Tag: SEN

Jason Horne-Francis has been dropped by North Melbourne for Round 22.

The 19-year-old No.1 draft pick has collected 13, 21, 11 and 12 disposals in his last four games after returning from hamstring issues and suspension.

It is the first time he’s been omitted from the senior side.

The call to drop him ahead of the upcoming game against Adelaide comes as a shock to the footy community, with David King one who questioned the decision when the news dropped.

“Wow, gee, that’s interesting,” the dual-premiership Kangaroo said on SEN’s The Picks.

“Why would you drop Horne-Francis? He’s going back to Adelaide to play in front of family and friends, why wouldn’t you give him that opportunity? I don’t understand that.

“Just put him there in front of his friends and family because he’ll want to perform.”

Horne-Francis, a South Australian, will now miss out on all three games against SA sides after not playing the Crows and Port Adelaide earlier in the year.

1988 Brownlow Medalist Gerard Healy also weighed in on sports day.

“A big omission, Jason Horne-Francis – the number one pick – has been dropped, which really puts a bookend to a pretty disappointing season,” he said upon learning the news.

North Melbourne recalled Ben Cunnington following a battle with testicular cancer for the weekend’s game at Adelaide Oval, with Ben McKay and Jackson Archer also on the list of ins.

Flynn Perez, Hugh Greenwood and Josh Walker join Horne-Francis going out of the side, with the latter two also axings.

Horne-Francis has averaged 16.3 disposals, 3.6 clearances and 2.4 inside 50s a game in 16 games 2022.

North interim coach Leigh Adams confirmed earlier on Friday that while he was happy with the youngster’s development, the club hadn’t helped Horne-Francis by where he’s played in his debut season.

We have compiled a list of every AFL player currently linked to a trade or free agency move in any capacity.

This is not to suggest any player is necessarily moving, see this as simply a list to keep track of names ahead of what will be a hectic trade period.

From Lance Franklin and Dustin Martin to depth players looking for more game time, here’s the list as it stands.

NOTE: This list will be updated regularly, and we will miss some, keep it pinned!

ADELAIDE

Matt Crouch Billy Frampton
Darcy Gardiner
Elliott Himmelberg
Lachie Sholl

BRISBANE

Dan McStay

CARLTON

Paddy Dow

COLLINGWOOD

Jordan De Goey
Brodie Grundy
Caleb Poultry

ESSENDON

Aaron Francis
Dyson Heppell

FREMANTLE

Blake Acres
Bailey Banfield
connor blakeley
Brennan Cox
Joel Hamling
Rory Lob
Griffin Logue
Lloyd Meek
Sam Sturt

GEELONG

GOLD COAST

Izak Rankin

GWS GIANTS

Tanner Bruhn
Tom Green
Bobby Hill
Jacob Hopper Tim Taranto

HAWTHORN

Jack Gunston
Liam Shiels

MELBOURNE

Toby Bedford
Luke Jackson

NORTH MELBOURNE

Todd Goldstein
Jason Horne-Francis
cam zurhaar

PORT ADELAIDE

Karl Ammon
Miles Bergman

RICHMOND

Dustin Martin

ST KILDA

SYDNEY

lance franklin

WEST COAST

jackson nelson
willie rioli

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Josh Dunkley
jason johannisen

The Brodie Grundy trade links have been revitalized following the latest report.

7 News’ reporter Mitch Cleary said on Wednesday night that Collingwood is willing to pay up to $300,000 of his salary per season to a rival club in order to facilitate a trade.

Grundy has been linked to several clubs including Melbourne, GWS and Geelong in recent weeks, although neither Grundy nor the Magpies have publicly indicated any desire to facilitate a trade.

However, the rise of Darcy Cameron and the form of Mason Cox have seen Collingwood fans miss Grundy less and less throughout the season while he’s been injured.

The speculation comes just over two years after Collingwood signed Grundy to a seven-year deal at big money.

The 28-year-old hasn’t consistently reached his peak form since inking the contract. He struggled in the hubs in 2020, played better in 2021 but only managing six games this season.

All the information available can only say one thing about Grundy’s contract, according to Kane Cornes.

“If Collingwood are now really open and he is open and he’s meeting with clubs on the eve of Collingwood’s finals series and the fact that I heard Collingwood are prepared to pay $300,000 of his wage next year, it might even be more,” the Port Adelaide great began on SEN’s Whateley.

“If that’s the case, and you’ve got five years left on a deal, that’s been an absolute disaster for them.

“To give a guy $7 million for seven years and only after two years you’re looking to pay a large chunk of his salary for him to play for another premiership candidate.

“I don’t think there’s any way you can look at that contract other than a massive failure, it’s an embarrassment really.”

As to where Grundy could end up, Cornes believes Melbourne is chief among suitors.

“I think he works at Melbourne, just because of Max Gawn’s flexibility and Gawn’s willingness to play a team-first role,” he added.

“I mean Max Gawn doesn’t need the 80 per cent touches in the ruck, he’s happy to play wherever Simon Goodwin needs him, be that forward, be that behind the ball or in the ruck.

“I’d love to see him go to Melbourne, I think it works.

“You’re upgrading Luke Jackson for probably a two-year period where you’re going to get Brodie Grundy in the sweet spot.”

Jackson is widely tipped to return home to Western Australia and join Fremantle during the 2022 trade period.

Hawthorn has refused to rule itself out of a Brodie Grundy pursuit as new information surfaces regarding a potential trade for the Collingwood ruckman.

7 News’ Mitch Cleary reported on Tuesday night that clubs have been told the Magpies are willing to pay up to $300,000 annually of Grundy’s contract going forward.

Opposition clubs have been told the Pies would be willing to pay $300,000 per season of Brodie Grundy’s remaining five years should he leave https://t.co/Fxq8814Ikr

— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) August 10, 2022

He’s believed to be on between $950,000 and $1 million per season.

Sportsday’s Sam McClure reported on Tuesday night Melbourne has gone hard on a pitch to entice Grundy to the club, while GWS has also met with his manager.

Speaking following the retirement announcement of Hawthorn big man Ben McEvoy, SEN’s Andy Maher raised the Hawks as an underdog to snare Grundy.

In Sam Mitchell’s first trade period as head coach in 2021, Hawthorn looked to stockpile draft capital by trading out numerous key players in a plot that was ultimately unsuccessful.

However, they’re well placed for a trade period assault in October with plenty of reported salary cap space.

“There’s an obvious (trade target) now (for Hawthorn),” Maher said on SEN’s The Run Home.

“With Ben McEvoy retiring, there is an obvious target for Hawthorn. If they want to go big and make a splash now, I’m saying Brodie Grundy.

“Forget about him lining up alongside Max Gawn and splitting duties at Melbourne… when you think about the better fit, Brodie Grundy at Hawthorn makes a whole lot of sense.”

Maher also acknowledged emerging Hawks ruckman Ned Reeves has “come on in leaps and bounds” over the last season.

But with Grundy five years his senior at 28 years of age, the Collingwood ruckman could fill an immediate need at Waverley Park.

“In the meantime, if you can get Brodie Grundy right, what a magnificent man to lead the following brigade as Reeves develops,” he added.

“I would green light it the whole way if I was Hawthorn.”

Hawthorn CEO Justin Reeves played a straight bat when asked about the possibility of recruiting Grundy, but refused to rule it out.

“That’s one for Mark McKenzie (list manager). I know that’s a cop out but the reality is there are so many variables in that,” Reeves said.

“He’s probably got plenty of footy left in him, I don’t know the figures of his contract but what we should say is you look at every opportunity that you think would make your football club better.”

McEvoy will retire at the end of the season, while Grundy won’t play again in 2022 after a stress fracture in his ankle.

Former Essendon captain Tim Watson raised a discussion on SEN Breakfast on Thursday morning regarding how the discourse surrounding Matt Rowell has evolved in the last few years.

The Gold Coast midfielder polled nine Brownlow votes in his first three games in the AFL, bursting onto the scene like almost no player ever has, before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.

After an injury-interrupted 2021, Rowell has found a role for himself as a grunt, inside midfielder for the Suns this season, ranking seventh in the competition for contested possessions and equal seventh for center clearances.

The contested beast is not necessarily the dominant midfielder that was teased initially, but remains a vital cog for Gold Coast.

“The greatest disappearing act in AFL football in the last 50 years, is it the hype around Matt Rowell?” Watson posed on SEN Breakfast.

“Think back to his first three games of AFL football and then now think about the last time you heard anyone raving about Matt Rowell’s football.”

Garry Lyon: “Your point is well made, but I also think Matt Rowell has been playing some really good footy.”

Watson: “Oh. I’m not saying that he hasn’t.”

Lyon: “But yeah at the time three best on grounds in the first three weeks is going to cause some hype.”

Watson: “Everybody is talking about Touk Miller now as their most important midfielder and Noah Anderson has maybe gone passed him in people’s minds as to how important he might be.”

Lyon: “Rowell does a lot of that really hard, hard inside grunt work.”

Watson: “That’s what I was going to say, in those three weeks we got the snapshot of him and it was brilliant, but that’s not a long enough period of time to reveal everything.”

Lyon: “What we now have seen and what he has revealed is that his football is more blue collar than three best on grounds in three weeks suggests. We’ve just got to make the adjustment, he’s still a beauty, Matt Rowell.”

Watson: “I’m not saying he isn’t, but the change around the conversation regarding him and his football, it’s remarkable the way that it has changed.”

Lyon: “And understandable given he ripped the whole competition to shreds in three games of footy.”

Watson: “We’ve acknowledged the fact that he’s had a serious injury, but he’s probably exactly what Stuart Dew wants, that bloke that just turns up every week and he knows he’s going to give him 100 per cent effort and be a beast inside midfielder.”

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New Zealand rugby reporter Robert van Royen has claimed Crusaders coach Scott Robertson is “definitely” not keen to take over the All Blacks right now.

Many believe the six-time Super Rugby title winner would be perfect for the role, having only achieved success since taking over at the franchise in 2017.

In comparison, current head coach Ian Foster has struggled with the All Blacks, with their most recent series loss to Ireland prompting many to believe Robertson’s injection would be the best way forward.

However, van Royen understands the coach is “set” on sticking with the Crusaders for the time being.

“From what I understand, yes, he definitely wasn’t keen to take the job,” van Royen said on SENZ Mornings.

“I believe before they even went and everyone was demanding a change before then that he definitely wasn’t keen at that stage.

“I also believe… even if it was offered to him a year out from the World Cup, there would have been some real thinking required to take it.

“When he signed that last contract … he basically set his sights on, ‘Look, I’m going to go for it in 2023’.”

Van Royen reiterated that should NZR look for a replacement for Foster at the close of the South African tour, Robertson would be unlikely to be in the mix.

“His mindset is set on the Crusaders until the end of next year and then if it comes up at the World Cup he gets it, if he doesn’t he goes elsewhere,” van Royen continued.

“He’s got that out clause even though he’s signed till 2024 with New Zealand Rugby, so yeah, he was really set on that.

“I haven’t been as in the loop talking to various people behind the scenes since I’ve been over here (in South Africa), but last I heard that’s definitely the case.”

Robertson is currently contracted with the Crusaders through to 2024 and has also been appointed head coach of the Barbarians FC who will take on the All Blacks XV in November.

Is it unfair on North Melbourne that arguably the best player in the draft has been unavailable to them three years in a row or is it simply the swings and roundabouts of the draft system?

In 2020, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was tied to the Western Bulldogs via their Academy – the Roos had pick three and likely missed out on either Ugle-Hagan or Riley Thilthorpe depending on the Crows’ decision.

Last year, they were always likely to select Jason Horne-Francis, but had no ability to even pursue Nick Daicos, given his status as a Collingwood father-son.

Daicos has had a generational debut season with the Magpies, averaging 26 disposals per game, while Ugle-Hagan has begun to emerge as a key forward for the Dogs.

Compounding this, the top pick in the 2022 National Draft will likely be Will Ashcroft – a Brisbane father-son prospect.

Given the Roos are on the bottom of the ladder and stuck in a deep rebuild, have they unfairly missed out on the top talent available?

AFL draft expert Callum Twomey believes most clubs see the father-son rules as swings and roundabouts and every team will have their chance.

“I think it’s luck of the draw. Clubs will get different opportunities at different stages through father-son and Academy picks,” Twomey told SEN SA Breakfast.

“North Melbourne got Luke McDonald a little while ago and then Tarryn Thomas was the earliest next generation bid a few years ago, so swings and roundabouts to a degree.

“The timing for North Melbourne is obviously a bit different being back to back years.

“Last year they didn’t really have access to Nick Daicos, I know they didn’t bid on him, but they didn’t have access to him and this year Will Ashcroft is the number one player at this point.

“His other challenger has been George Wardlaw and if they both played all year it would’ve been interesting to see how close they would’ve been because Wardlaw has missed six or seven weeks with hamstring injuries, he missed some footy at the start of the year with illness as well.

“Overall I don’t think the clubs have a huge opposition to the father-son rule. I think they see that mainly it can just be luck of the draw and see what comes through.”

North Melbourne currently sits 18th and will hold pick one, but West Coast could still move into that spot if they suffer big losses to Fremantle and Geelong in the final fortnight.

Twomey is bullish on Ashcroft, believing he could be playing senior footy for the Lions this season.

“He’s Sam Walsh. That type of player. He’s relentless with his running from him, he’s added some burst this year which I think has made him really difficult to stop, ”Twomey said.

“He’s so consistent, he averages 35 touches in the NAB League, watched him have 38 on the weekend for the Sandringham Dragons, he just does it every single week.

“He’s starting to get a bit more attention too. I think he’s going to make a difference for Brisbane from day one.

“If he was thrown into that midfield (now) he’d make a difference as well. He’ll be playing a lot of footy next year.”

Australian football legend Malcolm Blight has launched a passionate defense of Mark Ricciuto and the Adelaide board as pressure mounts following revelations surrounding the 2018 camp.

Veteran journalists including Damian Barrett, Gerard Whateley, Caroline Wilson and Mark Robinson have called for Ricciuto to step aside from his role as football director, given the light that has been shed on the camp.

Barrett said yesterday the Adelaide legend needed to move on to give the club a clean slate.

“(He’s an) all-time great footballer for the club. (But) I question the role and effect and manners of the role as a director of the football club and I would have thought his time at the club as a result of this, after a long time at the club with other questionable decisions, might be up,” Barrett told The Sounding Board podcast.

“Time to go… time for a fresh look, a fresh approach, and certainly a different, maybe more empathetic approach to the director role at that footy club.

“I’m not one to call for people to stand down, and this is an honorary job anyway, so he’s not going to lose any wages out of the role.”

Blight however has slammed those going after Ricciuto, saying the board would not be aware of every aspect of the camp and that the responsibility falls to the club’s football department.

“There’s a lot of uneducated people out there who don’t know how a board works,” Blight told Sportsday S.A.

“At the end of the season, they get beaten in a Grand Final, they brainstorm improvement – ​​if they’d asked me I would have said, ‘forget about it, move on, everyone’s going to lose’.

“They come up with other activities to try and get better and there’s nothing wrong with that. They come up with a camp, they get testaments from other organizations from somebody inside the Adelaide Football Club.

“What actually happens is the executive, the working people who get paid – the board do not get paid – the executive presents a case for abnormal activities and/or costings. That’s presented to the board.

“Questions are asked by the board members and of the infinite details, they don’t go down to the bottom. They don’t ask, ‘who’s going to say this, what’s the agenda, where they’re going to go up a tree, whether they’re going to go over an obstacle course, are they going to play Richmond music’, the board doesn’t ask that question, that’s got to be done at executive level. Not board level.

“So anybody out there including Mark Robinson, Gerard Whateley and anybody else talking about Mark Ricciuto or those board members, it wouldn’t have gone down that far.

“Boards don’t operate that way. The executives run everything and eventually present to the board.

“Why has Ricciuto (been under siege)? Give me the argument why Mark Riccituo and the other Adelaide board members shouldn’t be there. They don’t know every infinite detail. That’s not their role.”

Blight served on the inaugural board of the Gold Coast Suns, joining in 2009 and stepping aside in 2012.

Carlton’s one-wood this season has been their brutal dominance in clearance and contested ball situations.

That has been largely thanks to the trio of Patrick Cripps, George Hewett and Matt Kennedy.

Well… the Blues will be 0/3 when they face Melbourne on Saturday night.

Cripps failed to overturn his two-match ban at the Tribunal, while Kennedy and Hewett remain sidelined with injuries.

So what do they do now?

Sam Walsh and Adam Cerra remain from the first-choice on-ball unit and will be forced to carry a heavy load.

Paddy Dow was poor in his second game of the year against Brisbane, but simply must keep his spot and take on that third spot in the starting midfield rotation.

Zac Fisher will also likely continue to rotate through as he has done this year.

Beyond that? How do the Blues compete with the size and power of Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney?

Ed Curnow would be nice, but he suffered a hamstring setback in the VFL. David Cuningham also remains sidelined as he returns from a torn ACL.

Could the Blues finally unleash Liam Stocker and/or Brodie Kemp on-ball as intended on draft night?

Stocker’s availability is unknown coming off a concussion a fortnight ago, but he has the size and was initially billed as an inside midfielder.

Will Setterfield is another who came to the club as an inside midfielder, but has played almost exclusively on the wing because their hasn’t been a spot available.

He will surely receive his chance on the inside if he retains his spot on the side.

Mid-season draftee Will Hayes has impressed in the VFL at stages on-ball, Jack Carroll has received a few AFL opportunities this year and Lachie Fogarty is another option.

Do the Blues get creative with someone like Kemp or potentially Jack Silvagni as a pure on-baller?

I did tag Nathan Fyfe earlier in his career. Is this the opportunity to try him on Oliver? James Aish did so successfully recently.

Carlton needs to win one more game to make the eight. They will have to do so without their fearless leader and half their starting midfield … and at least 14 unavailable players pending this week’s medical report.

Solving this midfield rotation is step one.