Archive for January, 2011

Fremantle are positioning to make a raid on one of the best 17-year-olds in the country when a rule, which has not applied for 15 years, is reintroduced in October.

The Dockers, who have rapidly rebuilt their team through shrewd draft selections, are believed to be targeting Dongara teenager Jaeger O’Meara when the Greater Western Sydney’s draft concessions come into play later this year.

Under the Giants’ concession guidelines, established clubs can trade them a player in exchange for the right to select a 17-year-old born between January 1 and April 30, 1994. Only four players can be drafted and the clubs will negotiate with the Giants to determine the selection order.

The trades will allow clubs to recruit a player 12 months before he is eligible for the draft.

The rule previously applied when Fremantle entered the competition. Essendon famously hit the jackpot by sending Todd Ridley, Dale Kickett and Tony Delaney to the Dockers so they could recruit Matthew Lloyd with the first pick in the special draft.

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The North Ryde Dockers Junior Australian Football Club has been awarded Bronze level accreditation as part of the AFL Quality Club Program.

The AFL Quality Club Program helps community football clubs improve their administrative operations and overall club environment, which ultimately benefits all club participants – whether they are a player, spectator or volunteer.

The program achieves this by providing the opportunity for all clubs throughout NSW and the ACT to benchmark their club operations and administration via a ranking system.

Other benefits of participating in the Quality Club program include:

• Providing an environment which helps attract new participants, officials, members and sponsors, as well as retaining those the club already has;
• Creating a best practice guide for club committees;
• Minimising many risks associated with running a sporting club; and
• Participating in a sport that can continue to promote itself as a leading sport where quality is valued highly.

“To be recognised through the Quality Club program is a fantastic achievement which wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and hard work of the many officials and volunteers within the club,” said North Ryde Dockers vice-president, Stu Goldfinch.

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Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands doesn’t expect the AFL’s new interchange rules to impact on specialist ruckmen, but the All Australian is still preparing to spend more time forward in 2011.

With new rules allowing just three interchange players – and one substitute, who can permanently replace a player at any stage of a game – bench rotations are certain to dip this season.

It will likely mean more minutes on the ground for Sandilands, who averaged 88 per cent game time in 2010, but less time in the demanding ruck role.

Easing the load will be former Crow Jon Griffin and third-year ruckman Zac Clarke, who has been a star on the track this pre-season.

“We’ve had ‘Griffo’ come in now [and] Zac Clarke’s taking big steps and training really well, so I can see those guys getting a lot of games this year,” Sandilands said from Fremantle’s training camp in Perth’s northern suburbs.

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