Unsatisfied with Melbourne’s ridiculous parking prices, I stopped the car outside an old unit somewhere near Albert and Hoddle st. It was a fair walk to the Yarra to see the Moomba festival, but I didn’t mind. It was still better than giving in to the  absurd rates that Secure Parking charges despite having no guarantee or warranty that your

IT’S ironic that it was Collingwood that was the first team of the season to beat the reigning premier Geelong by 13-points at Victoria Park on Saturday. It was only last year that the Pies also broke Port Melbourne’s famous winning streak that included its 2011 flag. But perhaps almost more ironic is the general

IN thrilling scenes at Trevor Barker Beach Oval, Sandringham defeated the Northern Blues by 13 points, after trailing by as much as 38 points at the 20 minute mark in the third quarter.

The Zebras put on a clinic since that moment, including seven goals in a row

GEELONG VFL coach Matthew Knights expects other teams to come at the undefeated Cats in the second half of the season as it crept to flag favouritism with a 55-point shellacking of Werribee at Simonds Stadium on Saturday. Knights said the Cats have improved even further on last year’s premiership season despite an overhaul of

WHILE Carlton defeated Melbourne by 61-points and that was expected, perhaps what was not was the automatic dominance of forward Jarrad Waite, who took 10 marks and two goals from centre half forward.

Waite’s selection was seen to be a bit of gamble from the Blues coming into the match given he had played just the one VFL match on return from injury

ST KILDA  forward Justin Koschitzke faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines and has already been committed if you listen to leading commentators and social media. Collingwood midfielder Dayne Beams wrote on Twitter that Koschitzke’s hit on Pies youngster Jamie Elliott was ” fairly weak” shortly after the incident. ”Fairly weak that by Justin Koschitzke,”

FOUR Rounds into the 2013 VFL season, Geelong and the Casey Scorpions remain undefeated while pre-season fancy Werribee is floundering after heavy defeats against Williamstown and Sandringham. Regular contributor Andrew Calleja takes a look at how your side is faring and the month ahead.   Bendigo Gold Went into Round 1 with a side averaging just

THE Northern Blues felt that the 16-point loss to Port Melbourne at home on Sunday was one that got away. Mid-way through the term they had sprung to a two goal lead after a second quarter comeback. But under pressure and knowing another game was starting to get out of their control, Port’s seasoned players

CARLTON’S Jarrad Waite failed to kick a goal for the Northern Blues in his return match from a calf injury but that didn’t worry the Blues’ coaching staff who were just relieved the star forward had got through unscathed against Port Melbourne at Preston City Oval on Sunday. Waite finished with 12 disposals and six

EVERYONE expected Geelong to race away with a thumping victory over the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, but few would have predicted what happened in the final term.

Leading by 36 points at three-quarter time it seemed to be a matter of how much the Cats would win by. But Geelong could manage just five behinds in the last quarter, going goalless as the Bulldogs kicked three goals

  Football Nation’s roving reporter DANIEL PAPROTH gives us his take and his picks on the first games of Round 5.     Collingwood vs Essendon ANZAC Day, April 25 2013 2:40pm Melbourne Cricket Ground As we commemorate and remember our fallen servicemen and women on ANZAC Day, Collingwood and Essendon once again do battle on the

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: Eddie McGuire talked with the GWS football manager about the value of Collingwood players but says claims he offered Dane Swan are “a joke”

FLAGGING changes to a team that lost to Collingwood by 34 points, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has given the strongest signal so far that Nick Vlastuin, the club’s top draft pick, may have his debut this week. “He’s in the mix, there’s no doubt he’s been in the mix for quite some time,” said Hardwick

A SUDANESE player outmarking a Irishman, slotting the goal with the poise of a 200 game veteran and then being knocked out within the first quarter of an AFL game? I’d like to see that. For as long as the AFL’s marketing team has realized that Australia is the only place you can find the AFL,

IT’S hard to put a finger on who is a flag favourite after three rounds given the topsy-turvy form of some teams but reigning premier Geelong would be the closest thing to it at the minute

RICHMOND midfielder Nathan Foley had a ripping first half in his comeback game from an Achilles injury with 18 disposals for the Coburg Tigers on Sunday to perhaps prompt an imminent return to senior footy. Tigers development coach Tim Clarke suggested Foley could even come in as a sub in this week’s clash against Fremantle.

CARLTON’S Jeremy Laidler has been transformed from a defender to a forward and is slowly adjusting to the move according to Blues development coach Luke Webster. Laidler is one of new coach Mick Malthouse’s projects in attempting to play players in different positions. Malthouse has already notably changed the games of Andrew Walker (from forward

VETERAN Geelong defender Josh Hunt is in the mix to make his senior return from a shoulder injury against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. Hunt, who has played the past two matches in the VFL, was ready to return talent and experience-wise according to VFL coach Matthew Knights, but the match

UPDATE: GEELONG has confirmed forward Daniel Menzel will need his fourth knee reconstruction, putting his career in jeopardy at just 21. Menzel will sit out the rest of the season, although LARS surgery was again an option that will be weighed up. And for what it’s worth, Menzel was handed a one week suspension by

PRIZED Hawthorn recruit Brian Lake will play his third consecutive match with the Box Hill Hawks in the VFL today in the hope of returning for next week’s clash against North Melbourne. Lake, the former Western Bulldog, was close to selection for the clash against Fremantle today, but the withdrawal of Matthew Pavlich through injury

WILLIAMSTOWN coach Peter German appears more relaxed about his coaching in the final year of its alignment with the Western Bulldogs. The Seagulls have adopted a selection policy to have a maximum of 12 Western Bulldogs-listed players playing in its senior team. Some have missed the cut and forced to play VFL reserves. German, also

RICHMOND coach Damian Hardwick has boasted his teams’ depth in the midfield as it confronts Collingwood this weekend. The Tigers also have Nathan Foley resuming from an Achilles injury in the VFL for Coburg on Sunday. “You look at Swan and Pendlebury and (Dale) Thomas and (Steele) Sidebottom, they’re probably a bit like us in

THE Essendon Football Club has announced that Paddy Ryder and Nick Kommer have accepted the sanctions passed down by the Match Review Panel yesterday. As a result Ryder will be out for three weeks for his hit on Fremantle’s Luke McPharlin and Kommer will miss two weeks for his rough conduct against Fremantle’s Kepler Bradley. “It is disappointing to

SOME leading commentators said after Geelong’s finals loss to Fremantle in September last year that its premiership window was well and truly closed. But the Cats have a talented young brigade that has them charging back up the ladder quicker than expected,

IT is no surprise to see reigning premier Geelong undefeated and sitting in third spot behind the Northern Blues and Casey Scorpions, but what has happened to the other grand finallist, Port Melbourne

SANDRINGHAM is hoping to have its home ground – Trevor Barker Beach Oval – back up and running for training and playing in the next two to three weeks according to the club today. The Zebras had their latest fixture – in which they lost to Geelong by 32-points – swapped to Simonds Stadium from

HAWTHORN will look to include prized recruit Brian Lake into its defensive line-up in the coming weeks and perhaps as soon as next week’s assignment against Fremantle after gaining more match conditioning and confidence in Box Hill’s 11-point win over Essendon at Windy Hill on Saturday

RICHMOND’S 67-point demolition of the Western Bulldogs on Sunday has handed the Tigers their best start in 18 years as they race to an undefeated three-zip start to the season.

The Tigers face Collingwood in a blockbuster next week which will test exactly where the Tigers are at in the early stanza of the season

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: Essendon chairman David Evans says fresh allegations against his club, including the bombshell claim that Bombers coach James Hird had injected a WADA-blacklisted drug, are “extremely serious and very distressing”

IT seems that every time Port Melbourne play Box Hill, you know that you’re in for a mighty contest. The last five matches have been tight but Port has prevailed in every one of them. Box Hill, however, would have got some confidence out of the four-point loss at Box Hill City Oval on Sunday.

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: There was a time when Sydney’s TED RICHARDS thought he was going to have a very short career in the

NEWS today that Williamstown is shelving some of its Western Bulldogs-listed players in the VFL reserves is in fact old news considering the same thing was happening last season. There appeared to be discontent among the partners last season and that led to both teams deciding to field stand alone teams in the competition next

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: The Swans know the key to their round two AFL match will be taming Gold Coast’s GARY ABLETT

PORT Melbourne warriors Toby Pinwill and Shane Valenti will miss the next four to six weeks with calf injuries in what is described as a challenge for the Borough to overcome. The Borough face Box Hill, Frankston, Sandringham and the Northern Blues over the next month and going by their performance against Werribee on the

AN 11-goal haul from Werribee spearhead Ben Warren and the unexpected 72-point thrashing handed out to Port Melbourne headline the first week of VFL football. Werribee’s crisp ball movement and skill level all over the ground stunned the Borough. How much should be read into the result given its Round 1 is debatable, but the

REIGNING premier Geelong’s eight-point win over Williamstown was the bigger result in my mind to that of the Werribee Tigers’ 72-point demolition of Port Melbourne a day earlier.

Although it won the flag last year, Geelong’s list had taken a massive thump over the pre-season if you take into account the amount of experience lost

THE Western Bulldogs will have a fairytale story this weekend with the AFL debut of mature age rookie Brett Goodes. It’s quite amazing listening to football commentators and writers who wow with amazement that the younger brother of Sydney champion Adam has not made it onto an AFL list until now. They did the same

PORT Melbourne coach Gary Ayres believes the VFL is set for a bumper 2013 season with more elite players and more premiership contenders. “The competition looks like it’s recruited a lot of really good ex-AFL players. All clubs seem to be quite aggressive in their recruiting and it obviously means it’s going to be harder

GEELONG’S attempt to back up last year’s victory with the 2013 premiership will not come easily with 13 other teams vying for the prized silverware and the Cats well and truly in the cross-hairs. With a split round kicking off this weekend and taking place over two weeks all sides will be looking to get

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: The Power elevated rookie KANE MITCHELL on Tuesday, but there’s no guarantee the 23-year-old Western Australian will play round one, or even remain on the senior list until season’s end

COLLINGWOOD star Dale Thomas is expected to miss the Pies round one clash against North Melbourne after pulling out of last night’s VFL practice match against the Northern Blues. Thomas was in line to play for some match fitness after an ankle injury derailed his pre-season. He has missed the entire NAB Cup and is

IT has been a long time between drinks, but finally the real football season is almost upon us. It is time to stop fantasising and knuckle down with selection.

With the NAB Cup done and dusted for another year, fantasy football die-hards have had a great opportunity to scope the talent. But have you missed something

THE pre-season competition in the AFL/VFL has taken many forms since 1956 when the ‘night series’ was originally contested by the eight teams who had missed the finals.

Format changes continued until 1988 when the competition moved entirely to the pre-season and became the round robin/lightning premiership that we know today

Northern Blues Coach: Luke Webster Key Player Arrivals: Lee Dale (Myrtleford), Kieran Delahunty (Minyip-Murtoa), Declan Foot (Swan Hill), Bradyn Taglieri (Eltham), Ben Toman (Assumption College), Jacob Bollard, Keenan Posar, Anthony Bonaddio, Jarryd Coulson, Sean Bolger (Northern Knights), Daniel Watson (Geelong Falcons), Hayden Drew (North Ballarat Rebels) Key Player Departures: Alex Benbow (Belgrave), Dan Toman (Bendigo

Casey Scorpions Coach: Rohan Welsh Key Player Arrivals:Michael Boland (Cranbourne), Jake Best (Leongatha), Ben Hughes (Warragul), Jarryd Drew, Tom Fusinato, Darcy Irwin, Daniel Jackson (Gippsland Power), Jackson Anderson (Eastern Rangers) Key Player Departures:Matthew Fieldsend (Port Melbourne) Last Year’s Finish: 1st (14-4 105.7% 56 pts) This year’s prediction: 10th And why?: Casey finished as the minor premier

LAST year Geelong rose to top to take out the VFL premiership.  Who will it be this year? Our award-winning VFL expert BRENT DIAMOND is joined by contributors DANIEL PAPROTH, ANDREW CALLEJA, JAMIE MORGAN and JUSTIN COOPER to give you our comprehensive preview for the 2013 season.    WERRIBEE, Essendon, Frankston and Williamstown have been the

Williamstown Coach: Peter German Key Player Arrivals: Brent Prismall [Essendon AFL], Willie Wheeler [Coburg VFL], Justin Sherman [Western Bulldogs AFL], Leigh Masters [Coburg VFL], Leigh Williams [Melbourne AFL], Cameron Wood [Collingwood AFL], Sean Heatherington [Calder Cannons TAC], Andrew Gallucci [Calder Cannons TAC]. Ben Casley [South Adelaide SANFL], Josh Bench [Western Jets]. Key Player Departures: Jack

Port Melbourne Coach: Gary Ayres Key Player Arrivals: Nathan Batsanis (Norwood), Luke Rounds (Collingwood), Matt Fieldsend (Casey), Danny Hughes (Box Hill) Key Player Departures: Sam Dwyer (Collingwood, AFL), Stephen Brewer (Greenvale), Adam Bentick (St Bernard’s), Tim Allen (Collingwood) Last Year’s Finish: 2nd on the ladder and Runners-up This year’s prediction: 3rd And why?: A gigantic

Essendon Coach: Hayden Skipworth Key Player Arrivals: Matt Firman (Geelong), Josh Freezer, Jacob Thompson, Ben Duscher (Bendigo), Josh Toy (Gold Coast), Matthew Bate (Melbourne), Michael Sikora (Sandringham) Key Player Departures: Nil Last Year’s Finish: Didn’t form a team until 2013 This year’s prediction: 1st And why?: Hayden Skipworth had little to work with at Bendigo.

Collingwood Coach: Dale Tapping Key Player Arrivals: Ben Moloney ( Werribee ) Tim Allan ( Port Melbourne ) Tom Tyquin ( Sandringham Dragons ) Sam Dwyer ( Port Melbourne ) Kyle Martin ( Frankston ) Jack Frost ( Williamstown ) Ben Hudson ( Brisbane Lions ) Brodie Grundy ( Sturt ) Ben Kennedy ( Glenelg

Sandringham Coach: Simon McPhee Key Player Arrivals: Ryan Minahan (Upper Ferntree Gully), Cameron Banfield (Sandringham Dragons), Kenny Ong (Sandringham Dragons) Key Player Departures: Jackson Coleman (Frankston), Michael Sikora (Essendon), Matthew Stapleton (Bendigo) Last Year’s Finish:8th This year’s prediction: 8th And why?: With the loss of two very promising players in Jackson Coleman and Michael Sikora, and

Frankston Coach: Simon Goosey Key Player Arrivals: Michael Lourey [Sandringham VFL], Sam Lloyd [Mt Eliza MPNEL], Jackson Coleman [Sandringham VFL], Scott Simpson [Mt Eliza MPNFL], Jayden Cass [Box Hill Hawks], Tom Purcell [Box Hill Hawks], Damien Garner [Rowville EFL], Ziggy Alwan [Noble Park EFL], Chris Irving [Sandringham VFL], Josh Dyson [Brisbane Lions AFL], Russell Gabriel

North Ballarat Coach: Gerard FitzGerald Key Player Arrivals: Lucas Cook ( Melbourne ) Steve Clifton ( GWS Giants ) Sam Scott ( Geelong Falcons ) Nick Rippon ( Ballarat Rebels ) David Morris ( Ballarat Rebels ) Tony Lockyer ( Ballarat Rebels ) Key Player Departures: Derick Micallef ( North Juniors ) Marc Creig (

Bendigo Gold Coach: Austinn Jones Key Player Arrivals: Alik Magin ( Gold Coast ) Troy Kelm ( Kerang ) Matt Stapleton ( Sandringham ) Pat Flynn ( Collingwood VFL ) Ricky Thompson (  Lalbert ) James Brooker  ( Montmerency ) Nathan McCarty ( Rochester ) Jackson Bolton ( Box Hill ) Che Walls ( Bendigo

Coburg Coach: Tim Clarke (new) Key Player Arrivals: Adam Saad [Calder Cannons TAC], Ricky Petterd, Sam Lonergan, Orren Stephenson Key Player Departures: Willie Wheeler [Williamstown VFL], Leigh Masters [Williamstown VFL], James Saville [East Fremantle], Pat Contin, Rhett Jordan [Norwood EFL], Angus Graham Last Year’s Finish: 12th This year’s prediction: 13th And why?: With a young,

Werribee Tigers Coach: Scott West Key Player Arrivals: Addam Maric (Richmond), Brett Meredith, Jarrad Moore (Sydney), Scott Clouston (Brisbane Lions), Kris Pendlebury (Collingwood), Ben Brown (Glenorchy), Ben Warren (North Melbourne) Key Player Departures: Matt O’Dwyer, Travis Tuck, Brad Mangan, Nathan Ablett, Kyle Hartigan Last Year’s Finish: 4th This year’s prediction: 2nd And why?: Although it

Geelong Coach: Matthew Knights Key Player Arrivals: Piers Flanagan (Gold Coast), Jai Sheahan, Jordan Erskine Key Player Departures: Simon Hogan (retired), Orren Stephenson (Richmond), Shannon Byrnes (Melbourne), David Wojcinski (retired), Jonathan Simpkin (Hawthorn) Last Year’s Finish: Premiers This year’s prediction: 5th And why?: The Cats don’t have as strong of a list that they had

Box Hill Hawks Coach: Damian Carroll Key Player Arrivals: Sam Iles (Gold Coast), Jackson Eade (Old Camberwell), Sam Crocker (St Kilda), Brad Harvey (Brisbane Lions), Ryan Exon (Oakleigh Chargers), Bryce Retzlaff (Brisbane Lions) Key Player Departures: Adam Pattison (retired), Danny Hughes (Port Melbourne), Guy Phelps, Daniel Cooper, Jayden Cass (Frankston), Matt Jones (Melbourne) Last Year’s

WHILE Collingwood jumped the gun yesterday with news that Ben Hudson would be promoted off the rookie list, other clubs have been making  progressive announcements today in advance of the 2:30pm deadline. Now that the deadline has come and gone we can post the full list of seven players that have capped their successful pre-season

FROM the AFL to the South East Australian Basketball League, from life coaching to book writing, American Shae McNamara has had a busy year. But life is about to slow down a little bit for the former Collingwood player. After being delisted by the Magpies he signed with SEABL club Sandringham Sabres, but was cut

CAN Norwood win back-to-back SANFL flags for the first time since 1922-23? That is the major question to be answered leading into the 2013 season.

COACH Nathan Buckley will be looking to take this highly-talented squad two steps further in 2013 and it is certainly achievable. The mix of experience and youth in the team is exciting and will guarantee Collingwood as a contender for years to come

IT will be interesting to see how season 2013 plays out for the Cats. Most had them pencilled in for a mouth-watering preliminary final clash with Hawthorn in September last year but they were beaten by a more determined Fremantle side.

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: Demons wunderkind JACK VINEY remains a Round 1 lock, despite not playing since the first round of the NAB Cup

IT’S that time of the year where we make predictions about where the pecking order may stand for VFL-listed players. It’s important to remember that list is created and judged on a three tier criteria. Firstly, their 2012 form is looked upon, secondly we look at their importance to the team they’re at, and the

THERE is still plenty of improvement to come from the Gold Coast but the story of the season may be how patient the club and its fans can be.

  14/3/13 – ESSENDON has continued its massive pre-season of recruiting in its inaugural season with Trent Shinners coming across from Bendigo. It has also snared Temora’s Sam Tagliabue. 7/3/13 – GEELONG is set to include delisted Gold Coast youngster Piers Flanagan on its final list this week. He has been training with the VFL

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: Geelong has put Josh Cowan and Lincoln McCarthy on its long-term injury list, clearing the way for the Cats to promote Josh Walker and Mark Blicavs

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: The Hawks would not be compensated for the loss of LANCE FRANKLIN under proposed changes to the AFL’s free agency
rules

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: New Richmond captain TRENT COTCHIN has prepared himself to lead the club through an unlikely alliance with cricketer Simon Katich

THE Demons were extremely active in the draft and trade period adding a good mix of veteran and young talent but now faces the task of finding a way of getting the right combination of players onto the field.

THERE is no silver lining for him in his new role because Austinn “Aussie” Jones hopes one day it’s decked in Gold. The 36-year-old Jones is the new coach of Bendigo – the VFL’s third stand-alone team – and he is relishing the opportunity as his side prepares to kick start the season against now-bitter

IN the normal course of our activities we come across stories and rumours that have yet to be reported elsewhere or that, while impossible to substantiate, would be of interest to our readers. We ran a “Trade Whispers” post for last year’s off-season that proved popular so in advance of the start of the 2013

SOME coaches are tough to get in contact with, others have all the time in the day for metropolitan and local media. We thought we would compile a top five of those coaches in the VFL that are diligently promoting the competition and their respective clubs

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: After providing Melbourne supporters with a thrill on Friday night some have speculated that the Demons should try to find a loophole that would allow Jesse Hogan to play in

NEW Sandringham recruits, Cameron Banfield and Kenny Ong, are ecstatic with their recent signings. Recruited from the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup, they both understand their team roles against ‘bigger bodied’ players

THE VFL has announced the preliminary list of 34 players that will have an opportunity to be a part of the 2013 AFL Victoria VFL Academy The VFL Academy program was launched last year and provides nominated players experiences that complement the programs delivered by VFL clubs and, significantly, helps to expose players involved to the

COLLINGWOOD forward Brent Macaffer made a strong return back from last year’s horror knee injury in last Friday night’s NAB Cup encounter against the Western Bulldogs and Essendon. Macaffer’s brilliant crumbing goal provided a rare highlight in the opening half against the Western Bulldogs where he hit the pack at full tilt and tapped the

The players to watch featuring in round one of the NAB Cup beginning tonight

ADAM Marcon and Kane Lambert have again been the stand-outs over summer with Carlton’s VFL affiliate, the Northern Blues. After a solid finish to last season, the Northern Blues have plenty of belief they can play finals footy this year. “The guys that played there last year Adam Marcon and Kane Lambert, best and fairest

SANDRINGHAM’S pacy small forward, Chris Michaliades hasn’t given up on his dream of playing AFL at the highest level and his journey has been one of hard work and determination

IS IT ever too early to start looking ahead to the NEXT draft? We don’t think so! As we move into the final weeks before the NAB Cup competition begins, guest writer TAO BAKER takes a look at some of the names that we will be seeing a lot of in the lead-up to the 2013 Draft

THE Carlton Football Club has done what the legal system couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do: punish Heath Scotland for an off-field incident. It seems strange that Scotland could walk out of a courtroom with no conviction after a pub brawl in Mulwala (NSW) last October only to be penalised by his club. But then again maybe it’s entirely

RICHMOND says its renovated home base at Punt Road Oval has helped lift the spirit of the club to new levels over the pre-season, ahead of fielding its own stand alone VFL team at the new-look ground from 2014. After paving the way for Trent Cotchin as new captain, former skipper Chris Newman believes the

NEW Sandringham Development coach, Matt Embling, is ecstatic for his upcoming challenge. After four years as the University Blues under 19s coach, Embling is looking forward to working closely with the Sandringham players

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: Geelong draftee Jackson Thurlow has emerged as a dark horse to make his debut in the Cats’ round one blockbuster against Hawthorn.

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: The Blues are racing towards the season with a fully-fit big man division as they strive to ease the burden on their speedy small forwards this year

FOR those that remember James Podsiadly’s playing days as skipper of Werribee in the VFL, a touted move to defence in 2013 wouldn’t come at all as a surprise. In fact, it was the move that was thrown up in a team meeting with then Werribee coach Simon Atkins in 2008 that perhaps propelled him

(DAILY ONE LINERS) Pictured: Lachie Whitfield has set his sights on a round one debut with Greater Western Sydney but says he is far from being a walk-up start

WEST Coast’s decision to pluck two mature age players in last year’s rookie draft shows that it is in a position to contend again as it bolstered its ranks with former Melbourne midfielder Jamie Bennell and former Subiaco and Port Melbourne ruckman Callum Sinclair. Sinclair is expected to play in the NAB Cup, while Bennell

NEW Sydney midfielder Dean Towers is expected to be an instant inclusion in the Swans team despite them having a team of premiership stars. The ready made mature age recruit said he is ready to begin his AFL career after starring for North Ballarat in the VFL last season. He has been a late bloomer

OUR final list on the final day of 2012: we look back on the year that was and give you our opinion on the Top 5 Recruits of the 2012 AFL season

WE’VE been tracking VFL player movements since the end of the 2012 campaign and now BRENT DIAMOND analyses the big winners in the recruiting stakes so far this off-season

WILLIAMSTOWN today officially announced the signing of former Essendon midfielder Brent Prismall, who has also signed at affiliate the Western Bulldogs in a welfare role previously. The Seagulls have added some of the best pre-season recruits so far in the VFL, with Prismall joining former Bulldog and Brisbane Lions midfielder Justin Sherman and delisted Pies

Continuing our end of the year series of lists, we take a look back on the year that was and give you our opinion on the top 10 state-league players that should really be on an AFL list.   1. Shane Valenti – Still arguably the VFL’s premier on-baller. He would add finesse and poise

NEW Melbourne midfielder Matt Jones was one that was on the radar of AFL recruiters but there were some around him at Box Hill that may well have thought they were in a better place for a look-in. Luke Andrews is one who shone bright in the latter part of the season and is perhaps

COLLINGWOOD believes it can get Carlton discard Jordan Russell back to his best after a couple of lack-lustre seasons at the Blues. Russell was one of Carlton’s top six players just three years ago but has been dumped to the VFL ranks in recent times and has struggled to make an impact. Pies recruiting manager

NEW Collingwood rookie Sam Dwyer never thought that he would be a Magpie when he was making a miraculous recovery from a fractured leg to play in the VFL grand final this year. So often he was in a race against time. He suffered a setback late in the year and then again in finals.

AT the Western Jets, Kyle Hartigan was always seen as a AFL draft prospect. Back then he was slim framed and raw and despite the promise, AFL clubs overlooked him thinking that he would be a development project that could turn out to be a disaster. However, since then he has been anything but a

IN this off-season Collingwood have addressed their short and long term problems and Derek Hine has given Nathan Buckley everything he identified at the end of the 2012 season