South Australia – Page 5 – Michmutters
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Sports

Manly Sea Eagles young gun Manase Fainu court hearing, stabbing

NRL rising star Manase Fainu has denied plunging a steak knife into the back of a church youth leader, saying he backed away from a wild brawl after he heard someone yell “knife, knife”.

Mr Fainu, 24, is standing trial in the Parramatta District Court where he has denied stabbing Faamanu Levi in ​​his back near his shoulder during a bloody brawl outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Wattle Grove on October 25, 2019.

Fainu has pleaded not guilty to one count of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and he on Monday took the witness stand as he fights the allegations.

The court has heard that Mr Levi had earlier in the night spoken to two men who were involved in an altercation on the dance floor.

Mr Levi and his friends were later attacked by a group of men inside the church parking lot in a brawl in-between two parked cars but Mr Fainu said he played no part.

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NRL star Manase Fainu has told the court he did not stab a church leader in the back. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian GillesSource: News Corp Australia

The Manly Sea Eagles hooker on Monday told the jury he went to the dance with his friends, including Uona “Big Buck” Faingaa, who the court heard was attempting to recover money he was owed from a man.

Mr Fainu said he saw two of his mates including “Big Buck” being escorted off the church grounds and followed them, apologizing to a security guard for his friend’s behavior on the way out.

CCTV played during the trial has shown Mr Fainu jumping the fence from a Coles car park back into the church grounds shortly before the brawl.

Mr Fainu has told the court he told his friends he would go inside to collect Big Buck’s money by himself, however his friends followed him over the fence.

Faamanu Levi has told the court he did not know who stabbed him in the back. Picture: Shannon TonkinSource: Supplied

He said he was walking through the car park to the chapel when he saw a brawl erupt about 10 to 15 meters away.

“I just saw something, like a brawl going on,” Mr Fainu said.

“I started, like, back-pedaling and walking backwards,” he said, arguing he knew he couldn’t defend himself.

The court has heard he had undergone shoulder surgery and his arm was in a sling at the time.

Asked by his barrister Margaret Cunneen SC if he had a knife that night, he said “no, mam”.

He said he never saw a knife in any of his friends’ possession and ran away when he heard someone yell “knife, knife”.

“I just saw (the brawl) for, like, a minute or two and then I ran away; I was scared for myself,” he said.

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Manase Fainu is standing trial in the NSW District Court. Picture: AAP / Brendon ThorneSource: AAP

He said he took his sling off to jump back over the fence and while in the parking lot, he talked to his friends about the brawl.

Mr Fainu told the court he heard “Big Buck” say he “dropped someone” and none of his friends told him about someone being stabbed.

Mr Levi has previously told the court he did not see who stabbed him.

Witness Tony Quach last week told the court he saw Mr Fainu stab Mr Levi in ​​the back during the brawl and could identify him from his sling.

“Sir, you were the one who plunged the knife into the back of Faamanu Levi on the 25th of October, 2019, weren’t you?” crown prosecutor Emma Curran asked

“No, mam,” Mr Fainu replied.

Manase Fainu has told the court he went back into the church to collect money owed to a friend. Picture: John Grainger.Source: News Corp Australia

CCTV played to the court showed Mr Fainu in the parking lot with a white towel on his head.

He denied it was an effort to hide his identity, saying he had soaked it in cold water because he had a headache, adding it was a common practice at Manly training

The video showed him scaling a fire hydrant to get over the fence about 11.20pm.

He said he climbed the fence because it was the quickest way to get back into the church, despite telling Ms Curran he could have walked back in via the front gate because he wasn’t kicked out of the dance.

He said he thought he was going by himself but after he had got over the wall he realized his friends had followed.

“Why did you jump over?” Mr Fainu claimed he told his friends about him.

He said he told “Big Buck” and his other friends to “wait there” but “Big Buck” was angry and said “f*** that, I’ll go get it.”

“Why did you feel such a responsibility to Big Buck to go and get the money for him?” Ms Curran asked.

“Because I was the driver, I was just a good friend,” Mr Fainu said.

The trial continues.

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Categories
Australia

Australian weather: States brace for cold snap, rain and major flood warnings

Australians are bracing for a nationwide cold snap as some parts of the country battle temperatures below zero, rain, hail and flood warnings.

The Bureau of Meteorology told NCA NewsWire that Queensland’s August average so far this year had fallen between four and eight degrees since the same time period in 2021, plummeting to -2C temperatures in some parts of the state.

“It started off a lot warmer last year than it did this year,” meteorologist Livio Regano said.

The Darling Downs and Granite Belt regions were the coldest parts of the state, falling to -2C on Monday morning as a cold, dry air mass pushed north from South East Queensland.

A 1800km blanket of frost is also expected to hit Queensland, stretching between Stanthorpe and the far north.

The cold snap sweeping the nation has torn through NSW, ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, bringing fog, rain and snow to some regions.

Widespread fog blanketed five states on Monday, triggering a weather warning for SA motorists.

The road weather alert was issued early on Monday, saying there would be reduced visibility and potentially dangerous driving conditions in Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills.

In Victoria, meteorologist Dean Narramore said temperatures in Westmere, in the state’s southwest, nosedived to -1.4C, while other regions were hit with zero degrees.

“The high pressure system has moved in from late last week, which is giving Victoria in particular those cold mornings,” he said.

NSW and the ACT are bracing for snow over their southern ranges, with a chance of thunderstorms on the slopes later this week.

There’s a flood warning in the southern NSW town of Gundagai following the highest recorded overflow from the Yass River into the Burrinjuck Dam.

Water releases from the dam increased to 98,000 megalitres a day over the weekend following heavy rain in parts of the region.

Down south, Tasmanian residents are feeling colder than forecast temperatures due to the cold northwesterly winds hitting the state.

Hobart sat at 1.5 degrees on Monday morning, although the temperature feels-like dropped to -4C.

Alongside Adelaide, the state has also issued road weather warnings and urged motorists to drive to the conditions following thick fog.

The east coast of Tasmania could also experience minor flooding over the weekend, with a Tasman low likely to form and bring heavy rain.

Residents living in Queensland, NSW, ACT, Victoria, SA and Tasmania are expected to experience milder mornings after Wednesday.

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Categories
Sports

Ken Hinkley contract, Port Adelaide coach, sacked, will he be there next year, David Koch interview

Ken Hinkley is renowned for his honesty.

He’s honest to his players, honest to his fans, honest to his assistants and searingly honest to the media when he fronts the cameras each week.

Now, with Hinkley’s contract nearing the end of his tenure, will Port Adelaide deal in honesty as well as its senior coach has over the journey?

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Tigers down Port to keep finals alive | 01:09

If it is time to part ways – and every week suggestions keep bubbling away that it could be – how do Port Adelaide and Hinkley come to terms on a respectful way to end a partnership that has lasted nearly a decade?

Hinkley has to this point dismissed any links with the vacant Greater Western Sydney senior coaching job, let alone North Melbourne’s, and as he said after last Saturday’s loss to Collingwood, “I’ve had a habit of being true to my word”.

Speak to those in and around Port Adelaide, however, and the narrative appears to have shifted.

Where once Hinkley was a guarantee to be coaching the club in 2023, chances to categorically declare that (and there have been plenty) have been passed up in recent weeks.

Hinkley has bristled at questions surrounding his future and understandably was upset at club supporters who stuck a ‘Sack Hinkley’ sign on club property.

Regarding Hinkley’s future, the general belief is that any conversation would have to be initiated or at least welcomed by him – There is simply too much respect between Hinkley and the club for it to get ugly.

The Giants and Leon Cameron proved this year there’s merit in avoiding ‘the long goodbye’ and coming to a somewhat mutual agreement to end things before the fallout becomes too arduous.

Last year, the same situation was faced by Collingwood and Nathan Buckley, with a decades-long partnership ending as cleanly as it possibly could’ve given the length of the relationship.

Cameron’s scenario, in particular, shares echoes with Hinkley.

“The Leon Cameron example sits really heavily,” Gerard Whateley observed on AFL 360 this week.

“Leon went to a final series, won a final, he goes into the last year of a contract where they start poorly and it’s over. You do have to weigh that up.

“I hope if they’re going to do it they do it early enough because he’s a godsend for North Melbourne or the Giants. Don’t do it so late that everything else is done.”

That will cost them at the end’ | 00:51

As things stand, it will all be done in the postscript of 2022 – any possibility of a home Showdown send-off being announced ahead of time are remote, mostly because Hinkley and the club itself seem undecided on what the best move is heading into next year.

From all reports, Hinkley still has the players, while injuries and close losses have made the ladder situation perhaps an unfair reflection on where the side is at.

Still, the reality is Port Adelaide lost its first five matches, recovered, and now has lost four of its last five games.

There have been considerable declines in several key statistics, including points for (from sixth in 2021 to 15th), points from turnovers (sixth to 13th), inside 50 differentials (fifth to 10th) and contested possession differentials (fourth to 10th).

Winnable games against Essendon and Adelaide will close out the season and all focus is on the final fortnight, but it’s hard to imagine the results won’t have at least some influence on how the club sees itself heading into next year.

Also as big a question for Port Adelaide would have to be: If Ken goes out, who comes in?

Perhaps the easy first option would be Alastair Clarkson, but the Power are a few meetings behind North Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney in that race already.

The Power could easily appeal to Clarkson’s sense of coming full circle given the four-time premiership coach spent a couple of years there as an assistant coach, including their run to the 2004 premiership under Mark Williams.

Clarkson understands what it means to represent Port Adelaide, much like Hinkley has learned in his time at the club.

Then there’s the likes of Adam Kingsley, Ashley Hansen and Adem Yze, who lead a pack of assistant coaches just waiting for their opportunity to lead an AFL side, with Craig McRae a prime example of how well such a move could work.

Speaking on Monday, club president David Koch insisted post-season deliberations will not center squarely on Hinkley, but did nothing to suggest the winds of change won’t be sweeping through the club this off-season.

“It’s not just about one individual person. It’s the whole program. Turn it around or watch out,” he told FIVEaa.

“Because every single person’s role will be assessed at the end of the year, as we do each year. But this year is more important than ever and we are not afraid to make change. We have made plenty of changes.

“We have got to win games and we know that is what we exist to do.

“We will be making those hard decisions at the end of the year across the entire program to make us better next year.”

Whatever happens next deserves to happen on Hinkley’s terms, such has been his incredible contribution to the club for such a long period of time.

And if anyone is truer to their word about their belief they’re the best person to take Port Adelaide forward or to hand over the reigns, it’s Hinkley.

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Categories
Business

Metricon QLD GM Luke Fryer quits, national restructure update this week

The Queensland general manager of troubled builder Metricon has resigned, days after the company announced around 225 staff would be sacked in a national restructure.

Luke Fryer, who had been with the company for 15 years starting as a sales estimator in 2007, was previously NSW GM before moving back to his home state of Queensland in 2020.

Metricon director Jason Biasin announced Mr Fryer’s resignation in an email to staff on Friday.

“The last two years have seen more challenges in our industry than ever before,” Mr Biasin wrote.

“Luke’s commitment to our people, to me personally and our business has been unwavering and will not be forgotten. We wish Luke all the best for the future and he will always remain a part of the Metricon family.”

He added, “I know this week has been very difficult for everyone and I thank you all for your professional and compassionate approach to the tasks at hand and looking after each other. I look forward to sharing more positive news with you next week.”

Metricon has been contacted for comment.

Last Monday, Metricon announced it would be shedding 9 per cent, or about 225 of its 2500-strong national workforce, in a restructure “to better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market“.

The affected roles are largely in sales and marketing.

The country’s largest home builder was plunged into crisis in May amid reports it was on the verge of financial ruin and engaging in crisis talks with the Victorian government, following the sudden death of its founder Mario Biasin.

Acting chief executive Peter Langfelder has repeatedly shot down those allegations, but a question mark still hangs over Metricon’s future despite the company’s directors injecting $30 million into its business to allay fears about its survival, and a rescue deal being struck with Commonwealth Bank.

Last month, Metricon listed nearly 60 display homes for sale across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, worth a total of around $65 million.

Staff who were informed of the restructure during a Microsoft Teams meeting last week said those who had remained with the company rather than jumping ship “basically had the rug pulled out from under them”.

“It has not been received well by some of them,” one NSW staff member told news.com.au. “I’m a little bit burned by the whole situation.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Metricon confirmed it was in the “process of an internal restructure of the business, with an increased focus on delivering homes to more than 6000 Australians whose houses will be constructed this year”.

“To better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market and ensure the most appropriate deployment of resources, Metricon is working to appropriately reduce its sales and marketing capability while it focuses on the construction and delivery of more than 6000 homes,” a spokeswoman said .

“We have commenced a consultation process with our people. This process is proposed to lead to a reduction of personnel and redundancies across the national business.”

The spokeswoman said 2020 and 2021 saw record demand for homebuilding and that Metricon “expects demand to settle at pre-pandemic levels”. “As a result, the business will rebalance towards construction on homes it is currently building and the thousands more in the pipeline – the biggest volume in the company’s history,” she said.

The impacted roles will be at the “front-end of the business, predominantly in sales and marketing roles, representing approximately 9 per cent of the national workforce”.

“With the headwinds buffeting the industry, specifically labor costs due to competition for skills, combined with present global material cost hikes and with our very strong existing pipeline of work, we need to carefully balance the current pipeline of new builds with the construction side of the business,” Mr Langfelder said in the statement.

“We are working to restructure our front-end of the business given the current climate and the need to move forward efficiently. We are committed to looking after any of our people who may be impacted by these proposed changes, and they will continue to have ongoing access to the company’s support and mental health services.”

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was rebalancing the business’ focus over the next 18 months on executing builds as quickly and efficiently as possible whilst maintaining equilibrium in the pipeline.

“We have previously said that our company has a proven history of success and remains profitable and viable, with the full support of our key stakeholders – this remains the case today,” he said.

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was still expected to continue to contract on average 100 homes per week, in line with pre-pandemic levels. “Our future construction pipeline shows no sign of slowing down with more than 600 site-starts scheduled for 2023,” he said.

In an email to staff on Tuesday, Metricon said it would be holding a virtual town hall this week “to provide you with further updates on our business, current market conditions and plans for the future”.

“We do not underestimate the effect that this review is likely to have on some of you,” the directors wrote.

“We are committed to working through this process as thoroughly and efficiently as possible, and to keep you updated as we progress… Despite the current challenges across our industry, we remain stable as a business with full support from our key stakeholders.”

The Australian building industry has been plagued with escalating issues that have already seen Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild enter into liquidation in recent months, while smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Hobart and Perth firms Home Innovation Builders and New Sensation Homes, as well as Sydney-based firm Next have also failed, leaving homeowners out of pocket and with unfinished houses.

The crisis is the result of a perfect storm of conditions hitting one after the other, including supply chain disruptions due largely to the pandemic and then the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by skilled labor shortages, skyrocketing costs of materials and logistics and extreme weather events .

The industry’s traditional reliance on fixed-price contracts has also seriously exacerbated the problem, with contracts signed months before a build gets underway, including the surging costs of essential materials such as timber and steel.

It comes after it recently emerged that Australia recorded a staggering 3917 liquidations or administration appointments across all industries during the 2021-22 financial year.

The construction sector led the charge, representing 28 per cent of all insolvencies, although firms from countless industries also failed in the face of soaring inflation and interest rate pressures, Covid chaos, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.

There were 1536 collapses in NSW, with Victoria recording 1022, Queensland 665, WA 350, South Australia 196, 91 for the ACT, 29 for Tasmania and 28 in the Northern Territory.

[email protected]

— with Alexis Carey

Read related topics:Brisbane

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Categories
Australia

Channel Country advisory group outcomes about gas exploration and fracking remain secret

Almost 12 months after the Queensland government quietly granted oil and gas leases in the environmentally sensitive Channel Country they promised to protect, there are calls for the outcome of stakeholder meetings to be made public.

Last year the government granted 11 petroleum leases across more than 250,000 hectares of land in the Channel Country bioregion of the Lake Eyre Basin to gas company Origin Energy, which could allow unconventional gas production, known as fracking to occur, outraging locals who were not consulted .

Now, an advisory group made up of traditional owner groups, local government, landholders and other interested parties has met with the government for the last time, but the outcome of those meetings remains secret.

Managing director of one of the state’s largest organic beef producers, OBE Organic, Dalene Wray said the meetings should be more open to those, like her, who were not involved.

“I would have hoped that the Queensland government would perhaps be more transparent about the outcomes of these discussions,” Ms Wray said.

The Department of Environment and Science said in a statement last month that the government would use the information from the Lake Eyre Basin Stakeholder Advisory Group to prepare a Regulatory Impact Statement looking at the long-term sustainable management of the area.

A map showing the Lake Eyre drainage basin, including the major rivers.
Channel Country waterways are filling with Queensland floodwaters that will drain into Lake Eyre.(Supplied: Karl Musser)

In a separate statement to the ABC, a spokesperson for the department said the government was still committed to protecting the “long-term health and ecological integrity of the waterways and floodplains of the Lake Eyre Basin.”

The statement also said there will be further opportunities to consult with the government, during the consultation period of the Regulatory Impact Statement, which the government expects to be released later this year.

But Ms Wray said she had no further information about how the proposal would impact neighboring properties or production.

Organic status in jeopardy

Wangkanguru Yarluyandi woman Karen Monaghan has lived in Windorah her whole life and grew up swimming in the Cooper Creek, an experience she hoped to pass on to her grandchildren.

A close-up of an Aboriginal woman's face bathed in dappled sunlight as she stands under a tree in a backyard.
Karen Monaghan says fracking in the Channel Country is “not an option.”(ABC Western Queensland: Ellie Grounds)

She said she was worried about gas exploration and fracking would hurt her small community, the water, and the land around it.

“Wangkanguru Yarluyandi land is being mistreated,” Mrs Monaghan said.

“Our land is our mother… it is part of us and who we are.

“It’s embedded in us, our country. If we look after our land it will look after us … it’s not OK to mistreat our land.”

Despite a previous lack of consultation that had been frustrating, Mrs Monaghan was hopeful communication from the government would improve.

“I believe it’s never too late,” she said.

“Our government just has to step up and step out and reach out to us. It’s never too late.”

Aerial view of a dark web of rivulets between green and islands of red sand, Channel Country of Queensland
In 2019, the Queensland government was advised by environmental scientists that fracking in the Channel Country was “unacceptable”.(Supplied: Helen Commens)

She was also concerned about what the exploration would mean for beef operations in the area.

“The minute you frack you can’t call it organic beef,” Mrs Monaghan said.

“The Lake Eyre Basin is my home, so fracking is not an option for me. There is no way we want fracking.

“It’s going to set our land and our country back.”

‘Geographic masterpiece’ at risk

OBE Organic sources all its cattle from the Channel Country, marketing its products as being “seasoned by nature”, and works closely with traditional owners in the region.

A wide photo of green and brown landscape.
Floodwaters traveling down through the Lake Eyre Basin.(ABC News: Brendan Esposito)

Ms Wray said if fracking became a reality it would risk the organic status of the Basin, which is one of the last remaining free-flowing river systems in the world.

“From an organic producers perspective, if there is any resource activity, they’re [organic producers] going to be concerned,” she said.

A map of locations in the Channel Country have production licenses from Origin Energy
Origin Energy petroleum leases cover more than 250,000 hectares of land.(Supplied: Queensland government)

Ms Wray said she was not convinced the potential risks to the environment could be adequately mitigated, and she feared large mining operations would not understand the needs of organic operations to retain their certification.

“It’s a geographic masterpiece… It’s important that the government understands that any activity is likely to have significant consequences,” she said.

“What we know from experience is that typically, the resources industry doesn’t necessarily like going off script.

“They’ve got one script they like to use for all producers and they’d like all producers to accept that script and that’s just not how it works out here, certainly on organic properties.”

Broken environmental promise

Before the 2015 election, the government committed to restore protections to the wild rivers, which would limit gas exploration in the Channel Country.

It came after they slammed the Newman government’s 2013 decision to ditch the protection laws, which they labeled as “environmental vandalism.”

In the following elections, the government made similar promises, but Ms Wray said the protections had not come to fruition.

An aerial shot of cattle grazing in a green paddock in Western Queensland's Channel Country.
OBE Organic rely on the naturally organic landscapes in the Channel Country to source their cattle.(Supplied: OBE Organic)

“I don’t think there’s been too much evidence, other than the stakeholder meetings, that we are making any progress in meeting that election commitment,” she said.

“I understand that royalties are very important to the Queensland budget… I think everyone would be naive to think the resources industry doesn’t have a place in Queensland.

“I haven’t heard the government articulate how important the rivers in the Lake Eyre Basin are and how important it is to maintain the free-flowing nature of those rivers.

“However, unconventional gas does not have a place in the Lake Eyre Basin.”

Government ‘committed to sustainability’

A spokesperson from the Department of Resources said in a statement that the Queensland government was “committed to achieving a balance between economic prosperity and ecological sustainability in the Lake Eyre Basin”.

“Any resource project must stack up environmentally, socially and financially and assessed against strict criteria,” it read.

“Any application cannot be granted unless native title has been addressed properly.”

The ABC also sought responses from the Minister for Environment and the Office of the Great Barrier Reef, which declined to comment.

An Origin spokesperson said it was very early days with regard to any proposed exploration activity in the permit areas.

“In Queensland, there are strict regulations that must be met for any resource development application in an identified planning strategic environmental area such as the Channel Country,” they said.

“As is the case with all our operations, we put in place approved management plans, procedures and controls to protect the environment and waterways, as well as areas of cultural significance.

“We always look to establish positive relationships and reach agreements to access resources on good terms. We’re looking forward to engaging further about the positive contribution future exploration activity can have in these communities.

“Any new development would need to be consistent with our stated carbon commitments.”

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Categories
Entertainment

The Block: Elle Ferguson and Joel Patfull slammed by Sarah Jane

After months of controversy, Elle Ferguson and Joel Patfull have finally made their reality TV debut on the new season of The Block.

The influencer and her former AFL star partner — who famously quit the Gisborne set of the reality series after just two days — initially appeared ready to take on the challenge during the show’s first episode on Sunday night.

But while the couple were set on convincing block viewers they were there to play, one fellow contestant was instantly suspicious of the pair, and she didn’t mince words.

Revealing she recognized beauty entrepreneur Ferguson “straight away,” team one’s Sarah-Jane fumed to producers: “She’s already famous, she’s got 600,000 followers on Instagram, she’s got sh*tloads of money, why are they here?”

The Victorian mother-of-one, who is competing with her husband Tom, had a lot to say about influencers in a pre-show interview.

“Social influencers… Some I respect obviously,” she began.

“Some make a huge career out of it! Look at your Kim Kardashians and your Rozalia Russians and people like that … Bec Judd! Good on them. But people who just go on shows to (boost their) social media, I don’t have time for that sh*t. Like, don’t waste my time.”

Sarah-Jane wasn’t the only person to make their judgment on the pair known, with host Scott Cam throwing out veiled digs in voiceovers throughout the episode.

In one, I described Ferguson as a “self-confessed global influencer and beauty entrepreneur”, referring elsewhere to the genetically-blessed pair as “Bondi babes”.

It comes after Cam suggested in several interviews that the duo left The Block 48 hours after arriving because they weren’t up to the challenge, not because of Patfull’s mother’s ill-health as was previously reported.

am has been busy sledging the pair for throwing in the towel, calling it “p*ss poor” and “unAustralian”, amid reports the duo flew to Adelaide to car for Patfull’s mother after a nasty fall.

Speaking to news.com.au in the lead up to the Tree Change season premiere on Sunday, Cam revealed the couple upped sticks in the middle of the night with “no explanation”.

“They didn’t give us a reason why they were leaving. They never mentioned anything to us about visiting their sick mother,” Scott said.

During episode one, Ferguson showed some signs of finding the competition difficult, though no more than the other teams.

“I’m not gonna lie… it was a little intimidating,” she said on walking into the building site of House Three.

“It was a demolition site, and when I say demolition site, you couldn’t see the ground.”

After night one, the influencer told producers: “I did think someone was going to come and maybe sey here’s a heater… but no… it was fresh.”

Promos for the next episode see Cam expressing his shock at the couple’s abrupt exit.

Read related topics:The Block

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Categories
Sports

Adelaide Crows camp, Eddie Betts book, Bryce Gibbs, Josh Jenkins, reactions, response, commentary, AFLPA

Fox Footy pundits have called for those at the Adelaide Football Club responsible for the infamous 2018 pre-season camp to take accountability for the wrongdoings, saying the “cover-up is the issue” and the misuse of players’ personal information is “harrowing. ”

Shocking new details of the pre-season camp emerged this week in Eddie Betts’ recently released biography, while fellow former Crows Josh Jenkins and Bryce Gibbs also spoke out on their distressing experiences.

While Crows CEO Tim Silvers, who wasn’t at Adelaide in 2018, apologized to Betts, five-time All-Australian Nick Riewoldt believes current club bosses shouldn’t necessarily wear the brunt of the criticism given many weren’t at West Lakes at the time.

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Jenkins full statement on infamous camp | 15:39

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily about punishing the Adelaide Crows. Because a lot of the people who were at the Adelaide Crows at the time have moved on. So is it fair to punish the Crows?” I have posed.

“I think the responsible people need to put their hand up and actually show some accountability. There were people saying in the aftermath, ‘we laugh at the some of the things we hear about the noise around the camp.’ Well it clearly wasn’t a laughing matter, it was a really, really serious matter.

“Those that were responsible for the investigation and actions need to be held accountable.

“I think actually putting your hand up and being on record and explaining why and how. And why the cover up? Why has it taken four years for this to happen and reach the point that it is.”

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley agreed that concealing the details of what happened is most damning and concerned players were pressured into staying silent.

“The cover-up is the issue, because I’ve got no doubt the leadership of the Adelaide Football Club didn’t think they were going to undermine the fabric of the organisation,” he said.

“When you hear the anecdotes of the players and the way that information was used, it’s harrowing.

“It seemed to me the way the exit was planned, saying, ‘this is how you should talk about this,’ that there was an element of keeping that in the same little (group).

“Collective Minds, who were the outside facilitators, they’ve been quite litigious with this. They’ve slapped, rigged and tried to quiet this down. I’ve got no doubt it’s been very difficult for the Adelaide Football Club to be fully transparent in some ways, because of the litigious nature of the third party, and that makes it pretty tough for them.”

“Our game betrayed him” Robbo on Betts | 01:02

Triple-premiership winning Lion Jonathan Brown says it highlights the risks of bringing “outside facilitators” into a footy club.

“At the end of the day if that’s the player’s experience and that’s the way they perceived what happened, you have to take those things on face value,” the ex-Brisbane skipper said.

“It’s a great lesson, you need to get on the front foot and you need to apologize and own up to your mistakes, because people make mistakes all the time.

“I’m not sure about outside facilitators, you’ve got to be careful you bring outside facilitators into your football club. You’ve certainly got to check their CV and make sure what their reputation is and experience, because that was a bad decision for the club to bring them in.”

The AFLPA (Players Association) this week indicated it would effectively reopen its investigation into the pre-season event and contact all players for a “better understanding” of what occurred, saying it would’ve taken more immediate action had it known all the information from the outlet.

However Riewoldt questioned why the players union didn’t probe the incident more thoroughly four years ago.

“Why wasn’t it investigated properly? The people who represent the players — the Players Association — why didn’t they fight the fight properly for the players back then?” I have posed.

“Aren’t we resilient enough?” | 02:00

“They’re all questions that need answering… a lot of people have let them (the players) down. But if the Players Association don’t exist to fight for the players in situations like this to protect the players then what do they exist for?”

Former Adelaide coach and current Swans assistant Don Pyke also apologized for the 2018 pre-season camp amid growing scrutiny for his role in it.

Pyke departed the Crows at the end of 2019 and has been linked to several coaching vacancies amid praise for his impact at the Swans, admitting the idea of ​​being a senior boss again was enticing.

Asked if it hurts his future coaching aspirations, Brown said: “It does at the moment, whether it does in years down the track.”

Buckley agreed that “in some ways it does” affect Pyke’s chances in the short term, but pointed out that other coaches have previously pushed the boundaries with programs.

“You think back to legendary coaches of the past, I reckon if you got the worst things they’d done… there’s probably been some pretty average things players have been exposed to in the view of building resilience and being tougher and drawing the group together,” he said.

“Not all of them have gone right.”

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Casualty Ward, Sydney Swans, Josh Kennedy, Richmond, Nick Vlastuin, St Kilda, Dan Hannebery, Geelong Cats, Patrick Dangerfield, injury, news, latest, update, fitness, team news

There’s fears Sydney veteran Josh Kennedy has played his last match after suffering another hamstring injury in the VFL.

Plus the Saints’ sweat on Dan Hannebery’s fitness after the luckless midfielder goes down once again.

Get the latest AFL injury news in our Round 21 Casualty Ward!

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SYDNEY veteran Josh Kennedy could potentially be “pushed into retirement” after another hamstring injury; this time suffered in the VFL on Sunday.

Kennedy missed 10 matches after a horror hamstring tendon injury suffered against Carlton back in Round 10.

He made his return as the medi sub last round, but didn’t get on the field.

So the Swans made the call to send Kennedy back to the VFL. But he has now injured the hamstring on his opposite leg.

Kennedy limped off the ground in the second term after trying to lay a tackle on North’s Tarryn Thomas.

“It’s disastrous developments,” Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph said.

“It seemed to be a really serious hamstring injury.

“The worst case scenario for a hamstring tear at the high end scale or a tendon injury probably puts him out for the rest of the season and potentially pushes him into retirement.”

Riewoldt on ‘mind-boggling’ McEvoy trade | 01:14

PORT ADELAIDE star connor rozee will undergo scans after a knee scare in Saturday night’s loss to Richmond, but club doctors are confident the mercurial midfielder has avoided significant damage.

The 22-year-old limped from the ground in the second quarter at Adelaide Oval after his left leg twisted awkwardly under him as he attempted a quick change of direction.

He was clearly in pain as he was assessed on the sideline and was taken to the changerooms for treatment before half-time, then shortly emerged with the knee heavily strapped to play out the second half.

The Power was playing for pride only, having been knocked out of finals contention by Collingwood, but coach Ken Hinkley was comfortable with the decision not to put the young star in cotton wool.

“What you do when you manage a player is you have good conversations with the medical team and they were very certain and sure that there was not going to be any further damage done,” Hinkley said.

“It was about whether the pain was manageable for Connor and he seemed to think it was.

“You wouldn’t take a risk with a player like Connor, and we never do, regardless of the state of the season.

“(The medical staff) said structurally it’s all fine so that should give us confidence.”

RICHMOND are waiting on the results of scans on defender Nick Vlastuin after he was subbed out of the win over Port Adelaide.

Vlastuin sustained rib damage in a collision with Charlie Dixon, with Richmond coach Damien Hardwick conceding it is unlikely the important defender will be fit to take on the Hawks on Sunday.

He could also be in doubt to face Essendon in Round 23.

Tigers down Port to keep finals alive | 01:09

GEELONG are taking a cautious approach with star Patrick Dangerfieldafter the veteran was a late withdrawal from Saturday’s win over St Kilda.

But Cats coach Chris Scott is confident Dangerfield will be fit to face the Gold Coast next weekend.

“The feedback I’ve got from him and the medical staff is that he’s fine,” Scott said.

“He just felt some awareness (of calf tightness) in the warm-up and I think in the past he’s pushed through these things thinking he’d be fine.

“And even if there was a one per cent chance that he might do some damage, he wasn’t prepared to take it. So it seemed a logical call.”

ST KILDA coach Brett Ratten says Dan Hannebery is in a race to be fit for the must-win clash with Brisbane on Friday night.

The injury-prone Hannebery was subbed out of the loss to Geelong with an ankle injury.

He’s managed just 17 games for the Saints since crossing from Sydney at the end of 2018 due to ongoing soft tissue injuries.

Hannebery is also out of contract at the end of this season.

“We’ve just got to look after him,” Ratten said.

Geelong stay top with massive Saints win | 02:30

“It was a risk to put him back out there; we’re not taking a risk with a player we are trying to get up for next week.

“He might not even get up this week. We’ve just got to work through what it will look like for Dan post this game.

“He’ll be a test all the way until the last day. It’ll be tight.”

Ratten conceded Hannebery was in “a bit of discomfort” post match but said if he provided himself fit, he’ll keep his spot in the line up to face the Lions.

FREMANTLE‘s Matt Taberner is racing to be fit to face West Coast in next weekend’s Western Derby after being subbed out of the win over the Western Bulldogs.

Taberner failed to see out the match once again, this time with a calf issue, after being restricted to just 12 games in 2022 due to back and hamstring complaints.

Coach Justin Longmuir said the latest setback was disappointing.

“He was looking dangerous again so it’s disappointing for him and us,” he said.

“We’ll rehab it and see what the rest of the year looks like.

“We’ll see what the scan says and see what the doctors recommend for his time out but there’s not much of the season left to be too cautious so we’ll see how it pans out over the next couple of days.”

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AFL news 2022: Kane Cornes slams Buddy Franklin for contract saga, Sydney Swans

Former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes has accused Sydney Swans forward Lance Franklin of selfishness, suggesting the eight-time All-Australian’s contract saga is distracting his teammates ahead of the finals.

Earlier this week, Nine journalist Michael Atkinson reported that Franklin was considering turning his back on the Swans for a deal with the Brisbane Lions.

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But on Saturday, Franklin’s management released a statement confirming the 35-year-old was still “undecided” about his future in the sport, officially putting contract talks on hold and hinting at a possible retirement.

“At this stage conversations have been paused around my contract so I can put all my focus on playing footy,” Franklin said.

“No further comment will be made until the season is done and I have decided about my future.

“I am still undecided and need time after the season to make a family decision about whether I continue to play next year.”

Speaking on Channel 9’s AFL Sunday Footy ShowCornes argued that Franklin’s “very strange” statement didn’t stop speculation about his future in the sport, but rather fanned the flames.

“It was a very ‘me, me, me’ thing to do, I thought, from Buddy Franklin when the Sydney Swans are flying,” he said on Sunday morning.

“They’d paid him $10 million over nine years… I’m not sure you need to release a statement prior to the game.

“What was the point of Buddy doing that?

“It didn’t alleviate any of the talk. It made the talk fester more.

“The day before a game to release a statement like that, I thought it was very strange.”

Franklin has been in excellent form this season, kicking 41 goals in 17 games for Swans. However, the ongoing contract drama has become a significant distraction for John Longmire’s side as they approach September.

Lions coach Chris Fagan believes that if Franklin is considering a move to Queensland it would be more likely to be for retirement rather than continuing his football career.

“I would have thought if they are moving to Queensland, that’s perhaps an indication that Bud’s going to retire from AFL football,” he said on Friday.

“If it came to pass down the track that they do move here, and. someone reaches out from his camp and suggests that he still wants to play, then we would be remiss as a footy club not to go and have a conversation with him.

“As far I’m concerned he’s a Sydney Swans player, and if any of that was going to happen, it would happen when the season’s all over.

“My latest communication with him was a text message I sent to him when he kicked his 1000th (AFL) goal which was four months ago.

“I don’t know what will play out in the future but the way I see it right now is if he is moving to Queensland to live, I would suggest that he’s going to retire.”

Franklin joined the Swans from the Hawthorn Hawks in 2014 on a nine-year, $10 million deal.

While he has been injured prone in recent years, the scenes of fans flooding onto the SCG when he kicked his 1000th career goal showed he is still one of the sport’s biggest drawcards.

The Swans will face North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with the first bounce scheduled for 1.10pm AEST.

Read related topics:AdelaideSydney

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Commonwealth Games 2022: Candice Warner drops brutal Kyle Chalmers truth

The swimming is officially over at the Commonwealth Games and while Australia dominated with a towering medal tally, there was plenty of attention on the Dolphins over what was happening outside the pool.

Kyle Chalmers slammed the media for delving into a reported “love triangle” between himself, Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson, saying all the attention and “clickbait” focused on his personal life might drive him out of the sport.

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Chalmers was romantically involved with McKeon before she started dating Simpson, whose incredible comeback to swimming from his music career has been one of the biggest storylines in Birmingham.

The swimmers involved have repeatedly denied there’s any bad blood between them, while Chalmers went on the offensive and ripped into the media. His father Brett did the same, blasting the national obsession with Simpson as he complained not enough credit was being directed to other swimmers and their achievements in Birmingham.

Candice drops truth bombs on Kyle

Ex-Aussie swimmer turned popular TV presenter Johanna Griggs said earlier in the week Chalmers was “feeding” the media frenzy by constantly engaging with it, and former Ironwoman Candice Warner is on the same page.

Warner said she was “really surprised” by how Chalmers handled the headlines, saying she expected someone who dealt with the attention thrust upon him in 2016 when he won gold in the 100m freestyle at the Rio Olympics to be better prepared for the media barrage.

“He knows how to deal with the pressure. Why is he allowing the media to make these comments?” Warner told Fox Sports program The Back Page this week.

“Why hasn’t he put a self-imposed media ban (on himself) until the Games are over? I’m just really a little bit confused by the situation and why he’s engaging with the media.

“He’s not in the wrong, but he also has the power and ability to stop it and also just to focus on his swim events.

“Should I know how to deal with this pressure? Should I know how to deal with this completely?”

Reports of possible friction between Chalmers and Simpson first emerged at this year’s national championships in Adelaide, leading Warner to question why the 24-year-old wasn’t more prepared for the questions he’d face in Birmingham.

“Would there not have been a strategy put into place before these Games? We haven’t just started talking about this now, we’ve been speaking about this love triangle before the Commonwealth Games,” Warner said.

She adding Chalmers’ team and Swimming Australia should have “put some sort of strategy into place knowing this could have been a possibility”.

Warner also said Chalmers — who she described as an “alpha male” — would understandably be affected by McKeon’s relationship with Simpson given their history, suggesting “his ego would be burnt a little bit”.

‘He likes the attention but not the scrutiny’

Chalmers has been irked by attention being lavished on Simpson and his personal life at the expense of other swimmers whose feats also deserve praise. Courier Mail chief sports writer Robert Craddock suggested Chalmers craves positive headlines about himself but can’t handle it when coverage isn’t so rosy.

“It appears to me as if he likes the attention but not the scrutiny — and there is just a fine line between them and they often overlap,” Craddock told The Back Page.

“I think he’s one of those guys who can’t live with it and can’t live without it and finds it very awkward.

“He’s on Instagram, he’s out there, he’s happy to put himself front and center but like a lot of swimmers, when it’s big time, when it’s Games time, the force of the coverage hits them hard.”

Australian swimming legend Susie O’Neill had a different take on how the situation has affected the national team in Birmingham.

O’Neill — who was in Tokyo for last year’s Olympics — was adamant there is no rift among the Dolphins and said it’s harder for athletes these days to block out negative publicity because of social media and the insatiable news cycle.

“I think what they’re struggling with is, if you think about swimmers, they spend 30-40 hours a week trying to improve one one-hundredth of a second — such specific, objective goals,” she told The Back Page.

“So when they get asked subjective questions not even to do with their sport, you know, reality TV stuff, they’re confused and I think get offended by that.”

Why Chalmers is kicking up a stink

Meanwhile, SEN boss Craig Hutchison believes Chalmers is struggling in adjusting to the added scrutiny because he’s been so used to positive coverage for the majority of his career.

“He has had a charmed run as a young man with the media. That rarely happens to the bulk of society and you get a disproportionate comfort that you are … a figure that gets a lot of adulation,” Hutchison said on his media podcast The Sounding Board.

“So when things go wrong, you’re not emotionally equipped to necessarily handle the negativity.

“Then it often sways the other way because you overreact, or react to a certain way.”

Journalist Damian Barrett told The Sounding Board: “What he (Chalmers) doesn’t get… you can’t control media. No matter who you are and what run you’ve got.”

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