Cats to bank on rookies

Cats ruckman Trent West has undergone knee surgery. Picture: Alison Wynd Source: Geelong Advertiser

GEELONG'S ruck stocks have hit rock-bottom after premiership ruckman Trent West had knee surgery yesterday.

West's operation means the Cats don't have a fit ruckman on their list, with Nathan Vardy (hip), Hamish McIntosh (knee) and Dawson Simpson (back) all sidelined.

They face the extraordinary situation of taking on Adelaide in Saturday's full-length NAB Cup game with two speculative rookie ruck picks.

Former professional runner Mark Blicavs and one-time NBL and US college basketballer Ryan Bathie (both 198cm) are likely to share the duties against the Crows.

West underwent an arthroscope to ease discomfort in his knee in what Geelong described as "minor surgery".

"By having the procedure now, Trent will hopefully be able to put the issue behind him before the season begins," Cats football manager Neil Balme said.

 

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No more rule changes: Jacobs

Whose free kick will this be? Big Crow Sam Jacobs and Docker Aaron Sandilands contest a boundary throw-in. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

CROWS lead ruckman Sam Jacobs is calling for an end to the seemingly endless changes to AFL rules, in particular those focussed on ruckmen.

Two years after the AFL sounded the deathknell of the second ruckman by converting one seat on the interchange bench to the substitute, the league this season is forbidding ruckmen to make contact before a field contest.

They must stand a metre apart before the umpire throws up the ball - another rule change, replacing the bounce that used to offer ruckmen more time to prepare for a contest.

"I'd be happy if the game left the rules alone for a few years now," said Jacobs yesterday when he spoke of his three-year extension to his contract at Adelaide.

"Let's just have things settle down.

"Ruckmen have had to deal with the interchange rule as well - we are the position most affected by that rule change," added Jacobs who had team-mate Ivan Maric last year leave the Crows for Richmond after the substitute rule forced him out of the Adelaide 22.

"It would be great if the game just settled down and we watched how it played out over a few years."

Jacobs is not overly concerned for how his ruck style will be affected by the no-contact rule this season.

"I've kept a keen eye on that in the NAB Cup - and I don't think it will affect me too much," said Jacobs.

"I know the way I ruck, I generally start off the (opposition ruckman) most of the time.

"There are a lot of ruckmen like Matthew Kreuzer (Carlton), Nic Naitanui (West Coast), Paddy Ryder (Essendon) who do that already.

"It is a good rule because it will tidy the game up.

"It will be good long-term because it won't be messy with ruckmen locking in.

"It should not affect the game too much."

Jacobs yesterday dimissed the public jibes of his team-mates - in particular midfielder Patrick Dangerfield on Twitter - who have valued his contract extension at $3 million across the three years.

"I wish," he said.

"I'm a local, so...," added Jacobs in a hit back at the non-South Australian Crows who command more at contract negotiations to avert the go-home factor.

Jacobs' contract is the first renewal sent by Adelaide to AFL House since the Tippett saga closed with the Crows being hit with heavy sanctions.

Jacobs yesterday was understanding of his deal drawing extra scrutiny by the AFL salary cap police.

"That is something, with what happened with the Tippo saga, that we're going to have deal with," said Jacobs.

"I have; everyone at the club has full confidence in us being on top of everything now.

"The club has put a few (integrity checks) in place nothing like (the Tippett saga) happens again. I think we will be double-checking and cross-checking everything now."

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Parkin's school of hard knocks

David Parkin's lessons at the school of hard knocks. Picture: Susan Windmiller Source: Herald Sun

DAVID Parkin describes himself as probably the most concussed man in football.

He was concussed 10 times during his 211 games with Hawthorn from 1961 to 1974.After being KO'd for the 11th time when he transferred from the Hawks to captain-coach Subiaco in 1975, his time was up.

"I played almost every week after being concussed,'' Parkin said.

"I got knocked out in Perth in my last game of football at the first bounce at five-past two on Saturday and woke up at 20-past-four on the Sunday in the Charlie Gairdner Hospital. I retired on the back of that.''

Parkin has since studied his match-day performances when he played the week after being concussed.

"I looked at my performances when this became a reality and I have got statistical stuff that talks about your kicks, marks and handpasses and what you did,'' Parkin said.

"In my case there is no doubt that in my first week, after not taking any time off after being concussed, that I was s---house, the second week back I was fairly ordinary, the third week back half reasonable and about three to four weeks later I started to play like I was expected to play.''

Parkin, who coached Hawthorn, Carlton and Fitzroy, said research on concussion had to be done, validated and then smart decisions made.

Despite suffering so many concussions, Parkin said the game had been good to him, and although he has some sore spots, he's not aware of suffering from any ongoing problems.

Parkin, who captained Hawthorn's 1971 premiership side and later coached the Hawks and Carlton to premierships, says he is worried about head knocks and heavy concussions in grassroots football.

He said AFL clubs now had the medical expertise to test and treat players for concussion.

"But it's amateur, junior and senior football that doesn't have access to that kind of support system so we have got a problem,'' he said.

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Judd aims to stay Blue

Carlton star Chris Judd says he has no plans to hang up his boots at the end of the season.

Superstar Chris Judd wants to stay a Blue. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

CARLTON superstar Chris Judd says he will sign a new contract to stay with the Blues.

Judd, whose deal expires at the end of the season, said yesterday he would put pen to paper on a new arrangement during the year.

"I'm not going anywhere," Judd said.

"I'm keen to play on next year. The club is keen to have me so at some stage throughout the year, we'll sit down and nut out the finer details."

There had been speculation the dual Brownlow medallist, who gave up the captaincy over summer, may be tempted to pursue other interests. But Judd told Channel 10 he had been re-invigorated.

"I've been excited at what Mick (Malthouse) and his team are doing and I want to hang around for a little while longer yet," he said.

The 29-year-old has overcome a hamstring niggle, but won't play against Fremantle at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, delaying his 2013 debut for at least another week.

 

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Don't toy with our game: Scott

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott fears rule changes will hurt the game. Source: Getty Images

NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott fears the game will become "unrecognisable" if the AFL continues to tinker with rules.

Scott is opposed to the 80 interchange rotations cap to be trialled for the first time in this weekend's NAB Cup second round.

"I'm concerned a little bit that the premise is incorrect in the first place. I'm not sure that we should be trying to tire players out to try and reduce congestion," Scott said yesterday.

"You go back and look at the evolution of the game.

"In the early 2000's you had flooding; 2010 you had the opposite with players pushing to the other end of the ground.

"The coaches evolve and alter their tactics based on what's presented to them.

"If we cap rotations and fatigue players and make it difficult for them to get around the ground, we'll just adapt, we'll just change the game again.

"If our players are really tired and we're getting scored against and we're opening up, we're likely to just put 16 players behind the ball to stop us being scored against.

"If we make rule changes every time there's an evolution in the game, we'll just end up chasing our tail.

"My great fear is that the game becomes unrecognisable in the not too distant future. I would prefer to just let things go as they are and let the game evolve naturally.

"I feel for the AFL because they do the best they can to trial things in the NAB Cup.

'But the reality is we're playing shortened games and, when you cap interchanges at 20 (each quarter), the quarters go for seven or eight minutes less than the regular season and you find most interchanges happen late in the quarter. So are we going to get an accurate set of data? I doubt it, but I don't know what the alternative is."

Scott said the Kangaroos want to continue its winning habit against the Gold Coast Suns in Townsville in the NAB Cup second round on Saturday afternoon.

One player unlikely to make the trip is cult hero Majak Daw, who developed swelling in the knees after North's wins against Melbourne and Richmond on Friday night.

Scott said the ruckman-forward would need to improve rapidly today to be guaranteed a place in the 24-player squad.

"That (swelling) was disappointing given that we managed his loads through the pre-season and thought he would get through. And we managed his load in the games, so at this stage at best he's 50-50," Scott said.

"He will be selected in the side, but if that swelling doesn't reduce significantly over the next 24 hours, then he probably won't play."

Scott said Daw's running goal against the Tigers instead of handballing to teammate Brad McKenzie indicated how much work was still required on his "fundamentals" to complement his eye-catching athleticism.

"We're trying to simplify the game for him at the moment," Scott said.

"It's very easy in hindsight to say he should've passed it off, he simply didn't see him. And they're the fundamentals that I'm talking about.

"It takes players a long time to develop the awareness around them. He'll evolve and develop that awareness as time goes on."

Nathan Grima (back) and Leigh Adams (shoulder) won't be risked for the trip north, but both are on track to be ready for North's Round 1 clash against Collingwood.

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Jacobs to be managed by Crows

Sam Jacobs at a Adelaide Crows beach session yesterday. Picture: Simon Cross Source: The Advertiser

ADELAIDE lead ruckman Sam Jacobs is hopeful he will be spared from a repeat of last season's burn-out as the Crows build a new ruck battery at West Lakes.

Despite the loss of his regular ruck partner Kurt Tippett with an infamous defection to Sydney, Jacobs has three team-mates - Angus Graham, Josh Jenkins and Shaun McKernan - striving to be his back-up.

Collectively, this trio is also to ease the burden on Jacobs during a marathon AFL premiership campaign.

Jacobs yesterday endorsed strategically timed rests for AFL players - a theme Geelong used to perfection in its 2011 premiership run when no Cat was to be worked for more than 18 games in the 22-round home-and-away series.

Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson last year regarded resting players as a luxury beyond his Crows.

But with Sanderson now arguing there is greater depth in his squad, resting players is a worthwhile theme of sound player management at West Lakes.

"I think Sando might be keen at some stage (to rest me) depending on how much game time I've had," said Jacobs yesterday.

After being rested from the first two weeks of Adelaide's pre-season campaign, Jacobs is expected to return to the Crows line-up for Saturday's NAB Cup clash with Geelong at Geelong.Jacobs, 25 in April, will finally join in the Crows ruck puzzle being resolved on the field.

Simply replacing Tippett as a key forward-back-up ruckman with just one of Jenkins, McKernan or Graham seems far from Adelaide's planning.

"There is a game within a game," said Jacobs of the auditioning for the Tippett vacancy in the Adelaide match 22.

"There are three going for that one spot ... it's exciting, there's still two (pre-season) games to go and, hopefully, someone puts their hand up.

"But it can also work with three talls.

"Last year we played Tippett, Taylor Walker and McKernan or Jenkins.

"Nothing will be set in stone - it could all depend on whether we are playing against a smaller defence and we want to stretch them.

"Or, if I've been taking on a bit more workload, that extra tall could help me out too."

While Jacobs wants to spare his body from burn-out this season, he is demanding more of himself in his mental approach to the game - and how he imposes himself on the contest.

It is an expectation also thrust on Jacobs by his elevation to the Adelaide leadership group this season.

"That part of my game has to go to a new level," said Jacobs.

"I need to be taking control a lot more - not only in the midfield, but when resting forward I need that confidence to be able tell blokes, no matter who it is, where we need to improve.

"This is my seventh year and I've only played 60 games...I'm not to my 100th game yet. I don't want to be a flash-in-the-pan, one-year good player. My challenge is to continue the high standard of last year.

"In the pre-season, I wanted to do every session. I've ticked that goal. Now it is time to build into the year and set myself up for another good year."

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Scarlett mentors Roughead at Dogs

Jordan Roughead at training. Picture: Jake Nowakowski Source: Herald Sun

JORDAN Roughead was recruited as a ruckman, then tried as a key forward, and at the end of last season his life changed again.

With Brian Lake off the scene, Roughead was to be transformed into a key defender.

"In my end-of-season review, I was told that it was likely I'd be down in the backline so be prepared to come back for pre-season and learn some new things," the 200cm Western Bulldog said.

"It's amazing how much is relevant as a forward that you can still use as a defender.

"Some people call it the 'men's department', some people say there's not much glory down there, but I love playing down there."

He's had a pretty handy mentor in the pre-season - recently retired triple premiership full-back Matthew Scarlett.

"You can't get much better, can you? A six-time All-Australian to teach you the tricks of the trade," Roughead said of the former Cat.

"The key things for me are just to compete the whole time.

"There's times where you're not going to be able to get there and spoil. There's times when you're going to lose your man in a pack, but just to compete as hard as you can and really attack the footy."

Going back is not completely foreign to the Ballarat native.

He played a few games at the end of last year in defence and as a junior at Lake Wendouree Football Club, he played full-back.

But a growth spurt put a stop to that.

"When you're six foot four as a 16-year-old, you're probably the tallest one out there, so they throw you in the ruck - that's what you do," he said.

Roughead played ruck with North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup and was drafted at the end of 2008.

The 22-year-old had a disappointing start to his AFL career, injuring his shoulder during his first pre-season.

He didn't play a game in 2009 and had a reconstruction at the end of that year.

He played eight games before he injured the same left shoulder and was forced to have another reconstruction, missing the Western Bulldogs' 2010 preliminary final.

"It was shattering for me," Roughead said.

"I played a few games and unfortunately hurt it in, I think it was Round 22, and missed the finals - and we ended up in the prelim.

"It was a disappointing couple of weeks.

"But it's all good now. I haven't had any trouble with it for a couple of years."

Roughead became instant friends with Bulldogs ruckman Will Minson on arriving at Whitten Oval and he lived with another tall, Ayce Cordy, for 3 1/2 years.

"All big guys, we have to look after each other," he said.

"Will's a great fella, he's certainly one of my best mates at the footy club.

"He looked after me as a young bloke when I first came in."

He now lives with his 23-year-old brother Joel.

"He never played footy," he said.

"It's great, he certainly keeps my feet on the ground. He's happy to give me a clip around the ears when I need one."

Roughead is studying international business at RMIT and is learning guitar, inspired by his talented girlfriend Bridget Davies, who's a classical singer.

But Roughead doesn't join in the chorus.

"I've got an horrendous singing voice," he said, laughing.

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New face in AFL probe

A CURRENT AFL player has received dietary and fitness advice from one of the key figures in the Essendon drugs probe.

The player's camp yesterday confirmed the footballer, who is not a Bomber, met Shane Charter - the self-styled fitness guru who calls himself "Dr Ageless" - several times last year.

The player, whom the Herald Sun has chosen not to name, worked with a Charter "underling" on a diet and weights program.

The Herald Sun has been told he is not the player referred to as the "rogue doper".

The player's camp said he had worked on improving his condition and didn't believe he had taken any banned performance-enhancing substances.

Charter was a personal trainer and pharmaceutical company salesman with links to former Essendon sports scientist Steve Dank.

He has been accused of supplying Dank with the supplements at the centre of the Bombers probe.

Former AFL stars James Hird, Luke Darcy, Shane Woewodin, Scott West and Simon Garlick used Charter as a consultant during their playing days.

But the player is the only current AFL footballer known to have sought the help of the Charter camp.

Essendon continues to be investigated for the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs.

But the identity of a player from an unnamed second club named in an Australian Crime Commission investigation into sports doping remains a mystery.

Charter has been a central figure in the drugs allegations furore sparked by the release this month of the ACC report.

He was arrested and found to be in possession of 100,000 pseudoephedrine-based tablets in 2004.

He pleaded guilty and received a reduced prison sentence.

Charter worked with Hird in 2003 giving the Brownlow medallist what, Essendon said, was dietary advice.

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Call to change head hit test

Geelong star Joel Selwood in action. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

THE AFL's screening for concussion must become more rigorous, according to a medical expert.

The associate director of rehabilitation at Epworth Hospital, Professor John Olver, says evidence of potential brain damage is becoming more widespread as screenings improve.

"When I talk about more rigorous testing I'm talking about a full neuro-psychological evaluation, which provides more definitive answers than the current boundary line test,'' he said.

"What does `being checked out thoroughly' actually mean? If someone has had a number of concussions and you are worried about on-going thinking problems then you would do a full test.`

"Yes, it takes time, two to three hours from a trained psychologist, but there is mounting evidence to suggest we should be screening more vigorously.

"Certainly there is evidence, mainly from the US, that some of these guys suffering what they call multiple concussions suddenly find they they have long-term problems in slowness of thinking, irritability, and problem solving.

That would indicate more permanent damage than concussion would usually indicate.'

'Prof Olver believes the sports medicine and club doctors are not in agreement about the effectiveness of screening.

"We don't know a lot, though. For instance, should you wear a helmet after a concussive injury?

"One line of thinking suggests the helmet will help defuse the next shockwave to the brain and absorb the shock.

"The other train of thought suggests if you wear a helmet then the whole momentum of the head is greater, making it worse when you strike it on the ground.

"The important part is what happens after 24 hours because whether the symptoms persist defines the severity.

"The `manly' thing used to be you would just shrug it off.

"But putting a player back on ... after a first concussion is fraught with danger as it would seem the brain is more vulnerable if you go back on."

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