2005 - AFL Home and Away Season
Round 13 - Pregame Articles
Round 13 - Split Round
Essendon vs. St Kilda
Telstra Dome Fri 24 June 2005, 7:40 PM AEST
Penny, Montagna return
St Kilda has regained key defender Luke Penny for its Friday night clash with Essendon at Telstra Dome. Penny has recovered from a knee injury that has limited him to only three games this season and comes into the side along with Leigh Montagna, who breaks into the senior side for the first time this year. Veterans Andrew Thompson and Justin Peckett have both been omitted for the first time this season. Essendon must win on Friday if it is to maintain any faint hope of making the finals this season and the selectors have made three changes going into the do-or-die clash with the Saints.
The Article saints.com.au/23June05
Penny, Montagna return Lyall Johnson/TheAge/24June05
Penny, Fletcher remain in doubt
Essendon and St Kilda last night recalled respective full-backs Dustin Fletcher and Luke Penny for tonight's meeting at Telstra Dome, but neither is a certain starter. Fletcher, who missed the Bombers' round 12 loss to West Coast with a foot injury, did not train with the main group at Windy Hill on Wednesday because of the flu, according to Essendon officials. His condition will be assessed today. And Penny, who has played only three games this season because of knee problems, appeared a little proppy at full pace when the Saints trained at Moorabbin on Tuesday. Penny is more likely to play than Fletcher, but he will also be tested before the game.
The Article Greg Denham/TheAustralian/24June05
Teams: Fletcher doubt Michael Stevens/HeraldSun/24June05
Saints drop veterans
St Kilda has dropped veterans Justin Peckett and Andrew Thompson for the key AFL match against Essendon at Telstra Dome tomorrow night. Peckett and Thompson had missed only one game this season between them, when Thompson had a shoulder injury. The inclusions are also notable, with Leigh Montagna in the senior side for the first time this season and Luke Penny finally recovered from a knee injury. Penny has not played since round nine and has been in the senior team only three times this season. The Saints have had Penny and fellow key defender Matt Maguire in the side at the same time only twice previously this season.
The Article Roger Vaughan/TheAustralian/23June05
Crunch time for Bombers
. . . (Sheedy) "We're in a bit better form than what people think, but we haven't won the amount of games required to be anywhere near the eight." With the exception of the injured Adam Ramanauskas (knee) and Matthew Allan (knee), Sheedy said the Bombers would field close to their best side tomorrow night. Full-back Dustin Fletcher did not train with his teammates at Windy Hill last night because of a cold, but Sheedy expected him to come back into the side after recovering from an ankle injury. Jason Johnson (fractured cheekbone) and Kepler Bradley (eye) were also likely to play.
Crunch time for Bombers Rebecca Williams/HeraldSun/23June05
Experienced trio return for Bombers Bomberland/23June05
Thomas expects 'A-grade' effort
. . . "They're (Essendon) coming off a good effort and we always have pretty close games in recent times so we don't expect it to be any different." The Saints' cause hasn't been helped by another injury to Aaron Hamill. The star forward was set to resume against the Bombers after damaging an ankle in round six but suffered a slight calf strain at training last Sunday. Thomas, however, wasn't too concerned by the setback. "It was just a very innocuous situation on Sunday where he was just in the warm-up and he just got a bit of a tweak," he explained. "We got it scanned and there's just a slight change in the muscle, so we're just not taking any chances and we'd be surprised if he's not available the week after." Ruckman Justin Koschitzke will also miss but should resume next week, while Jason Blake and Luke Penny will be available for selection.
The Article Jason Phelan/Sportal/saints.com.au/22June05
Pressure builds on controlling Thomas
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas last night won another signature. Key midfielder and 2003 club champion Lenny Hayes agreed to a three-year deal worth at least $1.2 million on the eve of the Saints' pivotal Telstra Dome clash with Essendon and hot on the heels of the Nick Dal Santo signing three days ago. According to club sources, the timing of the Hayes agreement was good but not perfect for Thomas, the only coach in the AFL who negotiates his players' wages and conditions. He had wanted to announce Hayes' signing at his Tuesday afternoon training press conference and Thomas has been known in the past to remove a deal from the table when a such a deadline is not met. For a man who once famously dined on the substance for breakfast, Thomas in recent months has showed every sign of working like a man under pressure. And St Kilda, the club he grasped hold of in 2001 after decades of failure and flirting with near-success, finds itself now at the football crossroads.
The Article Caroline Wilson/TheAge/24June05
Caroline Wilson saintsational.com
Harvey: Only a flag will do before I go Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/24June05
Harvey: The day I let my teammates down Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/24June05
GT on SEN (Wednesday 22nd)
. . . (GT) "At the end of the day the playing group dictate whether you win or lose but if they're not bringing the right attitude to the game than the coach is accountable for that because you need to prepare them for battle. But when I look at every game this year theres been a few that have come down to peronnel and 2 or 3 that have come down to attitude which are the ones we aren't happy about."
The Thread saintsational.com
No alarm over TV ratings: Demetriou Karen Lyon/TheAge/24June05
Penny likely to drop in on Lloyd
St Kilda yesterday ruled out comebacks from Aaron Hamill, Justin Koschitzke and Xavier Clarke against Essendon on Friday night, but full-back Luke Penny is likely to return to play on Matthew Lloyd. Saints' coach Grant Thomas yesterday declared Penny and back-up ruckman Jason Blake available after knee injuries. Penny has played only three games this season and broke down again in round nine. He could be a handy inclusion against Lloyd, who will be playing his 200th match, and is overdue to kick a big tally after just 22 goals in 10 games . . . Thomas also ruled out a return for Xavier Clarke, who has played only six games this season due to hamstring injuries. Mindful of the numerous upsets already, Thomas said he was not taking the 14th-placed Bombers lightly following their honourable loss to West Coast at Subiaco Oval last Friday week . . . With Nick Dal Santo having agreed this week to a new two-year contract, Thomas said he expected Koschitzke, Fraser Gehrig, Lenny Hayes, Clarke and his brother Raphael to all be secured beyond this season. "We don't expect too many problems with them. I'm confident," Thomas said.
The Article Greg Denham/TheAustralian/22June05
Critics hand Sheedy ammunition
Kevin Sheedy saw a press article this week that dismissed Essendon's chances of playing in the finals. It was a piece of poetry to the Essendon coach, for he is well-schooled in the us-against-them theory and has not hesitated to use it for ammunition. Asked last night if he had a message for St Kilda coach Grant Thomas on the eve of the clubs' meeting at Docklands, Sheedy said the message was meant for everyone in football. "(It's) a message for our players and everyone else," he said. "I think everyone's virtually given up. I read an article that said Essendon won't play in the finals. When I saw that article it's something the players have to understand. I hate to repeat what Rex (Hunt) says, but the fat lady hasn't sung yet."
The Article Martin Blake/TheAge/23June05
Bombers mid-season Grand Final
Friday night's match against St Kilda at The Dome is a mid-season Grand Final for Essendon as far as coach Kevin Sheedy is concerned. The coach admitted before today's AGL Open training night that a loss against the Saints would almost put finals' football out of the Bombers' reach. "It's a crucial game for us to continue on some reasonably good form over the last month," Sheedy explained. "It will be a cliff hanger of a game there is no doubt about that. I think everyone else has virtually given up, I read an article that said Essendon won't play in the finals. It's something the players have to understand, but the fat lady hasn't sung yet. There is still plenty of football to be played."
The Article Bomberland/22June05
Lloyd happy to move upfield Grantley Bernard/HeraldSun/22June05
Moorabbin's All Star Team
Saints.com.au have launched a competition for supporters to pick Moorabbin's best ever All Star Team. There is a list of 50 players for you to elect your 22 players and coach and put them in their best positions. Help the Saints select the finest St Kilda players to run onto the sacred turf at Moorabbin between 1965 - 1992. The team will be then be announced at Moorabbin's 40th Anniversary Dinner on Saturday, 16th July. This is your chance to win some great prizes and have your say in who is eligible for Moorabbin's All Star Team. The competition closes at 12 noon 08/07/05.
The Article saints.com.au/23Jun05
Moorabbin All Stars Saints Captain Competition HeraldSun/22June05
Sheedy: We have to win
With the list almost at full strength and wins vital if the Bombers are to have any chance of September action, it may just be the lift Essendon need heading in to the second half of the 2005 season. "We need to get back on the winners list, we had our best game last match and nearly got the points and we need to continue that on," Kevin Sheedy explained before training today. "It is such a close season, we just have to get back to winning to have any sort of chance. We have played pretty good footy for the last month except that hour in Adelaide, the players were really annoyed with that and they showed it in the way they played against West Coast." The Bombers trained sharply during the 90-minute session, and with up to four changes suggested heading into the match against St Kilda, a number of players will be looking to put their hand up for selection. We are not far away, maybe one or two players, from having our best side out there. We want to keep most of the young players in."
The Article Bomberland/essendonfc.com.au/20Jun05
Sheedy eyes Saints and then the finals
. . . "The fat lady hasn't sung yet," Sheedy said. Sheedy said he and his players had been challenged after reading an article during the week that Essendon won't play in the finals, after seven consecutive top-eight finishes. "We're in a bit better form than what people think," he said
The Article Martin Blake/TheAustralian/23June05
Sheedy has high hopes for Bombers AAP/TheAge/23June05
Lean Dean ready to fire Jim Wilson/HeraldSun/22June05
Five Saints to sign new deals
Five big names are expected to follow Nick Dal Santo's lead and re-sign with St Kilda within the next month. Coleman medallist Fraser Gehrig, midfielder Lenny Hayes, big man Justin Koschitzke and the Clarke brothers, Xavier and Raphael, are all well into new contract negotiations that are expected to keep them at Moorabbin. "They're all very imminent, we don't expect too many problems with them. We're very confident about them," coach Grant Thomas said yesterday. Dal Santo has just signed a two-year deal with St Kilda, turning his back on almost double the money offered by Collingwood and Essendon. "I'm really happy that it's been finalised this week and I'm just looking forward to the next 10 games and hopefully finals after that, so (I'm) really happy with the result," Dal Santo said yesterday. "The club's in a great position and we've got a couple of more years of hopefully sustained success, so I just definitely wanted to be a part of it." A relaxed Thomas said he expected the others to do the same.
The Article Michael Horan/HeraldSun/22June05
AFL to ban gene tests on recruits
AFL clubs that conduct genetic tests on potential recruits will face heavy financial sanctions, and possibly loss of premiership points, after the league yesterday moved to outlaw the practice. Days after revelations that Essendon and Port Adelaide had been considering the introduction of DNA testing, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou yesterday promised immediate laws banning the tests. After taking legal and medical advice, Mr Demetriou said he had instructed the AFL's in-house legal counsel to draft the laws.
The Article Karen Lyon/TheAge/23June05
AFL chief backs tribunal system Karen Lyon/TheAge/23June05
Unmasking the quiet assassins
They are the silent assassins of the AFL, almost unknown outside their football clubs but vital components of their sides. Never flashy, rarely recognised, these foot soldiers go about their job with a minimum of fuss and telling effect. Small defenders, nondescript elevated rookies or simply excellent footballers who play unexciting football -- the AFL is full of them. Jon Ralph talks to some of the game's underappreciated talents about what it is like to be their team's secret weapon.
ST KILDA
Couragous, adaptable and reliable, St Kilda defender Max Hudghton has kept Matthew Richardson goalless this year and went within a minute of repeating the dose against Mark Williams. The star-studded midfield and forward-line get the accolades, but with the Saints defence in disarray through injury, Hudghton has been the one remarkable constant.
All Teams John Ralph/HeraldSun/19June05
Max Hudghton chat Transcript
Q: Did the team get together during the week off and reassess any team goals for the remainder of the season?
A: We had a half year reveiw and we spoke about the last 10 weeks, hopefully we will put into some action some resolutions and get ourselves into the finals.
The Transcript saints.com.au/22Jun05
Dal Santo rapt to re-sign
Gun midfielder Nick Dal Santo has expressed his delight at signing a new two-year contract with St. Kilda. The monetary value of the deal was not disclosed but it is thought to be significantly less than his open-market value. With speculation rife that Essendon and Collingwood had attempted to lure the 22-year-old away, Dal Santo said he didn't even contemplate moving on and was happy to now concentrate solely on his footy.
The Article Jason Phelan/Sportal/saints.com.au/21Jun05
Saint Nick sticks for success
Nick Dal Santo said yesterday that the prospect of sustained success with St Kilda meant more to him than the chance to earn more money at another club. Dal Santo has re-signed with the Saints for a further two years at little more than half the $500,000 a year reportedly available to him at other clubs. The gun young midfielder candidly acknowledged that maximising his earnings was not his primary motivation. "You can get more money elsewhere, but (St Kilda) is our home, we love it to death, so why would you want to leave?" he said. Dal Santo joins Nick Riewoldt and Luke Ball in signing fresh contracts with St Kilda at less than what the outside market would bear. He hoped, and believed, that other young Saints would follow suit. "We've got a lot of years ahead of us, hopefully successful years, and we all want to be a part of it," Dal Santo said before training at Moorabbin. "There's no reason (for me) to leave. Why shouldn't it be the same for them?"
The Article Len Johnson/TheAge/22June05
Call for Bombers to dig deeper
Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy had called on his players to bring the same fight they showed in their honourable Round 12 loss to West Coast to Friday night's clash against St Kilda at Telstra Dome. The Bombers and Saints take centre stage as the only AFL game scheduled in Melbourne in the second half of the split round. And Sheedy wants a repeat of the brave performance his players delivered against the ladder leader at Subiaco when they lost by 24 points after leading in the final term.
The Article Rebecca Williams/HeraldSun/21June05
New Hamill injury rocks Saints
St Kilda leader Aaron Hamill has broken down again in a major setback to the club's hopes of a mid-season revival. In yet another injury blow for the club, which started the season as premiership favourite but after 12 rounds has won only six games, Hamill injured a calf muscle during a warm-up at Moorabbin on Sunday. Disappointed coach Grant Thomas last night ruled his rugged star forward out of Friday night's showcase clash with Essendon and described this latest injury setback as "unbelievable". "Look, he's as frustrated as the rest of us are," Thomas said. "The club's frustrated and the footy department's frustrated and training services are frustrated and the fans are frustrated. The run we've had has been pretty awful." Hamill - who has not played since the Saints defeated Collingwood in round six - had an MRI scan yesterday that showed some changes to the outside of his calf. Denying reports Hamill had torn the muscle, Thomas described the injury as a mild strain . . . Compounding the injury woes for St Kilda, which has been dogged by soft tissue injuries this season, Justin Koschitzke will also miss the clash with the Bombers. The injury-plagued Koschitzke was ruled out as a result of another warm-up mishap that saw the young defender hurt his quad muscle as he began kicking practice. Xavier Clarke has also been ruled out again.
The Article Caroline Wilson/TheAge/21June05
Dal Santo re-signs with the Saints
St Kilda's push for the top received a significant boost last night when rising star Nick Dal Santo re-signed for two years. Dal Santo told coach Grant Thomas at training on Sunday he would accept an improved St Kilda offer and last night the deal was sealed after several emails and telephone calls. Dal Santo's decision thwarts both Essendon and Collingwood, who were keen to have discussions with the one-time Brownlow Medal favourite. Following teammates Luke Ball and Nick Riewoldt, Dal Santo accepted much less than his market value to stay at Moorabbin.
The Article Mark Robinson/HeraldSun/21June05
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