AFL
- Players could be in line for a bumper pay rise of up to 20 per cent this year alone, as drawn-out negotiations with AFL powerbrokers near a conclusion.
- AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh is confident an end to the competition’s long-running pay saga is near but he isn’t making any promises that it will be done by Round 1.
- AFL Players’ Association board member Scott Pendlebury will not rule out strikes as a last-gasp option if negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement break down.
- Andrew Hamilton writes in the Courier-Mail that the Gabba is the Lions’ home ground and if their women’s side earns a home grand final, it’s only fair that’s where it is played.
- Michealangelo Ruci writes in the Advertiser that more games should be played outside major cities. He also writes that even at these remote games the AFL is now seeking to claim costs from the gate.
- North Melbourne will donate $5 from the sale of every ticket from its historic Good Friday contest to the Royal Children’s Hospital appeal. The match will be badged as the Kick For The Kids, with the AFL and its organisers hoping to turbocharge proceeds for the Good Friday Appeal. The $5 donation will come from the sale of all reserved seats and general admission tickets for the twilight contest.
- The Transport Accident Commission has ended its six-figure sponsorship of the Geelong Football Club, less than two weeks after captain Joel Selwood was caught speeding. The move will end a deal worth an estimated $250,000 annually and the 11-year partnership between the organisations. Selwood’s indiscretion is the fourth road-related incident the Cats have faced in recent years.
- The AFL’s historic stand against moving potentially sold-out games from Etihad Stadium to the MCG looks unlikely to change despite the league’s new position as landlord at the Docklands venue. The current Essendon deal states that the club can move games to the MCG should all parties agree upon a predicted attendance of at least 60,000. But the AFL has regularly refused to move games for a variety of logistical reasons and is privately saying that long-held practice is unlikely to change.
- Caroline Wilson writes in The Age that Australian rules has fallen well behind the NRL in terms of its media coverage and certainly its pay TV broadcaster.
A-league
- Mark Bosnich and fellow former internationals Josip Skoko, Josh Kennedy and Melissa Barbieri believe a lack of football experience has impacted on the FFA’s agenda.
- The Australian reports that Sydney FC wasn’t happy last time and they are unlikely to have changed their mindset following yesterday’s announcement that a franchise from Southern Sydney is aiming to make a play for a spot in the A-League when the national competition eventually expands.
- Aldi wants children to continue playing football even when they’re without a pitch, a team or ball, as part of its new sponsorship for Football Federation Australia’s MiniRoos program.
NRL
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Super-Rugby
- Australian Super Rugby teams have been asked not to re-sign any non-Wallabies players until after SANZAAR officials decide if they will axe one of Australia’s five franchises from the competition.
- BLK will remain as the official apparel supplier of the Melbourne Rebels, including its development teams, as well as providing the franchise with its training and playing apparel and merchandise range. Fellow Australian Super Rugby clubs Queensland Reds and Western Force have also opted to keep their relationships with the company alive.
