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PORT Melbourne's twin towers Adrian Bonaddio and Adrian Deluca showcased the Borough's new-look forward line during its 78-point blitzing of reigning premier North Ballarat at TEAC Oval yesterday.

And across town, Collingwood also won its opening match of the season, defeating Geelong by 24 points at Princes Park, with Anthony Rocca looking ready for a recall to the senior line-up after booting three goals and setting up several other forward thrusts.

"It's all part of his program," coach Gavin Brown said. "This is his third game now and it's all about match conditioning for him, and touch. It was just another one and I thought if he had kicked straight, he would have had a really good game."

The Borough, which has lost some talented players over the off-season including David Spriggs and Luke Livingstone, unleashed the lethal forward package of Bonaddio and Deluca, who booted nine goals between them in a match-winning performance, 20.13 (133) to 7.13 (55).

Deluca, the team's boom recruit who played 46 matches for Carlton, snared four goals while Bonaddio, the team's leading goalscorer last season, booted five.

Northern Knights: 4.3.27 ~ 5.4.34 ~ 6.4.40 ~ 7.6.48
Oakleigh Chargers: 5.3.33 ~ 15.8.98 ~ 22.16.148 ~ 25.21.171

Bendigo Pioneers: 2.1.13 ~ 5.4.34 ~ 11.5.71 ~ 14.7.91
North Ballarat Rebels: 3.2.20 ~ 8.7.55 ~ 10.11.71 ~ 15.12.102

Geelong Falcons: 2.2.14 ~ 6.4.40 ~ 11.6.72 ~ 15.7.97
Gippsland Power: 2.8.20 ~ 4.10.34 ~ 6.11.47 ~ 7.15.57

Eastern Ranges: 6.1.37 ~ 12.3.75 ~ 16.4.100 ~ 19.10.124
Sandringham Dragons: 2.3.15 ~ 4.7.31 ~ 9.11.65 ~ 12.11.83

Source: The Geelong Advertiser

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A NEW era for Geelong's VFL team starts today when new coach Dale Amos and new captain James Podsiadly lead a squad full of fresh faces against Collingwood at Visy Park.

Luckily for Amos, what looked to have been a ruck shortage crisis during the week has eased, with Shane Mumford (cork) and Dawson Simpson (ankle) both named.

From www.localfooty.com.au
Reported by Paddy Higgs
Full article http://leader-news.whereilive.com.au/

HE’S had to come to grips with new players in a new team in a new league with a new affiliation.

So when coach Peter German was asked about his expectations for his Casey Scorpions in 2009, the answer was hardly a surprise.

“None. We’d love to play in finals, but with the new alignment with Melbourne and so many new players we don’t know where we stand in the competition at the moment and I don’t think a lot of clubs do either,” German said.

“Round 10 we might sit down and look at it and say ok, we’ve just about played everyone and we’ve seen what’s gone on in the competition ... but at the moment, we don’t know ourselves yet, so it’s hard to really set goals.”

Port Melbourne vs. North Ballarat (ABC TV)
Saturday 11th April at 1:10 PM - TEAC Oval

From Inside Football Magazine
Reported by Paul Amy

BENDIGO BOMBERS
Coach: Adrian Hickmott (second year).
Captain: Michael Flaherty.
Last season: 5 wins, 15 losses.
In: Charles Slattery (Central Districts), Paul Scanlon (Seymour), Ky Miller (NTFL), Joel Malone (Maryborough), Jerome Jetta (Brookton, WA), Simon Weekley (Sandhurst).
Out: Brent Hartigan, Shannon Geary, Dale Young, Johnny Coghlan.
Verdict: On and off the field, it’s a vital year for the Bombers. The club needed an injection of cash from the VFL and Essendon to get through last season, and, with the alignment up for review at the end of 2009, Bendigo must show it is a viable state league entity. Essendon injuries exposed the VFL list as being tissue-thin last year and a 2007 finalist slumped to 13th. But the establishment of three training bases and the appointment of a full-time football manager in Steve Thomson opened recruiting doors, and the Bombers have gained some experienced types and some exciting tykes. Expect them to improve, but perhaps not enough to enter the top eight.

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From Inside Football Magazine
Reported by Phil Cleary

Courting the SANFL

In a sign that all is not well in the VFL, rumours abound that at least one VFL club is exploring the possibility of joining the SANFL. Given what some clubs believe is a lack of genuine commitment to a second-tier competition in Victoria in favour of the development of elite footballers the SANFL solution should come as no surprise. As it stands, only four clubs, the unaligned Port Melbourne and Frankston and the financially powerful but aligned Williamstown and North Ballarat would be in a position to explore such a strategy. Only one is in the frame. It wouldn’t be the first split in Victoria’s oldest football competition!

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From LocalFooty
Reported by Laura Jolly

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NORTHERN Bullants coach David Teague hopes the club’s link with Carlton makes his side a force to contend with this VFL season.

Teague said although the Bullants’ own list was thinner than last year’s, when it made the elimination finals, Carlton’s list would make them stronger.

“I think we’ll get some real depth from Carlton.