THE AGE sets its sights on the Western Bulldogs on Wednesday with two bits of news.
The first was the most definitive report yet that that emerging midfield star Callan Ward was off to Greater Western Sydney.
This wasn't just informed speculation. Jake Niall's piece was written as if the deal was done and it will be worth between $750,000 and $800,000 per year.
The Bulldogs, long resigned to losing Ward it must be added, gave him their final pitch last week but the offer fell well short of what he could expect to receive from the AFL's newest club.
The formal announcement is expected next week and at this stage Ward will play for the Bulldogs in their final game of the season against Fremantle at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Also out west comes news that a ticket to challenge long-standing Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon is being formed and will be in shape in the next two weeks.
Former player now restaurateur Paul Dimattina is the powerbroker behind the challenge and while he has no intention of seeking the presidency, it is reported the new ticket wants director Susan Alberti to assume the top job at the Whitten Oval.
''The key is the money," a source told The Age. "We reckon we have put enough together. David has put out the challenge to put up or shut up, so hopefully we will be in a position to come out in the next week or two, which will please every Bulldogs' member.''
Talk of a ticket to challenge Smorgon has been in the air for a couple of years and the Bulldog president has long called for any would-be challengers to declare themselves so that the members of the club can best decide who should take the club forward. That day might now be not far away.
Driving the Saints crazy
Amid St Kilda’s awful start to the year, in which it won just one and half matches over the first two months of the season, all sorts of theories were thrown around for reasons why, one of which was that the shift to the new facility at Seaford had messed up the players’ routines.
It is a theory that now has some legs, with defender Raphael Clarke telling the Herald Sun that there had been a bit too much complaining about the move away from Moorabbin.
Media Watch lives close enough to the former St Kilda heartland to know that the Saints players enjoyed the café lifestyle of Brighton and the surrounding suburbs, in their rare spare time away from the club. The Bay Street and Church Street shopping strips were close enough to Moorabbin for the Saints boys to duck away from the club at lunchtime for a chicken sandwich and a skinny latte.
No such luck at Seaford. The price the Saints have had to pay for a 21st century training facility is to remain there all day.
"It was just the extra drive," Clarke said. "A lot of boys live very close to Moorabbin. Getting your head around that every morning, getting out to Seaford (was tough). There is obviously not much there, and once you are there, you are there for the whole day.
"A lot of the time we found ourselves stuck at the footy club for the whole day and it gets a bit much when you spend six to seven hours every day with the boys, (rather) than be in and out and get away for a couple of hours, and come back for your afternoon session."
Pretty poor excuse, if you ask us. The Hawthorn boys coped well with the move from Glenferrie Oval (and the impressive coffee strip nearby) to Waverley Park in 2006 and in fact the move co-incided with that club’s rise up the ladder.
Thumb's up for Maxwell
Also in the Herald Sun comes news that Nick Maxwell’s return to the Collingwood side could come as early as this Friday night in the blockbuster against Geelong.
Just eight days after having the pin removed from his broken thumb, the Collingwood skipper trained impressively on Tuesday, taking part in contact drills, and now enters selection calculations.
Meanwhile at the Cattery, the Geelong Advertiser reports that a concussion suffered by Cats defender Harry Taylor in 2009 and its aftermath is helping him recover from a similar knock suffered against Sydney last weekend.
Further tests on Wednesday will determine whether he plays on Friday night against the Pies.
Who's the coach?
GWS continues to scotch the 'Mark Williams will be the real coach of the Giants' talk by telling The Age that Kevin Sheedy, whose role this year has been more marketing-focused, will be the man in charge next season for the maiden season.
The Giants' football sub-committee ratified the decision on Tuesday, confirming that Sheedy will be head coach and Williams the senior assistant in charge of the midfield.
"Kevin is the head coach with Mark as his senior assistant,'' Giants chief executive Dale Holmes told the newspaper. ''You'll see them together in the box and they're old enough and mature enough to work out their roles.
''Although Mark has coached the side a lot this year, with Kevin having an emphasis around marketing and promotion, Kevin will be the coach next year.''
It was always going to be the case; Sheedy never signed on with the Giants to merely be their pitch man, but there will be a transition - and likely smoother than that at Collingwood - to Williams in 2013.
Tanks, but no tanks
Lose to Melbourne on Sunday and Port Adelaide will get the No.4 selection at November’s NAB AFL National Draft. Beat the Demons and they get pick six.
Former Port great Warren Tredrea is among those urging Port to tank and ensure that they get the fourth best prospect in the country.
But coach Matthew Primus is reported in The Advertiser as having none of that suggestion, with the need to get off to a good start at the Adelaide Oval and to send off retiring ruckman Dean Brogan considered bigger priorities for the club.
"It is more important for us to win," said Primus. "You saw by the actions of the club on Sunday (against Essendon at Etihad Stadium) that we're going out there to win games.”
With defender Alipate Carlisle having committed to the club, the feeling here is that Port might just have bottomed out and the club’s climb back to respectability has commenced.
Ringing the Bell
The assistant coaching merry go round will start in earnest next week, with The West Australian hinting in changes at Fremantle. Former skipper Peter Bell will be sounded out for a return to the club, perhaps at the expense of Barry Mitchell, whose son Tom will join the Sydney Swans next year as a father-son draft selection.
Bell has worked in the media and has pursued business interests since retiring from Freo at the end of 2008.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
