Cousins, Polo, McGuane Out, Connors Gone For 8

RICHMOND FOOTBALL CLUB STATEMENT:
Monday April 12, 2010

As a result of the investigation undertaken today by the Richmond Football Club into player misbehaviour at the team hotel in Sydney on Sunday morning, the following sanctions and penalties have been handed down by the Club, in consultation with the leadership group.

Daniel Connors has been suspended for eight weeks for unsociable behaviour, which included being intoxicated. Connors will not be permitted to train at the club for the first six weeks of his suspension. As part of this sanction he will be attending alcohol counselling once a week for an indefinite period.

Luke McGuane, Dean Polo and Ben Cousins have all been suspended for one week. While not intoxicated, these players were deemed to have not acted responsibly or in a manner expected of them by the Club.

“The Richmond Football Club will not tolerate the behaviour shown by these players, and has acted accordingly,” Richmond General Manager of Football Craig Cameron said.

“These actions go against all the values that we set for ourselves as a club,” Cameron said.

Richmond CEO Brendon Gale said: “Every player at this club needs to fully understand the responsibility that goes with pulling on the yellow and black jumper.”

Daniel Connors said: “I am extremely disappointed in my actions and I regret the stupid decisions I made on the night. I apologise to all Richmond members and supporters, my team mates, club officials and the guests at the Intercontinental Hotel, who were subjected to my behaviour.”

“Over the next few weeks I will be doing everything I can to win back the respect of those who I have let down,” he said.

“This has been a massive wake up call for me and I accept that I have a problem with alcohol which I need to address,” Connors said.

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Riewoldt Update

Official press release from St Kilda:

St Kilda Football Club medical officer Dr Tim Barbour has confirmed that Nick Riewoldt has undergone surgery today to repair the damaged hamstring tendon sustained during St Kilda’s Rd 3 match.

The tendon repair was performed by Mr Julian Feller and went according to plan.

Nick is expected to return to football in the later part of the season.

Both Nick and Dr Tim Barbour will be available to speak with the media later in the week.

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Ottens Pulls Out

Geelong ruckman Brad Ottens has pulled out the side to play Fremantle this weekend.

Ottens will miss with soreness from Monday's crunching clash with Hawthorn according to Geelong footy operations manager Neil Balme.

Balme also confirmed the big man will be replaced by youngster Dawson Simpson in the 22 to face Freo.

Ottens is expected to be okay for Round Four.

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Is It Worth Bumping Anymore?

I've written a story on The Roar today, about the death of 'the bump'. Is it worth the trouble anymore with five players getting suspended in 2 rounds of footy?
http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/04/09/is-it-worth-bumping-anymore/

What do you think?

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Cheap McVeigh Will Miss Round 3

Press release from Essendon:
Mark McVeigh will remain in hospital under observation for a fifth night but is expected to be released tomorrow (Friday).

General manager of football operations said the 29-year-old is recovering well but is unlikely to attend the game on Saturday.

"Mark is feeling much better which is great and he has had plenty of visitors from the club which has kept his spirits up," Hamilton said.

"Naturally he is very disappointed about not being able to play against one of our fiercest rivals this weekend. Hopefully he will be back and ready to play in Round 4."

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Pies Insider Says Sam Fisher Is Back

Collingwood are claiming they've received insider knowledge telling them St Kilda's $373k defender Sam Fisher will play this weekend.

Fisher, owned by over 10,000 DT coaches, has been out of action since an ankle injury sustained in pre-season.

Saints coach Ross Lyon had stated earlier this week Fisher wasn't ready to return.

But Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury said today: “Their best side is going to play tomorrow night.

"Sam Fisher, an insider has got to us and we expect him to play as well, so they are going to be a pretty full strength side.”

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Popular Presti A Chance

Widely-owned $145k Collingwood defender Simon Prestigiacomo could return for the Pies this weekend against St Kilda.

Presti, owned by over 24,000 DTers, missed Collingwood's win over Melbourne with a quadriceps problem.

Collingwood footy manager Geoff Walsh said: "He trained today and I think he's a reasonable chance of getting up.

"It'll only be a six-day turnaround so any session on the track won't be that big anyway.

"He did what the medical boys wanted him to do today, so we'll just how he pulls up later in the week.

"He did everything that was asked of him today, so he's on target."

$294k defender Ben Johnson will definitely miss the Saints after a kneecap injury. But the official diagnosis is better than expected with Johnson to miss only around a month of footy.

Walsh acknowledged $216k defender Tyson Goldsack is working his way back after viral meningitis, while cheap $128k fwd Sean Rusling isn't far off either after a run in the VFL.

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No Pies Return For Sam Fisher

St Kilda's popular $373k defender Sam Fisher isn't likely to make his return from injury against Collingwood this Friday.

Fisher, owned by almost 11,000 DT coaches, has been out of action after sustained an ankle injury in pre-season.

Saints coach Ross Lyon commented today: “He hasn't trained with the group yet to this point.

"He rehabed yesterday and I think he went okay, but today he isn't training with the group.”

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