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Clubs cash in on stellar year Victoria's 10 AFL clubs have returned their best set of financial figures in history. All 10 will return profits on the 2007 financial year, after a season of booming crowds and increasing memberships. With all six non-Victorian sides in the black, it is the first time every AFL club has had a profit in the same season. Hawthorn's $3.603 million surplus was the best, with the 10 clubs combining for a $13.91 million windfall. The only club to take gloss off the booming balance sheets is St Kilda, which is soon expected to announce it will record a paper loss. The Saints made a small cash profit, but decided to write down some capital gains at Moorabbin, and include in their financials potential payouts to Aaron Hamill and coach Grant Thomas. Even the Kangaroos announced a $100,000 profit. More Jon Ralph/HeraldSun/01Dec07
Victorian clubs' 2007 profits and losses Carlton: $2.94 million, Collingwood: $2.027 million, Essendon: $2.014 million, Geelong: $1.87 million, Hawthorn: $3.603 million, Kangaroos: $114,000, Melbourne: $96,689, Richmond: $1.031 million, Western Bulldogs: $534,214, St Kilda: expected loss about $300,000 The Train will only stop at St Kilda Fraser Gehrig says his heart is firmly entrenched at St Kilda and any other club would have wasted its time recruiting him. The veteran Saints forward yesterday spoke of his whirlwind return to Moorabbin, less than three months after announcing his retirement ... "My heart is at St Kilda. My heart is not anywhere else. I have been here for seven years and this is the only club I wanted to play for. I dare say if any other club had been silly enough to pick me up, then they would have been wasting a pick" ... "I'm expecting a really good year for the club next year and personally as well, so I'm going to go back into it with a fair bit of confidence." However after one change of heart, Gehrig would not speculate if the 2008 season would definitely be his last. "That's something that will pan out during the season," he said. "Perhaps the body could go around for two or three more years, I'm not too sure. I am happy with the way my body is and I'm itching to get back into it, so we'll see how it goes." More Rebecca Williams/HeraldSun/28Nov07
G-Train's heart is at St Kilda Len Johnson/RealFooty/28Nov07
Only Saints for Fraser Gehrig HeraldSun/28Nov07
Video Fraser Media Conference - FoxSports
Magure has had surgery / 4 - 6 weeks away from running Matthew Drain said Matt Maguire has had surgery to repair a small crack in his left foot (stress fracture) and will begin his running program in four to six weeks. More Caroline Wilson/RealFooty/27Nov07
Fraser's Tuesday Media conference (Transcript of SEN broadcast) Fraser said that he was back training yesterday and hopes that this media conference will help him put everything behind him, 'including the media'! The whole idea really only began a week and a half ago after a discussion with a friend when he decided to consider returning. He thanked the club for the opportunity to play again and proposes to work hard for the team. He enjoyed playing last year and likes the new coach. Fraser said that he was sick with the 'flue' in the last part of last year and when he made the decision to retire, and stressed that his decision to retire wasn't from a lack of motivation but he just thought that he wanted to do other things. He said that he is still young and there is plenty of time for him to travel and spend extended periods overseas. He said that everyone that knows him including players and staff know that he has been committed to the job and that his passion is very strong for the club. He stated he did not make the original call to the club and that a friend did and Ross phoned him back and things just moved on from there. He said that his body is in good health, he has been training overseas and only missed 3 weeks pre-season training with the squad and that he believes that he will be up with everyone else by Christmas time. He also said that he is happy with the St Kilda forward structure and believes that they can 'kick a few goals' next year - and also thinks his body has 'a few more years' left in it. Fraser made it clear that his heart is with St Kilda and if another club had have picked him in the draft they would have wasted a pick. He said that he is a little embarrassed coming back after saying goodbye to fans but he is back now and 100% behind the cause. He also alluded that he missed family and friends while away. This is just a 'general' transcript of what Fraser said and there is a thread on Saintsational that is worth reading. WoM Ed More saintsational.com/27Nov07
Home is where the heart is Ben Broad/saints.com.au/27Nov07
Retire in haste, repent at leisure Jennifer Witham/saints.com.au/27Nov07
Permission to Train list update - Thursday 29th St Kilda - Michael Barlow (Shepparton United); Glen Chivers (Oakleigh Chargers) All Clubs AFL/saints.com.au/29Nov07
Glenn Chivers DOB: 09/04/1989 (Oakleigh Chargers/St Kevins) is around 189cm 85kg - defender Has played about 5 games of TAC footy. Chivers is an extremely athletic and powerful athlete who also possesses surprising agility. His disposal is OK as is his decision making and he has got so much upside. Chivers was playing school footy at St.Kevins when an AFL scout quizzed Rohan Welsh and Steve Conole (Regional Manager) about why he wasn't down at the Chargers. Chivers hasn't played a lot of high level TAC cup footy but was a champion rower so he understands the commitment required of an elite athlete. From the 'BigFooty Trial Phantom Draft 2007' thread. Michael Barlow DOB: 18/12/1987 (Shepperton United) is around 190cm - midfielder Harvey played 16 games for St Kilda before new recruits were born St Kilda's Robert Harvey, is about to prepare for his 21st year in AFL footy, continuing his role as the oldest player in the league. Not that old man Harvs isn't used to such banter - it was well documented that last year he played against youngsters who were not even born when he began his career in 1988. But this year throws up another mini-AFL milestone (one to make us oldies feel even older) in that last Saturday's draft heralded the arrival on the league scene of the first players born in the 1990s. There are 18 of them in all (just enough to field a team of their own), the youngest of whom is Melbourne recruit Tom McNamara who was born on April 29, 1990, meaning he won't get to turn 18 until after the 2008 season starts. But get this: when two of St Kilda's 2007 draftees arrived in this world - Eljay Connors (January 1, 1990) and Jack Steven (March 3, 1990) - Harvey already had played two seasons: four games in 1988 and 12 games in 1989. More Geoff McClure/TheAge/28Nov07
G-train primed for big season ... "I really enjoyed last year with a new coach and the playing group," Gehrig said. "Form-wise and body-wise I finished the year really well, it wasn't one of those issues that it probably tends to be when you're over 30. For me, the issue was that I wanted to travel, I wanted to have an extended break overseas, which I probably thought would be a lot longer than what I did. I was a little bit sick during the year, towards the end of the year, when I told Ross I actually wasn't going to play again. Maybe I did that a little bit too harshly, based on how I was feeling at the time ... It wasn't through motivation that I retired ... things have changed and I am ready to go again" ... "You're not retired until you start missing games of football, and I haven't started missing games of football. I have only missed three weeks of a pre-season. I haven't missed much at all and I have come back in pretty good shape." More John Clark/Sportal/27Nov07
New Saint was named to be heaven sent The registry of Victorian births, deaths and marriages website was undergoing routine maintenance yesterday, so we were unable to check just how many kids named Eljay were born in Victoria in 1990. But we're tipping that Eljay Connors, who entered the world just four hours into the very first day of the new decade, is the only one. And no, the story behind his name doesn't hang around a proud dad who had put away one too many on New Year's Eve, rather a touching tribute to a family member. "One of my three older brothers, his name was Leo Joseph Connors, and his nickname was 'LJ'," Mark Connors, father of Eljay, said from Echuca yesterday. "He died of a brain tumour and Eljay was born just before he passed away." Mark's wife Meryl came up with the idea, took out a pen and paper and experimented with combinations of LJ. And soon arrived at Eljay. Mark and Meryl have three other children. "Sara's the oldest," Mark said, "then Daniel, who's at Richmond, and Amy's the youngest. She's lookin' at me now, she's the prettiest one." While he is rapt to have both of his sons on AFL lists, Mark Connors is becoming attuned to the difficulties of being a footy parent from a regional area. "She's a lot of miles, I'll tell ya. Especially if they (St Kilda) move to Frankston, that's even further!" More Peter Hanlon/TheAge/26Nov07
Ben McEvoy's family has connection with the Gehrig's The 200cm tall footballer says he's looking forward to the challenge of playing the game at an elite level. "I'll love just staying in Melbourne. St Kilda will be pretty close to the beach ... and already from the people at the club that I've already spoken to, it just seems like a really great place, and I'm looking forward to getting down there." McEvoy was considered one of the top ruckman available in the draft, and he believes his height was a factor in him being picked so early. "I'm probably pretty lucky in that there's a lot of midfielders around, whereas there's not a whole lot of ruckmen, so it gives me a bit more opportunity." With the AFL pre-season training already underway, McEvoy will have to adjust quickly to the lifestyle of a professional athlete. "I'll head off in the morning and have a few days at the club and just learn the ropes a bit, and meet a few people. Then it will be home for the weekend - then I'll head back down again, sort of for good, until Christmas ... Generally for a long time I'll just be working towards playing my first game" ... The 18 year old footballer will complete his schooling this week before moving to Melbourne. "I've got my graduation at Catholic College on Friday night, so that sort of wraps up one phase of my life that's been pretty important over the last few years, so that will be pretty exciting." Former Catholic College Wodonga student Fraser Gehrig has also been picked by St Kilda in the draft, and McEvoy says that might make it easier for him to settle into the club. "I suppose that will be good, to have that bit of a connection with someone when I'm going to a strange place. Our parents know each other so it's good to have that little bit of a connection." More ABC GoulburnMurray/26Nov07
Brooks may retire from footy ... Barry Brooks was not drafted, and Tassie Devils coach Daryn Cresswell said Brooks had ruled out returning to Tasmania and was unlikely to even continue playing football. More Brett Stubbs/Mercury/26Nov07
Despite the reversal, G-Train back on track By his own admission, Fraser Gehrig says he's "always done things a bit differently to most people in football". So it would prove even in retirement. The dual Coleman medallist lasted just 85 days, from the time he was chaired from the MCG after St Kilda's round-22 win over Richmond until last Saturday morning when the Saints called his name as the 57th pick of the national draft. Nor could the realisation that he still had the passion to play AFL football have come in any more atypical surrounds than the freezing cold of Schaffhausen, on the Swiss-German border. On his first day back with his old club - barely a day after returning to the country - Gehrig recalled the moment he decided to give football another shot. "I was at the local gym and having a run on the treadmill and looking out over the Rhine River, and it was cold and snowing, and I thought: 'Oh well, if I'm going to be running on a stupid treadmill here, I probably should be running around a footy field'," he laughed. And yesterday he got his chance. The 31-year-old headed back to Moorabbin for a meeting with coach Ross Lyon, to say hello to teammates and staff, and for a weights session... "If St Kilda hadn't picked me up, I still would have been very content retiring, but I think there's some challenges there for myself and I still think I can play a major role in helping the club," he said. "I'm going to change the way I train a little bit, prepare myself better during the week." More Rohan Connolly/RealFooty/27Nov07
Red-faced Gehrig ready to rumble St Kilda forward Fraser Gehrig says he is embarrassed by his decision to return to the AFL after announcing his retirement at the end of last season. The 31-year-old full forward was redrafted by the Saints last weekend after deciding he wanted to continue his AFL career. Gehrig had a rethink on his retirement plans while holidaying in Europe and decided he still had something to give to the game. He arrived back in the country two days ago and says he is grateful the Saints decided to pick him up again in the draft. "Saying goodbye to the fans and the club, I guess and it's a little bit embarrassing coming back here and putting your hand up to play again from that respect, but everyone's been very supportive," he said. More ABCSport/27Nov07
Lyon on the club ... Despite the messy boardroom battle and the long-running feud with the local council that led to the Frankston move, Lyon was bullish about his club. He pointed out St Kilda won 7.5 of their last 11 games this season to just miss the finals in his first year as senior coach. "I know there's not any turmoil - I felt I had full support (this) year from the people who appointed me and the board and the players," he said. "Clearly there was some fracture in the club, not always evident on the surface - relationships needed to be built. There's a lot going on that's positive, but we've got a lot of hard work in front of us." More AAP/FoxSports/24Nov07
Training Friday 23rd There was an open training session at Elsterwick on Friday morning. It was very intensive training with a combination of drills including tackling, support the carrier and running back. Michael Gardiner ran many laps and looked to be having no problems whatsoever and also joined in some of the tackling drills. Kosi left early but didn't appear stressed and I think I saw X early off-field too, but he dissappeared as well. BJ mainly did laps but looks to be getting a little bit more involved in some of the other activities. Chipper did quite a bit of intensive one-on-one training including boxing. There is a training report thread on SS and an image gallery below. WoM Ed. More 'El Wood' et al saintsational.com
Image Gallery Flash 6  New sponsor, and financial 'hit', for Saints St Kilda has good news and bad to announce in coming weeks, with a new major sponsor expected to be disclosed but a loss of as much as $300,000 on the season to accompany it. The Saints are understood to have finalised a naming-rights deal with Corinthian Doors, a sponsorship that replaces the telecommunications company Vodafone, which chose not to renew its deal with the Saints. This good news, though, will be discounted by the 2007 financial result, which will now be "break even at best", according to chief executive Archie Fraser. While the Saints operated profitably this year, a decision has been made to take "some accounting hits" in the form of capital works write-downs and provisions for payments to former coach Grant Thomas and the recently retired Aaron Hamill. It is understood that as much as $400,000 has been put into the 2007 accounts for the settlement of Hamill's contract, which was not due to expire until the end of 2008. A provision of $270,000 is also understood to have been set aside for the contested claim Thomas has against the club for what he maintains are unpaid entitlements. More Stephen Rielly/RealFooty/23Nov07
Corinthian Doors website doors.com.au
Matt Maguire breaks down again St Kilda defender Matt Maguire has been struck down by another stress fracture in his left foot. Scans on Wednesday revealed the injury that severely hampered his 2007 season had flared again. The Saints last night confirmed Maguire would miss the next four to six weeks of training. Given the history of Maguire's battle-scarred leg, the club's medical staff is certain to take a cautious approach. "We had a precautionary scan done and it found a stress fracture," St Kilda head of football Matthew Drain said last night. "The diagnosis is as good as it can be, but he will miss four to six weeks. It's not ideal, but that's what it is." The injury is to the navicular bone that famously gave former Essendon champion James Hird so much grief, but the Saints are confident it is at the lower end of the scale. "Matt is disappointed, obviously," Drain said. "The fact it's happened now is the only positive." Maguire felt soreness after a running session early this week. The setback is particularly frustrating given the 23-year-old's past issues with his left leg. More Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/23Nov07 Fraser Gehrig heading back to Saints The G-Train appears to be headed express to St Kilda. If Fraser Gehrig can convince the Saints he is fully committed to a shock return, it seems highly unlikely a rival will spoil the reunion in tomorrow's national draft. Nobody outside Moorabbin is prepared to declare even a passing interest in Gehrig. But it is impossible to guarantee Gehrig will have a smooth passage back to the Saints, given clubs have been known before to send out smoke screens in the days leading up to the draft. The draft talent pool is also considered shallow and there is a strong feeling more recycled players will be taken in the later rounds. St Kilda was planning to again speak to Gehrig, on holiday in Europe, overnight. Gehrig declined to comment on his future when contacted by the Herald Sun last night, stating via a text message that he could not talk until the landscape became clearer. The Saints remain no certainty to re-ignite the 31-year-old's career with a late pick and will continue discussions to ensure Gehrig is totally committed, mentally and physically. More Mark Stevens and Gareth Trickey/HeraldSun/23Nov07
We'll have 'G-Train' back if everything lines up: Drain Gehrig rang St Kilda coach Ross Lyon from Switzerland on Monday asking for the chance to return to the game with the Saints. He spoke the next day with new St Kilda football operations manager, Matthew Drain, about the realities involved with finding a way back. There are complexities that no one is yet certain can be overcome. Nevertheless, the first step was taken yesterday when Drain lodged Gehrig's nomination for Saturday's national draft, which at least gives both player and club, and any others whose interest might be piqued by the thought of recruiting a hulking full-forward on the cheap, more time to think about what price each is prepared to pay for the other ... The Saints aren't yet convinced Gehrig has fully thought through a comeback; the physical toll, for instance, that will be taken on his 31-year-old body. It is a toll he felt he could not continue to bear when he announced his retirement before the round-22 match against Richmond on September 1. It is understood that Gehrig's plan to live in Europe was recently abandoned due to the break-up of a personal relationship. Gehrig, too, has to digest the fact that, this time, he won't be paid even close to the $500,000-plus a season he was receiving to lead the St Kilda attack in the past. Having recruited Steven King, Sean Dempster, Adam Schneider and Charlie Gardiner during trade week, the Saints have a salary cap squeeze on their hands that Gehrig has no choice but to acknowledge. Gehrig nominates for draft Ronny Lerner/Sportal/21Nov07
St Kilda Move & Fraser's nomination FoxSports
Gehrig shocks players and staff with risky proposal ... The Saints have had less than three days to digest the possibility of a Gehrig return and are looking for iron-clad confirmation that he is committed, mentally and physically. Drain said the club would hold discussions with Gehrig, who is in Sweden, in the coming days. "We've got some work to do from our end," Drain said. Other clubs will now be free to pounce on the 31-year-old in the draft, but Gehrig is prepared to take the risk at this stage. "He knows he's open slather," Drain said. "We can't control what happens. You put yourself in and you're open to the rules of the draft." The Western Bulldogs, who have publicly stated they have been in the hunt for a power forward, will not stand in St Kilda's way. "Count us out. We have a plan in place we are committed to," Bulldogs recruiting manager Scott Clayton said last night. Richmond football director Greg Miller said the Tigers would discuss Gehrig's availability but doubted they would recruit him ... He first contacted shocked teammates and coach Ross Lyon at the weekend, revealing a sudden urge to build on his 255-game career. Gehrig decided to nominate for the national draft in a 2am phone call to Drain yesterday. Drain did not return to bed until 4.30am after sorting out the paperwork needed for Gehrig's return. He delivered Gehrig's nomination form to AFL. More Mark Stevens/HeraldSun/22Nov07
Retired Gehrig enters draft hoping for one last hurrah Greg Denham/TheAustralian/22Nov07
Gehrig nominates for draft AAP/TheAge/21Nov07
Attard's road to recovery Jaden Attard knew the "massive click" that came from his knee as he tackled Michael Braun was not good. He was positive something had snapped, but he hoped and prayed it was not the all-important anterior cruciate ligament as he was helped down into the change rooms at Telstra Dome while his teammates continued to battle the Eagles in a thrilling round 21 contest. But the initial prognosis was grim and it was soon confirmed that the 21-year-old's first season with St Kilda was over, with a complete knee reconstruction required to repair the damage. It was a sad end to a break-out season for Attard who had played 20 games as an elevated rookie at his new club after being delisted after five games in two years with Brisbane. But any fears Attard may have had for his footballing future were quickly allayed when the club told him he would be retained on the rookie list while he completed his rehabilitation during the 2008 season. "The guys have been fantastic," Attard says. More Jason Phelan/saints.com.au/21Nov07
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