From The Age
Reported by Brent Diamond
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WILLIAMSTOWN strangled Werribee's midfield to blast out of the blocks and win comfortably by 66-points at Burbank Oval yesterday.

From the Herald-Sun
Reported by Chris Mitchell
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NORTH Melbourne forward Corey Jones was the star of the show in the VFL yesterday, leading premier North Ballarat to its first win of the season. The Roosters, who had the bye last week, responded from a 78-point Round 1 thrashing at Port Melbourne with a dogged 14-point win against Sandringham at a windswept Trevor Barker Oval.

From the Herald Sun
Reported by Craig Hutchison
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AN off-the-ball incident involving St Kilda star Matt Maguire and which left a player in hospital with neck injuries has been investigated by the VFL. The burly Saint, playing for Sandringham, allegedly slung Frankston rover Clinton Proctor to the ground.

Box Hill Hawks

Coburg Tigers

From Inside Football Magazine
Reported by Paul Amy

GAGS’ GIGS: David Gallagher is one of the best players in the VFL and among its more intriguing characters. 

When INSIDE FOOTBALL contacted the Sandringham flyer last year he was in a city music shop, trying to sniff out some obscure blues recordings. Last week a phone call to natter about his 100th game for the Zebras found him at a cafe off an alleyway off Little Collins St, slaving over some lyrics. The man whose head spins to “Gags” is an artistic fellow and formed a band 10 months ago. It is trying to create “the new sound of the time”. 

Gallagher plays bass and guitar and writes songs, which he says is infinitely harder than getting a kick. “It comes in sort of bursts,” he said. “If I can get a burst I can write a whole verse in two minutes. Other times I’ll be stuck for three weeks. Yeah, I dunno, I’ve got to sit down with it every day, keeping it rolling over, keep reading stuff at the same time.” The band has played a couple of undistinguished gigs. “We kind of lacked composures on stage,” Gallagher said. “We looked like 18-year-old footballers trying to play with men.” Gallagher has been a mighty player for the Zebras since joining them in 2003, winning the 2004 best and fairest and featuring in the 2004-05-06 premiership run. 

He’s also overcome adversity: a knee injury kept him out of the game for the best part of 12 months. Gallagher, 29 in August, said he was proud that he’d moved on from the disappointment of an unfulfilled AFL career (he played 26 games for Adelaide and seven for Carlton). “I was disheartened with the whole thing. To be able to keep on going and loving footy as much as ever, I’m pretty happy about that,” he said. “I heard someone say that it had to be the best two hours of your week and that’s definitely the case for me.”

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From Inside Football Magazine
Reported by Phil Cleary

Watching Frankston’s tooth and nail battle with the St-Kilda-aligned Sandringham on Saturday from the boundary line it was hard not to marvel at the spirit of the Dolphins.
Despite the Zebras having 12 AFL players, the game was in the balance until midway through the last quarter. At ground level Shannon Grant’s boys were as tough and fierce as the Zebras. Had they been blessed with a key forward of Nick Sautner’s class they could well have won the game. As Grant told me at three-quarter time, “I never question their intent.”

So fierce was the contest that Frankston players Byron Barry and Clinton Proctor were carried from the ground on stretchers and Marcus Marigliani collapsed after the game. So why is the AFL flagging funding cuts that would devastate stand-alone clubs such as Frankston and Port? Can anyone seriously argue that VFL football is an impediment to the development of AFL players? Is there anyone in AFL ranks prepared to put their head up and tells us the VFL doesn’t play a substantial role – financially and culturally – in the development of our indigenous game?

Frankston and Port have been revelations as stand-alone clubs. It’s quite remarkable that the Dolphins, with only local boys, are able to compete with AFL-aligned clubs. The team’s performances in last year’s finals were nothing short of inspiring.
And there’s no doubt that had Port not been hurt by injuries the grand final would have been much tighter. Without these clubs we’d lose yet another vestige of distinctiveness.

Unfortunately, it appears there might be a nest of second tier bureaucrats in AFL ranks who either lack a genuine grasp of the fabric of the game or are so fixated on the TAC Cup they are incapable of marketing the VFL.
Am I the only person who thinks it odd the AFL would fund a film – The Essence of the Game – that captures the fabric of the game in the suburbs, while simultaneously flagging funding cuts to VFL clubs?

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