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Maximum Security
There aren't many players in the league who would sacrifice their body in order to win a contest, a special breed that come around once every blue moon. The Saints are blessed to have a courageous defender like Max Hudghton in their ranks. Taken in the 1996 National AFL Draft, pick 15 overall, the Queenslander made an impression upon his debut in 1997. Playing in one of the best St. Kilda sides in decades, the rookie managed to cement his spot in the senior squad. He became a key component in the back half and featured in their finals campaign, including the 1997 Grand Final loss against Adelaide. Hudghton puts his body on the line every single time and while some would call it 'more guts than brains', he is also a very clever defender. His ability to run with forwards, no matter how big or quick, is extraordinary and just when you think he is out of the contest, a lunging fist comes out of nowhere and thwarts any chance.
The Article Luca Giacobello/saints.com.au/15June05

Lenny Hayes Chat Transcript
Elli: Lenny, You're out of contract at the end of the year, are you hoping to stay at the Saints for a few more years?
Lenny Hayes: Yes, I'd like to stay, I see a great future for the club and I wan't to be a part of it.
noodlez_sez_lenny_rox: How do you think the team will play this week against the Bombers?
Lenny Hayes: I suppose we have to play our fast free moving game, kick it long into the forward line.
The Transcript Noddy/saints.com.au/15June05

Shoulder injuries on increase
Shoulders have replaced knees and ankles as the most vulnerable joints in the game. The AFL has commissioned research into why shoulder dislocations, AC joint separations and fractured clavicles are defying a national trend towards fewer injuries. Football operations manager Adrian Anderson said the "highlights" of this year's injury report - a statistical compilation of injuries from last season - was the second lowest injury rate on record, the lowest recorded incidence of anterior cruciate ligament injuries and a reduced rate of injury recurrence. The incidence of ACL ruptures has halved since 1997 and groin strains and osteitis pubis, back injuries and head injuries have decreased. While the incidence of hamstring strains has remained constant, the recurrence rate has dropped from 37 per cent in 1997 to 22 per cent, reflecting improved management by club medical and fitness staff.
The Article Chip Le Grand/The Australian/16June05
Taking steps to give game a kick along Patrick Smith/The Australian/17June05

Reynolds rejoins injury list
Injury again has interrupted the playing career of promising Essendon youngster Joel Reynolds, with the news that the 21-year-old speedster has a stress fracture in his left leg. Reynolds, who has played only one game this year, will miss four to six weeks as the fracture heals. He was on the verge of returning to the senior line-up after showing excellent form with Bendigo in the VFL . . . Dean Rioli has been named to make his return from a calf injury for Bendigo this weekend. Rioli injured his calf against Port Adelaide in round nine.
The Article Jake Niall/TheAge/16June05
Essendon Injury List Bomberland/essendonfc.com.au

For the Love of the Jumper - Number 3
This is a chronicle of Saints players who have worn the Number 3 jumper during their career. This is not a definitive list but it is reasonably comprehensive. Many listed here have worn other numbers at different stages, but as long as they have worn the number 3 at some stage of their career they qualify for mention. I have selected a Saints team comprising only those who have worn the number 3, and then I have named my top 3 players who have carried the number 3 for the Red, White and Black.
The Article Allan Grant/saints.com.au/15June05

AFL risks drug code funding
The Australian Sports Commission has rejected the AFL's latest submission that its existing anti-doping codes satisfied World Anti-Doping Agency standards. The league will be ineligible for $561,000 in annual funding from the ASC if it does not amend its drug codes by June 30. As revealed by The Sunday Age last week, it also would be excluded from several multimillion-dollar development initiatives from the Federal Government . . . "Our chairman did meet the Prime Minister. We updated him on where we were up to, but I think it would be indiscreet to go into the fine details," Cricket Australia managing director Peter Young said. AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said the commission's position had not changed. "We had a reply to our letter, and the reply was as expected - that they (the sports commission) indicated to us that in their view, we were still non-compliant, and indicated that they would be withdrawing funding if we didn't sign up by June 30 . . . we've now got to weigh that up, and we've got two weeks to decide what we'll do," Demetriou said.
The Article Samantha Lane/TheAge/19June05
Sheedy 4th umpire call Jon Ralph/TheAustralian/19June05

Dome management decides to change circle turf
Terry Wallace's criticism of the centre area at Telstra Dome was vindicated yesterday when the stadium management decided to replace the centre-circle turf. Wallace said this week that Tiger ruck pair Trent Knobel and Troy Simmonds both had groin soreness after last Sunday's match at Telstra Dome against the Kangaroos. He attributed the soreness to the shifting surface in the centre area, which he described as "awful". After admitting the circle area contained excessive moisture, Telstra Dome staff first tried to drain some of it off. Following a further inspection yesterday, it was decided to replace the section two games before it was due. It will be replaced today in readiness for the Richmond-Adelaide game tomorrow night. Officially, the stadium blamed the extra wear caused by Wednesday night's charity Legends Game. "The match took its toll . . . and we felt it would be best to replace the turf to ensure we deliver the best playing surface for Saturday's round-13 clash," said Andrew Travis, Telstra Dome's general manager of operations.
The Article Len Johnson/TheAge/17June05
Dome rushes circle work Jim Wilson/HeraldSun/17June05

Saints in Demand
St Kilda's emerging gun midfielder Nick Dal Santo will go home this weekend and consider a revised contract offer to remain with the Saints. Dal Santo, the most keenly sought uncontracted AFL player who is yet to reach agreement with his club, will return to Bendigo tomorrow and discuss with his family an improved St Kilda offer that is still expected to be $250,000 or more a season shy of what he could receive from Collingwood, Essendon or other clubs. Dal Santo's management talked to St Kilda coach Grant Thomas on Tuesday, with the Saints offering a two-year deal. Dal Santo and midfielder Lenny Hayes are the club's priority signings now among the many uncontracted Saints, with Hayes close to accepting a new deal - the only hold-up being the terms of the third year of the contract. Hayes is understood to be satisfied with the first two years of the proposed contract. Dal Santo's manager, Tom Petroro of Flying Start, said yesterday that Dal Santo would discuss the offer with his parents over the weekend before deciding whether to accept the two-year offer. "He's going to go home and consider things over the weekend," said Petroro. "He's going to go home Friday and spend some time with his mum and dad and consider things." A decision on the St Kilda offer could be made next week.
The Article Jake Niall/TheAge/16June05

Bye to assist ailing Bombers
Essendon expects to have all four players injured in Friday night's loss to West Coast available after the bye. The Bombers' next match is against St Kilda on Friday, June 24 and football manager Dominic Cato said yesterday the club was confident Kepler Bradley (eye), Jason Johnson (cheekbone), Andrew Lovett (groin) and Nathan Lovett-Murray (ribs) would be fit . . . The club is likely to be boosted by the return of All-Australian defender Dustin Fletcher, who is making good progress after injuring his ankle against Adelaide in Round 11.
The Article Jordan Chong and Rebecca Williams/HeraldSun/15June05
Slattery stakes his selection claim Bomberland/15June05

Hamill: I'll be ready for Bombers
Aaron Hamill has confirmed himself a starter in the Saints' next match - against Essendon on Friday week. Having missed since Round 6 with ankle ligament problems, Hamill said a 20-minute run on Friday had confirmed he was ready to resume. "Previous to that (run), I was taking a couple of steps forward and three back," Hamill told 774 ABC Radio at the weekend. "It was pretty frustrating there for probably a two-week period where the physios weren't quite sure what was going on. It is a unique injury. I tore the ligaments. They call it a high-ankle ligament strain."
The Article Damian Barrett/HeraldSun/13June05

Carey sees inside 50s as coach's alibi
Coaches quote it as the most revealing number in football; Wayne Carey says it's totally irrelevant. Carey said "inside 50" is "the worst stat in footy". Speaking on Fox Footy's Saturday Central, Carey said "inside 50s" were grossly misleading and nothing more than an alibi for certain coaches. "What a lot of coaches do is they hide behind the fact that they get the ball inside 50 as much as the opposition," he said. "It's a load of rubbish." The Kangaroos champion cited the recent Melbourne-Roos game as clear evidence. "The Kangaroos had more inside 50s than Melbourne, and the Demons won by six goals, and dominated," he said.
The Article Mike Sheahan/HeraldSun/13June05

Facial fractures
Nine AFL players have had facial fractures during the first half of the 2005 season - including seven in the past month - compared with six for the entire season three years ago and 10 the year after that. The 'epidemic' of such injuries has people wondering whether our game has become more violent, but looking at each case shows most have resulted from accidental contact. The amount of force required to fracture a facial bone means that contact must be made with a hard object, usually the head of either a teammate - as in the case of Danny Jacobs in round three - or an opponent, as in David Neitz's clash with Tarkyn Lockyer on Monday. Alternatively, it could be a fist, boot or Matthew Lloyd's protective forearm guard, which made accidental contact with young Hawk Josh Thurgood, also in that round-three clash. Broadly speaking, there are four areas of the face that can be fractured - the eye socket (or orbit), the cheekbone (zygoma), the upper jaw (maxilla) and the lower jaw (mandible). The extent of the fracture can vary enormously, depending on whether there is one or more bones involved, how much the bones are displaced and whether there is damage to other structures such as nerves. In addition to facial bones, there are the bones of the skull such as the temporal bone, fractured by Chris Hyde in that sickening clash of heads with Matt Maguire in round five.
The Article Peter Brukner/TheAge/15June05

Double standards show up error of media's way
Brock McLean came to Melbourne as the No.5 pick in the 2003 draft. He had been All-Australian in the national under-18 competition. He was best on ground when the Cannons won the TAC Cup. Simply, the kid could play. Men who should know nodded their heads, jotted good things down. Pencilled him in. And he had a bit of a pedigree. His uncle Ricky was a large, mostly mobile boulder who rolled around the Carlton and Richmond forward lines in the 1960s and 70s with sporadic success. Brock played nine games in 2004, showed a robust style, and was ear-marked for an influential role in the Demons midfield this year. On Monday a ball was kicked to him. It floated gently as he stood near the wing. He was alone. The ball appeared certain to nestle into his hands, launching another Demon thrust. Duffers and drongos take this mark blind-folded in the slush and mud of suburban paddocks across Australia.
The Article Patrick Smith/TheAustralian/15June05

Tripping laws flawed
Tripping is a dangerous action. Our game frowns on players who trip by imposing hefty suspensions after lengthy tribunal hearings. Tackling laws are strict and players who bring an opponent to ground by hand, leg or foot have always expected to cop the wrath of the AFL. But not this year. Through a myriad of tribunal and reporting procedure reforms, tripping has slipped through the net. And it needs to be addressed - ask Essendon's Dustin Fletcher who's been suspended for tripping in the past. I reckon he might be calling for some consistency; ironic when the changes to the system were made to achieve just that. I thought Port Adelaide's Gavin Wanganeen was very fortunate when his actions against St Kilda's Robert Harvey in Round 11 in Launceston were judged as a level-one offence by the match review panel.
The Article Derek Humphery-Smith/HeraldSun/14June05
Double standards . . . error of media's way Patrick Smith/TheAustralian/15June05

AFL torpedoes punt
The Afl's success in creating an even competition could cost it millions of dollars in gambling revenue. Bookmakers fear the sport's biggest punters will stay away from the game permanently if the trend of unpredictable results continues. The AFL is seeking a slice of the multi-million-dollar football betting market, which has been growing rapidly in recent years. AFL clubs receive no direct revenue from football betting, though the loss-making TipStar returns a modest dividend to the AFL. Tattersall's, which runs TipStar, has an exclusive AFL licence that would stop any official wagering arrangements by clubs or the league until 2007.
The Article Danny Buttler/HeraldSun/14June05
Wallace attacks Dome surfaceLen Johnson/TheAge/15June05

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