Here follows the AFL news list for this week.
1 PROGRAM OF MATCHES (all times are local)
Round One:
Thursday March 24
Richmond v Carlton at the MCG, 7.20pm
Saturday March 26
Melbourne v GWS Giants at the MCG, 1.40pm
Gold Coast Suns v Essendon at Metricon Stadium, 4.35pm
Sydney Swans v Collingwood at the SCG, 7.25pm
North Melbourne v Adelaide Crows at Etihad Stadium, 7.25pm
Sunday March 27
Western Bulldogs v Fremantle at Etihad Stadium, 1.40pm
Port Adelaide v St Kilda at Adelaide Oval, 3.20pm
West Coast v Brisbane Lions at Domain Stadium, 4.40pm
Monday March 28
Geelong Cats v Hawthorn at the MCG, 3.20pm
2 IMPENDING MILESTONES
250 games – Leigh Montagna, St Kilda
200 games – Michael Rischitelli, Gold Coast Suns
200 games as captain – Nick Riewoldt, St Kilda. Nick is due to become the fifth captain in VFL/AFL history to lead his club in 200 matches or more, joining Stephen Kernahan (Carlton, 226 games as captain), Dick Reynolds (Essendon, 224), Ted Whitten (Footscray, 212) and Michael Voss (Brisbane Lions, 210).
150 games – Todd Goldstein, North Melbourne
150 club games – Sean Dempster, St Kilda
Club Consecutive Games Record – Andrew Gaff, West Coast. Andrew is due to play his 105th consecutive game in round one since round 17, 2011, which will break the previous mark of 104 consecutive games for West Coast set by Dean Cox between 2010-14. Andrew’s streak is the longest current active streak in the AFL.
50 games – Paul Seedsman, Adelaide Crows
50 games – Jack Viney, Melbourne
Career Goals – Lance Franklin. Lance needs one goal to draw level with Dick Lee (707 goals for Collingwood) in 20th spot in VFL/AFL history.
650 goals – Nick Riewoldt. Nick needs two goals to reach 650 career goals.
Most Seasons Played – Brent Harvey, North Melbourne. Brent Harvey will play a 21st season in 2016, making him the third player in VFL/AFL history to play 21 or more seasons. The most seasons in the game’s history are Dustin Fletcher (23, Essendon), Robert Harvey (21, St Kilda), Brent Harvey (20, North Melbourne), Michael Tuck (20, Hawthorn), Ted Whitten (20, Footscray), Jack Dyer (19, Richmond), Dick Reynolds (19, Essendon), Kevin Bartlett (19, Richmond), Simon Madden (19, Essendon), Roger Merrett (19, Essendon and Brisbane Bears), Paul Salmon (19, Essendon and Hawthorn).
3 TRIBUNAL MATCH REVIEW PROCESS
The expected process for the 2016 AFL Season under the AFL Match Review system is that the AFL will issue a media release late on the Monday after each round detailing the penalties to be offered to players for incidents from that round of matches, or the reasons why no further action was to be taken.
The clubs and players then have until 11am on the Tuesday morning to decide whether to accept the penalty on offer, or whether they wish to contest the charge at a Tribunal hearing, to usually be held on the Tuesday night. The AFL will formally detail all instances on the Tuesday of whether cases will proceed to the Tribunal or not.
The Match Review Panel sat yesterday on the public holiday Monday and detailed its charges yesterday afternoon.
4 TRIBUNAL HEARING LOCATION
The AFL Tribunal is held in the AFL media room on Level LB2 at Etihad Stadium. The AFL wishes to advise that all media covering the Tribunal hearings at Etihad Stadium need to park in the B2 car park (entry off the Bourke St extension) and report to the Etihad Stadium security office to gain admittance via the internal ring road. There will be no access via AFL House to any AFL Tribunal hearing through the season, as our offices will have closed by 6pm each day.
5 CURRENTLY SUSPENDED PLAYERS
The AFL wishes to advise the players that have completed and currently serving MRP suspensions across the competition are as follows:
Completed:
Nil.
Currently Suspended (for the premiership season):
Aaron Sandilands, Fremantle. One match to serve. One match from NAB Challenge.
Courtenay Dempsey, Essendon. Three matches to serve in 2016. Four matches from round 22, 2015.
Pending Results from March 14 MRP
Jeremy Cameron, GWS Giants. Referred directly to the Tribunal.
Nakia Cockatoo, Geelong Cats. Can accept two-match sanction.
Dale Thomas, Carlton. Can accept one-match sanction.
Dayne Zorko, Brisbane Lions. Can accept one-match sanction
6 AFL CLUB CAPTAINS PRE-SEASON MEDIA OPPORTUNITY
The AFL will bring together the 18 club captains for its annual pre-season media opportunity on Thursday March 17 in Melbourne. Details are as follows:
Thursday March 17 at Etihad Stadium
AFL Captains Available, 11.30am – 12.10pm (approx.)
Media should arrive at AFL reception from 11am and will be admitted for set up at 11.15 sharp.
7 NOMINATED ROOKIE
The AFL wishes to advise the following players have been promoted to the senior list under the various provisions of the rookie rules:
Gold Coast Suns – Danny Stanley (pre-season nominated rookie promotion).
Port Adelaide – Nathan Krakouer (pre-season nominated rookie promotion).
8 LONG TERM INJURY LIST
The AFL wishes to advise the following recent changes have been made to player lists, via the long-term injury list rules:
North Melbourne placed Ed Vickers-Willis on the long-term injury list, with no replacement named from the rookie list at this time.
Sydney Swans placed Gary Rohan on the long-term injury list, with no replacement named from the rookie list at this time.
9 SIMONDS STADIUM MEDIA ACCESS DURING REDEVELOPMENT
For all matches at Simonds Stadium this season, during the Brownlow Stand re-development, enclosed, flat footwear must be worn.
10 2016 FEMALE FOOTBALL EXHIBITION SERIES
Please find attached the schedule of remaining matches for 2016 (all times are local):
Western Bulldogs defeated Melbourne on March 6.
Saturday April 2
SANFL All Stars at Adelaide Oval, 10.40am
Saturday April 9
Sydney Swans v GWS Giants at the SCG, 1.40pm
West Coast Eagles v Fremantle at Domain Stadium, 3.10pm
Sunday April 10
Northern Territory v Tasmania at Peanut Reserve St Kilda, 12.10pm
Saturday April 16
Brisbane Lions v Gold Coast Suns at the Gabba, 7.40pm
Round 2
Sunday May 22
Melbourne v Queensland at the MCG, 10.40am
Sunday June 5
Western Bulldogs v Western Australia at Etihad Stadium, 12.40pm
South Australia v New South Wales at Adelaide Oval, 1.10pm
Round Three – Hampson-Hardeman Cup
Saturday September 2
Western Bulldogs v Melbourne at venue tbc, 7.20pm
11 FIXTURE FOR 2016 NAB AFL U18s CHAMPIONSHIPS
Division 2
Fri May 6, NT v Tas at TIO Stadium, 5.30pm
Sun May 8, NSW/ACT v Qld at Blacktown, 11am
Sun May 14, NT v Qld at Blundstone Arena, 10am
Sun May 14, Tas v NSW/ACT at Blundstone Arena, 12.15pm
Sun May 22, Qld v Tas at Metricon Stadium, 11am
Sun May 22, NSW/ACT v NT at Metricon Stadium, 1.30pm
Division 1
Sat June 4, SA v Allies at AAMI Stadium, 10.30am
Sun June 5, WA v Vic Country at Perth, 11am
Sun June 12, SA v WA at AAMI Stadium, 11.20am
Mon June 13, Vic Country v Vic Metro at Simonds Stadium, 12pm
Sat June 18, WA v Allies at Perth, 11.20am
Sun June 19, SA v Vic Metro at AAMI Stadium, 10.45am
Fri June 24, SA v Vic Country at Etihad Stadium, 12.35pm
Fri June 24, Allies v Vic Metro at Etihad Stadium, 2.35pm
Wed June 29, Vic Metro v WA at Simonds Stadium, 3.05pm
Wed June 29, Vic Country v Allies at Simonds Stadum, 5.05pm
12 FIXTURE FOR 2016 NAB AFL U16s CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sat June 11, Tas v Qld at Hobart, 12pm
Sat June 11, NT v NSW/ACT at Darwin, 6.30pm
Sat June 25, SA v WA at Adelaide, 11.20am
Sun June 26, Vic Metro v Vic Country at 11.30am
Mon July 4, SA v Vic Metro at Metricon Stadium, 1pm
Mon July 4, Vic Country v WA at Metricon Stadium, 3pm
Tues July 5, NSW/ACT v Qld at Metricon Stadium, 11am
Tues July 5, Tas v NT at Metricon Stadium, 1pm
Fri July 8, SA v Vic Country at Southport, 10am
Fri July 8, Vic Metro v WA at Southport, 12pm
Sat July 9, NSW/ACT v Tas at Southport, 10am
Sat July 9, Qld v NT at Southport, 12pm
13 2016 NAB AFL DRAFT – TRADED FUTURE SELECTIONS
As a reminder to all media, the following selections at this year’s 2016 NAB AFL Draft were traded during last year’s trade period.
Round One
Gold Coast Suns received Melbourne round one selection.
GWS Giants received Collingwood round one selection.
GWS Giants received Geelong round one selection, via Carlton on-trade.
Round Two
Brisbane Lions received St Kilda round two selection, via Collingwood on-trade.
Gold Coast Suns received Fremantle round two selection.
Gold Coast Suns received Port Adelaide round two selection.
Gold Coats Suns received Richmond round two selection.
GWS Giants received Adelaide Crows' round two selection.
Round Three
Brisbane Lions received North Melbourne round three selection.
Carlton received Western Bulldogs round three selection.
Geelong Cats received Brisbane Lions round three selection.
Round Four
Western Bulldogs received Carlton round four selection.
Western Bulldogs received Sydney Swans round four selection.
Round Five
Geelong Cats received GWS Giants round five selection.
14 MEDIA ENTRY TO THE MCG
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) wishes to advise all media working at matches at the MCG they should enter the ground through Gate 3, unless they have underground parking for particular matches. Access control at the ground does not allow entry at Gate 2, for AFL accreditation passes. Further, the MCC also wishes to advise that any equipment being taken up to the host radio boxes or television broadcast boxes should be taken up via goods lift 8, and not the patron lifts 5-7.
15 MEDIA ENTRY TO ETIHAD STADIUM, PRIOR TO PUBLIC GATE TIMES / COLLECTION OF AFL RECORDS
All media who require entry to Etihad Stadium before public gates are open can do the following: Media may enter via Gate 9 from Level B3 (carpark) and Level 1 (concourse) one and a half hours prior to gate entry time. There will be a staff member at each entry point who will check AFL accreditation and will grant access to the Corporate Suites Level where they can access the Press Box, Radio Boxes and TV Broadcast area. A match day AFL record can be collected (one per person) from the customer service staff on the corporate suites level.
