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Stick with VFL

By Robbo August 15, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by Brett Stubbs

AS AFL Tasmania deliberates whether to send the Devils off to play in the SANFL next season, the vast majority of southern footballers are adamant that the state should stick with the VFL.

And they are even more strongly in favour of calling an end to the Devils' partial alignment with AFL club the Kangaroos.

A Mercury exclusive poll of 65 Southern Premier League players shows 80 per cent want the Devils to stay in the VFL.

More than 90 per cent believe AFL Tasmania should cut all ties with the Devils' AFL affiliate and revert to a stand-alone club -- just as Tasmania was in its first five years, during which it made the finals three times in a row.

But the good news for AFL Tasmania is that despite the Devils' disastrous past two seasons and their Kangaroos partial alignment, there is still plenty of support for AFL Tasmania's flagship team.

VFL Fixture Changes for Rounds 19 and 20

By Robbo August 13, 2007
The TRUenergy Victorian Football League advise of the following amendments to VFL Round 19 and 20 games, as documented below:-

Round 19: Werribee vs. Bendigo Bombers Reserve Grade game has been rescheduled from Sunday 19th August to Saturday 18th August. The match commences at 11.10am and will now be a curtain raiser to the Werribee vs. Geelong Senior match which commences at 2.00pm.

Round 20: Bendigo Bombers vs. Geelong senior game and Bendigo Bombers vs. North Ballarat Reserve Grade game have both been rescheduled from Saturday 25th August to Sunday 26th August. The match times remain at 2.00pm and 11.10am respectively.

Geelong defender injured

By Robbo August 12, 2007
From Sunday Herald Sun
Reported by Howard Leigh

THE gloss of Geelong's crushing defeat of rival premiership contender the North Ballarat Roosters at the Northern Oval yesterday was diminished by a serious knee injury to AFL-list defender Stephen Owen.

The 20-year-old 2005 AFL draft choice from the North Ballarat Rebels, who is yet to make his AFL debut, twisted his left knee midway through the final quarter.

Geelong VFL coach Leigh Tudor said last night Owen appeared to have damaged his ACL joint.

"Stephen has been awesome for us all year," Tudor said.

"He has improved out of sight and it is very sad. He will undergo a full medical examination on Monday."

Geelong's 71-point win came on the back of emerging teenage ruckman Trent West, a winning midfield headed by Josh Hunt and Ryan Gamble, a strong defence led by Tim Callan, Tom Lonergan and Sam Hunt, and a three-pronged attack headed by Charlie Gardiner, Todd Grima and Henry Playfair.

Cats come home to roost

By Robbo August 12, 2007
From The Age
Reported by Chris Walker

A BRILLIANT Geelong has moved to outright second spot on the VFL ladder after smashing fourth-placed North Ballarat by 71 points in swirly conditions in Ballarat.

Charlie Gardiner started the onslaught only 20 seconds into the match when he soccered through an easy goal and Geelong never looked back.

Laden with talent, the Cats made good use of the strong breeze to kick 8.5 — their best quarter for the year — to obliterate any chance the Roosters may have had.

Gardiner was extremely dangerous all day, kicking five goals and easily could have had seven. He was prevented from kicking the easiest of set shots in the first quarter after an errant elbow from Rooster Leigh Harding forced Gardiner from the field under the blood rule.

Harding was not reported for the incident but is likely to be when footage of the incident is reviewed.

In the third quarter, Gardiner again soccered through a goal from the goal square, only for the goal umpire, inexplicably, to deem it was touched.

Young Devils show some bite

By Robbo August 12, 2007
From Sunday Tasmanian
Reported by Brett Stubbs

IN a VFL season as bleak as this one for Tasmania, even the slightest hint of light warms the Devils' hearts.

In what has become an audition for the Devils' "generation next", the likes of Aaron Joseph, Alex Grima, Tom Bellchambers, Jaye Bowden, Tim Mohr and Kieran McShane gave glimpses of promise before eventually being swamped by their bigger, stronger, more experienced Casey Scorpion opponents at Bellerive yesterday.

Halfway through the final quarter the sixth-placed Scorpions led by just 26 points -- almost a "victory" for the bottom-dwelling Devils, with a side made up of 68 per cent of players under 20 years of age.

Eventually, like so many matches before, the longer the game went the worse the Devils became, with Casey kicking the final six goals of the match to win comfortably by 61 points, 16.18 (114) to 8.5 (53).

It was the Devils' 14th loss in 16 games this season.

The home side actually won the first and third quarters, but in between were kept goalless when kicking towards the Church St or members' end, and were even scoreless at that end in the second term.

Grima was assured and creative in the backline, Joseph competitive around the ball, while big Bellchambers took a strong contested mark and kicked a goal with his first VFL kick.

Teens set for tough debut

By Robbo August 10, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by Adam Smith

LAUNCESTON teenagers Kieran McShane and Tom Bellchambers become the latest Devils debutants tomorrow and face the Casey Scorpions at Bellerive.

The pair -- who both played at the national under-18 carnival last month -- are yet another example of Daryn Cresswell's desire to get games into his Mariners players.

And in further evidence, Cresswell has his sights set firmly on next season. He is looking to give them plenty of time on the ground to learn the ropes at VFL level.

Bellchambers, who has been named to start in the ruck, is a mobile big man who can also be thrown forward and McShane can rotate through the midfield and will no doubt benefit from playing alongside the likes of Ken Hall.

It brings the number of players to have made their Devils debut this season to 25 and a total of 53 different players have been used.

This could also increase further if Brennan Savage and Leigh Brown line up tomorrow for their first games of the year.

Moles won't jeopardise draft

By Robbo August 08, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by Brett Stubbs

PROMISING Tassie Devils forward Brodie Moles will undergo surgery and miss the rest of the VFL season so as not to jeopardise his chances in the AFL draft.

Moles, 21, has been one of the few shining lights this season playing across half-forward as the Devils head towards their first wooden spoon.

But Devils coach Daryn Cresswell said yesterday Moles would join Paul Koulouriotis (hamstring) and Cameron Thurley (hip) on the sidelines for the rest of the year.

Moles has kicked 20 goals from 13 games in his debut VFL season, but will have a cartilage clean-up on his knee as soon as possible.

Cresswell said he believed Moles would be invited to the October 2-5 AFL draft camp at the AIS in Canberra.

Pies star a no-show

By Robbo August 08, 2007
From Bendigo Advertiser

FOOTY fans have been denied the chance to see Collingwood star Nathan Buckley make his long-awaited comeback in this Sunday's VFL clash in Bendigo.

Earlier this week, the Collingwood skipper and joint Brownlow medallist in 2003 declared he would comeback after long-term hamstring injuries at Bendigo's Queen Elizabeth Oval.

It's not another injury setback that has derailed Buckley's run, but a decision by the Metricon Bendigo Bombers board to switch the game.

The battle between Bendigo and Williamstown will now be played at the home of the Bombers' affiliate, Essendon's Windy Hill.

Bendigo Bombers general manager Peter Lodewijks said on-going concerns about the condition of the QEO led to the round 18 clash being switched.

"In our opinion, the ground is in a bad state," Lodewijks said.

There were six matches contested by All Seasons Bendigo Football-Netball League clubs on the QEO last weekend.

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