RENOUF HIT WITH PENALTY
Young Hawthorn ruckman Brent Renouf's bid to shore up a senior place has been disrupted by suspension, reports The Herald Sun. The former Southport teenage star must sit out the next two rounds unless he the club challenges his striking charge at the AFL Tribunal tonight. But officials are expected to advise the 200cm Renouf to accept the penalty rather than risk an extra game for striking West Coast defender Adam Selwood with an arm to the head during an attempted shepherd in the third quarter at the MCG on Friday night. The strike by Renouf, playing only his third AFL game as a replacement for the injured Simon Taylor, was assessed as reckless and high impact. The offence drew 325 demerit points and a three-match suspension, reduced to two games by pleading guilty today. Renouf, who shared the ruck duties with Robert Campbell against Dean Cox, escaped censure for a clash with Brad Ebert in the second quarter.
GOAL UMPIRE IN THE CLEAR
The AFL has given the tick of approval to a contentious goal umpiring decision in Sunday's thrilling Melbourne-Brisbane Lions clash, reports The Herald Sun. A Daniel Bradshaw snap at goal early in the third term at the MCG appeared to curl in for a behind, but goal umpire Jason Venkataya signalled out of bounds on the full. Brisbane lost by one point. Although it looked like an incorrect call from the press box on the members' wing, video footage was inconclusive. "If you look at the vision, it's too hard to tell," AFL umpires director Jeff Gieschen said yesterday. "You can only go on the vision you see and when you look at that, you can't tell." Gieschen said Venkataya and both boundary umpires were interviewed yesterday. The umps' boss said there was no confusion at the time, with all three agreeing the high kick had drifted wide.
HARVEY STILL UNHAPPY WITH DUO
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey has refused to guarantee goalsneak Jeff Farmer an immediate recall despite the forward's five-goal haul in the WAFL on Saturday, reports The Herald Sun. Farmer was dumped for the Dockers' four-point loss to Essendon on Sunday by the club's leadership group after the 31-year-old missed a recovery session. Defender Heath Black also found himself in Harvey's bad books when he missed a training session in a separate incident. But despite Fremantle's mounting injury toll, which claimed Ryan Crowley (punctured lung), Ryley Dunn (hamstring) and Roger Hayden (hamstring) on Sunday, Harvey said Farmer and Black had to learn their lesson before being let back into the side. "At some stage those blokes have really got to wake up to themselves," Harvey said. "If you want to be undisciplined at this footy club then you are going to pay your penance."
Young Hawthorn ruckman Brent Renouf's bid to shore up a senior place has been disrupted by suspension, reports The Herald Sun. The former Southport teenage star must sit out the next two rounds unless he the club challenges his striking charge at the AFL Tribunal tonight. But officials are expected to advise the 200cm Renouf to accept the penalty rather than risk an extra game for striking West Coast defender Adam Selwood with an arm to the head during an attempted shepherd in the third quarter at the MCG on Friday night. The strike by Renouf, playing only his third AFL game as a replacement for the injured Simon Taylor, was assessed as reckless and high impact. The offence drew 325 demerit points and a three-match suspension, reduced to two games by pleading guilty today. Renouf, who shared the ruck duties with Robert Campbell against Dean Cox, escaped censure for a clash with Brad Ebert in the second quarter.
GOAL UMPIRE IN THE CLEAR
The AFL has given the tick of approval to a contentious goal umpiring decision in Sunday's thrilling Melbourne-Brisbane Lions clash, reports The Herald Sun. A Daniel Bradshaw snap at goal early in the third term at the MCG appeared to curl in for a behind, but goal umpire Jason Venkataya signalled out of bounds on the full. Brisbane lost by one point. Although it looked like an incorrect call from the press box on the members' wing, video footage was inconclusive. "If you look at the vision, it's too hard to tell," AFL umpires director Jeff Gieschen said yesterday. "You can only go on the vision you see and when you look at that, you can't tell." Gieschen said Venkataya and both boundary umpires were interviewed yesterday. The umps' boss said there was no confusion at the time, with all three agreeing the high kick had drifted wide.
HARVEY STILL UNHAPPY WITH DUO
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey has refused to guarantee goalsneak Jeff Farmer an immediate recall despite the forward's five-goal haul in the WAFL on Saturday, reports The Herald Sun. Farmer was dumped for the Dockers' four-point loss to Essendon on Sunday by the club's leadership group after the 31-year-old missed a recovery session. Defender Heath Black also found himself in Harvey's bad books when he missed a training session in a separate incident. But despite Fremantle's mounting injury toll, which claimed Ryan Crowley (punctured lung), Ryley Dunn (hamstring) and Roger Hayden (hamstring) on Sunday, Harvey said Farmer and Black had to learn their lesson before being let back into the side. "At some stage those blokes have really got to wake up to themselves," Harvey said. "If you want to be undisciplined at this footy club then you are going to pay your penance."
COUGHLAN SET TO RETURN
Mark Coughlan is on track to finally make his return to football this weekend, reports The Herald Sun. Richmond coach Terry Wallace last night confirmed the midfielder was on the brink of playing for the Tigers' VFL affiliate Coburg. "I think he'll play this week," Wallace said. "If he gets through training this week, he should be OK to go against Box Hill on Sunday." It will be an anxious time for all at Punt Rd given one more serious mishap would cast grave doubts on Coughlan's football future. Coughlan, a victim of two knee reconstructions, has not played at AFL level since Round 12, 2006. But his hamstrings now pose a greater threat. The 2003 Richmond best-and-fairest winner tore a hamstring at training in mid-May. It came after another hamstring injury during the NAB Cup that delayed his start to the season.
POLAK ON THE IMPROVE
Graham Polak is believed to be suffering post-traumatic amnesia after waking from a medically induced coma in hospital yesterday, reports The Herald Sun. The Richmond defender has taken his first tentative steps to recovery but, despite encouraging signs, is not yet out of the woods. Polak woke from the coma yesterday and walked with help from his intensive care unit bed to have a shower. He responded well to tests from doctors and answered "yes" when asked if he knew he was in hospital, but was unable to eat, and slept for most of the day.
GOOD BREAK FOR FLETCHER
Veteran Essendon defender Dustin Fletcher has escaped bone damage after injuring his hand against Fremantle on Sunday, reports The Herald Sun. X-rays revealed the 33-year-old had bruising in the hand and around the tendons, a result that came as a pleasant surprise to the Bombers. "You know when he put his hand up to come straight off that there's something wrong," team manager David Calthorpe said. "The diagnosis straight away was that there was probably something broken."
MINSON APOLOGISES FOR NASTY SLEDGE
Will Minson has apologised for the distasteful personal remark he made about Kane Cornes' sick son during last Saturday night's Western Bulldogs-Port Adelaide match in Darwin, reports The Age. Anxious about a hurtful on-field exchange as soon as he left the field, Minson informed the Bulldogs' football manager about his comment, left an apologetic message for Cornes later that night and asked him to phone back if he wanted to discuss the matter further. While The Age believes they have still not spoken directly, Cornes did discuss the matter with the Bulldogs' football operations manager James Fantasia yesterday and has since informed Port Adelaide that he does not wish to make a formal complaint through the AFL. While there were conflicting reports yesterday of what was said — and neither club would detail their versions publicly — sources said Minson made reference to Cornes being selfish for playing and that he should have been at home with his sick son, and that Cornes retaliated with a comment about Minson's deceased father. Unbeknown to Minson, Cornes had made a late trip to Darwin — he arrived on match day — because his wife Lucy had delivered the couple's second son on Friday.
PIES DUO SET TO RETURN
Josh Fraser and Leon Davis trained for Collingwood yesterday, raising the possibility that the pair will be fit to bolster a depleted forward line, reports The Age. With Anthony Rocca, Ben Reid and Sean Rusling all out injured, probably for the remainder of the season, the Magpies will meet Sydney on Saturday night with the conundrum of how to find another key forward. Centre half-forward Travis Cloke, who was suspended for the Bulldogs game in the last round, will return but the Magpies now have a hole at full-forward that needs to be filled in the short and medium term. Rocca, who booted six goals against Sydney in the elimination-final win last year and three in each of the two previous wins over the Swans during the season, has had surgery to repair a second crack in his ankle and as yet has no return date.
GRASS IS GREENER
While it may not be pretty to look at, the AFL is confident ANZ Stadium will be up to the required standard for the Sydney-Collingwood match, the only game to be played next Saturday, reports The Age. After experiencing a heavy load of rugby league traffic, the stadium surface received some harsh criticism following the Socceroos' clash with China two weeks ago, but following the replacement of 1700 square metres of turf, the AFL's grounds operation manager Jill Lindsay is confident the surface will pass the test when inspected 24 hours after tomorrow night's State of Origin league clash.
Josh Fraser and Leon Davis trained for Collingwood yesterday, raising the possibility that the pair will be fit to bolster a depleted forward line, reports The Age. With Anthony Rocca, Ben Reid and Sean Rusling all out injured, probably for the remainder of the season, the Magpies will meet Sydney on Saturday night with the conundrum of how to find another key forward. Centre half-forward Travis Cloke, who was suspended for the Bulldogs game in the last round, will return but the Magpies now have a hole at full-forward that needs to be filled in the short and medium term. Rocca, who booted six goals against Sydney in the elimination-final win last year and three in each of the two previous wins over the Swans during the season, has had surgery to repair a second crack in his ankle and as yet has no return date.
GRASS IS GREENER
While it may not be pretty to look at, the AFL is confident ANZ Stadium will be up to the required standard for the Sydney-Collingwood match, the only game to be played next Saturday, reports The Age. After experiencing a heavy load of rugby league traffic, the stadium surface received some harsh criticism following the Socceroos' clash with China two weeks ago, but following the replacement of 1700 square metres of turf, the AFL's grounds operation manager Jill Lindsay is confident the surface will pass the test when inspected 24 hours after tomorrow night's State of Origin league clash.
