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Aussie Bryce Street’s controversial run out for Frinton on Sea is within the laws of cricket

Should it have been out? Photo: YouTube

A rising Aussie cricket star has landed himself in the middle of a fierce debate after he ran out a rival in bizarre circumstances.

Queensland and Australia A representative Bryce Street is spending the Aussie winter in England, playing for East Anglia Premier League side Frinton on Sea.

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On Saturday, Street was bowling his right arm medium pacers as Saffron Walden built to 1/117. After Alex Peirson blocked a ball back to Street he began heading back to his mark, only to realize non-striker Nikhil Gorantla was leaning on his bat out of his crease.

Street tossed the ball onto the stumps, appealed and the umpire gave Gorantla out.

Gorantla had appeared to ground his bat over the line before lifting it again, as the run out occurred.

The batter had no choice but to accept the umpire’s decision, dismissed for 32.

This was just the start of the drama. A video of the incident posted by the East Anglia Premier League was deleted as questions were raised by bewildered fans.

While it is not a good look, the act is legal by the laws of cricket as many of the issues come down to the umpire’s discretion.

One of the issues people had with the incident was that the ball was dead. Law 20.1.1 states: “The ball becomes dead when it is finally settled in the hands of the wicketkeeper or of the bowler.”

But Law 20.1.2 adds: “The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.”

Law 20.2 continues: “Whether the ball is finally settled or not is a matter for the umpire alone to decide.”

Looked pretty settled in his hand. Photo: YouTubeSource: YouTube
Get your bat back over the line. Photo: YouTubeSource: YouTube
Street got the wicket. Photo: YouTubeSource: YouTube

Others believe it should have fallen foul under “fake fielding” of Law 41, which deals with unfair play.

Law 41.5 says: “It is unfair for any fielder willfully to attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batter after the striker has received the ball.

“It is for either one of the umpires to decide whether any distraction, deception or obstruction is wilful or not.”

Asked about the incident on Twitter, Laws of Cricket adviser to the MCC Jonny Singer said while it was legal, it may not have been right.

“Whether the ball is finally settled is up to the bowler’s end umpire. I decided it wasn’t, so it’s not. I would have come to a different view, but I wasn’t on the field,” Singer said.

Wickets fell regularly from there and Saffron Walden was all out for 218, with Street taking 4/49 from 18 overs.

The wicket was key as earlier this summer, Gorantla had hit a century and double century for Essex’s second XI.

Street also scored 101 not out of 106 balls in a stunning all-round performance, but it was overshadowed by his controversial act.

Street has played 26 first-class matches, tallying 1500 runs at an average of 36.58.

He is contracted for Queensland again in the 2022-23 Australian domestic season.

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Business

Melbourne homeless man’s death mourned by locals on Reddit

Melbourne homeless man's death mourned by locals on Reddit

In Hawthorn, Melbourne, a whimsical chalk mural featuring a brightly-coloured snowman lounging happily under a tree is drawn on the footpath of Glenferrie Rd.

The scene, which looks like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland, is the last ever drawing of a person who, for years, was known simply as “The Drawing Man”.

Above his art, taped to a wall that separates Guzman and Gomez and Metro Woolies, is an A4 printout commemorating his death.

“RIP Rob. Fondly remembered as ‘the drawing man’, you’ll be missed by all who knew you,” the paper reads.

It is hard to keep track of those who fall victim to homelessness, with hundreds estimated to die every year.

The issue has been dubbed Australia’s “invisible problem”.

‘Kind, talented, gentle’: Rob’s life in Reddit posts

But Rob was far from invisible. Despite his transient living conditions, he became a beloved member of the Hawthorn community, charming locals with his abstract art and “gentle soul”.

“I moved to the area about five years ago and saw him damn near every time I was going for groceries or lunch,” one local recalled on Reddit.

“He was a fixture on that road, even as shops and people and even time changed.

“I remember first seeing his drawings, the simple houses or suns or vehicles he’d draw. That over time morphed into complex, colourful, abstract art.

“He was a dedicated man, taking the time he was given and putting himself towards creating something beautiful.”

For more than a decade, Rob would frequent the areas outside the Hawthorn Woolworths or Malvern Coles, waving and smiling back at people rushing to catch a tram or popping into a store for a bite.

Reddit users said that while he “never asked for anything”, locals ensured Rob was always looked after by offering to share meals or to sit and draw with him.

But when Covid forced Victoria into lockdown, the communal care began to wane.

“I bought him some art supplies at the start of Covid,” user @mhrauburn, the original poster, said.

“Pre-Covid I would see people getting him things from Woolies but not so much recently. I do hope he passed peacefully.”

For the man who became “part of Swinburne”, many commenters also expressed their sadness knowing they would never again be able to talk to him about his drawings.

‘Slipped through the cracks’

Rob wasn’t always ‘the drawing man’.

A former Swinburne University graduate recalled a chance encounter a decade ago where Rob claimed he had once been an aspiring artist employed at the popular Heide Museum of Modern Art.

“Someone once gave me $20 and told me ‘If you don’t need it posted, give it to someone who does’,” Reddit user @Random_Sime.

“I was studying at Swinburne and I saw Rob every day, so I gave it to him and had a little chat about 10 years ago.

“I asked him where he learned to draw and he told me that he was an artist who lived and worked at Heidi (sic)but never ‘made it’ as an artist or got excluded due to interpersonal politics.

“All he wanted to do was create art and have people appreciate it. He preferred to do reproductions of known works on the footpath rather than his own stuff because it got more attention from passers-by.

“Then I graduated and didn’t go to that area much after. RIP Rob.”

That user’s memory is the extent of what is known about Rob’s life story.

Tens of thousands of Australians facing homelessness

Rob’s was among the almost 28,000 Australians facing homelessness.

While Reddit user @Random_Sime was appreciative that so many others had come to know and love Rob’s story through his post, he reminded the community that there were many people like Rob living across Australia.

“Everyone has a story and they’re usually happy to tell it if you show a genuine interest and ask questions that lead on from what they tell you,” they said.

Rob’s final artwork has been pressure-washed from the pavement.

The only remaining markers of his life appear to be the paper printout, a lone Reddit thread and perhaps pieces of drawings collected by passing strangers.

“A kind soul has left some flowers by Rob’s spot,” the original Reddit poster said in an update.

“It’s touching to know so many people have such great memories of Rob. I truly hope he remains easy knowing his work and life of him were appreciated by so many. ”

Read related topics:melbourne

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Business

Rental properties Australia: How much rent has increased in your suburb

Rental properties Australia: How much rent has increased in your suburb

Renters are suffering from “ridiculous” rent hikes due to a chronic housing shortage, as city-dwellers flood regional markets and landlords flip rental properties to short-term housing to accommodate an influx of tourists.

Suburb-level analysis collected by PropTrack exclusively for The Oz revealed Killcare Heights on the central coast of NSW experienced the greatest rent increase over the past 12 months at 72.6 per cent, followed by Rainbow Beach on Queensland’s south coast (72.5 per cent) and Stahan in western Tasmania (68.4 per cent).

Killcare Ray White agent Sue Rallis said some local properties have risen from $700 to $1500 a week since the pandemic began, due to Sydneysiders making the most of a Covid-induced at-home lifestyle and moving into regional areas.

“People are happy to come out of the cities and move regionally, which has pushed up the rent over the last year or two,” she said.

“It’s been hard for the locals. They have been living in an area that a lot of people didn’t want to live in, and have been paying quite low rents there over the years. Now it’s very difficult for the locals to afford some of the rents.”

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Median weekly rental prices in June were up 7 per cent on the same month last year, marking the strongest annual rental growth recorded since before 2015. Rising prices have been felt the most regionally, where they increased 11.4 per cent year-on-year to June, compared to 4.4 per cent in the capital cities.

This came as the total supply of rentals dropped 27.7 per cent below its decade average.

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said a devastating lack of supply has driven prices upwards, as fewer owners put their second properties up for rent.

“A lot of people who have bought quote unquote ‘investment properties’ aren’t necessarily buying them to make them available for rent, they’re buying them as second homes,” he said. “You’ve also got the added pressure now that domestic and international travel is back that the supply of rental stock is spinning out because people are putting their properties into short term rental accommodation, rather than long term.”

Mr Kusher said rental growth in inner-city areas has been “pretty weak” over the past two years as tenants stayed put, but has suddenly increased over the past six months after long term lockdowns ended.

“We have seen again in Sydney and Melbourne in those inner and middle ring markets in the apartment markets in particular, it has been very hard to rent out a property over the last few years,” he said.

“So, a lot of people sold out of their investment properties, and we haven’t seen a lot of developers building new one and two bedroom apartments. Therefore, we haven’t had that increase in supply we needed to keep up with demand.”

When renewing her lease last month, Leane Van Essen’s landlord requested the rent go from $450 to $550 a week for a one-bedroom apartment in North Sydney.

Unable to afford the “ridiculous” 22 per cent increase, the 29-year-old was given 60 days to find a new apartment.

“I had to find a new place super quickly, but then I got Covid and couldn’t go look at apartments, which was incredibly stressful,” she said. “They kept calling me, trying to rush me out, even though I still had my 60 days.”

Eventually, Ms Van Essen was forced to find a stranger online to move in with, settling in a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Mascot for $750 a week.

Similarly, Ellen Mezger, 25, was asked to bump up her rent for a two-bedder in Sydney’s Waterloo from $620 to $800 a week when her lease expired this month.

She said “a lot of sacrifices”, including giving up her gym membership, would have to be made if the rent increased that much.

Kusher said it would be a while before rent costs dropped again as landlords feel the increasing burden of skyrocketing interest rates, and pass them onto their tenants.

“Landlords will be trying to pass on as much of those increased costs as they can to their renters, so that’s something that renters are going to be facing,” he said.

“Obviously, for renters, there’s quite a lot of incentives to try and buy your first home. The government’s got a Shared Equity scheme, they’ve got a low deposit scheme in NSW from January next year, you’re going to be given the option to pay land tax as opposed to stamp duty. At some point, people will look at it and go, you know, I can be slugged with higher rates every six months, or maybe it’s time to take up one or two of these schemes and buy.”

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Chris Fagan speaks on Alastair Clarkson whispers, Brisbane Lions coach, handover, latest

Chris Fagan speaks on Alastair Clarkson whispers, Brisbane Lions coach, handover, latest

Brisbane Lions boss Chris Fagan has downplayed rumors he could hand over the reins to free agent coaching great Alastair Clarkson at season’s end.

There was some talk last month about a possible handover from Fagan to Clarkson for 2023 as the latter weighs up a returns to the coaches box, having recently met with GWS and North Melbourne about their openings.

The pair have previously worked together closely when Fagan was Hawthorn’s footy boss during its golden era including winning four premierships from 2008-2015 while Clarkson was coach.

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Asked on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 if he’d made “private plans to hand the job over to an old colleague,” Fagan responded with a laugh:“It’s not my job to hand over in the first place … is not the firm answer to that question.”

Fagan said he was unconditionally committed to coaching Brisbane next year.

“I’ve got a contract for next year and hopefully the team can continue to do well and the club is keen to keep me for a while longer,” he said.

“I love coaching the Lions and that’s what I’ll be doing next year unless someone knows something I don’t know.”

It comes after some pundits have put a line through Brisbane’s premiership chances after its second-half fade out loss to Richmond on Sunday that saw the Lions fall down to fifth position on the ladder.

But Fagan insisted the club wasn’t listening to the outside noise as it stays focused on its final three home and away matches against Carlton, St Kilda and Melbourne.

“I understand people want to comment on the game and they’ve got to have strong opinions, because that’s why people want to watch and listen to media,” the Lions boss said.

Clarkson and Fagan at Hawthorn (Picture: Colleen Petch)Source: News Corp Australia

“But we can’t get caught up in that. This time last year we had to win our last three games to finish in the top four and even that wasn’t guaranteed… you just take each win as it comes.

“It’s a really tough and tight competition. If we can get back to our really best form, which we showed a strong glimpse of (against Richmond) in the first half, then there’s no reason why we can’t be really competitive come September.

“We’re not a perfect team, we’ve got strengths and weaknesses like every other team. But when we play at our best we’re pretty hard to beat.”

A key criticism towards Brisbane’s fading flag prospects has been its leaky defence.

Since Round 10 the Lions rank 16th in the competition in the most points conceded, 18th in most points conceded from their defensive half and have been the 15th easiest team to score against once the ball is inside 50.

Fagan said sharpening their defense has been the “main focus” at training over the last six weeks, but also highlighted the club’s inconsistent personnel down back due to injury.

“It’s a work in progress for us, we have had a fair turnover of players particularly in our backline since the Melbourne game (in Round 15),” he said.

“I think we’ve had 14 different players down there play for various reasons, not that defense is just about the backline, but we haven’t had a lot of continuity with our boys.

“Hopefully we can build that back up over the next few weeks and have the same seven or eight players playing there each week.”

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China mocks Scott Morrison, Australia’s ‘arrogance’ after ACCC gas report

China mocks Scott Morrison, Australia's 'arrogance' after ACCC gas report

China has branded Australia “laughable”, mocking the Government and former prime minister Scott Morrison in the wake of a “damning” gas report.

The comments were made as part of a scornful article published by the CCP-controlled Global Times.

The piece mocks a suggestion that Australia could step in and help with supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to European allies impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

At the start of 2022, the then-prime minister Mr Morrison said his government was looking at options that would allow Australia to fill international demand for gas if Russia stops exporting to Europe.

“Awkwardly, some in Australia are now warning of a potential shortage in the country and urging to set aside gas for Australia’s own electricity network before selling to the rest of the world,” the Global Times article noted.

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On Monday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) gas inquiry 2017-2025 interim report warned businesses could shut down and there could be a record shortage of gas in the southern states next year unless something is done about the nation’s energy crisis.

The ACCC predicted a 56 petajoule shortfall in east coast gas supply by 2023, a figure it called a “significant risk to energy security” that was equivalent to 10 per cent of expected domestic demand.

China said the situation currently facing Australia was both “laughable and serious”.

“Laughable, because this reflects Australian officials’ overconfidence and arrogance in making empty promises it cannot deliver; serious, because a potential move could significantly affect already disrupted global energy supplies, given that Australia is known as one of the world’s top LNG exporters,” the newspaper noted.

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has seen international demand for LNG soar, with Beijing claiming a decision from Australia to impose export restrictions could “hurt some of its European and Asian allies the most”.

The article blasted Mr Morrison for his “empty promises” for saying Australia will help its allies when they are in need.

“It is clear that a possible reduction in Australia’s LNG exports would further exacerbate the global energy crisis and push up prices, while increasing the energy anxiety in countries that used to see Australia as a reliable source of supplies,” the Global Times said.

“Some of its allies may also be annoyed by Australia’s inability to actually offer help in areas where it apparently has an advantage.”

The article noted that China has recently made efforts to diversify its energy imports following recent tensions with Australia, with Beijing last year signing new LNG contracts with the US instead.

However, the outlet assured readers that any decision by Australia would not “fundamentally undermine” China’s energy security.

Government reacts to ‘damning’ gas report

Australia’s Resources Minister Madeleine King branded the new ACCC report as “damning” of gas exporters after it found they were not engaging locally “in the spirit” of the heads of agreement.

“We remain concerned that some (liquefied) natural gas LNG exporters are not engaging with the domestic market in the spirit in which the heads of agreement was signed,” the report said.

“LNG producers will need to divert a significant proportion of their excess gas into the domestic market.”

Ms King said gas producers “know” the report is “damning for them”.

“The ACCC report is damning, no doubt about it,” she said.

“It sets out patterns and instances of behavior that are clearly not acceptable in an environment where we do have an international and domestic energy supply crisis.”

The ACCC described the outlook for 2023 as “very concerning” with gas prices likely to increase.

“The outlook for 2023 is very concerning and is likely to place further upward pressure on prices, which could result in some commercial and industry users no longer being able to operate,” the report said.

“It could also lead to demand having to be curtailed.”

This shortfall will mainly affect NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, where “resources have been diminishing for some time”, though Queensland may also be impacted.

– with NCA NewsWire

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Entertainment

Karl, Jasmine Stefanovic seen on-board James Packer’s yacht in south of France

Karl, Jasmine Stefanovic seen on-board James Packer's yacht in south of France

Karl Stefanovic and his wife Jasmine are the latest big names to be spotted on-board James Packer’s luxury yacht in the south of France.

The 54-year-old Australian billionaire welcomed the Today co-host, 47, his shoe designer wife, 38, and their two-year-old daughter Harper for a day out on the $283 million boat in newly-emerged photos taken last week.

Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke, 41, also joined in on the fun, and was spotted with his rumored girlfriend, Jasmine’s younger sister Jade Yarbrough, 30.

The pair were understood to have been introduced by Stefanovic earlier this year, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph in July.

Earlier today Yarbrough, who runs an interior design company, uploaded an Instagram story with a photo of herself and Clarke strolling the streets of the French Riviera.

Meanwhile, Stefanovic is currently enjoying some time off-air, with co-host Allison Langdon being joined on the Channel 9 breakfast show by Nine reporter Charles Croucher.

Packer has been making headlines amid his lengthy stint overseas, which has seen him host a slew of big names on his yacht including actor and business partner Robert De Niro.

He’s also recently opened up about his new-found health kick which has seen him lose 33kg, telling The Weekend Australian in June that he was ready to start the “third act” of his life as he looks towards a return to Australia following a controversial period for Crown Casino.

“I’m roughly 130kg now and want to be back to 100kg by the end of 2022,” Packer told the publication.

Packer admitted that it “hasn’t been appropriate” to be in Australia amid years of scandals at Crown Casino – which he previously owned a major stake of – including staff getting jailed in China, and several inquiries which found the casino operator enabled money laundering and links to criminal gangs.

With the $8.9 billion sale of his company shares to US private equity firm Blackstone’s finalized on June 24, which saw Packer pocket an enormous $3.36 billion, he’s now ready to plan his return home.

“I want to swim with my kids at Bondi when we’re all in Sydney together next year and be 100kg,” he added.

On the love front, Packer has regularly been joined on his yacht by Danish model Josefine Hanning Jensen, who was recently identified by Confidential.

There’s no word yet on whether Packer and Jensen are romantically linked, or whether she will join him when he eventually heads back to Sydney.

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Australian tech company Metigy collapses impacting 75 staff

Australian tech company Metigy collapses impacting 75 staff

Staff who worked for an Australian tech company have been left “shell-shocked” by its sudden collapse after it planned to raise money with a valuation of $1 billion.

The company called Metigy was founded in 2015 and offered an artificial intelligence platform that provided insights into customers for small business marketing.

But its demise has impacted around 75 staff, who appeared to have been blindsided when informed on Monday that the company had gone into administration.

Some staff members had joined the company, which was founded by David Fairfull and Johnson Lin, just a few months ago.

One employee, who had been with Metigy for almost 18 months, said two weeks ago she “never thought” that the company would have gone under.

“All of us employees were informed today and we are shell-shocked to say the least,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

“It’s heartbreaking to have our journey cut short so early, when I could see that we were turning a corner with the product in the last few months and what was coming up in the next few months.”

Another staff member revealed plans they were making “for all the great work we could do with a new brand and communications function at Metigy” that she hoped to lead, but instead found herself suddenly unemployed.

“We’re pretty shell-shocked. It’s not because we didn’t care enough or because we did a bad job or the market conditions weren’t in our favor – and that will always be the toughest thing to deal with when you work as hard as we did,” she wrote .

“I am beyond grateful to have met this group of people who I now call friends and I’m so sad that we don’t get to continue on this rollercoaster together.

“My heart is always in start-up land regardless of how hard it gets. It’s an experience that teaches us so much about ourselves and I will always choose it.”

The company’s collapse is a particular shock as it planned to raise money just two months ago.

A recent presentation from a Metigy investor showed the company’s revenue had grown more than 300 per cent in both the 2020 and 2021 financial years, and had more than 25,000 clients across 92 countries, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Meanwhile, Australian private equity firm Five V Capital had recently presented Metigy as a case study showing it was valued at $105 million in October 2020 when it invested and its last evaluation sat at $1 billion in April this year.

Metigy’s collapse came as a “big shock” and had caused “a great deal of sadness”, one employee added on LinkedIn.

He said that the “growth team never failed to deliver” with a list of achievements in their short time, including acquiring roughly 38,000 users from a base of just a few thousand, rebuilding the website leading to significant improvements in conversion rates and a full rebrand .

Simon Cathro and Andrew Blundell of Sydney-based firm Cathro Partners were appointed as administrators on Friday night.

The duo said they are working with investigators and creditors to assess the business commercials and explore the possibility of its sale.

“We are exploring the urgent sale of Metigy’s assets and intellectual property as part of the voluntary administration process and consider a sale could be an outcome in this process,” they said.

Metigy has more than 30 shareholders, according to documents lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Tech companies are struggling in Australia after a share market bloodbath, which has left investors spooked and made funding harder to find.

Other failed businesses include grocery delivery service Send, which went into liquidation at the end of May, after the company spent $11 million in eight months to stay afloat.

Last month, Australia’s first ever neobank founded in 2017, Volt Bank, went under with 140 staff losing their jobs, while 6,000 customers were told to urgently withdraw their funds.

A Victorian food delivery company that styled itself as a rival to UberEats and Deliveroo also collapsed in July as it became unprofitable, despite making more than $6 million worth of deliveries since it launched in 2017 and had 18,000 customers.

A venture capital firm issued a sobering message about the state of Australia’s start-up industry, warning that more new companies would go bust and pulling back on funding as a result.

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Entertainment

Alan Fletcher reveals major career change after Neighbors finale

Alan Fletcher reveals major career change after Neighbors finale

Neighbors veteran Alan Fletcher is the third longest serving actor in Australian soap opera history, having starred on the iconic soap for almost three decades.

And after the long-running show’s emotional finale last week, which saw viewers say farewell to the residents of Ramsay Street after 37 years on-air, the 65-year-old actor is considering a major career change.

Fletcher, who had played Dr Karl Kennedy since 1994, told Magic Radio’s breakfast-show: “Now that I’ve finished neighborsI’m thinking about actually going into medicine.”

The Perth-born TV star added he had always tried to keep his personal life separate from his on-screen persona, but was now having a change of heart.

“While I’ve been on neighborsI religiously don’t give medical advice, because I’m really worried about the authorities tracking me down,” he joked.

It comes after Fletcher’s co-star Ryan Moloney, who had played Jarrod “Toadie” Rebecchi on the show since 1995, revealed his own big career move away from the small screen.

The 42-year-old actor said he was planning to settle into post-neighbors life as a humble tradition.

“I’m not ruling anything out,” Moloney told The Daily Telegraph. “I’m doing civil construction course which is about driving excavators and building roads.”

Moloney added: “I like playing with those kinds of machines. I like doing earthworks, all that kind of manual labor stuff.

“That’s where I’m at, but who knows where it’s all going to end up?”

After 37 years and 8903 episodes, neighbors finally drew to a close in a tear-jerking finale last week.

The nostalgia-filled episode saw the return of Australia’s brightest names who got their big break on the soap opera, including Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Holly Valance, Natalie Imbruglia, Delta Goodrem, and the show’s most famous alumna, Margot Robbie.

Up to 3 million people tuned into the finale in the UK, while almost 900,000 viewers watched in Australia.

It was announced in March that neighbors was being axed after Australian production company Fremantle media failed to find a new broadcast partner, following UK network Channel 5’s decision to withdraw its partnership.

Channel 5 had been covering the majority of the production bill.

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Horror rise in Queensland men threatening to burn their partners alive revealed

Horror rise in Queensland men threatening to burn their partners alive revealed

Domestic and family violence perpetrators in Queensland are increasingly threatening to set their current and former partners alight, a new study has found, with cases spiking after the horrific 2020 murders of Hannah Clarke and her children.

The report, co-authored by UQ TC Beirne School of Law senior lecturer Joseph Lelliott and associate lecturer Rebecca Wallis, details testimonies from seven non-government domestic and family violence service providers in the state’s southeast.

Direct and implicit threats of dousing are a form of coercive control that has not been formally studied before.

But they are on the rise: one participant told the survey of 17 workers last year that abusers sent the stories of Clarke – whose three children were burned alive in their car in February 2020 by her estranged husband – and Kelly Wilkinson – who was set alight in her Gold Coast backyard last April – to their partners as a means of telling them, “That’s what I’ll do to you”.

“Anecdotally, there have been cases where perpetrators have directly referenced the cases of Hannah Clarke or Kelly Wilkinson when they make threats, saying, ‘You’re going to end up just like her’, or saying something along the lines of, ‘That’s what you’ll get’ if news about them comes on,” Dr Lelliott told news.com.au.

“It appears that media reports about these cases, and ones like them, may lead to ‘copycat’-like behaviour, but may also be used as a tool of abuse themselves.

“Some interview respondents noted that perpetrators may also, for example, leave print outs of news stories concerning Hannah Clarke and the children around the house, or send them to ex-partners.”

The majority of participants in the study reported that cases of dousing threats within their services had become more prevalent over the past two or so years. And while no empirical measures exist yet, reasons may include an increased awareness among workers, and an increased fear among victims that such threats could be part of a pattern of escalating violence leading to murder.

“People are far more aware of it and that’s why there are so many more women, I think, talking about it,” one worker noted.

“Because now they’re really fearful and they’ve seen the consequences of that kind of threat being carried out.”

Another stated that they “see a really high prevalence of these kinds of threats, absolutely”.

“Different kinds of levels, different kinds of threats, but we do,” they added.

“So what we see most commonly are threats to burn the house down, threats to burn family and friend’s houses down, that sort of thing.”

“I actually have supported a woman whose respondent actually doused himself in petrol and threatened to burn himself at their family home where their children slept. Basically, yeah, well, it scared the hell out of her anyway,” one worker said.

“So, he did not actually burn himself because she managed to call triple-zero straight away. [But] the impact on her was really profound, because the smell of the petrol lingered for months.

“The location where he didused himself was actually close to the gas tank. So, he could have just killed everyone.”

What makes these threats – both implied and explicit – particularly “insidious”, Dr Lelliott and Dr Wallis noted in their findings, is that these “behaviours could be perceived as innocuous without an understanding of the broader context of the relationship”, but “almost always” occur in the context of an escalating pattern of “serious” domestic and family violence.

“I’m finding that it’s one of many elements. It’s not ever a stand-alone,” one worker said.

“Like they don’t just threaten to burn the house down or burn somebody – most of the time it’s because there is a domestic violence order (DVO), the client has left the relationship so there’s an escalation in the violence, and therefore it does escalate to the threats of burning either the house down, themselves or the client and the children.

“But usually there’s a lot that’s happened before it actually escalates to that point.”

Another, echoing the sentiment, noted the threats are “almost always just after separation”.

“So it’s about that not accepting that the relationship is over, and going into revenge and retaliation mode,” they added.

Their severity is also amplified by the accessibility of accelerants like petrol which, unlike the purchase of a firearm, are seen as “normal” household items.

Dr Lelliott told news.com.au that the prevalence of the study’s findings indicate “that there does need to be greater awareness of dousing threats – and indeed the use of fire generally – as a form of domestic and family violence and as a pattern of coercive control”.

“Some of our findings indicate that the severity of these threats is not always recognised, particularly by police,” he said.

“This work is, of course, preliminary at this point. We will release further papers in the future.”

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Caroline Wilson blasts Richmond coach Damien Hardwick’s apology after local footy outburst

Caroline Wilson blasts Richmond coach Damien Hardwick's apology after local footy outburst

AFL journalist Caroline Wilson has taken aim at Richmond coach Damien Hardwick’s apology after his outburst at a local footy game two weekends ago.

Hardwick was watching the Tigers VFL side dominate Williamstown in a 10.14 (74) to 2.7 (19) thrashing but took umbrage at an on-field incident between the Seagulls’ Darby Henderson and Richmond’s AFL-listed player Rhyan Mansell.

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Hardwick allegedly called Williamstown players “weak f***ing pricks” during the contest at Punt Road Oval but was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Hardwick fronted up and apologized for the incident.

“I understand in my position I’ve got to be better than that,” Hardwick said last Thursday, speaking for the first time about the incident.

“I’ve got to be probably judged to a higher standard, and I understand that. What I will ask is that (people remember) I am human.

“I’m going to make mistakes and there’s no doubt that I overstepped the mark.”

Hardwick added: “I probably didn’t need to lean over the fence and yell but that’s me.

“What makes me good makes me bad.”

He also said he had not been sanctioned by Richmond or the AFL but had received a scalding from his mum Pam.

“It’s funny how you’re still scared of your mother at the age of 49,” he joked.

But the apology got Wilson’s nose out of joint and she took aim on Footy Classified on Monday night.

“Damien Hardwick is not the first AFL coach to behave badly at the footy and then make a half-hearted apology,” she said.

“But that doesn’t excuse the Richmond coach’s disappointing effort five days ago.

“Damien’s abusive tirade issued at Williamstowns’s Darby Henderson did have a touch of Alastair Clarkson about it. And like Clarko and Mick Malthouse and Luke Beveridge also demonstrated a similar unwillingness to take full responsibility.

“’What makes me good makes me bad’, he said, ‘I need to be better’. And again to soften the blow he invoked the spirit of a woman in the family, mother Pam seems to be the new Mrs Hardwick.”

Wilson was referring to Hardwick’s penchant for mentioning his ex-wife “Mrs Hardwick” in press conferences, before the pair split up.

She added: “But Damien, as a national sporting leader, a renowned and championed statesman of the game, we do hold you to a higher standard and you do need to be better.

“No one expects perfection, but on this occasion an unmitigated apology would have been a lot better.”

The comments sparked some discussion on the panel, as Port Adelaide 300-gamer Kane Cornes defended Hardwick.

“It’s a harsh one. I think you’re being a bit hard on him. What more did you need from his apology for him there? Cornes asked.

Wilson: “’I absolutely did the wrong thing, nobody should abuse players and swear at players at the football. As a premiership coach I, of all people, shouldn’t do that’.”

Corners: “Didn’t he say that? He said ‘I need to be held to a higher account than the other people’.”

Wilson: “’But my mum got mad at me and I’m still scared of my mum’? Who is he? Scott Morrison? Seriously, that was not good enough.”

Corners: “I think you are being a bit harsh. I think that is not a serious offence.”

Wilson: “He is a champion coach, just off the back of a brilliant performance, people need to properly apologise. He has been told he had to apologise, he should have either refused or not apologised.”

Corners: “I took that as a heartfelt apology.”

Another narrative has emerged over the future of the three-time premiership coach. Hardwick has been at the helm of Richmond since 2010 and questions have been asked about whether 13 years is enough.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd asked if Wilson would “move on from him” if she had the choice.

“I separate Damien Hardwick the coach and some of the other stuff,” Wilson said.

“I think like Alastair (Clarkson), and he also, as we know, he is also a champion coach, he did some terrible things in bad behavior off the field, junior footy game with a Port Adelaide supporter, punching a wall, swearing at journalists and Luke Beveridge as well.

“It’s not good enough. Apologies make the world go round and set examples to young people about how they should behave.”

Read related topics:Scott Morrison

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