That's a wrap for today's footy news as the footy season moves another day closer!
Re-cap all the headlines below from March 3, 2020.
Nick Riewoldt warns St Kilda fans to temper expectations on prized youngster Max King, footy news from March 3, 2020
He is St Kilda's great white hope. Prized youngster Max King has attracted plenty of buzz before playing a game, but the man who wore the coveted No.12 before him has issued a warning to the Saints faithful.
St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt says prodigy Max King should embrace the hype.
But Riewoldt has warned Saints fans against heaping pressure on their prized draft pick.
“He hasn’t played a senior game yet, but we’re all really excited about the raw athleticism that we see on display,” Riewoldt said.
“There’s no denying that he’s an exciting talent and we all hope that he goes really well and gets some continuity.
“As a young player who plays a similar position, albeit about three inches shorter, I think we just need to temper those expectations a little bit.
“You want to be able to play every week and stay out on the park and contribute and play your role. Internally I think that would be the expectation for him.”
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Having been sidelined with knee and ankle injuries in his first year, King is expected to debut in Round 1 against North Melbourne on March 22.
Riewoldt encouraged St Kilda to keep him in the senior side.
“It builds resilience to play those players every week. You develop a lot by doing that, and that can carry you throughout your entire career … I’m confident he’ll be fine,” Riewoldt said
at Tuesday’s launch of Maddie’s Match and Ride for Maddie to raise money to fight bone marrow failure.
“I think my advice would be almost not to shy away from it [the expectations]. Use the expectations to drive you, to drive you in your preparation, and your commitment to get the best out of yourself every day.
“From the conversations I’ve had with Max and from what I’ve witnessed, he is a really driven individual so I think he’s going to be able to handle those expectations.”
“He’s in a great spot to be able to perform.”
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Stand-in Saints captain Tim Membrey said if King became a target for opposition players, then they would have his back.
“If they [opposition] do decide to go for Max, then good luck to them,” Membrey said.
“ He’s a pretty big boy and he can hold his own, but I’m sure everyone will be looking out for him.”
Updates
Mark Robinson
It’s as vivid as it is gut-wrenching for Brett Ratten.
He had only been in bed for a couple of hours.
Then an assistant coach at Hawthorn, he had helped manufacture a win over Geelong at the MCG by six goals.
At 5am the doorbell rang. What happens next was the worst nightmare any parent could experience.
Gut-wrenching moment Ratten's life changed
Mark Robinson
It’s as vivid as it is gut-wrenching for Brett Ratten.
He had only been in bed for a couple of hours.
Then an assistant coach at Hawthorn, he had helped manufacture a win over Geelong at the MCG by six goals.
At 5am the doorbell rang. What happens next was the worst nightmare any parent could experience.
Blues recruit Jack Martin and Docker Andrew Brayshaw will challenge their alleged incident of careless contact with an umpire.
The pair was offered a $1,000 fine with an early plea but their two clubs have opted to contest the charge via a written submission, risking an elevated $1,500 sanction.
Through new AFL rule, clubs can now challenge financial sanctions in writing with a single legally trained jury member deciding whether their challenge has been successful.
It means players won't need to attend the tribunal when challenging minor incidents.
An outcome is expected to be known by tomorrow morning.
Is it worthy of a fine? Watch the incident via the tweet below.
Pies midfielder Taylor Adams has accepted his $2,000 fine handed down by the MRO last night for his high bump on Nick Vlastuin.
Adams shepherded Vlastuin, who was standing on the mark, and caught him unawares in the fourth quarter of their clash in Wangaratta, with the Tiger defender sustaining no injury from the blow.
The incident was assessed as careless conduct, low impact and high contact.
Adams will have extra responsibility on his shoulders with Adam Treloar (hamstring) in danger of missing Round 1.
Blue and Docker contest MRO charge... in writing?
Blues recruit Jack Martin and Docker Andrew Brayshaw will challenge their alleged incident of careless contact with an umpire.
The pair was offered a $1,000 fine with an early plea but their two clubs have opted to contest the charge via a written submission, risking an elevated $1,500 sanction.
Through new AFL rule, clubs can now challenge financial sanctions in writing with a single legally trained jury member deciding whether their challenge has been successful.
It means players won't need to attend the tribunal when challenging minor incidents.
An outcome is expected to be known by tomorrow morning.
Is it worthy of a fine? Watch the incident via the tweet below.
Pies midfielder Taylor Adams has accepted his $2,000 fine handed down by the MRO last night for his high bump on Nick Vlastuin.
Adams shepherded Vlastuin, who was standing on the mark, and caught him unawares in the fourth quarter of their clash in Wangaratta, with the Tiger defender sustaining no injury from the blow.
The incident was assessed as careless conduct, low impact and high contact.
Adams will have extra responsibility on his shoulders with Adam Treloar (hamstring) in danger of missing Round 1.
Cameron ‘shaken up’ after gang taunts
– AAP
Brisbane star Charlie Cameron admits he’s been shaken up after a local gang stole his car and gloated about it online.
The Lions forward was in Melbourne playing in the AFL State of Origin fundraiser for bushfire victims when his Mercedes was stolen from his Norman Park home.
On Sunday members of what’s known as the “Southside” gang tagged Cameron’s Instagram account in photos they posted online of themselves standing in front of an identical car.
Asked if he was OK by reporters after Lions training on Tuesday, Cameron said, “All good, just shocked.
“Obviously it’s quite disappointing what happened but I just want to thank the Queensland police for looking for it (the car), also the AFL and the people that have messaged me through Instagram and stuff.
“That’s all I can talk about at the moment.”
Cameron’s teammate Mitch Robinson had earlier urged his Twitter followers to get in touch if they had any helpful information.
The Lions will play their final pre-season fixture against Carlton in Melbourne on Sunday.
LUCY BISHOP – HERALD SUN
Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel has admitted he worried defender Conor McKenna would not return to the Bombers this year.
The Essendon runner shocked fans when he took an extended break to spend time with his family in Northern Ireland due to homesickness after five years in the AFL system.
With a worrying injury list there are still concerns over the health of the Bombers side leading into Round 1.
Shiel said he did not expect McKenna to be ready for the season-opener but was hopeful of lining up alongside him in the early rounds of the season.
While Shiel said he had not spoken to McKenna in recent weeks, he was as relieved as Bombers fans to see that the defender had returned to Australia.
“I haven’t spoken to Conor since he’s been back; we have to give him some time,” Shiel said.
“Homesickness is an issue that is common amongst a number of people, let alone someone who is living on the other side of the world.
“The club is doing everything they can to make sure that life is good for him in Melbourne and hopefully we can get him back to enjoying his life in Melbourne and enjoying his footy. Then we’ll start worrying about his performance.”
Shiel said he simply wanted the best for McKenna, whatever that was.
“Selfishly I would love to have Conor back and playing good footy but as a person, everyone just wants that individual to make sure that they’re happy and enjoying life,” Shiel said.
“The club is doing everything the best they can to make sure that everyone can get the outcome they want.
Essendon was forced to contest a strong West Coast defence on Thursday with Joe Daniher missing from the Bombers forward line. Yet, Shiel said he was confident that they have the depth through their young players to fill the gap of a key forward.
“It’s hard to judge it off one game, but it was nice to get a win against a quality team in West Coast.
“It was nice to be able to play some footy with some new players at the club and continue to build that connection that we’ve grown over the summer.
“There’s players like Darcy Parish and Andy McGrath, Dylan Clark and Kyle Langford. These guys are coming into their fourth and fifth years of footy and ready to take the next step into their development and see if they can control more load and get the core group of players to improve.”
Caddy joins Short on new Tiger deal
Following on from Jon Ralph’s earlier report that Jayden Short has signed a new deal at Richmond, Josh Caddy has also signed an extension.
Caddy will remain at the Tigers until at least the end of the 2022 season.
Former Dons link up in community footy
Ben Higgins, Northcote Leader
Fitzroy Stars has landed its second ex-AFL recruit in the space of a week.
Former Essendon star Nathan Lovett-Murray has linked up with his former Bombers teammate and Stars coach Dean Rioli.
The 145-gamer is expected to play as many as eight NFL Division 2 games as he juggles coaching duties at Brighton Grammar and St Kilda.
He joins former Port Adelaide midfielder Aidyn Johnson, who the Stars hope will play three to five games when VFL commitments with Richmond allow.
Rioli was thrilled to secure the 37-year-old’s signature.
“We had an intra-club match on Thursday night and he popped in to have a run,” he said.
Dan Batten, Dan Begala and Tim Michell are recording our latest KFC SuperCoaches Box podcast this afternoon.
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