Crows jump on the Buddy train

We're in the mix: Adelaide has announced it will be a big player in this year's free agency market even before Lance Franklin's surprise decision. Picture: Mark Dadswell Source: Herald Sun

ADELAIDE has thrown its hat into the Lance Franklin money ring, declaring it could make an audacious end-of-season play for the champion forward.

Armed with plenty of salary cap room after Kurt Tippett's controversial departure to Sydney, the cashed-up Crows say they will "keep a close eye" on Franklin's contract status and could be in a position to offer the looming free agent a multi-million dollar deal to lure him from Hawthorn.

Only Fremantle is understood to have as much cash to spend on free agents as Adelaide at the end of the season.

Franklin - a superstar who is arguably the game's best player - could hit the open market after shocking the Hawks on Friday by knocking back a four-year deal understood to be worth about $4 million and telling the club he will not discuss a new contract until the end of the season.

This has sparked fears the restricted free agent could leave and put rival clubs with money to spend on red alert.

Adelaide - robbed of key draft picks for its role in the Tippett salary cap scandal - had announced it would be a big player in this year's free agency market even before "Buddy" Franklin's surprise decision.

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Its failure to re-sign Tippett has saved it about $750,000-a-season in salary cap room.

Chairman Rob Chapman told The Advertiser "we will be pro-active in that (free agency) area, no doubt. We are well placed to spend some money on players we think can help our football club and the process of identifying those players will start shortly."

Franklin, who has kicked 520 goals in 161 games, has quickly jumped to the top of the queue.

It is likely to take an offer of at least $5 million over four years to get Franklin to leave Hawthorn, where he has become the AFL's most marketable player.

Fremantle last year offered Collingwood key forward Travis Cloke $1.1 million for five years but failed to land him.

While 26-year-old Franklin is favoured to stay at the Hawks, the Crows point to former Saint Brendon Goddard's free agency move to Essendon as evidence that big-name players are prepared to switch clubs in the new free agency era.

"The landscape is certainly different than it was a few years ago," Adelaide list manager David Noble said. "Free agency has changed that."

Noble said the Crows would "clearly be interested in a player of Franklin's quality".

But he acknowledged there would be plenty of water to go under the bridge before Adelaide got close to securing him.

Noble said the club was in no hurry to speak to Franklin's manager, Liam Pickering, about his future.

"Any club would love to have a Lance Franklin on their list but the season hasn't even started yet so we will just sit and watch how things unfold with him," Noble said.

"Like most clubs we will be watching developments closely. You would expect it would take a lot to get Buddy to leave Hawthorn but as we've seen with these things you never say never."

Noble said his club's most pressing need at this time of the year was to find an in-house replacement for Tippett, who has left Taylor Walker as Adelaide's only recognised key forward.

Josh Jenkins, Shaun McKernan, Lewis Johnston and Tom Lynch are vying to be Walker's new key position goalkicking sidekick.

"And just how those players develop could impact on the philosophy we take with free agency," Noble said.

"First you have to see which players are available in free agency and then you have to decide how they fit in with the make-up of your team."

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Buddy: I want to stay a Hawk

Hawthorn may only receive a draft pick at the end of the first round as compensation, if Lance Franklin decides to leave as a restricted free agent.

Lance Franklin has put contract talks with Hawthorn on hold until the end of the season. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

Shane Crawford channels his inner Liam Neeson when he discovers Gary Ablett is 'taken' and tries to organise a swap with one of his mates

BREAKING NEWS: LANCE Franklin says he has "no intention" of walking out on Hawthorn despite putting contract talks on hold until the end of the season.

Franklin, who is out of contract and set to become a restricted free agent in October, said he wanted to focus on his football.

"There's going to be a lot of speculation, but I just want to play football. I have no intentions of leaving the footy club," he said.

"Internally it won't be spoken about, we'll just worry about playing footy.

"The footy club was shocked I didn't sign but I want to stay at hawthorn. It was my decision."

The superstar forward faced the media at 2pm today, just two days after the Herald Sun revealed he had put off contract negotiations with the Hawks until the end of the 2013 season.

Franklin and Richmond superstar Trent Cotchin spoke at AFL House ahead of Saturday night's Richmond-All-Stars exhibition showdown.

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Franklin's  contract revelation led to a media frenzy across the weekend, with the line from Buddy's  management eerily similar to that of Tom Scully, Gary Ablett and Kurt Tippett before that trio walked out on their clubs.

SuperFooty explained how history revealed this could spell disastrous news for the Hawks, while club legend Dermott Brereton told the Herald Sun that Franklin had made the right decision.

It was also revealed that Franklin had not struck a secret pact with Magpie-turned-Eagle Sharrod Wellingham to relocate to Perth and again shack up with his former housemate.

But Adelaide jumped on the front foot, today declaring it could make an audacious end-of-season play for the champion goalkicker.

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Suns play down stoush

Shane Crawford channels his inner Liam Neeson when he discovers Gary Ablett is 'taken' and tries to organise a swap with one of his mates

Campbell Brown and Maverick Weller were involved in a training stoush today. Source: The Courier-Mail

THE NAB Cup can't come soon enough for the Gold Coast Suns with tensions today spilling over into a training stoush between Campbell Brown and Maverick Weller.

No punches were thrown but the pair had to be separated several times by senior players Karmichael Hunt and Jarrod Harbrow during a running verbal battle that lasted for a couple of minutes.

It came close to re-erupting as the players walked from the field for a drinks break when Brown, reacting to something Weller said, spun around and attempted to force his way through several team mates to get to the young defender.

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The veteran hardman predictably played down the incident at the completion of training saying it was evidence the young side were sticking to their pre-season commitment to demand higher standards from each other and to communicate better.

"There was nothing in it, there are certainly no hard feelings,'' Brown said.

"It may not have looked ideal but there was a bit of feedback given and the point was certainly made.''

The Suns are itching for the start of the pre-season competition and the opportunity it provides to carry on the momentum built at the tail end of last season.

The tournament is particularly important for Brown who is suspended for the first six weeks of the premiership season.

He said he had never been a fan of the pre-season tournament, preferring to ease his way into a season, but this year he would be treating the games like premiership matches to give the coaching group a reminder of what he can offer the side.

"I got myself into this predicament and I'm going to fight my way out of it,'' he said.

The Suns have almost a full squad of fit players and positions for Rd 1 will be hotly contested during the NAB Cup.

The club's biggest concern is the continued absence of vice-captain Nathan Bock from full training.

Bock, who missed the majority of last season with a broken leg, is still limping and looks to be extremely doubtful to be fit for the start of the premiership competition.

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Seven Tigers set for debut

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has chosen a new-look side, including prized draftee Nick Vlastuin. Picture: Chris Hyde. Source: Getty Images

RICHMOND has selected a new-look side filled with recycled talent and exciting teenagers to face the Indigenous All-Stars on Friday night.

Tiger fans will get their first look at forwards Chris Knights (Adelaide), Aaron Edwards (North Melbourne) and rookie-listed ruckman Orren Stephenson (Geelong) in the Alice Springs clash.

Prized draftee Nick Vlastuin, last year's No. 9 pick, has also been selected in the 30-man squad.

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Vlastuin, 18, made an immediate impact at Punt Rd with the competitive beast poised for an early-season debut, most likely on a half-back flank.

Defender Steve Morris recently praised Morris's attitude and said Tiger fans would quickly fall in love with the Brad Sewell type.

Draftees Matthew McDonough, Kamdyn McIntosh and Cadeyn Williams have also been picked.

Knights, 26, crossed to the Tigers as a free agent, while Edwards was acquired in the trade period.

Star midfielder Trent Cotchin will make his debut as captain against the Lance Franklin-led All-Stars.

The match will be played at Traegar Park at 8.30pm AEDT and will be aired on television network NTIV.

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Dermie backs Franklin delay

Lance Franklin tells Hawthorn he will not discuss a new deal until the end of the year, sparking fears at the Hawks that he may walk.

Lance Franklin celebrates a goal during the 2012 Grand Final. Picture: David Caird Source: Herald Sun

HAWTHORN legend Dermott Brereton says Lance Franklin has made the right move in delaying contract talks to get the best financial deal from the club.

The Herald Sun yesterday revealed Franklin's management had put off talks on a new contract until the end of the season, stunning Hawks officials who were hopeful of finalising the matter before Round 1.

Fremantle, in Franklin's home state of Western Australia, is seen to be in the best position to poach one of the game's biggest stars, with space in the Dockers' salary cap to pay the forward more than $1 million a year.

Brereton conceded the contract saga would likely create an ongoing distraction for Franklin and the Hawks, and said the move would cost the club in the vicinity of an extra $100,000 in its salary cap.

But Brereton, a five-time Hawthorn premiership forward, tipped Franklin to stay and was adamant the 25-year-old was entitled to hold off to get more money.

"If I was Buddy's manager, and this is 'Pickers' (Liam Pickering) we are talking about, I would advise him not to sign also," Brereton told the Sunday Herald Sun.

"It's like the Travis Cloke situation. You want to stay at the club, you love the club and 95 per cent you are going to stay at the club, but you want to maximise your earnings."

Pickering said Franklin, a three-time All-Australian who will become a restricted free agent at the end of the year, wanted to halt contract negotiations to concentrate on his football.

But Brereton said media scrutiny could disrupt the player and his club.

"It's not going to benefit him by saying, 'I just want to concentrate on my football'," he said.

"They (media) will keep asking him about it and every time you pull open the paper, it will distract him.

"So it is not to allow him to play better footy, it (the management tactic) is (intended) to maximise his earnings, but you know what, he's got that right."

Summer Barometer: Track the Hawks' pre-season here

Hawthorn's premiership odds eased from $4 to $4.50 with Betstar in the wake of the Franklin revelation.

Brereton tipped the athletic goalkicker to remain at Waverley Park beyond 2013, but said the Hawks would have to pay more than they initially expected.

"I would guarantee you this time next year, Buddy will be in pre-season with Hawthorn, but it is going to cost them probably 5-10 per cent more than they envisaged," he said.

"There is always a threat (of Franklin leaving) and always a possibility but I think they will get over the line."

Will Buddy be the next Gary Ablett?

The Hawks are understood to be paying near 100 per cent of their salary cap, making it difficult to accommodate the 196cm powerhouse's beefed-up contract and keep their up-and-coming youngsters.

"They do have a list at the top end which is ageing," Brereton said.

"They have got some 28-year-olds and over so there will be a little bit of wiggle room, so to speak."

Brereton said the Hawks would be in prime spot to contend for a premiership for one or two more seasons.

"They probably should have won the Grand Final but Sydney played better on the day, played at their maximum but Hawthorn didn't," he said.

"Next year will be the same. Hawthorn will be a top-three team but it's whether they can grab one then. I would say they need one next year.

"With the inclusion of Brian Lake, who can play on big forwards, they now would be the best-balanced team."

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Tippett's still got friends in Adelaide

Sydney recruit Kurt Tippett at pre-season training in Coffs Harbour. Picture: Bradley Hunter Source: The Daily Telegraph

CONTROVERSIAL Sydney recruit Kurt Tippett talks to Neil Cordy about the Swans, being a villain and his salary-cap ban.

How are you settling into the Swans?

I couldn't be happier. Coming into the team a little bit later than I expected was a little bit daunting. I thought it might be hard to get to know the boys, but they've been incredible in welcoming me.

Did you ever think you wouldn't make it here?

Nothing was certain during the (contract drama) so it was hard to feel confident about my chances of getting to Sydney. It's great that it worked out.

You are the first player since Greg Williams in 1992 to be penalised for a salary-cap breach, do you feel hard done by?

That's a tough question to answer. I feel very fortunate to be in Sydney, where I always wanted to be. In regards to the sanction, it's very disappointing that I can't play and I will find it very hard to sit out the first 11 rounds of this season.

I'm trying to move forward the best I can with the cards I've been dealt. I'll spend all my time and energy trying to play the best I can when I get back.

Your first game back will be in Adelaide against the Power, what are you expecting?

I'll probably be a bit nervous having sat out for so long. I'll be anxious to get out there and put my best foot forward and hit the ground running. It will be a bit of an odd one going back to Adelaide for the first one I play for my new side, but that's the way it is. There will be a lot of things going through my head.

Kurt Tippett leaves the AFL Commission with his legal counsel David Gallbally. Picture: Norm Oorloff Source: adelaidenow

Do you think there will be Crows supporters turning up to give you some stick?

Quite possibly. Hopefully there are some people there to support me.

An unnamed Adelaide player said your name was mud and that it would be hard for you to have any relationship with the your former teammates. How do you feel about that?

There was a lot of emotion floating around at that time. It wasn't a perfect situation or a perfect exit from a football
club. It's not the way you would like to leave.

In saying there was a set of circumstances and things evolved in a certain way. It wasn't ideal, I understand
that. But, in moving forward, I don't see why things should change. Friends are friends, teammates are teammates and I think everyone respects and understands why people do certain things, looking after their future and making themselves as happy as they can.

You said when you departed Adelaide that you wanted to maintain contact with your teammates. Have you?

Yes. I played there for six years and have a lot of good friends in Adelaide whether they be teammates or people outside the football club.

How did you feel being cast as the villain?

I didn't enjoy it at all. In challenging times, you learn a lot about yourself.

You're joining the premier, does that make it an even bigger challenge?

I know I'm coming into a very good side and a very well respected side. That's exciting for me because I know I'll get the best out of myself as a footballer. I hope to make this team even better if I can.

Kurt Tippett wrestles with Swans big man Mike Pyke. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph

You are going to sit out the first half of the season, how are you going to handle that?

I've had brief discussions about it. I guess the first thing is to prepare like I'm going to play in Round 1.

The intra-club matches will be your only game practice before you play. Does that give them extra importance?

I'm going to concentrate on every session from now until the guys ease back from training into their preparation to play because it's also important for me to learn the way my teammates play and the game plan and the structures.

Each session, I'm really going to treasure because having the whole squad out there training at 100 per cent is not going to happen for very long.
 

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Dane Swan in career-best shape

Dane Swan takes part in match simulation during Collingwood's family day at Victoria Park. Picture: Scott Chris Source: Herald Sun

COLLINGWOOD midfielder Dane Swan says his fitness levels and motivation to perform this season are at career-high levels.

And engine room partner Dale Thomas is confident he will be fit to play in Round 1, despite Nathan Buckley's prediction that ankle surgery will keep the star out of the side for "months".

Thomas said yesterday he intends to begin running next week, while Swan continued his impressive pre-season campaign in the club's hour-long match simulation session at Victoria Park yesterday.

The Brownlow Medalist has been unfazed by criticism of his off-field lifestyle and proved he was in top shape, posting a series of personal best time-trial results over summer.

"It's certainly been one of the best (pre-seasons) for a long time,'' Swan said at the club's family day.

"I came back (from the Christmas break) in reasonably good condition, so that always helps.

"I've just done everything that's been asked of me so far and ran personal bests in all my time-trails, (so there's) not much more I can ask for.''

The Pies served the 28-year-old with a two-game suspension for an alcohol-related indiscretion last year, prompting speculation about his future at the club.

Summer Barometer: Track the Pies' pre-season

But the three-time best-and-fairest winner said he was committed to helping lead the Pies to on-field success this season.

"I actually feel pretty good and feel pretty keen to get back out there, which is probably changed compared to a couple of other pre-seasons,'' he said.

"I just can't wait to get back out there and get amongst it.

"While I've got 'Johnno' (Ben Johnson) and 'Dids' (Alan Didak) here, they make me feel pretty young, because they're getting pretty old, so while I'm here I feel pretty youthful.''

Picture gallery: Collingwood family day

Buckley cast doubt on Thomas's ability to be ready for Round 1 this week but the line-breaker said he wanted to play in the season-opener against North Melbourne.

"It depends who you ask, Nathan said I was a couple of months away, so hopefully I am a bit quicker than that,'' Thomas said.

"(I'm) Aiming for Round 1, so hopefully (I'll) get back running next week, get some decent training in.

"If all goes to plan, (I'll play) Round 1, or hopefully a week or two earlier.''

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Hamstring scare for Judd

Chris Judd is experiencing some tightness in a hamstring. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

CARLTON will take a "super cautious" approach with champion Chris Judd after a tight right hamstring forced him off the training track on Friday.

The setback reinforced Carlton's decision to rest its former skipper from an intraclub practice match on Wednesday, although they hope Judd will be ready to play in Round 1 of the NAB Cup in Sydney in three weeks.

"It was just some tightness in his right hammy and he felt it coming on so he decided to come off the track," Carlton's general manager of football Andrew McKay said on Sunday.

"The medicos think he'll be fine, we're just going to be super cautious. We'll see how he pulls up. If it doesn't free up in the next couple of days we'll send him off for a scan."

McKay said Judd would be one of several senior players rested from match simulation on Wednesday, the same day the Blues plan to reveal their new clash jumper.

Carlton's opening NAB Cup involvement is a twilight engagement with the Swans and the Giants at Blacktown on February 24.

Meanwhile, Blues ruckman Matthew Kreuzer believes he has learned to listen to his body, and hopes to have put three injury-interrupted seasons behind him.

Knee, hip, foot and muscle injuries have limited Kreuzer to 45 games since 2005, and have at times reduced his effectiveness.

"You don't want to miss a game if you can, so you've just got to cope with it and find ways around it," he told the club website.

"Some weeks you do this and other weeks you do that, and you work out what works best for you. I learnt a lot about how I've got to manage my body, so I'll take a lot of things from last year and put them in place this year.

"It was a tough year but I took a lot out of it. And it was like that for the whole club because we had a lot of injuries and had to play a few players out of position."

Kreuzer, 23, conceded that injury niggles meant he "wasn't the greatest kick" last season, but hopes that will have been addressed by off-season surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee.

"Last year it was just hard to find time to work on it because I was on a tight schedule as to how much (training) I could do during the week," he said.

"Hopefully this year I wont have any of those problems and I can do every session. If that's what happens, I think my kicking will definitely improve, and everything else will too."
 

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Auld tackles drug issue front on

Gold Coast Suns CEO Travis Auld was part of a special AFL committee at this week's drug summit. Picture: David Clark Source: Gold Coast Bulletin

TRAVIS Auld strode into Wednesday's summit determined to get a spot on the frontline of the AFL's war on drugs.

Ever since he arrived on the Gold Coast as the CEO of the AFL's 17th side, Auld had heard the horror stories warning him of the dangers lurking in the shadowy corners of Surfer's Paradise.

The club's location on the outskirts of Sin City, coupled with the fact the side was predominantly filled with teenaged draftees, was supposed to mean the Suns faced unique cultural risks.

That myth was one of many shattered during the summit when one expert presented data that showed Queensland fell well behind Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales in the availability of drugs and recorded drug related crimes.

But just because his players weren't likely to slip over on a bag of pills every time they ventured out at night, does not mean the risks aren't there.

"I don't have heightened concerns about our players, but I am a realist," Auld said. "I know what goes on in society and I am aware they are exposed to the same temptations as other 18 to 29-year-olds."

Auld was in the room during last year's draft on the Gold Coast when Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert called for a summit with an impassioned plea that something had to be done about the "serious issue" of drugs.

If the most powerful club in football felt powerless against the threat of drugs, what hope did the newbies have?

Auld got his wish when he was appointed alongside big guns Pert, Ian Robson (Essendon), the AFLPA and drug experts on the special AFL committee that was formed to tackle the issue and propose changes to the league's existing Illicit Drugs Policy.

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And he supports proposals to reveal to clubs the identity of players who record positive strikes and is all for tightening the regulations around the self reporting loophole to eradicate the risk of abuse by players.

"Clubs are a lot more sophisticated than they were when this policy was introduced and are best placed in terms of understanding players, the pressures they face and the needs they may have," Auld said.

Auld is also determined to explore an idea that by reducing the commitments clubs place on their players, and shortening their pre-seasons, they may ease the desperation with which some players attack their rare nights out.

Another myth is that footballers were drawn to party drugs because they do not affect skinfolds like alcohol consumption does and there is less of a hangover effect.

The data presented revealed that in 97 per cent of positive tests under the AFL's illicit drug policy the players had been drinking heavily.

The AFL, the clubs and the AFL Players Association did their best to present a united front after the nine-hour talkfest, but there remains one key battleground -- when and how much information clubs receive about their players' drug use.

The players demand confidentiality and the AFL's medicos remain firmly behind them because they do not trust football managers and coaches.

Footy managers could wash their hands of a problem by trading out players with a strike beside their name, while coaches could take the information with them if they switched clubs.
 

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Buddy suspends contract talks

HAWTHORN superstar Lance Franklin has told the club he will not discuss a new contract until the end of the season, sparking fears he may leave.

Franklin is a restricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning he can entertain offers from rival clubs.

The Hawks said yesterday they made a "very good offer" to Franklin -- understood to have been between $900,000 and $1 million a season for up to four years -- and were stunned when told this week all negotiations were off until the end of September.

The offer also included a healthy slice of the club's marketing allowance.

"Buddy has made it pretty clear he'd prefer to leave the discussions to the end of the 2013 season," Hawthorn's head of football Mark Evans said.

Franklin's manager Liam Pickering said last night: "Buddy has 12 months to go on his contract and he wants to concentrate on playing.

"He said he didn't want the distraction of a contract and he has advised me talks are off until the end of the season.

"He doesn't want to entertain discussions and, whilst Hawthorn aren't happy, that's how it is, unfortunately."

Will Buddy be the next Gary Ablett?

Hawthorn is unable to pay Franklin market value as skipper Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell are on massive contracts, and Cyril Rioli, Jarryd Roughead, Grant Birchall, Brian Lake, Jordan Lewis and Brad Sewell are on sizeable deals.

Fremantle has been linked to Franklin, though the Dockers have not spoken to Pickering. Last year the Dockers offered Collingwood's Travis Cloke about $1.1 million for five years, but failed to land him. 

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The expectation is Franklin, who is from Western Australia, would be offered more than Cloke.

The Hawks yesterday confirmed six months of discussions had hit a brick wall this week.

Evans admitted Franklin's decision had rocked the club and already there were fears the constant talk about Franklin's future would become a major distraction, as it did at Collingwood with Cloke.

"It is not an ideal situation because we'd prefer to close off the distraction for Buddy, for the club, for supporters, for Pickers, and have a free run at our 2013 campaign," Evans said.

"We've been having a number of discussions over the past 5 1/2 months, and we've put together what we think is a very good offer, and Pickers is on record as saying it is respectable.

"Obviously, we had a few things to sort out.

"We know our offer is a strong offer, but at the moment it's not that the offer hasn't been accepted or rejected, it's only the discussions have been put off until the end of the season."

Lance Franklin tells Hawthorn he will not discuss a new deal until the end of the year, sparking fears at the Hawks that he may walk.

The Hawks accept Franklin can explore free agency.

"He's a free agent at the end of 2013 and he's got every right to proceed with contract discussions as he wants to," Evans said.

Despite Franklin's decision to cease discussions, the Hawks said they would endeavour to keep contact.

"We need to make sure we have regular contact with Pickers and Buddy and, should the situation change, our door is open," Evans said.

Pickering also manages Gary Ablett, who left Geelong for Gold Coast after announcing at the start of 2010 that contract talks were on hold until the end of the year.

Greater Western Sydney's Tom Scully said the same, then left Melbourne.

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