2004 Post-Season Articles
Set penalties move closer
The AFL tribunal appears likely to hand out set penalties for certain on-field offences in the 2005 season with the clubs throwing their support behind such a system at a meeting with the league on Friday. The introduction of such a system - as is already used in the National Rugby League competition - means players could plead guilty and immediately accept a certain penalty such as a two match suspension without having to appear before the tribunal. The move would take away much of the uncertainty over what penalty a player will receive at the tribunal after the panel was accused of inconsistency by clubs throughout 2004.
The Article - Paul Gough/Sportal - saints.com.au - 18Nov04
Saints sponsor deal in limbo
St Kilda may soon have to look for a new major sponsor as its relationship with Mortgage House becomes increasingly strained. Mortgage House chief executive Ken Sayer last night revealed the Saints were asking for a stunning 40 per cent increase on last year's deal. Sayer claimed the Saints had originally wanted $1.5 million per year over three years but had reduced that to $1.2 million per annum. He said they also wanted guaranteed payments, rather than the performance-based deal used in the three-year contract that expired between the parties on October 31. Sayer said Mortgage House wanted another performance-based contract which, if the Saints again reached a preliminary final, would net the club about $900,000 next season.
The Article - Jon Pierik - HeraldSun - 17Nov04
AFL set for drug-test showdown
The AFL is heading for a showdown with its players over its proposed tough new changes to out-of-competition testing for illegal social drugs. In a ground-breaking proposal debated at the commission table over the weekend, the AFL is proposing close to full-time testing of footballers in a bid to clean up recreational drug use, which the league fears could tarnish the competition. The AFL Players Association, however, has strongly resisted the proposal and retaliated by demanding all key AFL personnel - including club presidents, coaches and league officials - submit to similar mandatory random drug tests. The AFL in turn has vehemently rejected expanding the testing beyond players. League chief executive Andrew Demetriou addressed club coaches, football managers and some chief executives four days ago and said that the players' insistence that recreational drug testing be limited to the home-and-away season was unacceptable.
The Article - Caroline Wilson - TheAge - 23Nov04
CEO Leighton Wood :: GT Signs
ST Kilda's search for a chief executive has ended, with former Melbourne Commonwealth Games chief Leighton Wood unofficially agreeing to fill the AFL's last vacant CEO position. Wood, who twice came close to taking the top job at Richmond only to be overlooked first for Ian Campbell and more recently Steven Wright, met St Kilda president Rod Butterss this week to finalise the job. The club has also finally reached a new three-year agreement with coach Grant Thomas worth an estimated $1.5 million. Thomas is understood to have signed the new deal on the eve of departing early today for a ground-breaking three-week pre-season training camp with the club's senior list. Wood's appointment was put forward to the Saints board on Monday night after a presentation from Thomas outlining details of the South African trip. The Brisbane-based sporting official is expected to fly to Melbourne later this month to start in his new position.
The Article - Caroline Wilson - TheAge - 17Nov04
Saints learn lessons on how pride brings glory
In its quest for the 2005 premiership, St Kilda has sought inspiration from the lions - not the treble premiership team marshalled by Leigh Matthews, but the carnivorous beasts themselves. On the eve of the club's pre-season training camp in South Africa, the Saints yesterday heard a South African wildlife expert explain how the kings of the jungle provide the template for team success. Ian Schubach, a former game ranger in South Africa who gives motivational/training presentations to corporate "teams", yesterday stood before the entire St Kilda list and coaching staff and divulged the "lion pride secrets" that might help the gifted Saints develop into a great team. Ever willing to embrace unorthodox ideas from outside of sport, especially from the corporate sector, St Kilda coach Grant Thomas had experienced the lion-pride presentation six years ago in Cape Town, two years before Schubach relocated to Sydney. As his team's African "safari" beckoned, the coach decided his players could benefit from the lessons of the lion pride.
The Article - Jake Niall - TheAge - 12Nov04
Saints learn from lions - Samantha Lane/Sportal - saints.com.au - 11Nov04
Saints become big-game hunters - Mark Stevens - HeraldSun - 12Nov04
AFL camps: St Kilda - Bairnsdale
AFL teams will travel to 10 new locations around Australia for the 2005 Community Camps. And in a continued bid to boost the code's popularity in the northern markets, four teams will visit New South Wales . . . For the first time in two years only one side, Hawthorn, will travel to Tasmania. The Saints, who also play home-and-away games in the island state, will rotate their community camps in Tasmania with the Hawks from now on.
The Article - Samantha Lane/Sportal - saints.com.au - 15Nov04
AFL set to spread word - Sportal - 16Nov04
Frawley looks West
Former Richmond coach Danny Frawley is the latest former AFL coach interviewed by Fremantle for a coaching and player mentoring role. Peter Schwab (Hawthorn), Peter Rohde (Western Bulldogs) and Gary Ayres (Adelaide) rejected approaches. Fremantle chief executive Cameron Schwab said last night Frawley was in Perth yesterday to determine if he was interested enough in the role to move his family across. "We've earmarked the role for a person who has been involved at the senior level," Schwab said.
The Article - Michael Stevens - HeraldSun - 16Nov04
AFL to revamp centre bounces
The sight of two ruckmen charging into each other at centre bounces could become a thing of the past with the AFL set to introduce new rules designed to reduce the growing number of knee injuries suffered by the league's big men. The changes will be in place for the 2005 Wizard Home Loans Cup and if they are deemed to be successful, could even be mandated for the start of next year's home and away competition. The league is responding swiftly to a report finding that the game's big men are suffering significantly more posterior cruciate ligament knee injuries because of their collisions at centre bounce rucking contests. A report tabled this month by Doctor Hugh Seward, the president of the AFL Medical Officers' Association, found that the incidence of ruckmen suffering PCL injuries at centre bounces had more than quadrupled in the past six years.
The Article - Samantha Lane/Sportal - saints.com.au - 09Nov04
Ruck rules set to change next year - footygoss.com - 09Nov04
Ruckmen - Saintsational Fan Forum
AFL acts to stop ruck injury crisis - Karen Lyon - TheAge - 10Nov04
McKee in favour of reform - Peter Ker - TheAge - 10Nov04
Ruckmen concerned over rules - Dwayne Russell - TheAge - 14Nov04
Ruck rule indecision affects draft: Wallace - Melissa Ryan - TheAge - 13Nov04
'Power of the Pride'
Grant Thomas's son or the man himself under the guize of Cassius has recently posted the news on Saintsational Fan Forum site that Leigh Fisher has taken the number 6 guernsey and Leigh Montagna has taken number 11.
The Thread - Saintsational Fan Forum
Supporters SA Trip opportunity - Saintsational Fan Forum
Collis will walk - FootyGoss - 12Nov04
Saints seek new sponsor
Mortgage House, St Kilda's major sponsor for the past three years, confirmed yesterday it was all but out of the race to secure a further three-year deal. The company had been trying to salvage a deal with St Kilda but the club has refused to budge on its desire to more than double the previous performance-based agreement, which was worth between $200,000 and $600,000, depending on performance . . . St Kilda is believed to be talking with two possible major sponsors but a deal is still some way off. With no replacement for Waldron, the board, led by Rod Butterss, is handling the negotiations. Butterss did not return calls yesterday.
The Article - Lyall Johnson - TheAge - 10Nov04
Saints wait on sponsor - Mark Stevens - HeraldSun - 10Nov04
Wulf in WAFL Sights
Victorian Daniel Wulf is in the sights of WAFL clubs following his recent delisting from St Kilda. Wulf was approached by WAFL clubs several years ago before embarking on an AFL career that was dogged by injury . . . A close friend of former Saint Craig Callaghan, Wulf battled knee and groin injuries this season and was unable to add to his tally of 30 AFL matches. Callaghan's recent return to Swan Districts has fuelled speculation Wulf may be lured west.
The Article - footygoss.com - 07Nov04
Good Friday Football - footygoss.com - 07Nov04
Players query funding pre-season trips
Players forking out their own money for international pre-season trips is causing concern at the AFL Players' Association. Several players have contacted the AFLPA in recent days asking if they, in fact, have to pay. Hawthorn's players are paying up to $2500 each to participate in a compulsory team trek of the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, while St Kilda's players are contributing up to $70,000 in total for their camp in South Africa starting on Wednesday . . . St Kilda's South African adventure, similar to last year's pre-season camp to London, will be partly funded by the players. "Directly and indirectly, they're probably putting in somewhere around $60,000 to $70,000," Saints coach Grant Thomas said last night. Part of the money was generated by player initiatives during the season, the rest coming out of individual pockets.
The Article - Mark Robinson - HeraldSun - 10Nov04
Saints wait on sponsor
The Saints, the emerging glamour team of the AFL, now see themselves as worth $1 million-plus a year in the marketplace. An independent appraisal, taking into account six Friday night games next year, has valued the Saints as worth about $2.5 million a season in total sponsorship. A final call from Mortgage House on whether it will agree to dig deep enough to continue as major sponsor is not expected until the Saints return from a South African training camp in early December. "Mortgage House's chief executive Ken Sayer has been overseas a lot, so it's been difficult," St Kilda president Rod Butterss said last night. "They are considering their options - whether that's at major level or a lesser level" . . . The Saints are confident they can attract another lucrative major deal if Mortgage House decides to continue only at a lesser level. "The feedback we're getting from the marketplace on how they see us is very pleasing," Butterss said. "If in the event we were looking for a new major, I wouldn't be chewing my fingernails off."
The Article - Mark Stevens - HeraldSun - 10Nov04
AFL acts to stop ruck injury crisis
A sharp increase in the number of knee injuries to ruckmen at centre bounces has forced the AFL to overhaul its rules for next season . . . The three possible new rules are:
Prohibiting contact with a raised knee. Ruckmen would still be allowed to lift their knees in the act of jumping but they would not be allowed to contact their opponent with the knee.
Removal of the line through the centre circle. The line was introduced to stop ruckmen from wrestling at the bounce, so the proposed rule would be accompanied with other rules to stop wrestling. A 10-metre circle around the centre circle, outside which ruckmen would start their run, also would be introduced.
Introduction of a 10-metre circle around the centre circle, within which ruckmen would have to start their run-up. This rule, trialled in the 2002 and 2004 Wizard Cups, aims to limit momentum and reduce impact.
Saints second in betting market
Port Adelaide Power are firm favourites to repeat their 2004 premiership success, according to current betting markets. TAB Sportsbet has the reigning premiers paying $3.75 to make it two in a row in 2005, with up and comers St Kilda following in at $4.25. Triple premiers Brisbane are next in line paying $5.00 to take out the flag, and the team they narrowly defeated in the preliminary to make the grand final, Geelong, are rated at $9.00.
The Article - footygoss.com - 07Nov04
St Thomas has arrived
. . . Tactics / match day coaching: This is the area that many believe Grant struggles in - yet he has clearly and comprehensively outcoached some of the best this season and last season with clever and well thought out game planning. He has had bad days that he has admitted to - but this is also part taking the heat off his own players type of tactic. He is sometimes crticised for being too slow to react. All coaches are guilty of this from time to time. All in all he is more than capable of matching it with his peers in the box and has shown a liking to be different and brave in some of his planning. He passes in my book.
The Article - Yipper - sainters.com - 20Oct04
Saints: Japan and South Africa!
(Thomas:) . . . "The basic philosophy behind these tours is that you give the players a broader base of experience. Quite often league footballers can play their careers almost in a bubble - we want to give them some world experience they otherwise might not get" Thomas says. "On the training track we can develop players physically, but this is also about developing their maturity and giving them an edge mentally. Ultimately, it benefits the players and the club." As part of their plans, the Saints will use world-class facilities in the university town of Potchefstroom, near Johannesburg, where specialised high-altitude training is run for athletes from around the world, the town being located more than 1,500 meters above sea level. Players will also tour locations such as Soweto, where Thomas says the players will be confronted by the sorts of challenges faced in day-to-day life by poorer South Africans. "The players have had their own challenges over the past few years, but this is a way of seeing the massive challenges faced by the South African people over the past few decades and how they're overcoming them" . . . "We've already got a relationship with the Japanese league, the boys from the Japanese team wear the Saints colours and came along to training sessions and pre-game session with the Saints last year, but there's a possibility for us to foster a second nation. So in future there may be a relationship between the Saints and both Japan and South Africa"
The Article - Aaron Richard - worldfootynews.com - 20Oct04
GT: SA trip an invaluable experience - Cameron Palmer - FootyGos - 26Oct04
Saints set for South African expedition - Punchlines/Scot Palmer - HeraldSun - 24Oct04
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