2004 Post-Season Articles
Riewoldt wins second Saints best and fairest
Riewoldt, who won the Trevor Barker Medal for the first time in 2002, polled 163 votes and finishing comfortably ahead of fellow young gun Luke Ball (140 votes) - who re-signed with the club before the presentation after his best season yet - and 2004 captain Lenny Hayes (135 votes) who won the award last year. Nick Dal Santo placed fourth with 133 votes, while 2004 All-Australians Austinn Jones (130 votes) and 2004 Coleman Medallist Fraser Gehrig (125 votes) finished closely behind after an historic season for their club. Veteran Robert Harvey (119 votes), Steven Baker (107), Brett Voss (106) and Luke Penny (103) completed the top 10. Ball, who committed to the Saints for a further two seasons on Tuesday, won the determination award, Dal Santo won the honour of most improved player and Max Hudghton won the clubman award.
The Article - Samantha Lane/Sportal - saints.com.au - 28Sept04
Riewoldt named Saints' best - ABC Sport - 29Sept04
Nick the top Saint again
St Kilda's emerging young talent was further emphasised last night when Nick Riewoldt won his second club best-and-fairest and runner-up Luke Ball announced he had re-signed a new two-year deal. Riewoldt, 21, polled 163 votes to win the Trevor Barker Award. The key forward finished well clear of onballer Ball on 140 with captain Lenny Hayes five votes further back. Coach Grant Thomas warned opponents that Riewoldt could only get better in several aspects of his game. "His desire to improve his game and take it to the highest level is one of the things that has always stood out with him," Thomas said. The high-leaping blond goalkicker earned All-Australian selection this year and finished among the leading group in the Brownlow Medal.
Riewoldt wins as Ball re-signs
. . . Ball gave something back to the club last night, announcing that he had signed a further two-year contract with the Saints. Coach Grant Thomas said the signing of Ball was particularly significant in that the midfielder had "sacrificed potential financial gain for the opportunity to achieve team success at St Kilda". The best and fairest capped off a fine year for Riewoldt, who won All-Australian honours as the country's best centre half-forward and then polled 17 votes in the Brownlow Medal to become his club's highest vote-winner. Thomas was last night full of praise for his young star, saying he was not only one of the hardest-working players he had ever seen but also a "terrific person". "He's been very consistent all year and just his workrate during a game has held him in really good stead," Thomas said. "He sets extremely high standards and wants to be as good as he can possibly be and leaves no stone unturned in doing that. He's a terrific player. But more important than that he's a terrific person, with great character and integrity, he's got a tremendous family support and he understands the concept of effort to performance."
The Article - Lyall Johnson - TheAge - 29Sept04
Riewoldt wins Saint's B&F again - Sportal - 29Sept04
Riewoldt wins second Trevor Barker award - Sports Australia - 29Sept04
2004 CLUB AWARDS - List of Winners
MORE Trevor Barker Medal
Ball stays a Saint
The protracted contract negotiations between Luke Ball and St Kilda have ended, after the talented, young midfielder agreed to a two-year deal on Tuesday. The re-signing will be announced to Saints fans at the club champion award night. The 20-year-old who is expected to be one of the top vote-winners in Tuesday night's count after just his third season, has resisted the enlarged salary he could have found elsewhere and decided to remain a Saint until at least the end of 2006. The second pick of the 2001 draft, Ball had stated his intention to re-sign before the end of the home-and-away series, but came to terms more than a week after the Saints suffered a preliminary final defeat. Publicly, St Kilda never doubted that Ball would re-commit, but it will be relieved to have him secured before the regularly aggressive October trade period. Coach Grant Thomas has Ball earmarked as a future leader of the club that rotates its captaincy annually. "Luke Ball is a tremendous player with the type of qualities that we require to underpin the club's future."
The Article - Samantha Lane/Sportal - saints.com.au - 28Sept04
Ball to stay a Saint - Sportal - 29Sept04
Grand pain for Thomas
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas was still too disappointed to bring himself to watch Saturday's Grand Final. Instead of tuning in with the rest of the nation, Thomas grabbed his daughter's headphones and left for a three-hour walk. "I was in the mood where it should have been a long walk off a short pier, but I actually went for a long walk on a long road," Thomas said yesterday. "I had other plans for that day . . . you know when you have plans and someone doesn't come to pick you up and take you out? It was sort of like that. It left me feeling a bit empty."
The Article - Mark Stevens - TheAustralian - 29Sept04
2005 Home and Away Fixture
Channel Ten has doubled its commitment to AFL football in Brisbane for season 2005 in a major programming decision certain to have ramifications for the coming round of broadcast negotiations. The AFL's finals broadcaster will televise football in prime-time in Brisbane - until recently the exclusive domain of rugby league - every Saturday night of the home-and-away season next year and also increase its presence in the Sydney market with 12 live or almost-live Saturday night matches, two more than in 2004. The Ten deal is understood to have been struck last week between network head of sport David White and the AFL executive in charge of next season's draw, Ben Buckley, following the relatively strong ratings performance of the two night preliminary finals into Brisbane. The 2005 AFL draw, to be released today, will give the Lions 17 Saturday night clashes including two against premier Port Adelaide, with the grand final rematches to be televised on Ten and contested in rounds two and 21. Similarly to 2004, the home-and-away season will run over 23 weeks with the Lions opening the season on Easter Thursday in a clash with St Kilda.
Northern fans to see more AFL - Caroline Wilson - TheAge - 30Sept04
Saints, Lions to open '05
St Kilda will open next season with a blockbuster against the Brisbane Lions, underlining its status as an awakening giant. The glamour fixture, a sure-fire ratings bonanza for Channel 9, is set down for Easter Thursday at the Gabba. The match-up will become official when the AFL releases its 2005 program on 30th September.
TheArticle - HeraldSun - 30Sept04
Fixture yours to buy
For the first time, footy fans can buy a copy of the official AFL fixture book. The book details all next season's matches round by round, club by club, the days and nights on which your club will play, and why. It explains the reasoning behind the 2005 scheduling, including stadium requirements and attendance facts, and includes all results from the season just gone. The 2005 AFL Official Fixture Guide goes on sale from Thursday. To purchase the guide at a special Herald Sun reader price of $7.95, plus $2 postage and handling.
The Article - HeraldSun - 28Sept04
New name for York Park
York Park, the home of football in northern Tasmania and the second home for both Hawthorn and St Kilda, will be known as Aurora Stadium from 2005. The sponsorship deal between Aurora Energy and the Launceston City Council, owner of the venue, has been signed through until the end of 2010. Aurora Energy has operated in Tasmania since 1998, employs more than 1000 people and provides energy to 250,000 residential, commercial and government installations. Hawthorn became the first AFL club to play a home game in Launceston in 2001 and has played two games a year, plus a pre-season match there since 2002. Last year, St Kilda also signed a deal with the Tasmanian government to play two homes games there each year.
The Article - Sportal - saints.com.au - 28Sept04
Coach gets three year ban
An Australian Rules coach involved in an all-in brawl before a regional grand final in Cairns has been banned for three years. North Cairns Tigers coach Jack Love faced five striking charges against three Port Douglas Crocs players during the brawl that involved more than 40 players and officials on September 18. But Love has labelled the AFL Cairns tribunal hearing into the brawl "a witch hunt with a foregone conclusion" after being handed the three-year ban last night. nThe ban includes any senior or junior game or grounds under the control of the AFL Cairns and effectively stops Love from playing or coaching anywhere in Australia. "For people in high-profile positions there is zero tolerance," AFL Cairns operations manager Drew Dawson told the Cairns Post newspaper.
The Article - TheAustralian - 29Sept04
Riewoldt topples Judd for MVP Award
St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt has narrowly edged out West Coast's Chris Judd for the AFL Players Association's Most Valuable Player awards presentation held at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne last night. Judd, the latest winner of the Brownlow Medal finished four votes short of taking home the player nominated award that is named in honour of the current Lions coach Leigh Matthews, the first winner of this award in 1982.
The Article - Adam McBride - Sports Australia - 25Sept04
Riewoldt named Most Valuable - ABC Sport - 25Sept04
Riewoldt the players' choice - saints.com.au - 24Sept04
Riewoldt wins AFL players' award - AAP - 7Sports - 25Sept04
Peers doff hats to Riewoldt
He may have been overlooked by the umpires, but St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt has won the players' vote as the star of 2004. Riewoldt, who only managed equal seventh in the Brownlow Medal, last night pipped medallist Chris Judd for the Leigh Matthews Trophy for the AFL Players' Association's most valuable player. In a poll of 583 players, 118 voted for Riewoldt and 115 for Judd. Warren Tredrea, pre-Brownlow favourite and winner of the coaches' award for best player, was third with 67 votes, followed by Brisbane Lion Nigel Lappin with 51. Essendon skipper James Hird's peers voted him fifth best in the competition with 29 votes. Riewoldt topped the voting at Adelaide, Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong, Richmond and West Coast.
The Article - Mark Stevens - HeraldSun - 25Sept04
Fixture yours to buy
For the first time, footy fans can buy a copy of the official AFL fixture book. The book details all next season's matches round by round, club by club, the days and nights on which your club will play, and why. It explains the reasoning behind the 2005 scheduling, including stadium requirements and attendance facts, and includes all results from the season just gone. The 2005 AFL Official Fixture Guide goes on sale from Thursday. To purchase the guide at a special Herald Sun reader price of $7.95, plus $2 postage and handling.
The Article - HeraldSun - 28Sept04
Stewart's slice of Saints' history on sale
Nostalgia from the greatest moment in St Kilda's history will fall under the hammer next week, as the 1966 grand final guernsey worn by triple-Brownlow medallist Ian Stewart is auctioned in Sydney. The guernsey, bearing the No. 5, is expected to fetch $4000-6000. After the historic grand final, in which the Saints beat Collingwood by one point for the only premiership in the club's history, the two teams traded guernseys. Stewart's jumper was eventually returned to the club and passed on to legendary cricket official Hans Ebeling, a St Kilda supporter. For years, it has been held by 80-year-old Patricia Ebeling, of Caulfield North, whose husband was Ebeling's nephew.
The Article - Marc Moncrief - TheAge - 25Sept04
St Kilda's 2004 report card
COACH
Grant Thomas has taken St Kilda from 15th to 11th to a night premiership and third place. Appears composed in and out of the box, and is the first to admit he's still learning the caper and has had some bad days, such as the first final in Brisbane. But learns quickly as he showed against Port. 8/10
DEFENCE
When they were all up and running earlier in the year, a tight, tough bunch with plenty of rebound. Luke Penny, Matt Maguire and Max Hudghton handle the talls, Austinn Jones and Brett Voss the run and the sixth is a combination of Nick Dal Santo, Steven Baker and Troy Schwarze. 7/10 . . .
The Article - Jon Anderson - HeraldSun - 25Sept04
How Melbourne tuned out of the grand final
The growing strength of the AFL's interstate teams helped propel the grand final to its third-highest national ratings figures on Saturday. But with power clubs Collingwood and Essendon out of the action, just 1.215 million Melburnians tuned into the game, the lowest recorded for a grand final under OZTAM, the ratings system introduced in 2001. This compared with 1.324 million last year and 1.244 million in 2002, which both featured Brisbane and Collingwood. The figures indicate football's growing national audience: an average of 2.8 million Australians watched the match, 600,000 more than watched the Olympics opening ceremony.
The Article - Kenneth Nguyen - TheAge - 28Sept04
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