Port face first game without McCarthy

Port Adelaide Power footballer John McCarthy in action. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: adelaidenow

PORT Adelaide players will be free to choose how they honour John McCarthy's memory in Sunday's AFL exhibition match against the Western Bulldogs in London.

The encounter at The Oval will be the first time the Power have played since McCarthy's death on an end-of-season trip to Las Vegas in September.

``It is completely up to the individual. If players want to wear armbands or make a tribute to him they are certainly able to do that,'' acting Port Adelaide captain Hamish Hartlett said.

Port Adelaide have pencilled in a memorial match for the former Collingwood and Power player on April 6 against Greater Western Sydney at AAMI Stadium.

A US coroner last month ruled the cause of McCarthy's death was accidental and Hartlett said McCarthy's passing had pulled the players closer together.

"That bond will continue forever,'' he said. "There is a common link, a few of the Western Bulldogs players were over there (Las Vegas) at the same time and everyone has dealt with it in their own way.

"There is no doubt it has galvanised the group.''
 
Both Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs have plenty to prove next year following disappointing campaigns, finishing 14th and  15th respectively this year.

Acting Bulldogs captain Shaun Higgins said a forgettable season meant the south London clash took on more significance.

``If you had a successful year last season it may be a bit of a throw away game,'' he said.

``But for us it is a great opportunity to get together again and to continue building.''

The match, starting at 1530 local time (0230 Sunday AEDT), will be an opportunity for ex-Geelong assistants Brendan McCartney and Ken Hinkley to lock horns for the first time as senior coaches.

McCartney and Hinkley were part of the brains trust during the Cats' 2007 and 2009 premiership campaigns.
McCartney has completed one season in the hot seat at the `Dogs while Hinkley was only handed the top job at
the Power three weeks ago.

``We are pretty lucky that we have spent a lot of good times together and we have had some great success and now an opportunity to use what we have learnt and apply that to our own teams,'' Hinkley said.

``Macca has been doing that for 12 months, I have been in the seat for three seconds and feel like I am not sure what I am doing.

``So when we are finished here, I will talk to Macca and get some clues.''

McCartney said his players would be ordered to entertain an expected crowd of more than 10,000 in south
London.

``We are going to let our boys go for hangers and play and have a bit of fun out there,'' he said.

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Hunt backs Izzy move

Karmichael Hunt has backed Israel Folau's decision to walk away from the AFL. Picture: Kym Smith Source: The Daily Telegraph

AFL convert Karmichael Hunt believes Israel Folau made the right decision to walk away from the AFL rather than continue playing a game his heart wasn't in.

Hunt, who was the first to stun the rugby league world when he walked away from the Brisbane Broncos to sign with the Gold Coast Suns on a multi-million dollar deal, was told of the news while completing altitude training with the Suns in Arizona.

The former Origin and Kangaroo star said Folau had made the right decision for himself.

Neil Cordy: Izzy worth every cent for AFL

"Obviously he felt his heart wasn't in it and I guess it would have been unfair to a lot of people, including himself, if he carried on," Hunt said.

"It's a pretty brave decision on his behalf and I respect his decision."

Hunt said it was unfair to make a judgment on Folau's AFL ability.

"Obviously he has got a lot of potential and ability and I guess that is one question we will never know the answer to," Hunt said.

Hunt also reiterated his strong desire to remain in the AFL.

Folau set to sign with Parramatta

Suns coach Guy McKenna, who has guided Hunt's transformation to legitimate a legitimate AFL player, said fans often under estimated how difficult code-hopping was.

"At times I think we do take it a bit for granted what they have to go through," he said.

"You look at K and (Sydney's) Mike Pyke is the same.

Phil Rothfield: Folau comeback a triumph for NRL

"We shouldn't see this lightly and its massive for these blokes who haven't grown up in the sport."

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No big change to pre-season: Hird

Essendon's pre-season is underway with the Bombers focussing on fitness this summer after fading badly in the second half of the 2012 season and missing the finals.

Essendon players hit the pavement this morning as pre-season begins. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

ESSENDON coach James Hird says the Bombers will not be making dramatic changes to their pre-season program in the wake of this year's soft tissue injury epidemic.

Hird admitted earlier in the year the team's gruelling training load last summer may have contributed to a rash of soft-tissue injuries during the season.

But Hird said today the club did not plan to overhaul its training regime this pre-season.

"We've changed a few things, but we won't change a lot," Hird said.

Essendon training this morning. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

"We think our players, coming into a third pre-season, it's really important that they continue to get the conditioning right.

"So, we won't change too much."

The Bombers returned to pre-season training yesterday, with the players completing back-to-back 2km time trials today around Princes Park.

Midfielder Brent Stanton recorded the best times.

A group of 10 players, mostly midfielders, will head to Colorado tomorrow for a three-week altitude training camp that Hird hopes will fast-track their summer preparation.

"It's the first time that we have tested the waters with altitude training," Hird said.

"The first couple of years we wanted to get a lot of the game down bedded down the way we wanted to play and this pre-season is a little bit more about the fitness levels of our players.

"I think going to Colorado for an altitude training camp for our midfielders is something very exciting for us.

"(We hope to) increase our aerobic ability to probably fast-track their training to a certain extent and to really see if it's something that we want the whole group to do as of next year."

Dustin Fletcher,Paddy Ryder and Scott Gumbleton during their 2km time trial this morning. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

High-profile recruit Brendon Goddard, who has been holidaying overseas, will join his new teammates for the first time on the camp.

"We are very excited to have him come along, but it will be a couple of weeks before our fans get to see him train with us properly," Hird said.

Brownlow medallist Jobe Watson is also in the US and will meet up with the group in Colorado.

Hird said he wanted to see the ``effort'' from out-of-contract pair Ricky Dyson and Brent Prismall on the training track as the club decides whether to give them a spot on the list next season.

"We just want to see them train for a couple of weeks and make sure the effort is there and make sure their bodies stand up to a whole pre-season," Hird said.
 

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Voss: AFL will move on quickly

Lions coach Michael Voss says AFL will quickly get over Israel Folau leaving. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

ISRAEL Folau's dumping of AFL has barely hurt the code and is just a "mossie bite'' the game will easily overcome, Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss says.

Voss was adamant the code would not be damaged by Folau's "retirement'' from the game yesterday.

Folau is set to return to rugby league after two unsuccessful years playing AFL, where he kicked two goals valued at $1 million each.

Voss said the fact Folau was not an established AFL star meant there would be few negatives resulting from his return to the game he loves.

Hunt backs Izzy defection

This is despite Folau repeatedly stating he had "no passion" for the game.

"If it was Chris Judd or Jonathan Brown it would hurt,'' he said.

"Our code will carry on. It is bigger than one person.

"There's no black eye. A blemish, a mossie bite maybe.''

Fellow cross-code athlete Karmichael Hunt said his former teammate made a brave decision to leave the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

"I guess it's a pretty brave decision on his behalf and I respect his decision because he felt his heart's not in,'' he told the AFL site.

Izzy gives Giants $1m Tippett carrot

"It would have been unfair to a lot of people, including himself, if he just stayed on and carried on.

"I wish him well.''

Hunt switched from rugby league to AFL at the end of 2009 with Folau following 12 months later when he joined another expansion club Greater Western Sydney.

The pair played for the Brisbane Broncos, Queensland and Australia together.

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Folau the player a total failure

Israel Folau leaves Greater Western Sydney two years before his contract is up, but doesn't know what is next.

GWS Giant Israel Folau didn't work as a player, but did generate publicity in Sydney. Source: HWT Image Library

ANALYSIS: AS an AFL player, Israel Folau was a total, unmitigated, disastrous failure.

He kicked just two goals in 13 matches, amassed 80 thoroughly unconvincing possessions, and looked totally at sea for all but two 30-minute bursts in his two years as an AFL player.

In one pre-season game against Hawthorn, and against the Western Bulldogs in Round 5 we saw small signs that Folau was slowly getting the hang of this complicated, nuanced game.

But apart from that there was virtually nothing - in truth it was depressing to watch.

Yet for an AFL so desperate to get a small foothold into rugby league-dominated western Sydney, this exercise has already served its purpose.

Forget high-profile signings Tom Scully, or Callan Ward, or Phil Davis.

Folau was the mass drawcard that allowed GWS to get media traction into the state, a recognisable face the club could sell itself around.

Kevin Sheedy was the song-and-dance man that drummed up the publicity, but even as he was failing, Folau was still a media-generating machine.

After two years and millions of dollars of wages funded partly by the AFL, he is gone.

Some will say that his departure is irrefutable proof the experiment was a failure in every ways, but in truth it is perfect timing.

If GWS it to survive it has to be as a football club, not a sideshow experiment featuring a former NRL star.

Consider Folau's on-field prospects next year, competing with the likes of Jeremy Cameron, Jon Patton and most likely Kurt Tippett.

He would have been the most expensive reserve-grade forward the competition has ever seen.

That could well have caused more damage than actually still having Folau around at the Giants.

Make no mistake, GWS wants Tippett, as Kevin Sheedy told the Herald Sun this week.

"I think it is very important and we owe it to our fans to get in senior players who are very talented. If you look at the teams which have won premierships, these are the situations which come up. The Swans built themselves up by getting Tony Lockett and Barry Hall. They got those players around 25.

"We are having a look at him, don't worry about that.''

If they can secure him as their new marquee forward, Folau's departure and the salary cap room it creates will be a win-win for both parties.

Folau was never going to become Gold Coast revelation Karmichael Hunt, who honed his body shape and worked and worked until he reawakened his junior AFL pedigree.

Better to get two years of freakishly good publicity from Folau, then allow him return to the sport he was really born to play.

The AFL got its publicity, Folau got his millions, and now the Giants will get on with the enormous task of proving they can eventually become self-sufficient without the AFL's drip-fed allowances.

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GWS back in the race for Tippett

Neil Cordy discusses where Israel Folau will go next.

Kurt Tippett the Giant? Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

WITH Israel Folau's departure from Greater Western Sydney today, Giants chief executive Dave Matthews has confirmed the club will chase Adelaide Crows star forward Kurt Tippett

At a press conference where Folau announced he was quitting AFL after just 13 games, Matthews said the Giants would certainly focus their attention on Tippett.

``We're certainly in there for Kurt Tippett,' Matthews said at the press conference. ``There looked like there was going to be an outcome with Sydney Swans... but now's the time for us to re-engage in those discussions (with Tippett).''

Folau calls it quits on AF career

Folau - who signed a $6 million four-year deal to switch from rugby league to AFL in 2010 - only played out two years of his contract, earning him $4 million.

However that does not mean GWS has a spare $2m to bid for Tippett.

The majority of Folau's contract was paid outside of the salary cap so in theory GWS would have about $250,000-$300,000 to help entice the tall forward to New South Wales.

Folau's wage paid by the club was boosted thanks to a generous marketing allowance.

According to Matthews, the Giants have been in touch with Tippett's management for several weeks.

Last week, AFL official raided Adelaide's offices to examine computer hard drives and bank records after allegations of draft tampering and salary cap breaches.

Because of the investigation, a potential trade between the Crows and Sydney - which needed to be completed last Friday - was stopped by the AFL leaving Tippett's career in the air.

The AFL is unsure just how long the investigation will take to complete but Tippett is able to nominate for the national draft on November 22 or the pre-season draft in December, subject to the findings of the probe.

It is understood Tippett will still try to market his services for $1 million.

If the Crows are found to have dabbled in salary cap breeches, the club could be stripped of draft picks and slapped with heavy fines.

It is still a possibility that Tippett could be deregistered.

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Rising Suns conquer Grand Canyon

Gold Coast Suns players trek through Grand Canyon during the Arizona pre-season camp. Source: Supplied

A TREACHEROUS 26km hike down and up the Grand Canyon faced the Gold Coast Suns junior players and new recruits on day three of the club's training camp in Arizona today.

Some handled the arduous challenge better than others, with Henry Schade and former Fremantle Docker Greg Broughton finishing the hike in 4hr 35mins.

Aaron Hall and Josh Hall both overcame cramps to stop the clock at just over five hours, while teenager Clay Cameron admitted he found the going tough.

"My glutes started to really hurt with about an hour to go, but Tom (Murphy) kept pushing me along," Cameron said.

"It was good to have someone there with you and he got my mind off it by talking about some of the stuff he had been through in his career."

Former Hawthorn defender Murphy paid tribute to Cameron for staying strong.

"He was going all right and he would have got there no doubt but sometimes that stuff is pretty lonely if you're on your own," he said.

Greg Broughton and Henry Schade lead the Gold Coast Suns on the 26km hike through the Grand Canyon. Source: Supplied

"Athletes have to do that on their own but with footy you have got your teammates around you."

Murphy said the fact Cameron got through the trek would do wonders mentally.

"I was just saying to him there are times in your career when you will play injured and you can look back at doing the Grand Canyon walk when you were hurting and know you can get through it," he said.

"It's easy to walk away from the Grand Canyon and think nothing of it, but you can actually take a lot of mental toughness out of it."
 

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Izzy risk was worth it for GWS

Israel Folau's AFL fling is over, but a sports marketing expert says the costly venture was worth it for Greater Western Sydney. Picture: Joosep Martinson Source: Getty Images

ISRAEL Folau's AFL experiment was a worthwhile one for fledging Greater Western Sydney, a sports marketing expert says.

RMIT University marketing expert Con Stavros said Folau's conversion was worth the out-lay to try and "cut through" in the new market.

"It was always going to be risky, I think it certainly brought a lot of publicity to them," he said.

"From a marketing point of view, I guess GWS would say we launched a club, got a lot of publicity, got plenty of sponsors on board, created some community interest and launched a new stadium.

"If they have got a sheet  where they have got to reach a whole lot of marketing objectives I think they will probably find there is a lot of ticks next to them.

"The hard part is how much has Israel Folau contributed to that? He certainly contributed something to it, but it's hard to put an exact measure on it.

"I don't know if you would call it an absolute perfect success, but you wouldn't call it a failure either.

"It was definitely worth trying. In those early days it was worth trying to cut through."

But Stavros doubted there would be much code-swapping in the future.

"For GWS now that era of trying out rugby players is probably not something they're going to follow again," he said.

"I think the idea of, 'OK, let's go and try and take the best players from another sport', we're not going to see too much more of in the future because those guys are big stars in their own right."
 

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Host club deal to last 'forever'

All West Coast players, such as midfielder Adam Selwood, will play for East Perth in the WAFL from 2014 when not required for AFL duty. Picture: Will Russell Source: PerthNow

WEST Coast and Fremantle say they hope their host club arrangements with East Perth and Peel will last forever despite the historic deal being for a minimum of five years.

Eagles CEO Trevor Nisbett and Dockers counterpart Steve Rosich said they no longer held ambitions to field stand alone teams in the WAFL and that they believed the alignment model would be a success.

"I hope it's going to be in place forever and a day. I think that this looks like a sustainable model, a model that can help the other clubs,'' Nisbett said.

"I think the injection of funds into the competition initially will be the catalyst to help the other clubs and I think the next step is then to ensure that the other seven clubs who aren't partners get the opportunity to recruit well and hopefully we'll revitalise the competition again and make sure that we've got a really good, viable competition for ever and a day.''

WA's two AFL clubs submitted a proposal for stand alone teams in the WAFL, expanding the competition to 11 teams, last year but the request was knocked back by the WA Football Commission.

"It's taken a long time. Obviously we needed to make sure we got things right and we think the Football Commission have done a pretty good job in trying to get the two clubs in partnership with the two AFL clubs so that you've got a willing partner,'' Nisbett said.

"At one stage six months ago, or probably even three months ago, we didn't know whether this would come off and we're very pleased that it has.

East Perth consulted West Coast over the recent appointment of Brian Dawson as league coach. Dawson has a long history with the Eagles as a fitness coach and sports science consultant.

Fremantle CEO Steve Rosich said the Dockers were happy for new Peel coach Cam Shepherd to fulfill his two-year contract.

"One of the positive things is that the Peel Football Club are very positive about this arrangement, so from that perspective we're very happy to be with Peel,'' Rosich said.

"They're a young club, a club that we're very much looking forward to working with to develop both on and off the field.''

Rosich said finding the annual payment of $450,000 to fund the deal would be difficult.

"That's on top of the amount we're already paying to the West Australian Football Commission, so it will mean that the total amount we're paying to the Football Commission will exceed $5m quite easily in 2014,'' he said.

"That's a challenge for us, that's money that we have to find and this is a tight and tough business to run. So a challenge we are looking forward to, because it is strategically important.

"Have we paid over the odds? It's a negotiated amount, but it's a little bit more than we wanted to pay.''

Peel president John Ditchburn said the club considered the proposal carefully before comitting.

"It has been the desire of both AFL clubs to have all their players not selected in their respective AFL teams to play and train together,'' Ditchburn said.

"Further to this, a review by all WAFL clubs established that it was in the best interests of the WAFL competition that the AFL players not selected in their respective AFL sides, remain in the WAFL competition. Under the partnership model these outcomes can be achieved.

"We also believe it will assist our future growth and development both on and off the field, and, importantly, help attract and retain local players from the Peel region, which is a growth region in WA.''
 

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McLachlan: two byes a must for teams

Gillon McLachlan, right, with AFL boss Andrew Demetriou, says AFL teams can expect two byes. Picture: Andrew Filipovic Source: The Daily Telegraph

THE AFL fixture could look drastically different from next season as the league today strengthened its commitment to giving clubs two byes.

The 2013 season will kick off with two standalone Round 1 matches on the weekend of March 22.

That is the weekend, AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan said, all teams would ideally start to allow for a season that contains two byes and still concludes with a Grand Final on the last Saturday in September.

SEE THE FIXTURE IN FULL HERE

That cannot happen currently with cricket occupying the rights to the MCG, SCG and Gabba until the end of March.

Identifying ground availability as ``problematic for us'', McLachlan called on cricket and state governments to be ``pragmatic'' in their approach to the issue.

``They know very clearly our issue, we've made representations to the government,'' McLachlan said.

``I guess we're looking for some constructive solutions. I understand that if Victoria were to host the (Sheffield) Shield final theoretically they need the MCG, but what their minimum standards are and what they need to deliver that ... we're hoping to get some traction with that.

``At the moment it's not ideal.''

The AFL has again adopted the model it introduced this year, whereby six teams are given byes over three consecutive weeks in 2013.

Should cricket relinquish the rights to the 'G, that scenario would occur twice each year conceivably splitting the season in to thirds.

A centre of excellence for Cricket Victoria at the Junction Oval could be the answer to the problem, with plans in place to refurbish the ground to make it capable of hosting Sheffield Shield games.

Cricket Victoria chief Tony Dodemaide said the centre of excellence is the ``obvious solution'' for all parties.

However there is no suggestion such a refurbishment could take place in time for the 2014 season.

``We're certainly still pursuing that as hard as we can and working with the government to make that reality,'' Dodemaide said.

``But I guess the basics of it is that unless we have got somewhere else to go then there's nothing we can do. We simply don't have anywhere else to play first class cricket other than the MCG at the moment.''

The AFL Players Association has led the charge for additional breaks.

And AFLPA general manager of player relations Ian Prendergast said his organisation would continue to push the AFL on the issue.

``While we have been unable to achieve that for 2013 due to ground availability, we will continue to work with the AFL on the inclusion of two-byes for the 2014 season and are pleased that the AFL is making this a significant priority,'' Prendergast said.

McLachlan said the issue was understandably ``priority one, two and three'' for the players.

But he denied the push was related to the AFL's mooted move to a capped interchange system in 2014.

``Our players are crying out for a rest ... I think this is independent of that,'' McLachlan said.

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