Port set to pass on Liam Jurrah

Liam Jurrah training with Port Adelaide. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: adelaidenow

THERE is growing speculation Port Adelaide will adopt a no-risk policy and overlook Liam Jurrah at Tuesday's AFL drafts.

The Power last night delayed making a decision on the troubled former Melbourne forward's future until Monday, saying "we want to watch him and our other train-on players have one final session with us before drawing any conclusions".

But it is understood Port - which had intended to make a call on Jurrah yesterday - is not sold on the value of the high-flying excitement machine, despite fans calling for him to be signed.

There also is speculation Jurrah arrived late to one of the Power's training sessions this week, disappointing club officials who had put strict guidelines on his recruitment.

Football operations manager Peter Rohde denied this, saying Jurrah had "ticked all the boxes".

But he admitted the club was torn over whether to throw the freakishly-skilled Jurrah an AFL lifeline.

"It's a tough decision for us, no doubt," Rohde said.

"As we've said before, Liam's talent is unquestioned. It's other things we have to weigh up. There are off-field issues and he's had a couple of serious injuries, so we'll work through all of that.

"We're in the process of doing that now and and we'll make a decision at our final (draft) meeting on Monday."

Jurrah, 24, kicked an impressive 81 goals in 36 games for the Demons before walking out on the club in August.

He is due to face an Alice Springs court hearing in March after being charged with aggravated assault and unlawfully causing serious harm over an altercation in March this year.

Former Port star Warren Tredrea has declared Jurrah isn't worth the risk, saying while the high-flier is talented he could have a detrimental effect on a young playing group.

The Power already has committed to taking ace SA teenager Sam Colquhoun, from Central District, with its sole pre-season draft selection (No. 3) on Tuesday.

Only GWS and the Western Bulldogs pick before Port and they have indicated they will take other players.

Rohde said Port would look at a mature-age player and a young player with its two remaining rookie-list picks.

The Power has eight unlisted players still training with it - Jurrah, Colquhoun, Norwood's Jaryd Cachia and the Port Magpies' Sam Gray, Kory Beard, Justin Hoskin, Aseri Raikiwasa and Sean Lemmens.

"You get players out to train with you because you've got some interest in them and want to have a look but you don't just want to limit yourself to those players you have train with you. We'll look at others too," Port recruiting manager Geoff Parker said.

As few as 20 untried players could be given AFL opportunities at the pre-season and rookie drafts because clubs have been forced to cut their rookie lists from six to four this year and several have committed to re-drafting players they have already cut.

The AFL yesterday announced 11 clubs were in position to participate in the pre-season draft but there could be as few as seven selections.

Premier Sydney must wait until pick 11 to take former Crow Kurt Tippett, who has priced himself out of being taken by another club by putting a $900,000-a-year price tag on his head.

Adelaide has committed to re-drafting Woodville-West Torrens midfielder Nick Joyce with its pre-season pick.

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New executive for Adelaide Crows

Adelaide Crows board vice-president Nigel Smart. Picture: Mark Brake. Source: adelaidenow

ADELAIDE is advertising for another executive with the Crows' business expanding and because of the 2014 shift to Adelaide Oval.

The Crows hope to appoint a chief operating officer early next year, which will take some of the heavy lifting off the chief executive.

The COO will serve as another layer of support for the CEO and be a link between sales, events, marketing and communications, the Westpac Centre, merchandise, community projects and membership, reporting to the chief executive.

Vice-president Nigel Smart said the move had been considered well before the upcoming AFL suspension of Steven Trigg for his role in the Kurt Tippett affair.

"We looked at a lot of models and this is something that's been on the agenda for a while," Smart said.

"The organisation, because of its size and complexity and also with the move to Adelaide Oval, needed to look at how we were doing things and how we could be as effective as possible."

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Voss excited about Lions' midfield

Tom Rockliff and Daniel Rich are a crucial part of the Brisbane Lions' emerging midfield. Picture: Mark Cranitch. Source: The Courier-Mail

BRISBANE coach Michael Voss has flagged the emergence of a potential premiership-winning midfield as the Lions embark on the next stage to playing finals football again.

Voss isn't predicting a fourth AFL flag for the club next season.

But he spoke excitedly about the young midfield group continuing to mature and learn behind the experience of the club's ageless veteran Simon Black.

Boom prospect Daniel Rich, vice-captain Tom Rockliff and Jack Redden are three 21-year-old midfielders who've now played more than 50 AFL games each.

Black, 33, is the only survivor of the club's famed "Fab Four" midfield of Jason Akermanis, Nigel Lappin and Voss and later joined by Luke Power.

Throw in the hard edge provided by the Scott twins, Brad and Chris, and coached by the game's toughest man Leigh Matthews, and it was an AFL dream team.

Voss, Akermanis and Black were Brownlow medallists by the time Brisbane became only the fourth club in AFL history in 2003 to win three straight premierships.

After Brendan Fevola's failed stint at the club, which many believe set the club's recovery mission back on its heels, Voss has implemented his strategies on and off the field to get the club back to contesting finals.

September action is something they've qualified for only once in eight years since their three consecutive titles.

Voss, who has stuck solid to his youth policy for the past few years, believes his side is beginning to mature.

"I've been backing it (youth) for a few years now and we've got an exciting, young midfield group," he said. "I joked about it last year that we had Simon Black at 33 years of age and our next oldest (midfielder) at 21."

Brisbane have to get two things right in 2013, according to Voss. The first is pulling fans back to the Gabba to make it a tough venue for visiting teams.

"The second is bridging the gap between us and the better teams in the competition," he said. "We're still losing to those teams by 40 to 60 points. Does that mean we close the gap by turning those games into wins?

"We'll have to wait and see.

"Certainly we must make significant ground on those teams to warrant an improvement by this group."

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Bombers protect Scott Gumbleton

Scott Gumbleton, right, at Essendon pre-season training with Dustin Fletcher and Paddy Ryder. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: Herald Sun

ESSENDON has wrapped Scott Gumbleton in cotton wool after the injury-prone forward complained of hamstring tightness yesterday.

Gumbleton, who has a history of hamstring problems, will be given next week off training - the Bombers' last week on the track before their Christmas break.

Gumbleton, 24, is expected to resume when pre-season training returns early in the new year.

Gumbleton has played only 28 of a possible 134 games since arriving at Essendon - the lowest total of any current player chosen in the first round of 2006's national draft.

He was on the long-term injury list at the start of last season as he recovered from back surgery, but, encouragingly for the Bombers, he found fitness to play six of the last eight matches of the year.

The No.2 draft pick was almost packing for the trip to Western Bulldogs in recent months, but he signed a one-year deal with Essendon in October.

"The sell to Scotty was that we believed he can play," coach James Hird told the Herald Sun this month.

"He just needs that consistency of training again.

"If he gets that he will be a very good player of the competition.

"But there is no player in the competition who can play well if they don't train.

"He hasn't missed a session in the pre-season.

"At the moment it's looking good for him."

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Dockers won't take Tippett

Kurt Tippett hopes to get to Sydney in the pre-season draft. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: Herald Sun

FREMANTLE won't spoil Sydney's party by swooping on Kurt Tippett in Tuesday's pre-season draft.

The Dockers today ruled out a surprise move to select Tippett with their No.8 pick before the Swans' first selection at 11.

With GWS already making it clear it won't pick Tippett, the former Crow seems certain to land at his preferred home, Sydney.

The AFL today released the order of selections in Tuesday's draft, with Greater Western Sydney holding the first selection ahead of the Bulldogs and Port Adelaide.

Eleven clubs can opt to take part in the draft for recycled AFL players.

Sydney has pick 11. That means 10 other clubs could potentially grab Tippett before the Swans have a selection, but that is unlikely given the price Tippett has put on his head.

Tippett is permitted to set his contract demands before the draft, although they are believed to fall short of Sydney's reported $3.5 million offer.

The Dockers failed in a bid to lure Travis Cloke from Collingwood with a five-year $5 million deal at the end of the season, but say they are looking closer to home.

Jesse Crichton, delisted by Fremantle at the end of the season, and WAFL players Alex Hewson, Nick Rodda, Callum Sinclair and Cam Symonds are training with the Dockers, along with Murray Bushranger Matthew Taberner.

Pic gallery: Biggest pre-season draft bargains

Richmond is believed to be prepared to use its fifth selection on discarded Geelong ruckman Orren Stephenson while the Bulldogs are weighing up ex-Bomber Brent Prismall and 28-year-old VFL player Brett Goodes, brother of Sydney champion Adam.

There are 17 picks in the pre-season draft order but many of those are likely to go unused as clubs save extra selections for the rookie draft, which follows immediately after the pre-season draft.

Pic gallery: Biggest pre-season draft flops

Clubs next year must reduce their rookie list by two but can opt to list up to six rookies by using less spots on their primary list.

Geelong, Hawthorn, Melbourne, St Kilda, North Melbourne, West Coast and Gold Coast do not have selections in the pre-season draft.

2012 PRE-SEASON DRAFT

Round One
1 – GWS Giants
2 – Western Bulldogs
3 – Port Adelaide
4 – Brisbane Lions
5 – Richmond
6 – Essendon
7 – Carlton
8 – Fremantle
9 – Collingwood
10 – Adelaide Crows
11 – Sydney Swans

Round Two
12 – GWS Giants
13 – Carlton
14 – Fremantle
15 – Collingwood
16 – Sydney Swans

Round Three
17 – Sydney Swans
 

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Bolton raring to go for 15th season

Jude Bolton celebrates Sydney's 2012 Grand Final win against Hawthorn. Picture: Alex Coppel Source: Herald Sun

JUDE Bolton is not a man for second thoughts.

But if anyone else harboured doubts about the Sydney veteran's decision to extend his 301-game AFL career, they would have done well to watch his 3km time-trial today, when the premiers' full squad returned to pre-season training.

The 32-year-old bettered his best time from last season, with the partially-torn posterior and anterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee having healed without surgery.

"Absolutely, it does (give me confidence). You want to put a good time on the board, just so you know where you're at as well," Bolton said.

"I certainly feel pretty fit, especially with pre-season only starting ... hopefully after Christmas, I'll be even fitter.

"Having no post-season surgery (helps) ... the knee has really settled down now and it's feeling good.

"My wife and I mostly hung around Sydney and Melbourne, so I've been able to train here and do a bit. I feel nice and fresh."

While today was the official start for the experienced Swans' pre-season program, Bolton has been shaping up over the past three weeks after opting to continue a one-club career that started with pick No.8 in the 1998 draft.

Despite their premiership status, the likes of Bolton and Ted Richards made a low-key return to the track, with TV cameramen more interested in camping outside nearby NRL headquarters while drawn-out pay talks continued.

As expected, co-captain Adam Goodes (knee) did not take part.

"It's good to be back into it," Bolton said.

"You see all the other teams start back up and you sit around and start questioning yourself a bit."

Bolton said his teammates were cautiously excited about the prospect of former Adelaide forward Kurt Tippett joining the club.

"He's a super-talented player. We saw in the prelim final against Hawthorn how well he played there," the no-nonsense midfielder said.

"But the simple fact is we haven't got him yet. We'll have to wait until (the pre-season draft on) Tuesday to see whether we do get him.

"With or without him, we've got to keep improving. We're about constant improvement at this club."

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Dockers won't take Tippett

Kurt Tippett hopes to get to Sydney in the pre-season draft. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: Herald Sun

FREMANTLE won't spoil Sydney's party by swooping on Kurt Tippett in Tuesday's pre-season draft.

The Dockers today ruled out a surprise move to select Tippett with their No.8 pick before the Swans' first selection at 11.

With GWS already making it clear it won't pick Tippett, the former Crow seems certain to land at his preferred home, Sydney.

The AFL today released the order of selections in Tuesday's draft, with Greater Western Sydney holding the first selection ahead of the Bulldogs and Port Adelaide.

Eleven clubs can opt to take part in the draft for recycled AFL players.

Sydney has pick 11. That means 10 other clubs could potentially grab Tippett before the Swans have a selection, but that is unlikely given the price Tippett has put on his head.

Tippett is permitted to set his contract demands before the draft, although they are believed to fall short of Sydney's reported $3.5 million offer.

The Dockers failed in a bid to lure Travis Cloke from Collingwood with a five-year $5 million deal at the end of the season, but say they are looking closer to home.

Jesse Crichton, delisted by Fremantle at the end of the season, and WAFL players Alex Hewson, Nick Rodda, Callum Sinclair and Cam Symonds are training with the Dockers, along with Murray Bushranger Matthew Taberner.

Pic gallery: Biggest pre-season draft bargains

Richmond is believed to be prepared to use its fifth selection on discarded Geelong ruckman Orren Stephenson while the Bulldogs are weighing up ex-Bomber Brent Prismall and 28-year-old VFL player Brett Goodes, brother of Sydney champion Adam.

There are 17 picks in the pre-season draft order but many of those are likely to go unused as clubs save extra selections for the rookie draft, which follows immediately after the pre-season draft.

Pic gallery: Biggest pre-season draft flops

Clubs next year must reduce their rookie list by two but can opt to list up to six rookies by using less spots on their primary list.

Geelong, Hawthorn, Melbourne, St Kilda, North Melbourne, West Coast and Gold Coast do not have selections in the pre-season draft.

2012 PRE-SEASON DRAFT

Round One
1 – GWS Giants
2 – Western Bulldogs
3 – Port Adelaide
4 – Brisbane Lions
5 – Richmond
6 – Essendon
7 – Carlton
8 – Fremantle
9 – Collingwood
10 – Adelaide Crows
11 – Sydney Swans

Round Two
12 – GWS Giants
13 – Carlton
14 – Fremantle
15 – Collingwood
16 – Sydney Swans

Round Three
17 – Sydney Swans
 

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Pav laments 'substandard' home

UPGRADE NEEDED: Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich says the playing group has faith in the board to make the best decision on the club's new training base. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

MATTHEW Pavlich doesn't mind where Fremantle's new training base is located - just as long as it's an improvement on what he considers one of the worst two facilities in the AFL.

The Dockers skipper declined to weigh in on the debate of whether an upgraded Fremantle Oval or a new home at Cockburn West would be the best option for the club.

But the 30-year-old called for a swift decision to be made to rectify the current "substandard" set-up at Fremantle's home base.

"Currently, our facility is probably in the bottom two in the AFL. It's substandard," Pavlich said today.

"For us to achieve what we want to do - be the best players, be the best team in the AFL - we can't do that right here.

"Collingwood and Hawthorn have gone away from their suburban traditional grounds and have been completely successful, not only individually but as a team.

"It does highlight the need for the best facilities."

Pavlich said the playing group had "complete faith" in the board and chief executive Steve Rosich to make the best call for the club.

"We'll continue to back them in to make the right decision," Pavlich said.

"From the players' perspective, all we want is the best opportunity to play well - and that's both individually and as a team.

"Where that is… we'll leave that up to the people who are paid the big bucks to make those decisions."

Pavlich is yet to rejoin his teammates on the pre-season training track following back surgery.

But the skipper said he was confident of returning to the group next month and playing in "one or two" NAB Cup games in the lead-up to the team's 2013 campaign.

"This next little phase before Christmas is vital for me," he said of his recovery.

"Making sure that I recover - firstly from the surgery a few weeks ago - and that I do everything right to make sure that come early January, I'm out there with the boys."

Follow Chris Robinson on Twitter: @CJKRobinson
 

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Umpires win pay rise

Brad Ebert's ready to lead Port

All AFL umpires will receive a pay rise next season. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Limited

ALL AFL umpires will get a 7 per cent pay rise next year after the league signed off on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Under the deal, field, boundary and goal umpires will receive pay increases of 7 per cent, 5 per cent, 4 per cent, 3 per cent and 3 per cent over the next five years.

Umpires earn up to $90,000 a year.

And the league will investigate the possibility of full-time umpires in future.

Outgoing AFL operations manger Adrian Anderson said the deal would attract the best umpiring talent.

The deal also includes more than $330,000 in funding each year to the AFL Umpires Association to support its work in umpire welfare, development and promotion.

"The AFL Umpires Association and the umpires are very pleased after a lengthy negotiation process the AFL has recognised the professionalism and integrity of all umpires within our group. We want to evolve with the game as it also becomes more professional," association chief executive Peter Howe said.

Anderson said AFL umpires work 20 hours a week on training and coaching around their own work commitments.
 

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Pav laments 'substandard' home

UPGRADE NEEDED: Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich says the playing group has faith in the board to make the best decision on the club's new training base. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

MATTHEW Pavlich doesn't mind where Fremantle's new training base is located - just as long as it's an improvement on what he considers one of the worst two facilities in the AFL.

The Dockers skipper declined to weigh in on the debate of whether an upgraded Fremantle Oval or a new home at Cockburn West would be the best option for the club.

But the 30-year-old called for a swift decision to be made to rectify the current "substandard" set-up at Fremantle's home base.

"Currently, our facility is probably in the bottom two in the AFL. It's substandard," Pavlich said today.

"For us to achieve what we want to do - be the best players, be the best team in the AFL - we can't do that right here.

"Collingwood and Hawthorn have gone away from their suburban traditional grounds and have been completely successful, not only individually but as a team.

"It does highlight the need for the best facilities."

Pavlich said the playing group had "complete faith" in the board and chief executive Steve Rosich to make the best call for the club.

"We'll continue to back them in to make the right decision," Pavlich said.

"From the players' perspective, all we want is the best opportunity to play well - and that's both individually and as a team.

"Where that is… we'll leave that up to the people who are paid the big bucks to make those decisions."

Pavlich is yet to rejoin his teammates on the pre-season training track following back surgery.

But the skipper said he was confident of returning to the group next month and playing in "one or two" NAB Cup games in the lead-up to the team's 2013 campaign.

"This next little phase before Christmas is vital for me," he said of his recovery.

"Making sure that I recover - firstly from the surgery a few weeks ago - and that I do everything right to make sure that come early January, I'm out there with the boys."

Follow Chris Robinson on Twitter: @CJKRobinson
 

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