the use of behind-the-play cameras came into vogue, so in the 1965 finals series, there was some inventive thinking from League headquarters. In the preliminary final between Essendon and Collingwood, Bombers
GAME-BREAKER:
Star rover Ross Smith led St Kilda to victory in the first elimination final, played at Waverley.
FINALS FACTS
MILES TONES – WEEK ONE
100 games Jared Brennan Brisbane Lions Ben Hudson Western Bulldogs Matt Maguire St Kilda
50 games Jason Roe Brisbane Lions Shaun Higgins Western Bulldogs
Mick Malthouse will coach in his 17th finals series, taking him to equal third on the list with Allan Jeans. Malthouse has coached Footscray, West Coast and Collingwood in finals. Collingwood’s Jock McHale coached in 27 finals series and Essendon’s Kevin Sheedy in 19. The list includes those not necessarily selected but on the verge of milestones.
half-forward John Somerville was concussed about 90 metres behind play. With Somerville and his opponent, Duncan Wright, isolated 30 metres from any other player, fingers were immediately pointed at the hot-headed Magpie. With severe concussion and a bloodied face, Somerville was so badly injured he needed to be stretchered from the ground, and would miss the Grand Final. However, with all umpires claiming to have seen nothing, no report was made against Wright and he denied any involvement in the controversial incident. Instead, Victoria Police was asked to find out what happened. “Any policeman – on duty or off – who saw the Somerville incident will be asked to contact the CIB,” said Rupert Arnold, Chief Commissioner at the time. With Essendon overcoming the loss of Somerville to beat Collingwood and reach the Grand Final against St Kilda, another police inspector claimed that with more than 50 police on duty inside the ground, they will be watching for reportable incidents during play “likely to cause breaches of peace”. After the finals series was completed, CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE
Fourteen finals have been decided by one point – the last in the 2006 Grand Final when West Coast beat the Sydney Swans.
40 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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PULL OVER for the McDonald’s Drive Thru Challenge ®
Friday 11th September between 6pm and 7pm Be a part of the McDonald’s Drive Thru Challenge by visiting one of our Victorian Drive Thrus between 6pm and 7pm on Friday 11th September. For every car that orders through drive thru, $1.00 will be donated to the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation in support of Emergency and Trauma facilities in public hospitals throughout Victoria.
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and Essendon had won its 12th premiership, detectives interviewed Wright about the incident. With no substantial evidence, nothing came of the police questioning. Wright never played at League level again after being sacked during pre-season training in 1966.
30 YEARS ON
Clear message for new Blues HOWA R D KOT TON
W
hile the talk from Carlton this week has been to not dwell on the immediate past, particularly last weekend’s thrashing by Adelaide, the young Blues received a timely message last
week to take into the club’s first final in eight years. More than 800 people were at Docklands as the Blues celebrated the 30th anniversary of a memorable Grand Final victory over Collingwood. Most of the 1979 team was in attendance at the Spirit of Carlton function. Many members of the 1972 Carlton side that defeated Richmond in the record-breaking Grand Final were also there, as both teams were inducted into the Premiership Players Club. Rod Austin played in that ’79 win on a cold, wet September afternoon. The day holds special memories for the defender affectionately known as ‘Curly’. Austin played 220 games from 1972-85, but injury forced him to miss the Blues’ successive triumphs in 1981-82. He had a clear message for the new breed of Blues as he spoke on behalf of the ’79 premiership players. He traced Carlton’s success that season back to its origins just over a year beforehand when the club was in turmoil, not unlike
We were one (win) out of six, we had no captain, we had no coach, and we were second last ROD AUSTIN
TRIUMPH: Despite being injured in the last term, Alex Jesaulenko guided the Blues to the 1979 premiership.
the precarious predicament the current crop has emerged from after several dark seasons. “We were one (win) out of six, we had no captain, we had no coach, and we were second last,” Austin said. After six rounds in 1978, Alex Jesaulenko stepped in as captain-coach and the Blues turned their fortunes around. “In 1977-78, we could have gone the wrong way. The message is, ‘It is not easy, but if you’re prepared to go that little bit harder and mentally toughen up, things can happen’. The ’79
Grand Final was the classic end result of getting us back on track. “Today’s players have started the journey and they’re about to embark on a finals series. “Where they go from here depends on how hard they want to go about it.” Later, as the past players adjourned to a nearby bar, it was clear the premiership had made an impact on their lives. Wingman Michael Young proudly introduced himself to anyone as a premiership player, while rugged centreman Jim Buckley and centre half-forward Mark Maclure stood transfixed watching the replay, riding every bump, kick, mark and handball as they reminisced about the five-point victory. For them, the hard slog through the MCG mud had been worth it.
A N A LY S I S
THE GODFATHER OF STATS
Ted Hopkins
Founder of Champion Data and Carlton premiership player SCORE-SOURCE DIFFERENCES TELL STORY This year in the AFL Record, The Godfather has taken readers behind the scenes into the advanced statistical analysis used at elite-club level. Footy today can seem bewildering compared to yesteryear. Registering simple kick, mark and handball statistics is no longer sufficient to explain who is winning and losing, and why. So what matters in 2009? High on The Godfather’s list are score-source differences. Every score is now categorised according to a possession chain’s starting point, or score source. There are three possible score sources, from a stoppage first possession, a turnover gain or a kick-in, which account for 29, 60 and 11 per cent of the competition’s scoring respectively. However, the measure The Godfather
FINALS FACTS
counts on to tell the story of the game is score-source difference. Notably, recent premiership teams have ranked high at scoring from stoppage first possessions. This home and away season, St Kilda has been the competition benchmark, outscoring its opponents by 283 points from this score source. The Bulldogs (249 points) and Geelong (222) also excelled in this area. However, nearly two-thirds of the competition’s scoring stems from turnovers, so this area should be most decisive in the finals. At the stoppages, good teams tend to be super defensive, but when the ball is in general play, the opportunity to punish the opposition from a turnover gain beckons. Here, St Kilda has again been the benchmark, outscoring its opponents by 511 points, followed by Collingwood (356 points), Adelaide (304) and Geelong (290). Kick-in score differences have had little impact in recent Grand
BENCHMARK:
St Kilda was No. 1 for scoring from first possessions at stoppages.
Finals, so The Godfather has the Saints as premiership favourites, but their main challengers will depend on the style of play that dominates in the finals. If stoppages prove decisive, St Kilda’s main challengers look likely to be the Bulldogs and Geelong. But if the stoppages are locked up tight, then Collingwood, Adelaide and the Cats will come into the frame with their proven ability to punish a turnover.
Score-source differences (points) in 2009 Club Stoppages
Club
Turnover gains
St K
283
St K
511
WB
249
Coll
356
Geel
222
Adel
304
Carl
92
Geel
290
Ess
28
WB
208
Coll
16
BL
194
Adel
-2
Carl
140
BL
-92
Ess
-76
Collingwood’s Gordon Coventry is the only League player with more than 100 goals in finals – 111 in 31 matches.
42 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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Be our celeBrity tipster!
To enter, simply place a bet of $10 or more on the NRL or AFL final series between 24th August and 27th September and you could become the 2010 TAB Sportsbet Celebrity Tipster! Your weekly tipping segment will be seen in over 6000 pubs and clubs across Australia! *A weekly $1,000 betting voucher for 25 weeks of the 2010 footy season. Terms and conditions apply. Entries close 27/09/09 before kick off. Authorised under NSW Permit Number LTPS/09/06568, ACT Permit Number TP 09/02849 and VIC Permit number TPL 09/2252. AFL Authorisation code GFAFL09/98. Not available to QLD, SA and NT residents. Think! About your choices. Call your state based gambling help services on 1800 858 858. Gamble responsibly.
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DREAM TEAM AROUND THE CLUBS
Finally, some silverware
Eagle star calls it a day
The AFL Record’s Dream Team expert Mr Fantasy finally had some joy.
NICK BOW EN
W
est Coast star David Wirrpanda (right) announced this week he would join 2006 premiership teammates Chad Fletcher and Adam Hunter in retirement. While Fletcher and the injured Hunter were feted by the Subiaco crowd at the Eagles’ round 22 game against Richmond, Wirrpanda played his final game against Adelaide the week before, after electing to miss round 22 to be at the birth of his first child. The silky-skilled defender was one of the key members of the powerhouse West Coast side that played in the 2005-06 Grand Finals and made the finals every year from 2002-07. Just as effective when shifted forward, Wirrpanda played 227 games, kicked 131 goals and was All-Australian in 2005. In developments at the other seven clubs that missed the finals:
FREMANTLE Player development coach Stephen Malaxos will finish at the club on October 31. Rhys Palmer, Ryan Crowley, Dean Solomon, Kepler Bradley and Tim Ruffles have signed new contracts. HAWTHORN Young ruckman Max Bailey will undergo a third knee reconstruction and midfielder Brad Sewell may face surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone and eye socket.
MELBOURNE Russell Robertson, Matthew Whelan and Paul Wheatley played their last games for the club against St Kilda, while skipper James McDonald has signed on for 2010. The Demons now turn their attention to the NAB AFL Draft where they have the first two picks. NORTH MELBOURNE New coach Brad Scott will assemble a new team of assistant coaches after this week’s announcement Daniel Daly, Darren Bewick and Anthony Rock would not be continuing at the club. PORT ADELAIDE Daniel Motlop (shoulder), Steven Salopek (shoulder reconstruction) and Justin Westhoff (foot) are booked in for surgery. RICHMOND Nathan Brown and Mark Coughlan represented the club for the final time against West Coast last week. SYDNEY SWANS Forward Jesse White won the round 22 nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star award.
FANDEMONIUM HOW DO YOU ENTER? Simply upload an image of yourself by visiting afl.com.au/finals* or send a MMS to 0448 300 400 Uploaded images will be judged on the entrant’s passion and support for their team.
Dane Swan COLLINGWOOD $433,500
After some lean years and thick dust gathering in my trophy cabinet, I’m happy to announce some premiership success for Mr Fantasy in 2009. Although a few hundred points away from my best score for the year, my decision to make Geelong’s Jimmy Bartel captain paid dividends, with the on-baller scoring 246 in a match-winning performance. I’ve got all summer to celebrate, but for those like me who can’t get enough of Dream Team, log on to aflfinals.virtualsports.com.au to play this season’s AFL Finals Dream Team competition for a chance to win fabulous prizes. In the meantime, let’s look back at some of the hits and misses of the 2009 Dream Team season.
The hardrunning Magpie scored 2621 points for the year – 130 more than 2008’s No. 1 Jimmy Bartel. His efforts from rounds nine to 20 were astonishing, averaging 132, including two scores of 158. Scored under 90 on just three occasions. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Liam Anthony NTH MELB $366,100
In terms of averages (96.2 in 10 matches), Anthony is clearly Dream Team’s Rookie of the Year. Made his debut in round 13, scoring 94, and never looked back, finishing the year with three consecutive 100-plus scores. In the space of nine weeks, his price went up by $279,500. Honourable mention goes to Fremantle’s Greg Broughton, who averaged 87 in 15 games.
PAC E - S E T T E R S
Top 10 Teams 1
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46,155
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The Super Teds
46,152
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Country Members
46,142
BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
Daniel Kerr WEST COAST $240,200
Kerr’s last game for the Eagles was in round 13, ending another frustrating year with injury. He didn’t play anywhere near his best when he did run on to the ground, averaging just 61. In 11 games, Kerr failed to reach triple-figures, scoring under 70 on seven occasions.
10 Reynolds Rampage 46,120
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IRISH CONNECTION
The brother beyond TR AV IS CR A NLEY
S
eán Óg O’hAilpin wants to know about Mark Harvey. “Harvey!” he says, after noticing my Dockers cap, Cork city in southern Ireland being about the last place you can get away with flying the Freo colours in August. “What’s up with him?” He’ll talk AFL all day, will Seán Óg, the older brother of Carlton’s Setanta. Even now, as he stands by the banks of the River Lee, with light summer rain falling. I’ve come to meet this icon of Irish hurling, a 32-year-old Fijian-Irish Corkman who remains the most marketable and likeable athlete in the Republic. Instead, I could be talking to Bruce McAvaney. Here he is, in that charming sing-song lilt of a Leesider, sounding like Michael Collins channeling Mick Molloy. Irish brogue, Aussie banter: “I’ve got some time, no worries,” he says. “No worries.” Such is his local fame, there’s a wedding photographer who’s left the reception next door – the bride, apparently, can wait – to sneak a photo of him. He notices and smiles her way. Poses for the photo, so tall, dark and handsome you wonder if it hurts being such a cliché. He turns back to me. And he’s talking about Jeff Kennett. “Would he be more powerful than Eddie (McGuire)? Kennett’s all right, though, you think?” Seán Óg loves the AFL. Mad for it! Even knows the club presidents. First thing he does each morning is check the AFL websites. “I used to go to some of the fan chatrooms but I don’t anymore,” he laments. “Too many bad comments about Setanta.” He watches at least two games most weekends, plus highlights, either on television or via the internet. DVDs. Magazines. Books. News reports. The Carlton gossip from Setanta. And it’s not like he hasn’t
FINALS FACTS
got other things to be doing. For Seán Óg is Cork hurling. Has been since he was a teenager. The accolades overflow: three All-Ireland titles for Cork, five Munster provincial crowns, former captain of his county and parish club, three All-Star selections, 2004 Hurler of the Year. The Examiner, the Cork-based national paper, just named him in its Munster hurling team of the past 25 years. “In 50 years, Cork schoolboys will know who Seán Óg is,” says local journalist Des O’Driscoll. “Whatever Setanta achieves in Australia, it won’t translate here like what Seán Óg has done, and how he’s done it. He’s earned himself a special place.” But, don’t forget, given the amateur roots of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the governing body for hurling and Gaelic football, Seán Óg gets up Monday-Friday and goes to work at a bank.
I would have given my right arm to have a go at Aussie Rules. It wasn’t to be and Setanta has a chance to make a go of it SEÁN ÓG O’HAILPIN
One suspects his employer doesn’t stack his ‘In Tray’ too high but, still, he’s got to show up at 9am. However on the weekend, he’s happy to talk footy, and Setanta. “I would have given my right arm to have a go at Aussie Rules,” he says. “But that’s fate. It wasn’t to be and Setanta has a chance to make a go of it. Good for him.” Seán Óg was too old, at 26, when Carlton scouts snared Setanta, then 20, in December, 2003. (The Blues returned and recruited the youngest brother, Aisake, in 2005. He was delisted after last season without playing a senior game and now lives in Cork with a fourth brother, Teu, another footy nut, in a house owned by Setanta around the corner from Seán Óg’s place.) The closest Seán Óg came was some workouts with the Blues before the 2006 season. “What no one knows is I spent my childhood years in Sydney,” says Seán Óg, who was born on his Fijian mother’s island of Rotuma. “I was 10
when we left Sydney. Setanta but they preferred hurling and Aisake were born in to blabbing. Sydney, but they were much Always together, always younger when we left for here. at it: Seán Óg and Aisake, “Sydney was mad for rugby youngest and oldest, versus league. But we had a neighbour, Teu and Setanta, the middle Bob, who watched Aussie Rules. boys, with mum sometimes He supported Carlton. stepping in as goalie. “One year I dropped in and All four eventually played he was watching the Grand senior hurling for local club Final. It was 1986, Hawthorn Na Piarsaigh, establishing and Carlton. Bob said he themselves and their family in followed the Blues so I said the rebel county. I’d go for the other team. Soon Seán Óg was rising “Hawthorn played rapidly through the ranks of beautifully. ‘Dipper’ (Robert Cork’s county teams, making his domenico), Dermott DiPierdomenico), senior debut aged 19. on, Chris Langford, I Brereton, In GAA games, most lads don’t loved those guys. The Hawks get a senior county start until nd they’ve been my won and well into their 20s. But Seán Óg team ever since.” was something else: a Corkman ce the interest in Kennett. Hence to his playing socks, yet with AA websites and you’ll Visit GAA án Óg lists his favourite find Seán all-timee athlete as ‘Robert domenico’, right where DiPierdomenico’, el Jordan’ should be. ‘Michael ling, however, comes first. Hurling, Alwayss has. Even as infants in lia, the O’hAilpin boys Australia, rained to dream of the were trained green sporting fields of Ireland. “In Sydney, Dad used to get us boys up at ght to listen midnight to the All-Ireland g finals on hurling dio. the radio. “We used to aelic play Gaelic ll football with a club ney. in Sydney. ways Dad always d us to grow wanted h the Irish sports.” up with en the family moved When and, Seán snr, a to Ireland, nagh man, got his Fermanagh wish. He had met his wife, Emeli, while working ngineer in as an engineer ey’d married Fiji. They’d there and moved ney, before to Sydney, g up the boys packing wo daughters and two ttling on the and settling rts of Cork, outskirts he tourist near the magnett of Blarney Castle. n, the Soon, ould gab boys could ey were like they d by the blessed TRUE BLUE: Setanta Blarneyy – in O’hAilpin, once a hurling h, Fijian English, star in Ireland, will make sh – and Irish his finals debut for Carlton this weekend.
Blue Jim Flynn, at 39 years and 180 days, was the oldest player to feature in a League final, in 1910. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 45
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I
reland hadn’t seen anything like him. ‘Tall, Dark and O’hAilpin’, as a television documentary about the family was titled, just about sums up the national sentiment. In 2003, Setanta burst into the Cork team at 19. Suddenly the hurling world was agog. A high-scoring forward, Setanta arrived like a comet. He brought out the poets. Setanta was, to quote one commentator, “The lightning rod of the Cork attack, the hand that reaches, the legs that dance.” Um, Setanta? That Carlton lug who sometimes seems to have two left feet, two left hands and one hot head? Here’s how Tom Humphries, the incomparable sportswriter from The Irish Times, described Setanta on the eve of the 2003 All-Ireland final pitting Cork against arch rival Kilkenny: “The kid is something new to hurling. Something luminous and effervescent. Good-looking beyond reason, talented beyond fairness and unpredictable with it. They’ll love him or they’ll hate him, but they’ll never have to use his surname.” Cork lost that final by three points, Setanta scoring Cork’s only goal as the brothers rated among the best afield. In famous scenes afterwards, Setanta, broke down and cried cold, cruel tears. His play made him a sports hero; the tears made him a national identity. Then he walked away from a future so bright it would burn scars in others not so grounded by family and love. Within months he had left for Australia.
FINALS FACTS
WINNING FEELING: Seán Óg, Setanta
and Aisake O’hAilpin after they helped Na Piarsaigh defeat Cloyne in the Cork County senior hurling final in 2004.
PHOTO BY SPORTSFILE.COM
dark features as exotic as Ireland could handle back in the 1990s. He played freely, his shining black hair flying, the safety helmet usually worn by players discarded. As one of the most dynamic wing backs the game has seen, he combined individual flair with a strict adherence to team fundamentals. His arrival signalled the revival of Cork hurling, which had suffered a decade in the doldrums before his debut. In his second year of senior hurling, Cork won the 1999 All-Ireland title. Winning All-Irelands for Cork is like winning premierships for Collingwood. It’s never forgotten.
thebounce
Getting a go is one thing, making a go of it is another. If you talk to Setanta, he’ll tell you it’s been a hard slog. But he’s still there SEÁN ÓG O’HAILPIN
While Setanta was struggling to learn this new game with Carlton, Seán Óg won consecutive All-Ireland titles for Cork in 2004-05, the second as captain. He’s still playing, although Cork’s 2009 season was destroyed by off-field politics and limited preparation. He knows he’s slowing but reckons he’s got at least one good campaign left. But Setanta? Around Cork, his legend is set in stone. “Setanta’s remembered, for sure,” says Seán Óg. “They say if Setanta had stayed he would have been better than Christy Ring! Christy Ring is the best hurler who ever existed, a legend in Cork. That’s how Setanta is remembered.” He laughs at the thought like only an older brother can. When you fly into Cork you land at Christy Ring Airport. That’s as much as you need to know about Setanta’s legacy as a hurler. He left all that to struggle to make the best 22 for the Blues, in front of crowds and commentators who haven’t yet done him the courtesy of screaming his name correctly. “To be honest, they all get it wrong. They say ‘Setanta’ fine, although often they seem to go ‘Set-AN-ta,” says Seán Óg, breaking into Aussie strine. “It’s simple: set-an-ta. “But with ‘O’hAilpin?’” Here, Seán Óg just shakes his head. “It’s not oh-hal-pin (as in ‘win’), it’s o-hal-peen (as in ‘clean’)
because the fada over the ‘i’ gives it a long sound.” Still, there are times Seán Óg would prefer Setanta wasn’t called anything at all. He hates when fans, including Blues supporters, heckle his brother with shouts of ‘Irish’ and demands to get back where he came from. “I don’t get it,” says Seán Óg. “I mean, Setanta was born in Australia. He’s got an Aussie passport. He’s as Australian as anyone in AFL.” But Seán Óg knows the real reason crowds have ridden his brother especially hard this year. It’s because of his brain snap before the season even began, when he punched and kicked teammate Cameron Cloke in an intra-club match. “I knew before I’d heard anything about it on the news,” says Seán Óg. “I woke up about 6am, just stumbling around and I pick up my phone and I see about 10 missed calls. You know when that happens at night you get worried. “So I pressed ‘missed calls’ and I see they are all from Setanta. So straight away I rang him. I said, ‘Is everything OK?’ He said, ‘I just wanted to tell you, I’m in deep trouble.’ “I said, ‘What have you done?’ And he said, ‘There was a training incident and I was told to go home.’ He was talking very fast, he was frantic. And then he told me what happened. “Then when I got in my car, it was all over the radio. It would
be in all our papers, too. I started getting calls from media. I was happy I’d had Setanta’s version first. I know him; he’s as honest as they come. “It sickened Setanta, what he’d done. His emotions got the better of him that day. He’s still embarrassed about it because that’s just not him. “He’s in the last year of his contract and it was the last thing he needed. He was walking on thin ice. There were all these people saying they should rip up the contract and send him home. We were fearing the worst.” Seán Óg gives an Irish thumbs-up to Carlton coach Brett Ratten for how the club and staff treated Setanta. That Setanta has risen from the doghouse of public opinion and club suspension to become a consistent contributor to a developing Carlton team is reason for high respect back in Cork. “Getting a go is one thing, making a go of it is another,” says Seán Óg. “Setanta, will tell you it’s been a hard slog. But he’s still there and we’re proud of him. “Setanta’s time in Australia will serve him well. He had a great first season here (with Cork). If you get things that easy at the start, do you really appreciate it all? No, you can’t. “Now he’s had five or six years of ups and downs, a lot of setbacks. He’s had people – Blues people – saying the club should send him home. But he’s also had his good days and kept hard at it.” This month, Seán Óg hopes, will provide more good days for Setanta. He promised his brother he would fly out to watch him play a finals match. Two brothers, close as shadows, the old warrior watching on as the young buck proves his worth. “There have been days when he’ll be on the phone saying, ‘That’s it, I’m coming home’. And I’ll say, ‘You have to be patient, you have to keep knowing you can do it’,” Seán Óg says. A brother’s smile brightens Seán Óg’s face again. His little brother, about to play finals footy. Like Dipper and Dermie once did. “You wouldn’t think it, would you?” he says, near boasting. “Great story. Great story.”
Ted Greeves, father of Geelong Brownlow medallist Edward ‘Carji’ Greeves, was the first of 29 players to debut in a final. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 47
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2009
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nationalscoreboard AFL ROUND 22 West Coast 4.8 9.14 15.18 17.23 (125) Richmond 1.3 5.5 5.6 6.9 (45) BEST: West Coast – LeCras, Swift, A. Selwood, Hurn, Lynch. Richmond – Deledio, Cousins, Jackson, Edwards, Tuck. GOALS: West Coast – LeCras 5, Staker 3, McKinley 2, Ebert, Hurn, Kennedy, Embley, Swift, Spangher, Lynch. Richmond – McMahon, Deledio, Polak, Tuck, Edwards, Morton. Umpires: M. James, S. Grun, H. Ryan. Crowd: 39,755 at Subiaco Oval.
UNDER PRESSURE:
Alan Didak attempts to evade the clutches of Bulldog Robert Murphy in the Magpies’ 24-point loss last week.
Geelong Cats 5.1 9.3 11.6 14.10 (94) Fremantle 1.2 2.2 5.4 8.6 (54) BEST: Geelong Cats – Ablett, Scarlett, Milburn, Mooney, Kelly, Wojcinksi, Bartel, Hawkins. Fremantle – Bradley, Tarrant, Schammer, Drum, Duffield, Hasleby. GOALS: Geelong Cats – Hawkins 3, Mooney 2, Gamble 2, Hogan 2, Wojcinski, Ablett, Corey, Rooke, Byrnes. Fremantle – Mayne, Headland, Broughton, Ballantyne, Bradley, Pavlich, Duffield, Hill. Umpires: J. Schmitt, R. Findlay, M. Nicholls. Crowd: 18,196 at Skilled Stadium. Essendon 3.3 5.9 10.13 16.20 (116) Hawthorn 4.5 9.7 11.12 14.15 (99) BEST: Essendon – Hurley, McPhee, Fletcher, Stanton, Lovett-Murray, Prismall. Hawthorn – Mitchell, Bateman, Rioli, Hodge, McGlynn, Osborne. GOALS: Essendon – Hurley 4, Lovett 2, Lovett-Murray 2, Monfries, Stanton, Hocking, Atkinson, Neagle, Winderlich, Dyson, Lonergan. Hawthorn – Dowler 3, Bateman 3, Osborne 2, McGlynn, Muston, Moss, Kennedy, Hodge, Schoenmakers. Umpires: S. Ryan, M. Stevic, S. McLaren. Crowd: 77,278 at the MCG.
A F L S E A S O N S TAT S
GOALS: North Melbourne – Petrie 3, Smith 2, Harvey 2, Edwards, Gibson, McMahon. Port Adelaide – Ebert 3, Hartlett 2, Salter, Brogan, Broadbent, Lade. Umpires: L. Farmer, M. Avon, T. Pannell. Crowd: 17,284 at AAMI Stadium.
Brisbane Lions 3.5 10.8 13.9 15.10 (100) Sydney Swans 3.4 6.6 11.7 14.8 (92) BEST: Bris Lions – Clark, Black, Sherman, Brennan, McGrath, Rich. Sydney – Kirk, O’Loughlin, O’Keefe, Goodes, Grundy, Bevan. GOALS: Brisbane Lions – Brown 3, Sherman 3, McGrath 2, Stiller, Brennan, Polkinghorne, Austin, Clark, Black, Harding. Sydney – O’Loughlin 4, Goodes 3, White 3, Kirk, Jack, Thornton, Ablett. Umpires: H. Kennedy, S. Wenn, S. Jeffery. Crowd: 27,933 at the SCG. North Melbourne 2.3 4.4 8.6 10.11 (71) Port Adelaide 3.2 6.5 8.9 9.13 (67) BEST: North Melbourne – Harvey, Gibson, Rawlings, Anthony, Garlett, Smith. Port Adelaide – Gray, K. Cornes, Brogan, Cassisi, Ebert, C. Cornes.
Kicks Dane Swan Rhyce Shaw
Collingwood Sydney Swans
401 373
St Kilda Western Bulldogs
204 192
Geelong Cats Western Bulldogs
402 368
Sydney Swans Port Adelaide
170 161
Carlton St Kilda
129 126
Sydney Swans North Melbourne
116 102
Geelong Cats Richmond
137 134
Collingwood St Kilda
105 85
Sydney Swans Fremantle
682 659
Marks Nick Riewoldt Brian Lake
St Kilda 2.2 7.5 10.10 17.12 (114) Melbourne 4.2 6.5 8.6 10.7 (67) BEST: St Kilda – Hayes, Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Jones, Koschitzke, Montagna. Melbourne – Jurrah, Sylvia, Frawley, Morton, Jones, McDonald, Jamar. GOALS: St Kilda – Riewoldt 6, Koschitzke 2, Milne 2, McQualter, Schneider, Gram, Montagna, Dal Santo, Dempster, Gilbert. Melbourne – Jurrah 4, Miller, Moloney, Sylvia, Jamar, Wheatley, Robertson. Umpires: C. Donlon, C. Kamolins, J. Mollison. Crowd: 36,748 at the MCG.
Handballs Gary Ablett Daniel Cross
Tackles Brett Kirk Domenic Cassisi
Inside 50 Chris Judd Jason Gram
Rebounded from 50 Rhyce Shaw Scott Thompson
Western Bulldogs 3.3 7.7 11.12 14.16 (100) Collingwood 3.3 5.7 9.12 10.16 (76) BEST: Western Bulldogs – Lake, Boyd, Cooney, Harbrow, Higgins, Morris. Collingwood – Shaw, Maxwell, Didak, Lockyer, Swan, Goldsack. GOALS: Western Bulldogs – Johnson 4, Akermanis 2, Hill 2, Everitt, Ward, Eagleton, Murphy, Higgins, Welsh. Collingwood – Thomas 2, Lockyer 2, Swan, Anthony, Fraser, McCarthy, Davis, Wellingham. Umpires: R. Chamberlain, B. Rosebury, S. McInerney. Crowd: 48,888 at Docklands Stadium.
Hard-ball gets Gary Ablett Shane Tuck
Loose-ball gets Dane Swan Leigh Montagna
Hit-outs Darren Jolly Aaron Sandilands
SOURCE: CHAMPION DATA
Adelaide 6.3 13.7 20.11 27.14 (176) Carlton 7.2 10.5 12.6 16.8 (104) BEST: Adelaide – Vince, McLeod, Tippett, Porplyzia, Goodwin, Thompson, Johncock, Symes, Knights. Carlton – Gibbs, Stevens, Kreuzer, Scotland, Fevola. GOALS: Adelaide – Knights 4, Porplyzia 4, Tippett 4, Vince 3, Burton 2, Dangerfield 2, Hentschel 2, McLeod, Symes, Mackay, Sellar, Goodwin, Thompson. Carlton – Fevola 5, Stevens 2, Carrazzo, Joseph, Walker, Gibbs, Yarran, Simpson, Murphy, Hampson, O’hAilpin. Umpires: M. Vozzo, S. McBurney, S. Meredith. Crowd: 42,356 at Docklands Stadium.
Official 2009 AFL Premiership Season Ladder (after round 22) P
W
L
D
Gls
For Beh
Pts
Gls
Against Beh Pts
%
Mtch pts
Home W L
Away W L
Strks Scores Av margin W < L < Pls Rnd 22 1st Yr Qtrs 4th W/l High Low W L 7 pts 7 pts used 2008 Players Won Qtrs W
1
ST KILDA
22
20
2
0
322
265
2197
206
175
1411
155.71%
80
10
1
10
1
1W
161
59
39
3
2
2
30
4
1
60
2
GEELONG CATS
22
18
4
0
337
290
2312
269
201
1815
127.38%
72
11
0
7
4
1W
134
62
33
24
4
1
33
1
4
52
14 11
3
W BULLDOGS
22
15
7
0
351
272
2378
284
236
1940
122.58%
60
7
4
8
3
3W
157
61
39
22
0
3
31
3
4
47
14
4
COLLINGWOOD
22
15
7
0
313
296
2174
255
248
1778
122.27%
60
6
5
9
2
1L
169
40
42
34
1
2
37
8
4
51
12
5
ADELAIDE
22
14
8
0
307
262
2104
262
217
1789
117.61%
56
7
4
7
4
3W
176
48
40
31
1
1
34
5
6
49
14
6
BRISBANE LIONS
22
13
8
1
298
229
2017
273
252
1890
106.72%
54
8
3
5
5
2W
119
33
29
32
0
1
36
10
6
51
12
7
CARLTON
22
13
9
0
333
272
2270
300
255
2055
110.46%
52
6
5
7
4
1L
153
40
38
31
1
2
37
11
5
50
15
8
ESSENDON
22
10
11
1
303
262
2080
310
267
2127
97.79%
42
6
4
4
7
1W
136
57
30
31
3
1
36
12
3
42
11
9
Hawthorn
22
9
13
0
285
252
1962
306
284
2120
92.55%
36
5
6
4
7
1L
135
45
25
29
1
1
38
2
7
42
7
10
Port Adelaide
22
9
13
0
290
250
1990
332
252
2244
88.68%
36
8
3
1
10
4L
147
36
31
41
1
2
35
13
4
39
10
11
West Coast Eagles
22
8
14
0
272
261
1893
297
247
2029
93.30%
32
7
4
1
10
1W
125
48
32
28
1
2
38
15
5
39
8
12
Sydney Swans
22
8
14
0
278
220
1888
294
263
2027
93.14%
32
6
5
2
9
3L
143
56
27
25
1
2
33
6
4
41
11
13
North Melbourne
22
7
14
1
244
216
1680
293
257
2015
83.37%
30
4
7
3
7
2W
125
24
19
33
3
0
37
7
7
30
6
14
Fremantle
22
6
16
0
254
223
1747
333
261
2259
77.34%
24
4
7
2
9
1L
141
13
23
40
1
1
40
14
11
34
4
15
Richmond
22
5
16
1
255
244
1774
348
300
2388
74.29%
22
1
9
4
7
4L
115
36
12
42
3
1
40
9
7
28
8
16
Melbourne
22
4
18
0
252
194
1706
332
293
2285
74.66%
16
3
8
1
10
2L
127
34
25
37
0
1
40
16
9
33
11
76 AFL RECORD visit afl .com.au
ARF1 p76-77 Scoreboard.indd 76
2/9/09 4:59:54 PM
WA F L – R O U N D 2 3 West Perth 1.2 4.3 12.5 15.7 (97) Subiaco 5.1 8.2 10.4 14.6 (90) BEST: West Perth – Strijk, Tasalikis, Hunt, Fleay, van Berlo. Subiaco – Horsley, Randell, Forrest, Stenglein, Coccom, Parker. GOALS: West Perth – Campbell 3, Strijk 2, Smoker 2, Longmuir 2, Lassock, Bartholomew, Guadagnin, Darling, Saylor, LeCras. Subiaco – Broadhurst 3, Keevers 2, Bristow, Coccom, Randell, Forrest, Pickett, Mapleston, Stenglein, Rix, Kerr. East Fremantle 8.2 11.3 19.5 23.6 (144) Peel Thunder 0.4 3.5 4.9 11.13 (79) BEST: East Fremantle – Lindsay, Green, Hardingham, Young. Peel Thunder – Black, Rosa, Howlett, Atthowe. GOALS: East Fremantle – Johns 6, Lucas 3, Teakle 2, Fasolo 2, Young 2, Leslie 2, Cripps 2, Monk, Foster, Venturini, Bongiascia. Peel Thunder – Robbins 4, Butcher 2, Bennell 2, Rosa, O’Brien, Holmes. South Fremantle 6.1 12.6 15.8 22.11 (143) Swan Districts 1.1 2.5 5.7 12.8 (80) BEST: South Fremantle – Bossong, Miller, McGrath, Gilmore, Wilson, K. Hams. Swan Districts – Casserly, Colreavy, Roberts, Lammie. GOALS: South Fremantle – Wilson 4, Siegert 4, Graham 3, Miller 2, Smithers 2, Dell’Olio 2, Malseed 2, Mugambwa, Bairstow, Adams. Swan Districts – Colreavy 3, Wolfendon 2, Simpson, Lammie, Potente, Lange, Roberts, Embley, McKinlay. Claremont 3.5 5.12 8.13 13.20 (98) Perth 1.3 2.4 6.7 6.7 (43) BEST: Claremont – Arais, Coff, Woods, Bedford, Burchfield, Taylor. Perth – Robinson, Dellabosca, Billings, Whyte, Fairclough, Clarke. GOALS: Claremont – Wheeler 3, Woods 3, Arais, Coff, Burchfield, Smith, Gillespie, Walley, Harrison. Perth – Cramer 3, Whyte, Edwards, Bruce.
AFL QUEENSLAND – FINALS ELIMINATION FINALS Mt Gravatt 4.2 7.7 9.9 15.16 (106) Brisbane Lions 2.4 4.5 6.12 8.13 (61) BEST: Mt Gravatt – Lake, Gilliland, Head, Cairns, Vearing, Smouha. Brisbane Lions – Selwood, Dalziell, Hanley, Dzufer, Notting, Rockliff. GOALS: Mt Gravatt – Lake 4, Labi 2, Cleary 2, Carins 2, Pratt, Morrison, Furfaro, Barry, Dosser. Brisbane Lions – Dalziell 2, Notting 2, Clarke, Hanley, Hooper, Rockliff. Western Magpies 2.11 6.14 14.17 17.21 (123) Aspley 3.0 6.2 8.3 16.5 (101) BEST: Western Magpies – Clarke, Reed, Dobson, Thomas, McEvoy, Burford. Aspley – Nelis, Aarons, Nickerson, Hede, Scholard, Henderson. GOALS: Western Magpies – Reed 4, Morris 4, Boulton 3, Baker 2, Shires, Thomas, Moorhead, Spencer. Aspley – Scholard 3, Nelis 3, Nickerson 3, Carmichael 2, Rogerson 2, Aarons, Hede, Panaho. QUALIFYING FINAL Southport 8.6 12.6 15.10 16.11 (107) 0.0 1.3 3.4 8.10 (58) Redland BEST: Southport – Thompson, Screech, Pope, Caputi, Niklaus, Wilson. Redland – Huy, Carse, Myers, Eagle, White, Rudolph. GOALS: Southport – Screech 4, Pope 3, James 2, Meli 2, Jarjoura 2, Wilson 2, Thompson. Redland – White 2, Pantic 2, Mueller, Rudolph, Marguccio, Eagle.
North 2.3 4.6 5.7 5.11 (41) West 1.3 2.5 4.6 5.6 (36) BEST: North – Younie, Sloane, Davis, Allan, Ryswyk, Stribling. West – Ferguson, Bailey, Davies, Ben Fisher, Bricknell, Munn. GOALS: North – Younie 2, Delvins, Thring, O’Brien. West – Bennett 2, G. Rowe, Caruso, Lobbe. Central 4.4 4.5 9.7 11.10 (76) Sturt 1.3 5.6 8.10 8.10 (58) BEST: Central – Callinan, O’Sullivan, Thomas, C. Gowans, Schell, Dutschke. Sturt – Sheedy, Nelson, Coad, Herring, Jaensch. GOALS: Central – Callinan 3, O’Sullivan 2, Sansbury, Schell, Dutschke, C. Gowans, J. Gowans, Hayes. Sturt – Herring 2, Nelson 2, Chambers, Johncock, Kurtze, Cubillo Panthers 0.2 1.5 7.6 14.8 (92) Port 4.4 6.4 10.5 12.11 (83) BEST: Panthers – Sandery, Cockshell, Torney, Thewlis, Handby, Lyons, Crate. Port – Elstone, Murray, Lokan, Meiklejohn, Summerton. GOALS: Panthers – Lyons 4, Warren 4, Cockshell 2, Sandery, Schmidt, Torney, Farmer. Port – Perry 4, Beard 2, Shannon, Stanley, Stoyanoff, Dolling, Lokan, Summerton. Glenelg 6.5 8.8 14.10 16.10 (106) Eagles 1.1 5.4 8.6 12.8 (80) BEST: Glenelg – Block, Douglas, Murphy, Allen, Fisher, B. Kane. Eagles – Cicolella, Powell, Petrenko, Fairclough, Polec, Goldsworthy. GOALS: Glenelg – McConnell 4, Kirkby 3, Douglas 3, Button 2, Ruwoldt, Allen, Backwell, B. Kane. Eagles – Fairclough 2, Polec 2, Goldsworthy 2, McGregor 2, Cicolella, Grocke, Symmons, Daniel.
AFL SYDNEY – FINALS ELIMINATION FINAL Pennant Hills 5.6 14.7 20.10 22.12 (144) Campbelltown 3.1 7.5 12.7 15.10 (100) BEST: Pennant Hills – Wright, Carey, Richardson, Dell’Aquila, De Looze, Jack. Campbelltown – Lovea, McAllister, Kershaw, Brazill, Chivas, Cochrane. GOALS: Pennant Hills – Carey 7, Campbell 4, Wright 2, Bilbe 2, De Looze 2, Moraitis 2, Myers, Richardson, Beaston. Campbelltown – Love 7, Moller 4, Less, Yakimov, Kershaw, Wright. QUALIFYING FINAL Western Suburbs 8.6 13.9 18.16 23.22 (160) 1.2 3.2 4.3 6.10 (46) UNSW/ES BEST: Western Suburbs – M. Eurell, Minichiello, Noordhof, Bedwell, Hudson, Roehrig. UNSW/ES – Luff, Bradfield, Heffernan, Ward, S. Pech, O’Regan. GOALS: Western Suburbs – M. Eurell 7, Absolum 4, Cole 3, Withers 3, Clout 2, Linsen, Lear, A. Eurell, Roehrig. UNSW/ES – S. Pech 2, O’Regan 2, Emery, Abbott.
Glenorchy 2.3 4.6 7.7 9.13 (67) North Hobart 3.2 4.2 4.5 4.7 (31) BEST: Glenorchy – Webb, Dilger, Browning, Keeley, Smith, Collidge. North Hobart – Fenton, Phillips, Wise, Hall, Clark, Webb. GOALS: Glenorchy – Ayres 2, Rainbird 2, Smith, Malarski, Arnold, Hills, Brown. North Hobart – Manning, Kapeller, Clark, Hardy.
Collingwood 1.1 4.9 5.15 9.17 (71) Geelong 3.4 3.6 4.7 4.9 (33) BEST: Collingwood – Clarke, Sidebottom, Stanley, Blair, Cook, Reid. Geelong – Mumford, Donohue, Tutungi, Hollmer, Westwood, McKenna. GOALS: Collingwood – Rocca 2, Corrie, Blair, K. Pendlebury, Macaffer, Clarke, Stanley, Barham. Geelong – McKenna 2, Djerrkura, Lonergan. Williamstown 2.1 7.4 12.8 16.12 (108) Port Melbourne 4.2 6.4 8.7 9.12 (66) BEST: Williamstown – Brett Johnson, O’Keefe, Jolley, Joyce, Roughead, Boumann. Port Melbourne – Nixon, Batsanis, Raymond, Pinwill, Dalton, McMahon. GOALS: Williamstown – Rose 4, Galea 3, Little 3, Joyce 2, Roughead 2, Stack, Lynch. Port Melbourne – McMahon 3, Baird 2, Batsanis, Pinwill, Schultz, Raymond. North Ballarat 1.1 4.4 5.7 12.10 (82) Sandringham 2.1 2.2 8.5 8.8 (56) BEST: North Ballarat – Sewell, Power, Wundke, Watt, Searl, McMahon. Sandringham – Armitage, Geary, Biddlecombe, Ball, Stanley, Summers. GOALS: North Ballarat – Wundke 4, Dinnell 2, McMahon 2, Greig, Searl, Chester, Power. Sandringham – Geary 2, Gallagher, Steven, Heyne, Ball, Simpkin, Paterakis. Northern Bullants 5.7 10.9 15.16 18.16 (124) Frankston 1.0 3.5 3.7 5.10 (40) BEST: Northern Bullants – Iacobucci, Grigg, Bentick, Ellard, Bransgrove, Warnock. Frankston – Marigliani, Lombardozzi, Shinners, Hibberd, Berry, Dore. GOALS: Northern Bullants – Cloke 4, Grigg 3, Betts 2, Fisher 2, Warnock 2, McCorkell, Garlett, Bentick, Hartlett, Ellard. Frankston – Berry 2, Murray, Marigliani, Dickson. Box Hill Hawks 5.1 7.5 12.10 13.12 (90) Casey Scorpions 2.2 6.3 9.3 14.5 (89) BEST: Box Hill Hawks – Lisle, Williams, Markovic, Whitecross, Curnow, Tuck. Casey Scorpions – MacReadie, Panozza, Chivers, Matthews, Faulks, J. Wall. GOALS: Box Hill Hawks – Lisle 5, Williams 3, Suckling, Taylor, Iles, Fagan, Curnow. Casey Scorpions – Waite 2, McGough 2, Silvagni 2, Taylor 2, Liddle, Smith, MacReadie, Martin, Chivers, Matthews. Werribee Tigers 4.3 9.6 13.9 25.16 (166) Bendigo Bombers 3.3 7.6 9.9 10.11 (71) BEST: Werribee Tigers – Harris, Speight, Barlow, Riggio, Fletcher, Gleeson. Bendigo Bombers – S. Crameri, Scanlon, T. Slattery, Myers, Weekley, Flaherty. GOALS: Werribee Tigers – Speight 4, Barlow 4, Harris 3, Martiniello 3, O’Keefe 2, Wright, Fletcher, Riggio, Gardiner, Gleeson, Castello, Henderson, Mather, Kennedy. Bendigo Bombers – Daniher 2, Magin, Hackett, Myers, Coulson-Hoffacher, Bristow, R. Taylor, Scanlon, Hulme.
VFL ladder W
L
D For
North Ballarat
18 14
P
4
0
1649 1284 128.43
2 Williamstown
18 13
5
0
2002 1506 132.93
52
3
18 12
6
0
1751
1516
115.50
48
4 Port Melbourne
18 12
6
0
1685 1476
114.16
48
5 Box Hill Hawks
18 12
6
0
1654 1574
105.08
48
6 Casey Scorpions
18 10
8
0
1693
1355
124.94
40
1
AFL CANBERR A – FINALS PRELIMINARY FINAL Ainslie 3.1 3.3 7.5 10.6 (66) Eastlake 2.1 2.1 3.5 4.7 (31) BEST: Ainslie – Inkster, Love, Tow, Lewis, Lawless, Holmes. Eastlake – Rogers, Clarke, Taylforth, Bruce, Trew, Collins. GOALS: Ainslie – Inkster 4, Ghobrial, Tutt, Harris, Pettersson, Argall, Hughes. Eastlake – Cooper, Duce, Roulstone, Rogers.
A F L TA S M A N I A – F I N A L S ELIMINATION FINALS Burnie 5.2 6.3 8.9 10.12 (72) Lauderdale 2.2 7.4 7.5 7.5 (47) BEST: Burnie – Collins, Brakey, Lovell, Radford, Holohan, Bowen. Lauderdale – Farrington, Murphy, Brennan, Lyden, MacMurray, Roberts. GOALS: Burnie – Bowen 2, Mihocek 2, Stretton 2, Radford 2, Smart, Radford. Lauderdale – Mead 2, Perkins 2, Hyland, Turner, Barry.
VFL – ROUND 20
SANFL – ROUND 22
7
Northern Bullants
Collingwood
Agst
%
Pts 56
18 10
8
0
1598 1476
108.27
40
8 Geelong
18
9
9
0
1661
1753
94.75
36
9 Werribee Tigers
18
8
10 0
1605
1664
96.45
32
10 Sandringham
18
7
11
0
1660
1593
104.21
28
11 Coburg Tigers
18
7
11
0
1733
1810
95.75
28
12 Frankston
18
3
15 0
1286
1930
66.63
12
13 Bendigo Bombers
18
0
18 0
1223
2263
54.04
0
GOAL MACHINE: QUALIFYING FINALS Clarence 4.3 7.11 12.14 14.20 (104) North Hobart 2.7 3.8 7.11 8.13 (61) BEST: M. Baker, Webberley, J. Baker, Whitelaw, French, Drury. North Hobart – Darley, James, Veitch, Davies, Hall, Cox. GOALS: Clarence – Dutton 3, Thurley 3, Setchell 2, Green 2, J. Baker, O’Brien, Whitelaw, Geappen. North Hobart – Carr, Fisher, Muir, Curtain, Hall, Peterson, Devine, Wilson.
Sandringham veteran Nick Sautner topped the VFL goalkicking with 71.
Devonport 3.2 6.4 7.4 10.6 (66) Launceston 0.3 0.5 3.9 3.11 (29) BEST: Devonport – Heazlewood, Widdowson, Reynolds, Hardy, McCall, Plumridge. Launceston – Shipton, Sinclair, Stephens, Finch, O’Donoghue, Ellis. GOALS: Devonport – Reynolds 4, Colbeck 3, C. McDonald, Milverton, B. McDonald. Launceston – French, McShane, O’Donoghue.
AFL RECORD visit afl .com.au 77
ARF1 p76-77 Scoreboard.indd 77
2/9/09 5:00:11 PM
Round 3 LUKE BALL
Round 6 MARTIN MATTNER
St Kilda midfielder Luke Ball made a textbook smother against the West Coast Eagles at Docklands Stadium as big Eagle Quinten Lynch was attempting a shot at goal.
Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt was running into an open goal at the SCG when the Sydney Swans’ Martin Mattner ran from behind to lay a perfect tackle.
Round 12 BRAD GREEN
Round 15 NATHAN EAGLETON
Melbourne’s Brad Green ran back with the flight of the ball against Essendon and, in attempting to take a courageous mark, crashed into Essendon’s Heath Hocking.
The Western Bulldogs’ Nathan Eagleton courageously stood under the ball against Collingwood and was crunched by Magpie Leigh Brown in a marking contest.
Round 16 JACOB SURJAN
Round 22 TOM HAWKINS
Port Adelaide’s Jacob Surjan made a superb double effort against the West Coast Eagles at AAMI Stadium, spoiling a kick by Mark LeCras and then making a perfect smother.
Geelong Cats forward Tom Hawkins smothered a kick by Fremantle’s Chris Tarrant at Skilled Stadium and followed up with a heavy tackle on Nick Suban.
SIX PLAYS, SIX PLAYERS,
ONE WINNER. Vote for the play you feel best embodies the Army’s values of courage, initiative and teamwork and you could win two reserved seat tickets to the 2009 Toyota AFL Grand Final. So get online before Monday, September 7
will be announced at the All Australian Awards on Monday, September 14.
Authorised under VIC Permit number 09/1090, NSW LTPS/09/2684, ACT TP09/1133,SA T09/690. Entries close 7/9/09. See afl.com.au for full terms and conditions. AFL Authorisation Code: GFAFL09/29
ARF1 p78 AFL Army Award.indd 1
GPY&R MDFA2967/QF
and nominate this year’s winner of the 2009 AFL Army Award. The winner
2/9/09 5:19:36 PM
Simply
Images of
2009
BRILLIANT F
ollowing Hawthorn’s success with a rolling zone last year and the expected prevalence of similar set-ups this season, many expressed concerns about the potential ramifications for the game as a spectacle. They were too hasty. As always, the game sorted itself out, and another subtle shift was observed in the constant evolution of football. Coaches and their players found ways around, through and over the top of zones PHOTO: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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to produce exhilarating football. In fact, some claim we are seeing the best football ever played. And it’s as much to do with increasing skill levels as it is with thrilling contests. The high mark is a classic case in point. It wasn’t all that long ago that people were bemoaning its death. Well, if ever it died, it has been revived. The speccie is back … in a big, sky-scraping way. Two of the best exponents of the high mark this season were Essendon’s springheeled ruckman Patrick Ryder, pictured
here taking a breathtaking grab against Richmond at the MCG in round nine, and Adelaide’s Brett Burton, who soared against the Blues last week. And no one who saw it will ever forget Michael Gardiner’s match-winning pack mark and goal in round 14 when St Kilda played Geelong. Miraculous goalkicking is also on the upward swing. And so is slick handball, ferocious tackling, and pinpoint kicking, as images on the following pages show. BEN COLLINS
AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 79
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Images of
2009
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2/9/09 6:12:44 PM
SAINTS’ RUN ENDS
Can you believe it? ESSENDON vs ST KILDA ROUND 20, DOCKLANDS It was the win that reignited Essendon’s flagging finals hopes, and ended St Kilda’s remarkable 19-game winning streak. The teams were at opposite ends of the confidence spectrum when they met at Docklands in round 20. The Saints were three games clear at the top of the ladder and on track to become just the second team – the other being Collingwood in 1929 – to go through the home and away rounds undefeated. The Bombers, meanwhile, had only a draw to show for the previous four matches, after suffering consecutive losses to the Western Bulldogs,
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Richmond and West Coast. St Kilda led by 18 points early, before Essendon stunned observers (and perhaps even itself) by playing the fast-and-furious football of its dreams, piling on 14 of the next 18 goals to lead by seven goals late in the third term. The almost inevitable Saints revival produced eight of the next nine goals, and it all came down to skipper Nick Riewoldt’s after-the-siren shot from 45 metres on a 45-degree angle. He sprayed it to the right for a behind. The Bombers had caused one of the boilovers of the season. Angus Monfries (four goals and 20 disposals) and Andrew Welsh were euphoric. They understood the enormity of what they had achieved. BEN COLLINS PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:12:59 PM
Images of
2009
C AT S H O L D T H E I R N E R V E
Mooney makes a point GEELONG CATS vs HAWTHORN ROUND 17, MCG Even Geelong coach Mark Thompson admits that sometimes it is difficult getting inside Cameron Mooney’s head. But Hawthorn star Luke Hodge thought he’d have a crack during this crucial round 17 encounter between the Cats and the Hawks at the MCG, a game Geelong won with a Jimmy Bartel behind kicked after the siren. Mooney is known for not being the most reliable set shot for goal
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and has tended to spray them from that awkward 25-40-metre range. So when he was lining up for goal early in the game, Hodge edged close enough to offer the big Cat some friendly “advice” as he prepared to take his shot. However, Mooney kicked truly and immediately fired back at Hodge after the ball had sailed over the goal umpire’s head. Not long after, the two were laughing the incident off, further proof that our game would be poorer without players such as Mooney and Hodge, who wear their heart on their sleeve. MICHAEL LOVETT PHOTO: GREG FORD/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:13:16 PM
Images of
2009 FINALS SEALER
Judd to the rescue CARLTON vs GEELONG CATS ROUND 19, MCG Chris Judd has made a profound difference to Carlton since pulling on a Blues jumper for the first time at the start of last season. Under his leadership, Carlton has become a far more formidable team, with youngsters including Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer benefiting from his influence first-hand – off the field, on the training track and, most importantly, on game-day. With the ball in the captain’s hands, Blues fans feel secure in the knowledge he will use it to great effect. On this occasion, Judd gave his opponent Cameron Ling the slip, forcing Geelong star Gary Ablett to pursue the Carlton champion as he scooted away in familiar style. In front of more than 55,000 at the MCG, Judd led the way, picking up 27 possessions, including six inside 50s and three clearances, as the young Blues stunned the second-placed Cats to win by 35 points and seal a place in the finals for the first time since 2001. HOWARD KOTTON PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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2/9/09 6:13:44 PM
Images of
2009
F O R WA R D P R E S S U R E
Soaring Eagle WESTERN BULLDOGS vs WEST COAST EAGLES ROUND 19, DOCKLANDS A spectacular high mark by West Coast’s Mark LeCras over the Western Bulldogs’ Easton Wood symbolised one of the shock results of the season. The Eagles notched only their sixth win in defeating the high-flying Bulldogs by five points at Docklands Stadium. It was West Coast’s first win in Melbourne since it defeated St Kilda by eight points at Docklands in round 21, 2007. The Eagles shocked the Bulldogs to lead by 22 points at half-time and, thanks to straight shooting – 16.6 (102) to the Bulldogs’ inaccurate 13.19 (97) – held on to win a thriller. LeCras was one of West Coast’s best with three goals. The small forward had a superb season, topping the Eagles’ goalkicking with 58 (in 21 games). A great opportunist, he mixed superb ground play with surprisingly strong aerial skills to live up to the potential he showed at times in 2008. LeCras missed the first half of that season with a groin injury, but kicked 36 goals in just 11 games and now is regarded as one of the most dangerous forwards in the competition. JIM MAIN PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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2/9/09 6:13:59 PM
Only Panasonic lets High Definition escape your TV. Panasonic Blu-ray DiscTM Recorders let you record in High Definition to the internal Hard Drive or to a Blu-ray Disc,TM* allowing you to take your High Definition favourites wherever you go. You need never miss your High Definition TV programs again. The built-in SD Memory Card Slot lets you immediately view your precious High Definition or Standard Definition movies from your camcorder and your AVCHD video footage or JPEG stills from your Lumix digital camera on the big screen. All this without the need of a computer. Panasonic 2009 Blu-ray DiscTM Recorders support BD-Live and are compatible with VIErA Cast allowing access to YouTubeTM and Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Picasa.TM Panasonic Blu-ray DiscTM Recorders make recording, sharing and archiving High Definition on Blu-ray a breeze.
panasonic.com.au *Correct at the time of publishing. Only Panasonic lets you record in High Definition to the internal Hard Drive or to Blu-ray Disc.TM WARNING: The Copyright Act 1968 does not permit the unrestricted use of this recorder to copy films, sound recordings or broadcasts to any recording media. The Act only permits to copy broadcasts for private and domestic purposes in limited circumstances. Panasonic does not authorise any use of this recorder in any way which may amount to a breach of any law or the rights of any owner of copyright in film or broadcast. Blu-ray Disc and (logo), BONUS-VIEW, BD-Live logo are all trademarks of Blu-ray Disc Association. To operate VIErA Cast consumers must have a broadband connection with LAN connectivity. VIErA Cast does not support wireless networking. The unit is connected to the Internet when VIErA Cast is used, generating communication charges. Some content may be inappropriate for some PAN1105E_RW viewers. YouTubeTM and PicasaTM are trademarks of Google Inc.
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Images of
2009
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2/9/09 6:14:18 PM
AFTER THE SIREN
Fantasy to fruition MELBOURNE vs RICHMOND ROUND 18, MCG This season, Bulldog Brad Johnson and Saint Nick Riewoldt each endured one of the most disappointing experiences in football – blowing the chance to slot the winning goal after the final siren. But, while the repercussions of failure in such a situation can be severe, kicking truly brings to fruition the fantasy of nearly every boy who has booted a footy around the backyard. In round 18 at the MCG, Richmond appeared to have bored well beyond rock-bottom when it trailed the struggling Demons by two points with only seconds remaining. Then Richard Tambling hurried a kick under pressure that wobbled towards teammate Jordan McMahon standing alone 45 metres from goal. The crowd’s screams, the final siren and McMahon’s mark fused together in an instant, with the former Bulldog having a shot to win the match. “Jordan McMahon with the game in his hands,” cried television commentator Dwayne Russell. “This is the biggest kick he’s ever had.” McMahon crossed the 50-metre line on his approach and unleashed a left-foot bomb. “It’s long, it’s loooong,” screamed Russell, as the ball sailed through on line. The Richmond faithful erupted. McMahon, meanwhile, gasped for air, unseen under a mountain of Tiger teammates. ANDREW WALLACE PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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2/9/09 6:14:34 PM
Images of
2009
R O O S ’ L AT E R E V I VA L
Petrie passion ST KILDA vs NORTH MELBOURNE ROUND 21, DOCKLANDS The high point of North Melbourne’s disappointing 2009 season is captured here. It’s deep in the last quarter and the Roos, after leading most of the game, are suddenly tied with the Saints on 58 points. Their finals hopes have long since faded, but it is two-time best and fairest winner Brady Rawlings’ 200th game and veteran Shannon Watt’s farewell match. Enter Drew Petrie. Seemingly lost behind a pack as Liam Anthony hurriedly kicks into the North forward line, Petrie sprints to the
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contest with direct opponent Zac Dawson on his hammer, and launches himself over Saint Steven Baker (No. 10, pictured here under Petrie) and teammate Leigh Adams (No.13, front left) to take this speccie. Saint Farren Ray (left, behind Adams) has run back to try to intercept Anthony’s kick but is too late. Petrie then goes back and calmly kicks the goal to put the Roos six points up. Minutes later, he wills himself to reach a marking contest near the Roos’ defensive 50-metre line, thumping the ball over the boundary to seal the game for his side. When the siren goes, the Roos celebrate with gusto, their arduous season momentarily forgotten. NICK BOWEN PHOTO: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:14:46 PM
Images of
2009 DAV I D v s G O L I AT H
Football’s biggest challenge ESSENDON vs FREMANTLE ROUND 2, DOCKLANDS There are few more daunting challenges for a midfielder than trying to tackle Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands. At 211cm, the tallest man in the game is some 19cm taller than Essendon’s Brent Stanton – a height difference accentuated by this photograph. To Stanton’s credit, he didn’t shirk the issue, despite also conceding 41kg to the Dockers’ big man. (Sandilands weighs 123kg, Stanton a mere 82kg). The Dockers often moved Sandilands forward to try and stretch defenders too, but the problem was that they often then lost momentum around the ground. It was a major dilemma and, in the end, Sandilands played mainly in the ruck, where his height and weight made him almost impossible to counter at bounces and throw-ins, and close to a certainty for All-Australian selection. Sandilands is one of the most valuable commodities in the game, with his marking and ground play having improved significantly since he was promoted from the rookie list in 2002. He is Fremantle’s JIM MAIN biggest star, in more ways than one. PHOTO: SEAN GARNSWORTHY/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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2/9/09 6:14:59 PM
Images of
2009
GAME DECIDER
Gardiner’s grab ST KILDA vs GEELONG CATS ROUND 14, DOCKLANDS When St Kilda decided to pursue former West Coast ruckman Michael Gardiner during trade week in 2006, some Saints supporters raised eyebrows. The 2003 All-Australian had a disappointing 2005 Grand Final for the Eagles and managed just three games in 2006, battling suspension, injuries and poor form. By the end of 2007, his first year with the Saints, Gardiner’s lot had not improved; if anything, he was at the crossroads. He played one VFL game and could not overcome a persistent
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foot problem but the Saints held their nerve and stuck with him. It’s been a slow process but gradually Gardiner found his feet, playing nine games in 2008 and 17 this season. He saved his best for one of the games of the season in round 14 when the Saints were desperately holding off a fast-finishing Geelong. With scores tied at the 24-minute mark of the final term, Gardiner rose above a big pack to take a magnificent contested mark just 15 metres out. However, he landed on Geelong’s Harry Taylor and the game was held up for three minutes as the concussed Cat was taken from the field. After the delay, Gardiner calmly drilled the goal, ensuring victory in an epic contest. MICHAEL LOVETT PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:15:12 PM
“‰”, “P “PlayS ayStati tat on” tati on”, n , “PL n”, “P P AYST AYST YSTATIO ATION”, ATIO TION”, N””, “ ” are tra adema emarks ema rks k or regis egistere egi tere re ed tradem t adem tr dem em marks ar o ar ark off Sony Sony Compute Compute p terr Entert Entert ter ertainm ainm ment ntt Inc. n “ nc nc. ” is a trade ad demark mar mark ark k of the th he same sam m com me company co p pany pan any. “ ” is a regis egis istere tered tere d trad rademar e ema emar k of Son on ny Co C Corpor rpo rpor oratio atio on. “BluBluu-ray uay Dis Disc”” and “B Disc BD” are e trade rad mark arks. s. *Broa *Broa roa oa adban d d in i tern e e ern ett servi servi e c ce requi equired. red Use red. Users rs arre e respo esponsib esp sponsib nsib si le e for broad broad dband ban a acc cess ess fees es f es.. Ch Charge argess ap arg arge pply ly y fo fo some for ome me co con content content tent. ten Userss under 18 Use User 8 requi requi eq qu u re ep paren arren aren ntal tall cons co on ons nsent. ent ent nt. Pla P PlaySta laySta yS Station tion®Net tio ®Ne ®Net Network wo and Pla wor work PlaySta yS ySta Station on n®Sto ®S Stto ore re subje u ct to terms ms s of usse e and d not ot avail avail vaiiliable ble l in all al coun ntrie iess an nd langua langua ages. ges es. All Rig Rights R hts Rese eserved es r rved rve . SPS2 S2 2060/ 06 60/ 0/AFL AFL AFL
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Images of
2009
THE CONVERT
Jack of all trades SYDNEY SWANS vs RICHMOND ROUND 6, SCG Rugby league convert Kieren Jack is fast proving to be one of the most versatile players in the competition, able to play a run-with role or kick vital goals. This celebration followed a goal in the Swans’ 19-point defeat of Richmond at the MCG, with more goals and celebrations coming over the rest of the season. Jack’s most important goal was in the final minute against West Coast at ANZ Stadium in round eight to give the Swans a five-point win. The visitors looked like holding on for victory until Jack swooped on an Eagles mis-kick from defence and drilled a goal from a tight angle. He was also one of the Swans’ best and kicked two goals in the 55-point defeat of Richmond at the MCG in round 19. Jack, the son of rugby league legend Garry Jack, is one of several promising young Swans to emerge over the past couple of seasons. He played rugby league as a junior and joined the Swans via the rookie list from local club Pennant Hills in 2007. JIM MAIN PHOTO: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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2/9/09 6:15:25 PM
Images of
2009
A G E N I U S AT W O R K
Time management HAWTHORN vs ESSENDON ROUND 22, MCG The elite ones always appear to have time, placing themselves in the optimum position, ready to create damage. Hawthorn’s Cyril Rioli was super-dangerous early against the Bombers last week, playing the game on his own terms. He finished the match with 18 disposals and nine marks, and was one of the Hawks’ best as they desperately tried to sneak into the finals action with a win. Rioli is brilliant; a football genius. He raises fans’ excitement levels – and their expectations –
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with his speed, balance, ability to see what no one else is even thinking about, and sharp use of the ball. Watch how he moves in and around packs, slips his opponents, and often makes them look a little silly. When he was flying earlier this season before a hamstring injury in round 11 against the Swans, veteran television broadcaster Bruce McAvaney dubbed him a “delicious” player. We laughed at Bruce’s exuberance and word choice, but we knew what he meant. Rioli turned 20 in July. According to regular player development trends, he is still a long way from his peak. A frightening thought for opposition teams; a delightful one for those of us watching. PETER DI SISTO PHOTO: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:15:41 PM
Images of
2009 MORE POWER TO THE SPECCIE
Logan’s leap HAWTHORN vs PORT ADELAIDE ROUND 4, MCG Port Adelaide’s frustratingly inconsistent 2009 season was full of ups and downs. One of the biggest ‘ups’ came in round four when Tom Logan soared to take this mark against Hawthorn at the MCG. Logan launched himself at a Brett Ebert kick into the Power forward line in the third term, perching himself on opponent Luke Hodge’s shoulders as, arms outstretched, he plucked one of the marks of the year. Former Port skipper Warren Tredrea watched on from in front of Hodge. Afterwards, Logan told the AFL Record: “Hodge dropped off me and looked as though he was going to go up for the mark, so I thought I had to as well. I just jumped and things went my way. The whole thing’s a bit of a blur. I think he (Tredrea) was just happy he hadn’t been outmarked by Hodge.” The Power went on to defeat the reigning premier by 30 points. It followed their round three win against Melbourne and, remarkably, these were the only consecutive wins the Power could string together in a season where they finished NICK BOWEN 10th with just nine wins. PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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2/9/09 6:15:56 PM
“Coca-Cola Zero”, “Real Coke Taste Zero Sugar”, “It’s Possible”, and the Contour Bottle are trade marks of The Coca-Cola Company. COCO1724/TH
COCO1724_297x210_TH.indd 1
26/8/09 4:15:18 PM
Images of
2009
A N E XC I T E M E N T M AC H I N E
Leon lights up COLLINGWOOD vs BRISBANE LIONS ROUND 18, MCG Leon Davis once dreamt of playing basketball in the NBA. Being vertically challenged didn’t help his cause, but in many ways he is playing football like a Harlem Globetrotter. Left foot, right foot, drop-punt, banana, snap, dribble kick, from the boundary, outside 50 … is there anything Davis can’t do with a ball in his hands? His childhood heroes were indigenous stars such as Peter Matera, Chris Lewis, Michael Long and Gavin Wanganeen. At his best, Davis is as watchable as this quartet. He is certainly living up to his various nicknames – ‘The Igniter’ (a creation
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of Triple M’s Brian Taylor), ‘Neon Leon’ (a name he hates but accepts) and ‘Magic’ (as his teammates refer to him). His shockers in the 2002-03 Grand Finals are but a distant memory. Davis is an elite player now. He was fourth (a personal-best) in Collingwood’s best and fairest last year and is pushing for higher honours this year, averaging 21.6 disposals a game and slotting a career-high 34 goals, including several contenders for Goal of the Year, which he won last season. Remarkably, Davis broke the 20-possession barrier just seven times in his first 141 games, but has done it 17 times in his past 26 games (including a game-breaking 24 touches and two goals against the Brisbane Lions in round 18). BEN COLLINS PHOTO: MICHAEL WILSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:16:09 PM
Images of
2009 B L O O M E R I N AT TAC K
Crows find their mark ESSENDON vs ADELAIDE ROUND 11, DOCKLANDS After showing glimpses of his potential in his debut season last year, Kurt Tippett has developed into the key forward Adelaide has been looking for since Tony Modra departed for Fremantle at the end of the 1998 season. Playing all 22 home and away rounds, Tippett’s standout game came against Essendon in round 11, when he showed remarkable accuracy in front of goal to kick 7.1 in the Crows’ hard-fought 16-point win. In this picture, Tippett is about to snaffle one of his nine marks, the feature of his game that has most transformed Adelaide’s forward line this year. The Crows’ victory over the Bombers was the third of a seven-game winning streak that got their season back on track; at the end of round eight they had been 12th on the ladder with just three wins. Around that time, coach Neil Craig encouraged his side to play a more attacking brand of football based on quicker ball movement. The Crows quickly adjusted to their tweaked game-plan, establishing themselves as one of the most exciting young sides in the competition as they finished fifth on the ladder. NICK BOWEN PHOTO: MICHAEL WILSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
XXXXXXX
Gardiner’s grab ST KILDA vs GEELONG CATS ROUND 14, DOCKLANDS When St Kilda decided to pursue former West Coast ruckman Michael Gardiner during trade week in 2006, some Saints supporters raised eyebrows. The 2003 All-Australian had a disappointing 2005 Grand Final for the Eagles and managed just three games in 2006, battling suspension, injuries and poor form. By the end of 2007, his first year with the Saints, Gardiner’s lot had not improved; if anything, he was at the crossroads. He played one VFL game and could not overcome a persistent
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foot problem but the Saints held their nerve and stuck with him. It’s been a slow process but gradually Gardiner found his feet, playing nine games in 2008 and 17 this season. He saved his best for one of the games of the season in round 14 when the Saints were desperately holding off a fast-finishing Geelong. With scores tied at the 24-minute mark of the final term, Gardiner rose above a big pack to take a magnificent contested mark just 15 metres out. However, he landed on Geelong’s Harry Taylor and the game was held up for three minutes as the concussed Cat was taken from the field. After the delay, Gardiner calmly drilled the goal, ensuring victory in an epic contest. MICHAEL LOVETT PHOTO: MICHAEL WILSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:16:22 PM
Images of
2009 OLD TIMERS
Top Dogs WESTERN BULLDOGS vs FREMANTLE ROUND 18, DOCKLANDS Whitten to Hawkins to Grant to Johnson. The rich tradition of Bulldogs games record-holders continued this season, with the title passed on to another much-loved club icon – skipper Brad Johnson. It’s safe to assume that very few players in League history have been as widely respected as Johnson. It’s little wonder when you consider his contagious smile, friendly nature and scrupulously fair approach. Oh, and what a player! A prolific midfielder-cum-champion forward, the 33-year-old ‘smiling assassin’ from Hoppers Crossing (Bulldogs country in Melbourne’s west) has been a star since most of his current
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teammates were little tackers. A six-time All-Australian, a three-time best and fairest winner, a five-time club leading goalkicker (he’s within 31 of Simon Beasley’s club record of 575) and a member of the Bulldogs Team of the Century … enough said. Johnson broke former teammate Chris Grant’s record when he played his 342nd game in round 18. He was scoreless but had 23 touches in an easy win. One man who knows how hard the road to 300 games has been is teammate Jason Akermanis (left). The difference is ‘Aka’ played in four Grand Finals for the Brisbane Lions for three premierships. On that score, Johnson is none for none. But in a few weeks, he might add to his glowing resume the title of ‘premiership captain’. It wouldn’t sit better on anyone. BEN COLLINS PHOTO: SEAN GARNSWORTHY/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:16:37 PM
Images of
2009
DEMON DELIGHT
Arrival of a cult hero MELBOURNE vs ST KILDA ROUND 22, MCG Every now and then a player bursts on to the scene, makes an immediate impact, and leaves fans asking the inevitable question: “Where have they been hiding him?” In the case of Melbourne’s Liam Jurrah, it wasn’t so much he was being hidden; rather he was playing in a place so remote few recruiters knew how to find him. Try locating the Yuendumu Magpies and it’s not exactly a quick trip to an outer suburban ground. More like a long haul from any major capital city to Alice Springs and then a 300km trip heading north-west across the
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outback. Jurrah played some VFL football in 2007 but returned home and, if not for the persistence of former Collingwood player Rupert Betheras, he’d still be playing for the Yuendumu Magpies. Betheras helped Jurrah, who speaks four Aboriginal languages but has limited English, complete his nomination for the 2009 NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft. From there, he was selected by the Demons with the No. 1 pick and, from the time he made his debut in round 12, he has had fans shaking their heads in disbelief. He kicked a goal against the Bombers while lying in the goalsquare and last week against St Kilda extended his repertoire to kicking a goal over his head from 25 metres out! Hail a new cult hero. MICHAEL LOVETT PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
2/9/09 6:16:53 PM
Images of
2009
O N T H E WAY U P
Lion’s coming of age ST KILDA vs BRISBANE LIONS ROUND 9, DOCKLANDS Mitch Clark has been a revelation for the Brisbane Lions this season. This picture, taken in the Lions’ narrow loss to St Kilda in round nine, captures Clark’s impressive leap, which he uses so effectively at ruck and marking contests. Blessed with athleticism and endurance, Clark has been one of the standout ruckmen in 2009, solid in ruck contests and outstanding around the ground. He was short-listed for selection in the All-Australian team. Remarkably, at the start of this season – his fourth at the Lions – the 21-year-old was viewed more as a key-position player who could play forward or back. But when ruck incumbents Matthew Leuenberger and Jamie Charman suffered long-term injuries early in the season, Clark was thrust into the No. 1 ruck position. He has not looked back. Clark’s breakthrough season has followed a number of early setbacks. Days before he was drafted by Brisbane in the 2005 NAB AFL Draft, he was in a hospital bed battling meningococcal disease. After recovering from that, he was plagued by injuries in his first three AFL seasons. Now, fit and healthy, he will play a key role in the Lions’ finals campaign. NICK BOWEN PHOTO: GREG FORD/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
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2/9/09 6:17:09 PM
Wallhero is excited to announce the arrival of your favourite AFL stars for you to take home
Wallhero AFL stars now come as a removable and repositionable vinyl wall graphic Peel them off the sheet, along with eight other images and bring your hero to life in your own home. Can be applied to any clean, ďŹ&#x201A;at domestic surface ... and it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t damage the walls! Removable and repositionable.
Sheet size 860 x 300mm.
Available at club stores and selected AFL Stores.
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PLAYERS INCLUDE Brendan Fevola (Carlton), Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), Brad Johnson (Western Bulldogs) and Matthew Lloyd (Essendon) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Includes 2 player images, club logo, club name and player number.
2/9/09 4:22:10 PM
B E C O M E
Now with an
A
Personali lised Team Print
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NEW RELEASE - Here’s your chance to become a SPORTING LEGEND by owning a AFL 2009 Team Guernsey print, Personalised by surname, number, full name & message of your choice. The front & back of your team’s Guernsey are surrounded by images of the 2009 squad, so you or the person you y are giving it to become one of the 2009 LEGENDS of the 2009 team. 2 YYour Surname goes here YYour Number goes here YYour Full Name goes here YYour Message goes here Message Selection (Team name will appear where the word Team is stated):
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COACHES ON COACHING – PART 9
ANALYSING THE Finding the right balance between opposition analysis and focusing on your own structures and game style is crucial to success, as the Western Bulldogs’ Rodney Eade, one of the best tacticians in the game, explains in the AFL Record’s Coaches on Coaching series.
W
hen I started at the Swans in 1996, the game styles of AFL clubs were not radically different and teams didn’t change their style very often. In those days, you didn’t focus as much on the way the opposition played, you mostly concentrated on your own game. There were nowhere near the rotations you have today through the bench, and teams were fairly predictable and reasonably structured in the way they would go about it.
Your whole planning process was about who might play on whom, with much more of a match-up emphasis on the opposition. You would look at their kick-ins and centre bounces, but not to the degree you do now. Today, teams might modify their game depending on who they are playing and what they want to achieve. So you actually prepare your training around the way you think they are going to play – what their kicking patterns are, where they run to, what they do in certain situations. Obviously, the focus on sed set-plays has really increased
at stoppages compared to 10 or 15 years ago, and the statistics you have now got access to can give an insight into trends and what teams try to focus on with the way they play. I think the more information you have got, the more prepared you are going to be and the greater your chance of success. I enjoy picking trends and what teams may be trying to do. You need to have a structure to deal with that, but at times you need to be flexible as well. It’s certainly not just me overseeing the Bulldogs’ opposition analysis. We have a person in charge of
that area, and he has a team of people who will watch the opposition play. He will pick up trends, look at vision, break down the key stats and then present to the match committee on that. We will involve most of the coaches, as well as the players, on who we need to play on whom, and the different scenarios that may occur in a game. With so many rotations through the bench today, obviously your match-ups will change radically. Defenders, for example, need to be able to cope with an a array of different op opponents,
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COACHES ON COACHING – PART 9
so you need to take input from all the people concerned – you can never think you have all the answers and that it’s all up to you. It’s a collaborative effort at the club, and people have got good ideas, so you need to delegate responsibility and take suggestions on board. Everybody looks for that little edge that can make a difference. Finding the balance between opposition analysis and focusing on your own game is an important point, and it all comes down to the trust you have got in your own group. Some coaches are all just about the way they play and their own style, while other teams are heavily focused on the opposition and trying to stop them. You do need both aspects, but backing your own structures and style gives your group confidence – if you are wholly and solely focused on the opposition, it can wear away at the belief within the side. How much difference good opposition analysis can make is an interesting one; some coaches have won premierships without worrying too much about the opposition. But if you can really shut down key areas of your opponent, they can get frustrated and it can have a real effect. When I was at Sydney, we
used to flood a bit, which was mostly about opening up space for Tony Lockett and trying to create the counter-attack. But teams were starting to pick us off and be smarter with their use of the ball. I remember going into a game against Port Adelaide at the SCG, and I knew they were thinking we were going to flood, so I thought, ‘Let’s not flood the back 50, but move up 20 or 30 metres and put those extra numbers in the midfield’. We were able to get a lot more scoring opportunities from turning the ball over, because the Power were so drilled at looking to kick short and spot up someone outside 50. They thought our numbers were going to be back, but of course we had our numbers in that zone. There was a lot of space inside their forward 50, but they never used it, because they were focused on trying to go short outside 50, and we were able to get them to turn the ball over. From our planning and analysis, we were able to change our defensive mindset and adjust exactly where we applied pressure on the opposition. When you have a game coming up against a certain side, you might see them on television six or eight weeks out. Without being too anal about
Although we did the same preparation for the Eagles, the fact is that if you don’t, the players can pick up on that and subconsciously relax RODNEY EADE
it, you might look at an aspect and say, ‘They seem to be doing something differently’, or, ‘How did that occur?’, or, ‘Why are they playing that way?’. You make notes – it might even be on a certain individual – and then closer to the game you refer to them and try to find patterns in what they might do in certain situations. It’s an ongoing process, but you really narrow and sharpen your focus in the last two or three weeks before a match. You also put the same amount of work into every club – leading into finals, you obviously do reconnaissance on the finals teams you may play, but you certainly pay everyone the same amount of respect. We saw with West Coast a few weeks ago that any team can knock you off on any given day. Although we did the same preparation for the Eagles, the fact is that if you don’t, the players can pick up on that and subconsciously relax. You need to be doing everything in your power to know the opponent inside out. Every coach analyses teams
differently. I try to look at what teams are trying to achieve with the way they move the ball – is there a pattern to their method? Do they get numbers back? What are their kicking patterns? How do they take the ball inside 50? Is there a general theme to it, and what do they do in certain situations? You might keep an eye on match-ups, but they are reasonably easy to pick up. There’s a massive difference in watching a game live compared to on television. Live, you get the whole picture of the game, so you know where players are running when they are not involved in the play, what they are trying to achieve and how they are setting up off the ball. Because football is played on such a big ground, television only gives you the scope of what is happening around the ball, so if you are playing a non-Victorian team in a few weeks’ time, you will go and watch them to get an idea of how they are playing. You can have all the theories in the world to try to stop a particular team or tactic, but if a particular
UPSET: Although Rodney Eade said his players were well prepared for their round 19 clash, West Coast still caused a boilover.
106 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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COACHES C OACH ACH CHES ON ON COACHING COA OACH CHIN NG – PART PAR PA RT T9
1
EAGLE-EYE: Rodney
Eade analyses every club regardless of ladder position.
O position analy Op sis should be a co c llaborative pr ocess, involving scouts, assistant coache s, players and clu b staff. A y idea that mi An ght help you win should be taken on boar d. Being completely focused on the opposition can er ode the confidenc e of th t e group, so alw ays back your ow structures and n style. Rega g rdless of ladde r position, put the same amou o nt of analysis int o every club you play, as co c mplacency can come back to bite yo u. Watch t the opposition play live as much possible to learn as where players ru n when they are not involv ed, what they ar e trying to achieve and ho w they are setting up away from the ba ll. All of the analy sis and strategy in the world won’t help you if the opposit ion is simply too good at what they do .
2 3 4 5
You are learning all the time – especially if teams are flexible and modify things or play people in different positions RODNEY EADE
s is very good with the way side tthey go about it, it’s a completely d different kettle of fish to be able tto shut it down. And it’s exactly the same w with players – everyone puts a lot of homework into Gary A Ablett and Chris Judd, but they o overwhelmingly still play well, sso it doesn’t mean you are going tto be able to stop talent or people b being able to do what they want tto do. That’s always a fun issue. Another requirement is being a able to analyse the opposition d during a match, and this applies a as much to individuals as the tteam as a whole.
Someone might not h have played well when y last saw them, or you t there are always plenty of younger players r running around, and y don’t know what you tth are like in certain they ssi situations and that can su surprise you. So you are learning al the time – especially all i teams t if are flexible an modify things or a and pla people in different play po positions. It’s very much a fluid situation. A for advancements As i opposition o in analysis in the next decade or so, I thin it will become think mor scientific. more Ob Obviously, statistics have already gone to anot another level and can help you to pick patterns and what players will try to do in certain situations, so there doesn’t seem to be a lot more we can learn in this area. But you can guarantee the field will continue to evolve. Maybe it will be scientific, and we will be able to work out an opposition side’s fitness and fatigue levels, and ascertain that person ‘X’ is struggling at the present time. At this stage, it’s all very subjective, so are there actual measurements or ways that you may be able to gain an advantage by making a positional change? Maybe we can have more cameras isolated on particular players so you can pick up how they are running and what they are doing. We have the GPS devices at the moment, which track what we do, but maybe in the future there will be ways of being able to check the opposition. AS TOLD TO ANDREW WALLACE
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Congratulations to Daniel Rich The 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star Daniel Rich has been a tough man to catch this year, though on game day you might find him running the lines or at the base of a pack chasing the hard ball. It is these qualities, plus many more, that made him a standout choice for this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NAB AFL Rising Star Award. Taken by Brisbane Lions with their first selection in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft, Rich made his debut against St Kilda in Round One of the 2009 NAB Cup. From NAB AFL Auskick, to the NAB AFL Rising Star program and beyond, NAB is as passionate about the potential of young Australians as we are about footy and we congratulate Daniel on his achievements.
Š2009 National Australia Bank Limited ABN 12 004 044 937 NSM0775/D/R
2009nab afl rising star
A star on the
RISE Brisbane Lions youngster Daniel Rich was a runaway winner in the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star award. A NDR EW WA L L ACE
SKY’S THE LIMIT: Daniel Rich, who polled the maximum votes, savours his victory. PHOTO: SEAN GARNSWORTHY/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
I
t’s been a big year for Daniel Rich. So big that the 19-year-old couldn’t even make it to Melbourne to accept the Ron Evans Medal for winning the NAB AFL Rising Star award. While fellow 2009 nominees lapped up last Wednesday’s function at Crown Casino, the West Australian remained in Brisbane as the Lions prepared for Saturday’s elimination final clash against Carlton. However, it was perhaps fitting that coach Michael Voss presented the prized medal to the youngster, as there have already been several similarities drawn between the pair – namely maturity in mind and body, an uncomplicated football philosophy and plenty of skill to boot. The fact Rich was named this year’s NAB Rising Star is no surprise. Since the No. 7 pick in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft burst on to the scene with 21 disposals against the Eagles in round one – astounding all and sundry with his deadly left foot – most expects predicted a runaway win in the award,
with some bookies paying out on his victory well before the announcement. After playing every game for the Lions, Rich finished 15 votes clear of nearest rival Andy Otten from Adelaide, with Essendon defender Tayte Pears making up the placings. Rich’s sparkling entry into the AFL earned high praise from his coach. “He has played 22 games straight this season, which doesn’t happen very often with first-year players – and has been tagged in a lot of those matches,” Voss said. “He’s been enormously consistent and resilient; he has grown into his role and into the club and feels as though he belongs there.” Voss was delighted with the way Rich has been able to feed off the likes of Simon Black, Luke Power, Michael Rischitelli and Jared Brennan, and pointed out that the youngster deserved his place in a strong line-up. “We haven’t given him the spot – he’s earned his right to be there and continues to do so,” Voss said.
N A B A F L R I S I N G S TA R VO T E S
PLAYER
VOTES
TOTAL
Daniel Rich (Brisbane Lions)
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
45
Andy Otten (Adelaide)
4, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3
30
Tayte Pears (Essendon)
2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 3, 2, 3, 4
28
Dayne Beams (Collingwood)
3, 3, 1, 3
10
Stephen Hill (Fremantle)
1, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1
9
Callan Ward (Western Bulldogs)
1, 1, 3, 2, 2
9
Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
2, 1, 1
4
*Votes awarded by a panel consisting of Andrew Demetriou, Adrian Anderson, James Hird, Kevin Bartlett, Mark Ricciuto, Gerard Healy, Glen Jakovich, Kevin Sheehan and Robert Walls.
HONOUR ROLL
He has played 22 games straight this season, which doesn’t happen very often with first-year players – and has been tagged in a lot of those matches BRISBANE LIONS COACH MICHAEL VOSS
With several key Lions under injury clouds going into this week’s knockout final against the Blues, Voss may be leaning on his young protégé a lot more before the season is out. Turn to page 112 for a full list of the ➡ 22 NAB AFL Rising Star nominees for the year, with their statistics and accompanying story on them. The round 22 nominee, Sydney Swan Jesse White, is featured on page 116.
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Nathan Buckley (Bris) Chris Scott (Bris) Nick Holland (Haw) Ben Cousins (WCE) Michael Wilson (PA) Byron Pickett (Kang) Adam Goodes (Syd) Paul Hasleby (Frem) Justin Koschitzke (St K) Nick Riewoldt (St K) Sam Mitchell (Haw) Jared Rivers Melb) Brett Deledio (Rich) Danyle Pearce (PA) Joel Selwood (Geel) Rhys Palmer (Frem) Daniel Rich (BL)
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2009seasonreview
YOUNG STARS show they’re well on the way The list of nominees for the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star award is the most talented and diverse in years. But for some the introduction to AFL football hasn’t been quite as smooth as they might have imagined. ANDREW WALLACE
ROUND 2
ROUND 4
David Zaharakis
Essendon DOB: February 21, 1990 Height: 182cm Weight: 72kg Junior Clubs: Eltham/Northern U18 2009 Games: 10 Goals: 7 Kicks: 87 Marks: 47 Handballs: 50
ROUND 1
Daniel Rich
Brisbane Lions DOB: June 7, 1990 Height: 184cm Weight: 83kg Junior Clubs: Sorrento-Duncraig/Subiaco 2009 Games: 22 Goals: 13 Kicks: 230 Marks: 68 Handballs: 161
Jaxson Barham
ROUND 6
Collingwood DOB: May 20, 1988 Height: 181cm Weight: 78kg Junior Clubs: Lorne/Geelong U18 2009 Games: 6 Goals: 1 Kicks: 56 Marks: 23 Handballs: 51
ROUND 3
Patrick Dangerfield
Adelaide DOB: April 5, 1990 Height: 188cm Weight: 84kg Junior Clubs: Anglesea/Geelong U18 2009 Games: 19 Goals: 17 Kicks: 96 Marks: 52 Handballs: 150
Stephen Hill
Fremantle DOB: May 1, 1990 Height: 184cm Weight: 69kg Junior Clubs: Quinns Districts/West Perth 2009 Games: 22 Goals: 9 Kicks: 155 Marks: 69 Handballs: 170
ROUND 5
Garry Moss
Hawthorn DOB: July 5, 1988 Height: 181cm Weight: 74kg Junior Clubs: Marist College/East Perth 2009 Games: 8 Goals: 8 Kicks: 86 Marks: 49 Handballs: 54
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T
he NAB AFL Rising Star award has become not only a permanent part of the AFL landscape but, increasingly, a hot topic of workplace banter on a Monday morning. Seasoned fans salivate over the latest talent to emerge at their club, hailing their favourite youngster a dead-set certainty to receive that week’s nomination. If the Brownlow Medal rubber-stamps a footballer’s superstar status, the Rising Star award affi rms that a player – and by extension his club – is
well on the way. For all but a few rounds this year, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing nominees for the weekly column in the AFL Record. Surely there has never been a more mature, ready-made and talented group of youngsters than in 2009. Round one nominee – and this year’s NAB AFL Rising Star – Daniel Rich was unfazed to have been overlooked by hometown clubs West Coast and Fremantle at the 2008 NAB AFL Draft, despite being forced to uproot his life and relocate 3600 kilometres to faraway Brisbane.
ROUND 8
ROUND 10
Jarryn Geary
St Kilda DOB: June 23, 1988 Height: 183cm Weight: 80kg Junior Clubs: Eaglehawk/Bendigo U18 2009 Games: 15 Goals: 7 Kicks: 199 Marks: 106 Handballs: 169
ROUND 7
Jack Ziebell
North Melbourne DOB: February 28, 1991 Height: 188cm Weight: 86kg Junior Clubs: Wodonga/Murray U18 2009 Games: 10 Goals: 2 Kicks: 108 Marks: 42 Handballs: 47
I was surprised to learn that the teenager had moved in with girlfriend Justine rather than setting up with a host family, as so many interstate fi rstyear players tend to do. From his on- and off-field demeanour, it seems Rich has a wise old head on his young, broad shoulders. North Melbourne midfielder Jack Ziebell falls into a similar category. Thrown into senior action for the Wodonga Bulldogs in the Ovens and Murray Football League at just 15, Ziebell quickly learned never to take a backward step, which was
ROUND 9
Andy Otten
Adelaide DOB: May 15, 1989 Height: 192cm Weight: 87kg Junior Clubs: Whitefrairs/Oakleigh U18 2009 Games: 22 Goals: 1 Kicks: 146 Marks: 125 Handballs: 263
Taylor Walker
Adelaide DOB: April 25, 1990 Height: 192cm Weight: 87kg Junior Clubs: Broken Hill North/NSW-ACT U18 2009 Games: 14 Goals: 23 Kicks: 88 Marks: 57 Handballs: 22
ROUND 11
Brad Dick
Collingwood DOB: July 25, 1988 Height: 181cm Weight: 73kg Junior Clubs: Chapman Valley/ East Fremantle 2009 Games: 14 Goals: 20 Kicks: 103 Marks: 34 Handballs: 72
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evident in 10 AFL games before a broken leg and later a hip injury cut his season short. So many of the 2009 nominees have undergone hardship before achieving recognition. Round 19 nominee Mitch Brown, chosen by the Eagles with selection 16 in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft, showed great promise in five games for West Coast in 2007, before going down with a ruptured ACL in a pre-season game in 2008. During his arduous 12-month rehabilitation, Brown was forced to watch twin brother Nathan burst on to
the AFL scene, play all but one game as Collingwood’s No. 1 backman and earn his own Rising Star nomination. However, by the time the 2009 pre-season came around, Mitch was possibly the fittest player at the Eagles and was rewarded for his dedication by playing 19 games as a versatile big man. Essendon’s Michael Hurley must have thought he was cursed at times this season. Last year’s No. 5 pick endured a gall bladder removal in the pre-season, before making an outstanding AFL debut in round one, shutting down Port Adelaide veteran Warren Tredrea.
ROUND 12
ROUND 14
Aaron Joseph
Carlton DOB: July 4, 1989 Height: 180cm Weight: 76kg Junior Clubs: Glenorchy/Tasmania U18 2009 Games: 22 Goals: 3 Kicks: 113 Marks: 51 Handballs: 137
ROUND 13
Tayte Pears
Essendon DOB: March 24, 1990 Height: 191cm Weight: 90kg Junior Clubs: Deanmill/East Perth 2009 Games: 22 Goals: 1 Kicks: 151 Marks: 86 Handballs: 208
Jack Grimes
Melbourne DOB: May 11, 1989 Height: 187cm Weight: 81kg Junior Clubs: Hurstbridge/Northern U18 2009 Games: 12 Goals: 2 Kicks: 134 Marks: 96 Handballs: 97
Jurrah was playing desert football in bare feet only 18 months ago, before being picked up by the Demons in the 2009 NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft But an ensuing quad injury at training the next week consigned Hurley to the sidelines, with his disappointment being compounded by the theft of his car from Windy Hill and an embarrassing breakdown in peak hour
ROUND 16
Chris Masten
West Coast Eagles DOB: May 2, 1989 Height: 180cm Weight: 74kg Junior Clubs: Rossmoyne/East Fremantle 2009 Games: 19 Goals: 5 Kicks: 254 Marks: 78 Handballs: 268
ROUND 15
Liam Jurrah
Melbourne DOB: September 22, 1988 Height: 188cm Weight: 78kg Junior Clubs: Yuendumu Magpies (NT) 2009 Games: 9 Goals: 20 Kicks: 67 Marks: 38 Handballs: 41
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on Punt Road after the vehicle had been recovered. A broken wrist in the VFL capped off Hurley’s run of misfortune, but it wasn’t enough to stifle his enthusiasm, bouncing back to help the Bombers become the fi rst team to defeat St Kilda in 2009. However, the most remarkable story from this year’s candidates surely belongs to Melbourne’s Liam Jurrah. Hailing from the indigenous community of Yuendumu, 300 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs, Jurrah was playing desert football in bare feet only 18 months ago, before being picked up
by the Demons in the 2009 NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft. Proficient in four Aboriginal languages, but less so in English, the 20-year-old confronted culture shock and his horror at the icy Port Phillip Bay recovery sessions to steer Melbourne to an upset victory over Port Adelaide in round 15, booting four goals and showing an amazing ability to leap over tall defenders in a single bound. The most memorable Rising Star interview goes to Magpie small forward Brad Dick. The West Australian’s effervescent personality and love of
ROUND 18
ROUND 20
Callan Ward
Western Bulldogs DOB: April 10, 1990 Height: 185cm Weight: 76kg Junior Clubs: Spotswood/Western U18 2009 Games: 19 Goals: 16 Kicks: 149 Marks: 59 Handballs: 162
R O U N D 17
Dayne Beams
Collingwood DOB: February 2, 1990 Height: 186cm Weight: 77kg Junior Clubs: Southport 2009 Games: 16 Goals: 14 Kicks: 132 Marks: 81 Handballs: 165
Michael Hurley
Essendon DOB: June 1, 1990 Height: 193cm Weight: 92kg Junior Clubs: Macleod/Northern U18 2009 Games: 9 Goals: 10 Kicks: 78 Marks: 57 Handballs: 53
ROUND 19
Mitch Brown
West Coast Eagles DOB: December 17, 1988 Height: 194cm Weight: 92kg Junior Clubs: Ballarat/North Ballarat U18 2009 Games: 19 Goals: 4 Kicks: 104 Marks: 86 Handballs: 176
life proved as infectious for myself as it must for his Collingwood teammates, especially his description of lining up on best mate Nathan Krakouer against Port Adelaide at the MCG. “Nathan just wanted to chat with me,” Dick recalled, laughing. “He was talking and talking and saying, ‘How good’s this, playing on the MCG?’” Dick and his 21 fellow nominees show that the game is in good hands, with their array of talent, personalities, backgrounds and body shapes such crucial ingredients in what makes Australian Football great.
ROUND 22
Jesse White
Sydney DOB: January 9, 1988 Height: 196cm Weight: 105kg Junior Clubs: Southport 2009 Games: 18 Goals: 20 Kicks: 86 Marks: 72 Handballs: 56
ROUND 21
Nick Suban
Fremantle DOB: May 9, 1990 Height: 180cm Weight: 83kg Junior Clubs: Bacchus Marsh/North Ballarat U18 2009 Games: 22 Goals: 10 Kicks: 191 Marks: 56 Handballs: 84
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2009nab afl rising star round 22 nominee
White steps forward Jesse White shapes as the latest in the Swans’ long line of gun full-forwards. A NDR EW WA L L ACE
T
he Sydney Swans have been remarkably blessed with talented key forwards over the journey. In the mid-1980s, Warwick Capper thrilled fans with his high-flying exploits, while 10 years later, St Kilda champion Tony Lockett landed in the Harbour City, going on to kick 462 goals in 98 games for the Swans. Another former Saint Barry Hall then started his career in Sydney in 2002, leading the club to a long-awaited flag three years later. The tradition of fielding brilliant full-forwards appears far from over. Following Hall’s departure mid-season, youngster Jesse White has club insiders as excited as at any stage over the past three decades. A former state junior basketballer from Southport on Queensland’s Gold Coast, White was chosen by the Swans with selection No. 79 in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft – a decision that could prove the biggest masterstroke since Essendon snared James Hird with exactly the same number in 1990. White, 21, and an imposing 196cm, admits a lack of conditioning and love of soft drink held him back in his late teens. “When I was in high school, I used to drink a lot of Coke,” he said. “I wasn’t the fittest and I didn’t get good scores with the physical testing, but since I arrived at the club, I’ve been working with the nutritionist and fitness staff, and have really turned that around.” Recruited as a key forward, White was forced to bide his time due to the presence of Hall and Michael O’Loughlin in attack, and was tried as a backman and in the ruck.
NAB AFL Rising Star nominees ROUND 1 – Daniel Rich (BL) ROUND 2 – David Zaharakis (Ess) ROUND 3 – Patrick Dangerfield (Adel) ROUND 4 – Jaxson Barham (Coll) ROUND 5 – Garry Moss (Haw) ROUND 6 – Stephen Hill (Frem) ROUND 7 – Jack Ziebell (NM) ROUND 8 – Jarryn Geary (StK) ROUND 9 – Andy Otten (Adel) ROUND 10 – Taylor Walker (Adel) ROUND 11 – Brad Dick (Coll) ROUND 12 – Aaron Joseph (Carl) ROUND 13 – Tayte Pears (Ess) ROUND 14 – Jack Grimes (Melb) ROUND 15 – Liam Jurrah (Melb) ROUND 16 – Chris Masten (WCE) ROUND 17 – Dayne Beams (Coll) ROUND 18 – Callan Ward (WB) ROUND 19 – Mitch Brown (WCE) ROUND 20 – Michael Hurley (Ess) ROUND 21 – Nick Suban (Frem) GREAT WHITE HOPE:
Jesse White looks set to continue the Swans’ tradition of star key forwards.
ROUND 22 – Jesse White (Syd) FA S T FAC T S
While many view White as a basketball convert, he has actually played football since the age of eight.
1
All the boys got stuck into me afterwards, calling me the $50,000 man, the 19th man and all that sort of stuff His debut in round six last year was memorable for all of the wrong reasons, with his errant interchange late in the tied game against North Melbourne drawing a $50,000 sanction for the Swans and causing a rule change. “It actually wasn’t my fault – I was told to go on and there were quite a few people coming off at the same time, so it was a bit of a mix up,” White said. “All of the boys got stuck into me afterwards, calling me the
$50,000 man, the 19th man and all of that sort of stuff.” After losing confidence midway through 2009, the turning point for White came with a 19-goal rampage for the Swans’ reserves over a two-week period. He marked his return to the AFL in round 16 by booting four goals against Carlton and last week earned the last NAB AFL Rising Star nomination of 2009 with a three-goal, 10-mark effort against the Brisbane Lions.
2 In 2006, White turned
down an AIS basketball scholarship to pursue his dream of playing in the AFL.
3 Swans fans fearing White
may move back home to the new Gold Coast club need not worry – he has signed with Sydney until the end of 2012.
“I really enjoyed myself; I was taking guys on and having a lot of fun,” White said. “Next year, I’ve got the opportunity to be the No. 1 key forward at the club, and I really want to play that role and get lots of game time.”
Each week throughout the home and away season, a panel of judges will select the nominee for the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star. At the completion of the season, one outstanding player will be chosen as the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star winner. He will receive an investment folio, a dedicated personal banker, a financial planner and the Ron Evans Medal, all courtesy of the NAB. The NAB Rising Star award is the final stage of the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program, which supports grassroots players and football communities and helps young Australians fulfil their dream of playing in the AFL.
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One day and night. One unforgettable September experience. Your invitation to Australia’s premier AFL experience. The fever-pitched excitement. The roar of the crowd. The toughest contest. The moment in history. This is your chance to be a part of it. Centre Square has redefined corporate hospitality at Melbourne’s premier sporting event – the 2009 Toyota AFL Grand Final. Your Centre Square experience includes: • A Prime reserved seat for the 2009 Toyota AFL Grand Final • Pre-game entertainment from a panel of leading football media analysts and past and present champions of the game • Post-game party including a performance from one of Australia’s premier musical artists • Entry into the exclusive Centre Square environment at Birrarung Marr from 10:30am • Pre-game dining • Premium beverage package supplied by Foster’s Australia Total inclusive cost $1,995. Places are strictly limited. Secure your chance to experience life inside Centre Square in 2009.
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For more information visit centresquare.com.au
1/9/09 10:59:35 AM
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FINALS WEEK ONE
time on Answer man
AFL history guru Col Hutchinson answers your queries.
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NAME GAME
Taming the Tigers
Number crunchers In round 17, the Blues could manage only a single goal in each of the four quarters against Collingwood. Four weeks later in round 21, they booted six in each term against Melbourne. Has that pattern happened many times? What about cases of teams scoring exactly two, three, four goals, etc in each quarter of a match? Peter Vautin, Brunswick, Vic
CH: Carlton’s effort in
round 21 was the 41st such instance since the start of 1897. Teams have registered two goals in each of the four terms of a game on 50 occasions. Three goals in all four quarters has been achieved 40 times, four goals in 21 matches, five seven times and six on one occasion. No team has managed seven goals in each stanza. Hawthorn achieved a remarkable string of eight in each of the four quarters against Essendon at the MCG in round 20, 1992, with star forward Jason Dunstall leading the way with 12 (right).
FEELING BLUE: Carlton kicked just
one goal in each quarter against Collingwood in round 17, while Hawthorn, led by Jason Dunstall (left), managed a remarkable eight in each term against Essendon in 1992.
WRITE TO ANSWER MAN The Slattery Media Group 140 Harbour Esplanade Docklands, 3008 or email michaell@slatterymedia.com
P L AY E R I N F O R M AT I O N S E A R C H
Are you, or do you know, a descendant of any of the following players? All of them were born before 1920 and the AFL would be keen to know what has happened to them since their playing days. Fred Coulsell (North Melbourne 1927 & Essendon 1931), Frank Hunting (Essendon 1933), Jack James McKenzie
CHANG ES IN FOOTY
(Essendon 1929), Joe Oakley (Essendon 1934), Bob Allen (Fitzroy 1926), Stan Castles (Fitzroy 1932), Lindsay Fricker (Fitzroy 1930), Bill Shenfield (Fitzroy 1934-35), Wyn Murray (Melbourne 1929-34), Ted Parker (Melbourne 1925) and Ernie
Shaw (Melbourne 1927). Should you have any information regarding any of these players, including their date of death if applicable, please contact Col Hutchinson on (03) 9643 1929 or col.hutchinson@afl.com.au.
Headline writers have had a field day with the surname of newly appointed Richmond coach Damien Hardwick (e.g., “Hard way or the highway”). However, the first half of his surname has nothing to do with toughness. Hardwick is an English place name and derives from the Old English words heorde (flock, herd) and wīc (outlying farm). It is a gentle, pastoral name. Heorde is also the forerunner of the surnames of James Hird, Shane Heard and any number of Shepherds/Sheppards. The headline writers might have done better to concentrate on Hardwick’s given name. Damien is a variation of Damian, which is most probably a derivative of the Greek daman meaning to tame, subdue or even kill. Damia was the Greek goddess who kept Nature in check. Can Damien Hardwick bring order and o hiss new e flock? k Iff discipline to will have v lived iv d up he can, hee w st of o to most ame me. his name. KEVAN CARROLL L
DJG 8AJ7 L>AA C:K:G L>C 6 ;A6<# 7JI L: 8DJA9 H6K: NDJ I=DJH6C9H# LZÉgZ 6bWjaVcXZ K^Xidg^V VcY lZÉgZ cd dgY^cVgn XajW# BZbWZgh]^e ^h dcan +% [dg h^c\aZh VcY &'% [dg [Vb^a^Zh VcY ndjÉaa WZ XdkZgZY 6jhigVa^V"l^YZ # >[ ndjÉgZ cdi V bZbWZg! Vc VbWjaVcXZ XdjaY Xdhi je id *!*%%# 8Vc ndj V[[dgY cdi id _d^c4
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119 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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timeon
COLLECTABLES WITH RICK MILNE
Boxer card a KO A weekly look at collectables, memorabilia and all footy things stored in boxes and garages.
RICK’S RARITY
Here’s a blast for all St Kilda fans. Verdun Howell was one of the Saints’ greatest defenders in 159 games from 1958-68 and starred when they defeated Collingwood by one point in the 1966 Grand Final. This Scanlen’s Gum card was issued in 1963 and is worth $1000 in mint condition.
I have a postcard of a footballer with your surname, Milne. It is of Fitzroy’s H. Milne and was issued in the early years of the VFL. Can you tell me a bit about him and whether the card has any value? MANNY, VIA EMAIL
RM: Herbert ‘Boxer’ Milne was
a star follower with Fitzroy in 122 games from 1902-10 and in 31 games with South Melbourne from 1911-12. He played in four consecutive Fitzroy Grand Final sides from 1903-06, including the 1904-05 premierships. He was a finals expert and was South’s best in the losing (to Essendon) 1912 Grand Final side. It is a rare card and worth at least $250. He is a distant relative. I have an autograph book with 20 signatures of my favourite Western Bulldog players, including Jason Akermanis, Adam Cooney, Brian Lake, Brad Johnson and Nathan Eagleton. Do you think it has any value? BEN (aged 12), VIA EMAIL
RM: Yes, especially if the
Doggies go all the way in the finals and, for your sake, I hope they do. It is worth $100, but lots more if the Bulldogs win the big one.
SEPTEMBER SPECIALIST: Herbert ‘Boxer’ Milne played
in five Grand Finals for Fizroy and South Melbourne for two premierships and this rare card is worth $250.
named and the photo is mounted on heavy cardboard. Value? MARCIA, VIA EMAIL
RM: Weideman was captain in
As a long-time Collingwood supporter, I have kept a photo of the 1958 Magpie premiership team. It features, among others, my heart-throb, Murray Weideman. The players are
the memorable 1958 Grand Final defeat of Melbourne due to regular skipper Frank Tuck being injured. This item is a beauty and worth at least $800.
I have a football signed by the 1966 St Kilda premiership side and would like a valuation. DAVID, VIA EMAIL
RM: The football is cracked and
the signatures have faded, but this is the problem with all old, signed footballs. However, it is a good item and worth $350.
CONTACT RICK MILNE mrpp@iprimus.com.au or drop him a line: 5 Cooraminta St, Brunswick, Vic, 3056 or call (03) 9387 4131. One query per reader.
WATCH BEFORE THE GAME SATURDAY NIGHTS ON TEN
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TIPSTERS
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timeon TALKING POINT 2009seasonreview
Passion and progress Who could have imagined the changes the game has seen in the past two decades. TON Y PEEK
W
hen Colin Carter retired from the AFL Commission in 2007, he reflected on the capacity of our game to achieve the unexpected, often against the views of critics and others who didn’t want anything to change. After being asked to contribute this article to reflect on the past 20 years since I joined the then-Victorian Football League as media manager in 1989 (replacing Mike Sheahan, who had been appointed as senior football writer at The Sunday Age) I remembered Colin’s comments to the question, ‘Who could have imagined?’ At one stage, I thought my career with the AFL was not even going to start because before my appointment was made, The Herald reported that somebody else had got the job. When I contacted Ross Oakley to see if the position had been filled, Ross assured me that no appointment had been made. When he rang me a few days later to offer me the job, I was delighted, but I should have taken more notice of one other comment he made: “We’ve got a few things coming up which we’ll need your help with.” About five weeks later, one of those “things” – the proposed merger of the Footscray and Fitzroy Football Clubs – taught me my first valuable lesson, and that was how much this game means to the people who support the AFL clubs and the players. The same applies to community clubs and their supporters throughout Australia. Within days of Eddie McGuire breaking the story on Channel 10 – 12 hours before the merger announcement – we had protestors marching outside VFL House and, not long after, the ‘Up Yours Oakley’ bumper bar sticker was born as a rallying point for supporters. Fans were passionate and emotional, as if they were about to lose a member of their family. Compare that to the Western Bulldogs of today!
LABOUR OF LOVE: Tony Peek with, from left, daughter Amy, wife Anne and son Matthew at the surprise lunch to celebrate
his 20 years with the AFL. “It doesn’t get any better than working in a game you love,” he said.
The real joys of my time with the AFL have revolved around: 1. The capacity of the game to regenerate as one group of great players retires and a new batch of champions carries the game forward – Dunstall, Lockett, Ablett snr, Carey, Kelly, Kemp, Voss, Buckley, Hird, Ricciuto, Lappin, Archer, McLeod, Brown, Judd, Goodes, Kirk, Joel Selwood, Ablett jnr, Scarlett, Bartel, Riewoldt, Franklin, Hodge, Palmer, Hill, Rich. 2. The emotion of the game – to see the late Bob Rose with tears streaming down his face standing in the race at the MCG with 10 minutes to go in the 1990 Grand Final with Collingwood about to win its first premiership in 32 years, and the day in 1995 at the MCG when football paid tribute to Ted Whitten, then in the final stages of his battle with cancer, with son Ted jnr in a lap of honor. 3. The late 1980s and early 1990s when the Brisbane Bears and Sydney Swans redefined the term ‘basket case’. If you had said the Bears would become the Lions and win three straight premierships, and that the Swans would play in 11 finals series in 13 seasons, win the 2005 premiership and attract crowds of more than 70,000 to the centerpiece stadium
of the Sydney Olympics, one would have been issued with an AFL-endorsed straight jacket. Two straight jackets if you had contemplated 80,000 people lining George Street to congratulate the Swans in a parade to Sydney Town Hall after the 2005 Grand Final. 4. Meeting Michael Long, Michael McLean, Gilbert McAdam and Che CockatooCollins in 1995 after Michael Long was racially abused during the Anzac Day game, and being part of the team led by Ross Oakley that developed our racial and religious vilification policy, was one of the most rewarding periods of my working life. The game can make a difference. 5. The capacity of the game to bring communities together, best demonstrated when Essendon played Richmond at Red Cliffs near Mildura in March of 2006 to raise funds to support the victims and families of six teenagers killed in a hit-and-run accident. 6. Being in South Africa in 2008 to see how South African communities are embracing our game was inspiring. 7. Watching something equally inspiring – the Peace Team, made up in equal number by Palestinians and Israelis, playing together in the 2008 Australian
Football International Cup after being introduced to our game a few months earlier on a soccer field in the Gaza strip. 8. The St Kilda-Geelong match in round 14 this year – an absolutely breathtaking example of the game at its best. 9. Tackling difficult issues – being part of an organisation prepared to confront difficult issues with compassion and education as key planks. 10. Two key principles: ‘No surprises’ and ‘Leave the game in better shape’. These were instilled in those of us fortunate to work with our late Chairman Ron Evans, and which are reinforced by the ongoing presence in our lives of his wife Andrea. It doesn’t get any better than working in a game you love, and I feel extremely fortunate to have worked for three very supportive CEOs in Ross, Wayne Jackson and Andrew Demetriou. Andrew, however, I am pleased to say, broke the ‘No surprises’ rule last week when I walked into what I thought was a meeting to be greeted by some 30 colleagues, friends and – most importantly, my wife Anne, daughter Amy and son Matthew – for a surprise lunch to celebrate my 20 years with the AFL. * Tony Peek is assistant to the AFL CEO.
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To win the game, everything has to work together. That’s why there’s a car with V6 power and outstanding fuel economy, and exhilarating pace with impressive handling. To fi nd out more about the game-changing 200kW Toyota Aurion visit www.toyota.com.au. It’s a whole new ball game.
PM
oh what a feeling!
Official car of the AFL