Swans could be without premier players

Defender Marty Mattner is one Sydney premiership player who may not take to the field against the Giants because of niggling injuries. Picture: Phil Hillyard. Source: The Daily Telegraph

AS many as three members of the Swans' grand final winning team will miss the premiers' opener against the GWS Giants on Saturday at ANZ Stadium.

Swans coach John Longmire says he won't be taking underdone players into the contest. Alex Johnson will have re-constructive surgery on his knee this week and one or two of either Nick Smith, Marty Mattner, Mitch Morton and Shane Mumford will miss out.

The quartet played in last Friday night's reserves practice match against Sydney University after injury interrupted preseasons.

Swans cash news to us

"They probably all won't play," Longmire said. "They all played the whole game and got through without any problems and all pulled up fine.

"Each one of them has had something different (in terms of injuries)."

Defenders Mattner and Smith and goal sneak Morton are the ones in greatest danger of missing out on selection.

All three only played their first match of the preseason two weeks ago.

Mattner had surgery on his hip and Smith had a clean-up operation on his knee during the off season while Morton had his preseason interrupted by a back injury.

"It depends on what role they play and what other blokes have been playing in their position and what alternatives we've got," Longmire said. "We want to play the most competitive team we've got available to us. If that includes what they have been able to do over the last month."

Craig Bird is another from the grand final team who played in last weekend's practice after suffering a hip flexor injury and missing two weeks.

The midfielder from Nelson Bay is expected to be fit to play against the Giants.

The potential surprise packet of round one is Clovelly's Dane Rampe who is being looked at as a replacement for injured defender Alex Johnson.

"He's under consideration, whether or not he plays we're unsure yet but he has played every game in our preseason and had done a pretty good job,." Longmire said.

"He'd need to be elevated from the rookie list if he was going to play but he's certainly under consideration."

Johnson will miss the entire season after opting for a conventional knee re-construction rather than a LARS operation .

He will have the surgery in Sydney later this week and return to his home town of Melbourne for the first weeks of his recovery.

The premiers watched the opening match of the season as a group and Longmire has noticed his players are beginning to switch on.

"On Friday night the team sat down and watched the Essendon and Adelaide game and they're starting to get a bit excited.

"Everyone looks at the game and the focus goes clearly on this week.

"That's what everyone has been looking forward to."

The Swans coach predicts the 2013 season will be a very open competition.

"You look at the improvement of GWS over the summer," he said.

"Everyone has improved in the off season.

"You need to make sure you get off to a good start."

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What you missed on TV last night

GWS Giants coach Kevin Sheedy is back in the headlines. Picture: Mark Evans Source: The Daily Telegraph

DID you miss last night's AFL television shows? Rewind and catch up here on all of hot topics and big issues discussed.

AFL 360

* GWS coach Kevin Sheedy joined Robbo and Gerald Wheatley in the AFL 360 Studio.

* Sheedy discussed the shared responsibilities between himself and assistant coach Leon Cameron. "Melbourne is different from Sydney - we need to sell game as well as coach the game," Sheedy said.

* The GWS coach said his club should make a play for Lance Frankin, and placed his value at around $1.2 million a year. Said it would be 'enormous' to get him, liking it to when Tony Lockett went to the Swans. READ THE FULL STORY AND SHEEDY'S COMMENTS HERE.

* Bomber Thompson said James Hird deserved the big win in Adelaide after all the controversy of the past few months.

Lance Franklin has put contract talks with Hawthorn on hold until the end of the season. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

ON THE COUCH

* AFL boss Andrew Demetriou was the guest in the second show the year.

* All the issues of the off-season were raised, with Demetriou declaring intergrity and pureness of the game was more important than anything.

* Demetriou said he believed the AFL had responded correctly to their off-season controversies.

* Demetriou has long been concerned about  the influence sport scientists were having on football clubs and he admitted the AFL should have intervened earlier. "Maybe they do have a place in the game, but the marginalisng of club doctors is unacceptable," he said.

* The AFL boss said he had no regrets about his well publicised two-month holiday during last year's AFL season.

* Paul Roos declared Gary Ablett Jnr is a better player than his father. "Gary Snr could do things no one else could, but I think Gary Jnr is a better player," Roos said.

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou. Source: Herald Sun

OPEN MIKE

* Gary Ablett Jnr was the guest, who admitted how he nearly gave up football as a teenager. READ MORE OF WHAT ABLETT SAID HERE.

* Admitted he was homesick for the first year on the Gold Coast.

* Said part of the reason for his move to the Gold Coast was because he was no longer enjoying football and needed a change.

* Publicly expressed his support for Essendon high performance manager Dean Robinson, who is currently embroiled in ASADA's current investigation on the Bombers.

Suns skipper Gary Ablett. Picture: David Clark Source: Gold Coast Bulletin

FOOTY CLASSIFIED

* Former Bomber great Matthew Lloyd reiterated his belief Essendon will not make the eight this year, despite gritty win over Essendon.

* The new sliding rule continues to be a talking point with panel believing players will take awhile to adjust to it.

Jobe Watson and Essendon celebrate. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: Herald Sun

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AFL plan for new stadium

Punt Rd Oval and Visy Park are possible options for a boutique stadium. Source: Herald Sun

ANDREW Demetriou says the league is serious about investigating options for a boutique stadium in Victoria, with Punt Rd Oval and Visy Park leading candidates.

The AFL chief said the league was not thinking about a new 18,000-20,000 capacity stadium, but did not rule out upgrading a site in regional Victoria.

"We've done a feasibility (study) on Visy (Park); Visy can work," Demetriou said.

"But we've got a couple of other options. I think Punt Rd's got some legs."

The AFL will acquire Etihad Stadium in 2025, but the league has been in talks about buying the stadium early to help clubs who get a poor return from playing at the venue, including Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and St Kilda.

Demetriou said the number of games the AFL was contracted to play at Etihad Stadium would drop next year.

"We have got a number of games that would be attractive in an 18-20,000 seat venue," he said. "If you have a full house in a ground, you can create a great atmosphere, so I don't think we should close our minds to a boutique stadium.

"We play I think . . . 198 games, home-and-away games, this year and 110 or something plus are in Victoria. That's a lot of football in Melbourne.

"The MCG and Etihad do their best to cope with those number of games. It's not a bad thing to have another option available."

Demetriou said a regional facility was not out of the question. "There's been some work done on Ballarat. It was done just prior to the last state election," he said.

"What we do know about regional football is when we take our game to regional areas they are well attended."

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Cancer fighter Rowe pushing to play

Sam Rowe takes a solid mark during the NAB Cup Grand Final. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

SAM Rowe is expected to make his AFL debut for Carlton on Thursday night, less than 12 months after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Rowe, 25, impressed the Blues in the NAB Cup of 2012 before consulting a specialist after he consistently tired during games.

He underwent chemotherapy and was given the all clear by his surgeon to return to the training track late last year.

The Barometer: Round 1

With Jarrad Waite's short-term availability unknown because of a persistent calf injury, 198cm Rowe has emerged as a forward-line target along with Levi Casboult and either Robbie Warnock or Shaun Hampson.

Rowe was taken by Sydney in the rookie draft of 2006, and joined South Australian club Norwood after failing to make it with the Swans.

Playing in the same side as Nick Duigan, Rowe's contested work on the forward line prompted the Blues to take him with pick 44 in the 2011 national draft.

His form has been solid in the pre-season and his attack on the ball has won praise from his coach Mick Malthouse.

Carlton's selection for its traditional season opener against Richmond will be a hot topic today with 28 players in the mix.

Chris Judd will start despite playing just one match in the pre-season. Another player may well have been given the substitute's vest, but Carlton know Judd will find a way to get up for a match with serious consequences.

Both clubs are desperate to increase membership and an opening win is the best way to do that.

Players in the selection mix include Tom Bell, Josh Bootsma, Aaron Joseph, Jeremy Laidler, Kane Lucas, Simon White plus Warnock/Hampson.

If the Blues choose to tag Richmond's Trent Cotchin then first option will be Andrew Carazzo, although Malthouse was never a heavy user of tags during his 12 years at Collingwood.

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Tigers feel the pain

Former Richmond midfielder Ben Cousins collapses after tearing his hamstring in his first match in Tigers colours. Picture: Michael Dodge Source: Herald Sun

RICHMOND has made an art form of turning football's grand Colosseum into its own personal torture chamber in March.

Think five Round 1 losses against Carlton by margins of a combined 220 points, as countless summers of optimism are laid to ruin for the Tiger Army.

Or captain Kane Johnson kick-starting the 2007 season by winning the first stoppage of the game, then booting the ball 50 metres into Carlton's forward line.

Yet none of it compares to the 2009 season, in which Terry Wallace led Richmond into battle, only to be mortally wounded as a coach in just two hours of football.

When the dust settled on a weekend of hell, new recruit Ben Cousins was hamstrung, coach Terry Wallace was already fighting for his job, and the players knew their season was in tatters.

Richmond's Kane Johnson and Carlton's Chris Judd. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

For former Richmond and Western Bulldogs forward Nathan Brown, that loss encapsulates the club's inability to front up and perform in Round 1.

"The 2009 season was a perfect example. We finished 2008 with a bang and everyone was picking us to play finals.

"Our practice match form was brilliant, and we went into Round 1 so confident. To walk off having lost by 83 points, of any game I played in for my entire career, that was the most devastating loss,'' he said yesterday.

"I have played in preliminary finals, but that loss was more devastating. I have never been more shattered and I take responsibility as one of the senior players.

"The mood in the room afterwards was just eerie. It wasn't a final, it was Round 1. We still had 21 games to go, but we felt right there that we couldn't get back from that, and we couldn't.''

By the following Monday, president Gary March was defending Wallace's position against claims he should be replaced by Kevin Sheedy.

He would not last out the year.

Once more this week Richmond enters a season full of anticipation, desperate to be a contender.

The Tigers have wisely gone into lockdown mode, restricting the publicity and hype that has tripped them up before.

Brown is just one of a raft of commentators who believe this time be different - that Richmond's fleet of matchwinners and steady hand at the tiller from Damien Hardwick will have them in the contest to the death.

But we have heard that before.

As former Carlton Denis Pagan puts it, Richmond's five Round 1 defeats from six seasons, and nine consecutive losses to the Blues, haven't filled the football world with confidence.

"How many times we have been looking forward to AFL footy all summer, and how many times have Richmond been pumped? All I know is you look forward to your Round 1 footy fix, and Carlton pump Richmond and you leave flat as a pizza,'' Pagan said.

"I reckon this time will be different. Richmond's midfield has grown and we see the maturity of Trent Cotchin. But then we have said that before.''

Tigers captain Johnson started the culture change at Punt Road before the baton was passed to Chris Newman, then Cotchin.

Yet even he would acknowledge that 2007 clanger encapsulates everything about the Tigers' Round 1 ineptitude.

That game he tagged Carlton's Nick Stevens - the ex-Port Adelaide star was best-afield.

Gippsland Power TAC Cup coach Stevens was a part-time assistant at Richmond two years ago, but while he believes in Richmond's resurgence he still laughs about Johnson's first-bounce nightmare.

"I remember it clearly. They were always wound up and "Sugar'' (Johnson) would normally come to me, and we had good duals over the journey. He won the clearance, kicked it 50m to the top of the square, and everyone looked at each other and realised what he had done. It was a little surreal,'' he said.

"He hit the kick that well - it was a 50m kick to the hot spot. Everyone got into him and then he realised what he had done.''

Richmond's Kane Johnson and Carlton's Chris Judd. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

Richmond premiership coach Tommy Hafey actually walked out after attending that 2009 loss with his grandkids.

He sees signs that Richmond's gradual improvement might not be a false dawn.

"It is so very important this time,'' he says of Thursday's clash.

"We have lost too many games by small margins, and I see big improvement in this squad. The losses have been so much tougher because we have been arch rivals with Carlton for so long.

"We have got to make the finals this year. It's not much good just being up there. We have to make finals, as simple as that.

"If we are going to be a power and keep improving as a team, we have to start winning these games. It's just been so long since we have made the finals.''

RICHMOND ROUND 1 DISASTERS

2007: Carlton and Richmond kick off their Round 1 tradition, but the Blues prevail by 17 points from 40 scoring shots as Nick Stevens runs riot, with Kane Johnson kicking the ball the wrong way to open the game.

2008: Richmond's sole Round 1 victory against the Blues comes after Carlton finished 16th, 16th and 15th the previous three years. Matthew Richardson and Nathan Brown combine for eight goals in a 30-point victory.

2009: A much-hyped Richmond is smashed by 83 points, with Ben Cousins injuring his hamstring on debut for the Tigers and coach Terry Wallace immediately under siege.

2010: The Blues wallop Richmond in Damien Hardwick's first game after extending the margin at every break to win by 56 points. Retired great Matthew Richardson does a lap of honour pre-match.

2011: Tiger hearts are broken as Richmond leads by 20 points at one stage but is over-run in a 20-point defeat. The Blues are on the march, despite Richmond's improvement under Hardwick.

2012: Carlton inflicts what would end up Richmond's heaviest loss of the season - 44 points - withstanding a comeback from 32 points up before steadying with the Tigers in touching distance.

Carlton 5 wins
Richmond 1 win

RICHMOND             Contested Possessions           Tackles
2007 - 01 v Carlton (L)             -15                                  -17
2008 - 01 v Carlton (W)              14                                 -1
2009 - 01 v Carlton (L)             -17                                  -28
2010 - 01 v Carlton (L)              -9                                   -19
2011 - 01 v Carlton (L)             -21                                  -23
2012 - 01 v Carlton (L)             -15                                   1

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Suns' success could come down to Hunt

Suns player Karmichael Hunt sweats it out during weights training. Picture: Luke Marsden. Source: News Limited

THE honeymoon is over for Karmichael Hunt.

In his third season in the AFL Hunt's ability to do his job could determine the Suns' chances of success.

You could also say the honeymoon might be over for the competition's best midfielders when they play the Suns.

Because Hunt intends to attach himself to the opposition's best ball winner and wage a head-to-head battle in the trenches.

Hunt keeps low expectations

And he has been told by coach Guy McKenna to start throwing his weight around.

He claimed the scalp of Melbourne ball magnet Nathan Jones in the Suns' final practice match and this week his sights are likely to be set on St Kilda star Lenny Hayes.

It may be a shut-down role but the wrecking ball firmly insists his plan is to beat his man to the footy.

"Bluey said to me, your greatest strength is your strength and if the best way of stopping them is by winning the
ball then go ahead," he said.

"When I played against Jones that was probably the case at the stoppages and that is how I'll go about it during the year."

Hunt will be told tomorrow who his opponent will be but the indications are Hayes will be his target given he is the Saints' main extractor.

It is a whole new ball game from his year-long apprenticeship in the midfield last season where he was given free reign to chase the footy and try and get a few kicks.

McKenna has declared the code-hopper will now be judged on the impact he has on the opposition's best and Hunt relishes the role.

"It is pretty cool getting a designed role for yourself, especially if you can execute," he said.

"I've always been about doing what is best for the team, I'll just go out there and do what the coaches ask of me.

"It is pretty fun."

Preparing for footy has suddenly become more technical. His new job involves video sessions and extra work with midfield coach Matthew Primus.

"You do more study on your direct opponent," he said.

He was given a crash course just days before playing Melbourne at Southport last week and later won rave reviews from McKenna for the job he did on Jones the reigning Melbourne best and fairest and a veteran of 135 games.

St Kilda has personnel issues in the back six, ahead of Saturday's clash at Metricon Stadium, with All-Australian Sean Dempster out with a hamstring injury and Rhys Stanley (knee) and Sam Fisher (foot) in doubt.

The Suns' tall forwards and rucks Charlie Dixon, Zac Smith, Stephen May and Sam Day are all in good touch and hope to be able to get on top of the weakened Saints defence.

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Seeing red over head knock rule

In this file picture, Joel Selwood lays on the ground after being knocked out by Farren Ray as substitute Darren Milburn looks on. Picture: George Salpigtidis. Source: News Limited

CALL the AFL lawmakers cynical, but they have already seen through the cracks of the game's new concussion rule.

It reads as follows:

A PLAYER can be taken off the field to be tested for 20 minutes and replaced by the substitute, provided the substitute is wearing the green vest.

If the club doctors rule the head-dizzy player does not have concussion, he can return to the field and the substitute can return to the interchange bench to wear the green vest again.

BUT, if the substitute is in the red vest - indicating he has been taken out of the game earlier - he cannot return to the field to cover for a teammate during that 20-minute window for a concussion test.

The team has to play with just two interchange players in this scenario  and two players on the sidelines, one being tested for concussion and the other left cooling his heels in the red vest.

It is fair to say there is a fair bit of confusion around the AFL clubs today. Football operations chiefs and coaches
are asking why should the colour of the vest determine whether a player can cover for a teammate being tested for concussion.

Again and again, club coaches and managers have told The Advertiser: "We wouldn't send an injured player back out, but if the sub is fit and can cover while we check another player for concussion, why not let him back on?"

For the first time, the AFL has realised whenever it writes a rule there is a great temptation in clubland to exploit it.

So here is the league's logic on distinguishing between the green and red vests for the concussion rule.

The league has found a fit player is usually substituted to wear the red vest late in the third term or early in the last for tactical reasons.

The AFL anticipates coaches will use the substitute earlier  say just after half-time  if they can reactivate this player in the last term by exploiting the new concussion rule.

At three-quarter-time the coach could tell a failing player he is to fake dizziness, be called off for a 20-minute concussion test and be replaced by the player taken off at half-time.

In essence, the coach gets to make two or three substitutions rather than the legal one.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says he has cut off one way for the clubs to exploit the concussion rule  and hopes they will not play tricks with the one he has left open with green-vested substitutes.

"It's what the clubs wanted," Demetriou said of the concussion rule. "They've been told not to exploit it  and we've got to take them at their word.

"I've said before, the days are gone of people trying to cut corners.

"The concussion rule is there for legitimate reasons."

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Billy steps up as Lions No.1

Lions ruckman Matthew Leuenberger, red, tussles with developing tall Billy Longer. Picture: Adam Armstrong Source: The Courier-Mail

BRISBANE are prepared to hand teenager Billy Longer No.1 ruckman duties in the season opener against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Longer's emergence during the NAB Cup, especially his effort in the grand final win over Carlton, has given coach Michael Voss and his match committee the confidence to allow the badly underdone Matthew Leuenberger an NEAFL hit-out to build match conditioning.

Football manager Dean Warren said the make-up of the side would not be discussed until today and Leuenberger still had the week's main training session to push his case for senior selection.

Injuries: Club by club analysis in The Barometer

However the side was now in the position where they did not need to rush the 24-year-old straight into the side.

"Pleasingly Billy Longer has been in good form, that is why the last couple of weeks have been important, now we know he is capable of playing the game out,''  Warren said.

"If it decided Lewey needs a week in the twos, we know Billy can do the job.

"I thought he was pretty good in the NAB Cup grand final.''

Leuenberger managed just three games last year because of an achilles injury.

He experienced some back tightness midway through the NAB Cup and did not play in the final.

However, he underwent an epidural injection and managed a half a game in the reserves two weekends ago.

He stayed at the club for some extra conditioning work while the rest of the players were enjoying a four day break after the NAB Cup.

But because the Lions' NEAFL side had a bye on the weekend, he has not been able to gain match fitness.

Voss said Leuenberger  was a "50-50'' chance of playing, while Simon Black (knee) might miss up to the first four rounds, as expected.

Warren said he had no injury concerns and was in full health and the selection decision would come down to his fitness.

"He's training now, we just need to decide if he needs a full game in the seconds,'' he said.

Voss yesterday declared the NAB Cup form would have no bearing on the premiership season and insisted his side would need to find an extra "20 per cent" improvement against the Bulldogs.

That improvement must come from the younger players.

"We need Billy Longer, Elliot Yeo, Mitch Golby, Patrick Karnezis, Josh Green and Claye Beams to have career-best seasons,'' he said.

"It (the midfield) is an area we need to improve in our game. It hasn't been a strength of ours for two years.

Results have been favourable though the NAB Cup but now you've got to do it under some serious heat."

"We understand the importance of the first month of the season,'' he said.

"The last couple of years, we haven't got away with a good start and, as a result, we have been chasing the pack for the rest of the year.

"Players need that encouragement through results. We have come into the season in a healthy state but it guarantees us nothing.''

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Power's red-letter day

Port Adelaide ruckman Matthew Lobbe under pressure from Stephen Hill and David Mundy. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

RUCKMAN Matthew Lobbe is next on Port Adelaide's signature hit-list.

The Power has begun negotiations with Lobbe's management as it looks to quickly tie up all its top-end draft picks before positioning itself to make an end-of-season run at a key free agent.

Port's re-signings yesterday of four Victorians it feared losing two years ago has been hailed as a red-letter day for a club which until Ken Hinkley took over as coach was described as a basket case.

Hinkley says the signatures of twin defensive towers Alipate Carlile and Jackson Trengove, dynamic young forward John Butcher and promising midfielder Andrew Moore is concrete evidence the club, which hasn't made the finals in five years, is headed in the right direction.

And he said it sends a strong message to the rest of the league that non-SA players are happy to play for the Alberton-based club.

"This is a really positive day for the club," said Hinkley, who will lead the Power into premiership season battle for the first time against Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.

"These four players are really important to the future of the Port Adelaide Football Club.

"And the fact they are Victorians and have shown such confidence in where we're going and believe in what we're trying to do at Port Adelaide is a nice, strong message to the rest of the competition we are on the renewal path and we are going there quickly.

"To get the support of these boys to say they want to be a part of the future is a real positive kick and can only give the club and the whole playing group some confidence."

Carlile, 25 and a pending free agent, has signed a lengthy four-year deal which ties him to the club until the end of the 2017 season.

Trengove, 22, and Butcher and Moore, 21, have committed for another two years, keeping them at Alberton until at least 2015. Their signatures come on top of those of new captain Travis Boak and fellow Victorians Jasper Pittard, Robbie Gray and Aaron Young last year.

Four of the eight are first-round draft picks, leaving Lobbe as the club's only first-round interstate selection (No. 16 in 2007) not signed beyond this year.

"And we're working on that," a club spokesman said.

Carlile, the most experienced of Port's re-signed players with 111 games in seven years, was eligible for restricted free agency at the end of the season. But he said he never considered leaving.

"I owe this club everything and I just want to repay the club over the next four years," Carlile said.

"I love the club and really believe in where it is heading. Kenny's been outstanding and along with the other new guys around him (assistant coach Alan Richardson and fitness coach Darren Burgess) has ticked off a lot of boxes in the past five months."

Carlile's key defensive sidekick Trengove said he also was keen to put pen to paper on a new deal early in the year after his previous contract negotiations two years ago dragged on until late in the year.

"Holding out like I did last time takes its toll on you and because I really believe in the way this club is heading, I wanted to re-sign as soon as possible," Trengove said.

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