Goddard's leading role at Bomberland

Former Saint Brendon Goddard, 2011 Rising Star winner Dyson Heppell and the injury-plagued Jason Winderlich are all named as members of Essendon's leadership group for 2013.

Mover and shaker: Essendon recruit Brendon Goddard has be chosen to join the eight-man leadership group at Windy Hill. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

STAR Essendon recruit Brendon Goddard has wasted no time stamping his authority on his new club and will today be elevated to the leadership group.

And in a pointer to the future, 20-year-old Dyson Heppell will also be named as one of the club's new leaders.

Goddard, Heppell and Jason Winderlich will join this year's leaders Jobe Watson, Heath Hocking, Brent Stanton, David Zaharakis and Michael Hurley in the eight-man group.

The only player to drop out of the 2012 rotation is the retired Mark McVeigh.

Goddard made the controversial switch from St Kilda to Essendon in October before heading to Colorado with a small band of fellow midfielders for a training camp last month.

Players took a leadership vote a fortnight ago and were told of the results late last week.

Heppell said he had no hesitation in nominating Goddard.

"I hold him in high regard as a leader, even though he's been here only a couple of months," Heppell said.

"He's stepped in as if he's been here for 10 years.

"Obviously he's a fantastic player and clearly a good leader as well, so he'll be great for the group."

Heppell's leadership elevation continues what has been a staggering first two years in the AFL system.

The 2010 No.8 draft pick stormed to the Rising Star award last year and had just as good a season in 2012, playing 20 games. Heppell vowed his new leadership tag would not change the way he played.

"Hirdy (coach James Hird) certainly mentioned that throughout last year, just to not add any extra pressure on myself," he said.

"I think I'll just take my footy the same way as I have been and just really enjoy it.

"(Being a leader) is about being able to have more say amongst the group, I guess, and not being afraid to voice my opinion.

"I'm pretty excited, it's great. It was a bit unexpected, but certainly a massive honour."

Heppell said that it was important for him to act as a conduit between the club's younger and older players.

"It was me only a couple of years ago, so I know what it's all about," he said.

"It's important for me to be able to assist them in any way I can because I know exactly what they're going through. That's something I'll be taking pretty seriously."

Heppell said it would be an honour to captain the club one day, if given the chance.

"It's something you dream about as a kid. It'd be unbelievable, but it's a long way down the track, I reckon, if that is ever going to happen," he said.

SQUADRON LEADERS
Jobe Watson (c)
Heath Hocking
Brent Stanton
David Zaharakis
Michael Hurley
Brendon Goddard
Dyson Heppell
Jason Winderlich
 

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Ablett the SuperCoach $740k man

Gary Ablett has confirmed his status as the No.1 player in SuperCoach. Picture: Matt Roberts. Source: Getty Images

GOLD Coast skipper Gary Ablett will cost you more than $740,000 in SuperCoach next season - $65,000 more than any other player.

Prices for Australia's biggest fantasy competition will be released to SuperCoach Gold subscribers later today, but SuperFooty can reveal Ablett tops the list with a price tag of $740,500.

The little master averaged 138 points a game in 2012.

His 2013 starting price is a $50,000 jump from 12 months ago and well ahead of the second most-expensive player, Magpie Dane Swan.

Swan's Collingwood teammates Scott Pendlebury and Dayne Beams are No.3 and No.4 on the rich list.

Pendlebury, the priciest player at the start of last season at $700,500, will cost $667,300 next season.

Beams' starting price has jumped more than $100,000 on the back of an outstanding 2012. Other big movers include Adelaide midfielder Patrick Dangerfield and Tigers Trent Cotchin and Ivan Maric.

The 10 most expensive players are all midfielders, with Hawk forward Lance Franklin coming in at No.11 with a price tag of $618,000.

There are 19 players priced at $600,000 or more including four ruckmen - Maric, Aaron Sandilands and West Coast pair Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox, who are both listed as ruck/forwards for 2013.

More than 100 dual-position players are available to pick from, including Dale Thomas (mid/fwd), Lewis Jetta (mid/fwd), Dyson Heppell (def/mid), Jack Watts (def/fwd) and Brendon Goddard, who retains his def/mid status.

But some big names can no longer be picked in multiple positions, including Beams, Dangerfield, Brett Deledio, Nathan Fyfe and Ryan O'Keefe, who are all pure midfielders in 2013.

Goddard, the most expensive player of 2011, is No.45 on the 2013 rich list, starting his career as a Bomber with a price tag of $541,500.

This year's No.1 draft pick Lachie Whitfield has a price tag of $199,500.

Father-son pick Jack Viney is just $109,500

There are plenty of bargains and surprises - scroll down for a quick sample.

SuperCoach will have a major shake-up next season with new rules including a permanent rolling lockout, extra trades and a change to how many players can be selected in each position - CLICK HERE to find out more.

SUPERCOACH 2013 MOST EXPENSIVE PLAYERS

$740,500 Gary Ablett (GC) mid
$675,300 Dane Swan (Coll) mid
$667,300 Scott Pendlebury (Coll) mid
$657,600 Dayne Beams (Coll) mid
$647,200 Jobe Watson (Ess) mid
$643,300 Josh P Kennedy (Syd) mid
$636,600 Patrick Dangerfield (Adel) mid
$629,500 Joel Selwood (Geel) mid
$624,100 Brett Deledio (Rich) mid
$622,100 Trent Cotchin (Rich) mid

FIVE BIG PRICE JUMPS

Dayne Zorko  (BL) $535,100 - up $421,900
Sam Gibson (NM) $411,100 - up $316,400
Ivan Maric (Rich) $606,900 - up $268,600
Orren Stephenson (Rich) $320,400 - up $213,800
Harley Bennell (GC) $521,900 - up $150,200

10 POTENTIAL BARGAINS

Mark LeCras (WC) $369,200 fwd
Brent Moloney (BL) $362,400 mid
Matthew Leuenberger (BL) $301,100 ruck
Luke Ball (Coll) $301,800 mid
Josh J Kennedy (WC) $299,600 fwd
Travis Varcoe (Geel) $268,900 mid/fwd
Koby Stevens (WB) $176,600 mid
Brett Goodes (WB) $128,200 mid/def
Anthony Morabito (Frem) $115,900 mid
Tom Mitchell (Syd) $115,900 mid

10 NEW FACES

Lachie Whitfield (GWS) $199,500 mid
Jono O'Rourke (GWS) $195,400 mid
Jake Stringer (WB) $179,500 fwd
Ollie Wines (PA) $169,500 mid
Troy Menzel (Carl) $149,500 fwd
Jaeger O'Meara (GC) $115,900 mid
Brad Crouch (Adel) $115,900 mid
Brodie Grundy (Coll) $114,900 ruck
Jack Viney (Melb) $109,500 mid
Lachie Hunter (WB) $109,500 mid

SuperCoach will be open to all players on February 1, 2012. Prices are subject to change by that date. Stay tuned to SuperFooty for more news and tips all summer.

For more SuperCoach off-season talk follow Al Paton on Twitter: @al_superfooty

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Swans: We need our cap bounty

Former Adelaide Crow Kurt Tippett in a Sydney Swans jumper for the first time after his first training session with his new club. The Swans salary cap bounty helped secure him. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph

THE Sydney Swans have fired back at rivals calling for an immediate end to their salary cap bounty after last night announcing a minor $207,007 profit for 2012.

The AFL premiers used the announcement of their 2012 financial balance to get on the front foot and put pressure on the AFL to continue to grant them salary cap concessions for cost of living and player retention expenses.

The Swans' ability to blow all rival AFL clubs out of the water in luring former Adelaide power forward Kurt Tippett to the club on a two-year-deal reported to be worth around $1.5 million was met with a hail of gunfire from Melbourne-based clubs demanding the Swans $900,000 salary cap bonus be removed.

However, Swans chairman Richard Colless said the club's minor profit shows the reality of how volatile Sydney's sporting landscape can be with the club's minor profit coming off a dream premiership season on the field.

AFL superpower Collingwood earlier this month announced a record $7 million profit.

It comes in a year where the Swans growth has been hamstrung by redevelopments to the SCG, immense competition from new cross-town rivals GWS Giants, and huge boosts in the popularity of soccer in the harbour city through Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers.

"The modest profit, posted after achieving the ultimate objective of winning the 2012 AFL Premiership, reflects the reality of fielding an elite sporting team in Australia's most competitive sporting market and in one of the world's most expensive cities to live,'' Colless said.

"The 2012 result was achieved despite the disruption caused by the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust announcing in January that the SCG Stage 2 Redevelopment would proceed with approximately 10,000 seats being unavailable for the entire 2012 AFL Season (approximately 25 per cent of total SCG capacity).

"This resulted in over 7,000 of our members having to be relocated and regrettably approximately 3,000 chose not to renew their memberships.''

It is the second consecutive year the Swans have achieved an end of financial year profit, taking into account non cash expenses of $391,633.

The club is confident of cashing in on their premiership triumph in 2013 with memberships and match day attendance expected to grow significantly despite ongoing renovations to the SCG.

Leading into 2011, the Swans had lost $1,664,904 over three years.

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Fiacchi secures Port position

Magpies premiership players Tim Ginever and George Fiacchi (right), who has been appointed to the board of the Port Adelaide Football Club. Picture: Simon Cross Source: Herald Sun

SEVEN-TIMES Port Magpies premiership player George Fiacchi has been appointed to the board of Port Adelaide Football Club.

His member nominated position was ratified by the SA Football Commission yesterday.

He replaces Alex Panas, who had held the position since 2006.

Fiacchi, who signed a three-year deal, has a strong background in marketing, media and sports administration. He is client manager for Australian Radio Network National.

Crows chairman Rob Chapman, former player Andrew Payze and Robert Foord have been reappointed to the Adelaide Football Club board - for three-year terms.

"The SA Football Commission looks forward to working with the directors of both Adelaide and Port Adelaide Football Clubs as we enter the 40th anniversary year of AAMI Stadium," SANFL executive commissioner Leigh Whicker said.

"I am confident the Commission and two AFL club boards will continue to work for the overall benefit of the game at all levels as football makes its historic transition to Adelaide Oval."

PORT'S round 17 clash against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on July 20 has been moved from a day to night timeslot.

The match will now start at 7.10pm after Greater Western Sydney asked the AFL to reschedule its night match against Essendon at Skoda Stadium to the afternoon.

This was to avoid clashing with English soccer giant Manchester United's exhibition match against the A-League All-Stars at ANZ Stadium in the Sydney Olympic Sporting Precinct.

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Menzel suffers another setback

Daniel Menzel has suffered another setback in his recovery from a second knee reconstruction and has been withdrawn from training. Picture: Chris Scott Source: Herald Sun

EMERGING Geelong forward Daniel Menzel has suffered a setback in his comeback from a second knee reconstruction and has been withdrawn from training.

The luckless Menzel, 21, did not make the trip to Falls Creek for the Cats' camp after tweaking his recently reconstructed knee at training.

Club medicos opted to keep the livewire forward in Geelong to ensure he had access to the best available medical treatment.

Menzel was completing an agility drill at training when he felt the tweak and immediately left the field.

But the Cats said the injury was minor and they remained confident Menzel would resume his recovery after the Christmas break. He remains on track for Round 1.

Gallery: Cats roam the highlands

"He was just doing a little bit of twisting work, nothing major at all, so he'll be fine," Geelong assistant coach Nigel Lappin said yesterday.

"It was a slight tweak on it. Just precautionary ... he just iced it straight up and was sent off to get it checked out, but it seems fine."

"We wanted to make sure that the best treatment was available for him, so he stayed back there (in Geelong). I guess he'll nearly be ready to head back to Adelaide and join his family for Christmas."

Another youngster, Billie Smedts, spent yesterday's solid 150-minute session in football's version of solitary confinement as he battled to overcome a flare-up of his hip problems.

Smedts could only jog laps and take part in stationary ball work by himself away from the main group, despite receiving plenty of physio treatment before the session.

Lappin said Smedts should be right after Christmas.

"He's been pulled out of training for a couple of weeks, so hopefully it's nothing too serious and it will settle down," Lap- pin said.

"He's done the majority of training this pre-season and looked good."

Smedts missed the entire 2011 season after having surgery to fix a hereditary hip problem that also affected his twin sister, Maddison.

Speedster Travis Varcoe rejoined the main group after overcoming his foot issues and looked sharp yesterday, and ruckman Hamish McIntosh took part in most of the session in his comeback from knee surgery.

Young gun Allen Christensen left the field late in yesterday's session after appearing to roll his right ankle.

He immediately had the ankle iced and Lappin said he was confident Christensen escaped any major damage.

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Cats pour praise on recruit Caddy

Recruit Josh Caddy (right), kayaking with Shane Kersten, has impressed the Geelong crew since joining the club. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

GEELONG has lauded recruit Josh Caddy for his hard work since he arrived from the Gold Coast two months ago.

"He's been fantastic," assistant coach Nigel Lappin said. "He hasn't done a lot of contact work yet, that will start for him after Christmas.

"We had a time trial up the mountain ... on the bikes and Josh finished with the third-best time.

"He's another strong body for us in the midfield to take some pressure off (Jimmy) Bartel and (Joel) Corey and (James) Kelly and (Joel) Selwood, so we're really excited."

Caddy's power and poise were on show at yesterday's training run in Mt Beauty, despite the midfielder being on a slightly restricted program due to post-season shoulder surgery.

"It's never easy walking into a side with this much experience and this many good players, but I had a pretty good start to the pre-season," Caddy, 20, said.

Former elite runner Mark Blicavs blitzed teammates in two-minute sprints - after more than two hours of training in 27C.

Gallery: Cats roam the highlands

Blicavs tried out for the London Olympics before being picked up by the Cats.

The 198cm rookie finished streets ahead of the chasing pack, including Selwood, Josh Walker and Jesse Stringer.

"He's an amazing athlete, a terrific person and a fantastic trainer," Lappin said of Blicavs.

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Pendles makes switch to Tigers

Kris Pendlebury was named full-back in the 2012 VFL team of the year. Picture: Chris Scott Source: Herald Sun

COLLINGWOOD'S VFL captain, Kris Pendlebury, hopes a move to Werribee will enhance his AFL draft prospects next season.

Pendlebury, 26, has informed the Pies he will leave the club after five seasons, including three as skipper.

The brother of superstar midfielder Scott, Pendlebury was overlooked again in this year's drafts, despite some interest from Collingwood and St Kilda.

Instead, the Pies opted for another key defender from the VFL, Williamstown's Jack Frost.

Pendlebury was named full-back in the 2012 VFL team of the year.

After 93 VFL games, Pendlebury yesterday told the Herald Sun he still wanted to play AFL.

"I had done everything I could to get noticed (at Collingwood) but it wasn't happening," he said.

"So I wanted to go to a successful club like Werribee.

"The Western Bulldogs drafted Brett Goodes at age 28, so you never know what's around the corner."
 

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2012 countdown: Top 10 goals

The best pictures of the 2012 AFL season

Sydney speedster Lewis Jetta celebrates his incredible goal in the Swans' preliminary final win against Collingwood. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: Herald Sun

CARLTON speedster Chris Yarran won the official goal of the year, but an even quicker Swan might have gone one better.

Over the next 10 days we'll name the highlights, lowlights and simply strange moments of the year in footy in a countdown of top 10 countdowns.

We kicked off the series on Monday with the best 10 AFL games of 2012, and followed that with the top 10 marks yesterday.

Today the countdown continues with the top 10 goals of the year.

Did we get it right? Leave a comment below

10. James Polkinghorne v West Coast

Torpedo punts that sail through the middle are great to watch any time, and even better when your side is less than a goal down with about 30 seconds to play. That's when Polkinghorne pulled this one out of the bag from inside the centre square against the Eagles in June, pulling off one of the upsets of the season.

9. Ahmed Saad v Geelong
This might have been the moment Matthew Scarlett decided 'stuff it, I'm going to leave this to the younger blokes'. Isolated against the Geelong champ in St Kilda's forward 50, Saad gathered the loose ball, turned Scarlett inside-out and burnt him off before snapping truly from the boundary line.

Ahmed Saad kicks a goal ahead of Matthew Scarlett. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

8. Luke Breust v Collingwood
Third-man up specialist Jordan Lewis tapped a ball-up towards the boundary line where Breust gathered, spun onto his left and bounced through the goal from next to the behind post. Don't you love it when a plan comes together? It was the third of Breust's five goals for the day in the Hawks' big win.

Luke Breust celebrates a snapped goal with Jordan Lewis and Cyril Rioli. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

7. Jonathon Griffin v Richmond
An almost identical effort to Breust, with a few extra points for degree of difficulty due to heavy rain and the fact 201cm ruckmen aren't meant to do this kind of thing.

6. Lindsay Thomas v Carlton

The man who couldn't kick a goal from the goalsquare last year picked up a bouncing ball on the boundary line about 55m out and somehow wobbled through a bouncing reverse torpedo. Unfortunately for Lindsay, this game is remembered for another incident when the Carlton captain had a sudden taste for chicken wings. 5. Hayden Ballantyne v West Coast
Ballantyne was front and centre when Matthew Pavlich spilled a mark in the western derby, pouncing on the ball then shrugging a Will Schofield tackle, dodging Sam Butler then leaving Shannon Hurn sitting on his backside wondering which way the Dockers pest went before slotting the goal on the run. You can imagine the celebration. 4. Lewis Jetta v Western Bulldogs
Hard to believe this guy couldn't buy a goal in his first season. Jetta ran on to a loose ball at half-back, put on the afterburners and slotted the goal from 45m near the boundary after two bounces. We didn't know it at the time, but it was just a teaser of what was to come.

Lewis Jetta in action during the Sydney Swans v Western Bulldogs AFL game at the SCG in Sydney. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph

3. Chris Yarran v Richmond
Yarran won Goal of the Year for his Round 1 effort against the Tigers. He took Chris Judd's handball on the wing, shrugged off Ivan Maric then stepped around Steve Morris and goaled from the forward pocket. If only Dustin Martin had chased a little harder ...

Carlton's Yarran snaps a wonder goal from near the boundary line against Richmond. Picture: Michael Dodge Source: Herald Sun

And we won't ruin the party by asking if Yarran took the ball over the boundary line during his explosive run.

Chris Yarran runs along the boundary line on the way to kicking goal of the year against Richmond. Source: Herald Sun

2. Rory Sloane v GWS
The Sloane Ranger lived up to his namesake with his solo effort against the Giants. Gathering at half-back, Sloane sprinted up the wing, taking three bounces before sending an absolute mongrel finger-breaker inside the forward 50. He made up for that mistake with his follow-up, grabbing the ball off the boot of Taylor Walker and snapping truly on his left. Although Bernie Vince evidently thought he should have handballed.

Rory Sloane goals against GWS. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

1. Lewis Jetta v Collingwood
Ineligible for Goal of the Year because it came in a final, but that doesn't bother us. We'll also conveniently overlook the fact Jetta should have been pinged for running too far given he bounced the ball only three times while covering about 90m. Jetta left scorched turf behind him after he took off from the back of the ANZ Stadium centre square and ran all the way to the goal-line. Kudos to Magpie defender Nathan Brown, who chased Jetta the whole way knowing he was no hope of catching him - and earned himself a cameo in one of footy's great highlight reels.

Sydney's Lewis Jetta burns off his Collingwood opponents to kick an amazing running goal last weekend. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph

Lewis Jetta at top speed on the way to one of the great finals goals against Collingwood. Source: Getty Images

Sydney's Lewis Jetta celebrates goal against Collingwood in the first preliminary final at ANZ Stadium. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph

TOMORROW: TOP 10 BRAIN FADES OF 2012

Follow Al Paton on Twitter: @al_superfooty

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AFL dives out of Man U's path

Kevin Sheedy and James Hird when their teams clashed at Skoda Stadium this year. Picture: Rohan Kelly Source: Herald Sun

THE AFL will change the time of Greater Western Sydney's home clash against Essendon next year to avoid a clash with soccer heavyweight Manchester United.

The switch means St Kilda's home game against Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium will be played at 7.40pm in a direct swap with the GWS-Dons match, to maintain the broadcast structure.

Manchester United last week locked in a night friendly on July 20 at ANZ Stadium against an A-League All-Stars side.

The Giants and Bombers were to play at Skoda Stadium in Round 17 at the same time.

But the match will now be played at 2.10pm after a GWS request.

"The AFL seeks to support major events where possible, and to avoid clashes with any AFL matches," AFL broadcasting boss Simon Lethlean said.

"It's in the best interests of all sports fans for these changes to be made for Round 17 next season with as much notice as we can provide."

The reshuffle will bring relief to GWS supporters agonising over which match to attend in Sydney that night.

The NRL currently has a clash with the Manchester United sell-out, with the Sydney Roosters set to host Cronulla Sharks at Allianz Stadium that night.

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Buddy puts contract on the other boot

Adidas wins the lace: Hawthorn's Lance Franklin has traded in his Nike boots for those made by its rival. Picture: Tim Carrafa Source: Herald Sun

NIKE has lost its No.1 footballer Lance Franklin to rival adidas.

Hawthorn superstar Lance Franklin has worn Nike boots since he made his debut in 2005, including when he won his first Coleman Medal in Hawthorn's premiership season of 2008.

It's understood the new deal is worth about $150,000 a season.

Hawthorn recently announced the end of its 30-year association with Puma, striking up a new apparel deal with adidas.

While players must wear the club's official apparel, they retain the right to wear their choice of boots.

It's understood adidas is in the final stages of finalising the deal and would not comment.

Franklin's manager Liam Pickering did not return calls from the Herald Sun, while Nike's George Lawlor was reluctant to discuss the deal. Asked whether Franklin was staying with Nike or looking elsewhere, Lawlor replied: "No idea."

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