Gysberts and the rookie-listed McKenzie. Ryan said the players had to jump into Warrnambool’s icy Lady Bay each morning, box and participate in leadership workshops. Demons players who have attended the camps in Warrnambool in each of the past two years have also visited hospitals. Ryan said the players would arrive in Warrnambool on Tuesday, the day after the traditional Queen’s Birthday showdown with Collingwood, and leave next Thursday night. Moloney, a former South Warrnambool boy, will return to the Friendly Societies’ Park on Tuesday to work with the club’s juniors.

THE AFL has gone to great lengths to ensure the bump, biff and head-high contact are out of bounds, but it appears the message may not be filtering through to country football. Koroit star Simon O’Keefe was this week outed for six weeks but two weeks were suspended until the end of the season for a behind-the-play hit on Cobden teenager Tom Watson, who suffered a broken cheekbone. Two weeks ago Portland coach Winis Imbi was fined by the Western Border league for attacking the leniency of a four-week penalty handed to West Gambier forward Jarrod Ryan after Imbi’s first-year onballer Stephen O’Brien suffered $20,000 dental damage after being hit behind play. “The VCFL have said they want to stamp out (these kinds of incidents) and the (Western Border) league had an opportunity to do that but they’ve failed,” Imbi said. His comments, which cost him a $500 fine (and a further $500 suspended), can be applied to the neighbouring Hampden league. O’Keefe was effectively sidelined for four weeks while Watson — who is on TAC Cup side Geelong Falcons’ list — is expected to be out for almost double the length of O’Keefe’s penalty, ruining his chance to impress AFL recruiters. For the purpose of this argument, forget the individuals in these two cases because O’Keefe and Ryan can’t be blamed for the system that exists. They have to serve the penalties and live with their actions. The point of this piece is not to denigrate the individual. But does country football want to be seen as being soft on violence? The point is, tribunals need to get tough. The Hampden league last month issued a prepared statement about the O’Keefe investigation, which said: “The league prides itself on being able to provide a safe playing environment for all its players, especially the many under 18 players that play within the senior grade and that this continues despite this incident occurring.” Clearly the league’s expectations and goals are not aligned with its independent tribunal. If the league is serious about ensuring a safe environment for its many young players, the penalties need to be severe. Some will argue that the tribunal is independent of the league. It is. But so too is the AFL match review panel. The match review panel doesn’t get a call from Andrew Demetriou who says “give him six weeks”. Demetriou just sets the standard and principles that need to be followed. It’s impossible to see how four weeks will deter someone from smacking an opponent behind the play.

SIMON O’Keefe’s advocate left no stone unturned in representing the Maskell Medallist at Wednesday night’s tribunal hearing. He launched an attack on The Standard in his closing comments, pulling out Tuesday’s edition which had the back page story about O’Keefe being charged. Advocate Gary Ayres described the article, which simply stated the facts and was free of speculation, as “poor”, while he later said that The Standard “hung” the onballer before the hearing. And HFNL chief executive officer Stephen Soulsby wasn’t spared either. Ayres approached Soulsby during the deliberation after learning that the league’s press release incorrectly stated that Cobden teenager Tom Watson suffered a broken jaw and cheekbone from the incident. He only suffered a broken cheekbone.

TERANG Mortlake playing coach Damian O’Connor would have liked to have triumphed in the top-of-the-table clash with Warrnambool last Saturday at Mortlake but his post-match interview with The Standard after a narrow loss was sprinkled with positives. Words like “happy”, “positive” and “rapt” escaped his lips, as well as a revelation the Bloods experimented with their structures during the contest. Pressed for further information, O’Connor declined to go into detail. Hoping to conceal an ongoing strategic weapon, O’Connor’s secret lasted only a matter of minutes as Warrnambool coach Adam Dowie, unprompted, complimented the opposition for being able to lock the ball in attack with use of a 16-man zone. “It was good experience for our guys to come up against it,” Dowie said.

PUBLICAN, radio personality and former Russells Creek premiership coach Matty Stewart made a long-awaited comeback to senior footy with his old side last weekend, not long after a five-week stint as an umpire. The 33-year-old, who hadn’t played competitive footy in three-and-a-half seasons, lined up at full-forward for the injury-ravaged Creekers. “It was the shortest comeback in history,” Stewart revealed. In the opening quarter, Stewart, who has worked hard on his fitness, made a searching lead. “It was a full-blown 30 to 40-metre lead and I took a diving chest mark,” he said. “I strained the left hamstring and tore my right hamstring in the same movement.” Realising what had happened, he got up to take his kick and told a teammate, who just laughed. His opponent did likewise. In a bid to have the last laugh, Stewart concentrated hard on the set shot but it hit the post. After being checked by long-time trainer Lyal Eales, Stewart decided he should take to the ground and do what he could to help out the club, lasting until three-quarter-time. “The old competitive juices were flowing,” he said. Having ruled out a return to footy when he was spotted at training by The Standard in April, Stewart said there would be no encore appearance, even though he saw the lighter side of it. “It was funny.” He said Creek’s forward line was “too top heavy” with him in it anyway. Stewart said he had really enjoyed umpiring five matches in a move to promote the men and women in orange but his work commitments were such that he wouldn’t take it up on a longer-term basis.

MUCH has been made over the years of Melbourne supporters heading to the snow in preference to watching the Demons play. So will south-west footy lovers head to the snow this weekend? Unless you follow the Hampden, Western Border or Colac and District leagues, you might as well. With the Warrnambool and District league only scheduling one game in a split round, choices are slim, with the Mininera, South West and TAC Cup competitions having a weekend off. Of course, they could always support the neighbouring competitions.

ETHIOPIAN- BORN Warrnambool youngster Isaac Place is heading to the AFL grand final this year after being named this week’s Victorian Auskicker of the Year nominee. Isaac, a member of the Emmanuel Hawks Auskick program, was chosen because he embodied the Auskick spirit. He participates with enthusiasm, follows instructions and continues to attend each week, despite not handling the ball frequently in games. “Being Ethiopian-born, Isaac’s selection as Auskicker of the Year would excite and inspire children from other cultures to become Auskickers,” his nomination said. He now goes in the running to be named the Auskicker of the Year and win mentoring from Geelong star Joel Selwood for next year. He will play at half-time of the Essendon and Geelong match tomorrow night and feature on Network Ten’s coverage. Isaac is a keen Essendon supporter and his favourite player is Angus Monfries.