From www.localfooty.com.au
Reported by Paul Amy
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HE'S a veteran of the VFL, but Marcus Marigliani has a schoolboy's enthusiasm as he contemplates the 2014 season.

In fact, he says he hasn't felt as excited about his football since Essendon drafted him in 2009.

The muscle-packed "Rigger'' signed at Port Melbourne last week, cutting ties with Sandringham after three seasons.

He was made captain of the Zebras this year and understood the prestige of the position. Players like Chad Liddell, David MacGeorge and Darren Mitchelson held it before him.

But ultimately it wasn't enough to keep him at Sandy. He'd become fed up with the alignment with St Kilda, thinking the development of Saints players took precedence over winning.

There were occasions this year, he said, when St Kilda players were taken off the ground and rested, leaving the Zebras down on numbers.

From Herald Sun
Reported by Glenn McFarlane
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CARLTON'S VFL captain Andre Gianfagna has become the latest footballer to turn to umpiring.

Gianfagna, 26, has told the Northern Blues he intends to become an umpire and will immediately join the AFL's pathway program.

After the recent retirement of former Blue and Bomber turned AFL umpire Jordan Bannister, the AFL has been to keen to foster more footballers in switching to umpiring post their playing careers.

From the Hobson Bay Weekly
Reported by Daniel Paproth
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New Williamstown coach Andy Collins wants the Seagulls to be known as the best Australian Rules football club outside of the AFL, as the Gulls prepare to go stand-alone in the Victorian Football League in 2014.

Collins signed on for two years on Saturday morning, and was officially announced to replace former coach Peter German at the club’s best-and-fairest that same evening. Current assistant coach Adam Potter will be his second-in-charge.

Collins has spent the past six years as coach of South Australian National Football League club West Adelaide, taking the Bloods from four consecutive wooden spoons to a grand final appearance in 2012 and a preliminary final this season.

He resigned from his post at West Adelaide in August, coaching out the remainder of the season before looking for new opportunities.

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From the Whyndham Weekly.
Reported by Lance Jenkinson
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The signing of mature-aged recruit Jarred Moore will go down as a resounding success for the Werribee Tigers.

The former Sydney Swans player was one of the on-field leaders in his first season with the Tigers in the Victorian Football League and walked away with the Bruce Montgomery Trophy for best and fairest at the club.

Moore was a runaway winner of the award with 205 votes from ruckman Daniel Currie (121) and onballer Ben Ross (101).

From the Maribyrnong and Hobson Bay Weekly
Reported by Daniel Paproth
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Werribee played this year’s Victorian Football League grand finalists, Geelong and Box Hill, three times for three losses totalling 150 points.

The difference between the full-time environments experienced by AFL-listed players and the part-time system for VFL-listed players was one of the key reasons the Tigers fell short of a first grand final appearance since 2005.

With Werribee only partially aligned with North Melbourne, the Tigers were fielding fewer AFL-listed players than the powers of the competition. So it was no surprise that Geelong and Box Hill, Hawthorn’s affiliate, contested the grand final.

But that the Tigers reached the preliminary final – after beating Essendon and Casey in knockout finals – was an impressive result.

From the Maribyrnong and Hobson Bay Weekly
Reported by Daniel Paproth
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Preparations are well under way for a massive 2014 at Williamstown Football Club.

The Seagulls will field a stand-alone team in the Victorian Football League next year for the first time since 1999 after parting ways with its AFL affiliate of the past six years, the Western Bulldogs.

The club is on the hunt for a new senior coach to take it into a new era after the board informed Peter German he would not be reappointed.

German, who spent the past four years in the duel roles of Williamstown senior coach and Western Bulldogs development coach, is contracted to the Bulldogs for 2014.

According to Williamstown chief executive Brendan Curry, the Seagulls are looking for “someone who can do the whole gamut of the role, not just football”.

“The coach is the leader of the club,” he said. “Peter has done a very good job for us, the record is there – three prelim finals, a grand final and victory in the inaugural Foxtel Cup. Everyone thanks Peter for his contribution.”

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From news.com.au
Reported by James Hunter-Smith
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FOR months, football pundits have been asking themselves: who can stop the VFL Cats?

After the grand final, the question has been answered: the Box Hill Hawks can.

And they did it in style, claiming their first senior VFL premiership since 2001 after downing the Cats by 21 points at Etihad Stadium.

Box Hill applied relentless pressure from the opening bounce to the final siren, matching - and regularly beating - Geelong all over the ground.

VFL Grand Final. Geelong v Box Hill

The Hawks concluded their historic season with eight-straight wins, snapping Geelong’s streak of 13 in the process.

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From The Sunday Age
Reported by Brent Diamond
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Geelong is the hot favourite to exert its dominance and produce its third VFL flag in seven years when it takes on the Box Hill Hawks in what is expected to be an epic grand final on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.

George Horlin-Smith, the winner of last year's Norm Goss Medal for best on ground in the premiership win over Port Melbourne, said Geelong's success was reward for its tough, uncompromising style of football.

''We pride ourselves on our contested ball in the VFL, we want to be the hard team to play against,'' Horlin-Smith said.

''I guess whether it's the AFL or the VFL, we still want to be a really tough side and good in the contested situations.''

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