AFL Record Round 22, 2009

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE MAGAZIN NE N E OF OF THE TH T HE AFL AF FL L GAME GAM G GA A AM ME M E

ROUND 22, 2009 AUGUST 28-30 $4 (INC. GST)

End an era

John Worsfold

The keys to list building Th

Aaron Davey Growing up fast

Swans greats Michael O’Loughlin, Jared Crouch and Leo Barry say goodbye as the club prepares for a new phase

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ROUND 22, AUGUST 28-30, 2009 F E AT U R E S

57

Goodbye to good mates

An era ends for three Sydney greats.

63

John Worsfold

How to build and develop a list.

67

Aaron Davey

The rise and rise of a Demon star.

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

63 BUMPY RIDE: West Coast coach John Worsfold is constantly evaluating his list in the search for his best combination, even though the Eagles have been to the top of the mountain.

74 76 78

Answer Man Testing your knowledge NAB AFL Rising Star Talking Point

Beware of major upsets late in the season.

THIS WEEK’S COVER It’s the end of the road for Swans Michael O’Loughlin, Jared Crouch and Leo Barry, who were photographed by Sean Garnsworthy.

Go to slatterymedia.com/images to order prints of this image.

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feedback

backchat HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE FOOTBALL WORL WORLD LD

Take your chance I note the comment in last week’s AFL Record (Backchat, page 4) about Carlton having to wait its turn for a premiership.

If this was the case, then Collingwood should have won a premiership earlier this decade and the Bulldogs and Saints should have ended their premiership droughts in the late 1990s. It wasn’t Hawthorn’s ‘turn’ last year, but it won the flag regardless. Premierships come to those teams that grab the opportunity when it presents itself.

TIM BORTEN, MONTEREY KEYS, QLD.

Shark attack In your editorial last week, you mentioned that both Port Adelaide in the SANFL and East Fremantle in the WAFL had previously gone through a season undefeated in their respective competitions.

Given the entrance of Gold Coast in the AFL in 2011, it is probably worth remembering that the Southport Sharks went through the 1999 season undefeated. In addition, the Sharks were undefeated in all three grades in 1990.

BILL VELDMEYER, UPPER COOMERA, QLD.

Roos on the rise Congratulations to North Melbourne on beating the Saints. We go as a group every week, and sitting on the thirdtier, we finished almost as tired as the players after the match,

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

WRONG CALL:

A contentious free kick paid against St Kilda’s Adam Schneider last week highlighted the difficulty umpires face when players try to ‘milk’ a free kick.

Schneider decision There was plenty of discussion in the AFL Record office following an incident late in last week’s North Melbourne - St Kilda match, when it appeared Saint Adam Schneider should have received a free kick. Here is a response from AFL umpires’ manager Jeff Gieschen: The decision against Schneider at the 27-minute mark of the final quarter of last Sunday’s match between St Kilda and North Melbourne was an incorrect one by the umpire. Schneider threw his head back just before being

just hoping we could hang on.

The youngsters stood up when it counted and did a great job.

Congratulations to Brad Scott on being named coach.

Well done Darren Crocker – hopefully there’s room for him in the new line-up. I believe exciting times are ahead.

PAM, HASTINGS, 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

tackled by Andrew Swallow.

This led the umpire to believe Schneider was trying to ‘milk’ a free kick, thus calling “play on – you ducked”. Unfortunately, the contact from Swallow after that point was both high and a push in the back and a free kick should have been awarded to Schneider for either infringement, not for holding the ball against Schneider.

This incident highlights the fact that it is very difficult for umpires when players do try and ‘milk’ free kicks as they try to make certain they are not being conned into awarding an unwarranted free kick.

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your feedback on the Record and matters relating to the game, the clubs and the players. The best letter each round will receive a copy of the AFL Record Season Guide 2009. erymedia 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 Natalie Boccassini, Melanie Tanusetiawan PRODUCTION MANAGERS Troy Davis, Cameron Spark 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

New coaches bring new hope The coaching appointments made

by Richmond (Damien Hardwick) and North Melbourne (Brad Scott) provide each club with a new direction.

These two young and ambitious men (Hardwick is 37, Scott 33) have the opportunity to test the theories and systems they have been working on in their apprenticeship roles as assistant coaches (Hardwick at Hawthorn and Scott at Collingwood).

The boards of the respective clubs believe they are more than capable, and they will be given every chance to succeed.

But as the industry welcomes its new coaches, it is worth recognising the efforts of the two caretakers who complete their short tenures this weekend – Jade Rawlings at the Tigers and Darren Crocker at North.

Both have performed admirably in trying circumstances. Rawlings was naturally disappointed when told he had not won the Richmond job but, to his credit, put the club first and agreed to coach the remaining two matches.

Crocker coached superbly last weekend, driving his team to an upset win over St Kilda as Scott watched on.

Both have indicated they want to stay involved in the game. The experience they gained in recent months will only enhance their chances.

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 22, 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

A NEW ERA:

PHOTO: SEAN GARNSWORTHY/AFL PHOTOS

Richmond coach k Damien Hardwick at Wednesday’s announcement.

T I G E R S N A M E C O AC H

Hardwick offers ‘blueprint for success’ New Richmond coach Damien Hardwick believes he can quickly turn around the Tigers’ fortunes. A NDR EW WA L L ACE

F

ormer Essendon and Port Adelaide premiership player Damien Hardwick will take on one of the biggest challenges in the AFL, after being announced as Richmond’s senior coach on Wednesday.

Hardwick, who played 207 matches with the Bombers and Power from 1994-2004, has been an assistant coach at Hawthorn for the past five seasons, and was short-listed for senior coaching roles at Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne before finally

earning a three-year contract at Punt Road.

“Much like my (playing) career, I reckon I’ve had a few kicks in the backside,” Hardwick said. “But eventually, if you work hard enough and believe in yourself and your principles are strong, you get to where you need to go.

“I’ve never been so excited, to be perfectly honest, to be coaching this great club and I can’t wait.”

The 37-year-old went through a rigorous selection process to score the Richmond job, edging out Geelong

assistant Ken Hinkley with a presentation described by president Gary March as professional and innovative.

Hardwick’s strategy will be based on commitment and l ist development.

“Every club I’ve gone to has had a great team-first culture, and that’s something I believe very strongly in,” he said. “I think I can deliver a blueprint to success that’s going to deliver Richmond its 11th premiership.

“If I improve the list 10 per cent every year, we’re going to get to where we need to go relatively quickly.”

Hardwick left Hawthorn immediately, but will use his successful experience at the club to help rebuild the struggling Tigers.

“It gives you a blueprint of what needs to be done. There are some similar traits here to when I first arrived at Hawthorn, and there’s no doubt that will hold me in good stead.”

Hardwick will be aiming to guide Richmond to its first flag since 1980, with the club having competed in only three finals series and turned over 11 different coaches (Tony Jewell had two stints) in that time.

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 7

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since 2004

thebounce

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

RETIREMENT

FINALS SCENARIO

Power heroes call it a day

Ten wins enough for Hawks

NICK BOW EN

NICK BOW EN

W

S

hen Peter Burgoyne and Brendon Lade play their final AFL games, against North Melbourne this Saturday night, it will mark the end of the first era in Port Adelaide’s AFL history.

After Michael Wilson’s retirement last year, Burgoyne, 31, and Lade, 33, were the last remaining members of the Port Adelaide side that took the field in its first AFL match, in round one, 1997, against Collingwood at the MCG. Both made inauspicious debuts – Burgoyne had eight disposals, Lade seven and a goal – but both retire as Port greats and key members of its 2004 premiership side.

Burgoyne brought class to the midfield and, more recently, backline, with his speed, hard running and excellent disposal.

He was third in Port’s best and fairest in 2003 and 2007 and represented Australia in the International Rules Series in 1999. He was also named in the Indigenous Team of the Century.

After establishing himself as

GRAND CAREERS: Brendon Lade

Burgoyne and Lade will end their careers second and third respectively on Port’s all-time games list a potential superstar in his first three seasons at Port, Lade’s career was almost cut short. He missed nearly all of the 2000 season after breaking his right leg, only to break it again in the 2001 pre-season and miss all of that year as well.

But he returned to become one of the best ruckmen in the competition, imposing himself at ruck contests and when resting on the forward line.

He won the Power’s best and

(left) and Peter Burgoyne (right) celebrate with Jared Poulton after beating the Swans in Sydney in 2002.

fairest in 2006 and selection in the All-Australian side in 2006 and 2007.

Burgoyne and Lade will end their careers second and third respectively on Port’s alltime games list. Burgoyne is playing his 240th game and Lade his 234th.

Only Warren Tredrea (249 games after this round) has represented the Power more often.

The pair also sit third and fourth on the Power’s goalkicking list, Burgoyne having booted 193 goals and Lade 181.

S TAT I S T I C S

Record is at Swan’s disposal Collingwood ball-magnet Dane Swan is one prolific game away from recording the most disposals in a home and away season in the past 25 years. Swan needs 42 touches against the Western Bulldogs to eclipse the record set by Adelaide skipper Chris McDermott in 1992.

It’s a tall order, but Swan has had two 40-plus

disposal games this season, including 48 against Port Adelaide in round 10. He needs just 11 to move into second spot.

Swan leads the AFL in disposals (by 60 from Geelong’s Gary Ablett) and kicks (by 36 from Sydney’s Rhyce Shaw) and is second in contested and uncontested possessions.

BEN COLLINS

Most disposals in a home-and-away season (1984-2009) D 720 689 683 679 675

PLAYER Chris McDermott Barry Mitchell Robert Harvey Dane Swan Greg Williams

CLUB Adelaide Sydney Swans St Kilda Collingwood Geelong Cats

AGE* 28y, 139d 25y, 115d 26y, 219d 25y, 31d 21y, 181d

S 1992 1991 1998 2009 1985

G 22 22 22 21 22

AD 32.73 31.32 31.05 32.33 30.68

40+ 3 3 1 2 5

CH 44 46 40 48 42

G 9 30 13 16 6

AA ✓ ✓ ✓ ?

-

KEY: D disposals, S season, G games, AD average disposals, CH career high, G goals, AA All-Australian, BV Brownlow votes, * age at start of season.

NEWS TRACKER

BV 8 0 32 (1st) ?

15

ince the top eight’s inception in 1994, only one side has made the finals with just 10 wins – the Brisbane Bears in 1995 – but Hawthorn has the chance to emulate them this weekend.

Entering round 22, the only positions on the ladder that cannot change are first (St Kilda) and second (Geelong), with perhaps the most anticipated match-up being the Hawthorn-Essendon game that will most likely determine eighth spot.

If the Bombers win, they will retain the final place in the eight and return to the finals for the first time since 2004.

Unless, Port Adelaide thrashes North Melbourne by more than 100 points, a win by the Hawks over Essendon will secure eighth spot for them.

If the Bombers lose and drop out, it will be the first time the final eight has changed in round 22 since Fremantle was deposed

by Port Adelaide in 2005.

Save for the unlikely event Carlton defeats Adelaide by 80 points or more, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs seem to have already clinched top-four spots and the double chance.

However, if the Dogs can beat the Pies by at least four goals, they will climb above them on percentage into third spot, and face Geelong in the second qualifying final, with the Pies taking on St Kilda in the first qualifying final.

Otherwise, the Pies will retain third spot and face the Cats, the Dogs fourth spot and a first-week date with St Kilda.

Carlton must beat sixth-placed Adelaide to retain fifth spot and a certain home final against the Bombers or the Hawks. A loss and a Brisbane win over the Sydney Swans would

Carlton’s Eddie Betts, Cameron Cloke and Jeff Garlett suspended for one match for being late to a compulsory recovery session.

8 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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ADEL BL CARL COLL ESS

19

Gabba (N)

16.12 (108) – 9.11 (65)

Geelong

MCG (N)

14.13 (97) – 8.14 (62)

With their top-eight spot under threat, the Blues belted the Cats in surprisingly dominant fashion.

Adelaide

AS (N)

13.11 (89) – 9.14 (68)

The Magpies produced a superb come-from-behind win on the road against a fellow top-four contender 20

St Kilda

Docklands

16.14 (110) – 16.12 (108)

With their finals hopes seemingly shot, the Bombers recorded one of the boilovers of the season.

7 Carlton Carrara (N) 13.10 (88) – 11.15 (81) Given little chance against the fourth-placed Blues, the Dockers won their third game on the trot.

17

16

15

PA SYD WCE WB

NEWS TRACKER

Geelong

The Cats were undermanned but the Lions announced they were a genuine finals side.

19

ST K

Andrew Swallow (centre) has made the most of his opportunities in 2009.

15

RICH

ROO UNLEASHED:

RD OPPONENT VENUE SCORELINE 1 Collingwood MCG 13.12 (90) – 13.8 (86) Through sheer will, the Crows scraped to victory against quality opposition in foreign territory.

FREM

W

hen North Melbourne conducts its 2009 post-mortem next week, it will be buoyed by the development of its young players, with none more impressive than midfielder Andrew Swallow.

Heading into his fourth AFL season, Swallow, 22, faced a battle just to make the senior side.

Despite an impressive first two seasons at the club, Swallow struggled last year, playing just the first three games before he was dropped to the VFL. A combination of injury and the senior side’s good form meant he was unable to force his e-up. way back into the line-up. orth This year, when North selected its round onee team

A fortnight ago, Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade rated his team’s win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba as their best of the year.

With that in mind, we took a stab at identifying each club’s best victory for 2009.

GEEL

NICK BOW EN

Your club’s best win this season

HAW

Swallow swoops on his chance

R E S U LT S

MELB

TURNAROUND

against Melbourne, Swallow missed out, being listed as an emergency. But a late injury to Liam Anthony earned him a call-up and he has not looked back since.

Playing every game, he has become a key part of the midfield, especially with Adam Simpson retiring, Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells injured for much of the year, and Brady Rawlings being played increasingly in the backline.

It has been at the stoppages where he has been most influential, ranking first at the club for contested possessions and tackles.

While often found at the bottom of packs, he also has the happy knack of being able to rove to ruck contests, hitting them at speed and bursting clear with the ball.

Last week in the Roos’ upset five-point win against St Kilda, Swallow was best on ground, with 33 disposals, eight tackles and six clearances.

Swallow this week told the AFL Record his pre-season fitness work had set him up for his breakthrough season.

While inside play has always come naturally to him, Swallow said winning uncontested possessions was not one of his strengths, but he was working at it and is slowly improving.

Similarly, he said the batch of talented young midfielders emerging at North, which includes Levi Greenwood, Jack Ziebell and Liam Anthony, remains a work in progress.

NM

condemn the Blues to seventh and an away elimination final against the Lions. The scenario is the same for the Crows.

If the Lions lose, or in the unlikely case of a draw between Carlton and Adelaide, they will stay in seventh spot and face an away final against the Blues or the Crows.

Hawthorn

MCG

15.9 (99) – 14.14 (98)

Facing a 28-point deficit early in the final term, the Cats steamed home with the last five goals.

Collingwood

MCG (N)

18.13 (121) – 11.10 (76)

The Hawks gathered serious momentum after smashing the Pies, who had won their previous seven games.

Port Adelaide

MCG

15.11 (101) – 13.12 (90)

The Demons had something to celebrate after they led all day and claimed the scalp of a top-eight contender.

21

St Kilda

Docklands

10.4 (64) – 8.11 (59)

The Roos piled on the first five goals but lost the lead in the final term before Drew Petrie kicked the last two goals.

18 Hawthorn AS 18.13 (121) – 14.19 (103) In a superb exhibition, the Power proved too good for an improved Hawthorn.

17 Essendon MCG 15.11 (101) – 14.12 (96) The Tigers haven’t had much to cheer about, but they treasured this win over a bitter enemy.

14

Geelong

Docklands

14.7 (91) – 13.7 (85)

In one of the great clashes of the modern era, the undefeated Saints scooted a game clear on top.

2 Hawthorn ANZ (N) 22.11 (143) – 15.15 (105) The Swans smashed the reigning premier with some refreshingly free-flowing play in the second half.

19 W Bulldogs Docklands 16.6 (102) – 13.19 (97) The Eagles’ stunning eight-goal lead became an eight-point deficit, but they still managed a massive upset.

21

Geelong

Docklands (N)

16.14 (110) – 14.12 (96)

The Bulldogs remained in contention for third spot and showed they were a serious flag threat.

AIS-AFL Academy members Joshua Toy (Calder Cannons) and Hayden Jolly (Glenelg) have signed with Gold Coast.

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 9

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thebounce

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

N E X T G E N E R AT I O N

Talent and spirit shine through JOHN T UR NBU L L

E

arlier this month, courtesy of Melbourne Football Club’s indigenous recruiting program, I had the opportunity to attend the two-day Northern Carnival run by the Clontarf Foundation for indigenous schoolboy footballers in Katherine in the Northern Territory.

Played under clear skies in 33-degree weather at the Katherine Showgrounds, an excellent facility, 250 young blokes (aged 12-15 in years 7-10) from schools in Palmerston, Darwin, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs (they had travelled more than 1000km by bus), Broome (2000km), Kununurra and Halls Creek battled it out by day and slept in swags around the oval by night.

To earn a place in their respective teams, each boy has to demonstrate a commitment to his education as well as his football training.

Players ranged widely in size and ability. An all-star team was selected at the end of the carnival, and my assessment is that those 22 lads selected were of the standard seen at the recent NAB AFL Under-16 Championships in Sydney.

One standout was Sammy Autio from Palmerston, a 190cm (and still growing) athletic and skilful player who tells me he is from the Nicky Winmar clan.

He’ll have to decide his sporting future soon, as he is also a promising amateur boxer.

The carnival was won by Yirara College from Alice Springs, which defeated Alice Springs High School/Anzac Hill in the Grand Final. Yirara’s even team featured several young blokes from desert country and its two best performers, Adam Noble and Kieran Anderson, played every game in bare feet!

Perhaps, in a few years time, they might follow the path taken by emerging Melbourne star Liam Jurrah from Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, and be recipients of the recently announced Women of Melbourne indigenous scholarship.

Who knows? One thing is certain. The talent and spirit is there and Clontarf’s committed staff do a wonderful job nurturing these young men.

Clontarf runs 23 academies in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, promoting the development of discipline, life skills and self-esteem in young indigenous males.

“Now we’ve got to get girls involved and get this early intervention program going,” says Jamie Elliot, associate director of the Halls Creek Football Academy.

John Turnbull played and coached in South Australia, was Hawthorn’s recruiting manager and is now an industry consultant on talent identification.

Q A N TA S A F L K I C K S TA R T C A M P YOUNG LEADER:

Chris Warrell in action at the MCG.

A name to watch Chris Warrell from Perth was one of 50 indigenous boys aged 14-15 from across Australia who took part in last week’s Qantas AFL KickStart camp.

The five-day camp provided participants with an experience incorporating leadership, cultural awareness and football development.

Many, including Warrell, were making their first trip away from home.

The players took part in a curtain-raiser to the Richmond-Hawthorn match at the MCG last Saturday on the last day of the camp, with 15-year-old Warrell chosen to captain one of the teams.

Some of the participants will be invited to travel to South Africa next year on the Flying Boomerangs tour. Here are Warrell’s thoughts on the experience and football:

The camp was enjoyable, especially meeting different indigenous people from other states and learning about their languages, culture and background. It was also a lot of fun.

I’ve been captain of my club (Nollamara) for the past two years and we won the premiership last year, so that was pretty good.

It was a great opportunity for me and a pathway for the future.

I’ve been playing football since I was 10. I’m pretty fast, and I like to jump and take marks. I kick pretty long distances.

I like to lead people by example, so people can follow what I do and take notice. I like to encourage my teammates.

TRAVELLING TALENT: Young boys came from far and wide to play in the recent

Being a good leader is very important. If there are no leaders, you won’t have a good environment.

You need someone to stand up and lead and encourage everyone else.

I don’t try to model myself on other players. I’m trying to be my own player, so if one day I make the AFL, younger people can look up to me and I can encourage them.

Meeting the boys from other states and learning about their culture and their indigenous backgrounds were highlights of my week. I also enjoyed watching the AFL games (Western Bulldogs-Geelong and RichmondHawthorn) and playing on the MCG. A lot of other people would love to be where we are, so we’re pretty lucky to be chosen.

AS TOLD TO PETER DI SISTO

Northern Carnival for indigenous schoolboy footballers held in Katherine.

NEWS TRACKER

First sod turned on St Kilda’s $10 million training facility at Belvedere Park in Seaford in Melbourne’s outer south-east.

10 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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thebounce

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

A N N I V E R S A RY

At the end, Dyer still had it This week marks the 60th anniversary of Richmond legend Jack Dyer’s last match. Battling injury and chronic illness, ‘Captain Blood’ was superb in his last appearance. R HET T BA RT LET T

O

NEWS TRACKER

TIGER TOUGH: Richmond legend

Jack Dyer is mobbed by fans as he is chaired from the ground after his final game in 1949.

PHOTO: RICHMOND FC MUSEUM

ne evening during the 1946 season, Jack Dyer’s wife Sybil leaned into his ear. Whispering, she suggested he retire.

Dyer, the Richmond legend, could not imagine it. He was into his 16th season, had won two premierships (1932 and 1943) and four best and fairest awards*. He was a hero to children and the game’s best ruckman. The Sporting Globe had called him the greatest footballer since World War I. But Sybil had witnessed something every week for 16 seasons that finally drove her to plead with her husband to retire. Dyer, 32 at the time, had suffered from gastric ulcers since he was 16. Before every match and again at half-time, Dyer would dry-retch, but managed to conceal his ailment from most of his teammates throughout his career.

Ray Stokes, one of only four surviving Richmond players from Dyer’s last match (along with Havel Rowe, Allan Cooke and Ken Albiston), was one of the few aware of his illness.

“He drank milk. He didn’t drink much beer because it upset him. After games he would be in bed pretty early because he was completely exhausted,” Stokes said.

“Not many people knew. Sybil used to tell me he suffered a terrible lot. He did a marvellous job to play all those games.”

Rather than abruptly leave the game, Dyer decided he would reinvent himself at full-forward.

Amazingly, in the twilight of his career, he relished his new role. Although he had lost much of his speed, he was still capable of short and sharp bursts from the goalsquare.

He won the club’s goalkicking in 1947-48, a remarkable feat for a player Cooke described as “a broken-down racehorse”.

In 1948, his second-last season, Dyer kicked 64 goals, a career best, and almost 25 per cent of Richmond’s goals.

His choice of kick was the drop punt, which he saw the Collier brothers of Collingwood use. But Dyer tailored it to his own style – his foot would connect with the entire toe of the ball, rather than the flat side.

Dyer still had an aura as he stood with hands on hips in the teeth of goal, No. 17 on his back.

“Keep out! Keep out!” he would yell to his centre half-forward, ensuring he was the only Tiger in front of goal.

“If you moved to the forward line to try and kick a goal, you’d get a roasting from him, unless you kicked one,” teammate Bill Williams said. “You should never have been there,” he recalled Dyer saying.

Dyer never lost his physical toughness. Although his knees were failing, his shoulders, hips and back were so strong that he kept colliding into packs well into his 30s.

“I pride myself that I can use my shoulders and hips as well as the next fellow,” he wrote in The Sporting Globe in 1945. “A good shaking from a bump is just as effective as a punch. With your hips and shoulders bunched, you can go for the ball and get it.

A good shaking from a bump is just as effective as a punch. If the other fellow gets into the road, that’s his bad luck JACK DYER

If the other fellow gets into the road, that’s his bad luck.”

In his autobiography Captain Blood, published in 1965, Dyer strangely failed to mention his last game. A photo appears showing him leading his players out – it is incorrectly captioned as his last game. (It is in fact round one, 1945, and is printed in reverse. The Tiger sash drapes over his right shoulder, rather than his left.)

Perhaps Dyer did not want to focus on the twilight of his career. He seemed happier reminiscing about the brutal encounters against Collingwood and Melbourne, rather than the slow shadow he had become.

Dyer was nearly 36 when he played his last game against Geelong in 1949. It was his 312th match, a League record at the time.

For breakfast, the local butcher (a Richmond supporter) provided Dyer with his weekly cut from a bullock, the only food

that settled in his stomach on the morning of a match.

As he took the field, both his knees were bandaged, so was his right wrist. His thighs throbbed and ulcers swam in his mouth.

He led his team out for the last time, trotting through yellow and black streamers hung across the front of the players’ race.

Greeting him on the other side was an extraordinary sight – the entire Geelong team, along with the officiating umpires, lined up across the centre of the ground to applaud him and shake his hand.

Only 11,000 people, the sixth smallest crowd for games between the teams, were witness to this day. Testimonial buttons featuring Dyer’s face were sold outside the ground before the match.

‘Captain Blood’ no longer rucked. Instead, he positioned himself at full-forward, and led out no further than about 30 metres, now his optimum distance.

His opponent was Bruce Morrison, a Geelong best and fairest in his debut season and Victorian representative in his second. To Dyer’s right, in the forward pocket, stood Albiston, recruited by Dyer three years earlier aged 18.

“He came around to our house and signed me up,” Albiston said.

“I remember shaking him by the hand, and his hand went up to my elbow.”

Now the ageing captaincoach stood barking his last few instructions to Albiston.

“He would tell you to go up the ground and give him room.

It was pretty obvious he was getting near the end of his career.

“The whole day was special.

Everybody knew he was going to retire. The players wanted to badly win it for him.”

By quarter-time, Dyer had kicked a goal and unselfishly CON T IN U ED ON PAGE 14

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard confirms Federal Government to contribute $4.5 million to Visy Park redevelopment.

12 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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We’ve kicked a few goals over the years JELD-WEN is the name behind the St Kilda Football Club. And we’re also the name behind iconic brands like Stegbar and Corinthian – leaders in door, window and showerscreen manufacture, supply and installation.

Great club, great brands. jeld-wen.com.au

M A J O R PA R T N E R

DISEGNO STE2928

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passed off another opportunity to Albiston. Richmond finished the term leading by six points.

In the second quarter, the Tigers kicked 8.4 to Geelong’s one behind. Dyer kicked his second and the lead increased to 57 points. Don Fraser had brilliantly outplayed Fred Flanagan. Bill Morris was at his remarkable best, floating through the ruck contests and palming the ball to Ray Poulter.

Stokes had given Dyer several opportunities with his sharp stab kicks. “I couldn’t miss him – he had such a huge chest! He was very strong in the arms and shoulders and pretty compact all over,” Stokes said.

As Dyer made his way into the rooms at half-time, a female supporter jumped the fence, broke free from a policeman’s grip and draped a yellow and black lei around his neck.

Rowe, one of Richmond’s eight goalkickers for the match, marvelled at the skill Dyer displayed late in the game.

“Dyer used to work for the police force,” Rowe said. “He got the ball in the forward pocket and there were five Geelong players cornering him.

He put up this big mitt, like a policeman. They all stopped, and he kicked a goal from the boundary. He had that presence.

It was just incredible.”

With one quarter to go, the Tigers led by 39 points. In the last quarter, Dyer kicked Richmond’s 17th goal – the crowd in the Tigers grandstand, built a year after his birth in 1913, stomped its feet loudly in unison. Moments later, he received the ball again, lurched a

MILES TONES – ROUND 22

THE SCORES

JACK DYER’S LAST MATCH Saturday, August 27, 1949 RICHMOND 4.4 12.8 14.9 22.12 (144) GEELONG 3.4 3.5 7.12 10.15 (75) GOALS: Richmond – Dyer 6, Morris 4, Albiston 3, Poulter 3, Stokes 2, Wilson 2, Merrett, Rowe.

Geelong – Davies 2, Canning 2, Tate, Scott, Renfrey, Flanagan, Fulton, Condon.

Crowd: 11,000 at Punt Road Oval

drop punt towards goal, but it hit the post.

With moments left in the game, Dyer found himself with the ball, some 35 metres out. Knowing the distance was too great for his ageing legs, he passed the ball to champion rover Billy Wilson.

But Wilson, sensing the dramatic occasion, immediately shot the ball back to Dyer, urging him to have one last attempt.

‘They were kicking it backwards to him to get him some kicks,” teammate Allan Cooke recalled.

Now less than 30 metres out, Dyer saw the goal square was vacant. With his right foot he powered one last time through the aches and pain in his legs, and kicked a wobbly drop punt that somehow managed to fall through for a goal.

It was Richmond’s last score of the match. The Tigers won by 69 points. Dyer ended the game with six goals, the fourth-highest tally of his career.

As the bell rang, two Geelong opponents grabbed him, not in anger, but in brotherly respect and pushed him towards his teammates, who helped him on to the shoulders of Bob

Wiggins and Les Jones. More than 100 spectators swarmed the ground, rushing to Dyer on the wing. Both teams formed a guard of honour, and the great Dyer was chaired off the Punt Road ground.

“I shall miss not being able to run out on the field with Richmond as one of the teams,” Dyer said on the morning of the match.

And as he slumped in the rooms, that realisation hit him. * Dyer’s 1932 best and fairest win is disputed due to a lack of evidence.

250 games Stuart Wenn field umpire

AFL 200 Club Ben Johnson Collingwood

150 games David Wojcinski Geelong Cats Matthew Whelan Melbourne Daniel Harris North Melbourne Quinten Lynch West Coast

100 games Matt Maguire St Kilda Ben Hudson Western Bulldogs

100 consecutive games Matthew Boyd Western Bulldogs

50 games Justin Westhoff Port Adelaide Mitch Morton Richmond

50 games coached Brett Ratten Carlton The list includes those not necessarily selected but on the verge of milestones.

MEMENTO: The cover of the Football Record from Jack Dyer’s last game in 1949; original supplied

by Rhett Bartlett.

14 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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SC3097_Tissot_AFLRe.pdf

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A N A LY S I S

THE GODFATHER OF STATS

Ted Hopkins

Founder of Champion Data and Carlton premiership player WIPE OFF FIVE OR MORE Having witnessed the crash scenes created by overzealous use of handball, The Godfather, borrowing from the TAC’s anti-speeding campaign, insists coaches and players wipe off five or more handballs in long chains of possession.

Excessive speeding on our roads causes more accidents. Overuse of handball is affecting the game, contributing to a rapidly increasing rate of ineffective and clanger kicks, more stoppages and lower scoring.

The Godfather has heard blame for these unwelcome trends attributed to the increased rate of tackling in 2009 (a combined average of 124 a game) compared to seasons 2006-08 (104).

As a result of increased tackling pressure, the argument goes, there is greater necessity to quickly unload by hand. But this is too simplistic. It is just as likely that more handballs are inviting more tackles.

To test this, The Godfather enlisted his team of mathematicians. The resulting evidence is revealing.

Coaches and players

CHAIN GANG: Adelaide posted a season-high 297 handballs against West Coast last week, with many being used in a long chains of possessions.

indulging in long possession chains that feature more handballs than kicks are causing more accidents. Here it gets technical, but well worth following the logic and numbers.

This year, there have been 10,502 possession chains with five or more disposals. Of these chains, 4793 have included more handballs than kicks and 4585 have included more kicks than handballs. An equal number of handballs and kicks were recorded in 1124 chains.

The final step in setting up the test model is to categorise the

type of long-possession chain according to three classifications: BAD (a chain ending with an ineffective or clanger disposal; GOOD (a chain ending with a score); or NEUTRAL (a chain ending with a long kick to a contest or stoppage).

The findings in the table highlight the different outcomes in chain types. If a team, on average, has five or more disposals in a possession chain and has more handballs than kicks, it has a significantly higher chance of ending with a poor disposal (56 per cent) compared to possession chains with more kicks than handballs (38 per cent).

Also, the chance of scoring is reduced when a team uses more handballs than kicks in a long chain (28 per cent) compared to when it has more kicks than handballs (46 per cent).

Reaching an understanding as to why poor disposals

are increasing so rapidly is paramount. The overuse of handball is clearly in the frame.

In 2009, there has been an average of 394 kicks a game, with 130 a game (33 per cent) judged ‘bad’ kicks. From 200007, the average ratio of ‘bad’ kicks to total kicks in a game was only 25 per cent.

In last week’s Adelaide-West Coast game, the Crows posted a record 297 handballs. This season, five teams have had 250 handballs or more in a game.

The previous highest was 259, by Geelong in round six.

Only two teams have managed to engineer more handballs than kicks in a Grand Final – Port Adelaide in 2007 and Geelong last year – and on both occasions the method failed.

Granted, there is always a first time for something. But at this stage, the numbers – and The Godfather – are saying no to excessive handball.

CHAINS WITH FIVE OR MORE POSSESSIONS Possession chains featuring:

No.

More handballs More kicks

4793 4585

Bad outcomes

Good outcomes

(ineffective or clanger disposal)

(a score)

56% 38%

28% 46% FIGURES TO END OF ROUND 21

KNOW EVERY GAME PLAN.

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.

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 17

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

GENTLE GIANT:

It’s 105kg versus 105kg, 90 to 120 times in a game, and each one can be fairly painful. There’s not a lot of glory in it

Steve Taubert is a larger than life character but he’s deadly serious when working as Sydney’s ruck coach (below with Darren Jolly).

C H A R AC T E R

Taubo’s tall tales and true

STEVE TAUBERT

BEN COL LINS

NEWS TRACKER

PHOTO: GREG FORD/SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP

S

ydney coach Paul Roos was recently asked to describe his ruck coach Steve Taubert, the man who has worked wonders with the likes of Darren Jolly and Canadian import Mike Pyke, among others. At the mere mention of Taubert’s name, Roos laughed.

“He’s an outstanding individual,” Roos told Melbourne radio station SEN. “Not only is he a great ruck coach, he’s also the most entertaining ruck coach in the AFL, too, because the stories he comes up with are unbelievable.

Actually, there should be a sitcom … The Taubo Show.”

Intrigued, we decided to investigate, and found ample evidence to back up Roos’ claims.

Taubert’s life in football is a decent yarn in itself.

In late 1972, the Hobartborn ruckman was excited to receive a letter inviting him to Richmond training.

“I thought I was going to be a superstar, but when I turned up, there was a cast of thousands,” Taubert recalls.

In 1974, as a 20-year-old, he played the last two rounds in the seniors before contracting glandular fever and missing a premiership. (Brian ‘Whale’ Roberts took his place.) Taubert says he was “a bit stiff”, but doesn’t curse the footy gods.

“I was studying an economics degree at uni and, if I hadn’t had football in my life, I would’ve drifted off and been part of the wild and free life of the early ’70s,” he says.

In 1977, after 15 senior games in three seasons, Taubert was traded to Essendon. It was at Bomberland that he was “entrusted” with a young Tim Watson. They were later best men at each other’s weddings.

“Despite his reputation, Tim was mind-numbingly hopeless with girls,” he says. “I not only introduced him to his wife, but I organised the whole thing.”

Taubert was sacked by Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy, a former Richmond teammate, at the end of 1981 after 64 games.

At 28, he felt finished as a player, and considered coaching and taking a teaching job in Tasmania. Swans coach Ricky Quade convinced him to join the Sydney adventure.

Taubert becomes most animated when telling stories from those early days with the Swans, where he played 44 games.

Like when the players made the permanent move north in 1983, assuming their housing and jobs would be organised, only to be met at Sydney airport by young club official Dean Moore (now the AFL’s football projects officer), who had 20 copies of the Yellow Pages and

100 20-cent coins and told them to make arrangements on public pay-phones. “‘Deano’ told us to look under R for real estate, H for hospitals and D for doctors,” Taubert says.

“It’s not what you want to hear when your wife (Julie) and a few others are heavily pregnant.”

He also recalls the team being forced to high-tail it after a game at Arden Street to qualify for a discount flight back to Sydney.

The players hadn’t showered and boarded the plane in their muddy playing attire, including their boots.

“There was no money – it was an illusion,” Taubert says. “It was poles apart from what the Gold Coast and West Sydney will get.”

One of his funniest, and scariest, experiences involved “some imbecile’s idea” to have Swans players promote the code during a break in a one-day cricket international between Australia and the West Indies at the SCG. Taubert says: “The pro-rugby Sydney crowd thought we were girls – they wanted to punch Warwick Capper’s lights out – and they’d just seen Joel Garner nearly decapitate about three Aussie batsmen, so they were drunk and not happy.”

With cardboard beer cartons becoming “lethal frisbees”, skipper Barry Round told his teammates: “Hit the ground!”; then: “Every man for himself!”

Taubert’s greatest claim to fame as a player was finishing fourth in the Brownlow Medal in 1984. Although regarded as courageous, a strong mark and a capable goalkicker, Taubert insists: “I had limited ability. I was only a soldier, a plodder.”

He was the Swans runner in 1986 but was sacked after six rounds. “I was the first runner to be sacked for being too slow,” he says. “How embarrassing is that?”

Taubert returned to the Swans as part-time ruck coach in 1998.

When his charges play well, he has been heard to say: “I taught them everything they know”; when they struggle he says: “They didn’t listen to me.”

No one was prouder of Jason Ball’s match-winning tap-outs to Nick Davis and Amon Buchanan in the semi-final and Grand Final of 2005.

“I take 100 per cent credit for

Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos says he would consider having Irishman Tadhg Kennelly return to the club.

18 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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both of ’em,” Taubert says.

It’s all tongue-in-cheek, of course, but there is much truth in it. “Ruckwork is about having a hard body and a soft hand,” he says.

It’s also about ignoring pain.

“If you can’t play with pain, you won’t make it as a ruckman because, regardless of how the game changes, the ruck will always be a gladiatorial position,” he says.

“It’s 105kg versus 105kg, 90 to 120 times in a game, and each one can be fairly painful.

There’s not a lot of glory in it.”

But there is some glory, as Taubert’s comments about his star pupils show.

ADAM GOODES: “(in 1999) Greg Stafford went down with a knee, so Rodney (Eade) and I decided Adam would be worth a try.

Before that, he hadn’t arrived as a player, but he became an All-Australian ruckman and won a Brownlow Medal.”

GREG STAFFORD: “Greg presented my first challenge because he was headstrong and had his own ideas. It took us a while, but we got there.”

he’d be the hardest guy to work with, but he was the easiest. He wanted to get every last ounce out of himself.”

DARREN JOLLY: “Darren’s my favourite; my standout achievement. When he came to us from Melbourne, he’d played 49 games, but in actual game-time, he’d only played four. He was like a first-year player. Now he’s the epitomy of what a ruckman should be: brave, team man, absorbs pain.”

MIKE PYKE: “Only Paul Roos would tell you: ‘This Canadian bloke’s never played the game and we need you to make him into a ruckman.’ Technically, he’s quite sound, and he’s as good an athlete as we’ve had. He just needs to pick up the angles of the game.”

BOOK REVIEW

History spurs on the Blues HOWA R D KOT TON

JASON BALL: “Jason’s one of my favourites. He came across from the Eagles as a key forward and became a terrific ruckman. His best 50 games were his last 50 when he was a broken-down old man. He had a great ability to absorb pain.”

PETER EVERITT: “I thought

A

s Carlton prepares for its first finals appearance in eight years, it has been drawing on its rich history in the hope it can provide inspiration to Brett Ratten’s team in September.

At Docklands on Thursday, the Blues feted their 1979 team that slogged its way through the MCG mud to a memorable five-point victory over arch rival Collingwood, famous for the final-quarter heroics of Wayne Harmes, whose tap back from the boundary line for a Ken Sheldon goal remains the subject of hot debate among the rival camps to this day.

That triumph under the last captain-coach of a premiership side, Alex Jesaulenko, is one of many defining moments chronicled in the new book Out of the Blue, which was launched

by Carlton president Stephen Kernahan before last Saturday’s match against Melbourne at Docklands Stadium.

The 250-page book provides a fresh insight into the most important events in the club’s history, in many cases through the eyes and ears of those intimately involved.

The book was a labour of love for journalist and Carlton fanatic Tony De Bolfo, who started putting it together more than a year ago on the recommendation and encouragement of Blues CEO Greg Swann and sales and sponsorship director Anthony Barham.

“There have been a lot of historical books done about Carlton, but I wanted to try something different,” De Bolfo said. “The stories were my own choice. I was able to speak to people who were able to bring

a new angle to the stories that have been written before.”

De Bolfo has vivid memories of his chat with Swann about his involvement in luring Chris Judd to Carlton at the end of 2007.

“I asked Greg about how the Judd deal played out and I reckon that was the only question I asked him in an hour and a half. He knew all the answers,” De Bolfo said.

Swann told him he had a second meeting with Judd after their initial discussion, because Collingwood had been the final club to put its case to the West Coast captain, and Swann feared that would be fresh in Judd’s mind.

Three-time premiership ruckman and current AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick wrote the foreword to the book.

Out of the Blue (Carlton Football Club, $49.95 RRP) is available from the Carlton shop or via carltonfc.com.au for $59.95, including postage and handling.

KICK EVERY GOAL.

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

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 19

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

FA D E O U T

Fast start, slow finish for Port A NDR EW WA L L ACE

P

ort Adelaide’s theme song features the line, “There’s history here in the making”.

Unfortunately, the Power grabbed an unwanted slice of history in last week’s extraordinary match against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

Port became the first team since Richmond in 1978 to kick 10 goals in one quarter, only to remain goalless in the next and lose the game.

Despite the Power’s 10.0 (60) to the Wellington Road end (or left of screen on the television) being its highest first quarter score and third-highest tally in any term, the visitors lacked firepower

Feast or famine Year 1925 1957 1964 1971 1978 2009

Rd 10 15 10 13 21 21

Team Geel Fitz Fitz St K Rich Port

Opponent Sth Melb Rich Foots Nth Melb Fitz B Lions

when kicking to the Main Street end, failing to score a goal in the second and final quarters.

The last team to win in a game where a 10-goal quarter was followed by a goalless term was St Kilda in 1971, however, on that occasion, opponent North Melbourne also failed to kick a major in a testing third quarter.

In a minor consolation, Port’s firstterm goal spree marked the first time a team had kicked 10 goals in a first quarter since Geelong in round six, 2007, on the way to demolishing Richmond.

C O M PA R I S O N

Déjà vu for Pies Collingwood has won 12 of its past 13 games, prompting some experts to rate the Magpies premiership favourites. The Pies’ most recent flag was in 1990. Coincidentally (perhaps it’s an omen), the 1990 side was also 15-6 after 21 rounds, with a similar percentage.

As this table shows, these aren’t the only statistical similarities shared by the two teams to this stage of the season.

BEN COLLINS

Collingwood

2009 v 1990

After 21 rounds

3rd

2nd

Win-loss ratio

15-6

15-6

Percentage

125.0

126.3

Streak

W5

W1

Points for ave.

99.9

105.7

Points against ave.

79.9

83.7

Ave. winning margin

42.7

41.9

Ave. losing margin

36.7

33.2

Wins under 10 points

1

1

Wins over 40 points

8

7

Biggest win

93

86

100+ points for

8

12

100+ points against

5

4

Highest score

169

176

Lowest score

40

54

Highest against

128

163

Lowest against

40

32

Quarters won

50

48

POWER OUT: Daniel Motlop

6+ goal quarters

13

12

was one of many Port Adelaide players who started well but faded.

Best quarter

10.4

11.5

Scoring shots

583

625

Goals.Behinds

303.280

319.306

Scoring accuracy

52%

51%

Players with 10+ goals

10

9

Players used

36

32

Played every match

5

7

Debutants

4

1

Outcome

?

Premiers

10-goal qtr 1st 2nd 3rd 2nd 1st 1st

Goalless qtr 2nd 3rd 2nd, 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd, 4th

Result W W L W L L

WILL YOU HANDLE YOUR ALCOHOL?

OR WILL ALCOHOL HANDLE YOU?

alcohol.vic.gov.au

20 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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PULL OVER for the McDonald’s Drive Thru Challenge ®

Friday 11th September between 6pm and 7pm Be a part of the McDonald’s Drive Thru Challenge by visiting one of our Victorian Drive Thrus between 6pm and 7pm on Friday 11th September.

For every car that orders through drive thru, $1.00 will be donated to the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation in support of Emergency and Trauma facilities in public hospitals throughout Victoria.

McDonald's, working hand in hand with your local community.

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

AFL TV talk shows

TELEVISION

Day

On Game Day, the planning is meticulous

Mon.

Program One Week At A Time On The Couch Footy Classified

Thurs.

Fri. Sat.

A NDR EW WA L L ACE

L

ike the majority of its residents, Melbourne is all but asleep at 5am on a Sunday. However, amid the occasional taxi carrying early-morning revellers home, producers and editors of Channel Seven’s AFL Game Day program are driving to the station’s Docklands studio to finalise the show’s rundown before it airs later that morning.

AFL Game Day is one of 10 AFL talk shows on free-to-air and pay television. Planning for a program such as AFL Game Day starts up to a fortnight before each edition, with guests given as much advance notice as possible.

Although the week-to-week nature of football means many of the issues discussed won’t emerge until Saturday before the show, producers draft a rundown on the Monday, with six dedicated staff working on the show and

TV

Sun.

RUNDOWN: From left, panel members Mark Robinson, Nick Maxwell and Tim

Watson prepare while host Hamish McLachlan chats to guest Brad Sewell.

its promotions and graphics throughout the week. This number balloons to 30 on Sunday, including panellists, camera operators, floor staff, technicians, editors and producers.

With an average of 250,000 viewers across the country, millions of dollars worth of equipment and lighting in use and a program timed to the millisecond, everything needs to go to plan.

When the AFL Record visited the studios, the panel featured host Hamish McLachlan, former Essendon champion Tim Watson,

Herald Sun journalist Mark Robinson and Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell.

It is around 8 o’clock and the four are in for make-up and wardrobe before meeting with the crew an hour before the show starts. At 9.15 in the studio, McLachlan records short promotions to be aired almost immediately on Seven’s Sunrise program, with the ‘grabs’ varying slightly depending on which state they are running in.

As 10 o’clock draws closer, Maxwell is spotted taking notes. The panellists have

AFL Teams The Footy Show Before The Bounce Before The Game The Fifth Quarter AFL Game Day The Sunday Footy Show

comprehensive running sheets, which must be strictly followed.

For example, Robinson has precisely three minutes and 30 seconds to dissect a game from the previous night. As the show progresses, specific items are scrapped if the program is falling behind schedule.

Such decisions come from the adjoining control room, from which staff communicate with McLachlan via an earpiece and also determine camera angles and the loading of graphics and sound files.

At precisely 11, the show ends.

As the crew begins packing, McLachlan must hurry to South Melbourne, a short drive from Docklands, to fulfil a radio station commitment. There’s more football to be covered.

FROM THE AFL

Toyota AFL Grand Final ticket allocation The capacity of the MCG will be approximately 100,000 on Grand Final Day. The AFL proposes that tickets to the 2009 Tpyota AFL Grand Final be allocated in approximately the following manner: 1. Competing club members: 16,000-26,000 2. AFL clubs (16 x 1000): 16,000 3. MCC Reserve: 16,000-26,000 4. AFL Members: 13,000-23,000 5. AFL/Medallion Club members: 4500-5000 6. AFL entitlements/contractual obligations: 5000-15,000 7. Competing clubs: 0-2500 TOTAL: 100,000 (approx) However, the AFL notes the fact that: 1. The configuration of the ground may change, which could affect the split of tickets between AFL Members, MCC Reserve and competing club members;

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2. The number of standing room tickets to be made available will vary depending upon a variety of issues, and 3. A substantial number of ‘walk-ups’ (50 per cent) in the MCC Reserve.

There may be other functions that affect corporate/function space and/or AFL entitlements, resulting in variations to the proposed allocation of tickets between now and September 26.

AFL Grand Final ticket returns policy The policy/guidelines to be followed by the AFL will be as follows. (Please note this policy is not applicable to ticket-holders who have procured a 2009 AFL Grand Final ticket in the Melbourne Cricket Club Members’ Reserve.)

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a legitimate justification for wishing to return a ticket (eg. medical reason, death in the family, etc).

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• All returned tickets shall be re-issued for distribution.

A complete list of all authorised 2009 Toyota AFL Grand Final ticket on-sellers and all AFL Grand Final ticketing information, including allocation information, can be viewed at afl.com.au

A shoulder injury may force the West Coast Eagles’ Adam Hunter to retire.

22 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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T R AC K I N G A P O T E N T I A L D R A F T E E

Nash stays on course The AFL Record has followed Jonno Nash as he works towards being drafted.

ON TRACK :

Jonno Nash has been in good touch for the Dragons.

Jonno Nash’s season has been marked mark by consistency.

Averaging Averag 25 possessions a gam game, Nash has been a stro strong contributor for TAC TA Cup club Sandringham Dragons.

Sandr Importantly, Nash has Impor remained hopeful but rema realistic about his quest rea to be drafted by an AFL club.

As he prepared for his A last game of the season las (the Dragons face (th Gippsland Power this Gi weekend), he remains we positive about his po situation, despite his si rrecent disappointment at being overlooked a ffor a spot at the NAB AFL Draft Camp in A Canberra in October, C where some of the whe nation’s best young players will be put through vvarious tests in front recruiters and coaches. of club recru “Initially, I was disappointed, think it will change but I don’t th didn’t take it as a big anything. I di setback, but other people I spoke

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to did,” Nash says. “That was leading into the Calder Cannons game in round 18, and I was a bit down, not by my own initial feelings, but because of the reactions of people.

“To get invited to draft camp, you’ve got to have about five clubs nominate you, but at the end of the day, it only takes one to pick you up,” he says.

Against the Cannons, Nash had 32 touches in his team’s 14-point loss. Some at the club said it was his best game for the season.

Indeed, it was the best response Nash could provide, especially on the back of two relatively quiet games against the Western Jets in round 16 and Gold Coast the following week.

Nash says playing at Gold Coast Stadium in Carrara and travelling with the team was an invaluable experience.

“It was good to have that experience of playing on an AFL ground. We struggled with the size of the ground, because it was just so much bigger than what we are used to,” he says.

Last week, facing the reigning premiers on their own ground, Sandringham convincingly beat the Murray Bushrangers by 37 points, with Nash again starring with 32 disposals. With player managers circling and having been invited to the Morrish Medal (the TAC Cup’s best and fairest count), Nash is satisfied with his season, but knows he needs to continue working hard.

“I’ll speak to Bohdan Babijczuk (fitness coach), and see how he thinks I should go about keeping my fitness levels up,” Nash says.

“I think my body might need a rest, but I don’t want to slip back on the progress I’ve made.”

Consistent on-field form is only one aspect of what has been an enjoyable season.

Nash says the way football has brought his family together has been a highlight, with around eight family members attending his games each week.

Indeed, they would be happy with what they have seen. One can only hope the AFL recruiters have as well.

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AFL RECORD visit afl record.com.au 31/7/09 5:32:42 PM23

26/8/09 5:18:36 PM

to good mates END OF AN ERA

This weekend the Sydney Swans bid farewell to Michael O’Loughlin, Jared Crouch and Leo Barry, but the club believes it is well placed to make the transition to the next phase.

J IM M A IN

BARREL OF LAUGHS: Swans stars Michael O’Loughlin, Jared Crouch and Leo Barry share a joke on the eve of their farewell games this weekend.

A

ccording to many football fans, the Sydney Swans have one foot on a banana skin, ready for a big tumble.

Not so, declares football manager and CEO-in-waiting Andrew Ireland, even though he is the fi rst to admit the Swans have to rebuild following the retirements of veterans Michael O’Loughlin, Jared Crouch and Leo Barry.

The three are set to end their careers this weekend, when the Swans host the

Brisbane Lions at the SCG. Ireland does not subscribe to the theory that clubs have to slide to the bottom once an era of success has come to an end.

“I admit it has happened,” he said. “But I don’t see any reason why we cannot be more than competitive next year and back in a challenging position before too long.”

Ireland was speaking just days before the Swans were to bid farewell to the premiership trio. Indeed, it has been a challenging season for the club, having parted with 2005 premiership captain Barry Hall

two months ago and having lost two other premiership players (Nic Fosdike and Tadhg Kennelly) before the season even started.

Ireland could not remember when the Swans, or any club, had lost such a massive measure of talent and experience from one season to the next. After this weekend’s game, the 32-year-old O’Loughlin will devote himself to the O’Loughlin Foundation in aid of indigenous health and education, and, if asked, will give the Swans a helping hand.

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 57

AR22 p57-60 Swans.indd 57

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“I wish I could play for ever, but the body is not the same as it used to be,” he said on the eve of his 300th game, against Richmond at the MCG in round 19.

O’Loughlin is almost limping to his retirement as he has struggled for years with knee tendinitis and has lost flexibility in his right foot because of screws and pins inserted following an injury against Carlton late last season.

Crouch, 31, said he knew at the start of the season it would be his last, and that it was just a matter of when he would announce his decision to retire.

Crouch will be able to further indulge his passion for wine, as he has teamed up with best friend Trent Fraser, the New York-based director of Dom Perignon, to produce their own wine label, Brothers Parade.

Significantly, the label for the Shiraz from the Adelaide Hills is red and white, while the Brothers Parade sauvignon blanc won a bronze medal in an Adelaide wine show. However, Crouch believes any further success in the wine industry, as in football, will come as the result of hard work.

Barry, 32, missed most of this season with a knee injury, but returned to senior action against Geelong at ANZ Stadium in round 20.

He is weighing up his options – he is considering a career in stockbroking but could also stay in football. Whatever path

The players we did bring in have shown that we do have youthful talent and they have flown under the radar ANDREW IRELAND

MAKING HIS MARK: Retiring Swan Leo Barry will be forever remembered

for his match-saving mark to clinch the 2005 premiership for Sydney.

he chooses, he will look back on his long Swans career with enormous satisfaction.

He said in announcing his retirement: “I have obviously struggled with fitness and that has made it an easier decision to end my football career.

“After spending 15 seasons with the Swans, I feel very fortunate to have played for one of the truly great and highly respected footy clubs, and also to have achieved the ultimate success with a fantastic group of guys.”

Ireland described the retiring

trio as “ fantastic players for the Swans” and, although he admitted the game against the Brisbane Lions would be tinged with sadness, added: “We also are buoyed about the future.

“People had been saying for some time that we had not played enough kids, but we were doing exceptionally well and, thanks to a wonderful medical staff, we had few injury problems.

“The players we did bring in have shown that we do have youthful talent and it would be true to say that they have flown under the radar.

“Kieren Jack now has played more than 50 games and is proving himself a wonderful tagger who can win plenty of the ball himself, while Jesse White has the potential to be a top key forward.”

Ireland was enthused by the performances of other youngsters Matt O’Dwyer, Nick Smith and Dan Hannebery over recent weeks, but particularly against Collingwood at the MCG last week.

O’Dwyer won plenty of the ball in midfield, Smith locked the dangerous Alan Didak out of the game and picked up 17 possessions himself, while schoolboy Hannebery continued to impress as a top prospect, with clean hands and good disposal.

Ireland also pointed to other young players that only the most dedicated Swans supporter would know anything about.

“We expect Daniel Currie to be a quality ruckman, but he has had to battle injuries so far, while Brett Meredith broke his arm after looking impressive in a few senior games early in the season,” Ireland said.

“Patrick Veszpremi, after looking so exciting late last year, severely injured a finger

COURAGE, INITIATIVE AND TEAMWORK ON AND OFF THE FIELD. Voting is now open in the 2009 AFL Army Award. Get online at afl.com.au or SMS ‘Courage’ to 13 19 01 and pick the play of the round and you could have the chance to win an awesome Army experience for you and a mate.

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AR22 p57-60 Swans.indd 58

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pre-season n and missed d 12 weeks, so the depth off young therre. talent definitely is there. s, there is st till a fair “Besides, still rience at th he club, bit of experience the ers like Brettt Kirk, with players Bolton n, Craig and Jude Bolton, odes, Ryan Adam Goodes, ewis O’Keefe, Lewis homson, Roberts-Thomson, lly and Darren Jolly how others to show er players the younger the way.” ain Kirk, who w Co-captain ontinue nex xt season, wants to continue next his weekend d’s game believes this weekend’s saddest in which will be onee the saddest en involved he has been involved.. emottional,” he “It will be very emotional,” ky, ‘Crouchy’’ and Leo said. “Micky, ven years of service and have all given d them out I just hope we can send in the rightt style. g alongside them t for so “Playing long makess you feel ass if they are part of the family and,, in a way, d these the club is a family and an ny future guys will be part of any cause young ger players success because younger achievvements will know their achievements EMERGING STAR: Tagger Kieren Jack is one

of several youngsters who have shown the Swans’ future is in good hands.

and how wh hard they had to work ffo for success.” wa w referring to the Kirk was almost-in nd nable ‘Bloods almost-indefi in ns spirit’, instilled in every player o joins j who the club.

“Our current side has m more young players tth than we have had for a wh w while and they all know wh ha is expected of them. what Hope ef Hopefully, they then will th hi on to players who join pass this the club o over future seasons.” ai he could not Kirk sa said rememb e the last time the remember Swans were we on the cusp of losing w so many eexperienced players from onee season to the next, but added addeed that the situation reminde ed him of the end of the reminded 2002 sea as when the Swans season previous sly missed the finals. previously “We h a a very ordinary had season a n everyone said losing and blokes like lik ke Wayne Schwass mid-seas so and Andrew mid-season Dunkleyy a and Paul Kelly at the end of th he season would see us the on the bo ot bottom,” he recalled.

“But we w played in a preliminary final (los sin to eventual premier, (losing the Brisb ba Lions) the following Brisbane year and d, two years later, we won and, the flag.””

Thanks for the memories MICHAEL O’LOUGHLIN Recruited from: Central District (South Australia) 302 games from 1995; best and fairest 1998; All-Australian 1997, 2000; premiership player 2005.

LEO BARRY Recruited from: Deniliquin (NSW), 236 games from 1995; All-Australian 2004-05; co-captain 2005-08; premiership player 2005, and famous for his match-saving mark in the Grand Final against West Coast.

JARED CROUCH UCH Recruited from: Norwood m: Norwoo r od o (South Australia) lia) a) 222 games from om 1998, including g 194 1 consecutive games ames m from debut to 2006; 0 premiership player layer y 2005 2 2005.

05 0 5 5.

WARRIOR: Jared ed Crouch C u

ant n over v 12 12 was a fine servant S ans n seasons for thee Swans.

60 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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COACHES ON COACHING – PART 8

Building A LIST

Constant re-evaluation of the playing group and an ability to project two or three seasons into the future are crucial in building a balanced list that can push for a premiership, as John Worsfold explains in the AFL Record’s Coaches on Coaching series.

F

or a senior coach in today’s game, list management is much more of a shared responsibility.

Clubs are recognising there are a lot more demands on the coach and also the importance of how you draft, trade and manage your list. The other obvious factor is that senior coaches don’t always have long life spans, so you need to find the balance of who makes the long-term and short-term decisions.

My role is mainly bringing the match committee’s point of view forward regarding the type of players we are looking to fit into our game-plan and style of play,

as well as having a say on the guys you would like to keep.

I attend a list meeting probably once every three weeks during the season, which becomes more regular towards October. You need to keep re-assessing the list regularly, because most players are on two-year contracts, so it means almost half of your list is coming out of contract every year.

It’s pretty important to shore up certain players so you don’t get to the point where you’ve got a couple of weeks to finalise your list and have 15 to 20 players to deal with.

Unfortunately for some, you can’t offer them a contract until the season is finished and you

know the club’s position.

The big challenge when I was appointed at the end of 2001 was that there were quite a lot of younger players on the list.

You needed to make decisions on whether they were going to take the club deep into the finals, and you are actually projecting a few years out. You are trying to pick what kind of player and how good they will be in two or three years’ time.

Then, when we won the flag in 2006, it really heightened expectations of the group. You would lose a game the next season or you pick a team that might not be in great form and people would say, ‘Well, you’ve got 15

premiership players in the side’.

The funny thing is that I would think that most clubs in the top eight would have 10-15 potential premiership players on their list, regardless of whether they have played in a flag.

The absolute key is that premierships are won by the balance of the 22 you put out on the ground on Grand Final day. They don’t all have to be champions, they just have to work well together and you have to get the blend right.

Looking at Hawthorn this year, even with all of their injuries, people are still saying, ‘Yeah, but they have still got 14 premiership players in the side.’

The fact is the Hawks may AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 63

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COACHES ON COACHING – PART 8 have 14 very good players, but the eight who come in really change the balance of the whole team. It’s that balance that tells you whether that 22 is going to win, not whether they’ve played in a premiership.

In our case, the impact of losing Chris Judd and Ben Cousins a year after the flag was huge. You are not only losing two senior players, but probably two of the best five players in the competition.

Chris was traded to Carlton and, while we think we didn’t lose out too much with what we got in return, you just don’t know that at the time. The benefit for Carlton was immediate, whereas the benefit for us will be over a longer period.

But the Ben Cousins situation was certainly a different one,

In our case, the impact of losing Chris Judd and Ben Cousins a year after the flag was huge JOHN WORSFOLD

where a player who had a few years of good football left, one of the champions of the game, leaves and you don’t get anything for him. There was no trade, he was just delisted and that does hurt you if you can’t manage to get something in return.

It was almost like an early retirement, which can happen, but the fact is he still had some good football left in him.

Right now, we’re back in a fairly similar situation to when I came on board as coach. It’s a young group taking the field most weeks and they need to gain that experience.

We are basically blooding a fairly big core group of young guys who will hopefully mature at the same rate and be a very solid unit. You are not bringing in two or three to top up the senior list – these are the guys who will actually develop into our senior list.

A drop down the ladder can happen, does happen, and I think has to happen for you to really bolster your list and get a brilliant team together. You can maintain a position mid-table or just in the eight with trades and so forth, but you have always got

to ask yourself, ‘Are we building a premiership list, or are we just hanging in there?’

I think all clubs are conscious of weighing that up – is it important to make the eight and just hang in there, or do you start from scratch and say, ‘Righto, we have to take some pain, make some early calls on players and get the young kids in so they are ready to become a very powerful team down the track’.

The big thing when dealing with the older guys is to be up front and honest with them; let them know exactly where they are at, because quite often they are not playing their best football right until their very last game.

You need to communicate and make sure they know where you are heading with your team, so they understand the selection policies, where they sit, and why you are going down these pathways.

You often have to make a call a year in advance, because if a player is getting to that older age bracket and you can see there is a possibility they may not hold their spot in the team going forward, you need to communicate that m all the w with them way.

There are actually not many players who get to play in a premiership, help a team go through a rebuilding period where it drops down the ladder, and get to see it come back up and win another one.

I have been looking into this one. When I was playing, we had young guys like Glen Jakovich and Ashley McIntosh in our ’92 and ’94 premiership sides, but they had retired by the time our 2006 premiership came around.

Drew Banfield was a rare one who was very young in 1994, went through a real dip with the team, but held on to play his last game in the 2006 Grand Final. I am not sure there are too many others who have been able to do that.

The other thing that’s pretty hard to do when you are building or re-building is control the expectations of the media and fans. You can put messages out there, but generally they are not the big news stories the media might be looking for.

With our members, we try to be pretty upfront and let them know where we think we are at. They obviously see and hear what goes on in the media, but we hope they understand what we are saying is definitely not sugar-coating the situation, but trying to let them know exactly where the club is heading.”

AS TOLD TO ANDREW WALLACE

UPFRONT: John Worsfold believes fans and members need to be kept informed about the direction the club is taking.

1

Re-evaluate the lis t on a regular basis in order to determi ne each player’s situation and ensu re his contract is under control.

With both younge r and older playe rs, project one, two an d even up to three years into the fut ure to predict how they will fit into the tea m structure.

Focus not on reputa tions, or whether a certain footballe r is a premiership player, but on the overall balance of the 22 who take the fi eld each week.

Assess whether yo u are building a potential premiers hip list or just hang ing in there. A drop do wn the ladder may be necessary to blood young players and secure the best tal ent coming through .

Be open and hone st with media an d fans about the clu b’s situation. Being overly optimistic or pessimistic wi ll only cause difficu lties.

2 3 4 5

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The maturing of

Davey Aaron

Aaron D Davey aveyy has g grown up p fast. From shyy rookie ki to to self-assu self-assured lf d star, t the th Demon D speedster speedste er has dev developed into a leader on and off the t field. NNICK BOW EN

W NO MORE DEMONS: A much

more confident Aaron Davey is enjoying a settled life on and off the field.

hen Aaron Davey first came to the Melbourne Football Club in 2004, he was so shy he often got his wife, Anna, or mother, Lizzie, to make phone calls on his behalf.

At the time, he could not have envisaged doing any form of public speaking, the thought of which terrified him.

But this year, he gave a 10-minute talk to 300 students at Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School as part of his role as an ambassador for the Fred Hollows Foundation’s indigenous program.

He also spoke at the opening of an art exhibition about the Demons’ inaugural indigenous scholarship. For Davey, 26, it’s been a mind-boggling transformation.

“Speaking to 300 students is pretty confronting, but to be able to do it was awesome,” Davey says. “It’s something I never thought I’d do in my life.”

Davey’s newfound self-assurance was evident when he spoke with the AFL Record for 30 minutes this week.

Family is also clearly at the centre of his universe. The father of two daughters – Atalia, six, and Mikayla, five in September – spoke of the “special influence” his mother and wife had had on his career, and the pride he felt when hearing stories of how his late father, Alwyn snr or ‘Gunny’, starred for North Darwin (now Palmerston) in the Northern Territory Football League.

Davey also divulged he and Anna are expecting their third child in January – “hopefully it’s a little Aaron,” he says, jokingly.

He is also passionate about working with indigenous communities through the Fred Hollows Foundation and wants to become more involved when he eventually retires.

Davey’s personal progression since joining Melbourne has been matched by his development as a footballer and a leader.

His rise on the field has been as obvious as his blinding pace.

Making an immediate impression in his first season as a small forward whose signature move was the run-down tackle, Davey has since moved into the midfield, where he can cut opposition sides apart with his speed and sublime kicking.

In a sign of his growing maturity – and his first full pre-season in years – his 2009 has been by far his most consistent. Playing all 21

AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 67

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games, he has averaged more than 23 possessions and leads the Demons in tackles with 85.

But as transparent as his development as a player has been, Davey’s growth as a leader has gone on – largely – behind the scenes.

There has been his work with Melbourne’s young indigenous players, particularly this season with Liam Jurrah, who has faced a huge transition moving from central Australia, where he was an initiated tribal man and did not speak English as his first language.

Davey drives Jurrah and his housemate Austin Wonaeamirri to training every day and tries to make sure he’s happy and coping with his new lifestyle.

“A lot of people comment on how well I’ve been able to work with Liam,” Davey says. “It’s a role I enjoy playing with the younger indigenous guys and they’ve made my job easier by being respectful young men.”

Davey’s character was put to the test last season. Having been granted mid-week leave from the club to attend the funeral of his best mate’s mother in Darwin, he missed his return flight after a night out with friends.

He played in the Demons’ round 14 match against Brisbane that weekend – a memorable one-point win – but was racked with guilt over his pre-game lapse in discipline.

He could probably have gotten away with it but

It’s a role I enjoy playing with the younger indigenous guys and they’ve made my job easier by being respectful young men AARON DAVEY

decided to confess his sins. The leadership group suspended him from playing in the club’s next match against the Western Bulldogs but, while disappointed, coach Dean Bailey said: “It might be the beginning of Aaron becoming more of that type of leader that we all want him to be.”

Davey agrees with Bailey’s assessment. “The only way you are going to get better in life is to learn from mistakes and that was obviously one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made,” he says.

“But I look it as a positive now – it’s made me hungrier to win back the respect of

my teammates and show them I’m committed to the team.”

This season, Davey and the Demons faced another test when, in the lead-up to their round 14 clash with West Coast, club chairman and former playing great Jim Stynes announced he had cancer.

Davey says Stynes’ news was a shock but ultimately galvanised the playing group to honour him with a win against the Eagles.

“Individually, we all had a look and feel of Jimmy’s No. 37 jumper (the number Stynes wore in his first season) before we ran out to play, so we’d go out there with a bit of Jimmy in us,” he says.

The Demons’ 20-point win was a proud moment for Davey, but even more pleasing have been Stynes’ recent appearances at the club after surgery to remove four tumours.

“To see him back now looking great is fantastic,” he says. “Everyone’s just hoping everything goes well for him.”

Davey also senses if Melbourne’s playing group collectively strives to match Stynes’ legendary commitment to the club, it can start to climb off the bottom of the ladder.

“We’ve got to start stringing some wins together for Jim to match the way he’s turned the club around off the field.”

WIN FOR JIM: Aaron Davey (right,

holding Jim Stynes’ No. 37 jumper with James McDonald) after honouring the seriously ill president in round 14.

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68 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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time on Answer man

AFL history guru Col Hutchinson answers your queries.

(captain) scored 20.12 (132).

Carlton had 19.18 (132) on the board when skipper Stephen Kernahan marked within scoring distance in the dying seconds. He took his kick after the final siren but, unfortunately for the Blues, the ball veered right and sailed out of bounds on the full.

Kernahan rues drawn-out affair With two draws being recorded this year, I was wondering if you could please let me know the following statistic about draws in the AFL. What was the lowest and highest recorded drawn scores? I enjoy reading your section in the AFL Record.

CRISTIAN TASSONE, VIA EMAIL

CH: The lowest scoring drawn

COSTLY BLUE: With the scores level, Carlton captain Stephen Kernahan’s shot at goal in the final seconds of the round two match against Essendon in 1993 sailed out of bounds on the full.

match occurred in round nine, 1898, at Princes Park when Carlton and Melbourne both registered 3.10 (28).

Ernie Walton and Ned Sutton captained the Blues and Redlegs respectively. At the MCG in the second round of 1993, an Essendon team including Dustin Fletcher, Mark Harvey and Mark Thompson

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 Ernest Robert Charles Vollugi or Aubrey Duckworth MacKenzie?

Vollugi played four matches for Melbourne as a half-back flanker/ back pocket in 1904, after coming from Richmond’s VFA team. He died on May 11, 1964, in NSW, aged about 85. His younger brother, Herc, a first class cricketer, played football for Essendon from 1901-06. MacKenzie was

born in Durban, South Africa, in November, 1894, and played originally with Brunswick Juniors before joining Melbourne in 1914.

He enlisted during World War I. After returning to civilian life, he represented VFA club Footscray and resumed his League career with St Kilda in 1922. The balding

ruckman contributed eight goals in 35 games spread over three seasons. On July 15, 1933, he was killed in a road accident.

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

NAB AF RISINGL STAR

p76

NAME GAME

Top marks The curtain is about to fall on several AFL careers, none better than those of Leo Barry (pictured) and Scott Lucas. Barry has several possible origins, but the two most fitting are, firstly, that it is an anglicised form of the Gaelic name Ó Beargha, “descendant of Beargh”. Beargh meant “robber” – and it was Leo Barry who “robbed” West Coast of a final chance to win the 2005 Grand Final; or, secondly, that Barry derives from the Old Celtic bearrach meaning approximately “good marksman”. To misuse this word, no mark will be more remembered than Barry’s great match-saving grab.

Lucas’ surname means “man from Lucania”, a region in southern Italy, the name of which probably meant “shining” or “bright”, and is traceable to the Latin lux meaning light. For many years, Lucas has been, with Matthew Lloyd, a shining light on the Essendon forward line.

KEVAN CARROLL

NAB Community

ovarian cancer Your opportunity to make a difference

For more information about ovarian cancer or to make a donation call 1300 OVARIAN (1300 682 742), visit nab.com.au/ocrf or ask at any NAB branch.

©2009 National Australia Bank Limited ABN 12 004 044 937 NSM0761

70 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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COLLECTABLES WITH RICK MILNE

Worthy legends A weekly look at collectables, memorabilia and all footy things stored in boxes and garages.

RICK’S RARITY

My dad is about to sell his most valuable piece of sporting memorabilia. It is a ‘Legends of Football’ frame with signed photos of AFL legends Dick Reynolds, Jack Dyer, Bob Pratt, Bob Skilton, John Nicholls, Leigh Matthews, Ron Barassi and ‘Polly’ Farmer.

Only 50 were made and this is No. 10. What would this be worth?

JULIA, VIA EMAIL

RM: This is a perfect limited

edition as there are far too many pieces running into the hundreds or even thousands.

It is a marvellous item and is worth at least $2500.

We have a signed-and-framed photo of South Melbourne champion Bob Skilton which is taking up precious room in our baby’s nursery. There are details of his playing career, including his three Brownlow Medals. Valuation?

CATHIE, VIA EMAIL

LIMITED EDITION: This piece featuring photos and signatures

of eight legends of the game is valued at about $2500.

much about it except that it was bought at a Grand Final in the 1950s. Does it have any value?

CINDY AND DWAYNE, VIA EMAIL

signatures might be worth a lot of money. What do you think?

ANDREW, VIA EMAIL

RM: Each signature is clear

RM: The Swans released quite

RM: This item certainly is from

a few of these as fund-raisers.

The photo might be of Skilton in his playing days, but the signature is fairly recent. I value it at $750.

the 1950s and, although it is a little worse for wear, it is quite rare and worth $75.

and concise, whereas many of today’s autographs are difficult to decipher. Your collection is worth $500.

I recently obtained an autograph book featuring signatures of Essendon and North Melbourne players from the 1940s onwards.

There are about 10 pages of signatures, including that of the great John Coleman. I was told the

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.

Going through my grandfather’s possessions, we came across a celluloid doll painted in Collingwood’s black and white. My grandmother cannot remember

One of the casualties of saturation television coverage of football was The Sporting Globe, known affectionately as “The Pink Paper”. It was issued on Saturday nights and Wednesday mornings, with the Saturday editions covering games almost on a kick-by-kick basis. This edition features the mighty Saints in their one-point defeat of the Magpies in the 1966 Grand Final. It was available about half an hour after the final siren and is worth $100 in fair condition, but will be worth twice as much if St Kilda wins thiss yyear’s flag. g

visit afl.com.au

NAB AFL Tipping - Win $20,000 The official tipping competition of the AFL The round 21 weekly winner was Nick Georghiou of Coburg in Victoria.

The round 21 celebrity competition winner was Garry Lyon.

There are fantastic cash prizes to be won every week – join in the fun now at afl.com.au

72 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au NAB_Tipping_60x179_Rd22.indd 1

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26/8/09 4:26:10 PM

26/8/09 4:26:40 PM

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KNOWLEDGE AC R O S S 1 4 7 10 11 12 13 14 16 18 22 23 24 27 29 30 33 34 36 37 38

He said what?

Which player confirmed, in a post-game interview on Fox Sports, to having once bitten his dog?

I was about three years old and the dog bit me, so there was only one way of retribution – go straight back at it

Daniel Rich

DOWN

Given name of short-term Hawk coach in 2004 (6) Generally comes to losing coaches (4) John Coleman’s number (3) Famous Melbourne family with one Brownlow medallist (7) Brilliant in North’s first premiership. Also played for South and Fitzroy (7) Bomber premiership winger (1962, 1965), whose brother was a senior umpire (4) Proudly displayed on Victorian guernsey (3, 1) Players with good hands, take ..... possessions (5) Roo who kicked seven goals on debut (6) Former Hawk, Nick ...., wore number 16 for Hawks (4) Abbreviation for shoulder joint (2) Former Bomber, .... Rioli (4) Highest honour in Australian Football Hall of Fame (6) Warwick ....., 1975 Fitzroy best and fairest, later moved to Collingwood (5) Short colloquial term for the home of football (3, 1) Good is better than poor (4) AFL’s only Digby (7) For distance, try this punt (7) Stephen was a Saint, then Tiger premiership player (1973), later umpire (3) North forward famous for night series’ goal (4) In ninth place, in good form, ready to climb into the eight (6)

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 12 15 17 19 20 21 25 26 28 31 32 35

Nickname of Saints’ 1966 premiership skipper (3) You need this when kicking for goal (5) Wears No. 45 for Cats (4) New ........ are eagerly perused in pre-season (8) Younger son of Adelaide’s first coach (4, 6) Swap (5) ‘The Galloping Gasometer’ (5) Dual Brownlow medallist in ‘70s (5) A kick by the Roccas are sometimes described as a .... (4) Captained the Hawks, Richie .......... (10) Designates 50m from goal (3) Recruiters have a good ... for a goer (3) Captained Roos in 1960; became an AFL Commissioner (8) 2001 Truscott Trophy winner, .... Yze (4) A ground, and a coach, needs to be .... (4) 2002 Coleman medallist (5) Played some games for Saints’ under-19s; better known as a spinner (5) 3-point scores in International Rules Series (5) Another name for Dockers (4) Age when it’s time to hang up boots (3)

THIS WEEK’S ANSWERS

Scrambled footballer Coy one

Cryptic footballers 1. Hodge, for example, in first side at Geelong.

2. Hawk’s account about damaged arch.

3. The French in unusually grand surroundings at Melbourne.

4. At the Gabba and Arden St, Her Majesty follows prisoner of war.

Warren Tredrea

5. Power player’s poor lead.

6. Tiger not in favour of a republic?

SCRAMBLED FOOTBALLER: Cooney CRYPTIC FOOTBALLERS: 1. Hawkins 2. Birchall 3. Garland 4. Power 5. Lade 6. King 7. Moore 8. Naitanui 9. Ray 10. Williams

8. Troubled Unitarian loses right to become an Eagle.

HE SAID WHAT?: Jonathan Brown

7. What Mrs Bull might say about Swan.

Jonathan Brown

9. Saint from Sunshine?

Simon Black

10. Bulldog: “I am into one of the game’s founders.”

WATCH BEFORE THE GAME SATURDAY NIGHTS ON TEN

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

122 121 114 109 107 52

TIPSTERS

MICK Richmond Geelong Cats Essendon Carlton Sydney Swans Port Adelaide St Kilda Western Bulldogs

74 b4thgame_RD22.indd AFL RECORD visit afl1record.com.au

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LEHMO West Coast Eagles Geelong Cats Hawthorn Carlton Brisbane Lions Port Adelaide St Kilda Western Bulldogs

DAVE West Coast Eagles Geelong Cats Essendon Carlton Sydney Swans Port Adelaide St Kilda Western Bulldogs

STRAUCHANIE Richmond Fremantle Hawthorn Adelaide Sydney Swans North Melbourne Melbourne Western Bulldogs

SAM West Coast Eagles Geelong Cats Essendon Adelaide Sydney Swans Port Adelaide St Kilda Collingwood

ANDY West Coast Eagles Geelong Cats Essendon Carlton Sydney Swans Port Adelaide St Kilda Western Bulldogs

is week special guest appearance by

RUSSELL ROBERTSON

26/8/09 2:21:13 PM

26/8/09 4:24:28 PM

timeon

NAB AFL RISING STAR

Consistency rewarded Fremantle youngster Nick Suban has not missed a beat in n his debut AFL AF FL season. seas se a on. A NDR EW WA L L ACE

I

n a season that has seen Fremantle blood an exciting batch of young talent and show marked improvement, 19-year-old Nick Suban has been at the forefront.

The Victorian, chosen with the No. 24 selection in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft, has the rare distinction of playing every game in his first year in the top flight, and last week deservedly received a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination for his career-high 25 disposals and two goals in the Dockers’ 54-point win over Essendon.

“It’s obviously a real honour,” Suban said. “We’ve got a great young group down at Freo, and I’m just thrilled to be playing alongside them. I didn’t really set myself to get a nomination or anything, but luckily I played well on the weekend and everything’s just happened.”

Suban becomes the second Docker behind Stephen Hill to receive Rising Star recognition in 2009, with young teammates Hayden Ballantyne, Chris Mayne, Tim Ruffles, Greg Broughton and Matthew de Boer also showing promise.

The dual All-Australian junior, AIS-AFL Academy graduate and Vic Country captain has filled a number of roles for coach Mark Harvey in his debut AFL season, including half-back, up forward and through the midfield.

“Mark has been really good – he gives me a lot of confidence to back myself in and has trusted me with a few different jobs, which has been great for my development,” Suban said.

With Fremantle sitting out

NAB AFL Rising Star nominees

VALUABLE EXPERIENCE:

Docker youngster Nick Suban has played every game this season.

Round 1 – Daniel Rich (BL) Round 2 – David Zaharakis (Ess) Round 3 – Patrick Dangerfield (Adel) Round 4 – Jaxson Barham (Coll) Round 5 – Garry Moss (Haw) Round 6 – Stephen Hill (Frem) Round 7 – Jack Ziebell (NM) Round 8 – Jarryn Geary (StK) Round 9 – Andy Otten (Adel) Round 10 – Taylor Walker (Adel) Round 11 – Brad Dick (Coll) Round 12 – Aaron Joseph (Carl) Round 13 – Tayte Pears (Ess) Round 14 – Jack Grimes (Melb) Round 15 – Liam Jurrah (Melb) Round 16 – Chris Masten (WCE) Round 17 – Dayne Beams (Coll) Round 18 – Callan Ward (WB) Round 19 – Mitch Brown (WCE)

Mark has been really good – he gives me a lot of confidence to back myself in and has trusted me with a few different jobs

Round 20 – Michael Hurley (Ess)

September this year, Suban will strive to work on all areas of his game over the long pre-season campaign, including kicking efficiency, winning the hard ball, strength and fitness. In time, he hopes to progress to a permanent midfield role.

The boy from Bacchus Marsh grew up supporting St Kilda and became a huge fan of club legend Robert Harvey, whose traits he has tried to emulate.

“I watched a lot of ‘Harvs’, and I just liked the way he never got tackled and used the footy so well. I loved the way

FA S T FAC T S

he went about it – everything about him,” he said.

Despite missing his family and friends in Victoria, Suban has settled in well to Perth life and finds the warmer climate more to his liking than the bitter winter months of Ballarat, where he completed his schooling.

In the break before training cranks up again, he will head back home and also take a trip to the Gold Coast. But Docker fans needn’t stress that Suban is checking out the AFL’s newest franchise – he’ll merely be visiting an old mate.

Round 21 – Nick Suban (Frem)

Suban rooms with fellow NAB AFL Rising Star nominee Stephen Hill when playing interstate.

1

2 Has been a staple in

defence for 28,163 Dream Teams across the country – almost 10 per cent of participants.

3 Racked up nine contested

possessions and eight clearances in last week’s effort against the Bombers.

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

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TALKING POINT

Restoring lost pride Self-respect is a powerful motivating force at this time of the year, when upsets are common. NICK BOW EN

H

ow can a team that has everything to play for get beaten by a team with only pride on the line?

It’s a question that surfaces every season around this time, but one that has no easy answer.

It’s also one that has likely tortured Essendon fans this week, as they ponder how their side – with a guaranteed finals spot at stake – could lose so comprehensively to Fremantle, whose only incentive was climbing from 15th to 14th on the ladder.

OK, the Bombers had their injury problems heading into the game and were playing the Dockers on their home turf at Subiaco, but that doesn’t fully explain how they could be so flat – and Fremantle so energised and full of spirit.

Already, in rounds 17 and 18, the Bombers had lost consecutive games to cellar-dwellers Richmond and West Coast.

The Eagles also came out firing the following week to win their sixth game of the season against a Western Bulldogs side that had a top-four spot on the line.

Then there was the Saints’ loss to North Melbourne last Sunday.

Yes, the Saints went into the game knowing they had already clinched top spot. But surely their desire to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, against Essendon the previous round, and to return to top form before the finals outweighed any motivational carrot the North Melbourne coaching staff could dangle in front of their players.

The Roos were always going to put on a good show for Brady Rawlings’ 200th game and Shannon Watt’s final match, and Roos coach Darren Crocker had fired up his players by reminding them of former Essendon skipper

DERAILED: North Melbourne

players celebrate as St Kilda ponders its shock loss to the Roos last week.

It’s a safe bet he (Ross Lyon) asked his players how they could be beaten in contested possession and in clearances James Hird’s comments in his newspaper column that the Roos no longer stood for anything.

But, how can wanting to make a former player eat his words compare with wanting to prepare yourself for an imminent tilt at your club’s second premiership?

That’s what Saints coach Ross Lyon seemed to be grappling with when he berated his team behind closed doors after the match. It’s a safe bet he asked his players how, even with Lenny Hayes a late withdrawal, they could be beaten in contested possession (they lost that count 107-130) and in clearances (36-40) – perhaps the most accurate barometers of a side’s appetite to win – so close to the finals.

But in scrutinising the losers in

these matches, perhaps we’re not paying due credit to the winners.

Football clubs are competitive beasts, no matter how hopeless their seasons have become.

For a lowly club, every game represents an opportunity to restore lost pride. Any players who come into that side late in the season – be they youngsters getting a taste of senior football or older heads being given one last chance to prove their worth – are desperate to play their part.

But I think it’s the chance to put a serious dent in – or, better still, derail – a high-flying opponent’s season that appeals most to a club’s bloodlust.

These games become that team’s finals for the year, their chance to notch a win that will sustain them over the coming pre-season and inspire them

heading into the next season.

Such late-season upsets are not uncommon. Last year, North was on the receiving end, losing its round 22 match to 13th-placed Port Adelaide by 76 points, when a win would have secured a top-four spot.

As a supporter, these losses frustrate you like few others.

‘How the hell can we lose to that rabble? Why on earth do they even give a hoot?’

Well, however incomprehensible it may be to you, they do care, even in this pragmatic age of list management, where players with niggling injuries are often booked in for season-ending surgery when their team can no longer make the finals.

The advice to Geelong, Brisbane and St Kilda, which play non-finalists Fremantle, Sydney and Melbourne respectively this round? Look out, your opponents still have plenty to play for.

78 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au

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