Australia Footy

06/01/08

Australia's most annoying personality?

Garry Williams

January 06, 2008 12:00am

It's that time of year when TV viewers start to become really annoyed. The silly season is in full swing and there will no relief until ratings resume in February.

So we're going to give you a chance to vent your frustration by bringing back our Australia's Most Annoying Personality poll.

It's been about 18 months since our first survey and a lot has changed. The big news is that the three celebrities who polled the most votes last time are all gone from the jobs that made them celebrities we loved to hate.

Winner Jessica Rowe, from the Today Show, took maternity leave then quit, runner-up Gretel Killeen will not be back next year on Big Brother and third-placed Daryl Somers has left Dancing With The Stars.

Rowe is ruled out for this year's survey, but Killeen and Somers had plenty of airtime in 2007 and are fair game - and so are Rowe's Today co-host Karl Stefanovic, her latest replacement Lisa Wilkinson and celebrity reporter Richard Wilkins, who polled strongly last time.

Today's opposition, Sunrise, also featured heavily last poll - David Koch came in fourth and his co-host Melissa Doyle was 10th.

The high vote for "Kochie and Mel'' underlies how much personalities can polarise viewers.

Our nominees can take solace in the fact that most of the names we mention are high-profile, highly paid stars appearing on shows that rate well.

Being on our list is a backhand compliment - there's no point in listing nobodies such as reality show contestants, actors on advertisement or late-night quiz show hosts. Sure, they're annoying but their names aren't worth remembering.

On the current affairs front - Today Tonight's whipping girl Naomi Robson is gone, but her replacement Anna Coren could attract a few votes and A Current Affair's Tracy Grimshaw's increased profile could also make her a bigger target than the 22nd place she registered last time.

There's no one except Killeen worth nominating from Big Brother, although Biggest Loser host AJ Rochester is worth a mention.

Network's Ten's other big reality show, Australian Idol, is also good fodder for our poll. We're tipping Kyle Sandilands could be one of the year's big "improvers'', although fellow judges Mark Holden and Ian "Dicko'' Dickson could also feature. Hosts Andrew G and James Mathison also have their "admirers''.

Dancing With the Stars' co-host Sonia Kruger is in the frame now Somers has gone and judge Todd McKenney thrives as a man who viewers love to hate, much like Australia's Got Talent's Red Symons.

Perhaps the biggest surprise last time was how high multi-Gold Logie winner Rove McManus came in. At No.5, his boyish charm obviously rubbed some people up the wrong way. Watch out Adam Hills and Hamish Blake!

Rove's mate Peter "Strauchanie'' Helliar is also the sort of performer who viewers love or hate.

Deal Or No Deal and Rich List host Andrew O'Keefe is another star on the rise who, by default, would have annoyed a lot more people this year.

On the comedy front, there are a few viewers who find Kath and Kim's Jane Turner, Gina Riley and Magda Szubanski a bit too much.

But a bigger mover in 2007 was Chris Lilley. Summer Heights High made him a star but also created a lot of controversy. His Mr G character is, of course, intentionally irritating but do viewers find him genuinely annoying?

Still, Lilley, O'Keefe and Helliar are relative newcomers. There's plenty of old stagers who fall under the old "familiarity breeds contempt'' banner.

They include Bert Newton, who is loved and respected in the industry but can offend viewers with his "camp'' routines; Eddie McGuire, who has had a year he'd rather forget; morning queen Kerri-Anne Kennerely, who made headlines for her John Stamos interview; and Ray Martin, who has quit but was still around enough to raise a few hackles.

And what about the boys in sport?
Tony Greig is always a "favourite'' with that awful accent and his constant pushing of his "limited offer collectables'', but the footy crew scored more votes last time than their cricket counterparts.

The Footy Show charge will, no doubt, be lead by Sam Newman, although it will be interesting to see how relative newcomers such as James Brayshaw and Garry Lyon poll.

At Seven, Bruce "Special'' McAvaney probably leads the pack.

09/12/07

Canadian junior returns from Australian experience

Monday, December 10 2007 @ 01:08 AM EST

Contributed by: Salv

Braedon Reynolds, a promising junior from the North Delta Junior Australian Football League (NDJAFL) has had an experience of a lifetime for any international player, a chance to play football in Australia.

Spending 4 weeks in Australia to visit a family friend, Braedon wanted to keep his footy skills sharp as he would be trying out for the Canadian U17 (Wolfpack) team that was getting ready to play the USA in August '07. And so took the opportunity to help improve his football and contacted AFL Canada's Mike McFarlane to see if it was possible for him to play or train with an Australian team whilst in Australia.

McFarlane contacted Paul Steel, president of the Gosford Park Tigers of the AFL Central Coast Juniors and informed him of the promising Canadian's plans to be in Australia. Gosford Park jumped at the chance to host Braedon and took care of all the formalities such as registering him with the NSW AFL. The club could not do enough to make sure that Braedon would have an experience that he wouldn't forget. For a club to do this much for a kid from Canada speaks volumes of Gosford Park.

Braedon (pictured next to Sydney Swans star Peter Everitt, along with a friend and the Swans' co-captain Brett Kirk) got his first taste of Australian style football on June 30 2007 with the U14's against Wyong, who had thrashed Gosford Park earlier in the season. With this being his first experience of 18-a-side footy, on a full sized field, it was bound to be an eye opener for the young Canadian. Yet Braedon took it all in stride playing three positions during the game (full forward, ruck and center half forward) and helped lead Gosford Park to a 68 to 8 win. The following game against United, Braedon continued to impress by kicking five goals while playing in the full forward and ruck positions. All up Braedon played four games with Gosford Park and helped them to three wins and a loss which was against undefeated Terrigal.

When asked what he thought of his experience in Australia, Braedon stated that he likes the Australian style of footy. "The Australian style of the game is so much faster and more wide open because of the bigger field". He also noted that they play more of a running and handball style of game and tend to only look to kick under pressure or for goal whereas the NDJAFL play a more kicking and marking style of game.

Speaking to the Tigers team coach Osie Nigr about Braedon's time at the club, he stated that Braedon was a great acquisition for the team with his height and pace as well as his ability to carry and deliver the ball. "He was a great asset for the team and club and everyone enjoyed his presence and the experience, we would welcome, with open arms any other Canadian footballers headed our way". Nigr also stated that if they were cashed up they would love to fly him back if they made the finals.

When speaking to AFL Canada's Mike McFarlane about Braedon's experience he stated, "We (AFL Canada) feel the first experience of a Canadian junior going to play footy in Australia was a huge success. We have already begun negotiations with Gosford Park president Paul Steele, to make this a permanent exchange program between the two organizations. The more exposure for our juniors in Australia the better off our development in Canada will be. Maybe the AFL will begin to cast an eye to Canada as a new recruiting ground."

Courtesy Mike McFarlane (AFL Canada)

Copyright (c) 2007 World Footy News

16/11/07

Kangaroos join forces with Werribee

The Kangaroos have announced that they will be aligned with the Werribee Football Club for the next two years.

During the 2007 AFL season the Kangaroos had non-senior players play with both the North Ballarat team and the Tasmanian team in the VFL.

And while some of their players will continue to play with North Ballarat, the Roos' will also have a second alignment with Werribee.

"Werribee are a strong club and we think our young players will benefit greatly from this alignment," Kangaroos General Manager of Football Operations Donald McDonald said.

"Being aligned with Werribee and North Ballarat will give our developing players plenty of opportunities to play senior football in the VFL, which we believe helps to fast-track their development,"

"We look forward to working with (coach) Simon Atkins and the Werribee staff and players for the next two years."

After spending 2006 aligned with the Western Bulldogs, Werribee president John Nichol said the club was pleased to once again be partners to an AFL team.

"The two clubs are similar in their passion and competitive nature," Nichol said.

"Having former premiership coach Donald McDonald involved as well as John Lamont, Neil Connell and Tim Harrington - who were all part of our only flag in 1993 - gives the bond between the clubs more strength."

"We look forward to a successful partnership."

09/11/07

Simmonds keen to forget horror season

Richmond ruckman Troy Simmonds is already hanging out for the 2008 AFL season to begin so he can put the most horrible year of his career behind him.

After displaying the form of his life in 2006, the Tigers big man struggled to get onto the field for much of this year, starting the season with a broken ankle and ending it with a blood clot in his lung.

While over his injuries now, he is still restricted to non-contact training as he is continuing to take a blood-thinning drug to ensure there is no further clotting.

But, with an expectation he will soon be cleared to stop taking the drug, he is looking forward to resuming where he left off in 2006.

"Obviously 2006 was one of my better years in football and it was frustrating to not be out there in 2007 to back it up," Simmonds said at a Richmond sponsorship announcement.

"But I've put that behind me now and I'm just looking forward.

"While I was away I set a few goals for myself to allow me to improve.

"I think I'm going to improve again on the `06 year I had, I'm putting things in place and looking forward to a good summer."

Coach Terry Wallace is also looking forward to Simmonds' return.

His absence, along with rucking partner Trent Knobel who missed the entire season through injury, was a major factor in the Tigers taking the wooden spoon this year.

Wallace said it appeared the club would be in much better shape heading into next season, with Richmond also hurt this year by having several players returning from major injuries.

"We didn't have our rucks in place for any stage of the year," Wallace said.

"Nathan Brown struggled with injury right throughout the year and he's ... absolutely 100 per cent fit and well now.

"Going into a new year this time around we'll have Mark Coughlan back at 100 per cent fitness (after a knee reconstruction), there aren't any excuses."

The club announced retail giant Dick Smith Electronics had signed on as a co-major partner for the next two years.

The electronics company will share that title with existing sponsor the Australian Finance Group.

Dick Smith Electronics' consumer electronics manager Alvin Ng said his company and Richmond were a good fit, among other reasons because they shared the colours yellow and black.

01/11/07

Neitz not assured of captaincy

David Neitz's eight-year tenure as Melbourne captain may come to an end on the eve of one of the most important years in the club's history.

Melbourne coach Dean Bailey confirmed on Wednesday that the captaincy is up for review ahead of the Demons' 150-year celebrations in 2008 - a revelation that has seemingly contradicted chief executive Steve Harris' stance on the issue.

When Harris was quizzed by the Herald Sun about the number one on-field job earlier this month, he said: "It's our 150th year and there'll be all sorts of PR and marketing demands on whoever the captain is, I'd imagine David would be there in that senior role."

But Bailey appears to be on a different wavelength to his chief.

"The captaincy (position), that'll roll out, probably, in due course when we discuss it with key stakeholders and then we'll be happy to announce when it is," Bailey said before the club's first pre-season training session.

"Once we have the discussion with the people, whatever's thrown up, whatever's discussed, whether it changes, whether it stays, it'll be a consensus rather than just one person's opinion."

If Neitz, who turns 33 in January, is stripped of the captaincy, leading candidates to replace him appear to be Brock McLean, Jeff White, Cameron Bruce and Brad Green.

However, McLean's chances to succeed Neitz may have taken a dent due to his recent involvement in scuffles on the Greek Islands and Germany during an end-of-season holiday.

25/10/07

McManus lines up Dockers record

Shaun McManus will have the opportunity to become Fremantle's AFL games' record holder next year after agreeing to a new one year deal on Wednesday.

McManus, 31, will saddle up for a 14th season in 2008 having already played 217 games.

But he will need to play all 22 home and away games next year to break Shane Parker's club record of 238 games, with Parker's career coming to an end this season.

However McManus, the Dockers co-captain in 2000 and 2001, did manage to play all 22 games in 2007 when he averaged a healthy 18 touches per game.

The Dockers also announced on Wednesday that 28-year-old Matthew Carr will also play on in 2008.

Carr, whose 2007 season was interrupted by injury as he managed just 17 matches, has played 130 games for the Dockers since 2001 after having begun his career at St Kilda where he played 28 games in 1999-2000.

08/09/07

Rocca delivers for Magpies against Swans

AAP - Saturday September 8, 11:30 PM

Anthony Rocca has delivered big-time on what is shaping as a huge weekend for the Rocca family.

A day before older brother Saverio - himself a former Collingwood star - makes his NFL debut for the Philadelphia Eagles against Green Bay, Anthony produced the best finals performance of his 228-game AFL career as the Magpies belted Sydney by 38 points in the elimination final.

The perception that Rocca too often failed to deliver on the big stage was dispelled as he booted six goals, without a single miss.

Just as important was the 30-year-old's combination with fellow tall forwards Sean Rusling and Travis Cloke.

Their collective contribution was 12 goals, 26 marks, 46 disposals and one very big headache for the Sydney brains trust.

At the other end, Swans games record holder Michael O'Loughlin was forced to play a lone hand.

He did well to kick four second-half goals with little assistance from Barry Hall or any of the other Sydney forwards.

Collingwood's reward for a fourth straight success over the Swans is a trip to Subiaco on Friday night to take on injury-ravaged West Coast in a semi-final.

"We match up really well against the Swans," said Rocca, who suffered no after-effects despite appearing to hyper-extend his knee in the dying minutes of the first half.

"No-one really backed us throughout the week but we've got a bit of self-confidence playing against these guys.

"We played really well and it was a great team effort.

"It's going to be a big task next week but it's going to be on."

Rusling, 20, was playing just his third senior game of the season after recovering from a serious shoulder injury.

Rocca said Rusling brought a lot of attributes to the mix, including pace on the lead and a strong pair of hands.

The talented trio of Rocca, Rusling and Cloke also showed an uncanny ability to stay out of each other's way.

"It's a tough thing to do," said Rocca.