Saints moving towards NZ Anzac clash

Updated May 25, 2012 17:17:46

St Kilda coach Scott Watters has thrown his support behind his club's bold plan to play an Anzac Day match in New Zealand as soon as next year.

The Saints have confirmed they are closing in on a deal to take a home-and-away match to Wellington.

If the plan became reality, it would be the first AFL match played overseas for competition points.

The match would be played at Westpac Stadium, the 36,000-capacity home of A-League soccer club Wellington Phoenix and Super Rugby's Hurricanes.

The venue has also been successfully used for Rugby World Cup matches and rugby league Tests.

Watters said Saints players were excited about the prospect of taking AFL overseas, and officials at the club viewed the New Zealand experiment as important for the Saints' future.

"It certainly looks really positive at the moment - there are negotiations taking place and everything's moving towards a really positive outcome," Watters said.

"It would be another strong pillar on which this club can build from. There's a lot of work being put into taking this club to another level and New Zealand is a key cornerstone of that.

"What it can actually deliver this club on a number of levels could actually relaunch this club into becoming the powerful club it needs to be."

Watters said he was not fazed with the extra travel which would be involved in an already tightly-packed home-and-away schedule.

"I played most of my footy at West Coast where I travelled every second week, and we delivered some fantastic results on the back of that," Watters said of his part in the successful Eagles teams of the early 1990s.

"I'm not intimidated or scared of travelling. International teams in international competitions don't see travelling as a negative."

The AFL would have to approve the deal, and the venue for the match, before it could go ahead.

But Westpac Stadium has already successfully hosted AFL exhibition matches, the last a preseason clash between Brisbane and Adelaide in 2001.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, st-kilda-5110, new-zealand

First posted May 25, 2012 14:53:42

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Mifsud moving on from AFL controversy

Updated May 15, 2012 17:07:03

Controversial AFL administrator Jason Mifsud insists there has been no fallout with clubs following discredited allegations about Melbourne coach Mark Neeld.

The league's community engagement manager was in Brisbane on Tuesday to launch this week's Indigenous Round, the first time he had been thrust into the limelight since last month's controversy.

Mifsud offered his resignation to AFL boss Andrew Demetriou - and was knocked back - after being revealed as the source of a blog by ex-Saints coach Grant Thomas claiming Neeld had interviewed his indigenous players as a group and the rest of his players individually during the pre-season.

The claims were incorrect. Mifsud said on Tuesday his passion for his job had never been greater.

"We've got a great relationship with all of our clubs," he said.

"It's open and transparent. That's the most important thing.

"My passion and energy and desire to be a part of that has never been greater."

Mifsud did not believe his job had been more challenging in the aftermath of the online article by his longtime friend Thomas.

"We are really driven to continually deliver great results in the future," he said.

"Our clubs have been terrific. Our players have really led the way in terms of providing guidance as to what our programs need to look like.

"And all 18 clubs have been ambitious in terms of the work they want to do for this round.

"Every moment we develop a new program, recruit a new (indigenous) player and institute a new policy we are always learning and growing.

"I think the future is really bright."

Mifsud said the seventh Indigenous Round looked set to be the biggest yet with a record 90,000-strong crowd predicted for Saturday night's "Dreamtime at the G" clash between Richmond and Essendon.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted May 15, 2012 17:07:03

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