AFL Vic Record Week 3.Indd
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TAC Cup Round 3 TAC Cup Girls Round 4 VFL Round 1 7 - 9 April 2017 $3.00 Photo: Cameron Grimes ‘Drive to the Game’ Round This weekend will see a first in the TAC Cup competition’s 26-year history – a dedicated ‘Drive to the Game’ Round. AFL Victoria and the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) have always helped support the development of players off the field as young drivers. While the ‘Drive to the Game’ initiative has been a regular part of the TAC Cup calendar for years, 2017 will see a collective focus on one of the key TAC initiatives for Learner drivers in the competition. The Round allows players to have important conversations with their parents and supervising drivers on topics such as 120 hours, the importance of night-time practice and how to best support and coach young drivers on the journey to their licence. While Learner drivers are among the safest on the roads, in their first six months of driving they are 30 times more likely to crash. Parents will be able to pick up a free coff ee and newspaper, enjoy a free BBQ and young drivers can go into the draw to win free driving lessons simply by showing their log book. It is all part of a valuable partnership with TAC that we are most grateful for. This weekend will also see the start of the Peter Jackson VFL season, with Port Melbourne hosting the Northern Blues at North Port Oval. The game will be Borough stalwart Chris Cain’s 175th VFL match, earning him VFL life membership. He joins current players Ben Jolley (Williamstown), Orren Stephenson (North Ballarat) and teammate Toby Pinwill as part of the 175-game club and we wish him all the best. The 175-game milestone is one we are seeing less of from a playing perspective, with the changing nature of VFL football over recent years. It is even more important now that we celebrate such an achievement, knowing the longevity and consistent standard a player must meet to achieve such an accolade. Steven Reaper AFL Victoria CEO Contents Who’s playing who 3 4 2017 Vic Country coaches 26 27 Bendigo vs Gippsland 7 James Martyn 28 29 Western vs Sandringham 8 TAC Cup Review 30 31 Murray vs Geelong 9 TAC Cup News 32 33 GWV vs Dandenong 10 TAC Cup Girls 34 35 Northern vs Eastern 11 Stats Central 36 37 Oakleigh vs Calder 12 15 VFL club previews 39 41 TAC Cup U16 country teams 16 VFL News 44 49 TAC Cup Girls teams 17 AFL Vic News 19 The Big League 54 55 Port Melbourne vs Northern Blues 56 Quiz Editor: Ben Pollard [email protected] Contributors: Anthony Stanguts, Kirstie Fitzgerald Design & Print: Mystique Photos: AFL Photos (unless otherwise credited) Advertising: Rosanna Butler (03) 8341 6021 Ikon Park, Gate 3, Royal Parade, Carlton Nth, VIC 3054 GPO Box 4337, Melbourne, VIC 3001 Cover: David Smith in action for the Murray Bushrangers Phone: (03) 8341 6000 | Fax: (03) 9380 1076 in TAC Cup Round 2 www.aflvic.com.au www.taccup.com.au 1 Television Online VFL Online Website: www.vfl.com.au Twitter: @VFL #PJVFL #VFLWomens Facebook: www.facebook.com/vflfooty Saturday April 15 – 2.30pm TAC Cup Online Coburg vs Collingwood Website: www.taccup.com.au Download the PLUS7 Live app to stream games live Twitter: @TACCup #TACCup #TACCupGirls or watch a replay at au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7/vfl Facebook: www.facebook.com/taccupfooty Radio R TAC Cup Radio A Saturday April 8: Western Jets vs Sandringham Dragons from 10.45am D Listen live on the Red Time Sport iPhone app or via taccup.com.au I Next games (April 23): Northern Knights vs Murray Bushrangers / O Calder Cannons vs GWV Rebels Calder Cannons Radio Listen to ‘Pathway to the Top’ with Tim Michell on North West FM each Wednesday from 5-6pm. Tune to 98.9FM or stream the program online at www.northwestfm.org L VFL Live I Saturday April 8: Port Melbourne vs Northern Blues from 1.45pm V Live on the Red Time Sport iPhone and Android apps, plus online via vfl.com.au E 3WBC Friday April 14: Footscray vs Box Hill Hawks from 11am Tune to 94.1FM, online at www.3wbc.org.au or on the Tune In Radio app on your smart phone. Casey Radio Monday April 17: Williamstown vs Casey Demons from 1pm Tune to 97.7FM in Melbourne, online at www.caseyradio.com.au or on the Tune In Radio app on your smart phone. VFL Rewind Listen to VFL Rewind each Monday night from 7-8pm, covering the Peter Jackson VFL and Swisse VFL Women’s. Tune to 94.1FM 3WBC, online at www.3wbc.org.au or on the Tune In Radio app on your smart phone. Previous shows are available at www.soundcloud.com/afl-victoria or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes by searching for ‘AFL Victoria’. Video Streaming Visit vfl.com.au on Saturday April 8 for a live stream of: Port Melbourne vs Northern Blues from 2pm Watch the action and listen to the call from the VFL Live team. Visit taccup.com.au on Saturday April 8 for a live stream of: Western Jets vs Sandringham Dragons from 11am Watch the action and listen to the call from the TAC Cup Radio team. 2 www.vfl.com.au Top coaches join Country practice Ex-Gippsland Power and now Gold Coast player Ben Ainsworth representing Vic Country in 2016 The revamped Vic Country Academy coaching panel for 2017 is “probably the best and most exciting in a Country program for some time”, according to new head coach Mat Battistello. The 34-year-old has taken the reins of the Vic Country “I think my greatest strength is probably in drawing U18 program from Paul Henriksen, who guided on other coaches’ strengths and making sure their Country to the 2015 NAB AFL U18 Championships energy and eff ort gets directed to the right areas for Division 1 title in his first year in the job and is now a the players,” Battistello said. development coach with the Brisbane Lions. “I got involved in the Vic Country program to see Battistello has been involved in Country’s U16 what the end product of a draft -able player was like program for four years – including as U16 head coach and take a bit of that knowledge back to the Rebels last year – and was an assistant coach at the GWV program. I think I’ve got my head around what the Rebels for five years. Having not played in the AFL, end product looks like now and how to best prepare he’s been coaching for 12 years of his relatively young players for the national carnival. football life. “I’m absolutely a student of the game, and having Battistello’s unique skill set will be complemented not played AFL I’ve been trying to find a good mix by having three TAC Cup head coaches as his between the intellectual property that the ex-AFL assistants – Craig Black (Dandenong Stingrays), players bring and the skills I bring.” Leigh Brown (Gippsland Power) and Leon Higgins Brown’s intellectual property certainly spans a wide (Murray Bushrangers). Black, Brown and Higgins will range of experiences in football. The 28-year-old was bring knowledge of their own region’s players to the delisted by the Eagles last year aft er 94 AFL games Country program, while Higgins was the coach of and soon approached GWV – his former TAC Cup club many in the current top-age group when it claimed – to determine how he could give back to the state the AFL U16 Championships crown in 2015. system from which he was selected with pick no.16 in Former Vic Country and Bendigo Pioneers coach the 2006 AFL Draft . Mark Ellis will be involved in the match committee, “I’ve had a 360-degree look at the ins and outs of while ex-West Coast key-position player Mitch Brown professional football, from some success to having will come straight from a 10-year career at the elite injuries to lack of form and even the trade process level into a welfare and development role. and getting delisted,” Brown said. “I’ve collaborated www.taccup.com.au 3 all these experiences and I just want to pass my exciting their new coach. knowledge on. An extended squad of 40 to 50 of Country’s top “We tend to put all this emphasis on physical prospects will converge on Ikon Park for a three- attributes and game-day strategies but I strongly day camp from April 12-14. The camp will feature a believe that if you get the mental wellbeing of variety of welfare programs driven by Brown and GWV players to a high standard it greatly contributes to Welfare Manager Brooke Brown and culminate on performance. This is an area of passion for me. Good Friday with two trial games against Vic Metro “My twin brother Nathan (ex-Collingwood and now St teams. Kilda player) and I went through the Rebels program AFL Victoria’s new Country Talent Pathways Manager under Gerard FitzGerald (in 2005-06) and Fitzy was Lee Fraser (former Murray Bushrangers Talent very much about our life development as well as Manager) said the games would provide hopefuls football development. “a chance to play at an even higher level with the “It was part of the reason why I was able to have very best under-age players in the state” and to put a 10-year career at the highest level.