The ABC rebutts claims by the AFL that it had effectively bought the right to control which state league matches got screened by the national broadcaster, in breach of editorial independence.
AFL
Crikey Says: Crikey says: the outrage the Herald Sun paid for
What is the country’s most popular newspaper doing paying for the hotel room in which a minor, who, if she is to be believed, had s-x — and perhaps imbibed alcohol with — a man 30 years her senior?
North Melbourne Football Club more viable than The Age
The Age published an agenda-driven story this week about the finances of the North Melbourne Football Club. It’s a shame they didn’t observe the most basic tenet of journalism and check the story with its target, writes Jamie Johnstone.
St Kilda sex scandal photos revealed (if it were the Renaissance)
What if the widely circulated images at the centre of the “NickiLeaks” saga of St Kilda players Nick Riewoldt, Zac Dawson and Nick Del Santo were released during the 16th century? A time before Twitter and Facebook? A time when a compromising image was considered a work of art.
The seedy year of the sports star, the smartphone and social media
Once there was a time when a sports star, from any code, could undertake any type of unseemly act, be it with human or animal, and be safe in the knowledge that the chance of it becoming public was remote.
Will the AFL’s Qantas axing see the start of clubs’ own airlines?
After the AFL axed Qantas for Virgin Blue, the West Coast Eagles are considering chartering their own planes to ferry players, and supporters, to ‘away’ matches in the eastern states, writes Back Page Lead’s Charles Happell.
AFL wordle of the week
What would it look like if you made a wordle of each AFL club to include every player who has played 50 or more games? Leigh Josey gave it a go and the results are particularly interesting when you start comparing old and new clubs.
Conroy’s coup in the weird world of anti-siphoning
Stephen Conroy has proposed a substantial overhaul of anti-siphoning — exploiting the fact that the current list doesn’t serve viewers.
AFL Draft 2010 does a Trioli
About the only thing more micro-managed than TV News and politics is the AFL and AFL clubs. They pride themselves on slick professionalism and media management — and don’t often muck up. But a few hilarious bloopers unfolded yesterday, notes Leigh Josey.
The AFL Draft: good, but not quite NBA standard yet
The AFL Draft has become a spectacle unto itself, full of gangly teenage boys and carefully manufactured events but, as Back Page Lead’s Ashley Browne writes, it has a little way to go yet.
The great lie of anti-siphoning: it doesn’t work, and it rips off sports
It’s pretty simple: anti-siphoning isn’t about protecting free-to-air viewers, it’s about ripping off sports and stifling competition. Too bad politicians and the media don’t get it.
How a footy forum troll ended up in The Age
BigFooty’s Jamie Johnstone regales the story of a friend, who by trolling on football forum BigFooty, had his lie duplicated by the mainstream media. In the end it cost Jamie a slab of beer…
The AFL and police: a co-op for years, says Guthrie
The Australian Football League and Victoria Police were sharing covert criminal information well before they hatched a secret cooperation deal in 2009, according to former Herald Sun editor-in-chief Bruce Guthrie.
The Pies’ accused: why, this time, hasn’t the media named them?
Collingwood President Eddie McGuire could hardly have foreseen the blizzard of bad PR (read: rape allegations) that has cast a pall over the Pies’ celebrations. The big question is: why haven’t the media named the alleged perpetrators?
The AFL looks back to 1970, and then beyond
This week is the perfect example of how the AFL continues to try to find a balance between tradition and expansion. And it isn’t easy, writes Ed Wyatt.
Dear AFL, don’t ditch the draw
Footy fans are still coming to grips with the first drawn AFL grand final since the 1977 decider, with many calling for extra time instead of the contentious replay rule. But, as Caroline Wilson writes, there is much to gain out of another grand final.
On the Grand Final hung result: whinging
I shouldn’t be buying into this. But I do recall watching the 1977 Grand Final with a roomful of fans in a house on the coast of the Victorian western district. When the siren went, the silence fell, recalls W H Chong.
AFL Grand Final is a tie! 68/68: “it’s a joke”
The two teams will replay the Grand Final next Saturday at 2.30pm. Oh my god.
Why the Saints will come marching in
Collingwood may be the bookies favourite to win the AFL flag tomorrow, but St Kilda has a host of experience and a craving of redemption that could get them over the line, writes Robert Walls.
How taxpayers do the heavy lifting for the AFL
One of the AFL’s greatest skills is getting governments of all persuasions to pay for its stadium infrastructure.
Video of the Day: Oh when the Saints, go marching in…
A look back at the last time St Kilda met Collingwood in an AFL grand final, when in the dying minutes of the game Barry Breen kicked a behind to win St Kilda’s only premiership by just one point.
AFL Grand Final open thread
AFL Grand Final Day is my Christmas, Easter, King Island Show Day (Tas) and International Talk Like a Pirate Day all rolled into one, writes Leigh Josey. Join in him in arguing whether the Pies or Saints will get up and who’ll win the Norm Smith.
The Brownlow Medal: the good, the bad and the ugly
It’s Australian football’s night of nights. It’s where a champion is crowned and winner Carlton captain Chris Judd deserved the gong, even if Dane Swan didn’t deserve the gratuitous disappointment camera shots, says Leigh Josey.
All-Australian, all right, apart from one small sin
The AFL’s All-Australian 2010 team is a decent crew with a large smattering of Collingwood and Geelong players. But there was one glaring omission: Saints star Lenny Hayes didn’t get picked.
