We will attack with 'attitude'

Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin is ready for Collingwood. Source: Herald Sun

RICHMOND captain Trent Cotchin has vowed to crack in against Collingwood and attack them with 'attitude' in Saturday's blockbuster at the MCG.

The excitement is building at Punt Rd as the undefeated Tigers prepare for their biggest test of the season to date.

Richmond have not beaten the Magpies since 2007 and Cotchin said it was crucial they take the right mindset into this week's clash.

"I think we need to attack with attitude - we need to have the confidence in the guys that we put on the park in comparison to their guys," Cotchin said on 3AW.

"They probably have a little bit more experience, but I suppose if you fear them then you're only going to be second to the ball.

"We're going to go in head first and have a crack.

"They have a lot of talent so the challenge is there for us.

Consistency appears to be the theme at Tigerland this year.

It has been an issue in previous years and Cotchin said it remained a big focus for the side.

"As a midfield group, a lot of people are talking about us," he said.

"We just have to make sure we don't play like we did against the Saints and more so how we played against the Bulldogs.

"We just have to make sure the consistency stays there and we produce some good footy."

The midfielder has made a blistering start to the season and is the current favourite for the Brownlow Medal with various bookmakers.

But he admits he still has a lot of improvement left in him.

"This year I've been pretty disappointed with my efficiency," he said.

"I had a focus on it going into last week's game and I felt I was a little bit more efficient by foot.

"But I suppose it is hard when you play in and around the contests - a lot of it is quick kicking.

"It's one of those things where I'd love to get it up to 70 or 75 per cent, where some of the top midfielders are at and that's where I want to get to."

Richmond's improvement this year is on show and Cotchin singled out forward Jack Riewoldt as a reason for their spike in form.

"Credit to Jack, he's actually turned a fair bit around this year," Cotchin said.

"He's reaping the rewards now and the boys love playing with him, which is what you want as a footballer."

 

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Giant whack for Brogan

Dean Brogan was sent straight to the tribunal after an AFL investigation. Picture: Mark Evans Source: Herald Sun

Dean Brogan leave the AFL tribunal. Source: Herald Sun

A WARNING to players on high bumps was reinforced last night with GWS Giants ruckman Dean Brogan suspended for three matches.

Brogan was found guilty of rough conduct against St Kilda midfielder Jack Newnes who needed surgery to repair a fractured jaw yesterday.

It's another massive setback for the Giants preparing to play Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday - key forward Jon Patton is out with a knee injury and midfielder Devon Smith accepted a one-game penalty for rough conduct.

The AFL Tribunal assessed Brogan's hit on Newnes as negligent conduct with high impact and rated it as worth 300 demerit points and the three match penalty.

Brogan argued that he instinctively turned and braced for contact when Newnes deliberately cut across his path as the 201 cms ruckman ran towards the interchange bench midway through the opening quarter at Canberra last Saturday.

"I saw Jack getting ready to come into my path by lowering his centre of gravity to give me a decent bump,'' he said.

"I braced, we collided. I didn't think the contact was that significant. I don't expect to be checked or bumped or hit when you're going to the interchange with the ball so far away.

"It was lucky I saw it otherwise I would've been the one on the ground.''

Brogan said he was shocked when Saint Lenny Hayes told him that Newnes had to be subbed out of the game with concussion at quarter-time when they shook hands at the end of the game.

He said he "made a beeline'' to Newnes to apologise and said he was upset and texted the injured Saint when he heard that an X-ray had revealed a fracture on the right side of the jaw.

Asked by AFL legal counsel Jeff Gleeson where he struck Newnes, Brogan said:"I can't explain where I hit him.'

'The Giants big man said he was "fully aware'' of the league's crackdown on "a lot of stuff'' off the ball.Newnes said in a statement to an AFL investigations officer that "I decided to run over and bump (Brogan) to provide a presence."

He said he felt contact to the jaw, but couldn't be more specific.

"I think I stayed on my feet, but I don't remember too much after that,'' he said.

St Kilda trainer Andrew Waddington told the hearing that he saw the clash as he ran towards Newnes with a drink bottle.

"I saw his (Brogan) shoulder come up. The elbow wasn't out, but considering his height, I believe that's what hit Jack,'' he said.

Medical reports submitted by the Saints said Newnes was "dazed and confused'' when taken off for a formal assessment and eventually subbed out at quarter time.

He was sent for a scan and X-ray after complaining of soreness to the jaw and he's expected to miss at least the next two rounds.

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Varcoe to undergo surgery

Geelong's Travis Varcoe faces up to three months on the sidelines with a serious shoulder injury. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

GEELONG'S Travis Varcoe's will have shoulder surgery and will not return until late in the season.

Varcoe dislocated his left shoulder in the opening quarter of Saturday night's win against Carlton at Etihad Stadium.

The 26-year-old played just one game last season because of stress fractures in his foot.

"We're expecting the things to happen that we thought would happen," Cats football manager Neil Balme told the AFL website.

"They'll probably do (the operation) pretty much straight away, I would think."

There are a few more injury worries at Geelong.

Midfielder James Kelly is battling a lower leg issue and is only a 50-50 chance to meet Sydney.

While forward Steve Johnson has suffered a knock to his right knee, not the one he just underwent surgery on, and is in some doubt.

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My chance to tell the truth: Hird

Essendon coach James Hird says he enjoyed the chance to tell the truth. Source: Herald Sun

Mark Thompson has spoken of the strain James Hird is under as the Essendon coach faces an ASADA investigation.

A DEFIANT James Hird said last night he had enjoyed the chance to "tell the truth" during a marathon interrogation by ASADA investigators.

The embattled Essendon coach spent several hours at AFL House answering questions about his involvement in the drugs scandal that is threatening his career and the careers of his players.

"I welcomed the opportunity to tell the truth today," Hird said in a statement released by his legal firm last night.

It is believed there were no surprises for Hird during the interview, with Hird satisfied he was a step closer to clearing his name.

Investigators track Dean Robinson's emails

The Bombers' former sports scientist, Stephen Dank, has alleged he injected Hird with the peptide Hexarelin, which is banned for players but not coaches.

Dank has also said that Hird had a thorough knowledge of the supplement program implemented for the players that is the focus of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation.

Essendon has been unable to guarantee its players were not injected with substances that are banned under World Anti-Doping Agency regulations.

The method of supplement delivery, including intravenous injections, is also a key part of the inquiry.

In his statement last night, Hird said: "Today I attended an interview with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the AFL Integrity Officers.

Review clears mainstream injections

"At the interview I fully co-operated and truthfully answered every question that was put to me by the investigators.

"I will not do anything to impede the ASADA and AFL investigation and will continue to co-operate fully."

Hird missed training to attend the meeting, where he was questioned simultaneously by ASADA investigators and the AFL probity team.

ASADA routinely has two of its personnel lead interviews with persons of interest in its probes.

Hird was accompanied by his legal team, including Queen's Counsel Tony Nolan.

Hird a fans' poster boy

Everything said in the interview was recorded and will be used in ASADA's case against the Bombers.

Hird is expected to be interviewed again, with ASADA believed to have slated up to three days to speak with him.
The Bombers' playing list is next on the ASADA schedule, with every player, plus those who have left since last year, to be interviewed in a process that could take months.

Hird was defiant after Friday's victory against Fremantle, repeating his belief that he had done nothing wrong and that he was looking forward to telling his side of the story.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou had strongly hinted that the Bombers coach should stand aside while the investigation took its course.

Yesterday morning, Hird met his lawyersbefore travelling to AFL House.

Asked if he was confident he could clear his name, Hird said: "Yes, mate. I'm feeling good."

He got support from assistant coach Mark Thompson, who said Hird's mind was on the job.

"He is strong. He needs support and care, and he goes up and down, but he's still coaching well and he's a strong man," Thompson said.

Meanwhile, Essendon fans are unlikely to see every word of former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski's much-anticipated report on what happened at Windy Hill last year.

Only the recommendations, which could be damning for a number of officials, will be made public.

The AFL will see the entire report, likely to be completed within the next week, but the club believes there are confidentiality issues in regard to the full transcript being released.

Dons fan Switkowski was called in by chairman David Evans in February to do a full review of governance and processes at the club.

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Robinson's emails tracked

High performance manager Dean Robinson. Source: Herald Sun

AFL investigators have examined every email sent by the man who brought disgraced sports scientist Stephen Dank into the league.

The team has analysed all correspondence from high-performance manager Dean Robinson at the three clubs - Geelong, Gold Coast and Essendon - where he has worked since 2007.

Robinson, who was stood down by the Bombers in February, introduced Dank to Windy Hill last year and Dank was placed in charge of the club's supplements program.

Dank worked part-time alongside Robinson at Gold Coast in 2010, but he was never employed by Geelong, where Robinson worked from 2007-10.

The forensic examination involves a search through the computer files of each club.

While the Cats and Suns are yet to officially hear the result of the investigation into their high-performance departments where Robinson played a key role, they are understood to have been cleared of any problems.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou yesterday confirmed the sports science program of every other club in the league had been examined since the Essendon drugs scandal broke.

"We have audited every club's use of supplements, and we've got those results back and we are comfortable with what is being administered at present," Demetriou said.

"We have also banned the use of IVs and we have restricted the use of injections.

"We have asked all people at football clubs to register their backgrounds and their CVs and what sports they have worked in.

"We have gone great lengths to mitigate the risk of this happening again."
 

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James a fans' poster boy

Essendon coach James Hird has the support of Bomber fans. Source: Getty Images

Cartoon by David 'Macca' McArthur. Source: Herald Sun

ESSENDON fans will hold up thousands of "Stand By Hird" posters at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Fans at the game against St Kilda will be asked to hold the posters above their heads when the Bombers kick a goal and during the quarter breaks in a show of support for embattled coach James Hird.

As many as 10,000 posters will be printed.

Bombers fans have donated thousands of dollars for the project.

Essendon member Nicholas Fogarty said it was time the fans were heard on the drug scandal that continues to engulf their coach and club.

"After the emotions of Friday night, we started chatting and thinking, 'What can we as fans actually do?'," Fogarty said.

"Individuals have been willing to donate $5 up to $100. We had a business offer of $5000, but we actually turned that down because they wanted to put their logo on it and we don't want it to be a political thing."

A team of volunteers will surround Etihad Stadium to distribute the posters as the crowd arrives for the first bounce, and others will be stationed at an earlier reserves game at Windy Hill.
 

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Enough is enough, says Swan

Magpie Dane Swan (centre) at Collingwood training. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

Dane Swan in action against Hawthorn last Sunday. Source: Herald Sun

COLLINGWOOD superstar Dane Swan has revealed he is trying to repair the public's perception of him but admits the damage may have been done.

The Brownlow Medallist is one of the most talked-about players in the AFL.

Rumours swirled about him over the off-season and it resulted in the high-profile Swan granting Channel Nine's The Footy Show an interview with him without the club's permission.

Speaking on Fox Footy's The Club program ahead of his 200th game against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday, Swan said he is sick of the rumours and wanted to change the perception of him for the sake of his family.

"There is a perception of me out there," he said.

"Whether it's right or whether it's not, I suppose the damage has been done.

"But I'm slowly trying to repair it because I don't like my parents and family listening to talk-back radio and reading social media tweets."

Swan said his family had been hurt by what has been said about him.

"When your mum rings you up and you hear she is upset on the phone, that's when you probably realise that enough is enough," he said.

Swan said the life of an AFL footballler can be a "horrible world" and understands how it could lead to depression.

"I can understand how some AFL players could get depression," he said.

"Sometimes it can be a real horrible world for AFL footballers, even though we do have a great lifestyle.

"Just the media backlash you cop and the social media outbursts and the rants on all the websites and blogs.

"If you didn't have thick skin or you didn't handle negative words really well, I can understand why a player could suffer from depression."

The full interview will air on Fox Footy tonight at 9:30pm.
 

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Pies and loathing for Dyer

'Captain Blood' Jack Dyer. Picture: Photo File Source: HWT Image Library

LEGENDARY Richmond player Jack 'Captain Blood' Dyer hated Collingwood like no other Tiger.

Dyer was the most famous and feared Tiger of them all.His hatred for Collingwood was genuine.

"It is a blind, unreasoning hatred, but not really difficult to understand,'' he wrote in his book - Captain Blood - in 1965.

"You hate a mean man, grasping man, a man who wants everything and gives nothing. That's Collingwood. They are a law unto themselves.

"If they win they gloat. If they lose they sulk.''

Dyer said the Magpies did have some qualities, but it didn't compensate for their mean, nasty and petty weaknesses.

It was with a certain amount malice that he recalled an incident in 1936 when Collingwood's gentleman star, full forward Gordon "Nuts" Coventry, appeared on the ground with heavy bandages on the back of his neck to conceal "large, angry boils."

Tiger fullback Joe Murdoch wasn't fussy about the way he beat an opponent and at the first opportunity he punched at the ball, missed and hit Coventry on the boils.

Dyer said with the first punch he'd seen Coventry throw, Murdoch went down for the count and "Nuts'' was reported.

The Magpies needed Coventry for the finals and a club official offered Murdoch 100 pounds - a huge sum at the time - to tell the truth at the tribunal that he had deliberately hit him on the boils.

"Murdoch flatly refused,'' Dyer said.

"He hated Collingwood as much as I did."

Coventry was suspended for eight game and missed Collingwood's premiership.

Dyer, captain coach from 1941-49 and coach in 1950-52, said Collingwood would turn off the hot water in the visitors' rooms if the Magpies lost.

He said when Collingwood offered the opposition a beer after the game it would be warm and the players wouldn't drink it because they were were scared about what was in the glass.

Dyer, who later became a legendary media commentator, died in 2003.

Richmond v Collingwood at the MCG, 2:10pm Saturday

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Review clears mainstream injections

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt. Source: Getty Images

THE cutting-edge medical procedures allowing stars Nick Riewoldt and Adam Cooney to continue their careers will still be allowed despite an AFL crackdown on injections.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has pledged restrictions on most injections not used for pain-killing purposes after Essendon's dramas forced a comprehensive audit of medical practices.

St Kilda skipper Riewoldt uses a process called Orthokine to manage his troublesome knee.

It involves injecting proteins from his blood back into the joint.

Western Bulldog Cooney has attributed his pain-free pre-season to a similar process labelled Regenokine, where blood is taken from his arm, spun in a centrifuge, then injected in his knee to reduce pain and inflammation.

Players including Geelong's Paul Chapman and Hawthorn's Brent Guerra have sworn by similar practices, with Riewoldt acknowledging the sensitivity of injections during a recent press conference.

But AFL Medical Officers Association chief Hugh Seward said those procedures were medically approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

"They are mainstream medical therapies, which is quite a different case. There is no ban on injection therapies which are standard accepted practice," he said. "People have painkillers, or go to hospital and have procedures done.

"The talk (from the AFL) is about injections which aren't mainstream medical practices. These practices are approved by ASADA and it's quite different from fringe practices that have no significant evidence behind them."
 

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Clash of bad and worse for Dees

Demons coach Mark Neeld. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Sunday Herald Sun

Cartoon by David 'Macca' McArthur. Source: Herald Sun

MELBOURNE'S shocking start to the season has given the Demons another unwanted but revealing statistic.

They are the only side not to have a player awarded a vote in the AFL Coaches' Association champion player award in the first three rounds.

Each coach awards votes ranging from five to one for the best player in each game.

Even Melbourne coach Mark Neeld has found it impossible to single out any of his players for a single vote.

Greater Western Sydney, which plays Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday, is also yet to win a game this season but has had a player receive at least one vote in each game.

The statistics are not pretty for either the Giants or the Demons, sitting at the bottom, and Sunday will be a battle of the two worst forward lines of 2013. The Giants are ranked 17th for total points kicked this year (222) and Melbourne 18th with 173.

Melbourne's percentage of 35.02 after three games is the lowest of any team at the same stage of the season since 1985, when St Kilda had a percentage of 34.71.

It will also be a battle of the worst defences. Melbourne has conceding the most points this year (494) and the Giants are next (380).

AFL statistics show that the Giants must stop Melbourne's Nathan Jones.

Melbourne defeated the Giants twice last season and Jones received Brownlow Medal votes in both clashes.

The Demons won the first clash in Round 13 at the MCG by 78 points and Jones got three Brownlow votes with 33 possessions.

The return contest was in Round 21 at Manuka Oval, Canberra, where the Demons won by 25 points and Jones again polled Brownlow votes.

In both games the Demons dominated the total possession count - 409-357 and 361-309.
 

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