Thursday, January 12, 2012
Saturday, July 16, 2011
McKenna has positive spin on Ablett injury
Smiling in the face of another heavy defeat after his side's 70-point shellacking at the hands of Sydney, McKenna is renowned for chalking up his side's now-customary beltings as a rite of passage for his youngsters.
They may well become better footballers for the school of hard knocks that 2011 is proving to be for the Suns, but not even the loss of his superstar captain and the massive ramifications it will bring could get him singing the blues.
"I'd almost see it as a positive," McKenna said.
"He's been so good and he's carried such a workload so what that would do is now allow us to play another young kid and spread the load and see who actually wants to put their hand up and stay the course.
"If there is a beauty about Gary missing a game for us that would be it.
"We get to see and expose another boy that wants to have a crack."
That might be McKenna's top priority at the moment after an embarrassing display from the Suns.
They were held to just 36 points - the lowest total score in Gold Coast's short history.
"Individually and collectively, we lost a bit of respect tonight," he said.
"You're not going to win games of footy with 39 (inside 50s). The spark wasn't quite there, with or without Gaz.
"There was probably half a dozen fellas who flew that flag tonight and that was disappointing.
"With such a young group if only six are putting their hand up, it makes it very, very difficult."
Scans on Monday will reveal the extent of Ablett's knee injury, after he limped from the field during the first quarter.
The 2009 Brownlow Medallist returned during the second term before being substituted off.
AFL medical specialist Peter Larkins told Nine's The Sunday Footy Show that the first-year club's marquee signing was unlikely to be facing a long stint on the sidelines.
"There's no question that's not a major ligament injury," Larkins said.
"It's going to be either meniscus or just bruising in the bone, nothing more dramatic than that.
"It just doesn't seem like much at all."
The Swans have injury concerns of their own after their trip to Metricon Stadium - but theirs came before the match had even started.
Veteran Jude Bolton was an eleventh-hour withdrawal after complaining of knee soreness in the pre-game warm-up.
"When Jude says that you really listen because he's such a tough nut," Sydney coach John Longmire said.
"That doesn't happen too often to a bloke like Jude.
"I'm hoping it's OK."
Longmire will find out if he is after scans on Monday.
- AAP
Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, nsw, sydney-2000, qld, carrara-4211 First posted July 10, 2011 14:25:00Thursday, June 16, 2011
WAFL player tests positive for drugs
The positive reading comes just a year after East Perth's Dean Cadwallader was handed a two-year ban for testing positive to anabolic steroid nandrolone.
The player to be caught up in the latest scandal will not be named until the B-sample test result has been conducted, which is expected from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority by the end of the month.
It has been reported he tested positive to cocaine and steroids.
Swan Districts premiership player Travis Casserly is currently serving a two-year ban for testing positive to pseudoephedrine after the 2010 grand final.
The WAFL, which follows the anti-doping policy for football set by the AFL, released a statement stating: "A state level competition must provide role model leadership for all young and aspiring players. It is therefore committed to a drug free football environment.
"To ensure player compliance, the WAFL has an education policy conducted in conjunction with Sports Medicine Australia and WAFL club staff.
"Further to this policy, a drug testing program has been adopted and administered in partnership with the State Government, which involves random testing across the League.
"This is endorsed by all nine WAFL clubs with the specific aim of eliminating drug use in the competition and setting an example across all levels of football."
- AAP
Tags: sport, australian-football-league, wafl, australia, wa, perth-6000Saturday, May 14, 2011
AFL records no positive drug tests
AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson says the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) had reported to the league that it had conducted almost 1,000 tests - from November 1, 2009 through to October 31, 2010 - with no positive test results.
Anderson says ASADA tested players in-competition and out-of-competition, as well as during the player holiday period.
The AFL and ASADA introduced testing for EPO, advanced blood-booster CERA and human Growth Hormone (hGH).
EPO, or Erythropoietin, became the drug of choice for cheating endurance athletes during the 1990s.
It increases the red-blood cell count which, in turn, improves endurance.
Human Growth Hormone helps with recovery, enabling an athlete to train more.
The AFL also expanded its blood-profiling program through the 12-month period. A number of players were repeat-tested.
Anderson boasted on Friday that the AFL was the first sport to pay for its own program to test for hGH, EPO and CERA.
"The AFL, with our medical commissioners, Dr Peter Harcourt and Dr Harry Unglik, constantly works with ASADA to review our anti-doping strategy, to make sure it is in line with the leading anti-doping trends and work in international sports," he said in a statement.
"Our commitment is that the AFL competition is conducted on the basis of athletic prowess and natural levels of fitness and development, and to set an example for all participants in Australian football by condemning the use of performance-enhancing substances."
Hawthorn's Travis Tuck last year became the first player to record three strikes under the AFL's illicit drugs policy after testing positive to GBH.
- AAP
Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia