Top pick in for ride of his life

Last year's top draft pick, Jonathon Patton, at home with mother Belinda and sister Lauren. Picture: Craig Borrow. Source: The Daily Telegraph

LACHIE Whitfield is the favourite to go No.1, but whoever is lucky enough to be first picked at Thursday night's AFL draft is in for the ride of his life.

It's a nerve-racking but awesome night.

This time last year it was me who had the honour of being named No.1 and it was an experience I'll never forget.

When your name is called it's a special moment.

You just feel honoured to be in the same company as names like Brett Deledio, Luke Hodge, Tom Scully and Matt Kreuzer to name a few. There have been a lot of great players who have been picked at No.1 and its very humbling to be alongside them.

My mum and sister were there and my older brother Chris was listening on the internet in California - where he plays division one basketball at Riverside.

My only regret is I didn't get more time to spend with my family to enjoy the moment.

After you're named you get carried off for interviews and photographs and they keep going for a couple of hours.

My advice to whoever goes No.1 is to make a good first impression on all the people you meet.

It will put you in good stead especially among your future teammates and club personnel.

One advantage the 2012 No.1 will have is he'll have plenty of Giants mates there to enjoy the night with.

GWS have the first three selections along with picks 12 and 14.

My only regret is I didn't get more time to spend with my family to enjoy the moment

Last year we had 11 of the first 14 and it makes a difference when you know these guys will be your teammates.

Another good thing for this year's No.1 is he'll have two teammates who have been through the experience - Tom Scully was selected No.1 in 2009.

It definitely helps knowing there are other people who have been in the same situation

It was difficult for Tom when he was drafted No.1 because Melbourne were really relying on him to be a future star so there was a tremendous amount of expectation.

If our next No.1 ever needs advice about how to handle it or any help in any way I'm more than happy to provide assistance. He can come to me or Tom Scully any time.

It's quite a thing to have three No.1 picks at one club.

Carlton have three with Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer and they have all turned out to be outstanding footballers.

The other thing I would say to the No.1 is enjoy the night. It goes fast.

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Knights predicts pain for Crows

The Crows are back in the game

Chris Knights says the Kurt Tippett saga will impact Adelaide significantly. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

FORMER Crow and new Tiger Chris Knights has admitted Adelaide's salary cap saga could impact significantly on its 2013 season, despite the club being allowed to take part in this year's national draft.

Knights spent eight seasons with Adelaide before signing as a free agent with Richmond last month.

The 26-year-old says even though he has left the club, he still feels for the Crows and his former teammates as they face future AFL sanctions over allegations of illegal payments to Kurt Tippett and further scrutiny on other third-party deals.

"I do (feel for them)," Knights said after taking part in his first time-trial with the Tigers at Princes Park.

"They are (a great club).

"Kurt Tippett is a really good guy, he's a great teammate. He's in a really unfortunate situation at the moment and the same with the football club.

"But, as it goes, they're not going to miss out on draft picks this year, so in that respect they're all right but you want to go into every pre-season with not too many things going wrong.

"The (Adelaide) boys will start back soon and they'll just be focusing on training hard and doing what they need to do.

"But you don't really want these things happening on the side. It's big news for the AFL and hopefully there's a resolution."

Adelaide successfully sought more time to prepare for the AFL hearing into the Tippett issue, which has now been put back beyond Thursday's draft.

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Docker to train with Saints

Docker Dylan Roberton tackles Hawk Liam Shiels. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: The Sunday Times

DELISTED Docker Dylan Roberton will train with St Kilda in the hope of securing an AFL lifeline.

Roberton was one of three Fremantle players delisted yesterday after playing 37 matches for the club, including 10 this year.

The 191cm defender was originally recruited from Frankston and requested a trade to a Victorian club after the season, but a deal could not be done during the trade period.

The other two players cut by the Dockers before yesterday's list lodgement deadline, Nick Lower and Jesse Chrichton, will both continue to train with the club in the hope of being redrafted in the pre-season or rookie drafts.

In the latest AFL permission to train list, released today, Richmond has the most ex-AFL players at training, including two potential back-up ruckmen Cameron Wood and Orren Stephenson.

St Kilda also has five Sandringham players training with the main group in the hope of a draft promotion.

Axed Essendon midfielder Brent Prismall is training with the Bombers, but assistant coach Mark Thompson this morning gave him little hope of being re-drafted by the club.

Phantom draft - we predict the top 30 picks

PERMISSION TO TRAIN LIST

Adelaide: Nick Joyce (Adelaide Crows)

Brisbane Lions: Nil

Carlton: Andrew Collins (Carlton)

Collingwood: Nil.

Essendon: Tom Fields (Labrador), Nick Kommer (East Perth).

Fremantle: Jesse Crichton (Fremantle). Nick Lower (Fremantle).

Geelong: Nil.

Gold Coast: Derrell Acrey (USA Combine), Quin Porter (USA Combine).

GWS Giants: Nil.

Hawthorn: Nil.

Melbourne: Nil.

North Melbourne: Cameron Richardson (North Melbourne), Ben Speight (North Melbourne).

Port Adelaide: Nil.

Richmond: Addam Maric (Richmond), Orren Stephenson (Geelong Cats), Josh Toy (Gold Coast Suns), Cameron Wood (Collingwood).

St Kilda: Adam Cockie (Sandringham), Jackson Coleman (Sandringham), Chris Michaelides (Sandringham), Dylan Roberton (Fremantle), Michael Sikora (Sandringham), Anthony Soriano (Sandringham).

Sydney: Nil.

West Coast: Nil.

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Roos post record profit

North Melbourne fans enjoy Jack Ziebell's last-quarter goal. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

NORTH Melbourne has credited fan donations for helping the Roos post a record operating profit of more than $1 million.

The Roos today announced an operating profit of $1,193,080 for the 2011-12 financial year.

Interim chief executive Cam Vale said the club reduced its debt by $1 million with the help of its Box On campaign, while increasing revenue growth by $5 million.

"This is truly an outstanding result for the club and could have only been achieved with the remarkable support of our members and fans," Vale said.

"A record profit and reduction of debt in tough economic times is a remarkable outcome and highlights revenue growth across the board and controlled football expenditure."

Vale said he expected the Roos would be debt-free "within a few more years".

Earlier this week, Hawthorn's 60,000-strong band of members has helped ensure the club has posted a mega profit for 2012, reaping more than $2 million.

The Hawks profited $2,023,720, up about $300,000 on last year's result.

The Grand Finalist recorded a 7.4 per cent increase in members, boosting the number to 60,841.

"Our strong financial result is a credit to the hard work and dedication of management who constantly strive for excellence and innovation, and support their staff to do likewise," new president Andrew Newbold said.

Newbold thanked the 8731 Tasmanian members which signed up this season.

2012 AFL CLUB FINANCIAL RESULTS

Hawthorn: $2,023,720 profit

North Melbourne: $1,193,080 operating profit

Other clubs to follow

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Crows burnt in pie fight

The Crows are paying the price for greed

The AFL has another beef with the Adelaide Crows over these TV ads featuring former star forward Kurt Tippett.

Kurt Tippett appears in one of his Tippett's Tips ads for Balfours Pies. Source: Supplied

A SERIES of ads featuring Kurt Tippett in a chef's hat could land Adelaide its own kitchen nightmare.

Tippett featured in the ads, dubbed "Tippett's Tips", as part of a deal with the iconic SA bakery that was allegedly arranged by the Crows outside the salary cap.

Third-party deals are common in the AFL - Chris Judd's arrangement with Visy is the best known - but it is against AFL rules for clubs to be involved in the deals.

The Crows allegedly arranged for extra payments for Tippett outside the salary cap worth up to $300,000 when he was convinced to re-sign with the club in 2009.

The Balfours deal was believed to be worth about $40,000.

Tippett, the Crows and key officials will front the AFL Commission on Monday to explain why they should not face severe penalties for tampering with the draft and cheating the salary cap.

It is not known if Balfours sold any extra pies thanks to Tippett's appearances, or if any SA blokes cashed in on his advice to pass off a Balfours pie as a home-cooked meal on a dinner date.

But at least Tippett has a back-up career as a chef or an actor if he is deregistered by the AFL.

Today, Tippett's lawyer added to the storm when he said on Adelaide radio that Tippett was a "backward" Queenslander and in South Australia "people don't understand much over here".

Watch Tippett's starring role above.

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Adelaide 'people don't understand much'

The Crows are paying the price for greed

David Galbally will represent Kurt Tippett at next week's AFL Commission hearing. Source: News Limited

DAVID Galbally QC, Kurt Tippett's representative at next week's AFL Commission hearing, this morning had a light-hearted crack at Adelaide on local radio.

When it was put by the hosts of ABC radio that even 16-year-old Adelaide school boys were intimately aware of the rules and regulations of their environment, Galbally didn't skip a beat.

Not only did he jokingly put down Adelaide. He didn't spare Queensland, Tippett's home state.

Crows hire top defence counsel

``In Adelaide?'' Galbally asked cheekily. ``Well the laws and rules are very minimal in Adelaide. People don't understand much over there.

``You've got to understand: we're over here in a much more complicated, complex civilisation over here. We're in Melbourne, Victoria, so things are much more complicated.''

When Tippett was brought up, Galbally thundered on.

``He comes from Queensland, so he's even more backward,'' Galbally said.

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Hawks record mega profit

The Giants are out to snare Tippett

Hawthorn fans have helped the club secure a mega profit. Picture: Alex Coppel Source: Herald Sun

HAWTHORN'S 60,000-strong band of members has helped ensure the club has posted a mega profit for 2012, reaping more than $2m for the financial year ending October 31.

The Hawks profited $2,023,720, up about $300,000 on last year's result.

The Grand Finalist recorded a 7.4 per cent increase in members, boosting the number to 60,841.

"Our strong financial result is a credit to the hard work and dedication of management who constantly strive for excellence and innovation, and support their staff to do likewise," new president Andrew Newbold said.

Newbold thanked the 8731 Tasmanian members which signed up this season.

2012 AFL CLUB FINANCIAL RESULTS

Hawthorn: $2,023,720 profit

Other clubs to follow

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Crows footy manager charged

Kurt Tippett's lawyer David Galbally QC is confident the player won't be deregistered, despite the AFL laying three further charges against the Crows, chief executive David Trigg and football operations manager Phil Harper.

Adelaide football manager Phil Harper. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: The Advertiser

ANOTHER Adelaide official faces charges of salary cap cheating over the Kurt Tippett saga.

AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson this morning announced three additional charges against the club, chief executive Steven Trigg and football manager Phil Harper.

The Crows and Trigg had already been charged over alleged illegal third-party payments worth $300,000 to Tippett in 2009.

It is the first time Harper has been implicated in the scandal.

Harper has been at the Crows since joining the recruiting department from SANFL club Woodville-West Torrens in 1998 and took his current position at the end of 2009, replacing John Reid. Harper was general manager of commercial operations that season.

The club, Trigg and Harper were today charged with: "Contrary to Rule 17 of the Rules, between September 2009 and October 2012, you engaged in conduct in breach of the Total Player Payments provisions in the Rules."

Anderson said the Crows, Trigg and Harper were advised today in writing of the charges, which will be heard at AFL House on Monday at 1pm.

The Crows released a statement saying the club "has received and understands" the new charges.

"These matters are closely related to the existing charges," the club said.

"The club will present its case to the AFL Commission on Monday and is determined to explain its position to members, sponsors and all stakeholders as soon as possible.

"Out of respect for the AFL process, the club is unable to provide further comment on the charges until that process is complete."

On Monday the AFL charged the Crows and Trigg with two counts of "engaging in conduct prejudicial to the draft" and salary cap breaches.

Tippett and former Crows football manager John Reid were hit with the same charges.

The key forward, who quit the Crows last month, will be defended by leading QC David Galbally.

Galbally told the Herald Sun that Tippett will argue he was an innocent party in the deal and has threatened to sue Adelaide for damages and loss of earnings if he is deregistered or cops a lengthy playing ban.

Where to? Kurt Tippett has a big decision to make. Source: Herald Sun

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Cats make most of early start

Geelong recruit Hamish McIntosh (right) has started running in his comeback from knee surgery. Picture: Glenn Ferguson Source: Herald Sun

GEELONG says its early exit from this season's finals will give its players the opportunity to produce their most complete pre-season in years.

The Cats returned for the start of pre-season training yesterday - the team's earliest start to their summer preparations in more than five years.

After a shock exit to Fremantle in the first week of the finals this year, Geelong football manager Neil Balme said the ensuing early return would provide the platform for a strong summer of work.

"It's the earliest start for a long time, since 2007 (pre-season),'' Balme said.

"It's probably not a position we would like to be in as it means we're starting back earlier because we finished earlier.

"But given that has happened, it's certainly a real opportunity to put in the best pre-season we have put in for a while.

"It certainly does change things a little bit for us. It gives you time to do everything and give everyone a decent rest.''

Balme said recruit Hamish McIntosh had already been at work at the club as the ruckman continued his recovery from LARS surgery on his right knee in August.

"He has to do a lot of work on that leg, so he won't be at the front of the group for a little while,'' Balme said.

"They are pretty happy with it. I think he has probably started doing a little bit of running, but it is just a matter of how long it is before he starts doing it all.

"He's got to develop some muscle mass and all that sort of stuff that he has got to do to get it right.''

Daniel Menzel, recovering from a second knee reconstruction, has also been building up his workload before his teammates' return - but the Cats are in no hurry to rush the 21-year-old.

"He's starting to work pretty hard,'' Balme said.

"He is pretty happy with where he is at the minute, but he has got a lot of work to do.

"There's no rush. Whatever it takes, it takes, especially having had two knee recos already.''

Balme said the Cats planned to send a young group to train in Falls Creek in December.
 

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Dons cut Dyson, Prismall

Ricky Dyson has been delisted by Essendon. Picture: Baker Lincoln Source: The Sunday Times

ESSENDON has delisted midfielders Ricky Dyson and Brent Prismall.

With no guarantees on their future, the pair stayed at home as a group of 10 Bombers - the leadership group and key midfielders - welcomed superstar recruit Brendon Goddard to the fold in the US.

Early this afternoon Dyson tweeted: "Thankyou to all my team mates, the @Essendon_FC, it's staff and all its loyal supporters over the past 9 years. Memories I'll never forget."

Pick Me: The next Bombers superstar

Soon after the Bombers confirmed both midfielders had not been offered contracts for next season.

"We would like to sincerely thank both Brent and Ricky for their contribution to the Essendon Football Club," Essendon football manager Danny Corcoran said.

"Ricky has played 114 games for our club and has been a much respected and valued teammate for a long period of time.

"Brent has had a number of frustrating injury setbacks since arriving at Essendon and playing 36 games (61 career total) but through his dedication to training and persistence he has always remained positive and committed to the club.

"It is a difficult time of year but we wish them both every success in the future."

The Bombers also cut youngster Ariel Steinberg despite the fact he has a contract for next season. Essendon has promised to recruit him in the rookie draft.

Essendon has now made 11 list changes in the lead-up to next week's draft.

The next deadline for club list lodgements is Thursday.

Today at 2pm the second free agency deadline expired with only one player having been snapped up.

Former Geelong rookie Jonathan Simpkin was signed by Hawthorn on a two-year deal.

Under the second period of free agency every delisted player automatically became an unrestricted free agent, giving them unprecedented freedom to find a new home.

But while the first free agency period prompted a handful of stars to change clubs, the anticipated rush to snap up bargain rookies for nothing has not eventuated.

A long list of players has been overlooked including Carlton's Bret Thornton, Essendon's Sam Lonergan and Kyle Reimers, Geelong's Tom Gillies, Gold Coast's Josh Toy, Melbourne's Matthew Bate and Ricky Petterd and Western Bulldog Justin Sherman.

Clubs seem more likely to assess their lists and early picks in the national draft before taking delisted players with a late national draft pick or in the December pre-season or rookie drafts.

Who has been cut at your club

The Western Bulldogs loom as Prismall's best chance of a another tilt.

The Dogs also have an interested in discarded Demon Matthew Bate, meaning it could be a head to head battle between the pair for the final spot on the Dogs' list.

The final decision by the Dogs would not be made until next month's pre-season draft.
 

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Old face leads in Power troops

Kane Cornes led in the Power when pre-season training kicked off this morning. Picture: Mark Brake Source: The Advertiser

PORT Adelaide veteran Kane Cornes shows no signs of slowing down.

The 29-year-old - who this year won a club record-equalling fourth club champion award - ran his younger teammates off their legs as the Power returned to pre-season training this morning.

Cornes - looking as fit as ever - won the club's first 3km time trial of the pre-season by a convincing 15 seconds.

He recorded a time of 9 min, 46 secs to outpace second-year defender Cam O'Shea (10:01) and captaincy candidate Brad Ebert (10:19) around the Uni loop track in Adelaide's north parklands.

It was the club's first training session on home soil under new coach Ken Hinkley.

Small forward Cam Hitchcock (10:25), ruckman Matthew Lobbe (10:26), key forward Justin Westhoff (10:27), utility Andrew Moore (10:28) and midfielder Matthew Broadbent (10:32) rounded out Port's top-eight runners.

New recruit Angus Monfries (from Essendon) ran a solid 10:41.

Full back Alipate Carlile - who has battled fitness problems thoughout his career - showed he has some more work to do, finishing near the back of the pack with a time of 11:12.

Second-year defender Nathan Blee brought up the tail, finishing in 11:39 as most of the players looked in good condition.

Midfielder Hamish Hartlett has beefed up noticeably, while in an encouraging sign promising ruckman Lobbe ran like a midfielder.

About 10 senior players, including Robbie Gray, Brent Renouf and Matt Thomas, did not take part in the run as they begin their pre-season campaigns on modfield programs.

Hinkley said he was pleased with the condition of his men and that new fitness coach Darren Burgess would be working on a combination of strength and endurance drills over summer.

"It will be a whole-rounded thing to get them into the best shape we possibly can, push them as hard as we can and hopefully come the start of the season they are in the best shape they can be," he said.

"That's the whole thing, it's not just one, it's not just strength, it's not just running capacity, it's the whole thing to make sure we've got them in the very best shape in all areas."

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Vardy takes Scarlett's jumper

Nathan Vardy will take Matthew Scarlett's No. 30. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

GEELONG has shown their faith in young big man Nathan Vardy by handing the 11-game player the No.30 jumper worn by triple-premiership defender Matthew Scarlett.

The 21-year-old Vardy, who stands 198cm, battled a hip problem in 2012 and played only two senior games.

Scarlett retired after the 2012 season following a 284-game career that included six All-Australian selections and one best and fairest trophy.

Former North Melbourne ruckman Hamish McIntosh will wear the No.17 jumper following Shannon Byrnes' move to Melbourne, while ex-Demon Jared Rivers will take No.25 after Tom Gillies was delisted.

The Cats have given delisted former ruckman Orren Stephenson's No.23 jumper to ex-Gold Coast midfielder Josh Caddy, according to the geelongcats.com.au website.

Rookie-listed big man Josh Walker will take No.34, as worn by his grandfather Peter Walker in the Cats' 1963 premiership side.

The Cats will give numbers 36 and 40 to their two recruits in the November 22 national draft.

Vardy wore No.36 and retired premiership defender David Wojcinski wore No.40.

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Crows missed a shot at Clark

Melbourne ruckman Mitch Clark talks with coach Mark Neeld. Picture: Quinn Rooney. Source: Getty Images

ADELAIDE could have had Mitch Clark in a straight swap deal for Kurt Tippett last year if the Crows had put the right offer to him.

The former Brisbane forward, below, shocked the AFL by signing with Melbourne, after strongly indicating he would only consider offers from his home state of WA.

Clark's manager Colin Young yesterday revealed the 198cm spearhead would have been open to a move to the Crows, which in hindsight may have been Adelaide's best replacement option for wantaway forward Tippett.

"Adelaide never came up, never ever came up," Young said.

"Mitch would have gone. There's no problems with Adelaide, they're a great club. You wouldn't mind any player going there ...

"In the end Melbourne's presentation was too good to refuse (but) the Crows could have matched the offer." At the time Brisbane was strongly pursuing Tippett, but only offering the Crows pick No. 8 in the draft and a later pick.

The Lions didn't offer Clark and the Crows didn't inquire about him because of the perception he was determined to move to Fremantle.

"Mitch Clark was going to Freo," Crows list manager David Noble said.

"All the discussion through that initial period of time with (Brisbane national talent manager Rob Kerr) was that was absolutely where he was going to go."

Whether the Crows would have been better off with Clark, particularly given what they stand to get for Tippett now, is a question all Adelaide supporters will be asking themselves.

Clark kicked 29 goals in 11 games before suffering a season-ending foot injury against GWS in Round 13. Tippett kicked 39 goals in 21 games but was hampered by a string of concussions.

Noble said it was "an interesting debate".

"I think if you went back and had a look at Tippett's year versus Clark's year, who is front?" he said.

"If you go back and have a look at the way Kurt pulled himself together in that last final, it was outstanding."

Noble said Clark wasn't on the club's radar at the time because they were banking on keeping Tippett at the club.

He said it would have been difficult to pull a last-minute trade for Clark because the club hadn't gone down the path of monitoring his form, investigating his character and all the other processes it goes through before pursuing a player.

"At no point did we have Kurt Tippett on the table last year to be traded. He was a required and a contracted player," Noble said.

"Our clear directive from a club perspective - with a new coach coming in - was that we wanted to back ourselves in to keep him."

At the time, Noble was also confident that the continued development of Josh Jenkins, Shaun McKernan and Lewis Johnston would leave the club in a good position to cover Tippett, if he left a year later.

"We still felt we had enough in the group we were going to develop underneath to step into that breach," he said.

In retrospect, Noble appears comfortable with the club's decision to take it's chances with Tippett, despite having lost him without compensation.

"I'm not a big one for looking in the rear vision mirror - we've made the call," he said.

"We played in finals and we were five points short of playing in a Grand Final... quite often it's easier in hindsight.

"Having also coached in the forward line, I know that quite often Kurt would take the number one (defender) so Taylor Walker than has a slight change in his defensive player who might play on him.

"Kurt's reliability in his competitiveness has been something that has helped out our small blokes on the deck as well."

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Suns to continue US adventure

Guy McKenna says the Suns derive great benefit from an annual pre-season trip to Flagstaff. Picture: David Clark

SUNS coach Guy McKenna says training in Arizona is almost certain to become a regular fixture in the Suns' pre-season plans each year.

A big advocate of training at high altitude, McKenna said he could find little reason why the club would deviate from their current pre-season trip to Flagstaff in the near future.

"There is plenty of evidence out there that suggests (Flagstaff) is clearly one of the best venues to go to for a sporting camp," McKenna said.

"It ticks a lot of the boxes and as far as the town itself is concerned there isn't a lot of distractions for the blokes.

"That's what you want and you want the blokes to be focussing on training hard for two weeks."

McKenna said the only reason to change destination would be if the players became stale.

"In five or six years of us coming here, David Swallow or Dion Prestia and those boys who have been here for a while may need a change," he said.

"I'm sure we will accommodate them but I reckon we will always come back to Flagstaff."

Apart from the physical gains of training at high altitude, McKenna said the benefits from travelling overseas were endless.

"I was speaking to a few of the corporates who had been on the camp the previous year as well and they commented on how close the group was this year," McKenna said.

"It's amazing the transformation in 12 months and its really encouraging going into next season.

"The more times we can be isolated and learn to get on with each other and understand each others' mental and physical capabilities, then the better we will be.

"Clearly that is what we have seen."

The Suns return home on Wednesday.

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