Latest news with #non-Victorian
West Australian
2 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir keen to take on Collingwood and their army of fans at MCG
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has described playing Collingwood at the MCG as the biggest challenge in footy as his team prepares to take on the ladder leaders on Sunday. The eighth placed Dockers will fly to Melbourne full of confidence after fighting back from 13 points down at three quarter time to beat Hawthorn by 13 points at Optus Stadium on Saturday to give them seven wins from their last eight matches. But Fremantle also know they haven't won in Victoria since May last year. They've lost their last five games in Victoria including this matches this season. Collingwood lost to Gold Coast on Friday night but are still six points clear on top of the ladder. They also have an imposing record against non-Victorian teams at the MCG, winning 18 of their last 20 clashes. Longmuir said everyone understood Sunday's game would be tough. 'It's the biggest challenge in footy... You got not only to take on Collingwood who are the best team in the comp, but you go to take on the Magpie army. It's a great challenge for us,' he said. The Dockers are hoping to get captain Alex Pearce back from injury but Collingwood rested Brody Mihocek and Patrick Lipinski against Gold Coast, then played veteran Scott Pendlebury as the sub. The Magpies have the luxury of managing their list after opening up a clear gap on the rest of the competition, but Fremantle are one of five teams on 11 wins and have the Western Bulldogs snapping at their heels in ninth spot with 10 wins. The Dockers replaced the Bulldogs in the eight last weekend. Longmuir said every game for the rest of the season would have huge ramifications for their finals dreams. 'The importance of each game is magnified now, clearly,' he said. 'The media is talking about it. It's in our face all the time. 'I thought that was a really strong, contested game (against Hawthorn). We've got to make sure we keep handling it the right way. 'Every game from here to the end of the season has got to mean a lot. We've just got to make sure we prepare really well. 'But also don't get too tense under that pressure, make sure we play with freedom, make sure we keep trusting ourselves and try to play our way. 'I know they've got a lot of confidence and if we can execute the way we play, we can beat anyone.'
7NEWS
14-06-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Fans rage at AFL social team for trolling Adelaide after loss to Hawthorn
The AFL's official social media account has sparked widespread fury after a strange post — following Hawthorn's narrow win over Adelaide — taunted the Crows and their fans. After the Hawks' lucky escape on Friday night (the Crows led the game for more than 105 minutes while Hawthorn spent less than nine minutes in front), the AFL's account posted a mock image of Jack Ginnivan holding a phone and pretending to call 'Adelaide'. The phone used the Crows logo to complete the drama, and the post was brutally captioned: 'Hawks are calling to say goodnight.' The AFL Media team will say they were referencing a viral TikTok trend where people call their boss to say goodnight. And just a few days ago Ginnivan — the cheeky Hawthorn forward — shared vision of himself calling his coach Sam Mitchell and indeed saying goodnight to his bemused boss. Of course, passionate football fans don't take well to losing games, and tormenting them in the aftermath — especially when supporters feel their team should have won — is rarely wise. But the AFL decided to go there, and the backlash was inevitably swift and ferocious. It was a brave move considering the AFL (based in Victoria with 10 out of 18 teams coming from that state) is regularly accused of 'Vic bias' by non-Victorian fans (and, at times, non-Vic clubs). 'This tweet is not a good look coming from a governing body imo. Its unprofessional and only helps consolidate certain narratives among fans about AFL attitudes to non-Victorian AFL clubs,' one fan said. And another: 'Can't say I've ever seen a league wide account take sides and troll an individual team. If it was from HawthornFC, then sure, go right ahead, but really bizarre coming from AFL.' Australian Olympic volleyball player (and Crows fan) Andrew Schacht also joined the pile on. 'Jesus, are you serious? You are supposed to at least pretend to be unbiased. VFL,' he fumed. The backlash continued. 'Why is the official, impartial account posting this?' one fan asked on X. And another: 'God the AFL is cringe. Not even hiding their bias and careless at the state of the game.' And another: 'Disgusting post AFL showing your true colours Vic team.' The rage also spilled over onto Reddit. 'This is bad taste, A team doing it immediately after a match would be poor, but from the official AFL accounts, it is really disappointing (even if they are 'separate' they represent the AFL),' one user said. And another: 'Why the f*** do the Crows always cop it from the AFL?' Other comments also called the post 'weird' and 'embarrassing', and many suggested it would be OK from a Hawthorn fan page or a teenager, but not an official account from belonging to league HQ. 'This is really weird from competition management. I'd expect it from a 13 year old Hawks fan. Quite embarrassing,' a fan said. And another: 'The AFL posting this is a genuine disgrace. You guys are the AFL not a Hawthorn Fan Page made by a 12 year old kid. Scheduling a night game in Tasmania at this time of the year with two top 4 teams is embarrassing to play in those conditions, sort yourself out.' And another: 'Not sure about this! Not a good look from the 'governing body'.' And another: 'Seriously the AFL needs some new social media people. Not this work experience trash.' And another: 'AFL Social Media department is a rabble.' The post comes a week after AFL boss Andrew Dillon drove to the home of Geelong star Bailey Smith to discuss Smith's own social media behaviour and headline-grabbing indiscretions. 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary revealed last Sunday that Dillon organised the meeting after Smith made a post that alluded to illicit drug use. Geelong coach Chris Scott defended Smith, saying: 'I think he responded to a troll in the way that modern day players respond to trolls. 'I think it was a joke and it should have been intended that way.' The problem, of course, is humour is subjective and humans are sensitive.
West Australian
05-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Mick Malthouse: New AFL appointments Greg Swann & Tom Harley will benefit West Coast Eagles & Fremantle
The AFL has made massive moves this week by appointing Greg Swann to executive general manager of football performance and — in all probability — Tom Harley to chief operating officer. These will be highly positive selections, particularly for West Coast and Fremantle. Both men are admired in the football industry for what they have achieved in their previous roles, and the way they go about things. They each have experience with at least two AFL clubs, and they have both been involved in AFL premierships — one as a player and one as an administrator. But perhaps their greatest asset as far as non-Victorian clubs go, is that they know how football clubs operate outside of the traditional football state. They know, because at Brisbane and Sydney they have experienced the pitfalls, the angst, the travel and the non-sensical fixturing for interstate clubs. Yes, NSW is just over an hour's flight away from Melbourne and Queensland is two-and-a-half hours away and during winter both states are in the same time zone as Victoria. It's not the four-plus hours of travel and a two-hour time difference that the West Aussie clubs deal with, however, it's enough for Swann and Harley to have a sympathetic ear and a supportive voice for the non-Victorian clubs within the walls of the AFL and that's a positive for the Dockers and the Eagles. Harley's potential move to basically become Andrew Dillon's second is not really a surprise. He was Geelong's premiership captain in 2007 and 2009 and CEO of Sydney for their recent grand final losses. Knowing what it's like to win and lose is important, because it's not all beer and skittles. I have worked with Tom in the media and found him to be honest, knowledgeable, and a good listener. All great qualities for an AFL executive. Swann and I started at Collingwood together. The club was virtually broke, had low membership numbers and hadn't played finals for a record number of years. Greg came from a major accounting firm with high job security and an international bias. My initial thoughts were, why him? Until I quickly realised he was a football fanatic and not scared to get his hands dirty. He turned the club and its finances around very quickly. Years later, Greg was the person who convinced me to go to Carlton, as he had started to do the same thing for the Blues. Little did I realise that his tenure would end too quickly for me to establish myself at Carlton as he answered an S.O.S. call from the AFL to move North and take on a very challenging job as CEO of the Brisbane Lions. No doubt his highlight there would be last year's premiership. As surprised as I was to hear of his appointment at the AFL, I also wasn't surprised. It makes total sense, actually. Greg, by his own admission, loves the football side of the job even more so than the administrative side. He would spend hours with me at Collingwood and Carlton talking about the game and where we stood. So his new role as football performance boss, is tailor made for him. He is well regarded within the football community and would have no worries in walking through the front door of AFL House and being accepted immediately. There is no doubt he will have strong views on the laws of the game and other such things and won't hesitate to make recommendations to club bosses to improve their lot. For the non-Victorian clubs, he will be an ally. And it's about time too.
Sydney Morning Herald
23-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The true cost of the AFL abandoning free-to-air Saturdays in its $4.5 billion TV deal
As an AFL headline, it was one of the more impressive as Gillon McLachlan moved towards the conclusion of his 11-year stewardship of Australian rules football: A whopping and legacy-sealing $4.5 billion seven-year broadcast rights deal worth an extra $70 million annually to the game until the end of 2031. McLachlan and his team had managed to stick with what they knew in the game's media partner for the best part of more than three-quarters of a century, Channel Seven, along with its long-time pay TV partner Foxtel and Telstra, rejecting a $6 billion, 10-year offer from Paramount Plus. The players would be richer, the clubs would be safer and AFLW and all the game's markets would be developed and expanded. And the fans would never be better off. The McLachlan announcement came at the start of the 2022 finals series, but the deal did not kick in until he was long gone at the start of 2025 season. Nor did the hidden nasties: Notably the fact that the AFL had chosen for the first time to charge its supporters to watch the football on its most traditional day, and to place every game on a Saturday behind a paywall. Not one non-Victorian club of the six contacted by this masthead is happy with the new deal. At least four are deeply concerned about the changes the new deal has forced upon the fixture and the loss of audiences on a Saturday. Generally the clubs based in Sydney and southern Queensland believe the removal of Saturday night football from Channel Seven has handed the NRL a costly free kick. Loading Media and club bosses unwilling to be quoted on numbers for fear of antagonising head office say that the loss of the free-to-air Saturday night game has cost the AFL conservatively 400,000 viewers each week – even allowing for the boosted Fox Footy rating and the estimated uplift in subscriptions of 100,000. While it is true that Seven is more than making up the numbers with Thursday night football across each round and with the new and semi-regular Sunday night games, the decision to turn its back on a regular Saturday night free-to-air audience smacks of an own goal by the competition.
The Age
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
The true cost of the AFL abandoning free-to-air Saturdays in its $4.5 billion TV deal
As an AFL headline, it was one of the more impressive as Gillon McLachlan moved towards the conclusion of his 11-year stewardship of Australian rules football: A whopping and legacy-sealing $4.5 billion seven-year broadcast rights deal worth an extra $70 million annually to the game until the end of 2031. McLachlan and his team had managed to stick with what they knew in the game's media partner for the best part of more than three-quarters of a century, Channel Seven, along with its long-time pay TV partner Foxtel and Telstra, rejecting a $6 billion, 10-year offer from Paramount Plus. The players would be richer, the clubs would be safer and AFLW and all the game's markets would be developed and expanded. And the fans would never be better off. The McLachlan announcement came at the start of the 2022 finals series, but the deal did not kick in until he was long gone at the start of 2025 season. Nor did the hidden nasties: Notably the fact that the AFL had chosen for the first time to charge its supporters to watch the football on its most traditional day, and to place every game on a Saturday behind a paywall. Not one non-Victorian club of the six contacted by this masthead is happy with the new deal. At least four are deeply concerned about the changes the new deal has forced upon the fixture and the loss of audiences on a Saturday. Generally the clubs based in Sydney and southern Queensland believe the removal of Saturday night football from Channel Seven has handed the NRL a costly free kick. Loading Media and club bosses unwilling to be quoted on numbers for fear of antagonising head office say that the loss of the free-to-air Saturday night game has cost the AFL conservatively 400,000 viewers each week – even allowing for the boosted Fox Footy rating and the estimated uplift in subscriptions of 100,000. While it is true that Seven is more than making up the numbers with Thursday night football across each round and with the new and semi-regular Sunday night games, the decision to turn its back on a regular Saturday night free-to-air audience smacks of an own goal by the competition.
