Blues' Carrazzo backs team-mate Scotland

Updated February 01, 2012 07:11:07

Carlton midfielder Andrew Carrazzo has backed team-mate Heath Scotland, who is under New South Wales Police scrutiny following an alleged brawl on the weekend.

Scotland has told Carlton officials he helped his brother when a fight broke out at a ski club at Mulwala on the New South Wales-Victoria border.

"He's doing well, you'd expect nothing else," Carrazzo said.

"He's been himself the last couple of days, so we're just going to back him in.

"We fully support Heath."

Carrazzo, Scotland and their team-mates attended a club promotion on Tuesday at Melbourne's famous Lygon St restaurant strip.

Carrazzo said the preseason was going well for the Blues, who aim to break into the top four this year.

Ruckmen Matthew Kreuzer and Shaun Hampson will again be crucial for Carlton.

"Just having a fit and able team - having Matty Kreuzer back for a full season is going to really help," Carrazzo said.

"Shauny Hampson as well, having him in there for a full season is going to really help ... just the general improvement across the board rather than additions we've had to the group."

It was revealed on Tuesday that Hampson had undergone laser surgery in the off-season to improve his eyesight.

Hampson was struggling to see the ball at long distances, especially during night games.

"'Hammer' is going to be really important for us this year, we need to build our stocks in the ruck and (up) forward and he definitely fits into that category," Carrazzo said.

The news also remains positive for captain Chris Judd, who has recovered well from shoulder surgery.

"He's going great guns, he's joined in some stuff at training and within the next week or two he'll be in full contact (work)," he said.

"He's going really well ... I expect him to play a couple of games in the pre-season."

Carrazzo is so far enjoying his life upheaval after wife Yvette gave birth to triplet girls earlier this month.

"It's been very unique, as I'm sure most people could identify with, but it's been good and exciting," he said.

"It's good to have something else going on in your life - footy can get a bit serious and a bit full-on a lot of the time and I'm really enjoying it so far."

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, carlton-3053, vic, australia

First posted January 31, 2012 20:03:17

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Buckley backs Krakouer's preseason

Updated February 02, 2012 22:02:03

New Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has thrown his weight behind Andrew Krakouer's off-season, saying the forward needed downtime in the wake of his momentous comeback.

Buckley said the plan was for the 28-year-old to be at peak fitness ahead of this year's finals.

His strong support was in response to talk that Krakouer might have needed to work on his fitness after taking a break.

But Buckley said Krakouer's time away from training had been invaluable.

Krakouer was one of the great AFL stories last year, making his comeback with the Magpies after serving a 16-month jail term in WA for assault.

"You can only be up for so long," Buckley said.

"The players still need to be able to fill the tank because by the end of the season, it's empty.

"There's no doubt 'Krak' had been up for a long time and he needed to go away and fill the tank a little bit.

"That off-season was really important for him, just to take stock, and he's on the way back and going well."

Buckley also noted that as soon as competitive ball work had started, Krakouer's competitive instincts had shone through again.

"He is training okay, but he still has a fair bit of work to do," he said.

"We have had some boys on restricted programs with injury - he had a few little concerns.

"We want him to play his best footy at the pointy end of the season because that's when he is going to be most important to us.

"He will have a run around in the NAB Cup and he will be up and about for selection, but he's on his own program.

"As soon as you start ball work and scrimmaging he is phenomenal."

Meanwhile, Buckley has praised two-time All-Australian Alan Didak, saying his preseason had so far been outstanding.

After finishing fourth in the club best-and-fairest two years ago, Didak struggled last season with injury and below-par form.

"He's probably exceeded expectations in many ways - he's had a very consistent pre-season," Buckley said.

"The body is in good nick, the mind is in good nick.

"He's looking forward to probably getting some momentum early in the season to counteract the way last year ended.

"There's no reason at this stage why he shouldn't have the confidence to start the year well, given he's been easily among the top three trainers on the track this pre-season."

Buckley said there was "no reason" why Didak could not return to his 2010 form.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, collingwood-3066, vic, australia

First posted February 02, 2012 22:02:03

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Boyd backs Dogs to remain a force

Updated December 08, 2011 18:33:32

Western Bulldogs captain Matthew Boyd has scoffed at any suggestion that their AFL premiership "window" is closed.

After three straight preliminary finals, the Bulldogs slumped to 10th this year.

The Bulldogs now have a new-look coaching staff, with Brendan McCartney taking over the senior role from Rodney Eade.

Speaking at the launch of a new marketing and membership campaign on Thursday, Boyd said the Bulldogs' immediate on-field fortunes were in their hands.

Boyd said he does not believe in the AFL premiership cycle, where a team has a "window of opportunity" for a few seasons before inevitably dropping out of contention while it rebuilds.

"If you talk about a window, the window is open if you want to keep it open," he said.

"That's what we're doing, we're working as hard as we possibly can to give ourselves a chance to compete and be competitive in finals.

"(We want) to get that premiership that we've been going for for 60 years or whatever it is.

"We're striving to improve, we're doing that gradually and slowly, and if you keep on improving then the window stays open."

This is McCartney's first senior coaching job and he has a strong reputation as a teacher and communicator after assistant roles at Geelong and Essendon.

He has made a quick impression, ramping up contested ball work and match simulation during the preseason.

"The contested ball component of training has really stepped up," Boyd said.

"We do a bit of contested ball stuff, but not so much pre-Christmas, so that's been a bit of a change."

Boyd was careful not to compare McCartney's regime to his predecessor.

"But what we're seeing now is guys who are really having a crack at getting in and winning the contested ball and trying to make themselves bigger and stronger to be able to play that way," he said.

The feature of the club's new campaign is a video that highlights the Bulldogs' strong links to the rapidly-growing western region of Melbourne.

The theme of the new campaign is "Welcome to the western front".

"It's no longer a tired area ... there's something powerful brewing west of the city," Bulldogs chief executive Simon Garlick said.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, footscray-3011, vic, australia

First posted December 08, 2011 18:33:32

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Magpie Dawes backs Davis' decision

Updated November 23, 2011 09:21:06

Collingwood key forward Chris Dawes would have felt uncomfortable trying to talk Leon Davis into staying at the AFL club.

While Dawes is disappointed that the two-time All Australian has left the club, he and team-mate Scott Pendlebury said on Tuesday they understood why Davis made the decision.

Davis wants to return to WA for family reasons, but his partner is from Adelaide and he has also spoken to Port Adelaide about his football future.

"I don't think that's really our place to - he has to make that decision for himself," Dawes said when asked if he had tried to talk Davis out of leaving the Magpies.

"There would have been no doubt in his mind how much his team-mates care about him.

"It was a surprise and probably disappointing for me because I really enjoy his company and he's a valuable team-mate.

"But that said, I can completely understand why it's been that way."

It has been a tumultuous few weeks at Collingwood since it lost the grand final to Geelong.

Nathan Buckley has replaced Mick Malthouse as senior coach under the Magpies' succession plan, with Malthouse also leaving the club altogether.

There have been several other changes to the coaching staff and Brad Dick has joined Davis in leaving the club.

Pendlebury returned to preseason training on Monday, having had an extended holiday in Mexico and the United States.

"Last year was a lot of celebration (after the premiership), this year it was get out of town as quick as you can and get away and relax," Pendlebury said.

"But we can't get it back, we've got to move on, we don't want to be stewing over the loss."

Pendlebury is looking forward to working with new midfield coach Robert Harvey, one of the AFL's finest modern onballers.

"Even in the twilight of his career, he was a brilliant player and it's going to be ... a great opportunity to seek him out and find out what made him tick," Pendlebury said.

Dawes is yet to return to full training, having had ankle surgery after the grand final.

The key forward spoke on Tuesday of his frustration late in the season as he struggled for form after recovering from a hand injury.

"I probably didn't realise how tough it would be to overcome," Dawes said.

"I was pretty terrible, especially for the first few weeks I was back.

"It was disappointing and I didn't realise how hard it would be from a physical point of view, but also just emotionally.

"It hit me at the end of the year how much I'd invested in it and how exhausted I really was come the end of the year."

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, collingwood-3066, vic, australia

First posted November 15, 2011 20:59:27

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Smorgon backs Eade

Posted May 23, 2011 18:33:00

Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon has strongly supported coach Rodney Eade and says the club's season is not over.

Smorgon has written an open letter to Bulldogs fans, apologising for Sunday's 123-point loss to West Coast at Subiaco Oval.

It was the fourth-biggest losing margin in Bulldogs history and their worst thrashing since 1996.

"Everyone at the Western Bulldogs knows that yesterday's loss was totally unacceptable - the players, coaches, management, staff and the board - and we all apologise to our members and fans," Smorgon wrote.

"The players are aware they have let you, the club, themselves and the jumper down but despite this loss our season is NOT over.

"With 14 rounds to play, I want to re-iterate that we will continue to support and encourage Rodney Eade and the match committee to make whatever changes they feel necessary to ensure we again start playing consistent footy every week and every quarter.

"We set ambitious targets this year based on our consistent record over the past three years and achieving these targets is the responsibility of everyone at the Western Bulldogs and not the responsibility of any one individual.

"We are all in this together."

The Bulldogs have made the last three preliminary finals and were rated as premiership contenders this season.

But they are struggling in 11th spot, with only three wins from eight matches.

Eade is one of several coaches who will come out of contract at the end of this season.

The Bulldogs face a massive match against in-form Hawthorn this Sunday at Docklands.

- AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, footscray-3011

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Simpson backs Blues to tackle Cats

Posted May 19, 2011 12:24:00

Carlton midfielder Kade Simpson believes the Blues' pace and tackling can cause Geelong problems in Friday night's bumper AFL clash.

The Cats are unbeaten this season, but the fourth-placed Blues have won two of their past three meetings.

Simpson said tackling intensity was a key to those wins and it was an area Carlton had further improved on this season.

"Obviously tackling and pressure usually goes all right against them," he said.

"When they have a lot of possessions, as they do, if you can put a bit of pressure on them when they're trying to go forward, it helps and it helps our defenders out."

Carlton's only loss so far this year was by 28 points to Collingwood in round two and Simpson said the side had made progress since then.

"We feel we've improved in all those areas that matter - tackling, contested ball, clearances, we're going pretty well," he said.

"Obviously Geelong are a good clearance team so we're going to have to really step up again this week."

The midfielder said the clash would be a gauge of whether Carlton had improved as much as they hoped.

"We see (Geelong) and Collingwood as the benchmark teams, so it's going to be a chance to really test ourselves."

Former Melbourne midfielder Brock McLean is expected to be named on Thursday night for his first match since round 10 last season.

Friday night's match will also feature a pre-game tribute to Cats' great Bob Davis, who died on Monday night.

- AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, vic, carlton-3053, geelong-3220

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Boomer backs Roos' criticism

Posted April 21, 2011 15:31:00

North Melbourne captain Brent Harvey stands by his public criticism of the team following their round two loss to Collingwood.

However, he says naming two of the players he believed were down on form - Lachie Hansen and Sam Wright - was wrong.

Harvey says that while there had been some public fall-out from his comments on ABC radio after the match, there is little friction within the club.

But he says he has learnt an important lesson.

"I certainly wouldn't individualise," Harvey said.

"I won't shy away from what I said, though, because that's what I felt and I still feel that now.

"For us to go anywhere we need our young guys to really stand up. I'm not too fussed about what other people think outside our football club."

The Kangaroos and Richmond will clash at Docklands on Sunday with both clubs chasing their first win of the season.

"It's been a tough month," Harvey said.

"Going to Perth twice and playing Collingwood has been pretty tough but we get an opportunity in a couple of days to rectify that."

Tigers captain Chris Newman admits that a sense of desperation is creeping in at Punt Road as each week goes by without a victory, even though his side managed a draw with St Kilda in round two.

"Every week you lose you become more urgent to win a game," Newman said.

"We're desperate to win a game.

"We've been in a couple of games and in some winning positions where we haven't finished off, but we feel like we've played some quality opposition and our game plan has held up for the most part."

Newman says the Tigers had been hurt in recent weeks by the suspensions of key defenders Alex Rance and Luke McGuane, although Dylan Grimes has performed well in the backline.

"We told them both that we were all disappointed in their actions," Newman said.

"They're the bigger bodies and they're the ones that we rely on to try and stop those goals that are deeper inside 50."

- AAP

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