ROSS Lyon's future was a hot topic in the media on Tuesday with scuttlebutt suggesting he was leaning towards a move to Melbourne.
But the storyline had changed by the evening, with Gerard Healy declaring emphatically on his 3AW Sports Today show that Lyon would not only fulfill the final year of his contract to coach the Saints, but that a contract extension was imminent.
He didn't even use the "Whispers" non-de plume to break the news.
The Age has run with the story as well on Wednesday, with Caroline Wilson reporting that the St Kilda board will formulate a new agreement for Lyon in the next couple of days, safe in the knowledge it won't need to match any offer from Melbourne.
It leaves Melbourne needing to fast-track its dealing with the various assistant coaches in waiting, and Mark Neeld, Scott Burns, Brendan McCartney and Leon Cameron will all be spoken to by the Demons again.
3AW did report that Melbourne vice-president Don McLardy had been spotted in Perth having a chat with Burns, the former Collingwood skipper now an assistant to John Worsfold at West Coast, and the radio station is pushing the line that the Demons will appoint Burns as coach with Neil Craig as his mentor.
Burns and Neeld are the two finalists in Adelaide, while the Western Bulldogs are reportedly down to the final round of interviews in their search to replace Rodney Eade.
Over in Perth, the management of West Coast coach John Worsfold will meet with the Eagles next week to move down the path towards the already promised contract-extension.
Reg Gillard, Worsfold's longtime manager, told The West Australian the deal will either be for two or three years and will be hammered out in the next few days. But the focus of the coach and the club is on finishing the season first.
Dons wary of Giant raid
After grabbing the signatures of Tom Scully and Callan Ward, GWS is now firmly on the radar of all AFL clubs and it is now Essendon's turn to be wary.
The Giants are believed to have Michael Hurley in their sights and the Bombers are already moving to extend his contract past the end of 2012, which is when it is set to expire.
The Herald Sun reports that Bombers assistant coach Mark Thompson has urged the club to do all it can to avoid the situation he dealt with at Geelong in 2010, with the various distractions over the playing future of Gary Ablett.
"We will be very proactive in the contracting space for guys who are out of contract at the end of next year," Essendon chief executive Robson told the newspaper. "We are very mindful, as everyone has to be, of the GWS threat that exists next year and that's one of substance."
Hurley's last contract came at a hefty price as the Bombers moved to keep him out of the clutches of the Suns, and now as one of the emerging key-position superstars of the AFL, they'll have to dig deep once again to keep him away from the ambitious Giants.
"We saw it first hand with the experience of 'Bomber' [Thompson], who can share with us about his time at Geelong with Gary, and we listened to the commentary from [Melbourne chief executive] Cameron [Schwab] yesterday acknowledging the distraction Tom's circumstances became," Robson said.
There is no template for how to deal with a year of rumour and innuendo. All the Dons can do is try to nip the Hurley speculation in the bud as soon as they can by getting him to sign a new deal.
Re-writing the play book
Where the Giants are changing football is with the introduction of playing assistant coaches for next season.
There have been unconfirmed reports that Brisbane Lions champion Luke Power will be joining the Giants in such a capacity, but what can be confirmed is that former Melbourne skipper James McDonald will be back in the AFL next season as a player and coach with the Giants.
McDonald, who was retired against his wishes at the end of 2010, played amateur football with Old Xaverians this year, but returns to footy fresh and raring to go with the Giants next season. He already has an association with the Giants, having acted as a mentor with the Giants' Melbourne-based players this year.
"Everyone's going to have a few doubts, but the body's still holding together. There's been no soft-tissue injuries," McDonald told the Herald Sun. "Whether I play eight, 12 or 15 games, who knows? I don't think they're expecting me to be best on ground every week."
The collective football wisdom of Power, McDonald and other likely signings such as Dean Brogan and Chad Cornes will be enormously beneficial to the Giants, as they chart their way through a difficult debut season in the AFL. It is a smart move.
Giving guidance
Lots of advice for the Hawks in Wednesday's papers ahead of Friday night's cut-throat elimination final against Sydney at the MCG.
Former champion Hawthorn spearhead Peter Hudson has urged the club to get the forward line sorted out in the likely absence of Lance Franklin.
"In football, as long as it's being played, one door closes and another one opens," Hudson told The Age, adding that David Hale could move up forward, as could Jordan Lisle. ''You hope that those sort of blokes could come in and do the job.''
In the Herald Sun, Jason Akermanis has urged defender Ryan Schoenmakers, monstered by the Geelong key forwards last week, to stand shoulder to shoulder with his opponents, rather than allow them to take front position all the time.
"Schoenmakers simply let his bigger opponent get the front spot last week, then when contesting, he was mostly square on into his opponent's back. If the Hawks youngster can get a little more practice this week on getting right into his opponent's shoulder, it will make his opponents spill the ball in collisions. Then the ball will go to ground more often, which puts the contest back to his advantage," Akermanis wrote.
Akermanis is a loud-mouth. But strip away all the bitter personal baggage he seems to carry these days and we shouldn't forget that he knew how to play the game.
Roo to bounce back
Jack Riewoldt kicked 38 goals for the Tigers in his first 11 games and just 24 in the remaining 11. And now the reasons for the drop in output can be revealed, with The Australian reporting that he will undergo surgery on both hips, his ankle and a finger in the next few days.
His ankle was hurt first, and that aggravated the hip complaint, but that will be all fixed in the coming weeks and he is expected to be available for most of Richmond's pre-season campaign.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
