AFL Now: Latest updates, injury lists, tribunal and team news on Tuesday ahead of Gather Round
AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh will depart the game in May for cricket, but the boss of the players’ association says he still has much to achieve before leaving footy.
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Outgoing AFLPA boss Paul Marsh is hopeful of negotiating a way out of the quagmire of negotiations with the AFL over a new drugs policy before he swaps footy for cricket.
Marsh announced on Tuesday he would depart his post as AFLPA CEO at the end of next month and return to cricket by taking up the equivalent post at the Australian Cricketer’s Association.
One of a group of things left as he begins to pack up his desk, the AFLPA and the league go back and forth on a new illicit drugs policy.
Marsh said the players were still waiting on details from Sport Integrity Australia after it believed the AFL handed over a list of players for target testing.
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“I am still here until the end of May, we’re working on that and we’ll see where it lands,” he said.
“We’ll certainly try. It is a complex issue but we’ve got the best part of two months to work through it.
“There’s two issues that are running parallel with the drugs policy. There’s the actual negotiation of what it looks like.
“Then there is the Sport Integrity Australia issue that we’re waiting on some answers from the AFL around what’s taking place there.
“I think that’s an important part of this. We won’t actually get an outcome until we understand what’s taken place and whether that was appropriate. The ball is in the AFL’s court on that at the moment.”
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said the league will “look forward to working with Paul in finalising a number of initiatives before his departure, including strengthening the illicit drug policy and also working through the final changes to the injury and hardship Fund to provide increased support for former players, including those who have suffered the impact of concussion”.
The constant push and pull over the drugs policy is something Marsh will leave behind when he returns to the summer game.
Having recently chaired a subcommittee for the World Cricketer’s Association into international fixtures and revenue distribution, Marsh had his toe dipped back into cricket already before the ACA came knocking.
The son of legendary cricket figure Rod, Marsh said cricket was “in my blood”.
“I’ve been lucky enough that the AFLPA about 10 years ago tapped me on the shoulder and asked to be part of a process and the same thing happened with cricket and it was a good conversation,” he said.
“It has been a really difficult decision, I love what I do. I love the people we work with, it was just the timing and these things don’t come up all the time.”
In close to 11 years running the AFLPA, Marsh oversaw a dramatic increase in player wages, with the average salary of AFL players up to $459,173 last year.
He also led AFLW players further into professionalism, while navigating Covid.
“It is often hard when you are sitting on opposite sides of the table but I have always respected Paul’s commitment to the playing group and to issues that are important to players,” Dillon said.
AFLPA president Darcy Moore, who replaced Patrick Dangerfield in that role last month, said Marsh “has been a true player advocate”.
He will soon begin the hunt for Marsh’s replacement.
AFLPA board chair Kristen Hilton said the player body “will immediately begin the process of appointing the new CEO”.
In an expansive session with the media on Tuesday, Marsh also revealed:
- THE ongoing AFLPA investigation into Christian Petracca’s traumatic King’s Birthday injuries has yet to appoint a panel to oversee evidence of the incident.
The AFLPA has begun looking into how and why the Melbourne star was let back on the field with a lacerate spleen, four broken ribs and a punctured lung, and what medical facilities were available at the MCG that day.
The injury occurred on King’s Birthday in June.
“We are still putting the final touches on the panel, the approach, but we will work with the AFL on that,” Marsh said.
“There has been a fair bit of work don't on it, in terms of understanding what took place at the time and we have spoken to a lot of people, the AFL has spoken to a lot of people. In terms of the information gathering, it has largely been done but now it is about what does that all mean.”
- OSCAR Allen’s meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell and the subsequent media firestorm was “blown completely out of proportion”.
“There’s players doing this all the time, the players get this, they respect each other as individuals,” Marsh said.
“I have spoken to a lot of players about this and they’re wondering why such a big issue has been made of this because it is happening all the time.”
Marsh said the firestorm around the Eagles captain meant no player in the foreseeable future would go public mid-season on a desire to move clubs, which is common practice in the NRL.
“There is no incentive for players to announce this stuff,” he said.
- MENTAL health remains the No.1 issue in the game for players.
In Marsh’s time, clubs have taken strides forward to help the mental health of players, including adding psychologists to every AFL club.
“One of the things we do annually is we survey the players and get a sense of what their big issues are and mental health has been consistently the No.1 issue for the players,” he said.
“One of the things we are really proud of is the reform we have led throughout the industry. I think this is a high pressure industry and we have come a long way in this space in the last 10 or so years.”
- INTENSE scrutiny from the media was “going to be a bigger challenge going forward”.
“You would like to see a little bit more rationality in the media, I guess everyone is competing now for who can make the boldest, biggest statement,” he said.
Originally published as AFL Now: Latest updates, injury lists, tribunal and team news on Tuesday ahead of Gather Round
Hawthorn star Will Day is set to miss up to four months with a stress fracture in his foot that will require immediate surgery.
In a sensational revelation on the eve of Gather Round, the Hawks young gun pulled up sore after a training session on the weekend with a scan on Monday revealing a fracture in the navicular bone in his foot.
It is the same foot that he injured at the beginning of 2024, but a different issue.
“In this instance, surgery is required to fix the fracture,” Hawks head doctor Liam West said on Tuesday afternoon.
Hawthorn is better placed than ever to counter the long-term loss of playmaker Will Day, a Hawks great has declared, as the young gun faces up to four months on the sidelines.
Day had surgery on Tuesday night on a stress fracture in the navicular bone in his foot – the same foot that troubled him in 2024 – after reporting soreness after training on the weekend.
Scans on Monday revealed the fracture with the surgery hoped to reduce the risk of further issues in the future.
While five-time premiership Hawk and AFL Hall of Fame member Dermott Brereton would have been concerned at the lack of the star at this time last year, he is confident the premiership favourites are well-placed in his absence.
St Kilda forward Max King has suffered a setback with his troublesome knee after getting close to a return to footy.
The Saint was a chance to play in Gather Round, but the club confirmed on Tuesday he would not return.
He is now listed as ‘TBC’ on the club’s injury list, with St Kilda calling it “slight setbacks” to his and Dan Butler’s respective injuries.
While Butler’s return has been pushed back by 2-3 weeks, King will receive additional assessment this week to determine the severity.
In more positive news, skipper Jack Steele will be a test to return after he missed the past two games.
He was a late out in round 3, then was named and then withdrawn for round 4.
Nathan Wardius might have kicked 149 goals in 49 games in the Hume League playing for Rand-Walbundrie-Walla, but his eight goals for the Giants in their massive VFL win over Sandringham are a sign that higher honours might be coming his way.
The 20-year-old forward was plucked out of rural footy – and from working on the family sheep farm – ahead of the 2024 season as a Category B rookie. And while shin splints kept him on the sidelines for a large chunk of his debut season, he’s quickly been brought up to speed with the rigours of being a professional footballer.
After a dominant pre-season where he regularly impressed in intra-club match simulations, Wardius has gone on to kick 10 goals in the Giants’ first two VFL games of the year. His bag of eight last Sunday featured cunning forward craft, his ability to break tackles and a few marks to add to the highlight reel.
“I’ve had an 11 and a nine (goal game in country footy), but it’s definitely my best all-round performance,” Wardius said.
Luckless Lion Brandon Starcevich has run for the first time since his concussion in a significant step in his recovery.
While there remains no timeframe on any return for the 25-year-old premiership Lion, he continues to be assessed with Tuesday’s progression another crucial step in his concussion battle.
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Starcevich entered concussion protocols for the second time this year after the team’s Round 1 victory over Sydney, which followed concussions last July and also in the pre-season community series – a total of three within eight months, including two within weeks.
This masthead reported last month that Starcevich was undergoing a raft of neurological tests and that a two-year deal remained on the table for him.
Defender-ruck Mark Blicavs and emerging midfielder Mitch Knevitt are pressing to return for Geelong’s Gather Round blockbuster against Adelaide as the Cats consider how to replace their top key defender Jack Henry.
Veteran ruckman Rhys Stanley was a late inclusion for Blicavs (gastro) in Geelong’s win over Melbourne and impressed Cats coach Chris Scott, while Knevitt was managed with a plantar fascia complaint.
Knevitt, listed as an emergency last Friday night, and Blicavs both appeared unaffected during match simulation and running at the Cats’ main session on Tuesday.
AFL players will redouble their efforts to reduce revenue-raising after over $150,000 in fines were collected by the league in the first five weeks of the season.
The eye-watering figures came despite the AFL and AFLPA agreeing on a reduction in the first offence fines that means players now accept only a $1000 fine with a guilty plea.
But of the players fined across the weekend 11 were for second or third offences, which have fines which remain unchanged.
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The AFL said last year every dollar raised from tribunal and MRO fines goes to concussion research but it will not stop the player union pushing for lower fines.
Adelaide forward Izak Rankine is in doubt for Thursday’s blockbuster Gather Round match against Geelong with a calf issue.
Crows coach Matthew Nicks revealed that Rankine didn’t train on Monday after picking up the injury in the thrilling loss to Gold Coast.
“We will do a captain”s run tomorrow, which we’d like to see him get involved in but we will just see how he pulls up,” Nicks said.
“He’s got a knock to the calf and it’s an area that has some bleeding there.
Embattled West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen remains a “great leader” and has the support of his playing group despite revelations of a meeting with Hawthorn and reports he was asked to step down from his captaincy role.
Jack Graham, who joined the Eagles after playing in three premierships with Richmond, said Allen’s teammates were unmoved by revelations of a meeting with Hawks coach Sam Mitchell as he weighs up his future.
Allen fronts media after Hawks meeting |
Last week, Allen made a public apology and said he was “embarrassed” and “remorseful” after fronting up to the players with unconfirmed reports that club chief executive Don Pyke asked him to step down from the captaincy.
The Eagles went on to be smashed by GWS last week and remain winless through four rounds of the season.
AFL Rising Star nominee Levi Ashcroft intends to further “prove” himself in a variety of positions to cement his spot in Brisbane’s premiership-winning outfit.
In just his fourth AFL appearance, Ashcroft, 18, secured his Rising Star nomination with a 22-disposal performance that included a goal, four marks, four intercept possessions and six score involvements in the Lions’ 28-point weekend win over Richmond at the MCG.
“As premiers, it’s a pretty good team to be coming into, so I just wanted to put my best foot forward and hopefully play as early as I possibly could,” Ashcroft said.
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“That’s what I’ve done, but I’m still ready to prove myself for the rest of the year.”
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