SPORT llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ntnews.com.au Demetriou backs NAB Cup Eagles, Crows play it safe with star players AFL chief Andrew De- want four weeks of AFL metriou wants the NAB coverage. It’s good, it’s WEST Coast have decided to key Eagles who will miss the to err on the side of caution, tel are among a host of Geelong Cup to stay as is. talking about AFL foot- play it safe with Josh Kennedy, match, while has resisting the temptation to re- stars returning for the final There are calls for ball and it’s a positive overlooking him for tomor- been named as an emergency. call Richard Douglas (sore- pre-season hit-out against the clubs to have two prac- for us,’’ Demetriou said. row’s NAB Cup final against The Eagles welcome back ness) and (foot)p. tomorrow. tice matches instead. ‘‘It’s there to create Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. from a recent Chris Knights, Brodie Mar- Selwood, Bartel, Andrew ‘‘We unashamedly debate, to test things.’’ Kennedy has not played a shoulder injury, while Andrew tin and Luke Thompson were Mackie, Harry Taylor and game during the pre-season Gaff, Shannon Hurn and Dar- dropped, while Territorian Josh Hunt are among the in- due to a niggling foot injury. ren Glass will also make their Richard Tambling was also clusions to a Cats’ side that Forward Quinten Lynch return in a powerful Eagles overlooked. was surprisingly belted at (hamstring) and defender outfit. MEANWHILE, new captain home by Richmond by 59 Mitch Brown (knee) are other Adelaide have also decided and Jimmy Bar- points last weekend. 200 reasons to win

By GREY MORRIS

MARK McLean’s 200th NTFL game has all the makings of a triple celebration. Congratulations The Nightcliff follower rea- ches the milestone in tomor- to Waratahs for row’s grand final against rag-

PUB: ing favourites Tiwi Bombers. And while a premiership winning the NTFL medal with 21 Tiger team- mates is his main priority, the TNEWS NT Women’s Grand 27-year-old is aware of the numbers game surrounding Final on the his double hundred. McLean has played 103 ga- weekend!! mes at Nightcliff, 86 at South- ern Districts — including the ‘06-07 flag — and seven at Palm- DATE: erston to make up his 200. USEFULEFUL TTIP IP Nightcliff’s rise from wooden-spooner 12 months ago The new Tooheys 5 Seeds Cider, Sour to grand finalist echoes the 16-MAR-2012 Apple, should be hitting the shelves Districts side that won the flag very soon. I hear it’s a good drop! five years ago. The Tigers can join a select group — Wan- derers in 1957-58, Waratahs in USELESS FACT ‘76-77 and Districts to complete the rags to riches tale. Polar bears are left-handed ‘‘It would be a bit of a fairy- tale coming from last the year before to win the flag,’’ Mark PAGE: McLean said last night. ‘‘I never really thought about it $ 98 until this week, but it would be nice to be part of that again.’’

54 43 ‘‘But right now we’re trying to focus on our game and get-

COLOR: ting things right so we can have another big one like we did against Wanderers.’’ McLean pinpoints account- ability and one-on-one football as big factors in turning

C around the 104 points the Tiwis beat them by in the semi-final. M ‘‘Instead of zoning off and giving them space to do what Y they like to do, we can close

K them down a lot more,’’ he said. ‘‘And tightening the screws in our forward line and not letting the ball get out — they were kicking goals from $ 98 everywhere last time. ‘‘So we’ll be trying to push 42 them wide to the boundary and make it a bit harder for them.’’ Mark’s dad Michael McLean will have yellow and black on his sleeves during the match. ‘‘Dad will there supporting me which will be great,’’ Mark said. ‘‘It’s the first time he hasn’t made it to the finals as a coach, which is a bit different.’’ Mark McLean is hoping his 200th match can be marked with a Tigers premiership Picture: BRAD FLEET

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54 NT NEWS. Friday, March 16, 2012. www.ntnews.com.au