Tag: afl

How rest and preparation dictate AFL performance

Post By World , , , , , ,

Sometimes truths in the sporting world are whispered quietly, and sometimes they are said aloud.

This week Craig McRae didn’t mince his words when on FoxFooty’s AFL360.

“There’s no way that you could look at the draw and say it’s fair anywhere. Everyone understands it. It’s just ‘which bit is yours (your advantage)’. That’s reality, isn’t it?”

For much of football’s long and storied history, the time of football was largely constant — Saturday afternoon.

The first midweek matches for premiership points happened in the league’s first season in 1897 on the date of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Public holidays were the main reasons for the early weekday games in the early decades.

This regular schedule made it easy to follow your team every week, aside from knowing what ground a game was being played at.

This significantly helped players in the semi-professional era when they still had day jobs.

After experimentation with midweek, and night-time football, media executives and the VFL started to experiment more with the fixturing of proper league games.

In 1980 regular standalone Sunday afternoon games were introduced via games held at the SCG. Playing in Sydney provided the VFL a convenient end-run around the VFA’s government-backed grip on Sunday fixturing.

Friday night footy, pioneered in 1983 by the Swans is now perhaps the most commercially coveted fixture available.

Friday was the last weekday to feature a league game, but has since become a core part of the footy week. By the late 1980s all teams were regularly playing footy on Fridays.

Thanks to roaming public holidays and invented occasions like Anzac Day Eve, no day of the week is fully off-limits.

In the 2024 AFL season football will be played on at least six of the seven days of the week across 21 different start times.

The introduction of all these time slots has introduced new considerations for footy staffers — condensed and elongated preparations. This season sees more short breaks than ever before. These include five and six-day turnarounds — think Sunday to Friday being two games in six days. They also include multiple six-day turnarounds and batches of condensed games.

This is how teams prepare for the short week, and the impact it has on your team’s chances.

The footballing week

To work out how a short week can affect the preparation of a team going into a game, a better idea of a normal footballing week is required.

Richard Little, a former Essendon staffer and current data intelligence manager at the Victorian Institute of Sport, is across how clubs usually prepare for a week of football.

“Depending on the club, a seven-day break schedule would potentially look something like this:”

“Some clubs flip the sessions three days prior to the game with the ones two days out.”

Little stresses that this is dependent on the game and training loads before that week and the week’s scheduled ahead.

“Because the fixture is known for the first 15 rounds, these loads will have been planned well in advance,” Little adds.

“The skill acquisition aspect of training is generally planned loosely with specific drills dropped into a template as needed. So, it might be that a three or four week block is focused on defence but other areas would still be included. This is dependant on the coaching philosophy but it could be that there’s more work done on maintaining strengths or fixing weaknesses.”

Earlier this season Collingwood struggled with their performance coming off consecutive six-day breaks.

“Well we started the season with six days (break), six days (break), six days (break). We didn’t realise parts of our game were so far off,” McRae explained.

“So when you actually get a deeper breath you get to work on those things. You get to train some habits and change those focus areas.”

This ability to adjust on the fly is key to football clubs being able to right the ship midway through the season. It’s often why teams struggle to adjust the game plans on a wholesale basis until the bye rounds.

Shorter time frames between the games also mean the ideal schedule is adjusted.

“A compressed schedule is going to mean lighter training loads overall as the games themselves will provide the majority of the physical load,” Little articulates.

“On a six-day break, one of the post sessions will likely be merged with another and the main session will have reduced load. On a five-day break, individual craft or recovery skills are likely dropped and the main session is drastically reduced. Sometimes that’s only a couple of drills in those situations.”

Surprisingly, shorter breaks on their own don’t have a direct impact on game results. Emerging football analyst Emlyn Breese of CreditToDuBois.com has researched how these short breaks have affected results in recent years.

“It’s hard to identify the performance impacts of a short break in isolation. The typical things you’d look at as indicators of effort and energy like tackles and pressure acts — teams aren’t performing noticeably below their season average off a short break,” Breese told ABC Sport this week.

Breese has analysed outcomes against predicted performance based on how strong a team is expected to perform. He has used the predicted match results as calculated by James Day, creator of the blog Plus Six One and co-creator of the football statistics package FitzRoy as a baseline.

“When a side has two days less rest than their opponent they are likely to perform just under a goal worse than expectation when they are the home team, and about half that when they are the away team. They’re not big numbers on the surface, but when you’re looking at hundreds or thousands of results it suggests there’s something there.”

There’s also more extreme breaks — often caused by byes. Usually they have minimal impacts, with one exception.

“Teams coming off a bye playing away against a home side without a bye have performed, on average, a goal below expectation. Coaches talk all the time about just how hard it is to win a game of footy — I think it’s an example of the cumulative effect of just one more thing that takes the team out of their normal routine.”

It must be wearing off

It’s not only one match of short turnarounds that matters. Often teams have several shorter breaks compounding on each other – especially when compared to their opponents.

Posted , updated 

Source link

#rest #preparation #dictate #AFL #performance

Footy Fix: The Pies might have embarrassed Port… but they’re still not back to their best. Yet

Post By Sports ,

A little over 12 months ago, Collingwood demolished Port Adelaide on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the MCG in the first of many, many signs in 2023 that they were destined for a premiership.

For two quarters on Saturday against the same opponent, at the same venue, with even the same weather, the Magpies looked every bit back to their best, ripping the Power to shreds with a ferocity and a speed that few sides in the competition could hope to match.

The result was a 41-point win that will reaffirm in the eyes of many that the Pies, after a sluggish start to 2024, are back in business – and indeed, I’d have felt the same if I only looked at the margin and the quality of the opposition.

But for all their dominance, there are still some bugs in the Magpie machine that need fixing, most of them without the ball, and you can bet other teams that don’t turn up their toes the minute the heat goes up like the Power did at the MCG will be able to punish them without getting so comprehensively ripped apart the other way.

No doubt overturning a 31-point deficit so commandingly will give the Pies a huge confidence boost, as well as send a shiver down the spines of their foes; but any team that can give up a lead like that is still vulnerable, no matter what they have in reserve.

Part of the reason I’m still holding out on declaring the Pies back in business is also the manner with which that tore the Power up.

Having been exposed repeatedly on the outside throughout the opening term, Craig McRae’s solution was simple: simply deny Port as much ball as possible, take complete control of all stoppages, and surge the ball with pace and purpose forward to a backline outsized but with speed to burn on their bigger, slower defenders.

It was a game plan made for the rangy Will Hoskin-Elliott, often a whipping boy among Magpies fans, who had what might be the best game of his career: with 21 disposals and nine marks, all of the latter by half time, his superb second quarter was the catalyst to spark the Pies into life.

Just as impactful, though, was their completecontrol at the coalface: after losing the contested possession count by one in the first term, the Pies proceeded to win it by 17 in the second and 17 more in the third, ending up with a whopping 41-possession advantage.

Their eventual tally of 161 is their equal-most under McRae, tying at the top with what they mustered in a wet-weather scrap against Richmond last year; only once since the start of 2022 have they won the stat by more. That was, as it happens, in the corresponding match against Port in 2023, when they won it by a frankly outrageous 57 (155-98).

To do it in sunny conditions against an opposition with three of the most acclaimed midfielders in the game in Zak Butters, Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis is a commanding performance.

Butters’ gradual waning of influence summed up the change in mood: of his 15 first-quarter disposals that consistently punished the Pies going from inside stoppages to outside, not a single one was considered a clearance, with the number 9 playing a more peripheral role as the link man outside stoppages to capitalise on Jason Horne-Francis and Ollie Wines’ hard work over the footy.

When the Pies took over, those handballs out dried up, and Butters’ impact waned, with just six disposals in the next two quarters before building his numbers up again in the last with the contest all but decided.

There’s a caveat to it, though: this isn’t the way the Pies have historically won games of footy since Macrae took over, especially not in the dry. It’s just the 20th time since he took over that they’ve won the contested possession count, across 57 games.

If this is a sign of a new, hard-nosed Collingwood that wants to work teams over for the hard ball, then tremendous, especially with Jordan De Goey back to his explosive best after a rough start to the season.

But those numbers back up the eye test that the Power were shown up when the going got tough, be it a one-off shocker or a sign that this highly touted midfield of theirs has a glaring weakness. Which is enough to ask the Pies to show that sort of ferocity can be maintained, and – and this is key – that they can do it without sacrificing their one-wood of fast, silky outside play, before hailing them as a force once more.

The other factor to consider is just how vulnerable the Pies looked in that first quarter, with the Power piling on six of the game’s first seven goals before the reigning premiers could so much as blink.

What was concerningly apparent was the lack of trust that proved the cornerstone of the Magpies’ defensive structure from last year; often last year the defence and wingmen would hold their ground away from the contest, prevent as much overlap run as possible, and entrust whoever was at the ball and responsible for the opponent with it would stick doggedly to the task.

That’s a hard trait to maintain, especially when you start losing and desperately want to be the one to turn it around: that’s the only reason I can think of for why Patrick Lipinski would leave Butters all on his own and try to block Sam Powell-Pepper here, rather than entrust that job to Steele Sidebottom and Lachie Schultz.

Four of Port’s six goals essentially came from decisions just like Lipinski’s; some were obvious, while others, like Jeremy Howe abandoning Willie Rioli near the goalsquare to try and influence a contest he was never going to get to, were less so, with only Jackson Mead getting the job done himself preventing him from looking even sillier.

This has been a common problem for the Pies all season long, with GWS’ fleet of small forwards in particular shredding them in Opening Round. For it to remain such an issue in a match they won by 41 points makes it less pressing of an issue, but I’d be shocked if McRae didn’t make that a focus at training during the week.

There’s no denying Collingwood’s best on Saturday afternoon was breathtaking, and a stern reminder that they can still turn it on to a level few other teams can match.

But there will be teams to give them a much sterner contest for the hard ball than the Power managed; and when – and it is a when – that happens, the Pies might not look so comprehensively back as they do right now.



Source link

#Footy #Fix #Pies #embarrassed #Port #theyre

AFL defends illicit drugs policy after claims of off-the-books drug tests by federal MP

Post By World , , , , , , , ,

The AFL says it is “unapologetic” about its illicit drugs policy amid claims by a federal MP that Melbourne Football Club conducted off-the-books drug testing of players to help them avoid failing tests on match days.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie used parliamentary privilege to make accusations of serious misconduct against the AFL and the Melbourne Demons. 

In federal parliament last night, Andrew Wilkie said the allegations were provided by former Melbourne football club president Glen Bartlett, former Melbourne football club doctor Zeeshan Arain and Shaun Smith, father of Melbourne player and now alleged drug trafficker Joel Smith.

Mr Wilkie aired allegations of prevalent drug abuse in the AFL and off-the-books drug testing of players at Dorevitch Pathology in Heidelberg, which he said was “facilitated by the former chief medical officer of the AFL, Peter Harcourt”.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says the allegations were described to him by a whistleblower involved with the club.(ABC News: Nick Haggarty)

Mr Wilkie said that players testing positive for illicit drugs were often asked to fake injuries to cover up their result.

“They are advised to lie about their condition, while the results of the off-the-book tests are kept secret and never shared with Sports Integrity Australia or WADA,” he said.

“In other words, hundreds of thousands of Australians will watch the game not knowing that the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL.

“Thousands of Australians will also bet on that game not knowing that the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL.”

No illicit drug problem in AFL, CEO says

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon did not refute Mr Wilkie’s claims, but said testing for illicit drugs by club doctors had been part of the AFL’s illicit drugs policy since 2005.

“What we have is testing under the clinical intervention model done by the doctors,” he said.

Andrew Dillon standing in front of microphones at a podium.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says doctor-patient confidentially is paramount.(AAP Image: Joel Carrett)

Mr Dillon did not directly address claims made by Mr Wilkie that players who had tested positive faked injuries to cover up test results.

“The private medical information of the players is private medical information and that’s what we prioritise above anything else,” he said.

“If there’s a chance that they may have something in their system, we don’t want them training and we don’t them taking part in matches for their health and welfare above anything else.”

The AFL is reviewing its illicit drugs policy and hopes to have a new model in place by the end of the year.

The AFL Player’s Association said it supported the AFL’s position and it was committed to reviewing the policy alongside the AFL to ensure it remains best practice. 

Mr Dillon denied that there was an illicit drug problem in the sport.

Former AFL player Shaun Smith stands with his hand on a bedside table in a workshop.

Former AFL player Shaun Smith says he hoped the allegations were taken seriously. (ABC News: Scott Jewell)

But former player Shaun Smith disagreed and said it was a “massive issue in the AFL”.

He accused the AFL of “covering up” the alleged use of drugs and that it created an unsafe workplace.

“I was pretty shocked that the AFL would go to that length to cover up cocaine use in the game,” he said.

“Covering up stuff and not dealing with issues firsthand really just reeks of an unsafe workplace.

“The employer, which is the AFL and the Melbourne Football Club or any other football club, have the duty of care to make it a safe working place.”

Allegations ‘news’ to Melbourne coach

Melbourne Football Club coach Simon Goodwin said he had no knowledge of any such behaviour at the club.

“It’s news to me. I think it’s a surprise to everyone in the industry because there’s no line of sight for me as a head coach,” he said.

“I think it’s a question you’ll have to ask the AFL, about what the policy looks like moving forward.

“I’ve got enormous trust in our doctor in terms of them being able to do their job so I’m not going to question how they go about their business.”

The shopfront of Dorevitch Pathology

The AFL has a contract with Dorevitch Pathology to conduct illicit drug testing of its players.(Supplied: Kennington Village)

Dr Arain was sacked by the club in 2020, after media reports claiming he had raised concerns about the club’s culture.

Mr Bartlett stood down as club president in 2021, and has launched legal action against the club in the Federal Court of Australia.

In his speech, Mr Wilkie claimed Mr Bartlett “was dumped by the AFL just eight weeks after a meeting with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and AFL chair Richard Goyder where he suggested mandatory drug testing for AFL executives”.

On Wednesday, Mr Wilkie tried to reintroduce the issue and put statements and serious allegations on the parliamentary record for a second time.

He called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to study the documents provided to him and to “do everything he can to restore and protect the reputation of our beloved game”.

Anthony Albanese speaking at parliament.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed Mr Wilkie’s comments during Question Time on Wednesday. (ABC News)

Mr Albanese responded to accusations that the government was participating in the cover up of an alleged drug problem within the AFL. 

“My job … isn’t the control of the Australian Football League. But if issues are raised, the Sport Integrity Australia is aware of the issue, and they have begun their assessment,” he said.

Sport Integrity Australia confirmed it had commenced an assessment of the allegations made by Mr Wilkie but would not comment further. 

Misconduct rife in the AFL, MP claims

Mr Wilkie alleged he was told the problem was widespread in the sport.

“Dr Arain also explains, this isn’t just a Melbourne problem; it’s an AFL problem, with multiple players coming to Melbourne from other teams with pre-existing cocaine dependencies, more than suggesting that drug testing workarounds are in fact commonplace elsewhere in the AFL,” he said.

“The documents in my possession also indicate a shocking unwillingness by senior AFL executives to address drug abuse by players and executives, particularly in relation to cocaine usage.”

Melbourne AFL fans sit in the stands at the MCG waving flags and floggers during a premiership celebration.

The former president and club doctor are among those making allegations of serious misconduct at the Melbourne Demons.(ABC News: Tom Maddocks)

AFL Doctors Association president Barry Rigby said the club doctors’ prime responsibility “is, and always will be, the health and wellbeing of the athletes”.

“The suggestion that this unique privilege has been somehow manipulated is simply not true,” Dr Rigby said.

“Such comments are disappointing, and represent a distortion of a process aimed at supporting player welfare.”

He said doctors “maintain transparent communication with the AFL, ensuring that any substance use concerns are managed with discretion and in accordance with medical ethics, the AFL’s guidelines, and WADA’s code”.

Under current AFL rules, players caught using illicit drugs are subject to a three-strike system.

On the first detection, a player will receive a $5,000 fine while also undergoing counselling and target testing.

Following the second strike, a player’s name is made public and they serve a four-match suspension.

A third strike incurs a 12-match suspension.

Source link

#AFL #defends #illicit #drugs #policy #claims #offthebooks #drug #tests #federal

It has produced a string of talented players for the AFL, but can Halls Creek calm its troubled footy crowds?

Post By World , , , , , , , , ,

An outback town in northern WA faces a huge test this football season — to stop crowd fighting and feuding from overshadowing its reputation as an AFL talent factory.

Halls Creek is the hub of the East Kimberley Football League’s southern division, where teams from largely Indigenous communities play a fast, instinctive and highly-skilled style, grounding an over abundance of top league players.

The AFL has identified Halls Creek’s potential and, along with the state government, has invested in the region to smooth the pathway from the remote town to the highest level.

Families enjoy the thrill of watching football in Halls Creek.(ABC Kimberley: Ted O’Connor)

Most people in Halls Creek are Indigenous and football in the dry season is a huge part of the town’s identity, instilling pride in players and their families.

But leaders lament the sporting spectacle has an unwanted dark side.

They say for too long it’s been a magnet for drunken spectators looking to settle old scores in long-running family feuds.

Community advocates say intergenerational trauma and entrenched social problems such as alcohol abuse and welfare dependency help fuel bad behaviour, especially when bragging rights are on the table.

Brawl mars grand final

Last year, when the Yardgee Dockers soundly defeated the Kururrungku Roos in the grand final, their celebrations were tarnished.

When the siren blew, spectators came onto the field and a brawl broke out, injuring three police officers.

A group of spectators running on a football field

The brawl cast a shadow over the football season in Halls Creek.(Supplied)

More than a dozen people were charged and criminal court proceedings are still playing out.

The incident meant Yardgee’s players did not receive their premiership medallions after the match.

an Indigenous football team on an oval

The Yardgee Dockers won the East Kimberley Football League southern division premiership last year.(Supplied: Jahmal Stretch)

Yardgee assistant coach Dennis Chungulla said the brawl ruined a moment to recognise the players’ profound achievements, especially those who had used football to turn their lives around.

He said some players had been involved in youth crime, in particular stealing cars, until they were encouraged to join the club.

“We got all those young fellas in, they didn’t know they were going to make it to the grand final, they were just happy,” he said.

“When the kids know themselves they realise something, instead of skidding in cars and stealing … (they think) let’s do something for our family.”

An Indigenous man stands in a park

Dennis Chungulla says a tough stance needs to be taken against violence at football games.(ABC Kimberley: Ted O’Connor)

The leader in the Halls Creek-based Indigenous community said while the league should take a harder line with violent spectators — families and elders also needed to step up.

“Respect your elder, respect your players and respect your family, that’s the most important thing,” he said.

“It’s got to start from your home. Mob want to see their kid play.”

League to crack down

Supporters from the two clubs had brawled previously in 2021, leading to spectator bans and games held without crowds.

In the lead-up to last year’s grand final brawl, clubs in Halls Creek warned the league that feuding in communities was spilling into games and could have an impact on the decider.

The league sought help from police and breathalysed spectators on entry, but it was to no avail.

EKFL president Wayne Paul said tougher measures would be considered this season.

“People have got to understand there are acceptable levels of behaviour,” he said.

“If something like that happens again we might say, ‘Right, we’ll have a grand final but there are no spectators’,” Mr Paul said.

Halls Creek Hawks players mingle with family members

Community leaders say football games at Halls Creek should be a safe space for families.(ABC Kimberley: Ted O’Connor)

He said the league would ban the spectators convicted by criminal courts for their involvement in the brawl for at least a year, depending on the circumstances.

“Hopefully, that’ll put the word out to the rest — if you misbehave in football you run the risk of getting a ban,” the league president said.

a boy holds a footy on an dry oval near players warming up

Young people in Halls Creek look up to football players as role models. (ABC Kimberley: Ted O’Connor)

Halls Creek to go it alone

Football in Halls Creek has traditionally been administered from Kununurra, more than 350km to the north, under the East Kimberley Football League umbrella.

Now planning is underway for the southern division to stand alone in 2025.

Games will be played on the one oval in Halls Creek, and leaders say attracting enough officials, umpires and volunteers from that town and surrounding Indigenous communities will be a huge task.

The state government and AFL have made millions of dollars of funding available to boost football in the Kimberley, where socio-economic barriers and huge geographical distances limit its much-vaunted potential.

a man kicks a football during a game

There’s an abundance of Indigenous football talent in Halls Creek and the surrounding area.(Supplied: Jahmal Stretch)

That cash injection has supported work on the ground by Country Football WA East Kimberley regional representative Louis Tanner, who says the grand final brawl exposed shortcomings with local capacity.

“We realised we had a few less volunteers than we needed on that day and we had to rely on police support,” he said.

“The lesson learned is they need extra support from the community to help football grow and survive.”

Indigenous footballers play footy on a red gravel oval

Some people in Indigenous communities in the Kimberley play football on rocky hard ovals.(Supplied: Giancarlo Mazzella)

This year’s football season is likely to be delayed and shortened due to upgrades on the oval.

Mr Tanner wants to kick the season off with a round robin carnival to allow teams to meet and work towards creating a smooth-running competition.

“I think the grand opening of the new oval would be a start, almost like a clean slate,” he said.

“There’s so much funding support, it’s really just looking for local leaders to step up.”

A Halls Creek Hawks player about to kick the football during a match

Halls Creek teams play a fast free-flowing style.(ABC Kimberley: Ted O’Connor)

Source link

#produced #string #talented #players #AFL #Halls #Creek #calm #troubled #footy #crowds

As Victoria’s second-biggest city has reversed its fortunes, this historical stadium has been given new life

Post By World , , , , , ,

In the 70s and 80s, Geelong kids would gather empty beer cans from the feet of adults at Kardinia Park.

Back then, the cans were strong and could hold a young child’s weight if they were stacked just right.

Standing on top, a young footy fan could get a clear view of the field, where their heroes donned the blue and white hoops of one of the oldest football teams in the world.

A boy from nearby Winchelsea named Denis Napthine was one of those beer-can architects.

“I barracked for the Cats from day dot,” Dr Napthine says.

Former Victorian premier Denis Napthine watched his beloved Geelong Cats at Kardinia Park from a young age.(ABC News: Harrison Tippet)

“[Some of my] earliest memories are the thrill of being able to come down to Kardinia Park and see my heroes play. And coming down with dad and the family and being in the outer.

“And you’re only a little fella at that stage, I was only 11 and 12, and by the time the game was on you barely could see, so what you had to do is collect a whole heap of beer cans.”

This was about 60 years ago, but he still reels off the names of young Denis’s favourite Cats.

“To see Polly Farmer play, to see Billy Goggins’s stab passes, and Doug Wade, and the tough fellas in the backline, John Devine and Geoff Rosenow. And the drop kicks of Paul Vinar, and the skills of John Sharrock,” he says, with youthful fervour.

Little did young Denis know, as he studied his heroes from atop his beer can watchtower, that he would later return to Kardinia Park as Victoria’s premier to pledge a $26 million portion of what would eventually be a $340 million, 20-year redevelopment of Geelong’s stadium precinct.

The exterior of a stadium at dusk, with the flood lights on and Geelong Cats branding on the side.

Kardinia Park has undergone a five-stage upgrade over 20 years.(ABC News: Cameron Best)

Aim to make Kardinia Park Australia’s best regional stadium

The state government and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust (KPST) will officially announce the completion of the new 14,000-seat Joel Selwood grandstand this week, just in time for the Cats to play in the centre of the new 40,000-capacity stadium on Saturday night.

The finishing touches are still being put on remainder of the $142-million stage of the redevelopment, including a new indoor cricket hub, sports museum and entry plaza, but this week effectively marks the blare of the final siren on the stadium’s upgrade.

A photo of a stand in construction

The new Joel Selwood stand in the late stages of construction.(Supplied: Kardinia Park Stadium Trust)

It comes almost three-and-a-half years after the state government announced it would fully fund the fifth stage of “the MCG of regional Australia”.

“With new and improved facilities and a bigger capacity, the stadium will continue to attract A-grade sport and entertainment to Geelong and ensure that the city’s name is known around the globe,” then-sports minister Martin Pakula said.

KPST, the body assigned to govern the state asset, will wait for this week’s official opening to make their own statements, but it’s almost certain they’ll point out that the stadium is far more than a footy oval.

It attracts top-flight cricket, soccer and rugby matches, numerous community sports and activities – and even one of the biggest rock bands in the world, the Foo Fighters.

A crowd of Geelong Cats fans in a stadium grandstand, wearing blue and white, holding banners and shaking oversized pom poms.

Kardinia Park is predominantly the Geelong Football Club’s home, but also hosts a range of sporting and entertainment events.(AAP: Julian Smith)

They’ll likely also note they have already won the title of Australia’s Best Regional Stadium in last year’s fan-voted AusStadiums awards.

“It’s a real feather in the cap of all the hard work of the people here to get this award, and it’s vindication of what we’re aiming to be, which is exactly that – Australia’s best regional stadium,” KPST CEO Gerard Griffen said at the time.

Five stages of funding over two decades

The overhaul of Geelong’s stadium began as an idea of the club’s leaders in the late 90s.

Over the next couple of decades, the club would continue to push all levels of government for funding pledges.

Politicians would steadily stream down the Princes Freeway to make their announcements at Kardinia Park.

There was $26 million for stage one, then $25 million for the next, and $48 million for the third stage.

The final two stages have been the big ones.

An aerial colour photo of a large sports stadium

Kardinia Park in 1990 before the redevelopment began.(Supplied: Geelong Advertiser, Bob Gartland Collection)

It cost $90 million to build the Brownlow Stand, new football department and stadium entry, opened in 2017.

And then the current $142-million final stage, with the state government picking up the entire tab.

While the federal government, local council, AFL and Cats themselves have all kicked in parts of the $340 million total overhaul of the stadium, the State is responsible for the majority of it — at about $260 million.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, with the completion of the final stage delayed almost a year by defects discovered in imported steel, and a 2010 miscalculation finding the stage three project $12 million short, prompting cutbacks to planned works.

Two men standing on a sports field while talking to one another

Former Geelong Football Club captain Joel Selwood with Kardinia Park Trust CEO Gerard Griffin after the stand was named in the footballer’s honour.(Supplied: Kardinia Park Stadium Trust)

The regular flow of taxpayer funds for the precinct has earned it the unofficial nickname “Pork Barrel Park” — a tag Dr Napthine disputes.

“I can very strongly say this investment in Kardinia Park, investment in the redevelopment of the ground, has been a really regional development investment that really has helped transform Geelong… investing in Kardinia Park, is an investment in the future of Geelong, and the future of Victoria as well,” he says.

Stadium precinct’s fortunes mirror those of Geelong

There’s a Geelong cliché that when the footy club is winning, the city is too.

The same could be said of Kardinia Park — the stadium’s complete overhaul is symbolic of both the Cats’ and the city’s reinvigoration.

By the end of the 90s the footy club was virtually on its knees – broke, $6 million in debt and having not won a premiership since 1963 while losing four grand finals between 1989 and 1995.

The city too, was doing it tough.

An aerial black and white photo of a large sports stadium

Kardinia Park in 1980.(Supplied: Geelong Advertiser, Bob Gartland Collection)

The 1990 collapse of “Geelong’s Bank” the Pyramid Building Society wiped out life savings for many in the region, as jobs also started to dry up in the manufacturing town, continuing well into the new century.

But alongside the redevelopment of Kardinia Park has been a revival of the city’s fortunes.

The Cats have the best win-loss record in the league since 2000 including four premierships, while the city itself is one of the fastest growing regional centres in Australia having established new employment opportunities.

Geelong historian and former Cats vice president Bob Gartland has the largest private collection of Cats artefacts in existence, and a thorough understanding of the club’s importance to his hometown.

A man smiling at the camera surrounded by dozens of Geelong cats jumpers on the walls

Geelong historian Bob Gartland says the expansion of Kardinia Park has reflected the growth of Geelong.(ABC News: Harrison Tippet)

“The development of the stadium sort of runs parallel with the development of the city, I think,” he says, flanked by game-worn jumpers of Cats legends.

“As Geelong grows the stadium has grown.”

“Those good fortunes and successes that [the Cats] had were mirrored in society, in the community, in business around Geelong. So, the football club in many ways has actually been central to the success of the region.

“I think the people are the heart of Geelong, buildings and the fabric of buildings are great, but it’s the people who represent for me anyway the heart of Geelong and the heart of the Geelong spirit.

“I think the stadium precinct is probably the glue that holds us all together.”

Source link

#Victorias #secondbiggest #city #reversed #fortunes #historical #stadium #life

Tasmanian Labor says stadium can’t be built at Macquarie Point, but AFL boss says it’s ‘pivotal’ to the deal

Post By World , , , ,

Details remain scarce about how Tasmanian Labor would “re-negotiate” the state’s contract with the AFL for a state team and stadium at Macquarie Point — with the league again re-affirming its position that a deal is a deal.

Labor insists it will “negotiate a better deal for Tasmanians” if it topples the incumbent Liberal Party at the March 23 state election.

But so far, Labor has been unable to reveal what terms it would seek to change and whether or not it has determined the league is even willing to meet back at the negotiating table.

Labor remains adamant the deal is a poor one for Tasmania and that it will “re-negotiate” with the AFL, should it win power next month.

“We want to sit down like adults, talk to the AFL about how we can ensure we get an AFL team in a deal that can actually happen,” Labor’s economic development spokesperson Dean Winter said.

But Labor continues to evade the question of just how it intends to renegotiate the signed deal with the AFL, which remains strident that it will not budge on the terms of the contract.

Source link

#Tasmanian #Labor #stadium #built #Macquarie #Point #AFL #boss #pivotal #deal

Hobart’s stadium ‘has some problems’ as Tasmania’s AFL deal becomes a political football

Post By World , , , , , ,

Tasmania’s bid for its own AFL team has been intertwined with a stadium at Macquarie Point ever since Gil McLachlan turned up in Hobart in 2022 and pointed at the grey, mostly-vacant land.

The deal was then formalised in writing last year when the AFL stipulated if there was no stadium, there would be no team.

But now, it’s become a key sticking point on the first day of the state election campaign, as both the Liberals and Labor try to shape the narrative over the deal — and whether it can be changed.

The price tag is at the centre of the debate.

Jeremy Rockliff says the AFL deal doesn’t need to be renegotiated.(ABC News: Maren Preuss)

The Tasmanian government set the total cost at $715 million in 2022, with a state contribution of $375 million, and the rest to come from the federal government, borrowings, and the AFL.

Since then, various stadia projects in Australia have experienced major cost blowouts.

But Premier Jeremy Rockliff is sure of his figures.

And in an attempt to prove this, he announced on Thursday that the state’s contribution would be capped at $375 million, and “not one red cent more”.

“What this clearly says is that we’ve drawn a line in the sand,” Mr Rockliff said.

The original cost estimates included $85 million from “borrowings” through commercial leases.

Mr Rockliff said the stadium would continue to rely on private investment to become viable.

“We are now open to the private sector to come in and invest in the precinct,” he said.

“We always said that will need to be an equity injection through the private sector.”

Two men in suits stand on a football field

Jeremy Rockliff and former AFL boss Gil McLachlan at the announcement of the Tasmanian team deal.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)

The contract with the AFL states that the Tasmanian government is “solely responsible” for cost overruns.

The federal government has already capped its contribution.

But Mr Rockliff said his price cap did not breach this part of the AFL deal.

“There’s no need to renegotiate the arrangements,” he said.

Labor wants AFL back at the negotiating table

Labor, on the other hand, has promised to bring the AFL back to the negotiating table.

Another aspect of the AFL deal is that the stadium must be ready by the 2028 season, or the Tasmanian club will start facing financial penalties.

Labor leader Rebecca White said both the cost estimate for Macquarie Point, and the 2028 deadline, needed to be revisited.

Rebecca White flanked by two other women at a press conference, standing before a microphone.

Rebecca White has promised to bring the AFL back to the negotiating table if Labor wins the election.(ABC News: Ashleigh Barraclough)

“It’s evident to everybody that you can’t build a stadium at Macquarie Point for that price, and in the timeline that the premier has said he can,” Ms White said.

She argued the premier’s price cap policy was an admission that the stadium would not come in under budget – and she questioned whether private investors would be lining up.

“Where are all the private investors coming from?” she said.

“The premier is dreaming if he thinks he’s going to pluck private investors out of thin air to prop up his pet project at Macquarie Point.”

It was unclear which aspects of the deal Labor would try to renegotiate.

The AFL did not respond directly to questions about whether the price cap was a breach of the deal, or if it would be willing to negotiate with a future Labor government.

Port area of a city with buildings, cars and hills in the background

The government is confident the stadium will fit on the Macquarie Point land.(ABC News: Maren Preuss)

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said the club was proceeding as planned.

“The AFL’s position is that a clear requirement of the 19th licence is that the team is conditional on a new 23,000-seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point,” he said.

“We look forward to the unveiling of the club’s name and colours in March.”

Stadium has some political problems 

Economist Saul Eslake believed the cap showed the premier had some issues to address.

“I think that’s a recognition from a political point of view that the stadium has some problems,” he said.

“I certainly think the AFL has extracted an extraordinarily high price from Tasmania, to have a team in the AFL.”

Economist Saul Eslake

Saul Eslake says private investors will be essential for the new stadium.(Four Corners)

It did not mean the stadium was cancelled, however.

Mr Eslake said that private investment was always going to be important for the project.

“If the government can attract private sector investment, or investment from super funds into this … I think there is a business case for entities like that to have some interest in it,” he said.

The group behind an alternative stadium proposal – on reclaimed land on the nearby Regatta Grounds – believes it has already secured private sector investment.

A artist's impression of a rounded silver building jutting into a river.

The alternative proposal for a waterfront stadium in Hobart put forward by a private consortium.(Supplied)

Proponent Dean Coleman has long been critical of the government’s $715 million price tag, arguing that a stadium would cost about $20,000 per square metre.

This would take the government’s proposal to $1.2 billion.

Mr Coleman said his group had private interest in its stadium proposal.

“We have written confirmation from three tier one financial corporations (including Australia’s largest investment bank) that want the opportunity to partner with the state government,” he wrote in a letter to the premier on Thursday.

“Unlike the stadium 1.0 proposal we can cap the cost at $750 million because our other components including the car park, hotel and apartment complex contribute significantly to the cost of the stadium.”

A concept design for different transportation modes at the Macquarie Point precinct.

The stadium was pitched as an “urban renewal project”, including improved infrastructure for the surrounding area.(Supplied: Macquarie Point Development Corporation)

The government’s stadium is being assessed by the Tasmanian Planning Commission.

At the conclusion of that process, it will require the approval of both houses of parliament – in the next term of government.

The Macquarie Point Development Corporation is appointing a quantity surveyor, which should provide an updated cost estimate for the stadium later this year.

Source link

#Hobarts #stadium #problems #Tasmanias #AFL #deal #political #football

James Leake and Colby McKercher share plenty in common, but their paths to the AFL draft have been vastly different

Post By World , , , ,

There’s a special confidence about Colby McKercher, the prodigious 18-year-old midfielder who, at worst, will be selected in the top 5 of Monday’s AFL draft.

The Tasmanian has been described as the “best pure midfielder” in the country for his age, and since turning 17, has had every top player agent salivating at the prospect of acquiring his signature.

“There’s not a time where I thought I was never a chance, or I can’t do this, or I can’t do that,” he says of being drafted into the AFL.

That knowledge has allowed McKercher to foster a sure-handedness, and an ability to look within, ahead of his entry into the AFL.

Source link

#James #Leake #Colby #McKercher #share #plenty #common #paths #AFL #draft #vastly

Western Bulldogs to appeal after ‘biggest’ sexual abuse compensation win in Australian history

Post By World , , , ,

The Western Bulldogs have been ordered to fork out a $5.9 million compensation payout to a child sex abuse victim, after a Supreme Court jury ruled the club was negligent and failed to stop a paedophile who preyed on young boys.

After a three-week trial, the jury found in favour of Adam Kneale, who sued the club and claimed it was liable for lifelong damage he sustained at the hands of former Bulldogs volunteer Graeme Hobbs.

Outside court, Mr Kneale told reporters he had waited 30 years for his pain to be recognised, and said he hoped the outcome gave other abuse survivors confidence.

The jury announced it would award $3.25 million for Mr Kneale’s pain and suffering, $2.6 million for loss of earnings, and a further $87,000 for medical costs.

The result is likely to cause financial strife for the AFL club, who will need to borrow funds to pay damages, its current chief executive Ameet Bains told the trial.

Lawyer Michael Magazanik, who represented Mr Kneale, said the result should serve as a “lesson” for the club.

“This is the biggest verdict for an abuse survivor in Australian legal history and it’s a credit to Adam’s guts and perseverance,” he said.

“The Western Bulldogs failed Adam as a child — there’s no two ways about it — they failed him tragically.

“They let a paedophile ruin his life and this result is what the club deserves for that failure.”

Source link

#Western #Bulldogs #appeal #biggest #sexual #abuse #compensation #win #Australian #history

In a battle for the corridor, it was the thriller kings who prevailed on footy’s biggest day

Post By World , , , , , , ,

For much of its history, Collingwood was notorious for losing close ones on the biggest stage.

No side has made more grand finals nor won more premierships. No team has also lost more grand finals.

But that was then, before Craig McRae came to the club.

At the end of what was one of the greatest games of Australian Football, and arguably its greatest grand final in living memory, the best team ever in tight games has walked away with the flag.

The 2023 grand final saw 10 lead changes, with the scores drawing level an additional four times. There was no lead greater than 13 points. There are tight games, there are attacking games, but rarely a combination of the two play out together.

Games like this are why we all watch footy.

Two years ago, McRae took over the reins at Collingwood, entrusted to bring the club back to the top of the competition after a dismal 2021 season.

In just 12 months the Pies went from the bottom four to top four. 

McRae has turned around what was once the club Achilles heel, namely, losing close games.

Under McRae, Collingwood has won 20 games by two goals or less. No club in the past half century has won more tight games than McRae’s Pies.

Most footy analysis has suggested that success in close games is more luck than skill. Collingwood is single-handedly changing that perception for most fans.

“We’re really proud of our journey. We mentioned during the week that it takes two years to get to this point,” McRae said last week after winning a tight game in the preliminary final against GWS.

“You had two years of doing one-on-one fight sessions — like, we’d do it every session. Two minutes of it — tick off. Two minutes — next one. I don’t know how many hours that is.

“You saw how much we’d rehearsed those moments.”

That poise late in games showed through on the biggest stage of them all.

For Brisbane, a couple of missed half-chances means that they are still waiting for their fourth flag as a merged club.

The margins between ultimate success and crippling defeat are sometimes as narrow as an errant knock of the ball forward, or an umpire’s call.

Collingwood put together the closest string of wins ever seen in an AFL-era finals series.

It was truly a masterclass of control via chaos, of seizing the moment when it arose.

This is how Collingwood won a stellar 2023 grand final.

Desire and euphoria

The grand final presented a contrast between two styles, making for an intriguing match.

Through the game, Collingwood lent on their well-honed brand of footy built on trust, spacing, movement and risk.

When Collingwood is running on all cylinders it is hypnotising, with waves of black and white stripes confounding opponents.

Magpies players ran hard for their teammates at all times on the day, overwhelming the Lions with chains of running handballs and numbers at the contest.

It forced Brisbane defenders to choose between two seemingly unstoppable options. The Pies seemed to find open space where there shouldn’t have been any, finding open marks inside 50.

Instead of clearly gaining possession, Collingwood thrived on knock-ons, taps, ground kicks and fumbles forward to put the defence under pressure.

The Lions generally were more controlled when moving the ball — looking to switch and change angles where they could. Where the Pies used chaos to push the ball forward, the Lions tried to use the width of the ground.

The contrast in styles saw a tense contest early, with both teams putting the feelers out early.

But there was one common element — a battle to get the ball in the corridor, and to win the ball in the middle of the ground.

Early on, the Pies were able to get their turnover game going, scoring 15 to six in the first quarter.

Eventually, the Lions got the dangerous press going, matching the Pies in this area.

Through the first half, both sides were able to limit the impact of the taller forwards on the game.

Despite Collingwood losing Nathan Murphy early to a head knock, Brisbane took until late in the second quarter to register its first mark inside 50.

Meanwhile, the Magpies’ struggles for their tall forwards to have an impact may be down to how they deployed them.

Billy Frampton came into the Collingwood side for an injured Dan McStay, and the former Adelaide swingman played a negating role on star Lions defender Harris Andrews.

While Andrews was still able to shape the game from down back, he was thrown out of position more than once by the work of Frampton.

The second half saw more patience from both sides, with the avenues to goals being curtailed.

Both sides put a heavy priority in closing down any attacks from up the ground. The two teams were cautious of each other’s strengths, forcing them to take the long way up the ground.

As the clock wore down, Collingwood switched between its two fabled late-game modes.

For much of the fourth quarter, the Pies slowed the pace down, killing the clock and forcing the Lions into engaging risk.

For a brief minute it looked like paying off for Brisbane, thanks to Charlie Cameron’s late snap that saw the Lions take what could have been a match-winning lead.

Then the Pies did what they did best — attack.

They prioritised moving the ball forward, with spaced runners and aggressive taps doing a lot of the hard work for them. In a blink of an eye, two black-and-white goals hit the scoreboard.

Brisbane, to its credit, never gave up fighting.

A late goal by Joe Daniher gave them a shot for a heart-stopping win, before a late contentious advantage call took the wind from their sails.

The result was another Collingwood late-game masterclass ending with the most famous McRae win.

Hill’s day out

On a day full of potential matchwinners on both sides, one stood out more than the others.

Bobby Hill’s journey has taken him right across the country — from his birthplace of Northam on Noongar boodja country to Western Sydney, then Collingwood.

A year before joining the Magpies it looked likely that the electric forward would join Essendon, before being told the deal fell through while he was in the chair of his tattoo artist.

He’s also battled and beaten cancer, a fair struggle for any 23-year-old man.

Hill’s best footy has always been electric and jaw dropping, with his athleticism and footy nous shining through.

The Pies utilised his speed and running ability to its full extent, pushing him up the ground to contests and running him off any potential opponents.

Hill also had inspiration from another great small forward.

“To be honest, I was watching Cyril Rioli’s highlights,” Hill said.

“So there you go, Cyril, thank you!”

This innate ability saw him find space where there shouldn’t be any. His four first-half goals gave the Pies an early edge, and his continued influence through the game contributed significantly to the win.

Team of the future?

In 1990, after their famous drought-breaking premiership, Collingwood great Lou Richards “buried” the “Colliwobbles” in front of a enthusiastic crowd at Victoria Park.

While the curse went into the ground, it may have been more stunned than buried.

Despite a number of veterans with heavy roles such as Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom and Jeremy Howe, the future seems bright for Collingwood.

It’s easy to see a future where the Pies firmly put their finals struggles in the ground for good.

By the same token, Brisbane seem likely to only continue getting better.

The products of their early 2000s success have provided the club with a stream of talented young players, from Will Ashcroft and Harris Andrews to Jaspa Fletcher and Keidean Coleman.

They’ve also become an attractive destination for veteran players looking for club away from the Melbourne footy bubble. They might even be better next year, which is scary considering they were just a kick from the flag.

For all Collingwood players, coaches and fans, next year is a world away. For now, there’s a flag to celebrate.

Sports content to make you think… or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Friday.

Source link

#battle #corridor #thriller #kings #prevailed #footys #biggest #day