Thursday
November 3, 2005
Week 495

... updated every day – last update: 07:30 AEST ...

Victorian Government questions AFL on Betfair

Farrah Tomazin reports in The Age: The State Government has demanded that the AFL explain how football will be protected from potential corruption under its contentious new sports gambling venture with British-based betting exchange Betfair.

Days after the league announced it would cash in on the sports betting boom by allowing Betfair and Tabcorp to run separate AFL-endorsed football gambling operations from next year, the Government has written to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou raising some concerns.

It also has warned punters may risk breaking the law because Betfair – which allows people to bet on favourites to lose – is not licensed to operate in Australia, unlike Tabcorp.

Under the deal, both agencies will be allowed to market and brand themselves with the AFL trademark so long as they are licensed. In return, the AFL will get at least $1 million in licence fees each year, unprecedented access to football betting data, and have full control of its intellectual property.

Betfair spokesman Andrew Twaits could not understand the Government's concerns.

He said the deal "lifted the bar on integrity" by giving the AFL unprecedented access to information, such as audit trails of wagers, should it ever need to investigate betting activity on a game.

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Movements ...
On the move – former Sydney Swan Ben Fixter has been invited by Brisbane to train with the Lions ahead of the national and pre-season drafts ... the Western Bulldogs have invited Brett Montgomery (delisted by Port) and David Haynes (from Geelong) together with Werribee full-forward James Podsiadly to train at Whitten Oval ... among 17 players, mostly from the VFL, invited to train at Hawthorn are Luke Peel, formerly of Port Adelaide, and Cameron Hunter, recently delisted by Melbourne.

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PLAYER LIST UPDATES

CARLTON has re-signed MATTHEW LAPPIN to a new two year deal ...
BRISBANE and BRAD SCOTT have agreed to a one-year deal for 2006 ...

u 2005 Traded, Retired, Delisted, Acquired ... more

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PLAYER LIST UPDATES

The highlights when lists were lodged by clubs on Monday ...
CARLTON promoted Irish recruit Setanta O'hAilpin to the senior list ...
MELBOURNE delisted Steven Armstrong, Chris Heffernan and Cameron Hunter ...
BRISBANE delisted Dylan McLaren ...

u 2005 Traded, Retired, Delisted, Acquired ... more

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Sydney premiership cup tour in November
The premiership trophy won by Sydney on September 24th will get the grand tour of key cities and regions of New South Wales in conjunction with the NSW State Government.

Playing members will accompany the AFL cup on a seven town tour of NSW over three days starting on November 14th, from Coffs Harbour to Wagga Wagga.

The tour which will include free AFL clinics for kids and numerous activities at each location.

The tour by the Sydney Swans will add another chapter to ...
u THE GAME IN NSW, ITS  HISTORY SINCE 1877 – more

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Makybe Diva adds another page to our sporting history
Champion mare Makybe Diva made sporting history on Tuesday by becoming the first horse to win three Melbourne Cups with a stunning victory at Flemington racecourse before an adoring crowd of 106,479.

Carrying equal top weight of 58 kilograms – the most carried by a Cup winner since Think Big 30 years ago, the huge crowd erupted when the seven-year-old mare emerged from the pack to take the lead 300 metres from the winning post to win her third Cup in as many years.

Australians bet a record $144 million on the Cup through the nation's betting agencies.

The Lee Freedman-trained mare was retired by its South Australian tuna baron owner Tony Santic, from Port Lincoln, after the running of the 144th Melbourne Cup. Makybe Diva's prize winning's were $14,536,685.
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Our resident punter Martin Windsor-Black noted the name MAKYBE DIVA came from the first two initials of five employees of owner Tony Santic – the five women were MAureen Dellar, KYlie Bascomb, BElinda Grocke, DIanne Tonkin and VAnessa Parthenis whose names are now part of Australian racing history. MWB also noted the third-placed New Zealander Xcellent became the first horse with a name starting with "X" to run in the famous race.

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She joins Phar Lap, Bradman
ROLLO ROYLANCE, The Australian, November 2, 2005

FOOTYSTATS – SEASON 2005
Match Review, details of every game, every round
Stats Update from every round
Club-by-club Performances

PLAYER LIST UPDATES

The highlights when lists were lodged by clubs on Monday ...
CARLTON promoted Irish recruit Setanta O'hAilpin to the senior list ...
MELBOURNE delisted Steven Armstrong, Chris Heffernan and Cameron Hunter ...
BRISBANE delisted Dylan McLaren ...

u 2005 Traded, Retired, Delisted, Acquired ... more

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Rex Hunt and family attacked and beaten in Byron Bay
Melbourne football identity and 3AW broadcaster Rex Hunt and his 28-year-old son Matthew were brutally attacked and beaten by 15 teenage thugs at the north coast NSW town of Byron Bay on Friday night. The visit was to attend a wedding with his wife Lynne, and Matthew's girlfriend Jodie Petrusov.

The Herald Sun reported that as the gang attacked, Hunt was told visitors are not welcome. Hunt said police told him there was nothing they could do because of the offenders' age, and no complaint has been filed.

Hunt said he would visit his solicitor on Wednesday to take legal action against the boys' parents.

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109 VFL-AFL seasons – at a glance
Footystats regular Leonard Colquhoun has produced a compilation embracing all 109 seasons to interest many statophiles ... more

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High-flyer guilty of fraud, corruption
KIM ARLINGTON, The Age, November 1, 2005

He used to drive a Ferrari, but Brad Cooper was taken to jail in a prison van yesterday after a jury convicted him of 13 fraud and corruption charges relating to the collapse of insurer HIH.

Cooper, a former vice-president of the Collingwood Football Club, cut a brash and confident figure at the 2002 royal commission into HIH's $5.3 billion collapse, which heard that "rivers of money" had flowed into his pockets as the insurer slid towards financial ruin.

But he was more subdued yesterday as a NSW Supreme Court jury convicted him on six counts of bribing former HIH general manager of finance Bill Howard and forging or doctoring seven documents during their transactions.

FOOTYSTATS – SEASON 2005
Match Review, details of every game, every round
Stats Update from every round
Club-by-club Performances

International Rules
Jim Stynes supports harsher penalties

The Age reports Australia's assistant coach Jim Stynes has scoffed at suggestions in Ireland that the International Rules series be scrapped, but admitted the punishment for rough play of the kind on display last Friday night had to be harsher.

Stynes said he had not formed concrete ideas about how the system could be tweaked but suggested, for instance, that if a player were sent off, his side should go into the next game with one fewer player in its squad.

He ruled out carrying suspensions into the home-and-away AFL season on the basis that it would dissuade players from representing Australia.

"Maybe they need to look at a different system that might hurt the team more," Stynes said. "It might be that if you lose a player, then you lose one person off your list ... instead of having eight on the bench you might have only seven until that person's suspension is done. That might just make people think."

The Irish-born Melbourne legend, who represented Australia in the sport, also backed Kevin Sheedy's claims that the violence in the second Test was sparked by low blows by Irish.

Stynes said that with the Australians leading by 36 points from the first Test and fielding a small, fast team, they had no reason to go the knuckle on the Irish ... more

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Tredrea may have wish granted soon
Andrew Capel reports in The Advertiser: Port Adelaide could break with tradition and appoint Warren Tredrea as captain within two weeks.

The Power yesterday claimed Tredrea's evolution to club captain following the retirement of Matthew Primus, who was skipper for five years, was "probably a fait accompli".

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Tipstar losses climb to $10.7 million
The Sunday Herald Sun reported that Tipstar, the Victorian State Government football tipping competition, has failed again to lure punters and for the year to June 2005 lost $1.71 million.

Only 21,807 of the millions of footy fans around Australia participated last year. Since its inception in 2001 the competition has lost $10.7 million.

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Update: Full Points Footy
John Devaney has made further additions to his informative website. The main additions have been to the Biographies section, which now features a total of 1,699 player and coach profiles.

In his most recent newsletter John tells that Ross Smith informs he's been undertaking research into the career of another past champion in Roy Cazaly, who played for no fewer than seven different clubs during the course of his illustrious, 31-season career. You can view the results of Ross' research, which, without in any way devaluing or denigrating Cazaly's contribution to the game, scotches a number of widely accepted myths about him, at
http://au.geocities.com/sportandhistory/football.html

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PLAYER LIST UPDATES

u 2005 Traded, Retired, Delisted, Acquired ... more

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"GAA has little option ..."
DAN OAKES, The Age, October 31, 2005

Pictures of Australian hard man Chris Johnson standing over two prone Irishmen at Telstra Dome have sparked loud calls in Ireland for the Gaelic Athletic Association to pull the pin on the hybrid game.

"On the evidence of what appeared to me to be a cleverly premeditated plan by the Australians to smash up the Irish team in the third quarter of the game, I believe the GAA has little option but to cancel next year's proposed series," former coach Eugene McGee wrote in the Irish Independent.

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In the Letters page of The Age, October 31, one said –

Aussie thuggery was just not footy
I WAS appalled at the carry on of what could hardly be described as a football game between Australia and Ireland in the international rules series on Friday night. This fighting would have been broken up by police if it had occurred anywhere else in Melbourne on the same evening.

The first match a week earlier was fine, Ireland lost on footballing terms. Friday night's second match was different: it was unfriendly and was an absolute disgrace, mainly for Australians as your players lost the plot completely, starting fights, fouling late all over the field. The "sport" was reduced to just fighting at times, and as the Irish players were outsized because they were picked for their footballing skills, the Aussies, being poorly reffed and controlled, were allowed to run riot.

Do we – Australia and Ireland – want a football match, do we want to see skills, or do we want to see fighting? If all we want is a fight, Ireland can send over our kick-boxing and boxing teams and let's just have a fight. No one will say this series will be remembered for any of the footy, or for creating links. How can we show this to the kids of today and expect them to benefit?

I think all those involved in the Gaelic Athletic Association should now halt this series for the moment and review it seriously. This was not a celebration of football; this was a complete and utter disgrace. Shame.
Martin Kelly, Dublin, Ireland

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Three letters which appeared in The Irish Times on November 2 –

Madam, – I'm an Aussie with dual Irish/Oz citizenship. I am ashamed and disgusted at the thuggish criminal behaviour of a couple of the Australian International Rules players recently. This sort of violence has crept into Australian Rules football and is not checked. In fact, it is highlighted and encouraged by the Aussie media. It is alienating a whole generation of parents who will now not let their children play the sport, a very sad outcome.

The majority of Australians are appalled by this violence in sport. Yours, etc,
MIKE FENTON, Bunbury, West Australia

Madam, – I am embarrassed and ashamed about the disgraceful display of violence against your country's football players last Friday night. I could not believe what I was watching and I urge the Irish to cancel all further matches against Australia immediately.

In our media today there has been an outcry against the dreadful behaviour in the game, and I want your readers to know that many Australians abhor what took place.

I hope that the stupidity of a few does not lessen your regard for the rest of us.
Sincere apologies, Yours, etc,
ELIZABETH JAMES, Clarinda, Victoria

Madam, – ... You have to ask the question: what was the Irish football association thinking of, to put their courageous amateur boys up against professionals like this? Of course it was going to expose them to injury. Every Australian watching the game was wincing, seeing within two minutes what was going to happen.

The Irish boys didn't deserve this treatment: it was just good luck that no one was seriously injured. As it was, they earned the admiration of Australian sports fans (not easy to come by) for their courage in standing up, whatever the personal cost. No one would have blamed them if they'd have walked away; but they didn't.
Yours, etc,
GEOFF WELLS, Adelaide, South Australia

West Coast says premiership prize is inadequate
Sydney chairman supports the view

Steve Butler reported in The West Australian on Saturday that West Coast will push the AFL to provide a $1 million winner's cheque to next year's premiers, claiming the current prize money is inadequate.

Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said the $250,000 prize awarded to premiers Sydney this season would barely have paid for the Swans' after-party in a year when the AFL turned over a massive $200 million.

Sydney chairman Richard Colless said he would support the push for a $1 million prize and believed the AFL should go a step further and consider salary cap concessions for the premiers, as successful grand final players always pushed for significant pay increases.

Nisbett said he would make the premiership prize money increase an official agenda item at the next meeting of AFL chief executives.

"It's a multi-million dollar business and we play for prize money of $250,000 - put it in perspective and I think everyone agrees it's not right. It's quite absurd and bizarre, really. I feel a bit sorry for Sydney because if you win it you deserve to get a big windfall," Nisbett said.

Carlton's $220,000 prize for beating West Coast in the 2005 Wizard Cup grand final was just $30,000 less than Sydney's season-proper premiership prize and $45,000 more than the Eagles' runner-up prize.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou conceded the prize money was inadequate and hinted it would be upgraded for the 2007 season. He said it would remain the same in 2006 as the AFL's financial forecasts and budgets for next season had already been finalised.

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Footy in the bush gets a boost
Sportal reported on afl.com.au: The Victorian Government and the AFL will inject $4 million into a program to help improve the facilities of country football and netball clubs.

Former Kangaroos skipper Anthony Stevens was on hand when the announcement was made at the Stawell Football and Netball Club on Friday – one of the 14 clubs receiving the first round of grants worth more than $500,000 – which will help local communities with their sporting facilities.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said it was a great opportunity to help increase participation and foster the development of the game's future stars by improving the quality of the club environment through better facilities.

The AFL is contributing $2 million to the program from its Facilities Development Reserve.

u Clubs to receive the grants are –
Camperdown Football and Netball Club,
Colac Otway Shire (Apollo Bay Football and Netball Club),
Horsham Football and Netball Club,
Inglewood Football and Netball Club,
Inverleigh Sporting Complex,
Myrtleford Saints Netball Club,
Research Football Club,
Stratford Football and Netball Club,
Swan Hill Football and Netball Club,
Tallygaroopna Football and Netball Club,
Warracknabeal Eagles Football and Netball Club,
Wodonga City Council,
Yarrawonga Football and Netball Club.

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Australia 0.18.9 – 63
Ireland 0.11.9 – 42

Ireland refused to be intimidated by Australia in the Second Test played at Docklands Stadium on Friday night in front of 45,428 fans. The Aussies made a clean sweep of the series with an aggregate margin of 57 points.

Paul Gough noted for Sportal that the home side's victory was overshadowed by a series of running battles between the teams which was in complete contrast to the first Test when the Irish were crushed in Perth.

Right from the outset the Irish showed they weren't going to be intimated and the niggly affair exploded halfway through the second term.

Chip Le Grand for The Australian reported the night, and to some extent the series, will again be remembered for a single, savage act by an Australian player, justified neither by the context of the match nor the series.

This time it was Chris Johnson, a decorated and wonderfully combative player for Brisbane for the best part of a decade, who took out Philip Jordan with a right swinging arm as the Tyrone defender was turning upfield. The force of the blow, delivered in true "coat hanger" style, lifted Jordan off his feet and slammed his head into the turf.

Irish referee Michael Collins was already reaching for a red card when Johnson, Australia's captain for the night, swung at Irish forward Mattie Forde, who had come in to remonstrate. From there, Johnson turned his attention to Anthony Lynch and other, as a fierce melee ensured.

The ramification for Johnson, apart from having to sit out the rest of last night's game is a match review panel sitting to decide an appropriate penalty. At the very least, it should cost him a trip to Ireland.

The broader impact is the damage that Johnson and his Australian team-mates have done to this annual series of inter-code exhibition matches.

With Johnson looking on, the third quarter degenerated into a series of rolling brawls. It is always hard to know who starts what in these circumstances but, by the end of the match, Luke Hodge had let fly several right hands to the head of Ciaran McManus; Trent Croad had been yellow-carded; Darren Milburn had shoved his own team runner to the ground and Ryan O'Keefe had unintentionally poleaxed referee Collins.

The Irish remained loosely in the match until three-quarter time but, in the final 20 minutes, Australia's greater composure and superior fitness threatened to turn the game into a rout. By the final siren, the Irish were too tired to run and simply tired of fighting.

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PLAYER LIST UPDATES

ST KILDA has recontracted AARON FIOIRA, ANDREW THOMPSON, JUSTIN PECKETT and STEPHEN POWELL, with FRASER GEHRIG and veteran ROBERT HARVEY also staying on – BRENT GUERRA has been delisted as has NICK STONE. DYLAN PFITZNER has been demoted to the Rookie list.

The WESTERN BULLDOGS have delisted ISZAC THOMPSON while DALE MORRIS has been elevated from Rookie to the senior list.

SYDNEY delisted BEN FIXTER and JARRAD SUNQVIST.

FREMANTLE has re-signed TROY COOK for another season.

HAWTHORN confirmed that TRAVIS TUCK will be taken under the father-son rule with its third pick in the Draft (selection 38).

u 2005 Traded, Retired, Delisted, Acquired ... more

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Martin Windsor-Black
UPDATE: AUSTRALIA v IRELAND
It's taken 6 attempts, but finally Australia have won in Melbourne – in the first match of the hybrid series to be played under a roof.

Since Ireland's win in 1986 at Waverley, the margin has steadily moved in Australia's favour – it was only a matter of time.

u Ireland won by 16 points in the 2nd Test of 1986 at Waverley
Ireland won by 9 points in the 1st Test of 1990 at Waverley
Ireland won by 8 points in the 1st Test of 1999 at MCG
Ireland won by 6 points in the 1st Test of 2001 at MCG
Ireland won by 3 points in the 2nd Test of 2003 at MCG

u Australia have won by 21 points in the 2nd Test of 2005 at Docklands
u Australia's score of 0.18.9-63 is their highest score in Melbourne beating their 0.16.14-62 in the 1st Test of 1999 at MCG
u Ireland's score of 0.11.9-42 is their lowest score in Melbourne - beating their 0.12.11-47 in the 1st Test of 1990 at Waverley.
u Ireland's score of 0.11.9-42 equals their lowest ever score from the Drawn 2nd Test of 2002 at Croke Park when they scored 1.8.12-42 to Australia's 1.11.3-42.

u This was the 3rd goalless game  (no 'unders') between the two countries.

u The first was the 1st Test of 1990 at Waverley in which Ireland won 0.12.11-47 to Australia 0.10.8-38.

u The second was the 3rd Test of 1990 at the WACA in which Australia won 0.13.11-50 to Ireland's 0.12.8-44.

u The Overall Standings are now –
Series: Australia 6, Ireland 6
Tests: Australia 13, Ireland 13, Drawn 2
Scores: Australia 30.370.288-1578, Ireland 61.317.273-1590 

So, Australia have drawn level on Series and Tests won and just 12 points separates the two from 28 Tests.

WHITEWASHES
Australia have now won two series 2-0, 2000 in Ireland (aggregate margin: 25pts) and 2005 in Australia (agg mgn: 57pts).

Ireland have also won two series 2-0, 2001 in Australia (agg mgn: 25pts) and 2004 in Ireland (agg mgn: 50pts).

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u THE roof was closed in the Telstra Dome yesterday, but it didn't stop the sky falling in on Ireland's bid to salvage something from the second International Rules test.

The series was already lost when Ireland took a 36-point deficit to Melbourne, but the plan was to rescue something from the adventure by beating the Australians.

For a time, it looked as if might actually happen as Ireland led through much of the first quarter, but once the Australians accelerated in the second quarter, they quickly opened up a lead which they never surrendered.

Ireland played better than in the first test, but were still comprehensively beaten in a game where Australia's return to physical intimidation sickened the Irish team and their large band of supporters in the crowd of 45,488.

Philip Jordan was almost decapitated by a straight-arm tackle from Chris Johnson which earned the Aussie co-captain a red card. Anthony Lynch and Mattie Forde were among other Irish players who took nasty knocks as Australia set about bullying their way to victory. It left Irish manager Peter McGrath seething angrily, describing the Australians' behaviour as "utterly unacceptable".

"Some of the tackling that went on out there had nothing to do with sport," he said. "The truth is that we had amateur players in a high-risk situation. It's simply not good enough when a player's life and limb are put at serious risk," said McGrath.

However, it's important to separate the Australians' ghastly behaviour from their football skills. While Ireland have every right to be furious over the dangerous approach adopted by the Australians, it had absolutely nothing to do with their victories in either Perth or Melbourne.

The return of gratuitous violence is a matter for the GAA at boardroom level, but it shouldn't be allowed to totally overshadow the harsh reality that Ireland lost the series by a record margin of 57 points (163-106), having been given a lesson in the art of kicking the ball, an area where Gaelic footballers are supposed to have an advantage.

Over the two tests, Australia beat Ireland 45-22 in three-pointers (points in Gaelic football), a truly staggering statistic. And their foot-passing, ball retention and general movement were also light years ahead of the Irish.

Quite simply, Ireland travelled to Australia with the same game plan that proved so successful last year ... and you aren't going to fool the Aussies with the same trick twice.

But if McGrath has to take the blame for re-heating last year's dish while the Australians were going for a completely new recipe, many of the Irish players must take responsibility too, having came nowhere near their peak.

Pádraic Joyce, Ciaran McDonald, Graham Canty, Sean Marty Lockhart, Ciaran McManus, Mattie Forde, Brian McGuigan and Seán Óg Ó hÁilpín were way down on 2004, while it really didn't work out for newcomers Mickey McVeigh, Michael Meehan, Owen Mulligan, Stephen O'Neill and Colm Cooper. There was huge interest in the 'Gooch' in Australia on the basis of his reputation as a Gaelic footballer but, frankly, he looked totally unsuited to the mixed game.

It was left to Tom Kelly, Seán Cavanagh, Anthony Lynch, Benny Coulter, Brian Dooher and Ronan Clarke to provide most inspiration. Kelly, who was outstanding at full-back yesterday, was named as Ireland's best player, a richly deserved honour, while his Laois colleague Ross Munnelly also turned into a fine performance yesterday after being omitted from the squad for the first test.

Ireland worked hard at sorting out the problems which afflicted them in Perth and they duly led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter. They really should have been much further ahead, but, once again, they were betrayed by poor finishing.

Australia's best period was the second quarter which they won 20-5, which left them leading 31-18 at half-time. Ireland rallied in the third quarter and cut the lead to six points to trail 40-32 after an hour, but they had missed some good goal chances and also had one ruled out for reasons best known to an inconsistent Australian referee. Their poor scoring rate proved costly as Australia powered up again in the final quarter which they won 23-10.

McGrath – who insisted that he was delighted by the pride shown by the Irish team – will definitely be replaced as manager for next year, if there is a next year. It's also likely that at least half the squad have played their final game for Ireland. The 57-point series defeat has seen to that.

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Paul Gough reporting for Sportal on afl.com.au notes the AFL and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) on Thursday dismissed any concerns over biased decisions from Australian umpire Mathew James during last Friday's first Foster's International Rules Test in Perth.

After Ireland suffered a record 36 point loss, the Irish press accused James of unfairly favouring the Australian team during the match in which the home side became the first to ever score 100 points in a Test – leaving the Irish a huge task to win the series in Friday night's second Test in Melbourne.

However a review of the first Test by the AFL-GAA control committee led by the AFL's Kevin Sheehan and the GAA's Pat Daly has praised the performances of the two umpires, James and Ireland's David Coldrick.

Their review of the match revealed that just seven incorrect frees were paid in the match, compared to a total of 51 correct decisions, while only two free-kicks were incorrectly missed during the match.

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TV beyond 2006
NINE OFFER TO ABC TURNED DOWN
Caroline Wilson reports in The Age: Channel Nine approached the ABC in a bid to share the AFL television rights between 2007 and 2011 but was told by the public broadcaster that it could not afford to consider mounting a joint bid.

With the Nine Network preparing to launch an attack upon the AFL rights, should Channels Seven and Ten next week reject the league's first offer, it now appears that only a split between the two free-to-air media partners could enable Nine to satisfy the AFL's national broadcasting demands.

While Nine's James Packer has said his network would be trying to retain the AFL rights, the station's rugby league commitments and ratings demands would prevent it from standing alone as the competition's only free-to-air broadcaster.

Nine executive Lynton Taylor earlier this year suggested to ABC chiefs that Channel Two could televise AFL football in conjunction with Nine, with Foxtel taking at least three pay television games a week as it would under the Seven-Ten plan.

But ABC sport boss Ian Knight told The Age that the proposal would be impossible financially ... more

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Brisbane Lions strike deal with Irish pair
Chip Le Grand reports in The Australian: Brisbane has agreed to terms with two Irish recruits for next season, with young County Laois pair Colm Begley and Brendan Quigley expected to join the Lions in training next month.

The Lions yesterday refused to confirm the arrangement as both players are yet to sign. But assuming there are no last-minute wrinkles in the deal, Begley and Quigley will be contracted as international rookies for two years.

Begley, a 19-year-old economics student and one of the brightest footballing talents in Laois, a rural county southwest of Dublin, confirmed to the Irish Independent that he and Quigley had decided to follow the path of Sydney's premiership Kerryman Tadhg Kennelly.

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Melbourne: David Neitz re-signs for two more years
Guy Rigoni retires after lengthy back problems
u Melbourne's longest serving captain David Neitz has re-signed a new deal which will see him stay with the club until the end of season 2007.

Neitz has led the Demons in 134 matches, the longest span by a Melbourne player. In his 265 games since 1993 he has kicked 534 goals and is only 12 short of Norm Smith's club record of 546 kicked between 1935-48.

u In another announcement, after battling back injuries for several seasons Guy Rigoni has retired. The 31-year-old, who played 11 games this year, including the Demons' only final, said he would have struggled to play another season.

Rigoni spent eight seasons with Melbourne from the opening round of 1998, playing 107 games including the 2000 grand final. In total, he played eight finals with the Demons and won premierships with Melbourne's VFL affiliate, Sandringham, in 2004 and 2005.

On March 25 2002, Footystats Diary noted: The future of Melbourne on-baller GUY RIGONI continues to hang in the balance, with the club poised to place him on the long-term injury list as he struggles with a back injury.
Rigoni was restricted to 10 games last year, and missed the last nine weeks of the 2001 season because of a bulging disc in his back. His pre-season has been severely restricted ...

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Port Adelaide sign Brenton Sanderson
Port Adelaide has appointed the recently retired Brenton Sanderson as development coach. Sanderson, 31, who retired from AFL football this year after 209 games, will be responsible for developing the Power's younger players.

Port will resume training after their break on November 7.

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Fremantle: Daniel Gilmour re-signs for two years
The 22-year-old Fremantle defender Daniel Gilmour who was the subject of a likely trade to Port Adelaide has agreed to terms and will remain a Docker until the end of 2007.

A grandson of 1954 Footscray premiership player Brian Gilmour, Daniel has played 10 AFL games since his debut in 2004 and spent this year helping South Fremantle carry off the WAFL title.

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PLAYER LIST UPDATES

FREMANTLE have delisted ANDREW SIEGERT and DYLAN SMITH.

u 2005 Traded, Retired, Delisted, Acquired ... more

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u Question: What's the most number of games the premiers-to-be have lost during the season ?

Answer: A club has lost nine matches and still became Premiers.

This has happened three times. Adelaide did it twice, first in 1997 and repeated it the next year.

Fitzroy in the unusual season of 1916 when during World War 1 only four teams competed in a minor season of 12 matches, won two, lost nine, drew one, took the wooden spoon and went on through the finals to win the flag.

In more detail – the most losses by clubs (six or more) in the home-and-away series who went on to win the premiership.

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LINKS TO OTHER FOOTY FEATURES

u Martin Windsor-Black –
Pertinent Observations  

 u Bruce Kennedy –
Perspective 2005

u WHERE TO GET THE AMAZING  *FOOTY WORKS* ... more

 u THE GAME IN NSW, ITS  HISTORY SINCE 1877 – more

u John Devaney –
Full Points Footy

u Footy Jumpers –
History of AFL-VFL jumpers

u Rhett Bartlett – Rhettrospective

u Dockerland – Fremantle FC

u Aboriginal Football – Indigenous Australians, the contribution

IN THE ARCHIVES
u 2006 Review
u 2005 Review
u 2004 Review
u Past issues of the News Diary
u Worth repeating

FOOTYSTATS – SEASON 2005
Stats Update from every round

u All–Time League Match Records, 1897–2005

u Games – played, won, lost, drawn, 1897-2005
u Coaches – every club, every game
u 200-Game Coaches, 1902-2005
u Key Stats of Season 2005
u Best of the Best, 1897–2005
u The Big Ladder of 2005
u Matches Played at 37 venues, 1897–2005
u Tribunal – 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001
u Draw & Results – 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
u The Brownlow Medal, 1924-2005
u VFL-AFL Graph, 1897-2005
u Membership numbers, 1984-2004
u Attendances, 1992-2005
u All-Time Attendances, venues
u Rising Star Award, 1993-2005
u Australia v Ireland, 1967-2005

u 2005 Wizard Home Loans Cup series
includes links to 2004, 2003 and 2002

u The Carlton Crisis File
u Teams of the Century
u Weekly Ladders, 1987-2005

Other *Archive* files ...
Chronology of the Game, 1858-2004
Consecutive Wins and Losses
The One-Point Result, all 289
Drawn Matches, all 134
Behinds, 2 to 9
Behinds, 25 or more behinds
Cliffhangers, the closest games
Least Accurate
Premiers, 1897-2005
Minor Premiership, 1897-2005
All-Time Goalkickers, club-by-club
All-Time Goalkickers, venues
Tops in Goals, 1987-2005
Milestones, club-by-club
Milestones, (winning)
Milestones, (in defeat)
Best & worst in a season
Highest. lowest margins in a round
Wooden Spoon
Aussies in American football
AFL TV rights, beyond 2006

Footystats Diary, October 28-November 3, 2005 — Week 495
sources include:
afl.com.au, newslimited, The Age,
abc.net.au, sportal.com.au
Footystats™ is assisted by income from
Channel Nine, Fox Footy Channel
Club colours are used with the approval of – http://www.footyjumpers.com/

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