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2003 ROUND 14 - Page 1


Hamill a winner but policy to stay
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas was again forced to defend his radical rotation of the captaincy yesterday after admitting his team's leadership stocks were substantially reduced when robust skipper Aaron Hamill was not on the ground. The Saints have lost each of the four games in which Hamill has not played because of injury this season, but Thomas vowed to stick to his policy of transferring the captaincy to another senior player next season.
» More - Chloe Saltau - TheAge Real Footy - 02jul03

Top Lion to become the hunted next season
"I don't believe in long-term agreements," said Matthews. "I come out of contract at the end of the year and then I'll sign on until the end of next year. We've agreed on terms, but nothing's been signed yet." Given his status as the most sought-after coach in the AFL, Matthews's availability on the open market has set the scene for some high-pressure negotiations at more than half the 16 clubs next season.
» More - Caroline Wilson - TheAge RealFooty - 30Jun03

Judd worth $500,000: Matthews
Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews believes West Coast midfielder Chris Judd could demand and get a $500,000 a year contract should he decide to leave the club at the end of the year. The premiership coach, who watched the young Victorian tear the Lions apart with five first-half goals in round 12, said that although he did not believe even the best on-ballers were worth $500,000 he would be willing to pay that much for Judd. "I reckon $500,000 is your All-Australian key-position player, not your All-Australian midfielder," Matthews said last night on the Channel 7 television program Talking Footy.
» More - Emma Quayle - WestAust TheGame - 01jul03

What the hell happened and where are we at?
All Saints supporters were disappointed with the performance of the squad on the Saturday afternoon in Round 13 when we went down dismally against the Melbourne Demons. Sainters exasperatingly bellowed out their frustrations or vented their dissatisfactions on their computer keyboards, bashing out brief and frustrating thoughts and memories of our sound whipping; 'We are a ship without a rudder', 'The lost opportunities were endless', 'We are mentally weak', 'The umpiring was disgraceful', 'We looked too slow and not tough enough', 'We looked unfit and underdone', 'There were no positive signs', 'Where is our leadership?' 'The match day coaching is appalling' and 'We have only won one game away from the Dome this year'.
» The Peanut - This site

Cycle or spiral? Forecast not favourable for most Vic clubs
The Bulldogs haven't played in a grand final since 1961, Richmond since 1982. St Kilda has made just one appearance in 30 years on the biggest day of all. Those who support the cycle theory point to St Kilda of 2003, and with some justification. The Saints, with their bevy of talented youngsters, possibly are the most exciting of the Victorian teams. Yet, in market terms, they remain a highly speculative stock. Essendon, Collingwood, probably St Kilda, maybe Hawthorn, and Carlton, yes, Carlton, will come again, but how long can history, spirit and hope carry the others?
» More - Mike Sheahan - HeraldSun - 28Jun03

The end of an era
Football has come bursting back after the bye. Good crowds considering the dreadful weather from Melbourne to Perth. There was a drop or two in Launceston as well. The footy was played with a passion, too, of men who have had a week off to rest mind and body. Six goals in seven minutes restored Melbourne's dignity. Essendon's season can be salvaged, the Western Bulldogs desperately need a win. If Brisbane was in a slump, it is over, and Port Adelaide closed down Sydney's running game with brutal pressure.
» More - Patrick Smith (Cornelius) - afl.com.au (via saints site) - 29Jun03
» AFL's new rules pass fine tooth comb test - Patrick Smith (Cornelius) - TheAustralian - 30Jun03

AFL reduces cap concessions
The Lions and the Sydney Swans will no longer enjoy an extra 10 and 15 per cent allowance on their respective salary caps after months of campaigning to end the allowances by Victorian clubs led to Monday's decision by the AFL. Their allowances will be slashed to 14 and nine per cent respectively next season and by 2006 the Lions and the Swans' salary cap allowance will have decreased dramatically.

Thomas questions frees for Neits
GT: "To me, it seems as though there's a lot of reactivity going on about requests. As soon as there seems to be either team requests or individual requests, there seems to be changes," Thomas said at Moorabbin on Tuesday.
Gieschen: "To suggest that a media awareness or coming and knocking on the door is just ridiculous because anyone who saw that game on the weekend would know David Neitz, yes, he did get three free kicks, yes, all three kicks were warranted and that's where it starts and ends," Gieschen said.
» More - Jordan Chong and Nicole Esposito - afl.com.au (via Saints site) - 01Juy03
» Thomas upset over umpiring - Chloe Saltau - TheAge Realyooty - 02jul03
» Grant queries umpire stance - Mark Stevens - HeraldSun - 02jul03

Lloyd in doubt with facial injury
The two-time Coleman Medallist had a prominent bruise under his eye immediately after a legitimate clash with Geelong's Corey Enright in the dying minutes of the round 13 match. "Hopefully he'll play," an especially tight-lipped Sheedy said. "I'm not sure how hard he was hit." Sheedy would not reveal the nature of the after-effects Lloyd was suffering, but implied he was surprised the incidents had not been the subject of a video report.
» More - Samantha Lane - afl.com.au (via saints site) - 02Jul03

Fan Forum has some answers?
The Saintsational Fan Forum has been hammered by outraged Sainters in the past few days but to my surprise some of the most positive posts appeared on Monday night when I arrived home from work, including some interesting ideas. This was a shock to me and others but 'firthy' hit the nail on the head when he took a gander; "What the hell is going on here? common sense and logic is emerging, please someone post a load of crap and straighten things out again!"  
Here are some of the recent Threads that have caught my eye:
» Some decisions worth comment. - » Early Openers . . .
» Coping with Loss - » His name is DAL SANTO . . .
» This weeks Line-Up - » Dr Dans Match and Player Review
"Ah tis wonderful to be a Saint supporter." - firthy