BREAKTHROUGH OVER NORTH STRUCTURE
North Melbourne is on the verge of a historic restructure with the club having unofficially completed a successful deal with its rebel shareholders to relinquish their hold on the Kangaroos, reveals The Age. The Age understands that North chairman James Brayshaw and chief executive Eugene Arocca will meet AFL boss Andrew Demetriou at league headquarters on Thursday, where the two parties will discuss a new direction for the club and the legal manoeuvres required to return North to its members. The AFL is expecting all Kangaroos members and shareholders to receive notification in the coming weeks of an extraordinary general meeting where the restructure will be put to a vote guaranteeing the ongoing financial assistance from the league's special distribution fund beyond 2009.
North Melbourne is on the verge of a historic restructure with the club having unofficially completed a successful deal with its rebel shareholders to relinquish their hold on the Kangaroos, reveals The Age. The Age understands that North chairman James Brayshaw and chief executive Eugene Arocca will meet AFL boss Andrew Demetriou at league headquarters on Thursday, where the two parties will discuss a new direction for the club and the legal manoeuvres required to return North to its members. The AFL is expecting all Kangaroos members and shareholders to receive notification in the coming weeks of an extraordinary general meeting where the restructure will be put to a vote guaranteeing the ongoing financial assistance from the league's special distribution fund beyond 2009.
The move will also close the final chapter on any lingering doubt regarding a potential relocation to the Gold Coast. It comes after six months of delicate negotiations between the new Brayshaw-Arocca administration and a small group of shareholders led by Kerry Good, Peter Johnstone, Andrew Carter and Mark Dawson who between them controlled an estimated 20% of North Melbourne shares.
SOLOMON DIRECT TO TRIBUNAL
Dean Solomon's blow that felled Geelong's Cameron Ling has been lumped in the same category as Barry Hall's infamous haymaker, reports The Herald Sun. Solomon's fate rests in the hands of three former players tonight after the incident that broke Ling's cheekbone was referred to the AFL Tribunal. Like Hall, who copped a seven-game suspension for striking West Coast's Brent Staker in Round 4, Solomon's elbow was assessed as intentional conduct, severe impact and high contact. The Fremantle player wasn't the only one to feel the wrath of the match review panel, which handed out suspensions to Amon Buchanan (four matches), Daniel Kerr (three), Daniel Pratt (two) and Ryan Crowley (one). espite Solomon making a public apology immediately after Saturday's game, the seriousness of his action precluded him from being offered a discount for an early guilty plea.
LING UNDERGOES SURGERY
Scans on Saturday night revealed the detail of Cameron Ling’s zygoma fracture and he had corrective surgery Sunday morning in Geelong, reports The Herald Sun’s Dr Peter Larkins. His surgeon elevated the depressed bone by using a special lever to push the bone out from the inside. He then fitted a curved titanium plate and screws to hold the bone fragments in place. He will be bruised and swollen for two or three weeks and the club has predicted he will miss up to four games. “I would not be surprised if Ling returns a little earlier than four weeks if his pain and swelling rapidly settle,” Dr Larkins said. “The bone breaks will still take five or six weeks to heal but the advantage of the internal plate means the fracture is stable. Plates allow players to return to footy much sooner. But there is still the issue of a player regaining the confidence to put his head over the ball -- a renowned attribute of Ling. Unfortunately in football there are no suitable helmets that adequately protect the zygoma because players find them uncomfortable to wear and they can impede vision. There have been only two documented zygoma fractures in the AFL in the past two years. Carlton's Brad Fisher missed two weeks in 2007 and in 2006 Freo's Ryan Crowley missed three.
KNIVES OUT FOR BRAYSHAW
“James Brayshaw is a long-time media performer who, more recently, extended his workload to include the North Melbourne presidency. His primary role is The Footy Show, where he is co-host of a high-rating national program that prides itself on breaking news and putting the hard questions. Brayshaw can't "take the fifth" when it's his turn in the hot seat, when an issue of public interest involves North Melbourne,” says The Herald Sun’s Mike Sheahan. “Which is exactly what he did last Thursday night on the subject of Shannon Grant, and again on Triple M radio on Saturday. Despite the harassment of co-panelists in both forums, he refused to budge. He is not entitled to practise his Marcel Marceau imitation as he so desires, or deems appropriate. As a football follower (and North Melbourne member), I am entitled to hear from the chairman on why his club's most experienced player has been left out of a crucial game.”
ABLETT SET TO MISS BLOCKBUSTER
Geelong’s Gary Ablett could join Cameron Ling on the sidelines for Saturday's blockbuster against the Western Bulldogs, reports The Herald Sun. Ablett has been one of the most dominant players in the AFL this season, but is likely to miss the game at Skilled Stadium with an ankle sprain. Scans have cleared Ablett of bone damage to the right ankle, but the Brownlow Medal favourite arrived at the club for treatment yesterday on crutches and wearing a moon boot. "It's a little bit sore," Ablett told Channel 9. "We'll always leave the door open, so we'll see how we go." Geelong football manager Neil Balme admitted the star midfielder faced an uphill climb to be fit.
McLEOD SET TO RETURN
Adelaide champion Andrew McLeod is set to return from a knee injury to face Port Adelaide on Sunday, giving the club a much-needed boost reports The Herald Sun. As the Crows came to terms yesterday with a season-ending knee injury to Brett Burton and another shoulder dislocation for Jason Porplyzia, McLeod took a major step towards a comeback. The dual Norm Smith medallist kicked and ran smoothly yesterday. McLeod has not played since having an arthroscope on his right knee after the loss to the Brisbane Lions three weeks ago.
GOOD BREAK FOR HAHN
The Western Bulldogs have confirmed a foot tendon injury was the source of Mitch Hahn's mysterious departure from the ground on Sunday, reports The Herald Sun. But nobody at Whitten Oval is concerned. In fact, it is cause for minor celebration. Hahn had been dogged by soreness to the plantar fascia tendon under his foot for almost a month, but pressure was eased when it snapped in the opening minute against the Demons. Although the forward was on crutches after the game, he will be fit to confront Geelong on Saturday. And with the tendon completely torn away, the Dogs are now confident the pain will go away forever. "We're getting a scan to prove it, but it looks like that's what's happened," Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said last night.
PORPLYZIA DELAYS SURGERY
Classy Adelaide forward Jason Porplyzia has again delayed shoulder surgery in the hope he might contribute to a finals campaign, reports The Herald Sun. Porplyzia's shoulder dislocation during the Crows' loss to Collingwood on Saturday was the third such instance for the talented small forward since it popped out in the April showdown against Port Adelaide. Each dislocation has brought further pain and strain to Porplyzia, and Saturday's - after an innocuous tackling attempt in the first term against the Magpies - was unable to be corrected at the ground. Shoulder surgery now would have ended Porplyzia's season at a time when the Crows are battling desperately to keep theirs afloat. Instead, club doctor Andrew Potter today confirmed Porplyzia will spend the next two to three weeks trying to rest and rehabilitate the joint in order to present himself for selection around the time of Adelaide's Round 19 home match against Richmond.
CRAWFORD USING HORSE GEL
Limping to his 300th milestone match, and quite possibly to the end of a brilliant career, Hawthorn veteran Shane Crawford has divulged that he is using pain killers to get through games, as well as a super strength anti-inflammatory gel that is generally prescribed for horses, reports The Age. Hampered by knee tendonitis, the 1999 Brownlow medallist was a shadow of his former ball-magnet self against Sydney on Sunday — gathering just 10 possessions after spending 66% of his 298th match on the ground. It left him in doubt yesterday about whether he would play against St Kilda at Telstra Dome on Saturday night and lamenting the fact that the pain killers he takes orally are slowing him down. The Rapigel product Crawford is using is described on the horsesupplisersdirect website as an analgesic muscle-and-joint-relieving gel for horses with a "cooling effect". The description contains advice that if symptoms persist a veterinarian should be consulted. "I actually rub it around my knee," Crawford, who turns 34 this September, said on Nova radio yesterday. "It's just like an anti-inflammatory … the human anti-inflammatory is Voltaren, but it's just a little bit stronger so I use the Rapigel, which is quite good."
RICHMOND NOW HAVE EXPANSION RESERVATIONS
The AFL's push into the Gold Coast could still hit a stumbling block if it fails to change the stadium deals crippling Victorian clubs, according to Richmond president, Gary March, reports The Age. While the plans for the Gold Coast team gather momentum, March said the broad club approval needed should not be assumed unless the AFL deals with the stadium issue. March's comments came after Collingwood president Eddie McGuire warned that the change in economic conditions since the presidents last met with the AFL and gave in-principle agreement to press ahead with expansion plans, meant that caution should now be exercised. McGuire said the economic downturn was such that while the Gold Coast should still be on the agenda, a new team in Western Sydney should not. "I certainly agree with Eddie on putting the 18th team on ice, but I think there is a fair bit of work to do before they convince us on the 17th team as well," March said. "I don't think the Gold Coast is a fait accompli until they fix the inequalities in the stadia deals and they show us all the details on the concessions they will offer to the new club, which could cripple any side that happens to be down the bottom." While Collingwood and Richmond are sceptical of the haste for expansion, other clubs believed there was no "right time" and that failing to act would be a bigger mistake.
LEUENBERGER OUT FOR SEASON
In a further blow to the Brisbane Lions after two straight losses, teenage ruckman Matthew Leuenberger is expected to go under the knife this week for knee surgery, sidelining him for three months, reports The Age. The 203-centimetre, 20-year-old, who has gained rave reviews for his speedy transition to ruck play in senior football, injured his right knee in the Lions' 37-point loss to Essendon on Saturday night. Leuenberger's loss will put an extra strain on a thin ruck division at the Lions behind No. 1 big man Jamie Charman after the club lost Beau McDonald (retired) and let go Cameron Wood (Collingwood) before this season. The Lions face the prospect of playing West Coast without their two best players on Saturday night, with co-captains Jonathan Brown and Simon Black to face fitness tests. Brown sustained a corked hip and Black a damaged shoulder in the Lions' loss to Essendon on the weekend, but coach Leigh Matthews was giving little away about the nature of the pair's injuries. "I don't think we have to go into specifics. When you've got sore spots we don't go into specifics," he said.
SOLOMON DIRECT TO TRIBUNAL
Dean Solomon's blow that felled Geelong's Cameron Ling has been lumped in the same category as Barry Hall's infamous haymaker, reports The Herald Sun. Solomon's fate rests in the hands of three former players tonight after the incident that broke Ling's cheekbone was referred to the AFL Tribunal. Like Hall, who copped a seven-game suspension for striking West Coast's Brent Staker in Round 4, Solomon's elbow was assessed as intentional conduct, severe impact and high contact. The Fremantle player wasn't the only one to feel the wrath of the match review panel, which handed out suspensions to Amon Buchanan (four matches), Daniel Kerr (three), Daniel Pratt (two) and Ryan Crowley (one). espite Solomon making a public apology immediately after Saturday's game, the seriousness of his action precluded him from being offered a discount for an early guilty plea.
LING UNDERGOES SURGERY
Scans on Saturday night revealed the detail of Cameron Ling’s zygoma fracture and he had corrective surgery Sunday morning in Geelong, reports The Herald Sun’s Dr Peter Larkins. His surgeon elevated the depressed bone by using a special lever to push the bone out from the inside. He then fitted a curved titanium plate and screws to hold the bone fragments in place. He will be bruised and swollen for two or three weeks and the club has predicted he will miss up to four games. “I would not be surprised if Ling returns a little earlier than four weeks if his pain and swelling rapidly settle,” Dr Larkins said. “The bone breaks will still take five or six weeks to heal but the advantage of the internal plate means the fracture is stable. Plates allow players to return to footy much sooner. But there is still the issue of a player regaining the confidence to put his head over the ball -- a renowned attribute of Ling. Unfortunately in football there are no suitable helmets that adequately protect the zygoma because players find them uncomfortable to wear and they can impede vision. There have been only two documented zygoma fractures in the AFL in the past two years. Carlton's Brad Fisher missed two weeks in 2007 and in 2006 Freo's Ryan Crowley missed three.
KNIVES OUT FOR BRAYSHAW
“James Brayshaw is a long-time media performer who, more recently, extended his workload to include the North Melbourne presidency. His primary role is The Footy Show, where he is co-host of a high-rating national program that prides itself on breaking news and putting the hard questions. Brayshaw can't "take the fifth" when it's his turn in the hot seat, when an issue of public interest involves North Melbourne,” says The Herald Sun’s Mike Sheahan. “Which is exactly what he did last Thursday night on the subject of Shannon Grant, and again on Triple M radio on Saturday. Despite the harassment of co-panelists in both forums, he refused to budge. He is not entitled to practise his Marcel Marceau imitation as he so desires, or deems appropriate. As a football follower (and North Melbourne member), I am entitled to hear from the chairman on why his club's most experienced player has been left out of a crucial game.”
ABLETT SET TO MISS BLOCKBUSTER
Geelong’s Gary Ablett could join Cameron Ling on the sidelines for Saturday's blockbuster against the Western Bulldogs, reports The Herald Sun. Ablett has been one of the most dominant players in the AFL this season, but is likely to miss the game at Skilled Stadium with an ankle sprain. Scans have cleared Ablett of bone damage to the right ankle, but the Brownlow Medal favourite arrived at the club for treatment yesterday on crutches and wearing a moon boot. "It's a little bit sore," Ablett told Channel 9. "We'll always leave the door open, so we'll see how we go." Geelong football manager Neil Balme admitted the star midfielder faced an uphill climb to be fit.
McLEOD SET TO RETURN
Adelaide champion Andrew McLeod is set to return from a knee injury to face Port Adelaide on Sunday, giving the club a much-needed boost reports The Herald Sun. As the Crows came to terms yesterday with a season-ending knee injury to Brett Burton and another shoulder dislocation for Jason Porplyzia, McLeod took a major step towards a comeback. The dual Norm Smith medallist kicked and ran smoothly yesterday. McLeod has not played since having an arthroscope on his right knee after the loss to the Brisbane Lions three weeks ago.
GOOD BREAK FOR HAHN
The Western Bulldogs have confirmed a foot tendon injury was the source of Mitch Hahn's mysterious departure from the ground on Sunday, reports The Herald Sun. But nobody at Whitten Oval is concerned. In fact, it is cause for minor celebration. Hahn had been dogged by soreness to the plantar fascia tendon under his foot for almost a month, but pressure was eased when it snapped in the opening minute against the Demons. Although the forward was on crutches after the game, he will be fit to confront Geelong on Saturday. And with the tendon completely torn away, the Dogs are now confident the pain will go away forever. "We're getting a scan to prove it, but it looks like that's what's happened," Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said last night.
PORPLYZIA DELAYS SURGERY
Classy Adelaide forward Jason Porplyzia has again delayed shoulder surgery in the hope he might contribute to a finals campaign, reports The Herald Sun. Porplyzia's shoulder dislocation during the Crows' loss to Collingwood on Saturday was the third such instance for the talented small forward since it popped out in the April showdown against Port Adelaide. Each dislocation has brought further pain and strain to Porplyzia, and Saturday's - after an innocuous tackling attempt in the first term against the Magpies - was unable to be corrected at the ground. Shoulder surgery now would have ended Porplyzia's season at a time when the Crows are battling desperately to keep theirs afloat. Instead, club doctor Andrew Potter today confirmed Porplyzia will spend the next two to three weeks trying to rest and rehabilitate the joint in order to present himself for selection around the time of Adelaide's Round 19 home match against Richmond.
CRAWFORD USING HORSE GEL
Limping to his 300th milestone match, and quite possibly to the end of a brilliant career, Hawthorn veteran Shane Crawford has divulged that he is using pain killers to get through games, as well as a super strength anti-inflammatory gel that is generally prescribed for horses, reports The Age. Hampered by knee tendonitis, the 1999 Brownlow medallist was a shadow of his former ball-magnet self against Sydney on Sunday — gathering just 10 possessions after spending 66% of his 298th match on the ground. It left him in doubt yesterday about whether he would play against St Kilda at Telstra Dome on Saturday night and lamenting the fact that the pain killers he takes orally are slowing him down. The Rapigel product Crawford is using is described on the horsesupplisersdirect website as an analgesic muscle-and-joint-relieving gel for horses with a "cooling effect". The description contains advice that if symptoms persist a veterinarian should be consulted. "I actually rub it around my knee," Crawford, who turns 34 this September, said on Nova radio yesterday. "It's just like an anti-inflammatory … the human anti-inflammatory is Voltaren, but it's just a little bit stronger so I use the Rapigel, which is quite good."
RICHMOND NOW HAVE EXPANSION RESERVATIONS
The AFL's push into the Gold Coast could still hit a stumbling block if it fails to change the stadium deals crippling Victorian clubs, according to Richmond president, Gary March, reports The Age. While the plans for the Gold Coast team gather momentum, March said the broad club approval needed should not be assumed unless the AFL deals with the stadium issue. March's comments came after Collingwood president Eddie McGuire warned that the change in economic conditions since the presidents last met with the AFL and gave in-principle agreement to press ahead with expansion plans, meant that caution should now be exercised. McGuire said the economic downturn was such that while the Gold Coast should still be on the agenda, a new team in Western Sydney should not. "I certainly agree with Eddie on putting the 18th team on ice, but I think there is a fair bit of work to do before they convince us on the 17th team as well," March said. "I don't think the Gold Coast is a fait accompli until they fix the inequalities in the stadia deals and they show us all the details on the concessions they will offer to the new club, which could cripple any side that happens to be down the bottom." While Collingwood and Richmond are sceptical of the haste for expansion, other clubs believed there was no "right time" and that failing to act would be a bigger mistake.
LEUENBERGER OUT FOR SEASON
In a further blow to the Brisbane Lions after two straight losses, teenage ruckman Matthew Leuenberger is expected to go under the knife this week for knee surgery, sidelining him for three months, reports The Age. The 203-centimetre, 20-year-old, who has gained rave reviews for his speedy transition to ruck play in senior football, injured his right knee in the Lions' 37-point loss to Essendon on Saturday night. Leuenberger's loss will put an extra strain on a thin ruck division at the Lions behind No. 1 big man Jamie Charman after the club lost Beau McDonald (retired) and let go Cameron Wood (Collingwood) before this season. The Lions face the prospect of playing West Coast without their two best players on Saturday night, with co-captains Jonathan Brown and Simon Black to face fitness tests. Brown sustained a corked hip and Black a damaged shoulder in the Lions' loss to Essendon on the weekend, but coach Leigh Matthews was giving little away about the nature of the pair's injuries. "I don't think we have to go into specifics. When you've got sore spots we don't go into specifics," he said.
SIMPSON WANTED REVENGE
North Melbourne skipper Adam Simpson has admitted he would have liked to have given Warren Tredrea a bow after the Port Adelaide captain missed what would have been the winning goal late in the game at AAMI Stadium last Saturday night, reports The Age. Speaking on radio SEN, Simpson said that while his players hadn't discussed before Saturday night's clash Tredrea's gesture of bowing to the crowd during the Power's preliminary final triumph over the Kangaroos last season, it had not been forgotten. "It was in the back of my mind … If I had have remembered I would have given him a bit of a bow, but it was too late," Simpson said. "There was a bit at stake for us, and good on you Treaders … a bit of Karma I suppose for when he took that bow in that previous game. We didn't talk about it before the game or anything, but when it happened in the Prelim it was perhaps discussed on the Mad Monday as one of the things that they did. In footy you always get the chance for retaliation and we got it on the weekend."
North Melbourne skipper Adam Simpson has admitted he would have liked to have given Warren Tredrea a bow after the Port Adelaide captain missed what would have been the winning goal late in the game at AAMI Stadium last Saturday night, reports The Age. Speaking on radio SEN, Simpson said that while his players hadn't discussed before Saturday night's clash Tredrea's gesture of bowing to the crowd during the Power's preliminary final triumph over the Kangaroos last season, it had not been forgotten. "It was in the back of my mind … If I had have remembered I would have given him a bit of a bow, but it was too late," Simpson said. "There was a bit at stake for us, and good on you Treaders … a bit of Karma I suppose for when he took that bow in that previous game. We didn't talk about it before the game or anything, but when it happened in the Prelim it was perhaps discussed on the Mad Monday as one of the things that they did. In footy you always get the chance for retaliation and we got it on the weekend."
