Saints part ways with Gram

Updated October 31, 2012 12:01:49

St Kilda has axed Jason Gram after the defender faced court on Tuesday charged with four counts of breaching an intervention order.

The club said in a statement that Gram had "failed to honour repeated undertakings ... concerning his behaviour."

The 28-year-old was arrested Monday and spent the night in custody.

The Moorabbin Magistrates Court heard Gram was already on bail after breaching an intervention order in early September.

"The club recognises that Jason's conduct has been of a non-violent nature," St Kilda said in a statement.

Gram was suspended indefinitely after he was charged on September 6, and underwent an AFL Players Association counselling program.

"Regrettably, the inappropriate behaviour has continued and his manager was advised yesterday that the club had decided to terminate Gram's contract, which had one year to run," the statement said.

"Gram was also advised of the termination in a meeting with club officials late this afternoon (Tuesday).

"The AFL has been informed of the situation and has supported the club's position."

Gram played with St Kilda for nine seasons, playing 154 games for the club since 2004.

He made his debut with Brisbane in 2003 after being drafted 19th overall in the 2001 National Draft.

Police allege that since he was charged in early September, he sent a woman 98 text messages and 16 Facebook messages.

They opposed his application for bail, but Gram's lawyer said the messages did not contain any threats and the arrest had been a big wake-up call for him.

Gram was granted bail on the condition that he stop contacting the woman.

He is due to appear in court again next month.

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, st-kilda-3182, vic, australia

First posted October 30, 2012 20:36:45

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Crows stand behind banned bosses

Updated December 01, 2012 17:09:45

The Adelaide Football Club board has unanimously voted to support Steven Trigg and Phil Harper's return to the Crows at the end of their suspensions.

As well as handing out hefty fines, the AFL Commission yesterday banned the chief executive and football manager from any involvement with the competition over the Kurt Tippett salary cap scandal.

Along with a $50,000 fine, Trigg is banned from the AFL from January 1 and will be replaced in the interim by chairman Rob Chapman.

Read the story: Crows, Tippett found guilty over salary cap breaches

Trigg's total suspension was a year, but half will be suspended for five years.

While Chapman took questions when he fronted the media after Friday's marathon commission hearing, Trigg would only read from a prepared statement and cited legal sensitivities for doing so.

"As chief executive then and now, I've accepted full responsibility for what the AFL considers to be a significant transgression of those rules and for that, I'm very sorry," Trigg said.

He later added on his suspension: "it's unprecedented and it's impossible to sit here without feeling it's extraordinarily tough.

"Obviously, an example has been set."

Chapman then spoke and clearly his top priority was to say sorry.

"The first and most important thing that I want to say tonight is to sincerely apologise to everyone associated with Adelaide," he said.

"I'm talking staff, coaches, players and members, supporters and importantly our sponsors.

"I am sorry on behalf of everyone involved."

Trigg and football operations manager Phil Harper, who is banned for two months, have Chapman's personal support.

But it will be up to the board to decided whether the Crows retain the two key officials.

Trigg has been Adelaide's chief executive for more than a decade and he also received endorsements from AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick and chief executive Andrew Demetriou after the Tippett hearing.

"This looked not like a systematic breach, from our point of view," Fitzpatrick said.

"Clearly, Steven would like to have his time again.

"It's fundamentally the one transaction ... in other ways, Steven Trigg has been an exemplary chief executive."

Demetriou said he would gladly work again with Trigg, Harper and former Crows football operations manager John Reid, who also received a six-month ban.

"He knows he made a mistake, in many ways it's an act of stupidity, because it's not in keeping with his performance and his character," Demetriou said of Trigg.

"This is a very hefty sanction.

"He will learn from this and will be welcomed back into the industry."

ABC/AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, adelaide-5000, sa, australia

First posted December 01, 2012 09:55:53

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Drummond takes coaching role with North

Updated November 08, 2012 19:44:24

Injury-plagued Brisbane defender Josh Drummond, who announced his retirement from the AFL in September, has joined North Melbourne as a development coach.

Drummond, known for his pin-point left kicks and rebounding runs out of defence, hung up the boots after managing just 94 games in nine seasons with the Lions.

The 29-year-old will work alongside former team-mate Brad Scott, focusing on the youngest Kangaroos as they seek to make the transition from VFL to AFL.

Drummond initially made contact with North Melbourne to discuss a chronic hip injury with renowned physiotherapist Steve Saunders, the side's medical services director.

"I came to get a bit of closure on where I was at and whether there was anything worth salvaging from a playing point of view," Drummond said of the latest in a long list of major injury setbacks.

"Once we came to the agreement that there probably wasn't much to do, we spoke about the coaching thing.

"It's really exciting to be down here and get stuck into it. I know (coach) Brad (Scott) well from playing and I've also met Brady (Rawlings) through his brother Jade who coached us up at Brisbane."

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, north-melbourne-3051, vic, australia

First posted November 08, 2012 19:44:24

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Bulldogs play musical chairs with board

Updated October 17, 2012 16:08:56

A less combative Peter Gordon will begin his second stint as president of the Western Bulldogs confident the AFL club is now fully supported and respected by the sport's ruling body.

It is not a claim the respected lawyer would have made during his first crack at the top job, which began with him being the catalyst behind the successful fight against the AFL's push to merge the Bulldogs with Fitzroy.

Gordon initially stepped down as Dogs president in 1996 after a seven-year term to be replaced by David Smorgon, who returned the favour this week after 16 years at the helm.

"I think the club has a fine future," Gordon said on Wednesday.

"It has risks and it has threats and it has challenges ahead of it as well. They have always been there.

"But it is in a much better position than when I left at the end of 1996.

"And of course it's in an exponentially better position than it was in 1989."

Gordon was encouraged by what he heard from AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, chief executive Andrew Demetriou and chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan during a meeting on Monday.

"The irony of it was not lost on me that I was welcomed into the AFL headquarters by a management that not only values and recognises the Western Bulldogs football club franchise, but also its vital importance to the competition as a whole - in particular because of its roots and its work in the western suburbs of Melbourne," Gordon said.

"And that was not a philosophy, frankly, that seemed to be a priority 25 years ago.

"In a sense we are greater western Melbourne and greater western Melbourne is as important to the future of the competition as (new franchise) Greater Western Sydney."

Gordon said he wanted to play a central role in how the AFL dealt with the growing gap between rich and poor clubs.

The Bulldogs have also appointed Susan Alberti as vice-president.

Gordon will speak further with outspoken former player and now successful restaurateur Paul Dimattina in coming weeks about his bid for a seat on the board.

Dimattina had been an increasingly vocal critic of Smorgon in recent years, but Gordon said he came into the job with an open mind.

"All Bulldogs will be welcomed back to the kennel," Gordon said.

"And all Bulldogs will be asked, and in some ways expected, to contribute what they can."

Smorgon, 65, had initially planned to stay on as president for one more year before changing his mind when the club's sub-committee recommended the highly-experienced Gordon as his successor.

AAP

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

First posted October 17, 2012 16:05:55

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Jurrah has fortnight to earn contract with Port

Updated November 29, 2012 11:44:56

Port Adelaide is giving Liam Jurrah a fortnight to prove he is worth one of the remaining three spots on the Power list.

The former Demon trained with Port for the first time today, after a year in which he has faced charges of aggravated assault and intent to cause serious harm, as well as an ankle injury during his only AFL appearance of 2012.

With Bomber Brent Prismall looking certain to be a preseason draft selection, Jurrah must show himself to be worthy of one of the two rookie-list spots.

Port Coach Ken Hinkley says Jurrah is only one of several players trying to join the club through the pre-season or rookie drafts.

"He's really excited about getting an opportunity to show he can play AFL football still and we don't doubt he can play the game," Hinkley said.

"We've just got to make sure he's physically able to play the game."

If he can prove he has the dedication to match his undoubted talent, Melbourne's leading scorer in 2011 would certainly add firepower to the fifth-lowest scorers of 2012, but his availability will depend on the outcome of his court case in Alice Springs in March.

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, port-adelaide-5015, nt

First posted November 28, 2012 09:53:13

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Suns retain talented Weller

Updated October 18, 2012 14:35:45

Gold Coast have killed off trade talk surrounding Maverick Weller by re-signing the AFL club's inaugural leadership group member for another season.

Liam Patrick has also been locked up for 2013 and Danny Stanley for another two seasons while Kyal Horsley has been elevated to the senior list.

Weller - the Suns' first 17-year-old signing in 2010 as part of their list concessions - had been linked to several clubs including Hawthorn amid talk the utility would be traded by Gold Coast.

Weller has played 28 games in the Suns' two seasons.

Patrick showed glimpses of brilliance while playing eight of his 11 career games this season.

Ex-Collingwood utility Stanley received a multiple season deal after finishing in the top five of the club's best and fairest in both their seasons to date.

They put pen to paper ahead of the club's departure to Arizona for their upcoming high altitude training camp.
AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, carrara-4211, qld, australia

First posted October 18, 2012 14:35:45

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Tippett hearing set for November 30

Updated November 20, 2012 07:55:33

The AFL commission hearing into Kurt Tippett and the Adelaide Crows' conduct will now be held on Friday November 30.

The original hearing into accusations Tippett was paid third-party inducements that was hidden from the AFL, after signing a three year contract in 2009, was set for Monday November 19.

This was delayed after a request from the charged Crows officials to prepare more time for their defence.

Adelaide and its CEO Steven Trigg have been handed three charges in relation to "conduct prejudicial to the draft" and "conduct in breach of the total player payments provisions".

Former manager of football operations John Reid and Tippett will answer two charges.

Current Crows manager of football operations, Phil Harper, has been levied with one charge.

The hearing will take place at 8am (AEDT) local time on Friday week.

The Crows are believed to have promised Tippett a move to his native Queensland at the end of his contract last month, but baulked at the forward requesting a switch to Sydney.

Tippett has claimed he was promised a move wherever he wished to go.

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, adelaide-5000

First posted November 19, 2012 19:09:43

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