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Getting to heart of matter

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 03 Februari 2013 | 23.03

Out in the cold: A heart condition has left footballer Josh Toy without an AFL club. Picture: Kylie Else Source: Herald Sun

JOSH Toy ponders his brief spell as an AFL footballer and the experience leaves him just one option - you have to laugh.

A few months after being offered an extension on his two years at Gold Coast, the Victorian found himself without a club.

It was trade week, Melbourne.

"I was about to go home and pack my bags (to head back up north) and then I got told that was it," Toy said.

"Then trade week fell through and national draft fell through and the rookie draft fell through, and I went from having a one-year deal, in my mind, to nothing in the space of 2 1/2 months.

"Not that it was a fall from grace, because I had nothing to fall from ... I only smile because it was kind of like a joke. It was so the opposite of what I thought was going to happen."

It wasn't a regulation delisting.

Toy, who avoided the draft after being hand-picked by Gold Coast as a priority 17-year-old, has a heart condition that affects his endurance and aerobic capacity.

The condition, which poses no danger to his health, appeared to influence the opinion of five clubs - Essendon, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Hawthorn and Richmond - who had shown genuine interest in recruiting him at the end of last season.

"It (the heart condition) does have slightly limiting factors," Toy said.

"But I spoke to Dave Prior, he's the AFL cardiologist, and he said there are ways that you can improve your running capacity and your endurance levels so I kind of figured if there's still ways I can improve, I was hoping someone would give me a shot."

Toy played eight games in the Suns' debut season in 2011 and five matches last year.

Toy was diagnosed with the condition during his first pre-season at the Suns at the end of 2010 but, looking back, there had been signs.

"When I found out about it, it wasn't as if I was shocked," he said.

"In the AIS we did a beep test and we had our heart rate monitors on and everyone was reading out their heart rate was 200 and I looked down and mine's 181. And I was like, surely I didn't not try my hardest. I was buggered as much as they were.

"Because I didn't go through the draft camp, no one tested for it.

"There were just frustrating times. (The Suns) all went over to Arizona and trained and I was on par with certain players and they came back and they'd improved 20 seconds and I'd improve one."

Toy said he believed, at 20, he could improve his fitness enough to break back into the game at the highest level.

And he has The Weapon on his side.

Toy signed to play with Essendon's VFL side and has been working with the Bombers' fitness staff - including Dean "The Weapon" Robinson - on a program that mirrors an AFL regimen.

"I was doing my gym work at Windy Hill because it's the closest gym," Toy said.

"I ran into Dean twice and he said if you don't get picked up (by an AFL club) I've got an idea for you in terms of training.

"I sat down with him and Jesse, who's looking after the conditioning for the twos, and had a chat about the possibility to get some extra training in first and try and up my load to mimic an AFL environment."

Toy is back living at home with his mum, Rosalee, and brothers Nicholas, 22, and Braden, 16. His father, Malcolm, died in 2008.

He is starting a phys ed degree at RMIT and he is keen to coach.

Toy is also working for the Footys 4 All foundation, which provides equipment for disadvantaged youth.

But he is more than happy to put all that on hold if he gets another chance to play AFL.


23.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chappy happy with fitness

Paul Chapman says he is in a wonderful place injury-wise for the first time in four seasons. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

GEELONG veteran Paul Chapman has flagged his intention to spend more time in the midfield after his best pre-season in years.

The 31-year-old has clocked career-best training times, including in a 2km time-trial.

"Probably for the last four years I haven't really had a pre-season like this one, due to injuries and everything," Chapman told Geelong's website.

"Last year I had a consistent pre-season, ... but I didn't get the volume of work that I wanted."

Chapman said he had struggled to get consistency into his training since his 2009 Norm Smith Medal, often being forced to miss sessions because he was to sore. He said that had restricted him to playing mostly as a forward.

"I love playing up forward, but there were times when the mind wanted to do things that the body couldn't cash in on."

Chapman said he was unlikely starter for the team's NAB Cup opener in Perth, but expected to play against Adelaide and North Melbourne in Rounds 2 and 3 of the pre-season.


23.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sheeds says London calling

London to a brick: Kevin Sheedy believes a fair dinkum AFL game, rather than an exhibition clash, would create enormous interest and guarantee a sell-out at The Oval in London. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: Herald Sun

GREATER Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy is thinking even more forward these days, if that's possible.

Sheedy wants the AFL to schedule a NAB Cup game at The Oval in London at the end of the season.

While the game would be played this year, Sheedy wants it to be included in the 2014 official pre-season competition.

He believes a fair dinkum game, rather than an exhibition clash, would create enormous interest and guarantee a sell-out at The Oval.

Sheedy said the difficulty of playing a NAB Cup game in London in March would be overcome with an official game soon after the Grand Final, which would allow the Giants and its yet to be decided opponent to have fully fit players involved.

"If the Giants were able to secure a game in London at the end of the year, why couldn't that be added as a possible first round for the NAB Cup for the next year?

"I think that would bring some more seriousness to the game and it would be an absolute sell-out," he said.

It would be Sheedy's last game if he got to coach in London. His senior assistant Leon Cameron takes over as coach at the end of the season.


23.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wells to stay put at North

Life in the old legs yet: Kangaroos veteran Daniel Wells clears out of the middle in front of Nathan Jones. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

UNRESTRICTED free agent Daniel Wells has declared himself a North Melbourne player for life.

Wells enjoyed an excellent 2012 despite an achilles/calf problem that worsened in the second half of the season and forced him to miss the Round 23 game. The injury has also hampered his pre-season preparations.

It meant Wells, 28 this week, could do little during the club's Utah training camp.

He said his pre-season had been frustrating but he would be fit to take on Port Adelaide in Round 1.

Wells is out of contract this year, but was not expected to join the likes of Lance Franklin and Dale Thomas in delaying contract talks.

"I would love to be a one-club player," he said.

"I would love to see out my career with them (the Kangaroos). Hopefully I still have plenty of years, so I will just get out on the park and play good footy, and that will take care of itself.

"I have got a lot of time for the Kangaroos. We have been through some tough times but we are a really good team and it's exciting to be part of, and I want to help the young ones out.

"I played (in the session on Friday at Geelong) and got through the whole session and I am moving pretty well.

"I didn't have surgery but it was really sore and tender pretty much the whole time in Utah, and it was frustrating, but I tried to make sure no one picked up on my body language.

"It still wasn't quite right when I got back to Australia, but in the last couple of weeks it's gone pretty well and now we are putting heavy loads into it. The docs have assured me it is going to be fine, so I am getting some run in my legs."

Brent Harvey might be 34, but Wells says his training form shows he could easily go on past this season despite serving a six-week ban.

"He has had a super pre-season. The way he is training at the moment is as good as I have seen. He doesn't drop off one bit. There is no doubt he could go on again. He has a whole season to get through but he is training as well as ever."


23.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hamstring scare for Judd

Chris Judd is experiencing some tightness in a hamstring. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

CARLTON will take a "super cautious" approach with champion midfielder Chris Judd after a tight right hamstring forced him off the training track.

The setback on Friday reinforced Carlton's decision to rest its former skipper from an intraclub practice match on Wednesday, although it hopes Judd will be ready to play in Round 1 of the NAB Cup in Sydney in three weeks.

"It was just some tightness in his right hammy and he felt it coming on so decided to come off the track," Carlton's general manager of football Andrew McKay said yesterday.

"The medicos think he'll be fine. We're just going to be super cautious. We'll see how he pulls up.

"If it doesn't free up in the next couple of days we'll send him off for a scan."

McKay said Judd, 30 this year, would be one of several senior players rested from match simulation on Wednesday, the same day the Blues plan to reveal their new clash jumper.


Carlton's opening NAB Cup involvement is a twilight engagement with the Swans and the Giants at Blacktown on February 24.

The Judd development came as Blues ruckman Matthew Kreuzer said he had learned to listen to his body, and hoped to have put three injury-interrupted seasons behind him.

Knee, hip, foot and muscle injuries have limited Kreuzer to 45 games since 2005, and have reduced his on-field effectiveness.

"You don't want to miss a game if you can, so you've just got to cope with it and find ways around it," he told the club website.

"Some weeks you do this and other weeks you do that, and you work out what works best for you.

"I learnt a lot about how I've got to manage my body, so I'll take a lot of things from last year and put them in place this year.

"It was a tough year, but I took a lot out of it. And it was like that for the whole club because we had a lot of injuries and had to play a few players out of position."

Kreuzer, 23, conceded that injury niggles meant he "wasn't the greatest kick" last season, but hopes that will have been addressed by off-season surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee.

"Last year it was just hard to find time to work on it because I was on a tight schedule as to how much (training) I could do during the week," he said.

"Hopefully this year I won't have any of those problems and I can do every session. If that's what happens, I think my kicking will definitely improve, and everything else will too."


23.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Indigenous still get chance

Michael O'Loughlin says there was big uproar about why there weren't more indigenous players drafted last year, but for him it was purely a quirk of the system. Picture: Stephen Harman Source: Herald Sun

ALL-STARS coach Mick O'Loughlin has dismissed worries that AFL clubs are increasingly unwilling to draft indigenous players.

Only three indigenous footballers were selected in last year's national draft and talented but troubled WA youngster Dayle Garlett was notably overlooked due to anxieties about his off-field behaviour.

Former Swans premiership forward O'Loughlin, who will coach Indigenous All-Stars in a match against Richmond in Alice Springs on Friday night, said the issue would "no doubt" be discussed at the three-day camp leading up to the match, but he believed 2012 was an anomaly.

"There was a big uproar about why there weren't more indigenous players drafted last year, but for me it was just a quirk of the system," O'Loughlin said.

"My personal opinion is just that these things ebb and flow. One year there may not be many ruckmen, another not enough mids. Or if you have one draft where there's hardly any kids out of Western Australia, does that mean you need to hit the panic button about footy in that state? There's no panic stations from where I sit.

"The indigenous pathway is there and producing players."

About 60 indigenous AFL players will gather in Alice Springs from Tuesday for a three-day camp that includes a leadership program and community visits.

O'Loughlin said former Lions premiership defender Chris Johnson had drawn up an agenda of subjects for discussion at the camp.

"We'll talk about everything from drafting to financial planning and how to invest your money. I think the younger boys will be surprised about how open the older guys will be about their experiences," O'Loughlin said.

He said there would be discourse about the pitfalls of drug and alcohol.

"Absolutely. Just like at any AFL club, that will be a discussion point. That will certainly be raised. It's a chance for blokes to have an open discussion about any issue in the AFL industry," he said.

Another topic would be the number of indigenous footballers who have walked away from the system, such as Zeph Skinner (Western Bulldogs), Liam Jurrah and Kelvin Lawrence (Melbourne), Nathan Krakouer (Gold Coast), Nathan Djerrkura (Bulldogs), Troy Taylor and Relton Roberts (Richmond) and Rhan Hooper (Brisbane Lions).

"This camp is a chance for the younger players to get to know the older guys and pick their brains, learn from them how they've survived in the cut-throat environment that is AFL," O'Loughlin said.

"We've been playing in a bloody tough industry and there's a lot of pressure that goes along with it, so a lot of these guys need to learn how professional you need to be.

"I know it took me a few years to find my feet, and it's going to take some of these kids time, as well.

"They'll get the opportunity to sit down and have breakfast with Goodesy (Adam Goodes) or Buddy (Franklin) or Shauny Burgoyne."


23.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Saints follow the leader

Scott Watters implemented the leadership model last season and believes it is starting to pay off. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: Herald Sun

ST KILDA pioneered co-captaincy in the 1990s and introduced captaincy rotation a decade ago, but under Scott Watters' coaching the Saints are employing a leadership model inspired by the all-conquering Hockeyroos.

St Kilda's structure involves 19 players spread across three leadership tiers: leaders, emerging leaders and mentors.

"I always watched with interest and admired what Ric Charlesworth was doing as coach of the Australian women's hockey team in the early 1990s," Watters said.

"They basically had Rechelle Hawkes as their captain, but they went through a phase where they made a deliberate decision to spread leadership among the whole group."

The four-time Olympian captained the Hockeyroos from 1993 to 2000, during which time they lost only one international tournament.

"They went through arguably their most successful period without a traditional captain, with the philosophy being that they were after a critical mass of leaders," Watters said.

"Part of it is that your leadership model needs to have a little bit of flexibility as your group grows.

"But to me it's less about the obvious leader at a club. It's more about how many people can we get into that frame of mind and have that skills set to drive the environment."

Watters implemented the structure last season and believes it is starting to pay off.

The Saints have a group of six mentors with 1305 games experience between them, one of whom attends meetings of the leadership group (twice a week) and emerging leaders (weekly).

"Every player on the list has a responsibility to lead.

"It's not just about the captain or even the leadership group, it's far broader than that. I'm not even concerned who tosses the coin on match day. In many ways it's one of the great traditions of the game, but it's not something that drives the group and their program," Watters said.

"It's the leadership throughout the week, throughout the game, after a win, after a loss, during training. They're the things that are critical."

The Saints are looking to fast-track the development of their younger players.

"We now have 26 players aged under 23 on our list, and 21 of those have really come in over the past 12 months. So it's a list that has some outstanding experienced leaders, but it also has some players who are pretty new to the system.

"So the more we get interaction between those two groups I think it helps bridge that gap," Watters said.

LEADERSHIP GROUP (8)
Nick Riewoldt (capt), Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, Ben McEvoy, James Gwilt, Jarryn Geary*, David Armitage*, Sean Dempster*
*elevated this season

EMERGING LEADERS (5)
Sam Dunnell, Jack Newnes, Arryn Siposs, Tom Curren, Seb Ross.

MENTORS (6)
Lenny Hayes, Sam Fisher, Justin Koschitzke, Jason Blake, Stephen Milne, Adam Schneider.


23.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Crows jump on the Buddy train

We're in the mix: Adelaide has announced it will be a big player in this year's free agency market even before Lance Franklin's surprise decision. Picture: Mark Dadswell Source: Herald Sun

ADELAIDE has thrown its hat into the Lance Franklin money ring, declaring it could make an audacious end-of-season play for the champion forward.

Armed with plenty of salary cap room after Kurt Tippett's controversial departure to Sydney, the cashed-up Crows say they will "keep a close eye" on Franklin's contract status and could be in a position to offer the looming free agent a multi-million dollar deal to lure him from Hawthorn.

Only Fremantle is understood to have as much cash to spend on free agents as Adelaide at the end of the season.

Franklin - a superstar who is arguably the game's best player - could hit the open market after shocking the Hawks on Friday by knocking back a four-year deal understood to be worth about $4 million and telling the club he will not discuss a new contract until the end of the season.

This has sparked fears the restricted free agent could leave and put rival clubs with money to spend on red alert.

Adelaide - robbed of key draft picks for its role in the Tippett salary cap scandal - had announced it would be a big player in this year's free agency market even before "Buddy" Franklin's surprise decision.

Its failure to re-sign Tippett has saved it about $750,000-a-season in salary cap room.

Chairman Rob Chapman told The Advertiser "we will be pro-active in that (free agency) area, no doubt. We are well placed to spend some money on players we think can help our football club and the process of identifying those players will start shortly."

Franklin, who has kicked 520 goals in 161 games, has quickly jumped to the top of the queue.

It is likely to take an offer of at least $5 million over four years to get Franklin to leave Hawthorn, where he has become the AFL's most marketable player.

Fremantle last year offered Collingwood key forward Travis Cloke $1.1 million for five years but failed to land him.

While 26-year-old Franklin is favoured to stay at the Hawks, the Crows point to former Saint Brendon Goddard's free agency move to Essendon as evidence that big-name players are prepared to switch clubs in the new free agency era.

"The landscape is certainly different than it was a few years ago," Adelaide list manager David Noble said. "Free agency has changed that."

Noble said the Crows would "clearly be interested in a player of Franklin's quality".

But he acknowledged there would be plenty of water to go under the bridge before Adelaide got close to securing him.

Noble said the club was in no hurry to speak to Franklin's manager, Liam Pickering, about his future.

"Any club would love to have a Lance Franklin on their list but the season hasn't even started yet so we will just sit and watch how things unfold with him," Noble said.

"Like most clubs we will be watching developments closely. You would expect it would take a lot to get Buddy to leave Hawthorn but as we've seen with these things you never say never."

Noble said his club's most pressing need at this time of the year was to find an in-house replacement for Tippett, who has left Taylor Walker as Adelaide's only recognised key forward.

Josh Jenkins, Shaun McKernan, Lewis Johnston and Tom Lynch are vying to be Walker's new key position goalkicking sidekick.

"And just how those players develop could impact on the philosophy we take with free agency," Noble said.

"First you have to see which players are available in free agency and then you have to decide how they fit in with the make-up of your team."


23.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

The Giant Bang from Denmark

Kevin Sheedy says the league has an obligation to invest in talented players wherever they may be around the world if it wants to truly develop our game internationally. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

Heading our way: Aksel Bang has made quite an impression in Denmark. Source: Supplied

IT'S being dubbed the Sheedy Sheedy Bang Bang experiment.

Greater Western Sydney has awarded an international scholarship to 21-year-old Danish footballer Aksel Bang, who is the rated the best Aussie Rules footballer in Europe.

Bang, who will soon start six months national service in Afghanistan, will travel to Sydney during his scheduled break from the army in April/May but will pull on the Giants guernsey later in the year as he trains with them.

Bang, a midfielder, took up the game two years ago after visiting Australia and now plays for the Aalborg Kangaroos and Danish Vikings in the AFL Europe competition. He was named the leading player in last year's Euro Cup.

Bang will develop through the Giants reserve team which plays in the North East Football League in which the Swans also field a team.

Sheedy said he was delighted to bring a player from Denmark after the club had formed several partnerships with teams in Europe which have taken on the Giants name.

"We have an obligation to invest in talented players wherever they may be around the world if we want to truly develop our game internationally," Sheedy said.

"As someone who did national service himself, I look forward to learning more about Aksel and his experience in Afghanistan. I am sure our players will as well and he will learn a lot from spending time at an AFL club."

AFL Europe general Ben MacCormack said Bang would inspire more players from Europe to chase their dream of heading to Australia.

"Aksel has learnt the game in Denmark and been involved in our talent programs in the last two years," he said.

AFL Europe chairman Chris Dow said the recruiting of Bang had "blown the roof off Scandinavia".

"Aksel is a ripper ... he will be successful both on and off the field," Dow said.


23.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

AFL players join Gay Pride March

Richmond's Daniel Jackson , Yarra Glen's Jason Ball and Carlton's Brock McLean at the march. Picture: Andrew Tauber Source: Herald Sun

AFL players Brock McLean and Daniel Jackson have called for more action against homophobia in footy after becoming the first league players to take part in Victoria's Gay Pride March.

The Carlton and Richmond players spoke out on the issue at the 18th annual Gay Pride March at St Kilda.

"The AFL and players have been so quiet on this issue for so long, they're sort of pretending like it's not there," McLean said.

"But there is an issue there. There is homophobia in sport," he said.

"And if we could start to get more people to talk about it, and more people to voice their opinion and talk about what's right - and that's treating everyone equally - then I guess that's a win-win for everyone."

The Blues midfielder last month revealed his younger sister was gay.

McLean said it would be groundbreaking if an AFL player came out.

And more needed to be done to support players who were dealing with their sexuality, he said.

The Gay Pride March in St Kilda. Picture: Andrew Tauber

Tigers midfielder Jackson joined the march with McLean and gay community footballer Jason Ball.

"It would be great for the AFL to do more," he said.

"They've done such great work with racial vilification and respect and responsibility for women. So if they could fit in the gay movement and anti-discrimination as a whole, I think that'd be great for the Australian community."

Letters of support from the AFL Coaches Association and Richmond Football Club were read out before the march, led by Ball and teammates from Yarra Glen Football Club, began.

The largest ever police contingent joined the march in Fitzroy St, as did paramedics and groups from as far afield as Shepparton and Geelong.


23.02 | 0 komentar | Read More
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