AS CAROLINE Wilson reports on moves by St Kilda to re-sign Ross Lyon to a new long-term coaching deal, her colleague from The Age, Jake Niall has urged Adelaide to look outside the South Australian border to find the replacement for Neil Craig.
Claiming that a "South Australian passport" should not be a factor in choosing the next coach, Niall writes, "At this point in their history, the Crows must favour the appointment of an outsider. This doesn't mean that caretaker Mark Bickley or ex-defender Nathan Bassett should be entirely dismissed, but the club should recognise that it needs an infusion of ideas and intellectual property from outside the Crows' nest."
Media Watch agrees. The Gary Ayres era at West Lakes, and the strong support he received as coach for his first few years in charge would suggest that Adelaide supporters have moved on from the starting point that the Crows are, in the absence of the real thing, the South Australian state of origin team.
Robert Shaw was given far too hard a time after he replaced Graham Cornes as coach of the Crows in 1995, but we think - and hope - that the South Australians have moved on.
It should also be noted that in the year the Crows have celebrated their 20th anniversary as an AFL club that Nathan Van Berlo - born and bred in Western Australia - was named as captain. That's a sign of a club that has grown up in every respect and why the likes of Leon Cameron, Ken Hinkley and Rodney Eade (should he move on from the Bulldogs) should believe they will be given every consideration for the job together with other fancied candidates with ties to South Australia such as Scott Burns, Bickley, Bassett and Alastair Clarkson.
Judd's Oscar sparks father-son debate
In the wake of the giddy arrival on Tuesday afternoon of Oscar Dylan Judd, SEN's Anthony Hudson bravely put his neck on the line on Wednesday morning to name the five best father-son combinations in AFL history.
He went for:
1. Gary Ablett snr and jnr
2. Sergio and Steven Silvagni
3. Ken and Dustin Fletcher
4. Tim and Jobe Watson
5. Peter and Paul Hudson
Naturally, the talkback lines went into meltdown, with passionate arguments mounted for several other combinations including the Clokes (David and sons Travis, Cameron and Jason), the Murphys (John and son Marc), the Scarletts (John and son Matthew), the Whittens (Ted snr and jnr) and the Richardsons (Alan and son Matthew).
The argument was also thrown up that Bryan and Ben Cousins, and Graham, Chad and Kane Cornes should figure prominently on any list of the best father-son combinations, even though their fathers played their best footy outside of Victoria.
Sheehan under fire
As Hudson learned, there are no bouquets, only brickbats when you venture forth an opinion.
AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan is similarly under fire with the revelation by the Herald Sun that he offers his nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star Award each week without having sat through every minute of every game each weekend.
Shock. Horror.
As if Sheehan has the time, or the inclination to do so. As if anyone else in the football industry could either, particularly by 8am each Monday, which is when the League's football operations people meet to review the weekend's matches and decide, among other things, which player should receive the weekly nomination.
Among those the Herald Sun claims are notable omissions from the nominations to date are Andrew Gaff, Tom Liberatore, Luke Dahlhaus, Nathan Vardy, Michael Hibberd, Alex Johnson, Ashley Smith, Liam Jones and Tom Lynch.
AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson quite rightly leapt to the defence of Sheehan, telling the newspaper: "Not necessarily (that he would have to watch all eight games), he might talk to people whose opinion he respects, he looks at the stats, he speaks to the clubs. "No one knows the young and emerging talent in the competition as well as Kevin Sheehan, to my knowledge."
Media Watch has been observing the Rising Star since its inception in 1993 and reckons that by the end of round 22 each year, every player who truly warrants a nomination will get one. The AFL always finds a way.
Conundrums at the Cattery
Mike Sheahan is also giving opinions in the Herald Sun and on Wednesday, has written that Geelong coach Chris Scott needs to start settling on his best 22 as the finals loom on the horizon.
The Cats are traveling beautifully and the dearth of injuries at Skilled Stadium this year has allowed Chris Scott the luxury of resting players and giving his depth players every opportunity to press their claims.
But the time for that has nearly passed and the surprise omission from Sheahan's best Geelong 22 is veteran defender Darren Milburn. "I just think the query about the overall pace in the team mitigates against him," writes Sheahan. "He could play for Andrew Mackie, but Mackie has youth, speed and stamina on his side."
Also missing out is another decorated premiership veteran, Cam Mooney, who will return to the side either this week or next in a last-ditch bid to feature in another finals campaign. Sheahan has gone for Tom Hawkins as the third tall and has also forecast that Taylor Hunt, despite playing 13 of 16 games so far this year, won't play.
In short
Fremantle is preparing another offer to finally secure exciting youngster Nat Fyfe to a long-term contract, reports The West Australian. The Dockers want to ensure once and for all that he evades the cashed-up clutches of Greater Western Sydney. An offer was made to Fyfe at the start of the season but he wanted to wait until he had cemented himself in the side once again before weighing up any offers.
Brisbane Lions skipper Jonathan Brown has once again been voted as the League's toughest player and best bloke in the Herald Sun/7 News AFL fans survey.
Writing in The Australian, Steven Rielly speculates as to whether Tuesday's announcement by the Western Bulldogs that Brian Lake will be shut down for the year means he may have played his last game for the club. According to Rielly, the Bulldogs may now assess whether it is worth trading Lake while he has currency for coveted draft selections that could significantly bolster the club's playing talents in the long-term.
