SYDNEY coach Paul Roos is hopeful the AFL's investigation into claims he instructed a player not to kick a goal will be finalised by the weekend so there is no further disruption to the Swans' preparation for the new season.
Roos, accompanied by lawyer Terry Forrest QC, fronted an AFL investigation in Melbourne, where he was questioned by John Winneke, the former president of the Victorian Court of Appeal.
Winneke, who is conducting the investigation on behalf of the AFL, also interviewed the player in question, Jarrad McVeigh, via phone.
Roos said he received a good hearing, but said the questioning covered little other than what the Swans had previously covered in a written submission.
Sydney coach Paul Roos is hopeful the AFL's investigation into claims he instructed a player not to kick a goal will be finalised by the weekend so there is no further disruption to the Swans' preparation for the new season.
Roos, accompanied by lawyer Terry Forrest QC, fronted an AFL investigation in Melbourne, where he was questioned by John Winneke, the former president of the Victorian Court of Appeal.
Winneke, who is conducting the investigation on behalf of the AFL, also interviewed the player in question, Jarrad McVeigh, via phone.
Roos said he received a good hearing, but said the questioning covered little other than what the Swans had previously covered in a written submission.
"To be honest, I think most of this stuff has already come out," Roos said.
"Today was a chance to see Mr Winneke face to face and have a chat to him and most of the stuff was in our submission early on last week, so it was just good to be able to sit down and for him to have a chat to me."
Roos said he and the club were happy to cooperate fully with the investigation, but he would have preferred to have been in Sydney helping the Swans prepare for Saturday's practice match against Brisbane in Canberra.
"It doesn't help, we're playing this weekend, so I'd rather be in Sydney, but I'm happy to get it out of the way and I hope it will be finalised by the weekend," he said.
"But if it's not, we've got a game on the weekend, there's still a couple of weeks before the season starts."
The claim made against Roos is that he was overheard telling McVeigh to go forward but not kick a goal late in a pre-season match the Swans lost by two points to Hawthorn in Launceston last month.
With the investigation based on a rule designed to prevent match-fixing and corruption, Roos could theoretically face a maximum $100,000 fine and indefinite suspension if found guilty.
While reluctant to speculate on the outcome of the case, the coach said he had no doubt about his innocence.
"I'm absolutely confident I've done nothing wrong, so that's all I can say," he said.
Roos has previously said he jokingly suggested McVeigh would not kick a goal because of his poor goal-kicking record, while McVeigh has said he never heard Roos' alleged instructions.
