Latest news with #Pies
West Australian
5 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Ryan Daniels: Hayden Young is made for finals and returns to Fremantle Dockers' line-up at perfect time
A rusted on, beanie wearing, Freo die-hard, stumbles home from the Sail and Anchor, fresh from a night arguing if Anthony Morabito or Josh Simpson was the greater 'what if' Docker. He stops to water the Norfolk Pines of the esplanade, and spots something shiny in the bushes. A lamp — faded and antiquey — with a faint purple hue. He gives it a rub and out pops a genie, offering just one wish. He tries fixing the past. A new set of knees for Mora, straight kicking in the 2013 grand final and safer hands for Tom Sheridan. Alas, history cannot be rewritten. This particular genie is more of an in-season list manager type of genie — a blue, cartooned David Walls, if you will. What would our lubricated wharfie add to this team? It was obvious. A big bodied, elite-kicking midfielder — a left-footer ideally — who can go inside our out, depending on need and matchups. One you can be flexible with. Could they play forward and hit the scoreboard? Could they swing down back if needed? Hard, skilful, a little different to what you already have, maybe with long, luscious locks that could be cast in a Pantene Pro-V commercial. Wish, granted. Hayden Young ticks every box. Young's hamstring surgery and subsequent recovery is done. He'll return tomorrow against the Pies, likely on managed minutes, but still, he's back. The other eight finals contenders would kill for a looming inclusion such as Young's. A few do have one: Hawthorn have Will Day in the wings, the Pies have Jordan De Goey and GWS Sam Taylor. The calibre of player who can swing a final. Young's absence this season has been somewhat ignored by many. Don't forget this guy was last season's big improver, third in the Doig Medal and an All-Australian squad member. Young has the ability to be Freo's version of Jordan Dawson, given seasoning. His presence could not arrive at a better time. The Dockers face Collingwood at the MCG and as heavy underdogs, it's become somewhat of a free hit at the premiership favourites. Beat the Pies and, forget finals, the Dockers would be looking an outside chance for top four, or at worst a firm shot at hosting a home elimination final in week one. Lose, and no one should bat an eyelid. Either way, the noise can't become overpowering. Forget Flagmantle, grand statements, outside noise — the Dockers don't need to be anything in particular this next six weeks. They don't always need to be the next big thing, or a rabble, overachieving or underachieving. Every loss doesn't need to bring a spotlight on the coach, and every win come with declarations of inevitable shiny cups. They just need to be. We saw a stat this week emerge; Fremantle are an AFL-leading 5-2 against the league's top nine teams. The losses came against the Cats in round one and the Pies in round nine. The Crows and Hawks are both 3-5 against the AFL's best, while the Western Bulldogs were 1-7 before this weekend. Against the bottom nine teams, Freo are 6-4 (two of those losses came against the 10th placed Sydney), while Collingwood, the Bulldogs and Crows are an astonishing 9-0. The Hawks are 8-1. Translation: the Dockers are well equipped to take on the AFL's best teams, while the Crows, Hawks and Dogs are feasting on the carcasses of the weak. The Pies don't count, they're good at everything. Fremantle have had two disgraceful performances this season; that round one embarrassment against the Cats in Geelong, and the 'Marvel Massacre' — a round eight shellacking from the Saints — which was an abomination and possibly an aberration. Their other four losses are by a combined 38 points. We're about to see one of the all-time races to for finals spots. Thanks to a horde of rebuilding teams piling up losses, and a mid-table mess of mediocrity stumbling home, the AFL's better half are piling up the victories. The team which finishes ninth this year will likely be one of the unluckiest in footy history. We've never seen a team miss the eight with 14 wins. That's in play in 2025. In fact, in the 30 years of the top eight system, no team has missed with 13 wins and only five times has 12 wins not been enough. One of those were the Dockers last season. The next six weekends will be a wild roller-coaster for a bunch of supporters, of a bunch of clubs. Freo are no different to the others. Having Hayden Young along for the ride, will mean the Dockers add a wildcard wish, a weapon unfired in 2025 and it might just be enough to get them to September.
Herald Sun
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Herald Sun
G Flip: AFL mad singer-songwriter on Collingwood, the grand final and new tour
Don't miss out on the headlines from Music. Followed categories will be added to My News. Collingwood-mad music star G Flip has become a victim of their own success. The ARIA-winning Melbourne-born, US-based singer-songwriter, who identifies as non-binary and uses they-them pronouns, is backing their beloved Magpies to go all the way this year, but is already booked up for Grand Final day. 'Absolutely, we are Flagpies 2025,' said G Flip. 'And I'm so sad because I have a festival in Washington so I won't be able to get back but everyone knows that I will be watching at whatever hour. We can't be driving on tour where I can't get reception. We need to be with a stable Wi-Fi connection so I can watch the Pies in the grand final.' Although G Flip now lives in Los Angeles, the drummer and multi-instrumentalist still gets up at all hours to watch their team play – and carefully stage-managed their current promotional trip of Australia to be able to catch Collingwood play on the Gold Coast last week and caught up in the dressing room after the game with skipper Darcy Moore. G Flip has even converted their wife of three years – US actor and reality TV star Chrishell Stause, with whom she appeared on the cover of US weekly in May for their Pride edition – to the black and white cause. 'She is a Collingwood supporter,' G Flip said. 'I've bought her two jerseys, a scarf, a couple of hats and a beanie. And she's got a MCC membership even though she's never been to the MCG.' With third album Dream Ride, the follow-up to 2023 No.1 album Drummer, due in September and new single In Another Life released last week, G Flip is back in Australia to announce their biggest tour on home soil yet next year. The tour will kick off at Brisbane's Riverstage on February 27 before moving to Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on March 3; Melbourne's Margaret Court Arena, March 5; Adelaide Entertainment Centre, March 7; and Fremantle Arts Centre March 15, with tickets on sale next Monday. And while G Flip says that the size of the venues is 'a bit daunting', previous gigs such as playing last year's New Year's Eve broadcast to a TV audience of millions, will help them make the big step up. 'All of these shows I've done in my past is just prepping me to take the next step and get to bigger shows,' G Flip said. 'But in saying that, I feel like every like 15 shows something goes wrong. I feel like that's just like a thing with everyone but you just learn how to deal with it. I played a show not long ago and all the power went out. So I just ripped the drum solo because drums don't need a mic. 'Playing all these different stages, all these different venues, all these different places in the world, it's just made me grow and mature as a performer and an artist on how to deal with different situations.'
7NEWS
09-07-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Carlton ‘iceman' Blake Acres dumped for clash with Brisbane Lions
Embattled Carlton coach Michael Voss has dumped midfield star Blake Acres for Thursday night's clash with the Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium. In the doom and gloom of the season hell, Voss has turned on the underperforming Acres (a hailed matchwinner) as he aims to snap his team's three-game losing streak. Acres hasn't been horrible over the past few weeks but is the victim of midfield that is considered stodgy. He had 20 touches against the Pies in last week's 56-point drubbing, had just 11 against Port Adelaide in that 50-point humiliation, and had 21 and a goal in the shock 11-point loss to North Melbourne in Round 15. But the move has come as questions continue to be asked about Carlton's midfielders. And the main knock on the onball brigade is that they are all similar in style, and none of them possess electrifying speed. On Channel 7's The Agenda Setters on Monday night, Kane Cornes showed some alarming footage of where he thought the Blues mids were at. And he pointed to their superstar captain and dual Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps. 'I've actually been close-checking a few things. I'm close-checking the Carlton captain with (Ned) Long there,' Cornes said as he ran vision of the Carlton-Collingwood clash. 'They start together, (Long) looks at him. A lot of talk about boots this year. Well, I reckon Crippa is in the cement boots. Don't worry about the stops he's wearing. Look at the distance that Long puts on him. And this costs you a goal. 'So I'm worried about the way (Cripps) is covering the ground, his defensive accountability as captain of that footy club. 'He had to be better on Ned Long there.' No one is disputing that Cripps is a champion, but the midfield bull is not renowned for his speed. Carlton also run former Docker Adam Cerra and former Swan George Hewett through the midfield, and neither of those players are known for breaking the lines either. Former No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh has a foot injury and isn't playing at the moment, but he too is also similar. And there are now suggestions that Walsh should be traded out to help revitalise the group. In the meantime, the axe has fallen on Acres, who started his career at St Kilda, before heading to Fremantle and then Carlton for the 2023 season. In that year Acres made a name for himself as a match-winner. He kicked a goal at the death in the elimination final against Sydney and then was the hero again the following week in the semi-final, when Carlton rolled Melbourne to make their first preliminary final since 2000. After those heroics, the club's own website said: 'The month of September ensured that Acres would go down as Carlton's Iceman.' But those heady days seem long gone as pressure builds on everyone at the club.
West Australian
08-07-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
AFL Mid West wrap: Patrick Cripps and the Blues spiral downwards at the hands of the Pies
AFL Mid West wrap: Patrick Cripps and the Blues spiral downwards at the hands of the Pies
The Age
27-06-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Daicos bombshell: Pies star open to shock Tasmania move
'It hasn't crossed my mind that much. Tassie are a little while away, Hine has gone there which is great for him and obviously, his connection at Collingwood,' Daicos said. 'I'm sure he's scouting some players that he wants, but I'm fully fixated on staying at Collingwood for now and this year, more importantly.' If he were to head to Tasmania to join the expansion team, the son of Pies great Peter would follow the template set by another midfield superstar, Gary Ablett jnr, who has become a friend and mentor of Daicos'. Also the son of an AFL great, who played at the same club as his famous father, Ablett sent the football world into a frenzy in 2010 when he left Geelong to be the franchise player and the big-name signing at the newly formed Gold Coast Suns. Daicos said he was in regular contact with Ablett. Loading 'I've picked his brain about several things, not so much Tasmania – but he has talked to me about his move to Gold Coast and evolving as a player,' Daicos said. 'He's such a great person and someone that I have leaned on in the past for his football knowledge, he's experienced so much.' For now, Daicos says he is focused on the 2025 season, as his Magpies are well-placed for another premiership push. A game-and-a-half clear of the second-placed Lions with a game in hand, with a home game against cellar dwellers West Coast on Saturday night, the Magpies are set to be 10 points clear of the reigning premiers come Sunday morning. Collingwood have defied pre-season expectations to become the hunted, but teams are also going after Daicos individually. He was reluctant to talk in detail about being tagged, and his own performances – instead praising his teammates for their physical and emotional support. 'We're really happy with that start to the season and just contributing on a weekly basis, that's my aim,' Daicos said. Loading 'Some weeks I contribute more than others, but we're going really well as a team, and we're not complacent – we want to keep moving forward and understand that teams are going to come after us, and we are going to have to keep getting better and I think we are up for that challenge.' He referenced last weekend's battle with St Kilda's Marcus Windhager, and said how the team responds to a tough tag can be what helps a group unite. 'Windhager has done some great jobs this year and I had him on the weekend. I knew it was going to be a tougher day and the boys were great with helping me out and laying some blocks, and ultimately we won, which is the main thing,' Daicos said. 'It really unites our group. There was that moment in 2023 when Sydney came after me a bit and half the team was wrestling on the ground with Ryan Clarke. We find it really unites us as a team, and we grow stronger from it. 'The more experiences you have, the better you get a dealing with it. We have a lot of players who get attention from the opposition. So it's not just me we support – we support all our players.'
