St.Kilda ruckman Steven King is facing a possible six-match suspension – and a minimum of four weeks - for an off-the-ball clash with North Melbourne's Sam Power that left the Kangaroo with concussion. Andrea Petrie of The Age reports today that King was yesterday charged by the AFL's match review panel with engaging in rough conduct over the incident, which took place in the second quarter of the Saints' 46-point win. The panel assessed the contact as intentional, high impact and high on Power, who had to be helped from the ground. The level-five offence drew 550 demerit points, and a five-match sanction. But King's 70.31 carry-over points takes his tally to 620.31 and a six-game ban. He can reduce the penalty to a four-game ban with an early guilty plea.
Essendon, which is already struggling with ruck stocks, is likely to go into its clash with Melbourne in a fortnight without Paddy Ryder after he was charged with engaging in rough conduct against Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield. The third-quarter incident was classed as negligent, medium impact and high contact, drawing a two-game suspension. The club is already desperately short of ruckmen due to injuries to David Hille, Jason Laycock and Tom Bellchambers. But Ryder can reduce the ban to one game with an early guilty plea.
Port Adelaide's Toby Thurstans was cited for negligently making contact with umpire Michael Avon in the Power's win over Fremantle. He can accept a $1950 fine with an early guilty plea. Teammate Nick Lower was offered a reprimand and 93.75 demerit points for striking Fremantle's Paul Hasleby.
Sydney's Barry Hall escaped penalty for kneeing Hawthorn's Xavier Ellis in the head in the first quarter of Sunday's match. The panel found that Hall was contesting the ball when the accidental contact was made and he did not have a realistic alternative course of action. Hall also escaped sanction for contact he made with Hawthorn skipper Sam Mitchell while giving away three consecutive 50-metre penalties which cost Sydney the match. The panel found that the impact was below that required to constitute a reportable offence.
Also escaping sanction was Hawk Brad Sewell for making contact with an umpire after the panel found that the umpire had contributed to the clash by moving backwards on an angle instead of a direct line. Sydney's Jared Crouch was cleared of tripping Travis Tuck after it was deemed that he was trying to stop the ball with his leg when the contact was made. Fremantle's Clancee Pearce was found to have had his eyes on the ball in a legitimate attempt to spoil when he made high contact with Port Adelaide's Justin Westhoff, and so was cleared. Adelaide's Graham Johncock was also cleared of making high contact with Essendon's Courtenay Dempsey, while Crow Chris Knights was found to have no case to answer to relating to contact he made with Bomber Andrew Lovett.
Contact between Geelong's Nathan Djerrkura and West Coast's Quinten Lynch was not deemed to be forceful enough to constitute a reportable offence, while Eagle Mark Nicoski was cleared of tripping the Cats' Gary Ablett after the panel determined the contact as a legitimate attempt to stop the ball.
NO TANK ORDER FOR RAWLINGS
Jade Rawlings will not be instructed to tank matches in order for the Tigers to get a national draft concession in November, according to The Australian. Greg Denham writes today that Rawlings, who on Saturday was appointed to take over from Terry Wallace for the remaining 11 games this season, will not be requested to compromise his new responsibilities. He quotes Richmond general manager of football operations Craig Cameron saying: “There have not been and will not be any instructions not to win. The tank is not on." Richmond has won two of its first 11 matches this season and if it finishes the season with less than 20 premiership points it becomes eligible to have another national draft selection in between the first and second rounds. "We'll play some developing blokes, but we also want to give our supporters hope for the rest of the season and in the future," Cameron said. "We want to win games while we're developing some of our younger players." Richmond has used 35 players at senior level already this season, but under Rawlings, 31, it expects to blood several more players in the run home, including its first two national draft choices from last year, teenagers Tyrone Vickery and Jayden Post, and up to two more rookie-listed players. Developing ruckman Vickery, the eighth overall choice last November, is likely to soon make his senior debut, possibly as a tall-forward option. Other players who appear certain to get more opportunities include Shane Edwards and last year's pick-ups Adam Thomson (from Port Adelaide) and Tom Hislop (from Essendon) who are both contracted until the end of 2010. However, the playing future of Graham Polak, who was close to death last year after being struck by a tram, appears bleak. Polak, who has spent most of this season playing for the VFL reserves in between the odd game for Coburg, appears certain to retire this year due to his struggle to regain form.
RAWLINGS' TOUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE
Front row of an old wooden grandstand was the spartan office on Sunday for Richmond's new senior coach, according to the Herald Sun’s Bruce Matthews. He reported how Jade Rawlings regularly clamped on the headphones to bark an order to his runner in a tin shed on the boundary line 40m away. He made the 200km round trip to chilly Ballarat to fulfil a commitment to coach the Coburg Tigers and could only watch helplessly as Richmond's VFL affiliate succumbed by 50 points to powerhouse North Ballarat. Standing in the rain on muddy Eastern Oval at three-quarter time to address the players, surrounded by 100 fans, didn't hurt Rawlings as much as the crushing loss. "The VFL keeps you very level, sometimes in less than salubrious surrounds compared to the Etihad Stadium or MCG coach's box," Richmond's caretaker coach said later in the cluttered, but warm, visitors' dressing rooms. But I love the VFL, it's a great competition in which you deal with good, young players and staff here who are all enthusiastic professionals. The last 24 hours my whole life has turned around, really, with the amount of people who have been in touch. My commitment to Coburg has been 100 per cent since the day I got the job and I wanted to do this well today. I don't think I was distracted in any way towards this game. I was disappointed with the result, but the players had a go in tough conditions against a good team."
With cars parked two-deep on the outer wing slopes, a gluepot centre square and hand-operated scoreboard, it had the true feel of country footy with fans huddled in hoods and jackets to ward off the rain. The slippery turf, mud-caked players and biting cold will be a distant memory when Rawlings picks up the phone in the air-conditioned coach's box at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night to start his AFL adventure against West Coast. But, true to his word, he stayed in the present as Coburg fought back to within 32 points early in the last quarter before conceding a couple of late goals. "I didn't want to touch it (the senior coach subject). I spoke to the Richmond boys yesterday after I had been appointed" he said. "I wanted to make sure this (Coburg's VFL match) was to be done well and we didn't get distracted from the task."
For the first time, he had time to focus on Richmond during the drive home down the Western Highway last night. It all starts with a regular Monday player meeting at the Punt Rd Oval. "There's a lot of work ahead of us in the coaches group, particularly the next couple of days, to put in place what we want to establish," Rawlings said. "Tomorrow we'll do a far bit of planning and meet with the players."
HALL: “I’VE GOT 11 WEEKS TO SALVAGE MY CAREER”
Had one of Barry Hall's teammates had a brain fade that cost Sydney the game as he did against Hawthorn at the weekend, the veteran forward admitted last night he would have been "filthy" with them, according to Andrea Petrie of The Age. She reports today that Hall, speaking on OneHD's One Week At A Time, last night spoke out about the three consecutive 50-metre penalties he gave away on Sunday which changed the game's momentum and enabled Hawthorn to run away with an 11-point win. Swans coach Paul Roos and teammate Adam Goodes blamed the loss on Hall's meltdown in the last quarter when the Swans were only four points down after kicking four of the previous five goals. Hall gave away the first 50-metre penalty for remonstrating with an umpire after Jarryd Roughead marked in front of him when Hall believed he had been unfairly held behind play by Roughead. Hall then made high contact with Roughead which led to the second 50-metre penalty before he manhandled Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell to give away the third. His actions gifted the Hawks a goal. The 32-year-old forward said he was disappointed in himself. "I was getting held by the arm and I obviously yelled that out to him," Hall said. He admitted he had gone too far when he struck Mitchell high. "It's disappointing," he said. "You can argue about the first 50, the second 50 and all that but it's still unacceptable. The momentum of the game changed entirely so I've got to wear that. A big thing from a forward's point of view is to bring the ball to ground and I was trying to do that with one arm being held and got frustrated again. I was yelling at the umpire, I didn't swear but technically the 50 was probably there." He said Roos did not need to speak to him when he was dragged but he knew his behaviour was not acceptable. "In the scheme of things, we had the momentum and it turned the game totally. If another player from my side did that I'd be filthy with them so I've got to wear that." He said he spoke to his teammates after the game and knew they were disappointed in him. "The leadership group spoke up and they were really disappointed and I knew that and I've got to cop that on the chin. I guess the thing for me going forward is that I've got 11 weeks to show the football club that I can put stuff like this behind me." Hall said he knew he had already blown plenty of chances at the Swans. "This could change things dramatically, I could go downhill from here but the next 11 weeks are pretty big for me."
Earlier, Sydney co-captain Adam Goodes had told Barry Hall that his misplaced aggression had "cost us" after Hall's latest brain fade robbed the Swans of the momentum during a crucial stage of yesterday's loss to Hawthorn, reports Richard Hinds of the Age. Goodes said each player had been asked to identify key words before the game. "Hally put his hand up and one of his words was that he wanted to be aggressive during the game. I said [after], 'Hally, you are aggressive but sometimes you step over that line. I thought today that pretty much cost us'." Goodes was ruing his own two missed shots but he acknowledged Hall's triple-50 had been the defining moment. "You look at it as you sit here now it's disappointing that could have been the turning point," he said. "It is hard to think what happened in the game, but that is obviously the one thing that stands out as a massive turning point." Roos said: "We could sit here and dream up fictional reasons, or you could get to the source of the problem and that was clearly a massive turning point in the game." Roos did not believe Hall's action warranted disciplinary action. "Clearly the group is disappointed, the coaches are disappointed, I'm sure the fans are disappointed," Roos said. "There's no point painting a rosy picture about it. Everyone saw what happened."
LATER START LIKELY FOR CATS-SAINTS CLASH
The AFL is considering delaying the starting time of the round-14 blockbuster between St Kilda and Geelong to allow as many people as possible to see the game, according to The Age. Having been forced to abandon a push to transfer the game from Etihad Stadium to the MCG, which would have allowed an extra 30,000-plus to attend the match, the AFL's chief broadcasting and commercial officer, Gillon McLachlan, said yesterday it was considering all options to enable more people to see the two powerhouse sides clash. The AFL wants the match televised live so Channel Seven is pushing for a later start time so that the telecast runs straight into its evening news to boost ratings. McLachlan said a decision was expected to be made this week. "We haven't made any decisions yet regarding that game but we are looking at what we might do, considering we were unable to move the game," he said. "In the end, we're looking at the context of having the most amount of people see the game as we can, given it's almost certain to be a sellout." Seven's Melbourne's chief, Ian Johnson, told The Age last night: "We've had a number of discussions and we'll see what happens".
TIGERS EYE $1M PROFIT
Richmond will shrug off the credit crunch to declare a $1 million profit, and says that figure is sustainable even without the hype from Ben Cousins' recruitment, reports Jon Ralph of the Herald Sun. Tigers president Gary March said the club's off-field stability was a key selling point for any prospective new coach. March said Richmond would soon have arguably the best facilities of any Victorian club, with the addition of its Craigieburn facility, and had football department spending to match any rival. The board will this evening ratify the club's plans to hire a new coach, with the Tigers set to more than double last year's $395,000 profit, despite the tough financial times. Despite the spate of losses that led to coach Terry Wallace being sacked, Richmond's membership is at record levels and it is a close second on attendances to Essendon. March was confident the club could maintain its financial strength even without the dramatic spike to membership Cousins provided. "By this time of the year you pretty much know where you sit in terms of revenue and cost base, so we expect to make close to a seven-figure profit," March said. "Two years ago we made a million-dollar profit and finished down the bottom and certainly didn't have Ben Cousins. "It's not just Ben, our sponsorship is 40 per cent ahead of where it was four years ago in terms of revenue, and we are up in a whole lot of areas."
HAWKS KEEN TO EXTEND TASSIE DEAL
Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says the club want to extend their partnership with Tasmania beyond 2011, according to Adam Cooper of the Herald Sun. The Tasmanian government last week considered putting the state's football sponsorship out to tender, but later abandoned that plan after the Hawks said they were committed to playing more games in Launceston. Kennett said on Sunday Hawthorn were keen to negotiate a long-term partnership with Tasmania to play games at Aurora Stadium after the current contract expired. ``I make no bones about it, we want to stay in Tasmania for many years to come, not just for the next five years,'' Kennett said at a luncheon before the Hawks played Sydney at the MCG. ``We entered into this relationship thinking it might be long-term and forever.'' Kennett said t he Hawks enjoyed playing in Launceston, where they held a decent home-ground advantage, and had signed 7,000 members from the island state. ``Hopefully the next year will see us go through a process that will ultimately see a re-commitment by Tasmania for Hawthorn, but also Hawthorn for Tasmania,'' he said. The Hawks play in Launceston next Sunday, against the Brisbane Lions, and also host games there in rounds 15 and 19.
GOOD, BAD NEWS FOR LIONS
There was good and bad news on the injury front for the Lions yesterday ahead of this week’s clash with Hawthorn in Launceston. Rising Hawks superstar Cyril Rioli will miss the game following a hamstring injury – the first time he will miss a game since his career began in Round 1 last year. But, in a telling counter blow, Brisbane will be without star defender Josh Drummond after he suffered a calf injury in the first quarter of the Lions’ loss to Carlton last Satruday night. In other injury news, Nor\th’s Ben Warren will miss at least two and possible four weks with a broken cheekbone, and Port Adelaide’s Travis Boak will miss at least a month with a knee problem. Adelaide skipper Simon Goodwin will face scans on a knee today.
ROOS FACES FOURTH RECONSTRUCTION
Young North Melbourne's young forward Robbie Tarrant faces his fourth shoulder reconstruction following a mishap in the VFL on the weekend. It is a tragic blow for the Roos’ first selection in the 2007 draft and the younger brother of Fremantle's Chris Tarrant. He kicked three goals in the Werribee Tigers' loss to the Casey Scorpions on Saturday, but felt soreness after the game. North's chief of football, Donald McDonald, said yesterday it was Tarrant's first game for the season after recovering from his third shoulder reconstruction in three years and a stress fracture in his knee. "He hasn't had a good run but we'll be sticking with him," McDonald said yesterday. The athletic forward was struck down by a shoulder injury early last season while playing for North Ballarat, but fought back to be an emergency in the Roosters' grand final win against Port Melbourne. The previous year he had been sidelined after injuring the other shoulder. He hurt his right shoulder during this year's pre-season and faced another reconstruction and while he underwent rehabilitation, injured his knee.
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