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Seven sells Dome under AFL's nose
The Seven Network is believed to have a buyer for the management rights at Telstra Dome, and the AFL is not amused. It is understood the AFL was rocked after learning there is a preferred bidder undertaking a due diligence exercise before signing off on a deal. The league is believed to be both surprised and miffed neither Seven nor the prospective buyer has contacted the stadium's major tenant.
The Article Mike Sheahan/HeraldSun/14Feb06

TV partners set to make it pay
The stand-off has ended between the AFL's new broadcasting alliance Channels Seven and Ten and its pay TV carrier Foxtel, with the two parties opening negotiations to split football coverage from 2007 until 2011. In a major shift from the current fixture, Foxtel now looks certain to hold exclusive rights to weekly Sunday twilight games to be introduced by the AFL next season. While the two parties have not reached any meaningful agreement over money - Foxtel contributed $30 million of the initial cash component of $76 million in 2002, the opening year of the last broadcast deal - the ice was broken between the parties in Sydney last week, with formal negotiations to start next month.
The Article Caroline Wilson/TheAge/15Feb06

Thomas douses 2006 flag hype
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas has a warning for those he knows are willing his team to fail: We've only just begun. With the Saints $4.50 premiership favourites and under mounting pressure to take the next step, Thomas has coolly predicted his team will peak beyond 2006. "I don't think we're anywhere near the best we will be. We will be a much better side down the track some time," he said.
The Article Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/14Feb06
I'm sorry, umpires Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/14Feb06
Players at risk by increase in speed Greg Denham/TheAustralian/14Feb06

Riewoldt finds self-improvement in conversion
There was much about last season which was beyond Nick Riewoldt's control. Twice his right collarbone was broken, while a stampeding final quarter from Sydney in the preliminary final was a killer punch expected by no one, least of all St Kilda. As captain for the season, he could not lead as often as he wanted nor, at times, in the manner he had hoped. Riewoldt's imprint on the team was more lightly felt than it was, for example, in Aaron Hamill's time in 2003. There was, however, at least one aspect of Riewoldt's game which suffered last year that was more or less in his control - the accuracy of his goal-kicking.
The Article Stephen Rielly/TheAge/14Feb06

Mick McGuane interview
New St Kilda assistant coach Mick McGuane is a former Magpie great. A member of Collingwood's 1990 premiership side, McGuane also won two Copeland Trophies and was All-Australian on two occasions. After finishing his AFL career with Carlton in 1997, McGuane took up coaching. He coached Burnie and Gisborne to flags in the NTFL and Bendigo League and has since forged a reputation as a highly astute football tactician. He shares some of his coaching thoughts and philosophies with afl.com.au.
The Article Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/13Feb06

McGuane aims for the top
New St Kilda assistant coach Mick McGuane is adamant he wants to become a senior AFL coach. The former Collingwood great joined the Saints on 1 February and while delighted to gain the opportunity to be an assistant under Grant Thomas, he ultimately wants to coach an AFL club in his own right. "It's my ambition - there's no doubt. I aim for the sky wherever I go and people said that I wouldn't get back into the (AFL) system, but I've never been one to give up," McGuane told afl.com.au. "I played footy that way I reckon and a lot of people said I made the wrong choice when I was 17 and should have played cricket, but I wanted to prove to people that I was a better footballer than I was cricketer at the time."
The Article Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/13Feb06

Hamill fancies settled Saints
St Kilda forward Aaron Hamill believes injuries played a significant part in the club's failure to make last year's grand final and has pointed to 2005 premiers Sydney as the perfect example of a stable line-up that went all the way. "You look at Sydney and the last eight rounds they didn't have any (compulsory) changes," Hamill told afl.com.au. "The continuity of a settled team is priceless and over the history it's shown. Brisbane (virtually) had no injuries and in my first year at Carlton in 1995, they used 24 players in the whole season and everything just went so well for them. It's a fact that you do need some luck in this game and probably last year, we didn't have an ounce of it." Hamill queried the 'apprenticeship theory' that states that teams need to experience finals defeats before going all the way - yet he concedes "there is no substitute for experience".
The Article Matt Burgan/saints.com.au/13Feb06

Saint softens up on injury
. . . "I used to see Max and Xavier Clarke and all these guys doing hammies all the time and getting frustrated and I used to think, 'You've just pulled a sore muscle, it's not like you've got a broken bone or anything . . . just get over it'. All my injuries had all been collision - like running into packs, probably things that were a little bit stupid and could've been avoided." Koschitzke copped a cruel wake-up call on the curse of soft-tissue injuries last year, twice tearing quadricep muscles and twice succumbing to hamstring strains.
The Article Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/11Feb06
Kosi's burning ambition Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/11Feb06

Hamill reflects on captaincy
Former St Kilda skipper Aaron Hamill has spoken openly about the club's rotational captaincy policy, saying he believes there's merit in the Saints' method as well as a more traditional approach where leadership is invested in one person on a long-term basis. Hamill, the first captain to be inducted under the club's rotation policy in 2003, hinted that his preference was for stability in the job based on his experience at Carlton. But he stressed that he understands the reasoning behind St Kilda coach Grant Thomas' rotational plan.
The Article Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/09Feb06
Rotating captains: Hamill prefers the traditional way Karen Lyon/The Age/10Feb06
Steven Baker Chat Transcript saints.com.au/08Feb06

A new Ball game
Luke Ball managed to snare his first club best- and-fairest award last year but struggled to haul his tired body through the last two months of St Kilda's campaign. By the time the Saints needed inspiration against a rampaging Sydney in the preliminary final, the brave midfielder had hit the wall. "I was struggling. Probably from Round 16 onwards I struggled," Ball said. Although Ball's regular broken noses and rugged attention from taggers made the headlines, it was his on-going management of groin pain that was causing the 21-year-old more concern.
The Article Mark Stevens/heraldSun/09Feb06

Koschitzke wants to be Saints skipper
Justin Koschitzke wants the job as St Kilda skipper, confident it can only help his form, after an three-week leadership awakening last year. "I definitely want to do it," Koschitzke said yesterday. The 23-year-old emerging superstar, vying with Luke Ball and outsider Matt Maguire for the job, said he had lost his selfish streak the moment the added responsibility was forced on him. After four year of falling for the trap of trying to do too much, Koschitzke said the "penny dropped" and he had became a more rounded player.
The Article Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/08Feb06

Saints in Albury/Wodonga: Day 3 The final day on our Community Camp had arrived. The players had early morning gym sessions and then all had to check out of the Country Comfort Inn by 9.30am, ready to board the bus for Wodonga. The next stop was Martin Park in Wodonga for a clinic with some 650 kids from the area. With another warm day up on the Murray, the players again put the kids through their paces.
Saints in Albury/Wodonga: Day 3 St Kilda Football Club/saints.com.au/09Feb06
Saints in Albury/Wodonga: Day 2 St Kilda Football Club/saints.com.au/08Feb06
Community Camp Reports saintsational.com

Murray will do what it takes
Lavingtons Allan Murray says he will muster everything hes got to make sure his AFL career survives beyond season 2006. Enjoying the chance to be back home as a member of the St Kildas Community Camp, Mur-ray said he realised that after six years in the system it was time to make his move. Drafted to Port Adelaide at No.5 in 2000, Murray says he understands the need to repay his debts. "I really need to have a good year otherwise I understand it might be my last," Murray said yesterday. "Thommo (coach Grant Thomas) has put the pressure on me to perform this year and Id have to say if I dont, Ill probably be out the door. Im fitter than I have ever been and I really want to move up the field instead of being stuck in the forward line." After just one game for the Power, Murray was traded to the Saints and has played 11 games since 2003.
The Article Rob Harris/Border Mail/08Feb06

Saints' fitness footing
Thongs are banned. Fun games of indoor cricket and soccer are out, too. Welcome to the new hard-line approach at St Kilda, spearheaded by new head of training services Craig Starcevich. After several years of injury woe at the club, Starcevich is leaving nothing to chance. Thongs are considered bad for the players' feet. Anyone putting fashion before fitness in the pre-season has been quickly reprimanded by either Starcevich or physio Andrew Weller. "We've become the Nazis over summer, making sure they don't hurt themselves," Starcevich said yesterday. Every Saints player at this week's training camp in Albury-Wodonga has been walking around in sandals with full arch support.
The Article Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/08Feb06

Saints set out to right a few thongs
The ceaseless search for a winning edge in football has, at times, been a peculiar one but until now it is doubtful that it has ever involved one of the icons of Australian beach culture - the thong. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas, or at least his fitness and conditioning coach Craig Starcevich, has decided that, as a part of a serious commitment to training detail, Saints players will no longer be allowed to wear thongs which, these days, are not only a summer accessory but a statement of fashion cool. As Starcevich explained it yesterday, the players are allowed to wear only sandals that offer support for the arch of the foot, which eliminates the traditional, flat-footed thong. As a consequence, many of the St Kilda party have turned to the likes of Birkenstocks or similarly contoured sandals.
The Article Stephen Rielly/The Age/08Feb06
Coaches shut out of rules decisions Caroline Wilson/The Age/08Feb06

Harvey a chance for '07
St Kilda great Robert Harvey has not ruled out 2006 being his final AFL season. Despite the dual Brownlow Medallist saying that 2006 is "likely to be my final year", Harvey added that he would weigh up his playing options at the end of the season, which he is hoping will be at the end of September. "I don't know until you get out and play and if you were a betting man - which I am - you would say it's most likely, but we'll see how I go," Harvey told afl.com.au at St Kilda's Community Camp in Wodonga. "I've probably been saying that the last few years, so I just want to get through this year as good as I can and hopefully get through as many games as I can."
The Article Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/07Feb06
12 months a year for Harvey Matt Burgan/Sportal/saints.com.au/07Feb06
Saints arrive in Albury/Wodonga St Kilda Football Club/saints.com.au/07Feb06

Damage lingers for Saints
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas calls it "residual damage" and Nick Riewoldt has battled as much pain as anyone. More than four months after the Saints' preliminary final loss to Sydney, Riewoldt is still avoiding watching a replay. The forward still has bitter memories of a Friday night that finally finished at 1.30am when he completed a drug test in the bowels of the MCG. As the Grand Final build-up reached fever pitch in the following days, Riewoldt packed his bags and headed home to the Gold Coast. "It was obviously heart-wrenching. That week, I just got pretty much sick and tired of hearing about it and the build-up for the Grand Final," Riewoldt said yesterday.
The Article Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/07Feb06

The Age joins the Saints as new partners in 2006
The St Kilda Football Club is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with The Age newspaper in 2006. The Age newspaper has joined the Saints to provide the best value membership for our Signed, Sealed Sainters. As a valued St Kilda member, all adult Saints members will receive The Age Sports subscription valued at over $300, included in their 2006 Club membership.
The Article St Kilda Football Club/saints.com.au/06Feb06

"We respect the AFL's decision on this matter and I am confident that the club will see improved efficiencies internally in season 2006 and beyond. Responsibility for this error is entirely mine." Jim Watts

Saints fined $40,000
The AFL has fined St Kilda $40,000 for the late lodging of player contracts with the league. The Saints breached the league's Total Player Payment rules by failing to lodge player contracts in a required timeframe, AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said. The contracts were related from the 2005 season. St Kilda notified the AFL when the club realised it had lodged the details late, and the club's co-operation had been taken into account when the penalty was imposed, Anderson said. The fine comes less than two years after St Kilda was fined $50,000 for the late lodgement of five player contracts relating to the 2003 season.
The Article The Age/06Feb06
Saints fined for player payments breach ABCSport/06Feb06
Eastern's AGM Report - Part 1 Saintsational/28Jan06
Eastern's AGM Report - Part 2 Saintsational/28Jan06
St Kilda's response to AFL fine FootyGoss/06Feb06
Clubs queue to criticise consultation Lyall Johnson, Michael Gleeson/The Age/09Feb06

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