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

2010 was widely tipped as the year a few big names stand up and be counted. Nic Natanui was the pre-season bolter, and it was no surprise to see him installed as one of the firmest favourites in the history of the Rising Star award. But, there were a few others who seemed ready to

Controversy and Jason Akermanis seem to have one of the best relationships going around. The two can’t stay away from each other, and it seems no matter how hard they try to separate, the keep reuniting with even bigger flames and sparks each time. The latest saga comes after his controversial gay comments about AFL

The player of the round for Supercoach lovers was clearly Brian Lake from the Western Bulldogs. The gun defender had a field day against North Melbourne, racking up a massive 179 points. Lake did so without kicking a goal, laying only two tackles and scoring only one free kick. So, where did all the points

If Round 9 of the AFL showed us one thing, it was not to discount the pre season premiership favourites. Going into the 2010 premiership season, there were four main contenders for the flag. They were Geelong, St. Kilda, Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn. (more…)

One of the most talked about players in 2010 would have to be Michael Barlow. The Fremantle recruit was one of many players picked up under the new mature age recruit system introduced by the AFL, and has shown that the hill has many years to climb after 24 years of age. In particular he

Michael Voss was one of the most important players in his Brisbane outfit during his playing days, and it wasn’t just because of his awesome playing skills. The former Brownlow medalist was constantly touted for his amazing leadership qualities and ability to inspire others. It was no surprise then to see him fit easily into

Mature age rookies have been a huge talking point so far this season. For those of you who don’t know, a mature age rookie is someone you can add to your list, without having too put too much commitment into them, and also someone who is old enough to go straight into the first grade

Everyone is jumping on the James Podsiadly train for the Coleman Medal, and it seems to be the main talking point when you mention his name these days. But, as well as kicking goals, the mature age rookie also does a good job of accumulating Supercoach and Dreamteam points. For any online coach or manager,

When it come to players to buy for you Dream Team, Lindsay Gilbee is one that comes to mind very quickly. The Western Bulldogs midfielder has been a quiet achiever for the past five years, and is one of those players who really doesn’t receive the recognition he deserves. Gilbee is nothing short of class.

What is going on in the west?? In the past decade we have seen a remarkable turnaround of two sides. On one hand we had the super successful West Coast Eagles, who dominated the competition for the majority of the past years and had a premierships to show for their efforts. (more…)

It has only taken seven round of the 2010 AFL season for the jury to be out on one of the leagues pre season favourites. Hawthorn set the footy world alight in 2008 when they surprisingly showed up the more fancied Geelong to take out the Grand Final, and to go down as one of

Barry Hall faces instant dismissal from the Western Bulldogs should he lose control on the football field and face another serious striking charge

Richmond players who cannot deliver relentless attacks on the football to “find themselves very quickly out the door”

With Round 15 fast approaching the stage is set for finals candidates to start taking their places. With only eight more games in the season there are nine sides vying for the remaining six finals spots, behind St Kilda and Geelong

If Barry Hall is continue playing AFL football in 2010, it seems he would be a good fit for only one team: the Western Bulldogs

The Sydney Swans and Barry Hall have decided to part ways, one week after the star forward was suspended yet again for striking Ben Rutten

Carlton has banned its disgraced former president John Elliott from the club after a weeklong internal investigation into claims he made about paying off women who were allegedly sexually assaulted

Former Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley is set to help out at Port Adelaide, but Power coach Mark Williams has said there probably won’t be a fulltime appointment

Barry Hall has no intentions of abruptly ending his football career despite suggestions from his coach Paul Roos that he sees his premiership-winning captain as “a guy that just doesn’t want to play AFL football”

The most anticipated game of the year is finally upon us, with an unprecedented clash of two undefeated teams on Sunday at the Docklands

West Coast coach John Worsfold has signaled Dean Laidley could be the next start recruit to join the Eagles’ coaching panel

The AFL Match Review Panel has offered Essendon midfield gun Mark McVeigh a one-week suspension for a fist he threw at Melbourne’s Jared Rivers on Saturday

Emerging Carlton tagger Aaron Joseph has been given the Round 12 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination for his 19-possession effort on St Kilda’s Stephen Milne two weeks ago

Richmond has asked all would-be senior coaches to submit their job applications by July 3, so that it can begin interviewing candidates the following week

Will we look back on Dean Laidley’s resignation as the moment that triggered a full-on bout of AFL coaching musical chairs

Hawthorn received a morale boost yesterday with Trent Croad making his first appearance on the training track for several months

Dean Laidley has resigned and will not coach the North Melbourne Football Club again, according to reports from SEN radio

Speculation is mounting that the Western Bulldogs will offer out of contract coach Rodney ‘Rocket’ Eade a two-year extension in the coming weeks

Hawthorn’s premiership defence has become so much harder after it went down by 42 points to the Brisbane Lions at Aurora Stadium on Sunday

In a blockbuster opening to the split round, St Kilda outlasted a feisty Carlton outfit by nine points at the Docklands on Friday night

Is Adam Goodes closing in on a third Brownlow Medal? Having already ‘taken home Charlie’ in 2003 and 2006, Goodes is having a statistically superior season to both those years and has shortened to $9 in Brownlow betting

Stand-in Richmond coach Jade Rawlings has swung the axe at the selection table, dropping Joel Bowden, Mark Coughlan, Jordan McMahon, Kayne Pettifer and Troy Simmonds

Richmond’s first pick in the 2008 AFL draft will make his debut against the West Coast Eagles this Saturday night, after putting in several solid performances at VFL level

Collingwood fans might look back on Brad Dick’s five-goal, sixteen-possession effort against Melbourne in the Queen’s Birthday clash as the breakthrough game of his career

The most surprising omission from the team veteran coach Mick Malthouse nominated yesterday – based on the performances of players he has coached – was that of Brad Hardie, the 1985 Brownlow medallist

Former Tigers skipper Kane Johnson has pulled up stumps on an outstanding career that returned two premierships with Adelaide and the club captaincy of Richmond for four years

Last year’s Number 1 draft pick Jack Watts will make his long-awaited debut this weekend in the Queen’s Birthday clash between Melbourne and Collingwood at the

Excitement is gathering about the next young crop of potential AFL footballers, with several rated players performing strongly in the early stages of the U18 Championships. Heading the charge is Vic Country key forward John Butcher

Richmond coach Terry Wallace will coach his final game for the club in this week’s Round 11 clash against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium

Check out Anthony Morabito in action for Western Australia in the 2008 AFL U18 Championships

Young Adelaide forward Taylor ‘Tex’ Walker is giving Crows fans something to get excited about, again proving his ability as a match winner with five first half goals against the Hawks

When Ben Cousins ‘flipped the bird’ to a changing room TV camera on Saturday night, most viewers responded quizzically

Hawthorn’s less than ideal start to 2009 continued yesterday, as the embattled reigning premier went down by 27 points to Adelaide at AAMI Stadium

The future looks bright for the fledgling Gold Coast club considering the strength of the recent performance of the AIS/AFL Academy tour to South Africa and the dominating hand the club will play in the next two national drafts. Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna and club recruiter Scott Clayton toured with the academy group through

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has chimed into the recent AFL media debate about the prevalence of gambling in the game, saying it is more of a problem than alcohol

St Kilda’s good run looks set to continue with another senior player coming off the injury list and putting his hand up for selection. Running defender Sean Dempster has been out of the game with a ruptured ACL sustained in the Round 22 match against Essendon last year. (more…)

The Western Bulldogs have denied gun small forward Shaun Higgins is carrying an injury that will require ongoing management, saying it will only take a couple of weeks to fully clear. Reports came out that Higgins had torn his adductor muscle during the close loss to Geelong at the weekend, but the club has since

Football followers are wondering why gun St Kilda half back flanker Jason Gram was dropped to the reserves last weekend. Gram spent the week leading up to Sunday’s clash with the Brisbane Lions nursing a corked thigh, and was not included in the Saints team on Friday, seemingly because of the injury. (more…)

Essendon defender Nathan Lovett-Murray is facing three weeks on the sidelines after the AFL Match Review Panel (MRP) charged him with a level three rough conduct charge. And Geelong little man Matthew Stokes is also likely to miss this weekend’s clash, after being charged for striking. (more…)

Hawthorn utility Beau Muston had to wait four years for his first taste of AFL footy, but the quality of his game yesterday would suggest he has plenty to offer

Carlton will review the advice of a top knee surgeon before deciding how to approach the rehabilitation of star utility Jarrad Waite’s injured knee

Last night’s AFL Hall of Fame presentation saw eight deserving inductees take their places alongside past greats, but North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey again missed out

Hawthorn’s highly rated impact midfielder Beau Muston will finally make his AFL debut in his fourth year on the Hawks’ senior list

Western Bulldogs forward Jason Akermanis has once again gotten up the nose of his old club, Brisbane Lions, by making provocative comments in the media

Geelong coach Mark Thompson has talked up the virtues of his long time assistant Ken Hinkley, saying the deputy would be a great senior coach at Geelong or any other AFL club

Speculation that veteran Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse will leave the club at the end of 2009 has continued after confirmation his manager has been in talks with with club officials

Western Bulldogs forward Jason Akermanis at his goal-sneeking best

In a game where the next big thing normally only lasts a week in the spotlight before being replaced, it is nice to be reminded that class is generally permanent, as is talent

Is West Coast swingman Adam Hunter on the verge of retiring? The 2006 premiership player is on the verge of his 150-game milestone but rumours have reached fever pitch that he is about to give the game away

The Gold Coast has signed current Essendon chief operating officer Travis Auld as its inaugural

Carlton has reasserted its desire to rejuvenate Princes Park as its official home and play a number of low-drawing games there each season

Collingwood has made an astonishing eight changes to its preliminary squad ahead of Sunday’s clash with old foe Carlton

The sickening head clash that left Tigers young gun Alex Rance with a fractured cheekbone may only keep him out of action for two weeks, according to his father Murray

Fremantle midfielder Byron Schammer will line up against the Hawks this weekend after successfully escaping a one-week suspension

The AFL is considering moving the Round 14 heavyweight clash between St Kilda and Geelong to the

Brent Prismall turned out for the Bendigo Bombers at the weekend and put in a sold performance on the comeback trail from a knee reconstruction

St Kilda has blasted Collingwood by 88 points in a powerhouse display at the Docklands

Fremantle midfielder Byron Schammer will miss next week’s clash with Hawthorn after the Match Review Panel reviewed contact he made with Carlton’s Marc Murphy at the weekend

It’s not mission impossible for Collingwood tonight, but against the scorching St Kilda outfit it is mission improbable

It was during the 2004 season and Hawthorn, tired of missing out on success and copping stick every week for its efforts, decided to get physical in the third quarter of a game against Essendon

This week, the team that has only lost three of the past fifty games will regain two of its most inspirational players, captain Tom Harley and respected onballer Cameron Ling

Already in 2009 footy fans have been fortunate enough to see many of the next generation of AFL footballers make their debuts, and in Round 7 we will see no less than four exciting talents take the field for the first time

Collingwood will be boosted by the return of injured duo Anthony Rocca and Heath Shaw for Monday night’s clash with ladder leaders St Kilda

The AFL has released a new television commercial designed to spruik the game and gain an edge over rival codes.

The new ad features several of the game’s current top players showing off their football skills in other sporting events

Extremely highly rated midfielder who has worked hard to play AFL from his early teens. Has a fantastic work ethic, great attack on the football and skills and speed to match. Seems to know where the ball is going before anyone else does and is an out-and-out footballer. Plays for Dandenong Stingrays and will represent Vic Metro again in

The clear standout key forward in the early part of 2009, Butcher is a shade under 200cm (and could keep growing). Outstanding performance for Vic Country in the 2008 U18 Championships. Has great contested marking ability and is excellent at ground level for a big man. With so much upside and ability it is hard to see him drafted outside the top three in

Lucas’ game combines serious football class with terrific running power. He is an outside midfielder but he plays that role close to perfection. His biggest drawback is his very slight frame, but hopefully he can overcome this once in the AFL system. Has excellent kicking skills and always stands out

The tall, powerful utility/midfielder from Western Australia looks like he could do anything. He is very much in the Adam Goodes mould and has performed well in the WAFL in the early part of 2009. Has all the attributes to make a fine AFL footballer and would likely be ready to play straight away

This 200-centimetre plus forward is athletic and he has plenty of potential. Represents the Western Jets in the TAC Cup and had some terrific outings in 2008, but also some average performances. He is a player recruiters will be keeping a very close eye on, because on potential he is a top three pick. Capable of taking strong marks and kicking bags of goals

An inside midfielder who is hard, hungry and loves to burst out of packs with the ball in hand, Gysberts would be a great addition to any AFL club. Has lightning quick hands and is a fine tackler. At 189 centimetres he can play tall for a midfielder, pulling down marks in the way Paul Hasleby does. Played well for Vic Metro in 2008 and regularly picks up more than 20 possessions

Another young gun to impress in the WAFL this year, Duncan is a quality young prospect. Has been touted as a natural leader and has played mostly across the halfback line. Is not tall but is well built and certainly has great disposal. He has the ability to collect high possessions, as he showed in the U16 Championships a couple of years ago. He could be drafted in the first round if he puts in a good champs for WA in

A medium sized halfback flanker, Sheppard has put in some excellent performances in the WAFL so far in 2009. He has plenty of pace and loves to run off his opponent and win the footy. Has a neat, long kick and could quickly rise in recruiters’ plans if he maintains his form

A polished, balanced midfielder with good vision, Weller hails from Tasmania and played as a 16-year-old in last year’s AFL U18 Championships. He picks up plenty of ball through the midfield and plays both inside and outside roles. It will be very interesting to watch him in the 2009 Championships, where hopefully he can stake his claim for a high pick.

A strong, medium-tall forward, Tapscott is not a high possession winner but he is one of those players who hurts the opposition with his disposals. Plays mainly close to goal and is an excellent finisher. Likes to bustle through in a straight line and has an outstanding goal sense. Missed some games in the U18 Championships last year but impressed in others. Could go up a level in

This small forward boasts exceptional pace and has really stood out in some WAFL games to date in 2009. Playing for East Fremantle, Kyanga nips around contests and packs and is always looking to create something. At times he simply breaks away with his blistering speed. There are question marks over his skill level, however, and sometimes he fumbles marks

Hawthorn superstar Lance Franklin has ruled out joining the Gold Coast team that will join the AFL in

Brendan Fevola turns it on against the Pies in mid-

North Melbourne has recognised in its Hall of Fame a player who captained the club to two premierships, won four best-and-fairest awards, played 244 games and kicked 671 goals over a twelve-year career

As every new football season begins there are inevitably some players forced to look on from the sidelines. In 2009, three key backmen head that list: Geelong’s Tom Harley, Western Bulldogs Tom williams and St Kilda’s Matt Maguire. Each has had his injury battles over the preseason – and in the case of Maguire, much

Highlights from the Round One Collingwood vs Adelaide clash

Melbourne’s preperation for the 2009 premiership season has suffered a setback, with highly rated utility Jack Grimes going down with a back injury

Dean Laidley has forecast a re-jigged lineup for North Melbourne in 2009, with new faces to debut and experienced players to feature in different positions

Highlights of Wayne Carey’s illustrious football career

Several rookie-listed players across the AFL have been elevated to senior status on the eve of the 2009 premiership season, and others could follow suit

If things go badly for Nick Stevens at the AFL Tribunal tonight, the Blues onballer won’t take the field until round four

The number one draft pick will wear Norm Smith’s famous number four jumper and has been hailed as a long-term leadership prospect for Melbourne. Watts’ draft camp performances were outstanding – he recorded the second fastest time for the 20m sprint despite being 196cm tall – and his U18 championship was dynamite. But Demons fans

The dreadlocked ruckman was the centre of plenty of hype in the months preceding the 2008 AFL draft, and West Coast responded by snapping him up with their first pick. Dominant for the WA U18 team for two years, Naitanui has a terrific work rate, exceptional athleticism and great skills. Expect the 201cm excitement machine

Everyone knew Stephen Hill could play ball but his first AFL preseason really got Dockers fans excited. The skinny utility boasts a top-notch skill set and silky moves, including a penetrating left foot that regularly scores from outside 50 metres. Hill nailed a supergoal in an excellent first-up performance for Fremantle against Richmond in round

The first midfielder picked in the 2008 AFL draft, Hartlett is a silky operator who has already played senior footy for West Adelaide in the SANFL. Features of his game are clean hands and neat kicking, as well as carrying a good general ability to read the play. Hartlett stood out at the 2008 U18