Ban would not deter Giants

Kurt Tippett the Giant? Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

GREATER Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy says he would draft Kurt Tippett even if the Crow had to serve an AFL ban next season.

Sheedy said the Giants were serious about recruiting the Adelaide forward and were not simply providing nuisance value for a Sydney side still keen to snare him.

If he is not deregistered Tippett will be pushed into the national or pre-season draft where GWS has earlier picks than Sydney.

Sheedy told the Herald Sun yesterday that even if Tippett was forced to serve a ban of four or six weeks next year, the Giants would not be deterred.

"No, I am not worried about that stuff, we just get the blokes in and get them ready to play football," he said.

"I think it is very important and we owe it to our fans to get in senior players who are very talented. "If you look at the teams which have won premierships, these are the situations which come up.

"The Swans built themselves up by getting Tony Lockett and Barry Hall. They got those players around 25.

"We are having a look at him, don't worry about that."

Tippett is still hopeful of getting to the Swans, but must await the AFL's investigation into irregular payments into his contract.

Sydney chief executive Andrew Ireland yesterday conceded GWS held the whip hand.

"The reality is when you go to the draft and someone you want is in there, you have to hope the circumstances work out well if you are deep in the draft," Ireland said.

"One thing we know is we can't control what other clubs do, we can only control our end. We are still hopeful and Kurt is still hopeful of playing for the Swans."

Sheedy says Tippett is exactly that the Giants need as a young, marketable centre-half forward, and says his repeated concussions late in the year would not stop GWS recruiting him.

"I think some players can go through a period with that sort of thing, but I don't if it's serious. We would have to check his medicals but gee whiz, why wouldn't we look at him"

Sydney was seen as the only side that could afford Tippett's $800,000 to $1 million a season price tag that Tippett would put on his head.

Sheedy's Giants passed on recruiting another uncontracted player in the second year of their two-year window.

But the veteran coach says the fact they tried to trade an early pick for an established star last week shows they have salary cap room.

"What we got offered up for the 17-year-old draft picks wasn't really good. But our ambition is to get the best side we can," Sheedy said.

"We don't have a lot of senior pays we have to pay, and hopefully (when the kids mature) by making this into a really good football team, they will say, `This is a good team, why would I leave?"

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Tank 'for the kids'

Melbourne players leave the ground after a loss in 2009. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

A SECOND member of Melbourne's 2009 wooden spoon-winning team has admitted coach Dean Bailey was under fierce pressure to deliberately lose matches.

The player spoke yesterday as league investigators closed in on officials at the centre of the Demons tanking scandal.

Melbourne faces the loss of selections at this year's national draft, including the prized No.4 pick.

"It was disgusting what was going on and you felt for Bails because everyone knew he was under the pump to lose," said the player, who the Herald Sun agreed not to name.

Demon talk is doing damage

"Players had meetings and asked him what was going on but there was nothing he could do.

"The club had a plan. They wanted the two kids, (Tom) Scully and (Jack) Trengove and you just shook your head.

"You'd work your butt off in the pre-season and hang up all these words in the gym and the change rooms or whatever and what did it all mean? Nothing.

"Players were never told to lose. They were just rested and played out of position. (Backman) Matthew Warnock would play full-forward and (forward) Paul Johnson would play full-back."

Proof the Demons tanked could also have drastic consequences for the AFL, the controlling body under Victorian law for all gambling on football.

Tanking an on-going problem: Libba

Gaming Minister Michael O'Brien last night said the State Government was monitoring the case.

The AFL reaps millions of dollars a year from betting and commercial arrangements with bookmakers.

"Any action which brings into question the integrity of sports and sports betting in Victoria is unacceptable," O'Brien said.

It was alleged yesterday that senior Melbourne administrators held a secret meeting in 2009 to plot their tanking strategy.

The end game was to secure the first two picks in that year's national draft - used on Scully and Trengove.

Probe leaves Demons in a sweat

Club president Don McLardy and chief executive Cameron Schwab did not respond to the latest allegations.

Former Melbourne player Brock McLean triggered the AFL investigation when he claimed in July he quit the club because it had set out to deliberately lose games in 2009.

League investigators have re-interviewed several key figures, including Bailey, former recruiter Barry Prendergast and current football manager Josh Mahoney.

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou said yesterday: "It is not appropriate to comment on the investigation itself at this stage.

"However, I would strongly encourage anyone with information that could be relevant to come forward and contact (league investigator) Brett Clothier."

Other Melbourne figures grilled by the AFL include former innovations coach Dave Dunbar, former part-time development coach Scott West and 2009 captain James McDonald.

McLardy, Schwab, then football operations manager Chris Connolly and assistant coaches Sean Wellman, Mark Williams and Josh Mahoney were also on the AFL's interview list.

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Tanking an ongoing problem: Libba

Tony Liberatore says tanking will be an ongoing problem. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

TONY Liberatore, the first club insider to blow the whistle on tanking, says the problem will persist as long as priority picks are available.

The priority pick system has been heavily weakened since Liberatore was an assistant at Carlton in 2007, but the AFL said this year the concession was still available "in exceptional circumstances".

Liberatore claimed on The Footy Show in early 2008 that Carlton deliberately lost games in 2007.

Asked if he believed the Blues had tanked, he said, "Personally, I would say yes."

Yesterday Liberatore said: "I don't know about these priority picks that they have. It's going to be ... an ongoing problem for the AFL." He cast doubt on the AFL's ability to hold a more wide-ranging probe after finishing with Melbourne.

"It's pretty hard going back and revisiting everything that has gone on," Liberatore said.

 

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Swans list Bolton for now

Jarrad McVeigh and Jude Bolton celebrate with Sydney fans. Picture: Alex Coppel Source: Herald Sun

DUAL Sydney premiership player Jude Bolton will be on the Swans' playing list when it is lodged with the AFL today.

Bolton, 32, played 22 games this season to become one of only three Swans to pass the 300-games milestone, behind Adam Goodes (319) and Michael O'Loughlin (303).

Bolton, who played in the 2012 and 2005 premiership teams, is yet to make a decision on his future, and the Swans still have the opportunity to leave his name off the second list lodgement on November 15, a week before the national draft.

Bolton's management is believed to be sounding out media opportunities, including providing a Sydney presence with Channel 7 now that former Swans captain Brett Kirk has signed as a midfield coach at Fremantle.

But the veteran midfielder has been into the club to do some fitness work several times in the weeks since the Grand Final and it is believed to be leaning towards turning out for a 15th AFL season

Despite speculation he would need major post-season surgery on his battered left knee, Bolton said recently "that is certainly not the case."

Meanwhile, Mike Pyke, Craig Bird and Mitch Morton have all signed new deals with the club.

Pyke, 28, is travelling across the United States and Canada, but said he was "really excited" about the prospect of defending the premiership.

"It is a challenge we're all looking forward to and I feel privileged to have this opportunity," he said.

"I still feel like I have plenty of development left in me and hopefully I can add a few more strings to my bow this year."

Morton, 25, kicked four goals in the Swans' three finals, including two vital goals in the second quarter of the Grand Final against Hawthorn.

"I'm just absolutely pumped to be a part of the club again in 2013," Morton said.

Bird, 23, said the future was "looking pretty bright at the Swans and I'm looking forward to being a part of it."

Sydney has delisted Jarred Moore, Mark Seaby, Brett Meredith and Nathan Gordon, along with rookie-list players Eugene Kruger, Jack Lynch and Dylan McNeil.

The Swans also traded Trent Dennis-Lane to St Kilda, Matthew Spangher to Hawthorn and rookie Campbell Heath to Port Adelaide.

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Probe leaves Dees in a sweat

On message: Former Demon Brock McLean has been tweeting about the issue. Source: Herald Sun

CHRISTMAS is supposed to come early for Melbourne.

It has a bright, shiny gift with No.4 written on it, safely stored away to be unwrapped on November 22.

But could that prized draft choice, the first available after Greater Western Sydney plunders the best of the talent, be ripped away?

Could the AFL, now belatedly determined to eradicate the tank stink, turn Grinch?

Individuals involved at Melbourne in 2009 will be nervous about their own fate, but everyone at the Demons right now would be shuddering at the prospect of a stinging draft penalty.

If the AFL deems the Demons did not do their best to win matches in 2009, collecting a priority pick at the start of the draft, it makes sense that part of any club penalty would involve snatching their first pick in 2012.

It would be a cruel blow to coach Mark Neeld and his new-look team, but nothing can be ruled out now.
You would think a fine, at the very least, is coming.

Perhaps their best shot is hoping the investigation drags on another month or two, beyond this year's draft.

The AFL regulation pertaining to the Demons allegations, (19 A5), is clear: "A person, being a player, coach or assistant coach, must at all times perform on their merits and must not induce, or encourage, any player, coach or assistant coach not to perform on their merits in any match - or in relation to any aspect of the match, for any reason whatsoever."

If anyone at Melbourne in 2009 owns up to that, the AFL must act because its image is paramount.

The league's football operations boss, Adrian Anderson, is forever banging on about the integrity of the game and this is at the heart of it.

Brock McLean has been tweeting on holiday in LA this week as the storm rolls on it; to think the whole saga was sparked by a couple of honest answers on Fox Footy this year.

You have to feel for the current crew at Melbourne, particularly given the Dees are surely not on their own here.

How far does the the AFL go? Why didn't it interview more people than Tony Liberatore after his 2008 allegations?

It seems inconsistent that the Dees have copped so much heat when the Blues probe went cold so quickly.

Other matches and clubs are on the nose, too, in the era of the priority pick, but it is Melbourne that sweats, hoping it will not be part of a horror version of the Grinch.

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Malthouse: Kurt's not worth $1m

Carlton coach Mick Malthouse says the asking price for Kurt Tippett is too high. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

CARLTON coach Michael Malthouse has warned clubs Kurt Tippett is worth nowhere near the $1 million that has been linked to his signature.

Malthouse, who spoke to Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea on Adelaide radio station Triple M this morning, said Carlton was not in a position to bid for Tippett and let him slide, much like it did ex-Pies Travis Cloke and Chris Dawes in the trade period.

The right price for Tippett was more likely to be $500,000 a season. That was a sharp devaluation from the $700,000 he was paid at Adelaide and the even greater sum he was expected to collect at Sydney before the deal with the Swans fell through as the AFL caught wind of irregularities in his previous contract with the Crows and began an inquiry.

``He wouldn't be worth that ($1 million),'' Malthouse said. ``He's not worth that. If he's worth half of that I think that's about the right amount of money. I say half of that but that's a lot of money. He's a good footballer. But, to my way of thinking, a good footballer has to be good year-in, year-out and the difference between a good player and a very good footballer is on the big stage. You must be able to play on the big stage on a regular basis against the great players.''

Malthouse had an eye on key forwards in the trade period, in particular Dawes and Cloke, with whom he had worked at Collingwood.

Dawes ended up at Melbourne while Cloke stayed with Collingwood as Carlton made no major moves in the player exchange window.

Malthouse said Carlton would have had to make major moves to accommodate the signing of either of the aforementioned or Tippett and suspected the Blues now were out of the picture to gain Tippett through the draft.

``You've got to have the capacity in your salary cap,'' Malthouse said on Triple M radio yesterday morning. ``If your salary cap is up the top end, and you've got to get a Cloke in or Dawes in, something's got to move. And you've got to move those before you can bring those in. It's the same with Tippett.

``It's too late to move players now so we're out of that action.''

Malthouse, who coached West Coast to flags in 1992 and 1994 and Collingwood to a premiership in 2010, is not the first to question Tippett's value.

Tippett widely was regarded to have been overpaid in his last contract with Adelaide as the club sought to ward off the lucrative offer from the Gold Coast to have him in its first AFL side and Sunday Mail columnist Chris McDermott said he had not delivered on his expensive price tag.

At an estimated $700,000, he was Adelaide's highest-paid player.

But even though Tippett closed last season with a fine contribution for Adelaide against Hawthorn, there was growing sentiment Taylor Walker was becoming the club's most important forward.

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Hawks cut Osborne on a promise

Hawthorn are hoping to pick up Michael Osborne in the pre-season draft. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: The Daily Telegraph

HAWTHORN has delisted premiership forward Michael Osborne, 30, who is recovering from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

But the Hawks last night said they were "committed to assisting" Osborne.

"Michael will continue to train with the squad with the aim of being re-listed by the club by the pre-season draft in December," football manager Mark Evans said.

Hawthorn also delisted defender Jarrad Boumann and rookies Adam Pattison and Tom Schneider.

Chance Bateman, Cameron Bruce and rookie Broc McCauley have retired.

Essendon told Sam Lonergan and Kyle Reimers they would not be offered contracts for next season.

Geelong, who traded in Jared Rivers and Hamish McIntosh, confirmed the delistings of Tom Gillies, who they fought to keep from Hawthorn a year ago, and Orren Stephenson.

Richmond this week cut key position prospect Jayden Post.

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St Kilda sacks Jason Gram

St Kilda has sacked veteran Jason Gram.

Jason Gram has been sacked by St Kilda. Source: Herald Sun

The Saints said Jason Gram failed to honour repeated undertakings to the club concerning his behaviour.
  Source: Herald Sun

St KILDA Football Club last night terminated the playing contract of midfielder Jason Gram because of an off-field issue.

The decision comes after he was arrested overnight on Monday and charged.

The nature of the charges can not be revealed.

The Saints said Gram failed to honour repeated undertakings to the club concerning his behaviour.

The club said it had been working with Gram for a number of months on behavioural issues.

Following charges laid against Gram on September 6 this year, the club, in consultation with the AFL and AFLPA, imposed an indefinite suspension on Gram and encouraged him to take part in an AFLPA counselling program.

Gram still had a year of his contract to run.

The club said the AFL had been informed of the situation and supported the Saints' position.

The club will continue to make appropriate professional support and counselling services available to Gram.

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AFLPA fury as Gram slammed

Jason Gram has been sacked by St Kilda. Source: Herald Sun

THE AFL Players' Association does not believe St Kilda had grounds to sack Jason Gram, who was sensationally axed last night because of off-field behaviour.

St Kilda revealed Gram had been suspended since September 6, and was dumped after he failed to honour repeated undertakings to the club about his behaviour.

The Herald Sun has chosen not to reveal the behaviour for legal reasons.

But St Kilda said last night Gram had ignored warnings and continued with behaviour he knew could see him sacked.

It is known Gram, 28, and coming off a modest 15th in the best-and-fairest award, was aware he was on his last warning.

Gram was about to enter the last year of a highly paid contract, with the size of a potential payout and the legality of his sacking set to be contested. The AFL said last night it approved of St Kilda's handling of the matter.

But the AFLPA does not support the termination, given it does not believe Gram's actions constitute serious misconduct.

It concedes Gram will not be reinstated by the Saints, but is ready to take up his cause if the club does not pay most of his 2013 contract.

St Kilda and the players' union will continue to discuss his contract, but to sack him without honouring it, the Saints would have to prove serious and wilful misconduct under the collective bargaining agreement.

The Saints would not comment under legal advice last night but said in a statement: "Regrettably, the inappropriate behaviour has continued and his manager was advised yesterday that the club had decided to terminate Gram's contract, which had one year to run. Gram was also advised of the termination in a meeting with club officials."

AFLPA general manager player operations Ian Prendergast said he would work on helping Gram with a resolution of his contract.

"We understand a club's right to delist a player," he said.

"However, while not understating the seriousness of the alleged conduct, the players' association does not believe these matters remove the club from its contractual obligations.

"The players' association will now focus on working with Jason and his management, on a confidential basis, in relation to settling the outstanding obligations of his contract."

AFL spokesman James Tonkin said last night: "The club has kept us aware of what has transpired and we are supportive of their actions."

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