AFL Record, Round 21 2009

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE TH HE AFL GAME

The Th he

of Sandilands Aaron

CAMERON LING The King of Geelo Geelong ong

DEAN BAILEY Coaching young play players yers

Brad Scot t A LEADER OF MEN PAGE 7

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ROUND 21, AUGUST 21-23, 2009 F E AT U R E S

57

Dean Bailey

How to coach and manage young players.

60

Aaron Sandilands

From rookie ruckman to Fremantle star.

65

Cameron Ling

Determined Cat claws his way to 200 games.

REGULARS

4

Backchat

Have your say about the football world.

7

The Bounce

Views, news, first person, facts, data, culture.

25

Matchday

Stats, history and line-ups.

53

Dream Team

Advice from Mr Fantasy, our Dream Team expert.

70 74 76 78

Answer Man Testing your knowledge NAB AFL Rising Star Talking Point

It’s time for fans to mind their manners.

THIS WEEK’S COVER Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands appears on this week’s cover. Go to slatterymedia.com/ images to order prints of this image.

65 MARKING A MILESTONE: Cameron

Ling becomes the 25th player in Geelong’s history to play 200 games when he reaches the milestone this week.

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feedback

backchat HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE FOOTBALL WORLD TAKING FLIGHT: Young Eagles such as Josh Kennedy are giving a reader cause for hope.

Saints alive In your article about former Lion and Saint Steven Lawrence (round 16), there was a section headed ‘Saints aplenty in VAFA ranks’ which had some omissions.

Also playing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association at Old Haileybury is Tony Brown (108 games for the Saints from 1995-2000), with the club coached by Jamie Shanahan (125 matches from 1992-97). Dean Anderson (67 appearances for St Kilda from 1993-96) played for Caulfield Grammar and Mordi Bromberg (34 games for the Saints from 1978-81) for Ajax. Interestingly, from the 1960-80s, several St Kilda players were also Caulfield Grammar Old Boys.

IAN ISAACS, CAULFIELD, VIC.

Taking flight West Coast’s form in the part three weeks (wins over Essendon, the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne) has been very promising, relative to how it had played for most of the year.

The Eagles are a professional, well-run club with many young players starting to show they will be very good AFL players.

It makes me proud to know they won’t be down for long.

SAMANTHA, DALKEITH, WA.

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

Pies arrive first

HAVE YOUR SAY

I’ve watched with interest as Carlton supporters keep saying the Blues are coming. Guess what? The Pies are already there. This is probably the best Collingwood team since 1990 – much better than the Grand Final teams of 2002-03.

Wait your turn Carlton.

SHANE, CLIFTON 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

Send us your feedback on n the Record and matters relating to the game, the clubs and the players.

The best letter each round will receive a copyy of the AFL Record Season n Guide 2009. Email aflrecordeditor@ slatterymedia.com or write to AFL Record, Slattery Media Group, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, VIC, 3008.

DESIGNERS Jarrod Witcombe, Alison Wright PHOTO EDITORS Melanie Tanusetiawan, Bridget Allen 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

Nothing lost for Saints In recent weeks, the industry focused heavily on St Kilda’s undefeated run, and whether the Saints could become the first team in League history (113 seasons) to go undefeated on its way to a premiership.

Essendon ended the discussion last Sunday (see story on page 8).

But it’s worth briefly acknowledging St Kilda’s 19-0 start to the season, lest it gets relegated as our focus turns to the finals starting in a fortnight.

The Saints were thrashed in two finals last year (by Geelong in a qualifying final and by Hawthorn in a preliminary final after beating Collingwood in a semi-final), but this season have rebounded to set the pace, playing a style marked by ferocious tackling, non-stop hard running and a watertight defence. They have been outstanding.

Only one League team – Collingwood in 1929 – has gone undefeated in a home and away season (18-0). But even that great Magpies squad had a hiccup, losing to Richmond in a semi-final before beating the Tigers in the Grand Final a fortnight later. (Port Adelaide was undefeated in the SAFL in 1914 and East Fremantle was 21-0 in the WAFL in 1946.)

St Kilda can regroup, without the burden of chasing perfection.

Winning its second fl ag is all that matters.

PETER DI SISTO

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, ROUND 21, 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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the bounce VIEWS NEWS FIRST PERSON FACTS DATA CULTURE

APPOINTED: Brad Scott will

coach North Melbourne for the next three seasons.

Brad Scott represents everything this club stands for in 2009 – he’s young, he’s talented, he’s hungry and he’s a leader of men

LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/THE SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP

JAMES BRAYSHAW

N E W R O O S C O AC H

Scott a perfect fit for rebuilding Roos New coach Brad Scott has the youth, talent and hunger North Melbourne requires to revitalise the club. NICK BOW EN

T

he tie with the royal blue and white stripes said it all – Brad Scott was the new North Melbourne coach.

As he is walked into a hastily arranged press conference last Monday dressed in a black suit, white shirt and the club tie, Scott looked serious, nervous even.

Taking a seat beside North chairman James Brayshaw in an Arden St meeting room, Scott, 33, could not manage a smile as his new boss announced he had been appointed the Kangaroos’ senior coach for the 2010-12 seasons.

In fairness, Scott’s life had just been turned upside down. An

hour earlier he had been given the good news the North job was his if he wanted it.

He quickly informed Collingwood he had accepted the role, made his way to Arden Street and donned a suit before fronting a room packed with a who’s who of Melbourne’s football media.

The media release announcing the conference had promised an update on the club’s search for a senior coach. As updates go, it was decidedly final.

Brayshaw spoke of the club’s desire to find a coach who was “young, smart, dynamic and ruthless”.

He already knew Scott well as they were “old golfing partners” and said the club realised within a minute of his presentation last Thursday that he was ready to coach.

“Brad Scott represents everything that this club stands for in 2009 – he’s young, he’s talented, he’s hungry and he’s a leader of men,” Brayshaw said.

When Scott took questions from the media throng, he spoke with passion and excitement about the job that lay ahead.

“I think I’ve done a very good apprenticeship under some very astute and experienced coaches,” said Scott, an

assistant coach at Collingwood for the past three seasons.

“I think it’s a very good fit for me, and I’m a very good fit for the club. I want to create a learning environment for the players to be the best they can be.”

Scott’s confidence he fitted North’s needs seemed well placed. He played 168 games with Hawthorn and the Brisbane Lions from 1997-2006, including the Lions’ 2001-02 premierships. At the Magpies, he had quickly developed into senior coach Mick Malthouse’s right-hand man.

Malthouse’s confidence in CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 7

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thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

Scott was evident when he handed him the senior coaching reins for this year’s NAB Cup Grand Final against Geelong.

And after last Saturday’s game against Richmond, when Malthouse could not attend the post-match media conference for personal reasons, he delegated the responsibility to Scott. It effectively gave Scott another opportunity to impress the Kangaroos hierarchy.

As Monday’s conference continued, Scott grew in confidence and, when quizzed on his identical twin brother and former Lions teammate, Chris, he showed a dry wit.

I’m a very good fit for the club. I want to create a learning environment for the players to be the best they can be BRAD SCOTT

Asked whether Chris, who is an assistant coach at Fremantle, would be part of his coaching team at North, Scott said if that happened “the team would have a hard time telling who’s the senior coach”.

And when one journalist started a question by saying “Being Chris’ brother ...”, Scott light-heartedly corrected him, “Chris, being my brother”.

All the while, many of Scott’s new charges stood at the back of the room listening intently to the man who will guide their fortunes from the end of this season.

And Scott was bullish about the players he saw before him, saying North’s list was not given credit for how young it was and the scope it had for improvement.

Listening to Brayshaw, it was clear North was just as bullish about Scott and his ability to grow in the senior coaching role.

When the media pack eventually ran out of questions, Brayshaw signed off: “All good, thanks for coming down.”

And after a tough season, finally, things were good at Arden Street.

NEWS TRACKER

TAC T I C S

Bombers strong in their belief C A L LU M T WOMEY

E

ssendon defeated the previously unbeaten St Kilda last Sunday in what most believed was a major upset. In fact, the Bombers might have been the only ones who thought it possible. ain nts Having outscored the Saints from quarter-time onwardss rou und when they played them in round nto o last eight, the Bombers went into greee weekend’s game with a degree ave of confidence most would hav have allyy considered foolish. Internally though, belief was strong. am me, “From the start of the game, ef you’ve got to have self-belief and we did think we could am m win,” stand-in captain Adam McPhee said after the two-point win.

“I mentioned to the boys early in the game that it was going to take a four-quarter effort. We knew we had stuck with st them for three quarters last w time but we definitely knew d to o that to win, we would need at’ss play four quarters, and that’s how the game turned out.”” d to o The Bombers struggled ng run the game out, allowing eveen St Kilda to kick the last seven old dt goals. Captain Nick Riewoldt could have won it for the Saints, but missed a shot after the siren. nt But with three important ch players injured on the bench Ryd der (Dustin Fletcher, Patrick Ryder an nd and Courtenay Dempsey) and n another carrying an injuryy on n), it i the ground (Brent Stanton), was a victory that was as elyy. courageous as it was unlikely. tth hew The Bombers under Matthew o Knights have relied heavilyy on kin ng their pace, playing risk-taking he case c football. This was again the so last week. But Essendon also excelled in areas St Kilda hass dominated this season. es,, had The Bombers laid 68 tackles,

28 more contested possessions than their opponents, and applied enough pressure to worry the Saints. For three quarters at least, Essendon beat St Kilda at its own game.

Led by the brilliance of Jobe Watson at the stoppages (37 touches including 15 contested), and smart work near goal by Angus Monfries (four goals from 20 possessions), the Bombers were unorthodox up forward, unperturbed down back and unwavering through the midfield. It was Essendon at its unpredictable best.

With limited rotations in the last term, McPhee said the team had tried to learn from its round 19 draw against the Brisbane Lions when it failed to run down the clock and protect its lead.

“It was good the boys could hold on this week. We really wanted to work on that slow-down play,” McPhee said.

“It does make it a bit tougher having a few blokes go down, but that’s just testament to the resilience of the side and that’s something we’re working on as a young group. We can really take a lot out of the game.”

FA R E W E L L

Hero Barry moves to new phase J IM M A IN

L

eo Barry, the Sydney Swans defender who always will be remembered for his spectacular pack mark late in the 2005 Grand Final, has announced his retirement.

Barry, 32, will bow out at the end of the season, ending a 15-year career with the Swans.

This week’s game against Collingwood at the MCG will be his 236th, but just his second of the season. He played against Geelong last week after a long struggle

TRUE BELIEVER: Stand-in

captain Adam McPhee said the Bombers believed before the game they could beat the Saints.

Collingwood’s Dayne Beams agrees to extend his contract until the end of 2012.

8 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE overcoming a knee injury, and indicated his “difficult season” had made the decision easier.

Barry’s pack mark in the final seconds of the 2005 Grand Final against West Coast ensured him football immortality. The Swans were leading by just four points when the defender swooped for a spectacular mark just 25 metres from the Eagles’ goal, with the siren blaring before he could take his kick.

DRAFT CAMP

Skills to be tested C A L LU M T WOMEY

A

I’ll remember his competitiveness, his absolute self-belief and his drive to be successful PAUL ROOS

Barry joined the Swans in 1994 from Deniliquin in New South Wales. He was a draft zone selection and made his League debut the following season.

Originally a half-forward, then-Swans coach Rodney Eade’s decision to switch him to defence in 2001 was an inspired move.

At 184cm and shorter than most key-position players, Barry proved a wonderfully reliable full-back, often beating much bigger and stronger key forwards. Apart from his strong marking, he gave the Swans

thebounce

LEAVING HIS MARK: Retiring Swan Leo Barry has been immortalised by his

game-saving mark in the final seconds of the 2005 Grand Final.

great run from deep in defence.

Barry, a co-captain from 2005 to the end of last season and All-Australian in 2004-05, told teammates when he announced his retirement: “To play finals six years in a row, two Grand Finals and four preliminary finals – it’s a real credit to the group and I’m proud to have been a part of that journey.”

Coach Paul Roos said Barry’s

ability to hold down a key defensive role was “remarkable”.

“What I’ll remember about Leo is his incredible competitiveness, his absolute self-belief and his drive to be successful,” he said. “We certainly are going to miss him at this footy club.”

Barry will take time to decide whether to stay in football or work in stockbroking.

kicked 471 goals after debuting against Collingwood on Anzac Day in 1996. He said he had recently realised it was time to move on. “Having spoken to ‘Knighta’ (coach Matthew Knights) throughout the season, the time is right,” he said.

“I suppose it is all the little things, but the big thing is that you can’t do what you did in the past,” Lucas said, referring to his struggles to recapture form.

“Once that is the case, with the nature of the game these days, you have to weigh things up. It’s a brutal game that is getting faster and faster. I’m certainly no speed demon so those factors just added up for me.”

Lucas was never a “speed demon” but his skills made him one of the most dangerous

centre half-forwards of the past decade: a booming left-foot kick, with strong hands on the lead and a teriffic work ethic.

Lucas, who played his junior football in Camperdown in Victoria’s south-west and was recruited from the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup, kicked 59 goals in Essendon’s premiership year of 2000. He was his team’s best player in its 2001 Grand Final loss to the Brisbane Lions.

In 2003, with Essendon lacking g a key defender, Lucas proved his flexibility by moving to centre half-back and tied for the best and fairest with James Hird.

In 2006, he claimed his second best and fairest, having kicked

kicking test will be introduced at this year’s NAB AFL Draft Camp after suggestions from coaches including Port Adelaide’s Mark Williams and requests from recruiters.

Research done by former Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley in his role with the AIS-AFL Academy squad found clubs believed players coming through various junior development programs could generally improve the standard of their kicking.

Buckley developed the test specifically for the camp, and believes recruiters will now have a far better indication of the kicking ability of the draftees.

“The kicking drill test will provide analysis from a series of six kicks of varying distances for technique, speed of delivery, trajectory and accuracy,” said Buckley, who on Tuesday CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE

RETIREMENT

Lucas exits without a fuss Scott Lucas couldn’t have timed it any better. With the media focus clearly still on Essendon following its sensational win over St Kilda last weekend, the star Bomber veteran called a press conference on Tuesday morning to announce his retirement, effective immediately.

Indeed, the conference reflected everything Lucas has been about for 15 seasons at Windy Hill. It wasn’t flashy; nor was it spectacular. But it was effective and straightforward, understated and genuine. Lucas, 31, played 270 matches and

NEWS TRACKER

67 goals for the season. Knights said Lucas was “an extreme professional and very humble man. He has given his family and Essendon supporters a lot of joy over many years.”

He certainlyy did.

CALLUM TWOMEY

TIME’S UP: Essendon’s Scott Lucas has struggled to recapture his best form.

Ron Irwin, who played 51 games for Melbourne from 1943-47, died this week aged 85.

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 9

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thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE R A P I D R O TAT I O N S EXPERT TUITION: Former

Collingwood champion Nathan Buckley addresses TAC Cup players at last Tuesday’s trial of the new kicking test.

Mick Malthouse is the oldest coach in the AFL – he turned 56 on Monday – but he is still a trendsetter.

As his Collingwood side demolished Richmond by 93 points at the MCG last week, Malthouse (below) oversaw an AFL record 131 rotations.

Shrewd use of the interchange has been a hallmark of the Magpies’ approach for two years – since they virtually stumbled across it against this round’s opponent, Sydney, at the MCG in round 21, 2007.

That night, the Pies countered the Swans’ man-on-man style by employing a rapid-rotation

system through the midfield and the bench. They made a then equal-record 86 rotations. It was a mindboggling increase on the mere 19 interchanges they made in a game two years earlier.

The benefits have been enormous: the Pies are now less predictable; they have transformed a previously one-paced midfield into a deep and varied band of runners; and it has helped the likes of Leon Davis and Alan Didak maximise their talents, enabling them to use their skills and creativity more in the midfield and attain greater consistency.

BEN COLLINS

MOST INTERCHANGES IN A GAME Interchanges Club

helped trial the test with TAC Cup players Jordan Gysberts, Andrew Moore and Matthew Scott (Eastern Ranges) at Yarra Valley Grammar in Ringwood in Melbourne’s outer east.

“For the first time, AFL recruiters will be able to leave the draft camp with more information about what is probably the most important skill in our game,” he said.

The AFL’s national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said introducing the test would send a clear message to draft hopefuls about the importance of good kicking in the modern game.

“Our current analysis of how a player can kick is based on two things: observation in matches

AFL recruiters will leave the draft camp with more information about the most important skill in our game NATHAN BUCKLEY

right across state leagues and national championships and, secondly, through Champion Data, which gives us efficiency rates of kicking,” Sheehan said.

“With the new test, we expect players to prepare for it as they would have done with a sprint or endurance test in previous years and get their skills right on both sides of their body.” The test will see players take six kicks

131 127 122 121 120 119 119 119 118 114 114 113 113

Coll Syd N Melb WB Frem Coll Melb Melb N Melb Syd Coll Coll Coll

Opp. Rich N Melb Haw P Adel P Adel Frem Geel N Melb Syd Rich Adel Ess Carl

at six different targets. Players will receive a handball and then be randomly instructed to kick at a target 20, 30 or 40 metres to the left or right. They will have a specified amount of time to aim at a target player who will be standing in the centre of each of the two-metre diameter target areas.

Rd Season n Result Resullt 20 14 15 12 19 13 3 4 14 6 19 14 17

2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009

W 93 W 15 L9 W 93 W 42 W 84 4 L 30 L 48 L 15 W 19 W 21 W 35 W 54 4

Sheehan described the test as a “fantastic initiative” and said it was important to “continue to modify our draft camp testing to suit the modern game at the highest level as it’s played now”.

The 2009 NAB AFL Draft Camp will be conducted at the AIS in Canberra from September 30-October 2.

10 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

C O AC H E D U C AT I O N

University degree for AFL coaches MICH A EL LOV ET T

I

n 2010, coaches at AFL clubs, state league clubs and those in the AFL talent pathway will be able to enrol in a university degree established to enhance their ability to work with elite athletes.

The undergraduate bachelor of high performance degree for coaches was launched this week by the vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University National, Professor Greg Craven, together with AFL Coaches’ Association president Kevin Sheedy and AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick.

Professor Craven said the degree was innovative and he was pleased that ACU National could develop the course in partnership with the AFL and the AFLCA. The course builds on the AFL Level 3 coaching course and coaches will progress from a diploma through an associate degree to a bachelor degree. Most of the course will be completed online over three or four years.

Sheedy supported the professional development of coaches and said he believed the course would become an integral part of a coach’s education.

The AFLCA will financiallyy assist coaches to undertakee

the course. Coaches will not only develop their management skills and technical and tactical expertise for application to football but these skills will also be transferable to other industries.

Leadership and ethics, talent development, organisational management, financial management, sports psychology, strategic planning and performance analyses are all covered in the degree.

The coach will ‘major’ in areas of management and performance, two key areas for coaching elite athletes.

Sheedy said he believed the course would become an integral part of a coach’s education program Danny Frawley and Paul Armstrong from the AFLCA, Lawrie Woodman from the AFL, four-time AFL premiership coach David Parkin and Hawthorn assistant coach Chris Fagan assisted ACU National School of Exercise Science staff and former St Kilda players, Paul Callery and Ross Smith, in the development of the course.

Fitzpatrick, who as a Rhodes Scholar is no stranger to university education, welcomed the ACU National initiative.

He said research on coaching effectiveness at the AFL level highlighted the need for top-level coaching skills and first-class management skills and competencies.

THE GRADUATE: Kevin Sheedy launches the new ACU National coaching course.

RUEFUL ROO: He is a

star on the football field, but Kangaroo Brady Rawlings reveals he had questionable tastes in music, struggles with curries and is not much of a handyman.

8

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW...

Brady Rawlings

On the eve of his 200th game, the AFL Record spoke with North Melbourne’s Brady Rawlings about life away from football. NICK BOW EN The first album I owned was Hootie and the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View, and the first single Go West by the Pet Shop Boys – both pretty ordinary selections.

1

I watch tapes of TAC Cup 2 and NAB AFL Under-18 Championships games about three nights a week as part of the recruiting work I’ve started doing at North Melbourne. I really enjoy it.

Growing up in Tasmania, my brother Jade (Richmond’s caretaker coach) and I played cricket, footy and basketball with our mates all day, every day in the school holidays.

3

As kids, we lived behind the general store my parents owned in Miandetta, a suburb of Devonport. It’s a bit of a family joke that Jade and I didn’t do any work in the shop.

4

NEWS TRACKER

My favourite takeaway food is Thai but I can’t handle anything spicy. What other people call mild is too hot for me.

5

Probably the thing I look forward to most at the end of the season is going back to Tassie to have a couple of quiet beers with my dad, Des.

6

I’m renovating my home with massive help from my father-in-law, Tony, who is a builder. I get all the crap jobs – sanding, demolition, garbage removal and making coffees.

7

I met my wife, Lea, when crashing a 21st birthday party. One of my good mates was invited and decided to bring four of his mates. We sat at the bar, where I met Lea, nine years ago almost to the day.

8

West Coast’s Matt Priddis signs a two-year contract extension.

12 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

WELCOME BACK:

Trent Hentschel is congratulated after one of his four goals.

C O M E B AC K

Hentschel going forward at last

MILES TONES – ROUND 21

200 games Cameron Ling Geelong Brady Rawlings North Melbourne

150 games

SH A NE McNA L LY

A

couple of months back, many thought Adelaide forward Trent Hentschel would struggle to play another AFL match. A few weeks ago, some South Australian scribes and Crows supporters tipped he’d be delisted.

However, after a four-goal haul against the Hawks, Hentschel showed he is anything but spent. It seems he is ready to reestablish himself as the exciting player he had become before a serious knee injury almost ended his career in late 2006. Playing just his third game in three seasons, Hentschel was given a run in defence before stamping his authority up forward and helping the slow-starting Crows to an impressive win.

It was a convincing effort, with the 26-year-old running confidently on his repaired knee and throwing himself in for the hard ball.

“Where I’ve come from, you’re always a bit nervous,” Hentschel

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said after his first AFL game since round two. “I’d played full-back for the Eagles in the SANFL and my form was solid but it was hard to get a line on where I was at.

“The knee has seemed pretty normal again since I had my second arthroscope this year and it feels good when I’m kicking or doing any sort of agility work.

“The club’s got a lot of young guys going really well and we’re going to be playing finals this year so it would be really good to be part of that. But it’s only been one game and I’m not getting ahead of myself.”

Hentschel said he had received strong support from the club during his long time on the sidelines, a fact not lost on Essendon great James Hird during last week’s On The Couch television program. “It’s a great credit not only to him

but to Adelaide to stick with a guy and help him out and give him the sort of recovery you need,” Hird said.

Hentschel said recently retired ruckman Rhett Biglands was a driving force in his rehabilitation, as were physical performance manager Stephen Schwerdt and strength and conditioning coach Kris Hinck.

“All the coaches and players have helped me through this,” he said. “Rhett did his knee around the same time but he just kept pushing me on, encouraging me. We went through our rehabilitation together.”

Hentschel is out of contract at the end of the season. His performances in the last two rounds and the finals will be closely monitored as he negotiates a new deal.

Robert Shirley Adelaide Luke McPharlin Fremantle Luke Hodge Hawthorn Daniel Harris North Melbourne

100 games Matt Maguire St Kilda

50 games Justin Westhoff Port Adelaide Scott McMahon North Melbourne

50 games coached Mark Harvey Fremantle The list includes those not necessarily selected but on the verge of milestones.

PREPARE FOR EVERY GAME.

HEAR IT LIKE YOU’RE IN IT. 3AW is football. Get the complete run-down on Sports Today with Gerard Healy and Dwayne Russell from 6pm Monday to Thursday on 3AW 693.

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WHAT WE

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LOVED ABOUT...

ON CUE: Jason

Round 20

Akermanis fired the Dogs.

Dogged display i Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade was a proud man last Saturday night, hailing his side’s three-goal win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba as their best effort of the season.

It was a big call, considering they have comprehensively beaten the likes of Adelaide (33 points at AAMI Stadium in round seven), Hawthorn (88 points at Docklands in round 14) and Port Adelaide (93 points in Darwin in round 12).

But this was extra special. It was a triumph over adversity.

The Bulldogs entered the Gabba clash suitably chastened after a disastrous loss to West Coast at Docklands the previous week. They needed to win to maintain their grip on a top-four berth and double-chance, which seemed to be slipping away.

They were without stars Daniel Cross, Ryan Griffen and Shaun Higgins (for the third week), and were pitted against a virtually full-strength Lions.

They approached it like a final and stormed to a 39-point lead early in the third term. But with several injuries hampering

the Dogs in the second half, the Lions were always going to make inroads, and they did, slashing the deficit to just 13 points midway through the final term as they too sniffed a top-four berth.

That was the cue for some magic from Jason Akermanis, who, just like he has done so many times at the Gabba, slotted a brilliant left-footer on the run from a tight angle.

It was the reassurance the Dogs needed to cling to a three-goal buffer.

Ominous Pies Collingwood enjoyed a landslide win over Richmond last weekend, continuing a very good recent run for the Pies.

The Magpies were brutal, and didn’t allow the Tigers any room to move. It’s the trademark of a Mick Malthouse side: nullify, then crucify. After seven minutes, Richmond led by seven points (2.1 to 1.0), but the Pies had the next 14 scoring shots and by quarter-time the contest was effectively over.

The usual suspects dominated: Dane Swan (34 disposals and 2.2), Scott Pendlebury (31 and 1.0), Didak (29 and 2.1) and Leon Davis (20 and 4.1), while Dayne Beams (30 and 1.1) improves by the week.

The Pies are perhaps the form side of the competition. They’ve won 11 of their past 12 games (including the past four in a row) – by an average of 43 points.

The cards are falling their way – their nemesis, Hawthorn, is virtually out of the finals race.

An eighth successive victory over the Swans would likely secure third spot and a qualifying final berth against a wobbly Geelong.

The black and white army is on the march.

reigning premier Hawthorn … especially considering the Hawks had been regarded as the sleeping giant of the competition until recent weeks.

The Eagles might lay claim to this tag in a season or two.

Demon delight Melbourne has been down for three years, but there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel … and it isn’t a train.

Anyone who saw the Demons sparkle last week, albeit against a dispirited Fremantle, couldn’t help but be optimistic about their future. Youngsters such as Liam Jurrah (who bagged four goals), Cale Morton, James Frawley, Kyle Cheney and Ricky Petterd have Demon fans excited about 2010 and beyond.

BEN COLLI COLLINS

Emerging Eagles It amazing to ponder that the young, under-strength Eagles (who, for much of the season, have been without premiership stars Dean Cox, Daniel Kerr, Beau Waters, Adam Hunter, Ashley Hansen and Brent Staker) are just a game behind

EXCITING:

Lynden Dunn (left) and Liam Jurrah.

FEEL EVERY BUMP.

HEAR IT LIKE YOU’RE IN IT. 3AW is football. Tune in to four quarters of all-star broadcast with Rex Hunt, Dennis Cometti, Tony Leonard and Shane Healy at 3AW 693.

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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

A N A LY S I S

THE GODFATHER OF STATS

Ted Hopkins

Founder of Champion Data and Carlton premiership player THE GODFATHER LADDER The Godfather likes looking at ladder percentage to predict who will win the premiership.

Usually it’s a better indicator of who will win the flag than number of games won.

Over a period of time, percentage is a true measure of a team’s attacking prowess balanced against its defensive capabilities, but a team’s number of wins can often include a handful of close – and lucky – victories.

Overall, it is rare for a team to win a premiership with a percentage below 120. The Sydney Swans did it in 2005 with a percentage of 116.39, but they flew home in the second half of season, when their percentage was 143.08.

Splitting the home and away season into two halves is a favourite activity of The Godfather. As the ladder for rounds 12-20 shows (see right),

Collingwood with a percentage of 145.6 is the competition’s form side, followed by Adelaide (134.76), St Kilda (133.54) and the Western Bulldogs (132.14).

Geelong is good enough to win the premiership with its season percentage of 128.53. However, from rounds 12-20, the Cats’ percentage has dipped to an alarming 102.85. In that time, they have also won three games by less than a goal. Living on the edge so often is a risk.

STRONG FINISH: The Swans’ percentage

GODFATHER LADDER, ROUNDS 12-20

Case (16 Boxes + Case Card)

1. Holofoil Parallel Set (195): 1 : pack Full Set (195) $245

Brisbane Lions

127.60 136.73

2002

Brisbane Lions

2003

Brisbane Lions

121.94

2 St Kilda

32

864

647

133.54

2004

Port Adelaide

132.36

3 Adelaide

24

818

607

134.76

2005

Sydney Swans

116.39

4 Western Bulldogs

24

962

728

132.14

2006

West Coast

120.44

5 Carlton

24

862

799

107.88

2007

Geelong

152.76

2008

Hawthorn

131.85

24

829

806

102.85

*AFTER HOME AND AWAY SEASON.

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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

E X PA N S I O N

Community asked to play a role PETER DI SISTO

T

he AFL has called on the greater western Sydney communities “to take ownership” of the planned 18th AFL club by backing the new club and getting involved in the development of its name, colours, theme song and mascot.

Last month, the AFL announced it had established a community advisory group to put together a business plan for the proposed club.

The next phase of the process – the launch of the Team GWS campaign – was outlined at a function held before the round 20 Sydney Swans-Geelong match at ANZ Stadium.

More than 500 people from the greater western Sydney business community attended the event and heard from AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou, AFL

THE FUTURE: AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou with young players from the Holroyd-Parramatta Goannas club and coach Tony Cocks.

ambassador Kevin Sheedy, AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn and Geelong player Ranga Ediriwickrama, who was recruited from the western Sydney area.

Team GWS is built on the theme of “common values and collective pride”, with the logo featuring the iconic red Sherrin football with four goal posts “to signify a bright future on the horizon”.

The 14 communities that make up the greater western

Sydney area are the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Penrith, Parramatta, Holroyd, Fairfield, Auburn, Bankstown, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Camden and Wollondilly.

The Team GWS campaign is now seeking the support of the local business community to join up as founding business supporters and sponsors of the 18th team.

The Team GWS campaign will build the business and

support case for the 18th club, which is due to enter the AFL competition in 2012.

“The launch of Team GWS is one of the first steps in the journey towards the development of the identity of the football team,” AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said.

“As this campaign takes shape, we are encouraging the 14 diverse communities of greater western Sydney to join Team GWS and be a part of history. Team GWS is a team we can all be proud of, and be part of, based on unity and inclusion.

“The involvement and support of the local community is essential. We want people in the area to take ownership of this club.”

Community advisory group spokesperson Christine Cawsey, principal of Rooty Hill High School, said it was important to engage the area’s communities.

“We are now in a position to show the area what the AFL has to offer and, most importantly, how they too can become involved,” Ms Cawsey said.

Visit teamgws.com.au to express interest in Team GWS or to find out more.

S TAT I S T I C A L F O C U S

Key men need to be on line The importance of tall forwards firing at the business end of the season is well understood. In tight finals games, when pressure on ball-carriers is at its peak, teams require a viable option to either mark or bring the ball to ground inside forward 50.

But it’s important key forwards capitalise on their chances, lest their misfiring in front of the big sticks saps the confidence of the entire team and gives the opposition an unwanted boost. Cameron Mooney’s inaccuracy in the 2008 Grand Final (2.3) when the Cats were holding sway kept Hawthorn in the match.

NEWS TRACKER

Last week, St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt missed a chance to win the game for the Saints after the final siren, creating more discussion about his kicking technique in highpressure situations.

Of the teams in the top eight, the Brisbane Lions have easily the most accurate key-position combination – Jonathan Brown (63.4 per cent) and Daniel Bradshaw (75).

Essendon’s Jay Neagle (85 per cent from 20 scoring shots), Collingwood’s John Anthony (66.2), St Kilda’s Juston Koschitzke (64.5) Geelong’s Tom Hawkins (61.5) and Adelaide’s Kurt Tippet (61.8) are also firing.

However, the Crows are yet to settle on a tall partner for Tippett, with Taylor Walker out of favour and Trent Hentschel only recently returning from injury.

ANDREW WALLACE

ACCURACY OF TOP EIGHT TEAMS’ KEY FORWARDS CLUB

PLAYER

St Kilda St Kilda Geelong Geelong Collingwood Collingwood Bulldogs Bulldogs Carlton Carlton Adelaide Adelaide Bris Lions Bris Lions Essendon Essendon

Justin Koschitzke Nick Riewoldt Tom Hawkins Cameron Mooney John Anthony Travis Cloke Brad Johnson Scott Welsh Brendan Fevola Setanta O’hAilpin Kurt Tippett Taylor Walker Daniel Bradshaw Jonathan Brown y Matthew Lloyd Jay Neagle

GOALS BEHINDS 40 59 24 35 43 20 27 17 74 10 42 23 45 71 35 17

22 39 15 35 22 18 21 13 54 8 26 19 15 41 25 3

ACC. (%) 64.5 60.2 61.5 50.0 66.2 52.6 56.3 56.7 57.8 55.6 61.8 54.8 75.0 63.4 58.3 85.0

OFF TARGET: Nick Riewoldt misses the shot for goal that would have won the game for the Saints last week.

Melbourne president Jim Stynes tells club website his recovery from surgery to remove cancer is going well.

20 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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B O O K E XC E R P T

As a Cat, Newman remains humble

ON THE WAY: A young John ‘Sam’ Newman, who went on to play 300 games for the Cats.

BEN COL LINS

Y

ounger generations know him as the controversial star of The Footy Show, but although John ‘Sam’ Newman is routinely introduced as a former ‘300-game superstar’, most viewers born post-1970 have only limited knowledge of Newman the footballer.

The fact is Newman was a fine player – indeed, he was one of Geelong’s greatest ruckmen, deemed good enough to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

He enjoyed six top-three placings in the Cats’ best and fairest, winning it twice, earned All-Australian selection, represented Victoria eight times and played the second most games for the club (behind only Ian Nankervis, who notched 325).

But you won’t hear the man himself volunteer any of this information.

Although you sense he is proud of the mental strength that carried him through 17 seasons, many of them injury-plagued, Newman is humble to the point of being dismissive when asked to explain his success.

His self-analysis is a case in point: “I suppose I was pretty athletic … I was OK with my hands, a reasonable mark … I read the play all right – that’s one thing I could do. But that’s about it. Nothing exceptional that’s really worthy of comment.”

Peers say he was a fierce competitor who never shirked a contest, but Newman retorts: “Anyone who plays for any length of time is a strong competitor. Some are stronger than others, but I defy anyone to point out a 200-game player who isn’t a strong competitor.”

NEWS TRACKER

He was also regarded as a particularly hard trainer, but again Newman interjects. “Being a hard trainer is not a great trait; that’s just common sense,” he says. “You’re either in it or you aren’t; and if you aren’t, you’ll fall by the wayside.

“Having a vibrant social life while you’re trying to play League football is a contradiction in terms. Being conscientious is a pre-requisite.”

And so it went. It’s almost as though he has an inbuilt praise-deflector.

Asked how he would like to be remembered as a player, he replies: “I gave it my all and was an occasionally good contributor to the club. Nothing more, nothing less. If people remember me, that’s good; but I wouldn’t expect them to.”

Plenty do. Bob Davis vividly recalls watching Newman strut his stuff for Geelong Grammar in 1963. The then-Geelong coach marvelled: “You only needed

I suppose I was pretty athletic … I was OK with my hands, a reasonable mark … I read the play all right – that’s one thing I could do. But that’s about it SAM NEWMAN

to have eyes to see he’d play League football – he kicked 16 goals from centre half-forward!”

Newman claims he bagged 18.

“But technicalities aside,” he says, “it was fortuitous that I played so well on the day Bobby graced us with his presence.”

Although also a talented athlete who was a long jump and hurdles champion in the Associated Public Schools sports competition, Newman harboured only one burning ambition: to play for the Cats.

His hero was their peerless ruckman Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer.

Armed with this information, Davis gave the 17-year-old a “sweetener” – Farmer’s “dirty, old, sweaty” No. 5 training jumper. Newman “didn’t need to be asked twice” to join Geelong.

While still at school, he played five reserves games for the Cats at the end of 1963, including two finals. He described it as “a good entrée to senior football”.

After graduating from the Grammar, Newman went against the grain by not pursuing university studies or a professional career. For a time, he worked as a bank teller, purely so he could get to football training on time.

Newman made his senior debut against Fitzroy in round three, 1964 – no mean feat considering the reigning premier had lost just eight of its previous 38 games. With the four points in the bag in the last quarter, Newman was given a run.

Davis recalls: “I said, ‘Put the CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE

North Melbourne’s Daniel Wells to miss the rest of the season with a groin/abdominal injury.

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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PE PERSON ERS SON > FA FAC FACTS CTS > DA DATA ATA T > CU C CULTURE LTURE

kid from the Grammar on; let’s see if he can play’. And, boy, could the kid play.”

Farmer agrees: “Sam enjoyed an excellent reputation as a school footballer that was entirely warranted.”

Early in his career, Newman earned the nickname ‘Sam’, which was inspired by The Jackie Gleason Show. In the rooms before training one night, he mimicked Gleason telling his band leader Sam Spear: “A little bit of travelling music, Sam”, and Davis completed the line: “And awaaay we go!” And so, Sam was born.

Newman had the “rarest privilege” of spending four years as Farmer’s understudy. He says: “I got all of my limited talent and ability just from watching the great man go about his business.”

Strangely, the master didn’t provide any one-on-one tutelage to his apprentice, but Newman believes it was “the best instruction you could get”.

He once told the Geelong Advertiser: “Without speaking one word, he (Farmer) taught me everything I know. I watched how a man overcomes not the physical, not the mental, but the spiritual – that’s the most important.”

Newman was intrigued by – among other things – Farmer’s accurate tapwork and his ability to adapt his game to his opponent. He says he was “one of Polly’s greatest disciples”, before editing himself: “Well, I was a disciple, put it that way.” However, there were times when Farmer spoke forcefully to his protégé.

The pair had a “very loose plan” at centre bounces whereby Newman would impede the run of the opposition ruckman “to allow Polly to do what he did best”.

At the opening bounce of a match against Carlton, Newman blocked Blues ruckman Maurie Sankey and enabled Farmer to set up a goal. Sankey warned: “Don’t do that again.”

Ignoring the warning, he again obstructed Sankey, for the same result via a Farmer assist, except this time Sankey knocked the “bejeezus” out of him, breaking his jaw in two places.

NEWS TRACKER

FLYING CAT: Although best known for his self-deprecating persona on the The Footy Show, Sam Newman was a champion ruckman for Geelong, winning two best and fairests, earning All-Australian selection and captaining the club.

(“After that,” Newman says, “I never turned my back on anyone who threatened me.”)

As he lay in a semi-stupor and quaintly pondered how neatly he fitted into the centre circle – “There were six inches to spare at the end of my boots and six inches from my head” – the massive figure of Farmer glowered over him.

“Polly didn’t have any sympathy for me,” Newman recalls. “There was no: ‘Great work, let me help you up’.

Through gritted teeth, all he said was: ‘Get up – you’re holding up the game!’”

A

nother heavy knock, this time early in the 1967 first semi-final, had far more serious ramifications. Newman slipped on the MCG’s old practice-wicket area and copped a knee from Collingwood big man Ernie Hug. It cost him a kidney, and what would have been his only Grand Final appearance. He listened to the game from his hospital bed as Geelong lost a thriller to

Richmond by just nine points.

“The trauma of an injury like that has to be experienced to be understood,” he says.

Doctors typically erred on the side of caution. “They basically said: ‘If this happens again, you won’t have any kidneys and you’ll be stuffed. So it’s probably a good idea not to play’. But I decided to take my chances.”

Farmer returned to Perth at the end of that season, thrusting Newman, then 22, into the No. 1 ruck role – a mantle he held for the next decade. Farmer says: “Sam was well-equipped: he had great fitness, was elusive, athletic, versatile, he could also take a great pack mark and he was smart enough to take advantage of other people’s weaknesses.”

John Nicholls, Carlton’s great ruckman, also observed: “Sam served a great apprenticeship under Polly and was a very good player in his own right. He followed all the glitter of Polly and was compared to him, but he handled it all very well.”

Initially at least, while the physical wounds from his kidney

rem removal had healed, the mental scar scars remained. “It certainly play played on my mind for a while,” New Newman concedes.

It couldn’t have concerned him for very long, though – he rrecovered to win his first club best and fairest in 1968.

“Bu “But this is what this game is ab about: overcoming fear,” New Newman emphasises.

“I “It’s fine to prevail while eve everything is in your favour, but it’s another thing entirely to prevail when the outlook is a bit grim.”

It’s no surprise that Newman was at his best when he was relatively injury-free and able to complete all the training. During these periods, he felt he had “a much better than even chance of succeeding”, adding: “I always thought I was as good as most opponents, and maybe even better than a lot of them.”

Newman captained the Cats for two seasons (1974-75) and won a second best and fairest, but injuries got him in the end.

In addition to the kidney and the jaw, he suffered a broken arm and leg, a detached retina and notoriously bad ankles that required seven major operations.

Tellingly, he regards himself as “very passionately a Geelong sympathiser” and readily volunteers that his success in the media traces back to his days with the Cats.

“I am where I am today – wherever that is – because I played football for Geelong,” Newman declares. “I owe my career, my vocation and my life to that fact.”

This is an excerpt from We Are Geelong – The Story of the Geelong Football Club Since 1859 (Slattery Media Group, $69.95 RRP), which is available from bookstores, the Cats Shop or via slatterymedia.com/books

Collingwood mourns the passing of Marie Malthouse, 83, mother of coach Mick.

22 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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H I S T O RY

Past two decades feature in Hawks’ update Football clubs are always changing, and they are subject to constant reassessment.

So it is appropriate – and with a perfect sense of timing – that journalist Michael Gordon joined forces with his father, Harry, to update Harry’s history of the Hawthorn Football Club, The Hard Way. The updated version, One For All, covers Hawthorn’s past two decades, with the 1991 and 2008 premierships as bookends, with the bitter, aborted merger proposal that almost tore the club apart, also documented.

“The Hard Way was the story of a club that went from an easybeat to such a great era of success, culminating in the back-to-back premierships of 1988 and ’89,” Michael Gordon said.

“I take up with the end of that era, with one more flag (1991).

Then, there was the merger (1996), and the rebuilding of

the club. We did agree that we wanted a happy ending, and last year’s flag gave us that.”

There are some updates to the original text, particularly with fresh information about the founding of the club, as well as eight new chapters detailing Hawthorn’s fluctuating fortunes over the past 20 years.

I love you, but I don’t agree with you, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep Hawthorn the way it is CHRIS LANGFORD TO BRIAN COLEMAN IN 1996

“What really struck me was the honesty of the people involved,” Gordon said. “It’s easy to talk about your achievements in the game, but it is a lot harder to talk about some of the negative things.”

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Part of those included the exclusion of stars from the 1991 premiership side, the sacking of three coaches (Alan Joyce, Peter Knights and Peter Schwab) and the controversial merger debate that pitted friend against friend.

Protagonists from the merger debate talk about the most divisive time in the club’s history.

The resistance started with a small group of supporters and grew with the formation of Don Scott’s Operation Payback group.

“All of the people involved loved the club passionately, but just had different views about how it could survive – whether it could be a separate entity or whether it had to merge,” Gordon said.

This was summed up by two incredible conversations brought to light in the book. The first concerned veteran defender and past skipper Chris Langford telling then president Brian Coleman after the “merger match” with Melbourne in round 22 of 1996, “I love you, but I don’t agree with you, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep Hawthorn the way it is.”

The second came last year when, at a function for Shane Crawford’s 300th game, Coleman – once criticised for advocating the merger, but now a member of Hawthorn’s Hall of Fame – told ex-president Ian Dicker, the man who helped save the Hawks, “Thank you for what you have done for my club.”

One For All culminates with the story of Hawthorn’s 2008 premiership.

GLENN MCFARLANE

All for One (Wilkinson Publishing, 69.95 RRP) is available from the Hawks Shop at Waverley or via hawthornfc.com.au

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19/8/09 5:10:11 PM

COACHES C COA CO OA ON COACHING – PART 7

COACHING

MAKING A POINT:

Dean Bailey wants his young players to understand his game-plan and team structures.

young players

Preparing and developing young players to maximise their potential is a team effort as Melbourne coach Dean Bailey explains in the seventh part of the AFL Record’s Coaches on Coaching series.

W

hen you get a young player into your club, it’s important to evaluate their skill set immediately, so you can address any technical flaws and improve their strengths.

At Melbourne, I’ve got a whole team of experts to help me do this. There are our assistant coaches Mark Williams, Sean Wellman and Josh Mahoney, development coaches Kelly O’Donnell and Scott West, VFL coach Peter German and biomechanics coach Kevin Ball.

In particular, we’ll analyse a player’s kicking technique.

O’Donnell is our designated kicking coach and Ball looks at the mechanics of a player’s technique.

If a young fella has a poor ball drop, then we’ve got to come up

with ball-handling exercises that get him to hold the ball longer and guide it closer to his foot.

In terms of your team’s game-plan, young players need to understand your structures and set-ups, so that’s something we teach all our young guys.

We might get a couple of senior players to speak to them initially, and then an assistant coach, or I will walk them through these strategies until they feel comfortable practising them at training.

It’s important for them to understand these things early on because most come out of the TAC Cup with some idea of how they work, but we take it to another level.

The other thing we do straight away is have our medical and fitness staff set a tailored program for each new player.

If our fitness manager Joel Hocking or athletic development coach Bohdan Babijczuk see

a flaw in a player’s running technique, they will spend time with them to correct that.

If there’s a flaw in how they do their weights training, our strength and conditioning coach Valeri Stoimenov will correct that.

We want to fix any technique problems early so players have no ongoing problems and can continue their physical development in the correct manner.

As a senior coach, you have got a vital teaching role to play with young players. There are three teaching methods you can, and should, utilise – verbal, written and physical (practical training drills).

When teaching strategy, it should not be a one-way discussion. At meetings, ask the players questions – for example, what experience have they had with zones?

When I was an assistant

coach at Port Adelaide (from 2002-07) under Mark Williams, this was something he was very strong on. By doing this, you will ensure players are alert and concentrating, while they will often surprise you with their existing knowledge.

If we identify players with little knowledge of a particular area, obviously we have got to spend more time teaching them.

As senior coach, I like to get involved in as many areas of a young player’s development as I can. In this regard, my experience as a development coach at Essendon (in 2000-01) and at Port Adelaide was invaluable.

At Essendon, in particular, I was able to learn a lot about physical conditioning from fitness coaches John Quinn, Andrew Russell and Justin Cordy.

Kevin Sheedy gave me a great opportunity to be AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 57

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COACHES ON COACHING – PART 7

experimental in my role, so I could test new things with the young players and I found that really interesting.

Working with them and listening to what they had to say made me challenge the views I had thought were right and identify a better way of doing things.

But as hands-on as I like to be, you have to empower your team of coaches and experts to do their jobs, so you can best utilise their expertise. Then by debating and questioning their recommendations, you hope to come up with the best strategy for developing the particular young player.

How do you know when that youngster is ready to play senior football?

Well, if I take Jack Watts as an example, we looked at him and said unless he could meet certain physical requirements – in bench pressing, squatting, running and training volume – we wouldn’t play him.

Obviously, there was the added dimension of him still being at school, and trying to ensure his training load did not affect his schooling. This was very important.

Then, he had to demonstrate at training and in VFL games with Casey that he was ready to play and could play a certain role for us.

Only when he meet all of these requirements did he make his debut against Collingwood in round 11 – and that’s the case with any young player.

That said, when a youngster’s form has been good enough for us to give him a chance, we hope to be able to pick him for at least two games, and a third if possible. Hopefully, this will give him the time he needs to adjust to the pace of the AFL and find some confidence.

With any young players who come into the senior side for extended stints, you have to watch them closely to ensure they don’t become worn out, because if they do, they become susceptible to soft-tissue and other injuries.

For instance, in his debut season last year, Cale Morton managed 19 games, which was an outstanding effort, but

LEARNING CURVE: Dean Bailey is overseeing a very young group at Melbourne, including No. 1 draft pick Jack Watts (pictured in background).

1 2 You only want to expose youngsters to senior footy when they’re reasonably fresh and mentally ready to go

3

DEAN BAILEY

by round 12 he had started to look tired and his intensity at training was dropping off.

He wasn’t injured but I looked at him and thought, ‘This bloke has all the symptoms of being a bit tired’.

We dropped him and sent him away for that whole weekend for a rest. He came back the following Monday and was right for the rest of the year.

This year, we’ve done the same thing with Neville Jetta, Jamie Bennell and Liam Jurrah.

You sometimes hear people say that younger players are more inconsistent than experienced players, but I think if you manage them in this manner, the difference between their good and bad games is usually no greater than senior players’ form fluctuations.

Managing your younger players like this is also important to ensure you get the right balance between developing your list and fielding a competitive side each week. You only want to expose youngsters to senior footy when

they’re reasonably fresh and mentally ready to go.

I think if you’re doing that and you rotate them through the VFL – one in, one out – then you are developing them the right way and getting the best player mix for the senior team.

Your senior players can also be a fantastic asset in fast-tracking the development of your club’s youth. They’re not only invaluable role models but they can help their younger teammates tactically and direct them at training and in games.

Melbourne’s leaders have been fantastic at helping to develop our young players and, by doing so, they can see they are also fast-tracking the development of what should soon be a very competitive team.

As a coach, I get enormous excitement out of seeing our young players develop. A key part of coaching is wanting your

4 5

6

7

Immediately evaluate young players’ skills, understanding of game strategies and physical fitness to identify weaknesses that need work.

As a coach, you have got a vital teaching role with players and should utilise verbal, written and practical teaching methods.

At meetings, ask players questions. You will ensure they are alert and concentrating and they will often surprise you with their knowledge.

Empower your team of coaches and experts to do their jobs, so you can best utilise their specialised knowledge.

Set physical and form parameters your younger players must meet before they are rewarded with a senior game.

Rest your young players if they are showing signs of fatigue. This decreases their risk of injury and should improve their consistency.

Utilise your senior players to help fast-track your youngsters’ development.

They are fantastic role models.

players to have great careers, wanting them to be successful.

Not all of them will be, but when you sit there after a game and analyse it, you find yourself saying, “Wasn’t that a great kick from Neville Jetta? Wasn’t that a great goal from Liam Jurrah?

Isn’t it great to see Cale Morton still developing?”

It’s one of the best feelings a coach can have. As is knowing your coaching and fitness team has provided these youngsters with an environment in which they can reach their potential.

AS TOLD TO NICK BOWEN

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LEARNER TO LEADER:

It has been a steep learning curve for Aaron Sandilands who joined the Dockers as a rookie and is now part of the club’s leadership group.

60 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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19/8/09 4:34:30 PM

The continuing

rise of Aaron

Sandilands

He is already football’s biggest man, but in ominous news for opponents, Aaron Sandilands says he is enjoying a growth spurt – not in physique but in his knowledge and impact on the game. And, despite recent media speculation that he may be on the move, the star ruckman says his future is definitely with the Dockers. NICK BOW EN

A

aron Sandilands is the most daunting sight an opposition ruckman can see staring at him from the other side of the centre circle.

The League’s tallest player, Sandilands, 211cm, has dominated ruck contests all over the ground since he debuted for Fremantle in round one, 2003.

But as good a tap ruckman as he is, Sandilands is more than a mere hit-out machine. Much more.

While his ruckwork has always stood out, the other facets of his game have grown consistently over the past seven seasons. Worse still for his opponents, they continue to grow.

Take his around-the-ground play, for instance. While he averaged 7.2 disposals a game in 2003, he has worked hard to improve his fitness ever since and this year is averaging a career-high 17.2 possessions. Of the League’s ruckmen, only West Coast’s Dean Cox and Collingwood’s Josh Fraser have averaged more this season.

He has also become more of a goalkicker when resting in the forward line. Despite missing two

games with a hamstring injury (rounds 15-16), he has kicked a career-high 12 goals this season. His previous best tally came last year when he kicked eight.

The defensive side of Sandilands’ game is also improving, the big man laying a career-high 34 tackles this year, averaging almost two a game.

Admittedly, statistics only ever tell part of the story, especially in this era of possession football, when players’ possession tallies are often inflated by the soft touches on offer when a team transfers play or attempts to slow down the game.

Remarkably, 177 of Sandilands’ 310 possessions – or 57 per cent – this year have been contested. This ranks him 11th in the League, but the competition’s leading contested-possession winner Chris Judd (218) has won just 41.7 per cent of his possessions in contests.

Only two other ruckmen – Essendon’s Patrick Ryder (53.8 per cent) and the Western Bulldogs’ Ben Hudson (52.4 per cent) – win more than half their possessions in contests, while Cox (41.2 per cent) and Fraser (37 per cent) rely more on uncontested possessions.

Of Sandilands’ contested possessions, 24 have come from contested marks – also the highest tally for a ruckman.

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 61

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Sandilands, 26, is suitably modest when asked about his progression as a player, saying it’s due to experience and hard work.

“I’ve played more than a 100 games now (133) so I’ve just started to know and learn (how to play) AFL I suppose,” Sandilands said.

“I’ve always wanted to be able to push forward and spend more time out on the ground and (Dockers coach) Mark Harvey has given me that opportunity this year.

“My play around the ground is something I’ve had to work really hard at, positioning around the ground and getting my fitness up to a certain level to be able to run more.”

As much as Sandilands has improved the other areas of his game, he remains a formidable presence at ruck contests.

Averaging the most hit-outs in the League, 32.4 a game, more importantly, Sandilands finds one of his teammates with 22.4 per cent of those taps. He has found a teammate with 131 hit-outs this season, second only to the Sydney Swans’ Darren Jolly (145).

His ruck dominance and continually evolving all-round game was recognised when he was named on the interchange bench of last year’s AllAustralian team, with four-time selection Cox in the ruck.

It is a remarkable rise for someone who came to Fremantle as a 19-year-old rookie in 2002, but the NAB AFL Rookie Draft has a history of unearthing hidden ruck gems.

Cox, widely considered the best ruckman in the game, and Port Adelaide premiership player Dean Brogan were selected in the 2000 rookie draft, while Jolly, a member of the Swans’ 2005 flag-winning side, was selected the following year by his first club, Melbourne.

But Sandilands says he had minimal expectations when he joined the Dockers.

“You dream about playing in the AFL but, to be honest, I never really thought I was going to be good enough to make it,” Sandilands said.

“It was a very daunting feeling to walk into Fremantle and meet all the guys you had watched on television. But over time you

FAR REACHING:

Aaron Sandilands averages the most hit-outs (32.4 a game) of any ruckman in the AFL in 2009.

You dream about playing in the AFL but, to be honest, I never really thought I was going to be good enough to make it AARON SANDILANDS

become used to it and it’s a very enjoyable place to be.”

The AFL Record spoke to Sandilands over the phone recently as another disappointing season for Fremantle neared its end.

Friendly but not a big talker, Sandilands spoke of his pride at being elevated to Fremantle’s leadership group this season, his disappointment at the Dockers’ slide down the ladder since their preliminary final appearance in 2006 and his excitement at the potential of his club’s emerging young talent.

On a personal note, he revealed – with a chuckle – his superstitions include wearing the same pair of “lucky” speedos during every game.

He also outed himself as a blueberry muffin eater, a Geelong supporter while growing up in Mount Barker, 360km south of Perth (“I was a massive Billy Brownless and Gary Ablett snr fan”), an avid cricket follower (“it was good the Aussies had a win over the Poms in the fourth Test”) and a social golfer.

For the past two years, Sandilands has supported the Asthma Foundation of Western Australia’s Knockout Asthma campaign, with sponsors contributing money for every hit-out he wins.

“I’m fortunate enough not to have suffered from asthma myself, but when I was asked

to help out, I was only too happy,” he said.

Before he was drafted, Sandilands worked for his father, Gary on a lawnmowing round he bought when the family moved from Mount Barker to Perth when Sandilands was about 15.

For four years, Sandilands helped out whenever he could: “I loved it. It was great to be outdoors in the sun.”

But his involvement in the family business cost him the second, or pointer, toe on his right foot.

“I was just mucking around and dropped a packet of engine blades on it and chopped it off,” he says matter of factly.

Yes, Sandilands reliably informs me, lawnmower blades are sharp enough to do that.

Fortunately, the injury has had no effect on his

62 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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19/8/09 4:55:02 PM

football – and he can now see the accident’s lighter side.

“If you are going to lose a toe, that’s the best one to lose,” Sandilands said. “It’s also one less toenail to cut.”

As personally satisfying as his form has been in recent seasons, Sandilands longs to help lift Fremantle back into the finals.

After last season’s exodus of senior players, including Heath Black, Josh and Matthew Carr, Jeff Farmer, Mark Johnson and Shaun McManus, Sandilands was elevated to the leadership group.

It reflects his growing standing within the club and is a role he has enjoyed and takes seriously.

Having played in all four of the finals the Dockers have contested since their inception in 1995 – and been listed in their best players in three of those games – Sandilands wants the younger players to experience the wave of excitement the Dockers and the city of Fremantle rode in 2006, when the club finally won its first final and finished the season fourth on the ladder.

“It was a great time, especially that second half of

the year, when we got a run on, winning a few games in a row (the Dockers finished the home and away season with nine consecutive wins),” he said.

“It was very exciting for the club and Fremantle in general. There was a good feeling around the place.

“It’s been very disappointing not to make the finals since.

Finals are why you play the game.

“The pleasing thing this year is we’ve got some good young kids on board who are playing some really good footy.

“They’re a very exciting young bunch, who are willing to learn as much as possible. It’s going to stand us in good stead for the future.”

Sandilands is optimistic youngsters such as Stephen Hill, Nick Suban, Rhys Palmer, Garrick Ibbotson and Greg Broughton will develop quickly enough to enable the Dockers to return to the finals as genuine contenders, while their

impressive array of experienced talls – Matthew Pavlich and Luke McPharlin (both 28 in December), Chris Tarrant (29 in September) and Sandilands – are still at their best.

FREO FOREVER:

Sandilands says he wants to remain with the Dockers.

FAC T F I L E

31

Aaron Sandilands Born: December 6, 1982 Recruited from: East Fremantle Debut: Round 1, 2003 Height: 211cm Weight: 123kg Games: 133 Goals: 46 Player honours: 2nd best and fairest 2008; All-Australian 2008; NAB AFL Rising Star nominee 2003.

Brownlow Medal: career votes 20

“The way these young kids are coming along, if they keep improving the way they are, we’ll be in a good position sooner rather than later,” he said.

Better still for Dockers fans, Sandilands is keen to be at Fremantle when its fortunes turn around, despite recent speculation he may seek a trade to a Melbourne-based club at the end of this season.

“As I’ve said, I think we can have success in the near future and that’s something – having been through the past few seasons – I want to be part of. I’m looking forward to it.”

63 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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CAMERON LING – 200 GAMES

Loyal Ling

The king of Geelong Cameron Ling arrived at Skilled Stadium a decade ago unsure what role he would play or if indeed he would make the grade. But through sheer hard work and dedication, the Cats star has pushed himself to 200 games. H A MISH TOW NSEND

T

here are 135 steps twisting from the soft sand at Jan Juc beach to the top of the cliff that looks out over Bird Rock on Victoria’s picturesque surf coast facing Bass Strait.

After a couple of hours in the freezing water, the weary surfer staggers to the top, feet blue with cold. He might be thinking of the car heater and something warm and greasy to eat. But Cameron Ling is more likely to put the surfboard in the boot, turn around and go back down the stairs – and up and down and up and down.

Ling, one of the most popular Geelong players of the modern era, is due to play his 200th game this weekend. Much of his career has been built on finding something extra – the ‘whatever it takes’ motto is more than appropriate.

Without that attitude, he may never have made it.

Watch Ling closely. He seems to will himself through every contest. Watch as his normally pale skin flushes redder than his mop of hair, his face

AR21 p65-68 Cameron Ling.indd 65

contorted and teeth bared as he dredges up another gulp of air, searching for another gram of energy.

Ling is lauded as the heart and soul of the AFL’s only provincial club. And after Geelong’s 2007 premiership, he was given the honorary title of ‘mayor’ in recognition of the standing he has in the city.

But for a time during and after the 2006 season, it was Ling, as one of the club’s senior players, who bore the brunt of criticism and anger from Cats supporters and the wider Geelong community as they pondered another wasted season that had started with a pre-season premiership and a whole lot of promise.

Ling was fourth in the best and fairest that year, but his critics claimed he had veered too far from his established role as a defensive midfielder and had spent too much of the season chasing kicks.

Few footballers get to live the dream like Ling has.

Born in Geelong, he grew

LOCAL HERO:

Born and bred in Geelong, Cameron Ling has become the heart and soul of his beloved Cats.

19/8/09 4:33:18 PM

up idolising the club and its players. He loved the city and spent many a day watching the Cats train and play games at the ground he would one day make his kingdom.

He was also establishing himself in the region as an outstanding junior player, first for St Joseph’s and then for the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup. When fellow 1999 draftee Joel Corey moved to town from Western Australia, Ling’s local hero status was already apparent.

“I arrived at the club at the same time as him, but he knew everyone around town, so it was a great way to start at the club,” Corey said. “I feel really lucky to be at a club where the people have that feeling of ownership.

They definitely have that feeling for ‘Lingy’, but he has it for them as well.”

Don’t for a minute think Ling’s story is of a kid who came from nowhere, with nothing but guts and determination.

Brisbane Lions captain Jonathan Brown played his junior football in the Warrnambool area in Victoria’s south-west and with the Falcons. He has been playing with and against Ling in various competitions since they were 14, and quickly refutes any idea of Ling being the classic struggler who eventually made it.

“In those Hampton versus Geelong representative games, he was a ruck-rover, similar to now I suppose, but just dominant.

He dominated everyone and

He dominated everyone and was a dead-eye dick in front of goals.

He was just so much bigger and so much better than everyone JONATHAN BROWN ON CAMERON LING

was a dead-eye dick in front of goals,” Brown said. “He was just so much bigger, so much better than everyone.”

Ling’s dream run through the junior ranks saw him travel to Ireland with the AIS-AFL Academy squad (the inaugural 1997 intake) and captain the Geelong Falcons, a team that included Brown, by then the country’s hottest junior prospect.

In his last season with the Falcons, the ‘dead-eye dick’ was regularly kicking bags of goals from full-forward against some of the best kids in the country.

Despite the fact Ling was advised to pull his shorts up to give the impression his stumpy legs were actually longer, he was a star junior with leadership potential. And so the 1999 National Draft beckoned.

To the surprise of many, Ling was overlooked early, with the Cats passing him over for Corey (selected at No. 8), David Spriggs (No. 15), Ezra Bray (No. 17), Daniel Foster (No. 23) and Paul Chapman (No. 31). Finally, with selection 38 – the second-last of its seven picks – Geelong called his name. Interestingly, the

DEDICATION:

Despite being drafted as a key forward, Cameron Ling worked tirelessly to transform himself into one of the game’s premier run-with midfielders.

last pick was Corey Enright at No. 47, so the Cats had selected four players who later became premiership stars.

Brenton Sanderson, now an assistant coach with the Cats, was playing for the club when Ling was drafted. “He just didn’t have the features of a key forward, so he quickly transformed himself into a midfielder,” Sanderson said.

“At the time, we weren’t a very quick club; we were a genuine bottom-eight side actually, but he just had this real desire for the opportunity to play on the opposition’s best players,” he said.

Ling played 10 matches in his debut season. He missed easy goals in his first two games but settled well and finished the season strongly. In 2001, his second year, he played 13

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games (missing the last four with an ankle injury) and impressed with his strong run-with roles against stars such as West Coast’s Ben Cousins and Bulldog Scott West. He received a Rising Star nomination and showed he had plenty of development to come.

What happened over the summer of 2001-02 impressed Sanderson and will live long in Corey’s memory, and might have helped start a cultural shift at a club known more for its pure talent than toughness.

Rather than seeing the pre-season regime as a gruelling build-up to a new year, Ling treated it as merely the starting point for his own torturous campaign to reconfigure his body for a running role at the highest level. Outside of organised training, Ling did soft-sand sprints, went on long endurance runs and climbed up and down those Jan Jac stairs, over and over and over again.

“He was just so grateful to the club he loved and was never going to give less than 100 per cent, but I guess he just had to find something else,” Sanderson said.

“I remember looking at him at the start of that pre-season and thinking, ‘Jeez, he’s skinny’,” Corey said. “By the end of pre-season, blokes were asking him, ‘Hey Lingy are you crook or something?’ His transformation was amazing. That summer made him the man. Everyone wanted to be like him.”

The effort paid off in 2002.

Ling emerged as a ball-winning tagger able to maintain constant pressure on his opponent while still setting up play for the Cats and forcing the opposition to concentrate on him. He led

45

FAC T F I L E

Cameron Ling

CONSISTENT: Cameron Ling’s single-minded commitment has seen him finish

in the top four of the Cats’ best and fairest for the past seven seasons.

By far, he is the one who can concentrate for 100 minutes better than anyone. That’s why no one can break him down or get away from him JOEL COREY ON LING

Geelong for disposals (415 in 21 matches) and finished second in the best and fairest award behind Steven King.

His style was marked by his superb concentration, discipline, fairness and hard work, although a lapse against Collingwood saw him suspended for one match for striking Nathan Buckley.

Ling’s breakout 2002 season, which saw him selected to represent Australia in the International Rules Series, wasn’t a one-off. He finished second in the best and fairest again in 2003 and won it in 2004, by which time he had established himself as a Geelong fan favourite and one of the game’s most reliable performers.

Amazingly, Ling has finished

in the top four in the Cats’ past seven best and fairest counts.

“By far, he is the one who can concentrate for 100 minutes better than anyone. That’s why no one can break him down or get away from him,” Corey said.

The numbers have steadily built for Ling over the years but so has the list of opposition scalps. Read the player profiles of most of the better opposition midfielders and they list Ling, and Sydney’s Brett Kirk, as their toughest opponents.

Ling politely declined to be interviewed for his 200th game, typically preferring to focus on the team, not himself. His loyalty shone through when he was interviewed for We Are Geelong – The Story of the Geelong Football

Born: February 27, 1981 Recruited from: St Joseph’s/ Geelong U18 Debut: Round 10, 2000, v Port Adelaide Height: 189cm Weight: 92kg Games: 199 Goals: 112 Player honours: best and fairest 2004; 2nd best and fairest 2002, 2003; 3rd best and fairest 2007; All-Australian 2007; International Rules Series 2002; AFL Rising Star nominee 2001; premiership side 2007; pre-season premiership sides 2006, 2009.

Brownlow Medal: 67 career votes

Club, the club’s official 150-year history recently published by the Slattery Media Group.

“Whenever my contract’s up, even if there was the offer to go to another club or Geelong wanted to get rid of me, I don’t think I could do it (play for someone else). I love the town and the whole environment as a club in the town, and working together,” he said. “I came to the club wanting to achieve one thing, and that was to win a premiership, and I got to do that. And it’s funny, as soon as you win one, it’s such a great feeling that you just want to win another.”

Ling is the 25th Geelong player to reach 200 games, joining fellow bloodnuts Barry Stoneham, Neville Bruns, Tim McGrath and Robert ‘Scratcher’ Neal. In terms of tenacity and popularity, Ling certainly sits comfortably among that group.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MICHAEL LOVETT

WATCH BEFORE THE GAME SATURDAY NIGHTS ON TEN

beforethegame.com.au LADDER ANDY DAVE LEHMO SAM MICK STRAUCHANIE

115 114 104 108 101 49

TIPSTERS

MICK Geelong Cats Carlton Adelaide Brisbane Lions Hawthorn St Kilda Collingwood Fremantle

68 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au b4thgame_RD21.indd 1

AR21 p65-68 Cameron Ling.indd 68

LEHMO Geelong Cats Carlton Adelaide Brisbane Lions Hawthorn St Kilda Collingwood Essendon

DAVE Western Bulldogs Carlton Adelaide Brisbane Lions Hawthorn St Kilda Collingwood Fremantle

STRAUCHANIE Western Bulldogs Melbourne West Coast Eagles Port Adelaide Richmond North Melbourne Sydney Swans Fremantle

SAM Geelong Cats Carlton Adelaide Brisbane Lions Hawthorn St Kilda Collingwood Fremantle

ANDY Western Bulldogs Carlton Adelaide Brisbane Lions Hawthorn St Kilda Collingwood Fremantle

19/8/09 3:50:34 PM

19/8/09 4:34:04 PM

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The AFL Logo and competing team logos, emblems and names on this product are all trademarks of, and used under license from the Australian Football League by whom all © copyrights and other rights of reproduction are reserved. “ ”, “PlayStation” and “ ” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. “ ” is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation. © 2009 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. All rights reserved. *Broadband internet service required.

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time on Answer man

AFL history guru Col Hutchinson answers your queries.

DRAWING POWER: Darren Crocker won

Luck of the draw

his first points as a caretaker coach after a draw against Richmond in round 16.

Darren Crocker is in the unique position of recording a draw as a senior coach before having a win.

Has this happened before at AFL level to any other coach?

third Kangaroos coach to open his match points account with a tied result. Wilson needed a strong heart early in his coaching career, tying his first match, winning his third by a point, tying his fourth and losing his fifth and seventh by three and seven points respectively. Donnelly coached his club in a total of 14 matches without a win, but was unlucky to lose four of them by four points or fewer.

DAVID PROLLIUS, ST ALBANS, VIC

CH: There have been seven

previous instances. Billy Orchard (Geelong captain-coach) was the first, on debut in round one, 1914. Amazingly, in the opening round of 1921, opposing captain-coaches Percy Wilson (Melbourne) and Percy Ogden (Essendon), both in their first match in the role, shared the points at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. The others have been Gerry Donnelly (North Melbourne replacement captaincoach) in round 13, 1926; Keith McKenzie (North Melboune stand-in non-playing coach)

on debut in round eight, 1966; John Birt (Essendon non-playing coach) in round three, 1971; and Roger Merrett (Brisbane’s replacement non-playing coach) on debut in round 12, 1998.

Darren Crocker became the

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 former players Richard James Casey or William Hennington?

It is believed ‘Dick’ Casey was adopted, originally carrying the surname Carrick. He was recruited from Brunswick to South Melbourne in 1905. During an eight-season career, he kicked 93 goals in 112 matches. He had the misfortune to experience Grand Final losses in 1907 and

1912. Ironically, after playing every lead-up match of 1909, he missed selection in the premiership team due to injury.

A flu epidemic claimed his life on April 16, 1919, at the age of 37.

Bill Hennington was recruited as a 178cm 74kg half-back flanker from local feeder club Leopold

to South Melbourne in 1914 and played six matches. On July 11, 1964, he passed away aged 73.

Should you have any information regarding either player, including their dates of birth, contact Col Hutchinson on (03) 9643 1929 or email col.hutchinson@afl.com.au.

NAB AF RISINGL STAR

p76

NAME GAME

God’s gift Collingwood’s Alan Toovey (pictured) has a connection with one of the greats of his club.

The name Toovey is a variation of Tovey which derives from the Old Norse name Tófi, a short form of the many compound names whose first part was the divine name Thor (king of the gods) and whose second part began with an f or a v – for example, Thor + valdr (power) gave the name Thorold. As Magpie fans should know, there has only ever been one Thorold, the diminutive Thorold Merrett, whose left foot seemed driven by divine power. Thor also appears in the name of Tiger Will Thursfield (“Thor’s field”) and possibly of the legendary Albert Thurgood, Champion of the Colony, who shares his name with recent Hawk Josh Thurgood – although their name could also be a form of Thorogood, as in Ian Thorogood, the Melbourne premiership player and former Carlton coach.

KEVAN CARROLL

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70 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au NAB_Tipping_60x179_Rd21.indd 1

AR21 p70 Ask Col.indd 70

18/8/09 8:56:26 AM

19/8/09 4:32:49 PM

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timeon

COLLECTABLES WITH RICK MILNE

South goes west A weekly look at collectables, memorabilia and all footy things stored in boxes and garages.

RICK’S RARITY

I have a program from the South Australia-Western Australia clash in Adelaide on August 1, 1925. You once mentioned in this column that WA programs can be valuable and I would appreciate a valuation on this item.

How about thiss for one of the smallest est s sets of football cards a s ever produced? There h e were just five cards rds d in the series, issued ued e in 1930 by a cigarette arette e e company. The cards r were made to fit into int a hatband (most st men m n wore hats in this is era) e ifficult ifficult c and are very diffi to find these days. ays ays. y .

This one features res Fitzroy champion pion Haydn Bunton n and d is worth at leastt $ $150.

5

TREVOR, VIA EMAIL

RM: This is a beauty because

it is rare and has a beautifully illustrated cover. I believe it is worth at least $250.

I would appreciate a valuation of a program for a 1963 GeelongMelbourne exhibition match in San Francisco. It features Geelong champion Graham Farmer on the cover. Its condition is fair to good, but has a couple of tears. The cover boasts: “First exhibition of Australian Rules Football ever played in North America.”

MATT, VIA EMAIL

RM: I’ve never previously seen

one of these and, even in the condition you have described, it would be worth at least $400.

I have a 1996 Select Hall of Fame limited-edition card (No. 46) featuring Richmond legend Jack Dyer and signed with a fine black marker by the great man. Value?

ROD, VIA EMAIL

RM: As limited-editions cards

go, you have one of the best.

Although I am not a great

fan of these as collectables, this one is exceptional and worth at least $500.

I have a collection of Football Records from 1978-80 and friends have told me they could be valuable. I would appreciate your opinion?

KEN, VIA EMAIL

RM: There’s not much

value, I’m afraid, other than

COLOURFUL: This 1925 South

Australia-Western Australia program is valued at $250.

in the ongoing value of the content. Grand Final editions could be worth $20 each (depending on condition) and editions for other fi nals matches could fetch $10.

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.

NAB Community

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72 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

AR21 p72 Rick Milne.indd 72

19/8/09 4:31:37 PM

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KNOWLEDGE

Spot the difference

Scrambled footballer S

FIV

to finE d

N. Bock’s mail (given and surname) N

Cryptic footballers C 11. Port Adelaide player’s curious caper involving Ebert initially.

2 Tiger seen in “Deliverance”.

2.

3 Swan smashed ATM getting 3. rent back.

4. Another code’s Mecca with roof retracted, revealing Eagle.

5. Bulldog, strange hound, embraces last of Cats.

6. Lion is nothing when leading Hawk replaces last of draft.

7. Adam Gilchrist at Carlton?

8. Magpie has short drink about start of lapwork.

9. Bomber who might produce egg by rooster.

10. L. Hayes confused about initially being a Docker.

THIS WEEK’S ANSWERS

SCRAMBLED FOOTBALLER: Simon Black CRYPTIC FOOTBALLERS: 1. Pearce 2. Rance 3. Mattner 4. Embley 5. Hudson 6. Notting 7. Walker 8. Cloke 9. Laycock 10. Hasleby

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: Logo from ball missing, sock, Puma logo on front of jumper flipped, ball from Lions’ logo removed, hair spiky.

AC R O S S 1

The Cordner who played most games for this famous family (3)

3 Port Adelaide’s first coach (6) 6 One who has great status in the game (4)

9 Brothers renowned for long kicking (5) 10 1993 Norm Smith medallist (4) 11 Venue for first preliminary final outside Victoria (4)

13 Perfect with sauce on a cold day (3, 3) 14 Richmond’s ruck ‘general’ in 1980 premiership (4, 3)

16 Shock when Norm Smith decided to ... (6)

18 Clubs often have a ....-.... plan (4, 4) 21 Term for possession passed on (8) 23 Old-time Demon rover, Victorian batsman; became sportswriter (6)

26 Required after ACL injury (7) 27 Brett Kirk is a leader of this art (6) 30 Fremantle’s first best and fairest, Peter .... (4)

31 Nickname of diminutive former Tiger captain (4)

32 Ray ..... was a Blue and a Magpie in the ‘70s (5)

33 Red one on Bomber guernsey (4) 34 Worn in conjunction with scarf (6) 35 Campbell Brown’s father (3)

DOWN 1 2

Umpired 300th match in 2004 (4)

3

Often strikes down players late in game (5)

4 5 7

Always worn by Shaun Hart (6)

8 12 15 17 19

The Cowboy from Moorabbin (5)

1996 Gardiner Medal winner Trent ....... who later played for West Coast, Richmond and Kangaroos (7)

Docker Justin and Blue Troy ........ (8) Given name of Bulldogs premiership coach (7) Kick with it in the first quarter (6) Scott, Sholl, Hardie, Ottens (4) Joint 2003 Brownlow medallist (6) In the pre-season competition, adds three points to the score (4)

20 Predominant colour on Carlton guernsey (4, 4)

22 Opposite of jogs; entertainment at half-time in Grand Final (7)

24 Molly ....... is the Saints’ best-known rocker (7)

25 Better than a tear, for a muscle (6) 26 Given name of Hawks’ latest premiership captain (3)

28 Roos’ and Indigenous Team of the Century rover (5)

29 Former Freo star who wore 26 for ‘Roos in 1999 premiership (4)

74 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

AR21 p74 Knowledge.indd 74

19/8/09 4:25:39 PM

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NAB AFL RISING STAR

Ready-made star Essendon’s future is in good hands nds if the form of outstanding youngster Michael Hurley is any an indication. A NDR EW WA L L ACE

W

ith Dustin Fletcher’s career in its twilight and the move of Patrick Ryder into the ruck, some feared for the future of Essendon’s backline.

Those fears have been allayed.

In round 13, following several sterling performances on the game’s best tall forwards, West Australian teenager Tayte Pears received a nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star award.

Pears has this week been joined in the individual recognition by teammate Michael Hurley, who was a standout in the Bombers’ thrilling victory over the previously undefeated St Kilda.

Moved on to St Kilda powerhouse Justin Koschitzke in the second half due to an injury to Fletcher, Hurley racked up 20 possessions and 10 marks for the match, including a spectacular grab over superstar Nick Riewoldt.

The only headache Essendon would appear to have is whether to continue playing the impressive Hurley down back or up forward. The 193cm youngster doesn’t mind, provided he keeps getting a game. “It’s handy to be versatile and be able to play at either end,” Hurley said.

“Either way I’m pretty happy, but the forward line in the AFL is a lot different to junior footy.

Then, you could slip forward and, even if you weren’t in the right spot, people would kick it to you. Now you get overlooked a fair bit and have to work hard to win your own footy.”

Chosen at No. 5 in the 2008

VERSATILE:

Michael Hurley has shown he can hold down a key forward or defensive spot for the Bombers.

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)

Playing against the bigger bodies and more experienced players definitely helped with my footy NAB AFL Draft, the 19-year-old has always appeared destined for the big time.

At just 16, Hurley was thrown into the Macleod senior side in Melbourne’s Northern Football League, booting five goals on debut.

“Playing against the bigger bodies and more experienced players definitely helped with my footy,” he said.

During last year’s NAB AFL Under-18 Championships,

Hurley was named Vic Metro’s most valuable player after displaying outstanding composure in defence, with his innate ability to read the play catching the eye of Essendon recruiters.

The one question mark over Hurley’s game was his pace – a deficiency he has sought to improve since landing at Windy Hill.

“The closer I play to goal deep in defence, pace does become an issue, so it’s an area I definitely need to work on,” he said.

“Playing at centre half-back or centre half-forward you can get away with it a bit more, but we’ve got a coach down at the club who has been great with helping my take off and technique.”

Round 19 – Mitch Brown (WCE) Round 20 – Michael Hurley (Ess) FA S T FAC T S

Hurley was a St Kilda fan as a kid, with Nick Riewoldt, Justin Koschitzke and Matt Maguire among his favourite players.

1

2 Suffered a spate of

bad luck early in 2009, with a gall bladder removal, quad injury, car theft, car breakdown and broken wrist all occurring in a short period.

3 His only superstition is

ensuring he is always the last person off the team bus.

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.

76 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

AR21 p76 Rising Star.indd 76

19/8/09 5:13:54 PM

timeon

TALKING POINT

A little respect, please Abuse of players and coaches by unruly fans is getting out of hand as evidenced at the Gabba last week. BEN COL LINS

FRIENDLY DOG: Western

Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson is only too happy to interact with fans after a game, as he did following this match at Docklands Stadium in 2008.

B

rad Johnson is a champion player and champion bloke, and last Saturday night the Western Bulldogs skipper was simply doing as he has always done: giving something back to Dogs fans who had trekked to the Gabba to support their club in its defining win over the Brisbane Lions.

But as Johnson was about to hand out club caps to supporters behind the goals (a gesture most clubs perform after a win), a sour Lions supporter – a blonde woman talking on her mobile phone – leant over the fence and showered him with a cup of beer.

Such treatment might have prompted angry reactions from other players in the same position, but to Johnson’s credit, he didn’t even dignify it with a response.

The young culprit was later categorised as “a Sydneysider who holds a Victorian-based

There are frustrations we all share – I certainly shared a few of those on the weekend – but (that) conduct is certainly not how we wish to be represented MICHAEL VOSS

Lions membership”. On Monday, the Lions issued a media statement, advising that the woman had apologised to both clubs. She was said to be “embarrassed”, “mortified and extremely remorseful” – and so she should be.

She also promised the Lions she would never do it again, promised to send Johnson a letter of apology, and offered to make a donation to a charity of the Bulldogs’ choice. At least that’s something.

Imagine what might have happened if the boot had been on the other foot, and a player had so much as squirted a supporter with a water bottle.

He would have faced far greater sanctions: a heavy fine, round condemnation from the AFL, his club and the wider community, and might even have exposed himself to assault charges and financial damages.

The misguided Lions member is just another example of how the minority ruins it for the majority.

Abusing players and coaches is a sport for some spectators.

The victims might not like it – apart from those such as Wayne Carey or Shane Warne who thrived on it. Who would?

But players and coaches accept it as part of their job. They cop it as they make their way up

and down the race, and to and from the coach’s box; they cop it during and after games, on talkback radio and the internet.

There is no let-up, no truce.

However, a line must be drawn on spectators invading their personal space.

It’s in all our interests to stamp out this mindless mob behaviour. Otherwise players might make themselves less accessible to fans. And who could blame them?

It all comes back to showing respect: for the game, its participants, and yourself.

As Lions coach Michael Voss said on the issue this week, if you’re not willing to conduct yourself in a civilised way, don’t turn up.

“There are frustrations we all share – I certainly shared a few of those on the weekend – but (that) conduct is certainly not how we wish to be represented,” Voss said.

78 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

AR21 p78 Column.indd 78

19/8/09 5:10:52 PM

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