AFL 2023: North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood updates fans on cancer battle, Tim Membrey injury another blow to Saints
North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood is ‘doing OK’ – and she delivered an inspirational message after the club’s intra-club match on Saturday.
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North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood says she’s “doing ok” and won’t miss a minute of the Kangaroos’ start to the 2023 season as she prepares to undergo surgery in the coming weeks.
Hood revealed to members earlier this month that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and would be taking a short leave of absence before returning to her role.
But in an address to fans and members on Saturday after the club’s intra-club match at Arden St, she said she will be actively supporting the team as she recovers.
“I will be shouting at the telly, tearing my hair out at the commentary, trying to maintain my calm about the umpiring. And I will be back at the ground as soon as humanly possible,” Dr Hood said.
Hood has been the catalyst for significant change at the struggling Kangaroos, being heavily involved in the appointment of four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson and newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Jennifer Watt as well as countless restructuring of roles.
Hood said she shares the fans’ love for the “messiah” Clarkson, but stressed the Roos’ revival would not be a one-man operation.
“He’s brilliant, and kind, and funny, and completely mad. Like all of you, I love him to bits,” she said.
Hood said that there is still plenty to do to stoke the club back into being a competitive force again, as the Kangaroos attempt to avoid a hat-trick of wooden spoons.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, and that’s all of us. We have to be united. We have to work together, and we have to work hard if we want to get this club to where it should be,” Hood said.
North Melbourne will face Richmond and the Western Bulldogs in their upcoming practice matches before facing last year’s 17th placed West Coast in a round one clash where “the Clarkson era will truly begin.”
Fresh injury leaves Saints with a tall order
– Chris Cavanagh
St Kilda has been dealt another injury blow just a month out from Round 1, with key forward Tim Membrey having undergone minor knee surgery on Thursday.
The Saints remain hopeful that Membrey will be fit to tackle Fremantle on March 19, but he will miss the club’s two pre-season matches against Melbourne and Essendon in what shapes as a far from ideal preparation.
St Kilda is already without fellow key forwards Max King (shoulder), Jack Hayes (foot) and Matt Allison (foot) for the start of the home-and-away season.
“The reports are all good,” St Kilda forwards coach Robert Harvey said of Membrey’s surgery.
“He’s had a full summer. He’s barely missed a session. We’re really happy with where he’s at. It’s a minor setback but we’re totally expecting that he’ll be back for Round 1.”
Membrey, 28, finished as St Kilda’s second-highest goalkicker behind King last season with 34 majors from 22 games.
He has kicked 34 or more goals in six of the past seven seasons.
While Harvey said King was “right on track” with his recovery from shoulder surgery and was “looking forward to getting back”, his absence for the start of the season will force the Saints to play a smaller forward line.
Senior coach Ross Lyon said on Thursday that with the growing list of injured talls, St Kilda would have to look to the Richmond 2017 model of trying to bring the ball to ground in attack to “manufacture some goals” through their smalls.
The Saints signed 19-year-old key forward Anthony Caminiti through the AFL’s Supplemental Selection Period on Monday, but Harvey warned that he was unlikely to start the season in the senior side.
“Talls can take time,” Harvey said.
“He’s coming from a long way back. What I will say is he’s attacking it so well, he’s got great attributes, he’s athletic, he’s a good size at 198cm, he launches at the footy really well. So we’re excited but we won’t get too ahead of ourselves with Round 1.”
HOW DO THE CATS FILL A HAWKINS-SIZED HOLE?
– Jay Clark
Geelong will experiment with its forward structure in the pre-season matches in the likely event superstar forward Tom Hawkins misses the season-opener against Collingwood.
Hawkins, 34, has made an excellent recovery from surgery on his foot to fix a bone stress injury and remains on track to return within the first month of the season.
Hawkins has completed the straight-line running phase of his rehabilitation and is set to ramp up his lateral movement and agility program over the next week.
It is a huge relief for the Cats as they embark on their premiership defence after a bumper trade period landed the club three top end talents Oliver Henry, Jack Bowes and Tanner Bruhn.
Top draft pick Jhye Clark has also impressed with his midfield composure over summer and could press for early selection in 2023, adding to the selection logjam for coach Chris Scott.
Henry has been one of the stand-outs on the track over summer trailing in a half back and wing position, but the former Magpie could also spend time forward in the practice match games.
Henry booted 25 goals for Collingwood last year but lost his spot to Ash Johnson for the finals series one month before his trade request to join his brother Jack in blue and white.
Jack Henry could also be the man to swing forward to help replace Hawkins, having played in attack at times for the Cats, underlining his enormous flexibility as a swingman.
The Cats remain open-minded about their forward structure in Hawkins absence with back-up tall Shannon Neale (ankle) also in a race against time to be fit for the clash against Collingwood.
It means Geelong could turn to either Jack or Oliver Henry as a key forward, unleash a smaller structure including Gary Rohan at full forward, or rotate two rucks in Rhys Stanley and Jon Ceglar through the front half for the clash against Hawthorn on Thursday night at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats take on Brisbane Lions in the official practice match game on Thursday, March 2.
Premiership ruckmen Stanley and Ceglar (from Hawthorn at the end of 2021) have only played one game together – in the Round 21 win over St Kilda last year.
The Hawks and Cats have agreed to play eight quarters on Thursday, giving the two clubs considerable flexibility to trial different setups and combinations.
Who partners Jeremy Cameron in attack early will be the biggest question facing the Cats heading into the season-opener as they attempt to go back-to-back, an achievement which evaded the club throughout its triple-premiership era in 2007-2011.
In the backs of the Geelong coaches’ minds will be Collingwood’s A-Grade defensive set up with captain Darcy Moore (infection) also attempting to be available for the blockbuster season-opener.
The Magpies went down by only six points to the reigning premier in the qualifying final last year which Moore said gave the Magpies confidence they could go all the way this year.
But Hawkins won’t be far away from rejoining his premiership teammates with the goal kicker eyeing a return in the first month of the season.
It has been a near flawless recovery for the veteran who has remained hungry to help lead the Cats back to the top in 2023 after the fairytale retirement of his great mate Joel Selwood last year.
Hawkins is contracted until the end of the season and will consider his future then as the Cats continue to stagger the retirements of its premiership heroes.
In a massive boost to the Cats list boss Andrew Mackie secured the signatures of premiership stars Tyson Stengle and Sam De Koning over summer.
NEALE AMONG FRONTRUNNERS AS LIONS SEARCH FOR NEW SKIPPER
- Glenn McFarlane
The Brisbane Lions are on the hunt for a new skipper after veteran Dayne Zorko made the decision to step down from the role after almost five years.
Zorko told his teammates earlier this week that he did not wish to be a part of the leadership voting process, with Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage and Harris Andrews considered to be the frontrunners.
The 34-year-old took over the role from Dayne Beams during the 2018 season and helped to transform the Lions into a finals force again.
Zorko came under fire six months ago when he had to apologise to Melbourne defender Harrison Petty over an “inappropriate comment” made during a heated clash at the Gabba, which led some to question whether he should stay in the role.
The veteran midfielder/forward, who has played 230 games in 11 seasons with the Lions, told the club now was the right time to hand over the role to a new skipper.
He wants to help the transition in whatever way he can, eager to assist the new leadership structure.
“It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to lead a club with such incredible history and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be at its helm the past five years,” Zorko said.
“Over my years as captain, I’m proud to have helped the club be more respected again among the AFL world and to have helped lead the charge in the successes we’ve had on the field. I step down at a time when the club is in really good hands and entering a new chapter.
“It’s something I have really, really thought about (stepping down) and wanted to do. I’m obviously coming towards the end of my career so I feel the timing is right to let the new leader find their own feet in the role. I’ll be there to support them the whole way in whatever way I can.”
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan paid tribute to Zorko and the way he had helped unite the young Lions.
“Dayne leaves an exceptional legacy after holding the captaincy at such a pivotal time in Lions history,” Fagan said.
“He took over half-way through my second year. His leadership and drive have been key factors in our performance improvement, and you simply can’t argue with what the team has achieved under his captaincy.
“His achievements have extended off the field too, Dayne is a true clubman and has always been one to put his hand up for the good of the club.
“Dayne understands young leaders and I have no doubt he’ll help mentor our next captain.
“He is a fearless player, with a fierce determination in his own performance and also that of the team. Dayne will always be recognised as one of Brisbane’s most influential skippers.”
The Lions will vote on a new captain in the coming weeks, with the decision expected to be ratified by the club’s pre-season clash with Geelong on March 2.
‘ROCKY’ START TIPPED FOR FOOTY’S NEW UMPIRE SYSTEM
Jon Ralph
Footy’s most experienced umpire Shane McInerney has warned AFL fans to prepare for a rocky introduction to the four-official system given depth concerns and the “diluted” influence of the game’s best whistleblowers.
The AFL is considered certain to implement four field umpires for each game after a successful four-round trial in the NTFL, but is yet to officially inform clubs of the new format.
AFL umpires to participate in that trial reported less high-speed running and a greater capacity to cover all angles with four senior umpires instead of three.
The league has already hired eight new umpires to take its pool from 34 to 42, with 36 to be called upon each round.
The league will continue to trial four umpires in official practice matches and is confident it will allow more accurate decision making through better positioning instead of over-officiated games.
As well as elevating eight state-league umpires the AFL has lost second-year umpire Michael Pell, stood down over a Brownlow Medal voting controversy but considered an excellent decision-maker in 16 debut-season games.
At this stage the AFL’s veteran umpires will not officiate in a second game each weekend, so at least four new umpires will be blooded in round 1.
The AFL’s plan in early rounds is to match up a senior umpire with a younger trio and give them a string of games to build communication as an umpiring team.
McInerney, who retired after umpiring a league-high 500 games, told the Herald Sun he could see the benefits of the system but said it would take time to bed down.
“It will certainly allow those guys with experience to stay in the game longer and I was the beneficiary of that later in my career with the change from two umpires to three umpires,” McInerney said.
“But the challenge is the depth of talent you have to tap into. In any normal year they might debut two or three umpires. They will have to debut seven or eight umpires. That is a really big challenge.
“It makes perfect sense why they would want four umpires out there. But from a numbers point of view you have your top nine umpires effectively umpiring a third of a game each. Now you have those top nine umpires only umpiring a quarter of a game. It is diluting in some way the influence the more experienced guys could have.
“I would have thought it opened up the opportunity to use the more senior guys twice. Put them at the bookends of the weekend. Bringing seven or eight new guys in who have never umpired AFL football, I think we all appreciate how extraordinary the gap is from state league to AFL level.
“The move to four was probably inevitable but people are going to need to be patient as we work out how best to use the umpires.”
There is less flexibility to hand three elite umpires the game’s biggest round like Anzac Day or a blockbuster Friday night clash but if the league can eventually build depth it will have more options.
The league believes expanding the pool of umpires to 42 will provide a greater visible pathway for state league umpires who are aspiring to make the grade.
Umpires typically run 12-14km a game and while the NT trial saw them running similar distances it was at a lesser intensity.
Umpires in the past have reported fatigue as one issue that hampers their performances so it is hoped a lesser workload will help them.
The AFL’s Grand Final umpires last year included 43-year-old Matt Stevic and 47-year-old Simon Meredith, so a lesser workload will allow officials including 46-year-old Ray Chamberlain to prolong their careers.
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