Skipper Boak in for the long haul

New Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak, right, with former skipper Dominic Cassisi. Picture: Keryn Stevens. Source: The Advertiser

PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has credited the summer efforts of Travis Boak coupled with a rejuvenated focus at Alberton for the decision to appoint the Victorian as the club's fifth AFL captain.

Hinkley and his coaching staff sought a long-term captain and the fact Boak will be able to tap into previous captain Dom Cassisi's knowledge and experience made it an easy decision.

Boak takes over the No. 1 jumper flanked by new vice-captain Brad Ebert, who returned to his childhood club last season from West Coast and had such an impact he finished second (tied with Matthew Broadbent) behind Kane Cornes in the club's best and fairest.

Hinkley, who spoke with Boak before he signed a new contract, said the captaincy had not been part of negotiations.

It was a logical way to move for the club and it did it with Cassisi's blessing.

The appointment is seen as another part of the club's rejuvenation, with the on-field leadership following the board and the coaching staff in being turned over.

Power leaders, from left, former skipper Dominic Cassisi, new captain Travis Boak, coach Ken Hinkley and vice-captain Brad Ebert. Picture: Keryn Stevens.

"Those boys have shown right over the summer to everyone on the coaching staff that they're ready to take over and take the lead," Hinkley said.

"Coming in as a new coach, I had the benefit of being able to really take a fresh look at all the players' leadership qualities over the past three months.

"We've watched the actions of the boys throughout pre-season right back to the trip overseas in late October, looking at their ability to show leadership and demonstrate it on a daily basis.

Summer Barometer: See how the Power is shaping up

"There's no doubt we have the right leaders in Travis and Brad.

"They are players of significance ready to play important roles on the field and off.

When you elect your captain, you want somebody who's going to be able to be a great captain and we have that in Travis

"Leadership is a big part of our club's stability and I want a long-term structure to go along with me as a new coach, so I am thrilled that we have players of such calibre and character to be in a position to make this renewal and transition for my first season."

Hinkley shot down the notion the appointment of Boak was reward for staying at Alberton rather than being lured by offers from Geelong or another Victorian club.

To Hinkley, both Boak's decision to stay and the decision to appoint him captain came down to the character of the player.

"I see it as reward for the type of person he is," Hinkley said.

"When you elect your captain, you want somebody who's going to be able to be a great captain and we have that in Travis."

Boak, who takes up the role at 24 years and with 108 games under his belt, was confident he wouldn't be overburdened by it.

"I think it's pretty much business as usual," he said.

"I don't really want to change my game at all.

"I'll just continue to do the things I've been doing that's got me in this position.

"I won't change the way I am on the footy field or in training and I'll get support from Dom and Kane and obviously the older guys as well.

"I've got a lot to learn in the captaincy role but did it a couple of times last year and really enjoyed it."

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Daniher bashes down door

Joe Daniher leads the way at Essendon pre-season training. Source: Getty Images

ESSENDON coach James Hird says father-son gun Joe Daniher is dominating at training and could play much sooner than originally planned.

Daniher, who turns 19 on the eve of the season, starred at under-18 level last season and could have rivalled Lachie Whitfield as the No.1 draft pick had the Bombers not been able to nab him under the father-son rule.

Hird said today he didn't want to rush the 201cm prodigy, but his form on the training track was quickly forcing a change of plans.

Pick Me: Exclusive highlights from Daniher's TAC Cup season

"It's very hard with a player that age and a big tall player, they often take a long time to get ready for football," Hird said.

"In my mind when we drafted him I was thinking maybe he would play 4-5 games if he's lucky this year, but he keeps making me think he's going to play more.

"You can't see why he won't play a lot of football

"The way he moves on the track and dominates marking contests is quite remarkable for a boy his age - and he is only a boy.

"Certainly we don't want to ruin him but he's making us think about playing him a lot more than we were."

Summer Barometer: See how the Bombers are tracking this pre-season

Hird told SEN Daniher would start his career as a key forward who could pinch-hit in the ruck.

"He might develop into a dominant ruckman where that's his No.1 position but at the moment he's a very good forward, he takes a lot of marks and he's just a competitor - you rarely see that age someone who wants to compete so hard against more experienced players."

The Bombers coach played down a quad injury to forward David Zaharakis, who sent a scare through the camp when he suffered the injury at training.

"Last year he had a very bad tear of the central tendon in his quad which kept him out 12-14 weeks, which is a bad injury and takes a long time to recover. We did some scans yesterday on his leg and it was nowhere near that," Hird said.

"He's got a very slight strain a long way from that in his muscle and he'll be back running by Friday and should play the last two or three games in the NAB Cup."

Hird said the "hiccup" was one of the few injuries in a smooth pre-season - a big change from the past two summers at Windy Hill.

"Last year we had 18 operations which meant players came back very late in the pre-season, the year before was very similar

"This year 90 per cent of the squad has done 90 per cent of the training, which is an outstanding record so far."

James Hird keeps an eye on his players as they begin pre-season training. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

And the Bombers coach backed the AFL to do the right thing by players, clubs and the game at today's drugs summit.

"There's a lot of hysteria around what's happening with players at the moment but AFL has always been at the forefront of drugs or racial issues and those people will sort it out," Hird said.

"There's an obligation on the players though to do the right thing and the clubs to look after their players.

"There's no excuse for players to take drugs, but we put them under very stressful situations."

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Saint Nick will lead again

St Kilda players Nick Riewoldt and Sam Dunell joke with Denver Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard during their United States trip. Riewoldt will again captain the Saints. Source: Getty Images

NICK Riewoldt will lead St Kilda for an eighth season this year and will be supported by a mega leadership group under second-year coach Scott Watters.

Riewoldt, 30, said it was an "honour" to again win the top job.

The star forward will be supported by Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, Ben McEvoy, James Gwilt, David Armitage, Sean Dempster and Jarryn Geary in the leadership group, while the Saints have also unveiled an "emerging leaders" program.

That will see wise heads Lenny Hayes, Stephen Milne, Justin Koschitzke, Sam Fisher, Adam Schneider and Jason Blake supporting the primary leadership group and mentoring the younger crop of Saints.

With youngsters including Jack Newnes, Tom Curren, Jack Steven and Seb Ross in an "emerging leadership group", up to 18 St Kilda players hold some sort of leadership role.

Summer Barometer: See how the Saints are shaping up

But Fisher, 30, has relinquished his leadership position.

The veteran has been subjected to reports of poor behaviour this off-season, but the Saints have remained stern in their defence of the rebounding defender.

The Saints said Fisher and Schneider elected to leave the main leadership group.

Fisher said he wanted to focus on his on-field form in a bid to return to his best after an injury-plagued 2012.

"I have enjoyed being part of the leadership group for the last seven years but I missed eight games through injury last season," he said.

"Over the summer, my commitment to the club was questioned in some quarters outside the club. While I don't agree with it, I think the best thing for me is to concentrate on ensuring I deliver my best form," Fisher said.

"It's an exciting period for the club and with the support of our strong leadership group, I'm looking forward to leading the team, into a successful season," Riewoldt said.

The Saints will play an intra-club match at Seaford next Saturday before their NAB Cup campaign kicks off in Adelaide on February 17.

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Mundy cleared of serious injury

Fremantle midfielder David Mundy left the training track today after rolling his ankle and did not reappear. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: PerthNow

FREMANTLE midfielder David Mundy has been cleared of serious injury after limping from the training track this morning.

Mundy rolled his right ankle during a training a drill and immediately left the track to ice the injury. He did not reappear.

The 27-year-old was sent for scans, but later cleared of serious damage.

"Good news, a scan has cleared David Mundy of any damage to his ankle after a scare at training this morning," the Dockers posted on Twitter late this afternoon.

Mundy suffered a serious injury to the same ankle in 2011, ruined the second half of that season and restricting him during the last pre-season, which subsequently affected his form for most of 2012.

However, the 2010 Doig Medal winner rediscovered his best form late last season and had enjoyed a strong summer on the track before today's injury scare.

Fremantle takes on West Coast and Geelong in the opening round of the NAB Cup at Patersons Stadium in 17 days.
 

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Pies take hard line

AFL Players Assoc CEO Matt Finnis, Collingwood CEO Gary Pert , AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and Dr Peter Harcourt. Picture: Mike Keating Source: Herald Sun

COLLINGWOOD has enforced a hard-line approach to drugs, telling its players it will not tolerate them using illicit substances.

It is understood the entire playing list was recently told that they would face serious ramifications - possibly even the sack - if they failed to maintain the standards and culture of the club.

The Herald Sun can reveal that Magpies president Eddie McGuire and chief executive Gary Pert met with the playing list before Christmas to stress this point.

Pert, who late last year described the drugs issue as the most serious challenge facing AFL football, was yesterday reluctant to discuss the specifics of the meeting.

But he confirmed that Collingwood's players had never been more clear about the club's views surrounding the issue of illicit drugs.

"I don't want to go into specifics, but it is fair to say that the club is always talking to its players as part of the educational program," Pert said.

"I think, as a result of this exercise, the Collingwood Football Club has, and all clubs as a whole have, conversations with the players.

"They are very clear about the position of the board and the executive on this issue and what our standards are, and that has been made very clear to them."

The Herald Sun revealed on Tuesday that a group of Collingwood players - understood to be four - self-reported their drug taking to AFL medical officers late last season which avoided positive drug strikes.

Pert said it was frustrating that Collingwood had been publicly linked to the drugs debate as he believed it was a code and community issue, but he does not regret raising the drugs issue at the AFL CEOs meeting on the Gold Coast last November.

That spawned into yesterday's AFL drugs summit, and Pert will act as one of three AFL CEOs on the working panel to monitor and potentially change the AFL's illicit-drugs policy.

Pert said he supported AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou's comments yesterday that clubs could possibly fund the cost of more testing of AFL players.

It would cost each AFL club $10,000 per season to double the number of drug tests each season.

"If Collingwood deemed it appropriate for further target testing in the best interests of the player or players, we wouldn't let the cost get in the way of doing something that we believe is the right thing to do and in the best interest of the players," he said.

"Today was a really positive step for the industry and it was certainly appreciated by all the CEOs from all of the clubs.

"There's no doubt that by the end of the day that as a result of the discussion, the debate and the expert presentations that the industry leaders from the clubs, the Players Association and the AFL now have a level of knowledge that I don't think they have ever had before."

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Menzel surgery saves career

Daniel Menzel leaves the ground during his comeback match in the VFL with another knee injury. Picture supplied by Arj Giese. Source: Herald Sun

UNLUCKY Cat Daniel Menzel has had a secret third knee reconstruction.

In a desperate bid to save his AFL career, the 21-year-old has had the revolutionary LARS surgery on his left knee which he injured at training just days before Christmas.

Menzel received the all-clear from his surgeon yesterday to start running with the dynamic forward penciling in a return in the VFL by round one.

His younger brother, Troy, who was drafted to Carlton in November had LARS surgery as a 16-year-old.

"Because I'd already had two conventional reconstructions we weren't going to do a third one," Menzel said. "Two in a row is hard enough mentally, three is too much.

"Fremantle's Anthony Morabito has had exactly the same thing and he's having LARS as well because you just can't do three (reconstructions) back-to-back pretty much."

The reason for the secrecy initially was that Menzel wasn't sure whether he needed another reconstruction.

He then wanted to deal with his grief privately as he steeled himself for yet another rehabilitation program, albeit three months instead of the regulation nine.

"I never ever thought about quitting or giving up," he says.

"A lot of bad things do go through your head but the LARS is such a quick turnaround, three months, which is not long in the scheme of things."

Menzel ruptured his right knee in the 2011 qualifying final against Hawthorn which robbed him of playing in a premiership. In his VFL comeback match in June last year he tore his left ACL.

The third time was in a controlled tackling drill where he went to lay a tackle, twisted and felt something go in the knee. It wasn't painful so he kept training before realising something was wrong.

"I went to see the surgeon straight away and he said the ACL felt good but I still had scans," he said.

"Our doctor here saw the scans and thought they looked OK but then rang back and said he'd spoken to the surgeon and they weren't good."

It turned out Menzel had only ruptured two thirds of the ACL which was a positive in terms of the LARS procedure.

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King up Richmond's sleeve

Richmond's Jake King fires out a handball at training. Picture: Darren Tindale. Source: Herald Sun

RICHMOND energiser Jake King is on track for his first Round 1 match in five seasons after recovering from surgery to his foot, wrist and posterior cruciate ligament.

But the Tigers have all but ruled out Nathan Foley for the traditional Carlton blockbuster, despite his encouraging progress from achilles and calf issues.

Carlton and Richmond appear on track to meet in reasonable shape, given their minimal injury lists leading into the NAB Cup.

Defenders Troy Chaplin (knee) and Dylan Grimes (hamstring) are both still in the rehab group, with Port Adelaide recruit Chaplin touch and go for Round 1.

But Richmond says the amount of work it has been able to get into its core group over the off-season is highly encouraging.

Through suspension and injury, King has missed the past four Round 1 clashes with Carlton, but he will bring just the kind of aggression the Tigers have lacked in games against their arch rival.

The Richmond coaching department was amazed at his productivity last year despite being battered by several injuries.

Tyrone Vickery has completed a solid pre-season after he had both shoulders tightened up, while Brett Deledio has overcome minor knee surgery since the end of the season.

Foley, who signed a three-year deal last year, had season-ending achilles surgery in July.

Now he needs to build up his calf strength, but seems unlikely to play in Round 1.

Richmond head of football Craig Cameron said the Tigers were in good shape.

"We had a couple who were slowed with operations prior to Christmas but our rehab group is pretty small," he said.

"At the moment I would have thought nearly everyone would be knocking the door down at the moment."

Former North Melbourne forward Aaron Edwards, who was arrested for drunkenness before he arrived at the club, has impressed his new teammates with his track form. He could be a handy foil for Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt.

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Drug tests on demand

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert speak after today's AFL drugs summit. Picture: Mike Keating Source: Herald Sun

THE AFL could approve a bold plan to allow clubs to fund the target-testing of players they believe are abusing drugs.

The league united to tackle illicit drugs at yesterday's summit with that proposal one of several to be considered by a new working party.

Among certain changes to the AFL Illicit Drugs Policy will be the closure of a loophole that allows players to self-report and escape a strike at will, and an increase in off-season hair testing - both recently flagged by the Herald Sun.

The proposal to allow clubs to target-test players they suspect of using drugs will create most debate.

Depressed, on drugs... dumped

AFL clubs are banned from conducting their own testing after then Carlton present Ian Collins controversially drug-tested players Karl Norman and Laurie Angwin in 2004.

Yesterday AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou confirmed clubs might be able to pay the league's drug testers to do that exact task.

Club sources said the AFL might also provide clubs with details of their players' drug use each year.

No names would be revealed, but a club may find out the number of players who had positive strikes, how many strikes they were on, which drugs they had used, and how many had self-reported.

Drink the link to worse behaviours

The historic summit was hailed a success by clubs, the AFL, medical experts and players, but a battle will be fought over the information flow to clubs when players test positive a second time.

Hawthorn led the charge of clubs keen to be alerted after a second strike, but that issue will be thrashed out by the working party with AFL chief executives Stuart Fox (Hawthorn), Gary Pert (Collingwood), Travis Auld (Gold Coast) and Ian Robson (Essendon).

Either the chief executive or welfare officer of a club may eventually find out about a second strike, but clubs would have to commit to extensive privacy provisions. 

Collingwood's Luke Ball and Bulldog Robert Murphy leave today's AFL drugs summit. Picture: Mike Keating Source: Herald Sun

Fox said it was imperative clubs knew earlier than under the current policy.

"Hawthorn has lived through the three-strikes system with Travis Tuck and we are quite passionate about someone at the club knowing after the second strike," he told the Herald Sun.

"Clubs are much better placed and more sophisticated, so they can deal with that knowledge."

The self-reporting loophole will almost certainly see players allowed to confess to drug use - sparing a positive strike - only once a season.

Some chief executives pushed for the practice to be banned if a player was on two strikes, or even have the self-reporting seen as a third strike.

Draft drug probes

The loophole will be changed after it goes to the AFL Commission and is approved by AFL Players' Association delegates.

AFL clubs were not given specific details on the flagged rise in illicit positives - likely to be released late next month - but were told of a 21 per cent rise in drugs across the community.

Pies boss Pert said of the playing age group: "Taking drugs is a part of their lives. We are very concerned. Every CEO is concerned about what happens now, and what happens in the future."

Collingwood takes hard line on drugs

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Depressed, on drugs...dumped

A father of an AFL footballer delisted at the end of last year speaks out against drug use in the league. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

WE'LL call him "Dad" and give his son the name "Mick".

Mick was delisted at the end of last year by a Melbourne-based AFL club, mainly for being not good enough, but partly because he had lost all interest in playing footy.

"I've never seen him as happy as the day he got dropped from the club," Dad said, insisting on the anonymity to protect his son.

Mick didn't take drugs until last year.

His preferred choice of narcotic was speed and ecstasy tablets, all combined with alcohol.

Up to eight of his teammates also took them. It was part of the routine, Dad said, and it is why he thinks the drugs summit yesterday could be the unmasking of a huge problem at footy clubs.

"Don't think for a moment any club is clean," Dad said.

"My son's club is just one example. There can't be just one club - now let's say two after Collingwood admitted it as well - it can't be that they are the only two clubs.

"Two years ago the clubs tried to get the boys off alcohol and they all turned to the drugs, and I think now they're trying to get them to have a beer again.

"And why shouldn't they?

"You get drafted by a club, and all your mates are going out on the piss week in, week out, and you're not. And they expect you to stay clean, to stay off the beer and off the drugs for eight months of the year. It's a bloody hard gig.

"A lot would be able to do it, and not everyone is on drugs, but I reckon there would be quite a few."

Mick was a talent. He played representative football all through juniors, made the Victorian under-15s, got all the way to the Australian Institute of Sport. AFL was the logical next step.

"Unfortunately," Dad said, "the club drafted him and it was probably the worst thing that happened.

"In all that time he was going through the juniors, easily the biggest message they gave them was to stay away from drugs, that they would be tested. They were all paranoid about drugs, to the point where my son went to a party and someone was smoking dope and he panicked.

"He actually asked me, that if he walked past somebody smoking dope, did that mean it would show up somehow if you have a drug test. I said, 'No, mate, don't worry about it'. But that's how far they drummed it into them.

"It's funny, but he went to an AFL club with that attitude and within 12 months he's out there taking drugs."

And not just Mick.

"He told me he knew of about eight players who took drugs, and he said eight only because they were ones he knocked around with," Dad said. "So who knows how many others?"

The drugs issue with Mick came to a head when there was an incident during the holidays. Mick landed in hospital after taking a bad batch of drugs, and although Dad suspected his son was taking drugs during the season, it was only after the hospital scare that the full story of Mick and his teammates became real.

"I had to take him to doctors for three days, think about a psychologist - he was spinning out," Dad said.

In 2011, six players failed drugs tests.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has flagged a spike in positive tests for the 2012 season.

 The results are yet to be announced.

"The AFL just must not test them, mate," Dad said.

 "Mick wasn't tested. He would have told me. The AFL must think we're numbskulls, fair dinkum."

Dad accepts that Mick chose to take illegal drugs and does not abdicate responsibility for that.

"But what I'm saying is that he never thought about doing it until he got into that environment," Dad said.

He said Mick, whom he described as quiet, was prescribed medication by the club to deal with depression.

"But he never took it," Dad said. "He was depressed, and I've never seen him as happy as the day he got dropped from the club."

In the end, Mick did not leave the club on bad terms.

Dad said his own eyes had been opened to the extent of drug use in the AFL and the wider community.

"I didn't realise until my son told me," he said. "That most of his mates outside of footy take them, the blokes he plays footy with ... I can't believe it."

Mick lives at home at weekends to avoid the drugs pitfalls and plans playing suburban football this year.

"We're happy with that," Dad said. "But (there has been) very little follow-up from the club from a welfare point of view. If you are in the top 22, they won't delist you if you come with a syringe hanging out of your arm.

"When you are on the fringe they drop you like a hot potato, and that's reality."

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Suns' fitness below elite level

Gold Coast Suns big man Zac Smith, left, battles with ruck coach Matt Primus while training at Metricon Stadium. Picture: David Clark. Source: The Courier-Mail

NEW Suns fitness boss Stephen Schwerdt has revealed the squad is still at least a year away from training as well as most AFL teams despite upping the ante this pre-season.

The call comes after the squad completed its toughest week of pre-season training, with a host of senior players given this week off to recover.

Schwerdt, who was Adelaide's fitness manager for 13 years before he joined the Suns late last year, was happy with the progress of the majority of the squad but warned the club still had a way to go to bridge the gap to the top AFL teams.

"Adelaide have been considered for a long time to be one of the leaders in that area and are we going to be at that level by the end of the pre-season, maybe not," Schwerdt said.

"But some guys have done even a bit more than perhaps we did in Adelaide.

"But as a whole we are a little bit below that but we are bridging the gap and that's the pleasing thing."

The next pre-season we do will be what you consider for an experienced AFL footballer

Schwerdt singled out versatile tall Steven May as the player that has impressed him most this pre-season and revealed some seasoned players were training as well as the best performers at his former club.

"Jared Brennan was very impressive in Arizona and has continued in that vein, and Jarrod Harbrow and Karmichael Hunt are as good as trainers as anyone I've seen at Adelaide," Schwerdt added.

"Brandon Matera has been working hard too but probably the one that has stood out for me is Steven May.

"He has taken his training, from what I understand, to another level."

Schwerdt said the squad's progress was on par with what he expected and said time was the key ingredient to catching up to the rest of the competition.

"The next pre-season we do will be what you consider for an experienced AFL footballer," he said.

"It's not so much the intensity of training that is different at the moment but just the overall workload week to week.

"This pre-season was a huge step up for them in regards to the work they've done.

"But we have a long way to go and next pre-season we will be doing equal to any club in the competition."

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