Whatever you think of the AFL's and the AFL Players' Association's handling of the Ricky Nixon-teenage girl scandal, AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou made a compelling point in The Age on Friday.
In his own column, Demetriou said: "It is only fair to all parties that this process is able to run its course."
That course was set on Thursday, when the AFLPA's player agents' board announced the allegations against Nixon - that he had an affair with the girl and used drugs with her - would be investigated by David Galbally QC.
This did not sit well with The Age's chief football writer Caroline Wilson.
Having concluded "everyone else knows (Nixon) is finished as a player agent", Wilson bemoaned the fact no one in the football industry has been "prepared to unconditionally condemn Nixon's behaviour".
She also said the AFLPA agents' board should, itself, have questioned and judged Nixon on "the obvious evidence".
In Wilson's defence, Demetriou said Nixon should have stood down pending the outcome of the investigation.
But her comments have pre-judged the situation.
Nixon has consistently denied the allegations against him throughout this matter and he deserves the opportunity to address them before anyone rushes to judgment.
It pays to be live
Hot on the heels of Thursday's news that live television coverage of Friday night football from 2012 remains in doubt comes the revelation viewers without pay TV may miss out on even more live action.
As negotiations on the 2012-16 AFL television rights continue, The Age reported on Friday that Foxtel, which was reportedly bidding to increase its current weekly share of four live games to five, was now seeking to televise a sixth match live.
The timeslot Foxtel is reportedly targeting is the Saturday afternoon game shown by Channel 10 on delay. Under Foxtel's proposal, it will show this game live while Channel 10 continues to broadcast it on delay.
If this comes to pass, it will be a win for the AFL, which is acutely aware fans now want their football live. However, fans who can't afford Foxtel will be entitled to feel even more disenfranchised.
Demetriou the game's top-earner
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou is the game's highest-paid individual, the Herald Sun reports.
The front-page headline read: "Footy's $2.2 million man".
Chief football writer Mike Sheahan's "exclusive" back-page report said Demetriou's salary package last year, which included bonuses, superannuation and a retention strategy payment, topped the competition's highest-earning players.
Sheahan said Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett is the AFL's best-paid player, earning an average of about $1.8 million a year on his current contract.
Like a player on a performance-based contract, Demetriou earned his money in 2010, with his bonuses coming on the back of the AFL's record revenue of $335.8 million and record attendances of 7,470,302.
In short
Michael Voss says next month's Brisbane Lions 2001 premiership reunion "will be interesting" for Jason Akermanis after his recent criticism of flag teammates, the Courier Mail reports. Akermanis has predicted Voss will be sacked as Lions coach this year, and, in the wake of the Lions' tough stance on off-field behaviour recently, said Jonathan Brown was "the drunkest man you will see" on off-season trips.
Emerging Sydney Swans forward Sam Reid expects to spend some time playing on his elder brother, Collingwood defender Ben, in the sides' NAB Cup quarter-final at Etihad Stadium on Friday night, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Sydney Swan Ryan O'Keefe says his injury-plagued 2010 season was a "good learning year" and helped him develop his leadership, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Despite a longer than anticipated recovery from off-season surgery, O'Keefe says last year's groin problems are behind him.
Fremantle says the continued absence of key players like Aaron Sandilands and David Mundy from its pre-season games reflected the club's conservative approach to its season preparations rather than a growing injury problem, The West Australian reports.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
