2004 Post-Season Articles
Guidance needed on wayward players
It is 11 days since Fraser Gehrig lost control and disgraced himself at a bar in Mentone and still there are people at St Kilda who cannot come to grips with what he has done. Because his humiliated victim - or those supporting her - went public with Gehrig's behaviour, the community remains disgusted with Gehrig as do some of his teammates and, reportedly, coach Grant Thomas. Although Gehrig transgressed on holidays and during a period in Melbourne when the sporting public is gripped with spring racing fever, the timing remains poor for the Saints as they are trying to negotiate key sponsorship deals. At least one potential client has been put off by Gehrig. The problem is how to deal with the 28-year-old, All-Australian full-forward and 2004 Coleman medallist, whose attitude has had the club look at cutting him in the past, but whose form in the finals silenced even his strongest critics.
The Article - Caroline Wilson - TheAge - 31Oct04
GT: Rucks 'no big worry'
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas is not concerned about a depletion in big-man stocks, saying the club might not recruit a ruckman in the national or pre-season drafts. Trend Knobel walked out on the club this week and there were reports Jason Blake had intended to follow suit. But Thomas said Blake was still a required player. ":I haven't spoken to him yet but, as far as I'm aware, he's still on our list,": the coach said. "I believe he's been at the club having massages and getting physio. I've been away and his manager, Paul Connors, is back (this week), so we'll sit down then and sort out his contract. But I think we've got options (in the ruck) with Barry Brooks there as well."
The Article - Jackie Epstein - HeraldSun - 31Oct04
Luke Ball - A rising champion
Coming to the Saints as a first round draft pick in the 2001 AFL National Draft as the second overall selection made Luke Ball another young gun on the Saints ever improving list. Fast forward 3 years to the end of 2004 and Luke Ball is now an elite AFL football player. I don't mean elite lightly either, as I write he is over in Ireland taking part in the International Rules Series representing his country and proving to all just how good a footballer he really is. At just 20 years of age, he has already become one of the chief midfielders of the St Kilda Football Club. Registering 41 games for the Club after a difflcult opening season in 2002, when he didn't play a game for the Saints due to the dreaded osteitis pubis, as well as finishing his schooling with Xavier College!
The Article - Andrew Ford - saints.com.au - 20Oct04
In a pissing competition accuracy counts
Fraser Gehrig never was the type to be seen in the downtown gentlemen's clubs or propped up in the 'who's who' column of the 'Toorak Chronicle' with pretty boy Crawford. He has never been a media freak or sat around with 'has been' football guru's on two bit television shows. Fraser appears to me to be more like the guy who likes a good workout at the Gym, does his deed with the mob that pay the bills and then heads down to the local with the lads for 'the one' . . .
The Peanut Gallery
Toilet shock! Professional sportsman spotted at urinal
The world of professional sport was a sporting world populated by paid professionals in shock this week after a professional sportsman was spotted urinating in public - at a urinal. The event took place on Saturday night at a North Melbourne hotel. According to a witness, the player (who thebladder.com will not name until 3AW does) excused himself from the bar at around 11.30pm and went into the men's toilets. "I thought it was a bit weird at the time," said Des Grolph, 37, of Moonee Ponds. "I mean, this guy is a very high profile football player, so I wondered what the hell he was doing going into the men's room instead of just pissing on the floor in front of everybody."
The Article - The Bladder - 270ct04
'Jemima' holds no grudge against Gehrig
The woman who claims AFL player Fraser Gehrig splashed urine on her pants says the incident has been blown out of all proportion. "It wasn't intentional - that's exactly my point, it wasn't intentional," the woman, known only as Jemima, said yesterday. When asked if she held a grudge against Gehrig, the woman said: "No, absolutely not. The only reason it has been brought to public attention is because he's an AFL player," she said on Nova100 radio. St Kilda Football Club late last week replaced her shoes and pants after Gehrig allegedly urinated while standing at the bar in a Beaumaris hotel.
The Article - footygoss.com - 270ct04
Walls, he could break you :Akermanis
. . . His first AFL coach Robert was a crucial part of his football development but that he left Brisbane "at the right time . . . for all his good work, he could break you. That he finished when he did meant a lot of good players did not get broken." Akermanis said Merrett also "shunned" his players when, after organising a secret group meeting with a Lions director, he publicly denied instigating complaints against two key officials.
I almost got boot: Akermanis - Damian Barrett - FoxSports - 28Oct04
Ben Graham quits Geelong for NFL - Footy Goss - 27Oct04
Gehrig urinates on woman in hotel
St Kilda full-forward Fraser Gehrig will have counselling and be fined up to $5000 by his club after urinating on a woman in a bayside hotel this week. The Saints yesterday considered sacking Gehrig but, after an investigation by club president Rod Butterss and coach Grant Thomas and discussions with the club's welfare department, St Kilda decided against it. The club believes Gehrig did not deliberately urinate on the young woman, who is the daughter of a policeman. A reportedly furious Thomas spoke with Gehrig yesterday, while Butterss, who is on holiday in Byron Bay, is expected to speak to the 28-year-old on Monday before the club board meets to ratify his punishment. The Saints are likely to demand that Gehrig take part in an alcohol awareness program, as well as do community service and pay the fine under the AFL Players Association's code of conduct.
The Article - Caroline Wilson, Karen Lyon - TheAge - 23Oct04
Saints president releases statement - FootyGos - 23Oct04
Wee are hardly amused, Gehrig - Chris Tinker - HeraldSun - 24Oct04
Saints probe player urinating claim - AAP - HeraldSun - 22Oct04
Saints inquiry - Holly Ife - HeraldSun - 23Oct04
O tempora! O mores! - Saintsational Fan Forum
You people are off your flippin heads - Saintsational Fan Forum
Gehrig will face the music - Damian Barrett - HeraldSun - 26Oct04
Ireland's convincing series win
Ireland has claimed the Cormack McAnallen Cup in convincing fashion with a 14-point defeat of Australia in the second and final Coca-Cola International Rules test at Croke Park on Sunday. The Irish won the series in aggregate by 50 points, following a convincing win last Sunday and have won the series for the first time since 2001. The home team was a deserving winner of a pulsating and entertaining clash, but Australia put in a much better effort in the second test, with a much more physical attack on the footy and better use of the ball. Nathan Brown again starred for Australia with seven overs, while Luke Ball, skipper James Hird, Austinn Jones and keeper Mal Michael were also great. More than 60,000 attended the clash with an aggregate attendance of 106,885.
The Article - Ashley Browne?Sportal - saints.com.au - 25Oct04
Saints challenge tradition again
. . . With a president who poses for photographs in the lotus position, and a coach who famously cancelled a training session in favour of an afternoon at the movies, the label of football revolutionaries has rested comfortably at Moorabbin. If coach Grant Thomas and his football department have their way, the traditional end-of-season footy trip may also be consigned to history, as the Saints prepare for a development and preparation tour of South Africa next month . . . "The players will be training three times a day, doing gym sessions, a running session and a skills session every day for the whole three weeks, so it's pretty full-on and they will be very very fatigued during it," Thomas said. "We will have to manage them properly during it, but we think it will be a tremendous experience for them" . . . The tour will take the players through the Soweto slums and give them other cultural experiences along the way. "That will give the players a good indication of how some other people have to live in the world . . . they will get some learnings out of seeing a place like South Africa and how it has come through some of its challenges in the last 30 years or so," he said.
The Article - Peter Ker - TheAge - 17Oct04
We MUST have them !!
If we are to achieve the ultimate goal of sustained success we need to be changing our list by 4-6 players EVERY year. Let's look at this year for a start; Black left and we picked up Fiora. The debate as to how good or bad that deal was will continue until at least the end of 2005 . . . Callaghan retired. He was always a good honest toiler, never a mega star but an honest goer who was cut down by injuries . . . We delisted Moyle, Houlahan and Wulf for a variety of reasons. This group played a total of 1 game between the 3 of them in 2004 . . . Neither Knobel or Blake have been delisted at this stage. That doesn't mean that they will or won't be on our list next year. It just means that they are ineligable to nominate for the National Draft on 20 Nov. There is another list that needs to be submitted prior to the Pre Season Draft in Dec. Let's wait and see what happens between now and then . . . Stone and Pfitzner have now been recognised by the club as being part of our future. This is an enormous challenge for both of them. Let's wish them all the best. The ONLY measure of whether we did the right thing or made some monumental blunder regarding this issue will be whether these guys get picked up and/or perform at the highest level in 2005.
The Post - Eastern - Saintsational Fan Forum
Countdown Clocks at Dome
Telstra Dome is on the verge of replicating a Melbourne icon - the Nylex clock - at the Docklands stadium. Telstra chief executive Ian Collins' five-year battle to install a countdown clock at the stadium will move a step closer to reality when he signs a long-term deal for the big plastics company to build two large digital clocks at the ground. But while both new Nylex clocks will have the capacity to show remaining game time - something unprecedented in AFL football - the league again has frustrated Collins in his countdown clock bid. Collins put forward his request to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou several times during the 2004 season but Demetriou refused him, largely due to the concern that showing the time would prove anti-climactic in one-sided games both for players and spectators. Collins believes showing game time would prove a massive drawcard during close games. But the AFL has approved the new clocks, which would be erected over two forward pockets at opposite ends of the ground. One will be built in the big area that was once intended to be the office of Collins' short-lived predecessor, Jacques Merkus. The clocks will also show the temperature in the stadium, which usually operates with the roof closed. Until now, Telstra Dome has been a timeless stadium.
Dome wants to go back in time - Caroline Wilson - TheAge - 29Oct04
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