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Ex-Swan in Devils' sights

By Robbo August 17, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by Adam Smith

FORMER Sydney Swans' cult hero Gerrard Bennett is being targeted by the Devils for next season.

The defender, who on Saturday will play his 100th consecutive match with South Adelaide in the SANFL, is good friends with Devils coach Daryn Cresswell.

Cresswell said yesterday he has been in touch with the key position player, who at 188cm and 95kg could help bolster a young and inexperienced backline.

Bennett played 32 games with the Swans between 1999 and 2002, kicking 11 goals.

He has been one of the shining lights for the Panthers this season, who sit second-last with just four wins.

"I have spoken to Bennett for next year, he would be good for the group we have got at the moment," Cresswell said.

Ex-trainer threatens Devils

By Robbo August 17, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by Adam Smith

AS if the Tassie Devils' lack of success on the field wasn't bad enough, a former fitness trainer is now considering legal action after claiming he is owed about $10,000 by the club.

Russell Kapper had been employed by the VFL side since last season, but had a falling out with coach Daryn Cresswell in April.

During an away game against North Ballarat, Kapper had been out late and was locked out of his hotel room after forgetting his key.

After waking some of the players in an effort to get back in, it was decided the following Monday at a meeting his role with the side would be reduced as punishment.

AFL Tasmania general manager Scott Wade refused to comment directly on the issue, but was disappointed with the handling of the matter.

"It is disappointing that Russell has chosen to air his dirty linen through the media," Wade said.

VFL Cats can sew up top two spot with win

By Robbo August 17, 2007
From Geelong Advertiser
Reported by Michael Auciello

GEELONG'S VFL team can guarantee a top two finish with a win over Werribee at Bartercard Oval tomorrow.

The Cats, who sit a game clear in second spot on the ladder, can cement their spot if they notch its fourth straight win tomorrow afternoon.

Geelong will be out to turn the tables on their local rivals after their round nine result.

Werribee took the points at Skilled Stadium by 15 points in round nine, set up by a six-goal opening quarter.

Silky-skilled midfielder Brent Prismall is again likely to miss with a wrist injury, while first-year player Nathan Djerrkura is also unlikely to play again before the end of the home and away season.

Defender David Johnson has been added to the team after being dropped from the AFL side, while Stephen Owen will be missing for the best part of 12 months, due to have a knee reconstruction today.

Stick with VFL

By Robbo August 15, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by Brett Stubbs

AS AFL Tasmania deliberates whether to send the Devils off to play in the SANFL next season, the vast majority of southern footballers are adamant that the state should stick with the VFL.

And they are even more strongly in favour of calling an end to the Devils' partial alignment with AFL club the Kangaroos.

A Mercury exclusive poll of 65 Southern Premier League players shows 80 per cent want the Devils to stay in the VFL.

More than 90 per cent believe AFL Tasmania should cut all ties with the Devils' AFL affiliate and revert to a stand-alone club -- just as Tasmania was in its first five years, during which it made the finals three times in a row.

But the good news for AFL Tasmania is that despite the Devils' disastrous past two seasons and their Kangaroos partial alignment, there is still plenty of support for AFL Tasmania's flagship team.

VFL Fixture Changes for Rounds 19 and 20

By Robbo August 13, 2007
The TRUenergy Victorian Football League advise of the following amendments to VFL Round 19 and 20 games, as documented below:-

Round 19: Werribee vs. Bendigo Bombers Reserve Grade game has been rescheduled from Sunday 19th August to Saturday 18th August. The match commences at 11.10am and will now be a curtain raiser to the Werribee vs. Geelong Senior match which commences at 2.00pm.

Round 20: Bendigo Bombers vs. Geelong senior game and Bendigo Bombers vs. North Ballarat Reserve Grade game have both been rescheduled from Saturday 25th August to Sunday 26th August. The match times remain at 2.00pm and 11.10am respectively.

Geelong defender injured

By Robbo August 12, 2007
From Sunday Herald Sun
Reported by Howard Leigh

THE gloss of Geelong's crushing defeat of rival premiership contender the North Ballarat Roosters at the Northern Oval yesterday was diminished by a serious knee injury to AFL-list defender Stephen Owen.

The 20-year-old 2005 AFL draft choice from the North Ballarat Rebels, who is yet to make his AFL debut, twisted his left knee midway through the final quarter.

Geelong VFL coach Leigh Tudor said last night Owen appeared to have damaged his ACL joint.

"Stephen has been awesome for us all year," Tudor said.

"He has improved out of sight and it is very sad. He will undergo a full medical examination on Monday."

Geelong's 71-point win came on the back of emerging teenage ruckman Trent West, a winning midfield headed by Josh Hunt and Ryan Gamble, a strong defence led by Tim Callan, Tom Lonergan and Sam Hunt, and a three-pronged attack headed by Charlie Gardiner, Todd Grima and Henry Playfair.

Cats come home to roost

By Robbo August 12, 2007
From The Age
Reported by Chris Walker

A BRILLIANT Geelong has moved to outright second spot on the VFL ladder after smashing fourth-placed North Ballarat by 71 points in swirly conditions in Ballarat.

Charlie Gardiner started the onslaught only 20 seconds into the match when he soccered through an easy goal and Geelong never looked back.

Laden with talent, the Cats made good use of the strong breeze to kick 8.5 — their best quarter for the year — to obliterate any chance the Roosters may have had.

Gardiner was extremely dangerous all day, kicking five goals and easily could have had seven. He was prevented from kicking the easiest of set shots in the first quarter after an errant elbow from Rooster Leigh Harding forced Gardiner from the field under the blood rule.

Harding was not reported for the incident but is likely to be when footage of the incident is reviewed.

In the third quarter, Gardiner again soccered through a goal from the goal square, only for the goal umpire, inexplicably, to deem it was touched.

Young Devils show some bite

By Robbo August 12, 2007
From Sunday Tasmanian
Reported by Brett Stubbs

IN a VFL season as bleak as this one for Tasmania, even the slightest hint of light warms the Devils' hearts.

In what has become an audition for the Devils' "generation next", the likes of Aaron Joseph, Alex Grima, Tom Bellchambers, Jaye Bowden, Tim Mohr and Kieran McShane gave glimpses of promise before eventually being swamped by their bigger, stronger, more experienced Casey Scorpion opponents at Bellerive yesterday.

Halfway through the final quarter the sixth-placed Scorpions led by just 26 points -- almost a "victory" for the bottom-dwelling Devils, with a side made up of 68 per cent of players under 20 years of age.

Eventually, like so many matches before, the longer the game went the worse the Devils became, with Casey kicking the final six goals of the match to win comfortably by 61 points, 16.18 (114) to 8.5 (53).

It was the Devils' 14th loss in 16 games this season.

The home side actually won the first and third quarters, but in between were kept goalless when kicking towards the Church St or members' end, and were even scoreless at that end in the second term.

Grima was assured and creative in the backline, Joseph competitive around the ball, while big Bellchambers took a strong contested mark and kicked a goal with his first VFL kick.

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