The Cheersquads finals Treaty Inside the F8 summit.
Cheer Squad Representatives of the Top eight teams competing in the 2008 AFL Finals series agreed on the key points of a Cheer Squad treaty being struck.
This treaty, the first of its kind, is a result of the F8 Summit concept created by Superfooty Wrap powerbrokers, Jeff Wortman and Paul Hogan.
Overwhelming support was given to a strengthening of the role of floggers in cheer Squads. According to Tom Bird of the Kangaroos, the Telstra Dome had recently tried to ‘phase out’ floggers on the basis that they obscure lucrative advertising space. Crows supporter Trevor Klein insisted that the colourful pom poms are ‘part of the colour and excitement’ of the game.
Concern was expressed by Joffa Corfe over the term floggers however. ‘It has connotations and we’re not like that. We’re upstanding citizens.’ A resolution was passed that a more suitable term be coined before the finals begin. Some suggestions include:
All parties expressed concern over the issue of returning the ball to the opposition team after a behind. Key points of a resolution on this matter ensuring there was no throwing the ball back during play, retaining the ball for an extended period or exchanging the ball with any other object.
Rodney Hutchinson refuted that the Western Bulldogs Cheer Squad had been the main culprits and insisted that the record show that a high percentage of his Cheer Squad were elderly thus making it more difficult to retrieve the ball promptly. Several hours of vigorous debate followed.
Members felt that the AFL’s recent institution of ‘ball bags’ containing extra footies was an indictment on the integrity of Cheer Squads on this issue.
Absent from the finalised Treaty was a moratorium on spitting, suggested by Bec Loring of St Kilda. The motion was quashed by a majority of 5 to 3. Joffa Corfe of Collingwood commenting: “It’s our birth rite to spit at the footy, non- negotiable. I’ll storm out and rip up the treaty if you want to bring that one on further.”
KEY POINTS FROM THE F8 SUMMIT:
The term Floggers to be revised
Cheer Squads to return the ball promptly after a behind
Spitting on Opposition players to be monitored by all Cheer Squads (Collingwood: Abstain)
To have at least one VCE graduate in each Cheer Squad to spell check the banner.
A MATTER of days after Eddie McGuire learned that Greg Swann had crossed over to the dark navy blue side, Dale Thomas began packing his bags.
The gifted youngster had lived at the Swann residence throughout his first season, and while "Daisy" would have moved out in the course of 2007 anyway, Swann's defection certainly expedited his change of address. Collingwood players don't live with the enemy.
Swann's sudden departure angered McGuire; that he had dumped Collingwood for Carlton - the club that brings out the most passionate tribal instincts in Eddie - upset him further, the Magpie president saying at the time that he was unhappy with "the timing" of his CEO's exit (on the eve of the 2007 season) and particularly disappointed with the destination.
Swann, he said, was now "a Carlton person" - not a compliment. Eddie felt blindsided.
So began another page, if not a chapter, in the 100-year war between Carlton and Collingwood, the inner suburban yin and yangs.
The animus between these clubs was forged mainly in battle. We think, principally, of storied grand finals - the violent 1910 grand final won by Collingwood, Carlton's five-point victory in 1979 on the back of Wayne Harmes' tap to Kenny Sheldon (was the ball out?), and perhaps the most remarkable grand final in the game's history, 1970, when Ron Barassi is said to have re-invented the game, encouraging handball, and resurrecting Carlton from a 44-point half-time deficit.
What happened on the field hasn't always stayed there, either. In 1938, the Carlton committee instigated a complaint against Magpie champion Harry Collier, who had struck a Carlton player without a report. The tribunal suspended Collier for 14 matches, despite a guilty plea and apology. He missed the grand final, in which the Pies were defeated by, yep, the Blues.
But on-field conflict has been muted over the past decade and a half. Nathan Buckley recently noted that he did not play a single final against Carlton in his 14 years with Collingwood. When Carlton was good (1995-2001), the Pies were at their nadir, and vice-versa (2002-2007), as the national competition and draft system conspired against a persistent rivalry.
Hot war went cold, the clubs entering a period of detente. There was the odd skirmish - Brendan Fevola running amok, Scott Camporeale getting belted, Collingwood cheersquad provocateur "Joffa" Corfe brandishing a giant wooden spoon in 2002 - but the pause button had been pressed. Moreover, the Blues and Pies became quasi-allies in the '90s, since they and Essendon constituted a Victorian vested interest, the big club/blockbuster bloc.
Today, there are unmistakable signs of a Carlton restoration, via the jarring combination of Carlton's traditional chequebook (Richard Pratt) and those AFL equalisation measures (three No. 1 picks and Chris Judd) that brought the Blues unstuck in the first place. Collingwood is travelling nicely, hence today's game carries a genuine sense of occasion. Weather willing, it might attract 80,000.
Before the last encounter in round four this year, McGuire addressed the Collingwood players at a club dinner, exhorting them to beat Carlton and ensure that the Blues broke their own record for consecutive defeats (14); Carlton upset the Pies, avoiding that ignominy, surprisingly winning five of eight since round three.
Carlton is the only "traditional" club to have beaten Collingwood more often than the Magpies have beaten it (121 to 111), and the Blues haven't always been gracious victors. "What's better than beating Collingwood by 10 goals?" Carlton president, the late George Harris, famously roared after the '79 grand final. "Beating them by five points!"
In their efforts to regain their swagger under Pratt, the rapacious Blues have intruded on Collingwood turf. They poached Swann, won the two-club contest for Judd's services (due, in some measure, to Swann), and last year attempted to coax Magpie development coach and ex-player Alan Richardson from the nest. Richardson, wooed through his friendship with Brett Ratten rather than Swann, was under contract to Collingwood, and remained at Lexus.
Despite sniping from both camps, Carlton insiders note that Swann has not brought a single Collingwood staffer across with him, and that he retains friendships with Collingwood people, including Thomas.
Swann's departure also triggered a little spat between Pratt and McGuire, the billionaire bagging his Collingwood counterpart in an interview in The Age's Melbourne Magazine in April. Pratt suggested Swann had left Collingwood to get away from an interfering McGuire, saying: "Some presidents . . . take on the presidency of the club as an alternative to either being lord mayor or prime minister. . . That's why Greg (Swann) came over to Carlton. Eddie wanted to be king." Eddie resisted the temptation to bite back, but noted to others that he'd been in Sydney running Channel Nine for the previous two years.
McGuire and Pratt subsequently went to lunch and cleared the air. They will share a table at the president's lunch today, alongside Collingwood vice-president Alex Waislitz, who is married to Pratt's daughter Heloise. McGuire counts Heloise Waislitz as a friend, a relationship evident in Collingwood's dealings with the philanthropic Pratt Foundation.
Sources say Pratt's initial spray was motivated by his belief that Eddie had been stirring the pot with the AFL hierarchy on the subject of Pratt's suitability for office, following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission judgement against the "cardboard king" for operating a cartel.
McGuire, however, insisted to Pratt that he merely cautioned the AFL against introducing a universal "code of conduct" in the wake of the Ben Cousins scandal, because such a stringent code might hurt Pratt, among others. In another interesting admission, Pratt has said that Swann was recommended to him by AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, whom Pratt knew from Fitzpatrick's days as a Carlton board member.
That the AFL chairman, an ex-Carlton premiership captain, had pushed up another club's CEO to Pratt raised eyebrows at Collingwood, which has, nontheless, moved on. "I've got a ripper (CEO) in Gary Pert and our club's going from strength to strength," said McGuire. "That (Swann leaving) was 18 months ago, that's a long time ago.
"There's no new spice for me - there's always a good reason to hate Carlton." On the subject of Judd, McGuire takes the view that, due to Carlton's better position in the draft, the Magpies couldn't compete. "It wouldn't matter if Rebecca Twigley was the recruiting manager at Collingwood, because you couldn't do the deal."
The affable Swann, too, broke bread with Ed in the spirit of reconciliation in April. The pair had breakfast in South Yarra, at McGuire's behest, with another defector from Collingwood, North Melbourne CEO Eugene Arocca. Hitherto, McGuire and Swann had not really spoken since Swann joined Carlton.
McGuire does not wish to say much about Swann and Pratt, while Swann declined to comment last week. "I've got no comment about anybody from another club," said McGuire on Swann. "Our day is about celebration," he said, referring to the Buckley tribute, to Mick Malthouse becoming the third longest-serving coach, and Shane Wakelin's 150th game for Collingwood.
If rivalry was forged mainly on the field, with the occasional administrative haymaker, it matters less to the gladiators of today than to the fans who suffer barbs at work. Carlton coach Brett Ratten said while the starting point was that "four points is four points", his extensive experience of the Carlton-Collingwood contest meant that players were "really stimulated" by the occasion.
McGuire, while recognising that the importance of the game is about pushing for the top four, believes that some games are more equal than others. "There's always an extra edge when you play Carlton. I disagree. I think everybody knows the significance - I mean the Carlton players know, and the Collingwood players know. If you play well against Carlton, you're remembered."
And if you leave Collingwood and join the Blues? You're quickly forgotten.
It's a small world
Just recently i recieved an email from Gavin who had been doing some family research on our family name ' Corfe ' Having a copy of a birth certificate going back to 1901 Gavin's email had confirmed what i had already known but with a twist as Gavin's Great Grandfather is my Great Grandfather's brother. The fact that the name ' Corfe ' and it's association with the Collingwood suberb going way back to the 18th century confirms Gavin's research. Gavin is also a Collingwood social club member and now takes his daughter to all Collingwood games pretty much the same as i did with my daughter and these days ( Grandson ) Simon. The Corfe connection with the Collingwood suberb from it's pioneering days looks set to live on well into the future.
Hi Joffa,
My Mum and I have been doing some investigating, and I am almost certain that you and I are related. I downloaded a document from 'Births, Deaths and Marriages' that clinched it today. I reckon that we share Great Great Grandfathers (Edward Corfe), and that our Great Grandfathers were brothers (yours - Charles Edward, mine - Herbert Augustus). This all assumes that your Grandfather was Oswald Corfe who was born in 1901(son of Charles Edward). According to your website, this looks on the money.
There aren't too many Corfe's out of Collingwood, so there was always a fair chance we were from the same stock. My mum's maiden name is Corfe, and as it happened my Grandfather had three girls so no male carried the Corfe name forward from our side.
I would be happy to discuss this more if you want, as there are a few more details of interest.
It should be no surprise for you to learn that there are no non-Collingwood people in the 'Corfe' side of the family. I myself am a Social Club member. I also take a keen interest in John Wren, having read 'Power Without Glory' a number of times over the years, and have just finished watching the TV Series. Today Mum and I went down to Collingwood and walked round Sackville St, the lanes behind 146/148 Johnson St, Ballarat St, and Wren House.
Plenty more to tell if you are interested.
Floreat Pica,
Gavin.
Hi Joffa,
We are definitely talking about the same people!
Please find attached a marriage certificate for Charles Edward Corfe & Annie Amelia Stewart (who would be your Great Grandparents).
This document shows that Charles was 23 when he married Annie (then 21) in 1898. Your Grandfather (Herbert Oswald) was born (according to your records) in 1901, when Annie would have been approx 24/25 and Charles would have been 26 (rather than the 16 you have noted).
The key to our mutual relations is the father & mother of Charles; being Edward Corfe & Eliza Agnes Bywater (maiden name). These are the same people who were the parents of my Great Grandfather - Herbert Augustus Corfe (born in 1882 in Stafford Street, Collingwood). Charles & Herbert also had two sisters - Florence & Eveline. It seems Herbert was a family name, carried not only by your Grandfather (Herbert Oswald) but also by my Grandfather (Herbert Ernest Edward, born in 1908 and by definition a cousin of your grandfather).
There weren't that many years apart between our Great Grandfathers (who were brothers) mine being 8 years younger, and I daresay there aren't too many years between you and me (I'm now 43).
So there it is. Plenty more to tell. I know most of this because my Mum is doing a family history and I have been helping out with the family tree. Your website and information on it re Herbert Oswald were the incentive to discover once and for all if we were related, so last night I ordered the file which I have attached from 'Births, Deaths & Marriages', which was the clincher.
On the Pies, suffice to say that I go to all the home games with my daughter (12) and we have seats in the old CFC members area in the Southern Stand in section P12 in front of the corporate boxes. My Aunty Cherry (maiden name Corfe) goes to most of the home games as well. My Pa (Herbert) was Pies through and through thus setting the scene for his family, and settled in Parkdale down by the beach. One of my earliest memories was of Pa taking me for a raspberry down the Mentone Hotel with Bruce Andrew, who lived around the corner from him. My Mum tells me that Pa knew Bruce from when he (my Pa that is) tried out with Collingwood thirds back at the time of '4 in a row' (in 1927 my Pa would have been 19 as he was born in 1908) however did his knee and was never any good thereafter. Nearly had a Corfe in the best team ever!!!
There's a bit to go on with! Look forward to catching up.
Regards, Gavin.
Myself and Gavin will be meeting up for a coffee real soon.
Pie in the sky
I'm in the reception centre at the Lexus Centre waiting for an interview with Dale Thomas. In the board room at the Lexus Centre is a film crew waiting for an interview with Dale Thomas. While we're waiting, a woman comes in with a boy aged about seven. His hero is Dale Thomas. Would there be any chance of them catching a moment with Dale?
In Nathan Buckley's last year as a player, it has been reported that the Collingwood merchandising department sold twice as many guernseys with Thomas' No.13 on them than Buckley's No.5. Eventually, I am led inside to an office within the complex where the young man with the special appeal, having just finished training and a rehab session, is waiting.
He is taller than you imagine (185 centimetres) since on a football field he appears both slight and small. He has the longish, randomly arranged blond hair that coach Mick Malthouse is said to have ordered cut at one of their early meetings but has since, it would seem, learned to live with. He also has a cut lip with four stitches from last week's game when he attempted to shield a teammate going for a mark, was collected from behind and catapulted into the back of Paul Medhurst's head.
His manner is slightly self-conscious but direct. He's a 20-year-old from Drouin who just loves playing footy and suddenly everyone is poking microphones at him. I tell him I won't detain him long. I just want to ask about the high mark.
I don't mean the sort where two players wrestle, one is left standing and takes the ball above his head. I mean the single, most thrilling feature of the Australian game — when players leap, momentarily position themselves on the shoulders of someone beneath them and pluck the ball from the air. Thomas took such a high mark in his first AFL game. He has been taking them on a reasonably regular basis ever since, combining them with audacious runs such as the one last week that started backwards of the centre and ended in a goal.
He says his mother always told him to never forget where he comes from. That was on a little farm of about two hectares outside Drouin. "Being from the country, you grow up loving your footy. I was lucky enough to have my own set of goals in the paddock". His first competitive matches, when he was eight, were played with the Hallora under-12s. When asked by the team management to register his birth date, he didn't know what it was and repeated the one given by the kid in front of him.
He says his mother "loved her footy". She was a Hawthorn supporter. So did his Pa. He barracked for Geelong. So did young Dale. Drouin is also the home of Gary Ablett, one of the most enigmatic and brilliant players in the history of the game. Young Dale Thomas wore Ablett's No. 5 on his Geelong guernsey and watched all his grandfather's tapes of both Ablett and Geelong. He remembers, in particular, Ablett's famous mark over Gary Pert where he tumbled off the neck of the Collingwood full-back and now club chief executive
of Ablett, Thomas says: "I used to love how he played. He was very exciting. He made the impossible look easy. Wherever he was, he'd fly for the mark and bring it down."
As far as his own high marks are concerned, he points out that "it's not something you regularly get the chance to do. A few things have to line up for you. The ball's got to be in the right spot and there has to be someone in front of you". After that, he says, "it's something you do instinctively".
The mark that stands out in his mind is the one he took in his first AFL game against Adelaide. "I was lucky enough to get a sit and managed to hold on to it. One of their taller players had dropped back into the hole". What he also remembers is that in doing so he cut off the run of one of his older teammates, Shane Wakelin. "He was spewing about it," he says jokingly.
Asked to nominate the best high marks he's seen, Thomas' first choice is the mark by Shaun Smith of Melbourne in 1995 when he suddenly appeared lying horizontally above a pack as he fells backwards and his feet went ever upwards. He caught the ball before landing on his back. Thomas' second choice is Ashley Sampi's 2004 mark when he got up, caught the ball "and then was elevated even more after he took it".
Dale Thomas says he was "brought up to love footy" and the fact is transparently within him. It's why people take such pleasure in his play. He says Australian football is a great game but admits he "wasn't very good at soccer". Of the Australian game he says, "You've gotta have a bit of everything to play it." Speed, agility, foot skills, the ability to compete in packs at jumping for high balls. He also thinks — or rather believes — he plays for a "fantastic club" in Collingwood.
Asked his best memory in footy, he starts with getting drafted. Collingwood took him at No. 2 in the 2005 draft. And then his first game — "a bit of a weird feeling, actually. This was something I'd been waiting 18 years for". He describes some of the experiences since as "a bit surreal". When I ask him his worst footy memories, he first nominates breaking a collarbone in his first year (I later read he broke it competing at a boundary throw-in, the Collingwood ruckman being absent). His second choice is the loss by five points in last year's preliminary final to Geelong.
Thomas thinks about his football. I ask why is it that Collingwood played its best game of football since last year's preliminary final the previous weekend against Geelong. What is it about Geelong that makes Collingwood play better? He wasn't having that. "You can't compare the two games. There were different players. Geelong played a lot better in the preliminary final."
Thomas is not yet in the Collingwood leadership group but there have been plenty of matches where he's played the part of a team leader. He certainly believes in team rules. Isn't the problem with team rules, I ask, that they eliminate exactly the sort of spontaneity that people enjoy in his play? "It's a team sport," he replies. "Everyone does their bit to contribute and everything you do is in the team guidelines."
The point he makes most strongly is that Mick Malthouse, usually seen as a dour coach, encourages him to fly for marks. "Mick says if they're there, have a go at them. You're lucky if you get one chance every couple of weeks then you see the ball coming in and there's this bloke in front of you and you think I'm going to try and jump on him."
Premierships only part of Malthouse story
Mike Sheahan | June 09, 2008 12:00am
THERE is no question Michael Malthouse suffers by comparison with the other nine of the AFL's top 10 longest-serving coaches.
While he will join Allan Jeans in equal third spot today on 575 games, the other nine all have four or more premierships to his two.
It is, though, simplistic to assess them purely on the games-to-flags ratio.
So much has changed since Jock McHale set the record for both games (714) and premierships (eight).
McHale, for example, started his reign at Collingwood in a 10-team competition.
Norm Smith's extraordinary success - six premierships at Melbourne in 10 seasons - came at a club that dominated recruiting by virtue of its venue (MCG) and the benefits and network provided by the then parent body, the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Dick Reynolds (Essendon), Jeans (St Kilda and Hawthorn), Tom Hafey (Richmond) and Ron Barassi (Carlton and North Melbourne) all won their premierships before drafting and the salary cap were introduced in the late 1980s or, in David Parkin's case, largely on talent stockpiled before the draft.
Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews, Malthouse's contemporaries, provide a more relevant comparison, and both have four flags.
Sheedy had three more seasons, Matthews had the Brisbane Lions.
Sheedy, Matthews and Malthouse all have spent the bulk of their coaching careers in a competition of 14-16 teams, which has made flags even harder to win.
Malthouse is different things to different people, yet he has to be acknowledged as an outstanding coach at three clubs.
His two premierships came at West Coast and he should have done even better considering it was a virtual West Australian team, particularly in the first half of the 1990s.
In 10 seasons with the Eagles, his teams played finals every year and three Grand Finals.
Yet it is his results at Footscray in the mid-1980s and at Collingwood this decade that mark him as a great coach.
He announced himself as the emerging young talent in 1985, when the Bulldogs finished third, beaten in the preliminary final by Hawthorn by 10 points.
They seemed destined for the Grand Final until Matthews came off the interchange bench and steered the Hawks home.
At Collingwood, he inherited a team that had finished last (1999) and immediately made the hard decisions.
The Magpies were in a Grand Final three years later. Then another one.
They weren't that good, but, like Hafey at Collingwood in the late 1970s and early '80s, Malthouse convinced his men they could be good enough.
The Brisbane Lions of the early part of this decade rank with Hawthorn of the late '80s as the best team I have seen, yet a modest crew in black and white ran the Lions to nine points in 2002.
On talent, the Lions win by 10 goals; on the field that day only two straight kicks (maybe one goal umpiring decision) separated the teams.
Malthouse has that Hafey capacity to make men believe, to follow him.
Given the way he is coaching in the past 18 months, it would be a brave man to say he won't yet narrow the gap on the other nine of the big 10.
Pies from west coast at the 'G
Michael Horan | June 02, 2008 12:00am
IT seems a bit weird to say the boys from the west had a great day given the Eagles were smashed by Collingwood by 100 points.
But there they were, having the time of their life.
Leon Davis (recruited from Perth) on fire through the middle and up forward, Paul Medhurst (Claremont) bagging five goals, Harry O'Brien (Claremont) starring in defence and the likes of Tarkyn Lockyer (East Fremantle) and Sharrod Wellingham (Perth) sharing the glory.
Collectively they were the only premium quality WA stock on the MCG as the Magpies rammed home a record winning margin against West Coast.
The unobtrusive Dane Swan led a Collingwood onball rotation that shredded the once-mighty West Coast midfield.
Third in the Brownlow Medal last year with 20 votes, Swan somehow continues to fly under the radar, but there he was again collecting a game-high 36 disposals.
While the 52,968 fans were captivated by the wizardry and skill of Davis, Alan Didak, Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury and others, Swan collected a team-high 12 contested possessions and kicked two classy goals.
"I'm more than happy to sneak under anyone's guard," the no-nonsense Swan said.
"It's a team game and a lot of the boys help me out. I was lucky to get on the end of a couple today.
"My form has been good. But each week it gets harder to back up and play well again. Hopefully there is some good consistent footy ahead of me. But as long as we keep winning, I really don't care."
The Pies reaped great dividends for their labours.
In two weeks they have gone from a 50 per cent win-loss record to 6-4, back to within a win of the top four, with their percentage boosted by more than 19 to 125.9.
On Saturday the Pies streamed down the ground in numbers, creating rivers of gold in terms of scoreboard worth.
Five goals in the first term, seven in each of the second and third and eight in the last.
It was bad enough for West Coast that a clutch of former Perth boys in black and white stripes starred.
But the best of them all was a man ironically named Swan.
Our Tommy!
Consumed by coaching, Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in West Australia. Destiny decreed another path when Hafey had a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, rent by in-fighting the team had finished last for the first time. After 19 years without a premiership, Collingwood was moribund by its tradition, part of which decreed that no "outsider" could coach the club. Hickey wasted no time in securing the most successful mentor in the game, and Hafey was appointed as the first non-Collingwood man to coach the club.
In a Cinderella-like performance, Hafey took essentially the same list of players from the bottom to the top of the ladder in one season, the first time this had been achieved in the VFL. Hafey's next challenge was to overcome the "Colliwobbles", the so-called disease that afflicted the club and caused many heart-breaking finals losses. Collingwood had lost eleven of their last thirteen finals matches, many by slender margins. The tide seemed to have turned when the team beat the favoured Hawthorn by just two points in the semi final. A fortnight later, in an historic Grand Final, the first to be telecast live, Collingwood sat on the brink of history at three quarter time, leading North Melbourne by 27 points. Moving in to address the team's huddle, Hafey was horrified to see trainers and comitteemen congratulating the players on their Premiership. Worse was to come when North fought back dramatically, but the game ended in a draw. The dream slipped away in the replay the following week and Collingwood lost a high-scoring contest.
Another loss to North Melbourne in the 1978 Preliminary Final caused Hafey to clean out a number of the Collingwood veterans, and late the following season the team emerged as the only challenger to the hot favourite, Carlton. In another dramatic Grand Final, Collingwood held a good lead in the second quarter, but were overtaken by half time. The game ultimately hinged on a freakish piece of play by Wayne Harmes, who somehow chased down his own kick and knocked the ball on for a goal, which had added significance when Collingwood lost by five points. More irony surfaced in the 1980 Grand Final when Hafey took on his old team Richmond. Kevin Bartlett won the Norm Smith medal as the Tigers won by a record margin, yet earlier in the year Hafey had dissuaded a disgruntled Bartlett from leaving Richmond. Somehow, Hafey got the Magpies up for another tilt at the premiership in 1981, and they led by 21 points late in the third term of the Grand Final against Carlton. Two late goals by the Blues caused a number of arguments in the Collingwood three quarter time huddle, and Carlton, spurred on by the disharmony, ran all over Collingwood in the last term to win handsomely.
The continual disappointment around Victoria Park now focussed attention on Hafey's methods. Several leading players at the club criticised Hafey for over-training the team, particularly in the lead-up to big finals matches. It was also felt that Hafey was too slow to respond when the team was going under. Hafey survived into the next season, but a record losing streak of nine games sealed his fate and he was sacked mid-season.
What about the fans?
THE socialist nirvana known as the AFL is designed so that teams take turns winning the premiership, and supporters have become conditioned to the four seasons of following a team.
In winter, your team is hopeless and on the bottom, but the early draft picks, courtesy of the Kremlin, soon lead to spring, that hopeful time when youngsters begin to sprout and grow into good players.
Then, you've got the glorious summer of premiership contention — which, if you're lucky, or the beneficiary of generous recruiting concessions, might be an Indian one, stretching over four or five years. Finally, there's autumn, when veterans fall like leaves from trees, and fans first feel the chill of decline.
For Richmond fans, most of the past 25 years has been a mix of winter and a false spring they subsequently discovered was really autumn. Not much summer for the Tigers, or for Fremantle. More autumn than the Saints envisaged in 2004, too. As in Animal Farm, some teams are more equal than others.
Here's one of the problems with the 18-team competition. Clubs will represent just one-18th of the league, and the premiership window, if it ever opens, will be slammed pretty quickly for most. Socialism has given clubs like the Bulldogs the possibility of success, via the draft, but the mathematical odds of any team winning a flag lengthen further with two extra teams.
I don't like the 18-team concept. Expanding the competition to that degree means the existing clubs are diminished. The premiership is but one measure of how the 16 clubs lose from the expansion. It also erodes the sense that each club is special. They have less share of the collective obsession with AFL footy.
Most of the debate about expansion has centred on sustainability: are there enough players? Can the Gold Coast and Western Sydney find enough support? Will television find more dollars?
The question of how it impacts upon the supporters of the 16 clubs, and the whole experience of following a team, has barely been touched. There will be more games on television, and in my view, eight a week is more than enough.
It will be harder to keep up with every game, each player, and your team will play two additional, android clubs that have no history. The draw will become even more compromised, unless there's a 17-game season, which would reduce the opportunity for everyone to see their team play.
The original 12 clubs of the old VFL, and Port Adelaide, were organic. They grew out of communities and weren't necessarily established to compete in the best competition — their formation was an end in itself. West Coast and Adelaide were children of their state leagues — despite the Eagles' initial status as a listed company with shareholders — and, while headquarters mandated their creation, these clubs actually carried in their DNA the rich histories of football in Western Australia and South Australia. The Crows were the anti-Port Adelaide entity, with Port regarded as the anti-christ of the SANFL.
These new clubs have no such reason for being. There's nothing organic about their creation, little sense that they're forming out of a community need or demand; rather, they owe their imminent invention to head office, which wants franchises in these strategic markets. While one can see the case for Gold Coast, with a legitimate threat from rugby league and a large expat factor, Western Sydney is football's Siberia.
Hearing these conservative, anti-expansion views, a colleague posed the question of whether the same objections and arguments would apply if the 17th and 18th teams were to be introduced into the deserving state of Tasmania or Perth, which could probably support a third club.
Fair question. Tassie does deserve a team. Perth doesn't need a third. I would accept Tasmania, which would push Hawthorn back into Victoria 100%, crowd the heartland and place greater pressure on the vulnerable Victorian clubs.
But the thorniest question is whether one is prepared to let a Victorian club die, merge or relocate, to keep your club's share at one-16th of the collective consciousness?
At this moment, there's no need for these new clubs. Leave those markets alone, and watch the ferocious competition for games on the Gold Coast among the Victorian clubs. Eventually, after regular winter holidays, one of those clubs would have made the permanent shift.
Dont become the enemy Euge!
NORTH Melbourne chief executive Eugene Arocca has described as "nonsense" Collingwood president Eddie McGuire's claims of a clash jumper deal between the clubs.
As a bitter war of words erupted yesterday between the former colleagues, McGuire said there was an arrangement the Kangaroos would always wear their alternative strip against Collingwood because he released Arocca from his Magpies contract to join North Melbourne.
The AFL has ordered North to wear its clash jumper against the Pies in Round 16 at Telstra Dome, despite it being the home side.
But McGuire said a longer-term deal was struck in January when Arocca left the Lexus Centre for Arden St, something Arocca denies.
"We have an agreement in place that the Kangaroos would not wear their stripes against Collingwood and part of that agreement goes back to us supporting their bid to remain autonomous, to leave the Gold Coast and to receive the payments from the AFL," McGuire told 3AW.
"But it also goes back to me giving permission to the Kangaroos to approach Eugene Arocca and to release him from his contract to be their CEO."
McGuire also took a veiled swipe at North's financial plight, saying the Roos' fuss over clash jumpers didn't show appreciation for the financial assistance his club helped provide.
"You would have thought that in the spirit of the co-operation that's going on at the moment where North do receive assistance . . . I just can't understand why it has become an issue," he said.
"Don't North want the Collingwood people to turn up to that game? I'll give you the tip, if we're forced to wear another jumper, we'll put a big screen down at the Lexus Centre and say, 'Come and watch it down there'.
"We don't want to wear anything other than black and white stripes. They (North) have sold their jumper on many occasions.
"I'm all for them being in Melbourne and having their heritage and they can do what they like but don't affect my club. This jumper thing, at our club it's everything."
Arocca said his former boss's comments were a disgrace and denied any clash jumper deal.
"I worry about clubs that seek to use those sort of threats as a means to achieving their own outcomes," he said.
"To have that (financial assistance) hanging over our head as a constant threat or reminder is, on one view, disgraceful.
"To suggest I agreed in that conversation with what he's stating is absolute nonsense. I respect Eddie enormously but I think he's overstepped the mark here."
Arocca said there was written proof that he had been free to leave Collingwood for another club.
"I had an agreement in place that allowed me to resign at any time, so I don't know there was permission granted for me to break my contract, because I made sure I had something in my agreement that protected my right to leave the club if I was offered a job elsewhere as CEO," he told 3AW.
"The fact is, you cannot possibly suggest the right to interview a senior executive is immediately grounds for saying, 'Look, you have to wear your clash jumper against us even though it's your home game'."
He said the Roos would insist on wearing their traditional strip for all home games from next year.
"We've agreed, albeit reluctantly, for this year to wear the alternate strip as directed by the AFL, but going forward we're certainly not going to take that position, we're going to insist on wearing our home jumper in our home games," Arocca said.
Pies in the sky?
Rohan Connolly | May 26, 2008
YES, Geelong has just been going of late. Yes, it's probably the loss the Cats needed to have. But don't sell short what Collingwood was able to come up with last Friday night at the MCG.
Of course, top dogs can become complacent. And, obviously, underdogs are going to lift whenever they play the likes of the Cats. It happens. But that would be far too simplistic an explanation for Collingwood's amazing 86-point thumping of the reigning premier, just Geelong's second defeat in its past 29 games. For Collingwood is no mere underdog. More a fair dinkum premiership contender.
Forget the moderate 5-4 win-loss record, a lower spot in the eight, and a couple of bad days at the office against Carlton and Hawthorn a few weeks back. Collingwood is no less a flag prospect than the other acknowledged challengers to Geelong's mantle, and for good reason.
The Magpies play finals-type football, the sort that usually comes up trumps in September. And they play it particularly well against an opponent rated one of the best teams of the modern era.
Friday night's win was the Pies' fifth in their past eight meetings with the Cats. The losses have been by 29 points, 16 points late last season, at a time when Geelong was steamrolling seemingly everyone in its path by closer to 100, and, of course, that heartbreaking defeat by just five points in an epic preliminary final.
That 86-point margin on Friday night was the Cats' biggest loss since round 13, 2006 against Adelaide. A few weeks before that, they got thumped by 102 points, also at the MCG. The opponent? Guess who?
Naturally, 14 other sides are going to be studying the footage from Friday night pretty closely, looking for clues about how to dethrone the Cats. But they won't necessarily see much that wasn't already blindingly obvious. Collingwood's physical pressure and harassment of Geelong was at a level we haven't seen for some time.
The Magpies laid no fewer than 85 tackles on the shell-shocked Cats, an astonishing figure, particularly given how often the Pies themselves had the ball. There were 55 laid in the first half alone, the third-highest figure recorded by a side in any game over the past decade.
It's one thing for a side to make a commitment to go as hard as humanly possible at the man with the ball. It's another to be able to carry it off, time after time, over four gruelling quarters. Collingwood can. And not just the acknowledged hard-nuts and hard workers in the line-up like Tarkyn Lockyer, who racked up seven tackles himself, or skipper Scott Burns, who had seven.
Three other Magpies laid seven tackles each on Friday night. They were the lightly framed Rhyce Shaw, Dale Thomas and new kid Sharrod Wellingham, yet another off the Collingwood production line who looks like he's going to have immediate impact.
Another, also, who gives the Magpies the profile of more than just honest toilers. There's plenty of class in this team, enough for a game-breaker like Leon Davis to get hurt and not contribute a lot. The likes of Alan Didak, Paul Medhurst, Scott Pendlebury and Thomas provide plenty in reserve.
Thomas' struggles this season, and those of another important runner in Marty Clarke, have been well-documented. The significance of their return to form on Friday night cannot be overstated. Nor that of Dane Swan or defender Harry O'Brien. And those who were beginning to question the worth of key forward Anthony Rocca to the 22 would want to think again also. He and Travis Cloke dragged down 18 marks between them against the Cats. Cloke got four goals and Rocca none, but the latter's ability simply to create a contest is still critical.
There's a willingness to compete, right across the Collingwood line-up. And enough talent, besides, to mix it with the genuine best. It's not rocket science. Pretty basic, actually. Perhaps not as spectacular as a Geelong or Hawthorn at their best, either. But good enough for Collingwood to have a serious crack at the last Saturday in September. And by then, a Magpie win would be far less of an upset than Friday night appeared.
Players cop a blogging
Mark Robinson | May 21, 2008 12:00am
AFL players have been banned from scouring fan websites, for fear the vicious player appraisals could lead to depression.
At one club, support staff also have been threatened with the sack if they are caught blogging or leaking valuable information to the websites.
Labelled "cyber bullying" and "big brother" blogging by the AFL Players' Association, clubs have taken the drastic step of encouraging a boycott of the popular fan sites.
"I wouldn't encourage any players to use them. I think it's for bloggers, and I think it's mostly for titillation rather any decent feedback," AFLPA general manager of psychology, people and culture, Pippa Grange said yesterday.
"It's more your big brother-type trivia.
"I would agree with coaches telling players not to look, but I would also encourage the players not to think of it in any way as criticism - it's just a random sample of people with not much better to do."
Most football clubs have independent supporter websites, including Saintsational, TalkingCarlton, Demonology, Punt Road End, Nick's Collingwood Page and and Bomberblitz.
One of the most popular is BigFooty.
On them, anonymous bloggers ritually attack players for their performances, and the criticisms sometimes carry racial and sexual overtones.
One coach, who did not want to draw attention to his players, yesterday said: "They get real nasty."
The coach said he was aware of one player receiving "particularly scathing" criticism and he had approached the player and asked if he was aware of it.
"Thankfully, he said it didn't matter because he didn't read it, but bloody oath, it could affect the player," the coach said. "It's a serious issue, a major issue.
"Even if one player gets depression, or his form falls away, it could end his career."
One club official last night confirmed the coach had directed some of his players to stop reading sites.
"Yes, we have suggested to some players they avoid online fan sites," the official said.
A football manager from another club said he had addressed the issue with the players.
He also revealed he had warned support staff that if they leaked information to websites, or people knowingly connected to the websites, they would be sacked.
"We have said, 'Whatever you know is not to be passed on to people outside the club'," he said.
He said players had to avoid any scathing critiques.
"It's like critical fan mail, it could do your head in, and it's the same thing with websites.
"You should read some of it, it's rubbish.
"You've got to understand the ego of players and fragility comes with that as well."
Grange yesterday said AFL footballers were in the "culture of celebrities".
"And there's a lot of nasty stuff out there," she said.
She likens it to cyber bullying at schools, where there are alarming cases of bullying bringing on forms of depression and even attempted suicide.
"There's no restriction of what people are able to do with the internet," Grange said.
"Blogging on websites about players is a form of bullying, it's public bullying of people in celebrity positions.
"And the footy players, unless they personally take some course of investigation, have got absolutely no comeback."
Grange said public criticism of players had been addressed, although cyber criticism hadn't specifically been on the agenda.
"We talk to the players about building resilience about feedback and what they need to let through to the keeper, and what's actually value for them and how they make a choice about each," she said.
"We don't specifically focus on websites, but that's going to happen with our digital lifestyle at the minute."
More serious, she said, were players' identities being taken by bloggers.
"The biggest thing I've encountered in my role where it's been a problem is where people take the identity of the player and claim to be making comments on behalf of the player," she said.
"They get obviously quite upset about that."
PART TWO...
Players, families caught in web
Mark Robinson | May 22, 2008 12:00am
THE mother of an AFL player with depression last night lashed out at the viciousness of internet fan forums.
"Donna", the mum of a player at a Melbourne-based club, believes the forums contribute to her son's depression.
The effect on the player was extreme, she said, and the effect on the parents "cuts straight to the core".
"There's nothing you can do about it," Donna said.
"It's painful for everyone.
"He goes through periods where he has highs and lows and when he gets slandered on this website, they use his full name and it's obviously brutal.
"It certainly contributes to him having a real low that week.
"Then he starts to feel: 'Am I good enough to be here, what do I have to do, I'm trying my guts out, everyone thinks I'm hopeless, I won't be selected'.
"As a parent your heart goes out to your own child, as it does to the other players slandered, and you just feel so futile. You can't do anything.
"It doesn't matter how much you say and try to support them and encourage them, and say: 'Don't read them', there's just nothing you can do."
The AFL Players' Association yesterday in the Herald Sun said blogging by supporters was "cyber bullying".
Clubs also feared the vicious appraisals of their players could lead to forms of depression.
Several clubs revealed they had warned some of their players to boycott the websites.
Player managers also confirmed yesterday their players had struggled to deal with the attacks.
Donna said last night her son's club and coach were aware of her son's depression and that he was the subject of vitriol on websites.
"It's fine for people to say 'harden up', or 'toughen up', but at the end of the day they are still very vulnerable kids trying to learn how to play footy at an elite level," she said.
"They are going to make mistakes and they don't need misinformed, anonymous 'supporters' (to) slander them when half the time the supporters that write about them haven't been to the game, and they don't know the instructions that have been given to these players.
"Yet, they (hide) behind their anonymity and make out they are bigger than Ben Hur, and think they can say whatever they like.
"That's the frustrating and hurtful part of it.
"And these kids, be they 18, 19, 21 or 22, don't have a leg to stand on.
"Some players can do no wrong and escape everything, which is fantastic for them and that's the way it should be, but for others, they just hone in on them.
"Then it just seems to be a never-ending bandwagon."
Donna said she knew of parents who joined blogs to dispute and object to comments made about their sons.
She said she had, as recently as the weekend, spoken to parents of other players about the websites.
Most disturbing, according to the AFLPA's Pippa Grange, was that player identities were being taken and comments being posted under that player's name.
"They get obviously quite upset about that," Grange said.
ANYONE with personal problems can call Lifeline on 131 114; Victorian Statewide Suicide Helpline on 1300 651 251; or Mensline Australia on 1300 789 978.
ANYONE with personal problems can call: Lifelineon 131 114 Victorian Statewide Suicide Helpline on 1300 651 251 Mensline Australia on 1300 789 978.
Magical Leon has been in great form in 2008.
VALE TOMMY BURNS
Thomas "Tommy" Burns (16 December 1956 – 15 May 2008) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He was also a Scotland international, winning eight caps while a Celtic player. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and died on May 15, 2008 at the age of 51.
Although he started out as a goalkeeper for non-league side Benburb F.C., Burns eventually became a midfielder, and was signed by Celtic in 1973 from his second club Maryhill, a junior team from Glasgow. He made his debut against Dundee United on 19 April 1975, and he was a vital part of the side which won the league and cup double in the club's centenary season 1988. In total, he made 352 league appearances and scored 52 goals.
The following year, Burns moved to Kilmarnock, where he became player-manager in 1992, winning the club promotion to the Scottish Premier Division in season 1992-93.
He moved to become manager at Celtic at the start of season 1994-95, in acrimonious circumstances as he was still under contract to Kilmarnock as both player and manager. Kilmarnock refused to release him from his contract and the Scottish Football Association subsequently fined Celtic £100,000 for 'tapping, or speaking to Burns without obtaining Kilmarnock's permission. Kilmarnock were also permitted to retain his playing registration, effectively ending his professional career as a player.
At Celtic, his team grew a reputation for playing attractive and attacking football and they won the Scottish Cup in 1995; but Celtic proved unable to break the domination of Old Firm rivals Rangers. Burns was sacked from Celtic in 1997 and went on to work under Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle United. He later moved on to a period of management at Reading.
He became assistant manager of the Scottish national team under Berti Vogts in 2002 and retained the position under Walter Smith. In between, he managed Scotland for one match, a 4-1 friendly defeat to Sweden He returned to Celtic for a third time when Martin O'Neill placed him in charge of youth development. Upon the arrival of Gordon Strachan as manager in 2005, Burns was appointed First Team Coach, a role he combined with his Youth Development post.
On 18 January 2007, Burns announced through Celtic's official website that he was severing all ties with the Scottish national team to concentrate on his role at the club. It was reported that Burns had found out that he was not a potential candidate for the job of national team coach.
Illness and death
On 29 March 2006, Celtic confirmed Burns had begun treatment for skin cancer. On 10 March 2008, Celtic announced that Burns was facing another skin cancer scare, and would be undergoing further treatment for the disease. On 15 May 2008, Burns died at home.
Tributes
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was among those those who payed tribute to Burns. A visibly emotional Strachan said "being Tommy's mate was the best part of joining Celtic" and that "There weren't many better than him. But, as a person, he was top of the league when it comes to being a man." Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell said "If you define a Celtic man, it would certainly be Tommy Burns. He was a wonderful human being." Club captain Stephen McManus said "He was courageous and he was probably as brave a man as you'll ever meet." Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist, who had worked with Burns in his role for the Scotland national team, said "I have met a lot of good people through football but Tam was the very best." On 16 May Rangers manager Walter Smith and assistant Ally McCoist arrived at Celtic Park to lay a wreath in memory of Burns, and then spent half an hour in the stadium, speaking with Celtic officials, then another half hour outside speaking to fans.
Playing honours
Celtic
Winners Scottish Premier Division (6) - 1976/77, 1978/79, 1980/81, 1981/82, 1985/86, 1987/88 Scottish Cup (3) - 1979/80, 1984/85, 1987/88 Scottish League Cup (1) - 1982/83 Managerial honours
Kilmarnock
Promotion From Scottish First Division - 1992/93
Celtic
Winners Scottish Cup(1) - 1994/95 Runners-up Scottish Premier Division (2) - 1995/96, 1996-97 Scottish League Cup (1) - 1994/95
West Sydney could be a disaster Jake Niall | May 15, 2008
Collingwood Hall of Fame to the AFL Hall of Fame. Congrats to two of our finest. Great blokes. Great Collingwood Legends
Des Tuddenham
Throughout his 252 game VFL career with Collingwood and Essendon, flame-haired Des Tuddenham's name was virtually a synonym for 'desperation and courage'. In essence, 'Tuddy' knew only one way to play the game, and that was with the utmost physicality and determination. Footballers are almost routinely referred to as 'tough', but in Des Tuddenham's case this would be an understatement; on numerous occasions he took to the field carrying injuries which would have seen lesser men spend the day at home in bed, but regardless of physical inconvenience, Tuddenham invariably produced performances that were at least serviceable. More often than not, of course, they were infinitely better than that. Recruited from Ballarat YCW, Tuddenham made his Collingwood debut in 1962. Used mainly as a half forward flanker, his tear-through style and complete obliviousness to his own personal safety soon attracted rave reviews. His very presence on the field was often an inspiration to his team mates, and in 1966 the club hierarchy ratified this situation by making him team captain.
In 1970, Tuddenham was stood down by Collingwood after a pay dispute, and although he later resumed he was no longer captain. The Magpie hordes adored him anyway - "to many he was the embodiment of what Collingwood players must have been like in the club's greatest days".
Tuddenham crossed to Essendon as captain-coach in 1972 and, although unable to steer the Bombers to a flag, he did at least manage to restore a measure of self-respect to a club that had finished second to last in both 1970 and 1971.
Des Tuddenham's heart was always essentially black and white, however, and in 1976 he hobbled 'home' - hobbled quite literally, having just recovered from a broken leg sustained while playing for Essendon the previous year. He spent the final two seasons of his playing career with the Woods, and in 1978 became non-playing coach of South Melbourne. When the Swans failed to make the finals, however, he was replaced by Ian Stewart. In 1988 he returned to coaching at VFA 2nd division club Werribee when the got his side as far as the preliminary final.
Always a consummate team man - even the pay dispute in 1970 was more about morals than money - the biggest disappointment of Tuddenham's career was that, although he garnered numerous personal accolades and awards, he never got to play in a premiership side. He came agonisingly close - a 4 point loss to Melbourne in 1964, a 1 point defeat by St Kilda two years later, not to mention the unmitigated disaster of 1970 - but a runner-up is still a runner-up no matter what the margin of defeat.
The Collingwood Football Club was home to numerous champions during the 'lost era' of 1959 to 1989, and their failure to enjoy premiership success is highly unfortunate; in the case of Des Tuddenham, however, it is tantamount to injustice.
Gavin Brown (born September 25, 1967)
Brown was recruited into Collingwood from Templestowe where he would contribute to the side for longer than a decade. Brown was part of the Magpies under-19 premiership side in 1986 with team-mates Damian Monkhorst, Mick McGuane and Gavin Crosisca, who would all make their debuts with the senior side in 1987. Brown quickly showed his true values as a tough and courageous footballer who was a great man off the field. He would earn the nickname 'Rowdy' due to his quiet approach off the field. Brown started well in his career, earning his first Victorian guernsey in State of Origin football in his debut season.
In 1989 Brown would turn from good young footballer into a great young footballer, winning All-Australian selection, and also the club's best and fairest, after finishing third the year before. In the same year, Brown made an impact against South Australia in State of Origin, winning the EJ Whitten Medal. His great form lead into 1990 where Brown played a vital part in the Pies premiership, their first in 32 years. Brown played mainly as a forward, after he started his career as a wingman. He would be knocked out in the quarter-time brawl in the Grand Final against Essendon, but would return late in the game, and kick his second goal and celebrate early. A year later, Brown would continue his enthusiastic and courageous work on the field, and finish runner-up in the best and fairest, and earn his second All-Australian selection, as a half-forward.
In 1994, Brown would be rewarded for his hard work with the captaincy, and he played good footy. He would gain his third All-Australian selection, and win his second Copeland Trophy for being the club's best and fairest, finishing equal with recruit Nathan Buckley. He would suffer hamstring injuries in 95-96, which would almost slow his career, but in 1997 he answered back, winning his third Copeland Trophy and he would captain the state side, and win a second EJ Whitten Medal against the South Australians for his best on ground performance due to a brilliant job on Darren Jarman.
He would hand over the captaincy at the end of 1998, despite his willingness to keep the leadership role, but was forced to pass it over to Buckley. As his career was coming to an end, he continued to play brilliant footy in 1999 despite the lack of success, and would be strong with the youngsters around him, with another top 3 finish in the best and fairest. He retired at the end of 2000 after 254 games with Collingwood and kicking 194 goals in an outstanding VFL/AFL career.
Brown would become an assistant coach to Mick Malthouse since retiring, and in 2002 was awarded a spot in the Collingwood Team of the Century, filling in as the fourth interchange player. He would also be inducted in the club Hall of Fame. He will be remembered as a player who was ridiculously courageous, who would give his life for his club if called upon.
What a great man he is, two time EJ whitten medalist and also 3 times copeland trophy winner.. but more importantly a Collingwood premiership player.
The Collingwood Industrial Magpies
Presidents report.
We are very pleased to announce that Joffa Corfe will be our guest at the 7 May function, which is building up to a great night, among the guests will be Liam Jurrah, Sharrod Wellingham and other indigenous players on the Club’s list. Liam had another good hit out on Sunday kicking two goals and rating a mention as a highlight for the Pies in The Age article covering the VFL game against Geelong yesterday. Kasman Spencer has joined us from Yuendumu and will be among the guests along with Liam’s grandmother and two cousins.
The function will take place at the very salubrious premises and with the very strong support of KORD MENTHA who are sponsoring the drinks and refreshments, for which we are very grateful. Last minute acceptances are welcome: please address to George Haggar via email at george.haggar@visy.com.au or, as per the attachment, post to:
Please find attached full details of the fundraising night. Donations are $25.
We are also looking forward to launching our website and already have in place agreements to link with other Collingwood supporter sites. This will result in an upgrade in the quality of our communications and open access to a wider potential membership base. We have just received a message of thanks from the Yuendumu community for our support which will be posted on the website on the night.
As for the Senior Team it appears that we are now full on into a developmental transition at round 7 of 22. There is a lot to be said for the proposition that we are short of ball getting power and that, as the last of the 2002 team gradually exit, the idea of a top four rating is highly doubtful. Come to think of it you could ask where is the ‘hard ball get’ future post Buckley Burns and Licuria? The next Full Back? Presumably Nathan Brown? No doubt all these things will be on the coaches minds so come along and ask them these or other questions.
Yuendumu have a bye this week and have been having trouble adjusting to the demands of the new CAFL competition. The Seniors have only one win on the board and are looking to lift. The U17’s team, the integrity of which is one of our critical interests for the preservation of the sporting culture of the community, are doing well. Later this year we will be sponsoring a trip to Melbourne for Elton Granites who won the CiM prize for the best Yuendumu junior player last year.
Not good enough SEN!
After the North Melb clash sometime between 10.30 and 11.15 Pm sen were taking outside calls for discussion on the Collingwood Nth Melb game at the MCG.
Let me point out i like thousands of others Victorians love SEN..and let me point out that it's probably a fair comment Collingwood isn't loved by all. And it's a fair call to say we have many disturbed people in our society who are motivated by hatred and jealousy...Obviously not all people share my philosophy that when the game is over regardless of the result we move on in friendship and decency..Absorb the battle until the final siren then it's time to move on as decent human beings. A caller rang SEN and i'll quote the following....Im a carlton supporter the Collingwood supporter can suffer if you lay down with dogs you get fleas...if you mix with Collingwood supporters you will smell like shit.
How were these comments allowed to go to air?
A previous caller suggested Alan Didak should be in jail...for what exactly i dont know?
Is it fair we should be insulted in this manner on public radio?
As far as im aware no public apology has been issued by SEN.
Many magpie members who heard the call were upset and so they should be, and many have stated they will never listen to SEN again...so how about it SEN i would regard the above insults as something worth apologising about!
Unbelievable!
Welcome to Magpie land
The land of the Magpies Michael Gleeson | April 30, 2008
MAVERICK former Collingwood president Allan McAlister — mocked in his time as an eccentric — might yet be regarded as a visionary, with his old club set to embrace his wildest ambition and construct "Maggieland".
This time, it will be on the Yarra, not Merri Creek.
The changes to the Olympic Park precinct, foreshadowed by Premier John Brumby on Monday, will mean Collingwood takes over the entirety of the Lexus Centre and have exclusive access to the adjoining training ground.
The Magpies will also push for a new grandstand to be built at the training ground to be constructed on the footprint of the Olympic Park track site, with a view to playing their VFL side's games at the ground.
Potentially, the VFL side will play curtain-raisers to Collingwood matches over the tracks at the MCG, particularly when the senior side plays twilight matches.
Under the deal for redeveloping the precinct, many of the terms of which are yet to be released, Collingwood will take over full control of the Lexus Centre and the Victorian Institute of Sport will move to the redeveloped Bob Jane Stadium.
When the Magpies gain full control of the centre, the club will undertake significant renovations to introduce the type of innovations planned by McAlister when the Magpies went on a buying spree around their old Abbotsford home at Victoria Park.
McAlister said he planned to make a fun-park type of entertainment precinct at Victoria Park when the club bought up houses in the area. The debt carried from those purchases nearly broke the club and they were forced to sell them.
Had the club been able to hang on to those investments for another five years or more, the property boom would have enabled the club to make a significant profit.
Collingwood now appears likely to revisit Maggieland, with ideas for the expanded Lexus Centre believed to include an interactive museum and a social club for after-match functions, an expanded sports science area and sports medicine suites.
The back of the Lexus Centre, which is wasteland at the moment, would also be remodelled and reconfigured.
The new Hall of Fame museum at the MCG would provide the blueprint for the type of interactive, child-friendly museum at the club.
The new football oval on the athletics track would have small grandstands constructed, partly to allow for VFL matches, but also to block the wind that comes off the Yarra and howled through the previous training oval.
Melbourne Football Club, which is likely to move its football department into a new home under the stands of the rectangular stadium under construction, is unlikely to be allowed joint use of the training oval, for which Collingwood is contracted to have exclusive access.
The Demons would be likely to use the oval next to Gosch's Paddock on the corner of Punt Road and Swan Street, where Collingwood has been training since construction began at their former training ground at Edwin Flack Oval.
Under the terms of its long-term lease, Collingwood had to have access to a ground no further than the Edwin Flack Oval, which has now been demolished for the rectangular stadium.
That left either the athletics track or the Old Scotch oval next to the tennis centre.
"We are very excited at the prospect of what the development could bring to the Lexus Centre as the pre-eminent training facility of any sporting club in the world," Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said.
"The possibility of being able to build on what we have and looking forward to making it a better place for Collingwood is a very exciting prospect for us.
"We have $8 million of memorabilia in storage that we would love to be able to properly display in a purpose-built venue."
On behalf of all opposition fans, Joffa would like to sincerely thank the Collingwood Football Club for keeping all their miserable clubs afloat. We give thanks to Collingwood for it's huge gate receipts we get when we play a home game against Collingwood at the MCG, WE the opposition supporter, fully realise that without the Collingwood Football Club we'd all be playing in the Amateurs league.
We acknowledge Collingwood's right to wear it's original Black and White verticle striped jumper at all games and admire them for not selling out to Demetriou and co. or the spin bullshit line of 'clash'. We also consider it unfair that Collingwood has four away interstate games when those games should be also played at the MCG for the financial welfare of other melbourne poverty stricken clubs, i.e Carlton, Essendon, Richmond, Hawthorn, St Kilda, Melbourne, Footscray, Geelong and North What-ever-you-are.
In a short message to Collingwood from all of us infidels i.e opposition supporters 'thanks guys we'd be lost without you God Bless the Mighty Pies!'
A MATTER of days after Eddie McGuire learned that Greg Swann had crossed over to the dark navy blue side, Dale Thomas began packing his bags.
What happened on the field hasn't always stayed there, either. In 1938, the Carlton committee instigated a complaint against Magpie champion Harry Collier, who had struck a Carlton player without a report. The tribunal suspended Collier for 14 matches, despite a guilty plea and apology. He missed the grand final, in which the Pies were defeated by, yep, the Blues.
Pie in the sky
THERE is no question Michael Malthouse suffers by comparison with the other nine of the AFL's top 10 longest-serving coaches. 
Consumed by coaching, Hafey's initial thought was to seek a job in West Australia. Destiny decreed another path when Hafey had a chance meeting with the new Collingwood president, John Hickey. The Magpies had just endured their worst ever season, rent by in-fighting the team had finished last for the first time. After 19 years without a premiership, Collingwood was moribund by its tradition, part of which decreed that no "outsider" could coach the club. Hickey wasted no time in securing the most successful mentor in the game, and Hafey was appointed as the first non-Collingwood man to coach the club.
What about the fans?
THE socialist nirvana known as the AFL is designed so that teams take turns winning the premiership, and supporters have become conditioned to the four seasons of following a team.
Dont become the enemy Euge!
NORTH Melbourne chief executive Eugene Arocca has described as "nonsense" Collingwood president Eddie McGuire's claims of a clash jumper deal between the clubs.
YES, Geelong has just been going of late. Yes, it's probably the loss the Cats needed to have. But don't sell short what Collingwood was able to come up with last Friday night at the MCG.
Players cop a blogging
AFL players have been banned from scouring fan websites, for fear the vicious player appraisals could lead to depression. 
VALE TOMMY BURNS
HALL OF FAME
Great blokes.
In 1970, Tuddenham was stood down by Collingwood after a pay dispute, and although he later resumed he was no longer captain. The Magpie hordes adored him anyway - "to many he was the embodiment of what Collingwood players must have been like in the club's greatest days". 
Gavin Brown 
The Collingwood Industrial Magpies
The land of the Magpies
On behalf of all opposition fans, Joffa would like to sincerely thank the Collingwood Football Club for keeping all their miserable clubs afloat. We give thanks to Collingwood for it's huge gate receipts we get when we play a home game against Collingwood at the MCG, WE the opposition supporter, fully realise that without the Collingwood Football Club we'd all be playing in the Amateurs league. 
