AFL 2008

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Thats the way it works. I've lost count of the amount of lads who've done the cruciate in one knee a few weeks after returning from a cruciate injury to the other knee. The problem is compensation and imbalance as the muscles/joints aren't strengthened/recovered sufficiently. He obviously has dodgy knees, which he'll have for the rest of his life.

But it is a totally different injury to what he has suffered this season and it was the knee cap in a tackle that dislocated rather than anything else

[Jinxy]

It is a knee injury. He has dislocated his kneecap before and much the same as lads that dislocate their shoulder he is now predisposed to this type of injury due to the excessive mobility in his knee, unless he goes down the surgery route. If Sydney rush him back, he might get through a few games without it happening again, but if he is favouring that knee due to the inherent weakness I wouldn't be surprised if he broke down again. I know plenty of people who've dislocated their kneecaps. Most of them have not resulted from impact or as the result of a tackle, usually its from landing awkwardly or turning suddenly. It's no joke, although like most injuries it can be more serious for some than it is for others. It's one thing to carry a shoulder injury through games. You don't run around on your hands. If he keeps going the way he's going, I don't think we'll see him in a Kerry jersey.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Jinxy it was the opposite knee that he dislocated and it was last season he did it....this time he was involved in a tackle and his legs bent under the impact and his knee popped....

[Jinxy]

Yeah, and he injured the same knee again in June 2007 (although it wasn't a dislocation) and now he's dislocated the other knee. His knees will be f*cked before long. I notice also that Brendan Murphy is having groin problems. Maybe its not such a good idea to put on 11kg in the space of a few months.

[zoyler]

So far this weekend Collingwood have beaten the Eagles by 100 points and Marty had a reasonable game highlighted by getting a good tackle in on Kerr who is very rarly nailed - elsewhere Charlton were well beaten by Geelong but Setanta had one of his better days and was in no way to blame.  The Lions had an easy win with out Begley who is still 1/2 weeks away from match fitness.  Swans play at 4 in the morning our time and i ts on Setanta for those bothered enough to get up or sober enough when they get hme.  Not sure if Kennelly plays but heres hoping!

[stephenite]

Swans hockeyed Richmond off the pitch - Kennelly played. Fell asleep during it - one way traffic and was fairly boring to be honest

[Declan]

Actually heading down to Melbourne in a couple of weeks and hope to catch the Collingwood v Carlton game. Looking forward to it and hope Clarke and Setanta are playing but must admit I'm really looking forward to seeing this Fevola boyo.

[Aerlik]

 

Yet AGAIN I come on with another tale of woe.  FFS for the fifth time this season Fremantle throw away a final quarter lead.  Instead of being in the top six, they're now one from the bottom.  Depressing feckin depressing.

[Aerlik]

Jim Stynes is set to be announced the new Chairman of Melbourne Demons Football Club.

[JimStynes]

Im delighted   

[JimStynes]

Young Irish players, and parents, to get taste of what AFL offers
Peter Hanlon | June 13, 2008

AUSTRALIAN football's global star search is set to intensify with a virtual draft camp to be held in Ireland in August featuring the best young Gaelic footballers with designs on a career in the AFL.

Player manager Ricky Nixon will this morning meet officials from Geelong, St Kilda, Richmond, North Melbourne and Brisbane Lions, who have paid $30,000 each to be the inaugural member clubs in what is essentially a national Irish recruiting scheme.

Nixon hopes their reward will be almost immediate.

"I'm pretty determined to get each of our original member clubs a good player in the first 12 months; I'm committed to that," Nixon said yesterday.

"If we don't it will be because the system doesn't work and the pool's not there, but I very much doubt that, given the footage I've seen in the last 24 hours. It's very exciting what some of these kids are going to be doing off half-back flanks or a wing in the next few years."

While talent-spotting in Ireland is nothing new to AFL football — nine Irishmen feature on 2008 club lists — Nixon's project would intensify the search to an unprecedented level. When he lands in Ireland in a fortnight, he will join a group of seven heading up the project at that end, including Lion Colm Begley's brother Joe, plus an elite junior coach, a sports psychologist, a university professor, an Australian expat who played in the VFL, and an ex-AFL teammate of Nixon's.

"I've already heard that one club person has heard I'll be in Ireland for a month and jumped on a plane," he said of the concern his plan has created among clubs who have preferred to go it alone.

"Clubs here feel like they've been doing it, but they know they haven't been doing it well. Not only that, they're fearful of who we might have on our list, and that this cartel is going to be far more attractive to a player than just one club going to see them."

A group of 20 to 30 Gaelic footballers aged 17 to 22, but mostly in the 17 to 19 bracket, will be invited to attend a camp in either Dublin or Belfast in August. Their parents will also be invited, with presentations made on all things AFL as well as life in Australia.

"This is a massive step forward compared to one club going over there and saying, 'Come to Australia, we'll look after you'," Nixon said.

The groundwork for drawing up a list of 100 prospective draftees has been made easier by using software from Swedish company Dartfish, which AFL clubs have already used as a teaching tool, but which in this instance has been applied to footage from GAA games to form a database of players.

"The software tags whatever you want — kicks, marks, handballs, shots on goal, etc. It will enable us to call up, say, Bill Murphy from Dublin, and if you click on 'kicks', footage of all of his kicks will come up one after the other. You don't need the whole game.

"We've got 100 players listed, full profiles on them, and we've ranked the first 15 to 20.

"We've identified a No. 1 draft pick — he's very quick, six foot three (191 centimetres), a Tadhg Kennelly type but a bit bigger."

Nixon said he had encountered resistance from GAA clubs and officials fearful of losing prime talent, and he hoped to meet them while in Ireland. He would tell them: "Anyone we take out of there will be a good chance to play AFL footy, as opposed to the amount who come across here now and end up playing VFL or in the suburbs."

AFL clubs are allowed no more than two international players on their lists.

[hitzelsperger]

congrats jim, some step up from aghagallon treasurer 

[RedandGreenSniper]

Young Irish players, and parents, to get taste of what AFL offers
Peter Hanlon | June 13, 2008

AUSTRALIAN football's global star search is set to intensify with a virtual draft camp to be held in Ireland in August featuring the best young Gaelic footballers with designs on a career in the AFL.

Player manager Ricky Nixon will this morning meet officials from Geelong, St Kilda, Richmond, North Melbourne and Brisbane Lions, who have paid $30,000 each to be the inaugural member clubs in what is essentially a national Irish recruiting scheme.

Nixon hopes their reward will be almost immediate.

"I'm pretty determined to get each of our original member clubs a good player in the first 12 months; I'm committed to that," Nixon said yesterday.

"If we don't it will be because the system doesn't work and the pool's not there, but I very much doubt that, given the footage I've seen in the last 24 hours. It's very exciting what some of these kids are going to be doing off half-back flanks or a wing in the next few years."

While talent-spotting in Ireland is nothing new to AFL football — nine Irishmen feature on 2008 club lists — Nixon's project would intensify the search to an unprecedented level. When he lands in Ireland in a fortnight, he will join a group of seven heading up the project at that end, including Lion Colm Begley's brother Joe, plus an elite junior coach, a sports psychologist, a university professor, an Australian expat who played in the VFL, and an ex-AFL teammate of Nixon's.

"I've already heard that one club person has heard I'll be in Ireland for a month and jumped on a plane," he said of the concern his plan has created among clubs who have preferred to go it alone.

"Clubs here feel like they've been doing it, but they know they haven't been doing it well. Not only that, they're fearful of who we might have on our list, and that this cartel is going to be far more attractive to a player than just one club going to see them."

A group of 20 to 30 Gaelic footballers aged 17 to 22, but mostly in the 17 to 19 bracket, will be invited to attend a camp in either Dublin or Belfast in August. Their parents will also be invited, with presentations made on all things AFL as well as life in Australia.

"This is a massive step forward compared to one club going over there and saying, 'Come to Australia, we'll look after you'," Nixon said.

The groundwork for drawing up a list of 100 prospective draftees has been made easier by using software from Swedish company Dartfish, which AFL clubs have already used as a teaching tool, but which in this instance has been applied to footage from GAA games to form a database of players.

"The software tags whatever you want — kicks, marks, handballs, shots on goal, etc. It will enable us to call up, say, Bill Murphy from Dublin, and if you click on 'kicks', footage of all of his kicks will come up one after the other. You don't need the whole game.

"We've got 100 players listed, full profiles on them, and we've ranked the first 15 to 20.

"We've identified a No. 1 draft pick — he's very quick, six foot three (191 centimetres), a Tadhg Kennelly type but a bit bigger."

Nixon said he had encountered resistance from GAA clubs and officials fearful of losing prime talent, and he hoped to meet them while in Ireland. He would tell them: "Anyone we take out of there will be a good chance to play AFL footy, as opposed to the amount who come across here now and end up playing VFL or in the suburbs."

AFL clubs are allowed no more than two international players on their lists.

This is a disaster lads. I know we've lost players before but it has only been a trickle. The floodgates could open here. Certainly in Mayo if two or three more players go along with Pierce Hanley there will be a lot of resentment

[zoyler]

Lads we live in a free country and people have the right to go where they want and do what they please.  We even have the right to shoot our elves in the foot - look at the referendum result!

So what if a few more go - how many will make the grade and how many will settle - it will still be a small fraction.  It also shows how wise Croke Park was to try and maintain some link with the AFL in the hope of at least regularising the traffic because legally it cannot be stopped.

[hitzelsperger]

correct zoyler, the only way gaa can get lads to stay is to offer financial benefits and with no contracts being signed the AFL clubs can take who ever they please!