Big names, big decisions as AFL trade week looms
EXPECT the following reports to ramp up a fair bit with AFL trade week beginning on Monday as clubs and players shop around for new players and clubs.
Among those in the news is Essendon livewire Andrew Lovett, who was reported to have met with Sydney Swans officials about a possible relocation this week.
The Swans are renowned for 'rehabilitating' troubled players and Lovett, suspended twice by Essendon this season but also contracted to the club until the end of next year, would do well in the Harbour City, Sydney coach Paul Roos said.
"When we get players to the club, we don't worry too much about what's happened in the past," Roos told the Melbourne press.
"I've spoken to Andrew and he seems like a good kid. He's obviously had some disciplinary problems but we've spoken to some people at Essendon about it as well and they've been really good.
"We're confident that if he does come up to Sydney, he'll come up as a focused player who's ready to go. He's played some really, really good football in the past and we think he could be a very good player for us."
But the Swans aren't the only ones interested in the 25-year-old who, at his dynamic best, can break open an opposition's defence with his line-breaking runs. Several clubs, including West Coast and Fremantle, have sounded out the Bomber as to his intentions.
Krakouer, Davey commit to clubs
NO SUCH dramas for Alwyn Davey, who has re-signed with the Bombers until the end of the 2010 season.
Davey was targeted by other clubs during his physical rehabilitation of his knee after tearing ligaments in it in Round 5.
Davey has played 19 games in two seasons and averages over four tackles a game. His closing speed is deadly and is used to great advantage in creating forward defensive pressure. It's exactly what the Bombers need, so he's staying.
"He is an excitement machine," Essendon team manager David Calthorpe told essendonfc.com.au.
"When he gets the ball he is explosive and exhilarating. He lifts everyone around him -- whether it be his team-mates or the crowd -- and brings everyone into it. You never really know what he is going to do but he always produces something exciting."
Meanwhile, Nathan Krakouer has committed to Port Adelaide after speculation he wanted to return home to WA.
The 20-year-old was open in expressing his desire to play for either Fremantle or West Coast after a frustrating two-year spell at Alberton.
But Port stood firm and convinced the nephew of football greats Jim and Phil Krakouer that he does have a future in South Australia.
Krakouer will return to Alberton for pre-season training later this month.
"Nathan had a few issues that he was keen to sort out and they have been sorted out," Krakouer's manager, Carlos Da Costa, was quoted as saying in the WA press.
"He's spoken to his family and friends and decided that he will return to Port Adelaide to serve out his contract and, hopefully, get back to playing some of the exciting football everyone knows he’s capable of.
"Nathan is contracted for a further two years so it was always going to be Port’s call and they have been pretty strong all along that he was a required player.
"(Port coach) Mark Williams has been very supportive of him and Port Adelaide does have a very good understanding and programs with their Indigenous players."
Incentives the key word in Burgoyne deal
PORT Adelaide 2004 premiership star Peter Burgoyne has signed a performance-based contract with the club which reportedly says he will have to earn the right for a second-year deal.
The 30-year-old's new contract is said to contain a 'games-played clause' for 2009 which he will have to meet to 'trigger an extension in 2010'.
But Port has yet to reveal the number of games Burgoyne needs to play next season to meet the clause.
The unusual contract was agreed to after Burgoyne's somewhat inconsistent 2008 season where he struggled for form and was banished to the SANFL for disciplinary reasons.
But Burgoyne, an inaugural Power squad member, answered his demotion in style when he returned to AFL level with high possession and influential roles in Port's final two games.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Last Modified on 04/10/2008 01:53