From the Herald-Sun
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

PORT Melbourne has been numbed by the death of recruit and former West Coast Eagles rookie Michael Mascoulis.

The 20-year-old died in a car accident on Friday.

Coming out of the Northern Knights, Mascoulis spent 2012 on the Eagles' rookie list and played with West Perth this year.

Returning to Victoria, he signed at Port Melbourne three weeks ago.

"I got told at 11 this morning," Borough coach Gary Ayres said on Saturday.

"You just freeze. We saw him at training on Friday night, full of beans and energy and high hopes, and the following day we're told he's no longer with us.

"It's a terrible tragedy. He was a lovely kid coming back here to make a bright and brand new start and was keen to do well.

"You heart goes out to his family and his friends."

Former teammates and friends took to social media in an outpouring of grief to pay tribute to Mascoulis.

From Geelong Advertiser
Reported by Nick Wade
Full Story Click Here

GEELONG VFL captain Troy Selwood has retired from football content with his career's achievements after calling time on his playing days today.

The 29-year-old, who captained the Cats' VFL flag last year, weighed up the decision late in the season but said he was moving on confident the VFL program was in good hands.

Selwood played 75 games for the Brisbane Lions between 2005-2010, before signing on as the Cats' VFL captain in 2011, when he also accepted a job in the football department.

His expanding football operations role has made it difficult to balance both playing and work, and he is expected to take on a match-day role with the Cats' AFL side next year.

From Leader Newspapers
Reported by Paul Amy
Full Story Click Here

SCOUTS who cover the VFL say draft prospects are thinner on the ground this year.

But AFL Victoria VFL Academy coach/mentor Darren Flanigan expects up to 10 players to advance to AFL lists through the national and rookie drafts.

The state league produced nine draftees in 2012, most notably Western Bulldog Brett Goodes, Magpies Sam Dwyer and Kyle Martin and Demon Matt Jones.

Former Geelong ruckman Flanigan is confident a similar number will be taken this year, saying AFL clubs will look to the VFL to fill specific needs on their lists.

He believes Port Melbourne midfielder Chris Cain, Werribee big man Ben Brown and Northern Blues on-baller Kane Lambert are the best chances to go in the national draft.

From Richmond FC website
Full article - Click here

Richmond VFL coach, Tim Clarke, is expecting the Club’s inaugural standalone team to have a uniting effect in 2014, and beyond.

Clarke, along with new Richmond development coaches Max Bailey and Andrew McQualter, and VFL strategy manager Wayne Campbell, are putting the finishing touches on the team’s VFL playing list.

A number of player announcements are expected in the coming weeks, as the Club finalises its squad ahead of its first season in Victoria’s second-tier competition.

Clarke coached the Coburg Tigers in the final year of their alignment with Richmond in 2013, and believes the new VFL team will amalgamate the Tigers’ senior, development and VFL programs.

“We can go and recruit players to help our players’ development, rather than go and align ourselves with another club, and they’re focussed on their players,” Clarke told Matthew Richardson on Roar Vision.

From www.localfooty.com.au
Reported by Conor Ryan
Full article - Click here

BOX Hill turned to one of its own to replace outgoing premiership coach Damian Carroll.

Marco Bello will guide the Hawks in 2014 after Carroll moved up the chain at Box Hill's AFL partner Hawthorn to become head coach of the club's development academy.

The reshuffle came in the immediate aftermath of Box Hill's Victorian Football League premiership win.

Bello said it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"I'm very delighted to get it. It was a bit of a surprise in one way but I'm certainly looking forward to grabbing it with both hands," he said.

"Having been at Box Hill previously, and knowing the machinations of it, it's not a job they give away lightly."

From www.localfooty.com.au
Reported by Paul Amy
Full article - Click here

HE'S a veteran of the VFL, but Marcus Marigliani has a schoolboy's enthusiasm as he contemplates the 2014 season.

In fact, he says he hasn't felt as excited about his football since Essendon drafted him in 2009.

The muscle-packed "Rigger'' signed at Port Melbourne last week, cutting ties with Sandringham after three seasons.

He was made captain of the Zebras this year and understood the prestige of the position. Players like Chad Liddell, David MacGeorge and Darren Mitchelson held it before him.

But ultimately it wasn't enough to keep him at Sandy. He'd become fed up with the alignment with St Kilda, thinking the development of Saints players took precedence over winning.

There were occasions this year, he said, when St Kilda players were taken off the ground and rested, leaving the Zebras down on numbers.

From Herald Sun
Reported by Glenn McFarlane
Full Story Click Here

CARLTON'S VFL captain Andre Gianfagna has become the latest footballer to turn to umpiring.

Gianfagna, 26, has told the Northern Blues he intends to become an umpire and will immediately join the AFL's pathway program.

After the recent retirement of former Blue and Bomber turned AFL umpire Jordan Bannister, the AFL has been to keen to foster more footballers in switching to umpiring post their playing careers.

From the Hobson Bay Weekly
Reported by Daniel Paproth
Full article - Click here

New Williamstown coach Andy Collins wants the Seagulls to be known as the best Australian Rules football club outside of the AFL, as the Gulls prepare to go stand-alone in the Victorian Football League in 2014.

Collins signed on for two years on Saturday morning, and was officially announced to replace former coach Peter German at the club’s best-and-fairest that same evening. Current assistant coach Adam Potter will be his second-in-charge.

Collins has spent the past six years as coach of South Australian National Football League club West Adelaide, taking the Bloods from four consecutive wooden spoons to a grand final appearance in 2012 and a preliminary final this season.

He resigned from his post at West Adelaide in August, coaching out the remainder of the season before looking for new opportunities.

Comment Thread:
http://www.vflfooty.com/node/8765