Malthouse sparks frenzied follow-up

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse had the media scrambling after Thursday night's compelling live interview on The Footy Show, during which he said he couldn't categorically rule out coaching another AFL club.

Malthouse stressed that his preference was to fulfil his contract and take up the director of coaching position at Collingwood next year, alongside new senior coach Nathan Buckley.

But he admitted that he still lacked a job description for the new position and if the parameters of the role were not fitting, he could find himself elsewhere next year.

Expect analysis of Malthouse's interview in the Saturday newspapers, but on Friday it was left to the radio stations to follow up the Thursday night developments. 

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, speaking on Triple M, said the club would find a replacement for Malthouse if he chose not to take up the director of coaching role in 2012.  

“It’s a two way-street," McGuire said on Friday morning. "If Mick doesn’t pull into line with the way we want to do things, then there will be a director of coaching at Collingwood next year, full stop.

“Don’t worry, there is a Melbourne Cup field of people wanting to do the job at Collingwood.’’

Later, on Sport927, McGuire said: "We’re at the stage now where it’s the time to finalise our discussions and I expect that to happen."

A repeated line of questioning on Thursday night from The Footy Show's Sam Newman was whether Collingwood players had asked Malthouse to continue coaching the club next season. 

Malthouse denied this but said some had asked him to define his role.

Midfielder Dale Thomas, speaking on Nova on Friday, said he had questioned the coach about the new coaching set-up in 2012. 

"I have asked about the role next year, whether we'll have a kick before the game and things along those lines and he really isn't sure of the role," Thomas said.

"I saw the interview last night and they were pushing pretty hard to get him to say something he didn't want to say.

"They tried to get him to unequivocally give an answer to whether he would be staying or not.

"He couldn't and they knew that would be the case, therefore there is a story about it."

Ward worth top compensation

Malthouse has taken the heat somewhat off Melbourne midfielder Tom Scully, but the issue of draft compensation bubbled along in The Herald Sun on Friday.

Confirmation that Melbourne would receive the same amount of compensation for Tom Scully as Geelong did for Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett has sparked debate.

The question is, should a player's potential be a factor when compensating clubs? Media Watch has no doubt it should. Scully hasn't had the time to achieve great things at Melbourne, but few doubt he would if he stayed at the club.

The fact the Demons felt it fit to use the No.1 pick to secure him at the end of 2009 is confirmation of his undoubted potential. 

On Friday, reporter Mark Stevens turned attention to Western Bulldogs midfielder Callan Ward, who has been linked to GWS.

League football operations manager Adrian Anderson told the newspaper that the Bulldogs could also receive two first-round draft picks as compensation for Ward if his contract offer was similar to Scully's.

It also emerged that Scully's status as a No.1 draft pick was "secondary" in the compensation formula, with a far stronger weighting placed on a player's age and the size of his contract offer from GWS, Stevens wrote.

While a player's potential will be factored into the GWS contract offer, surely what a club was forced to give up to secure that player in the first place should be paramount in compensation discussions.

Particularly when it was only two years ago that the Demons parted with their prized No.1 selection.    

Rookies' payday

Rookie-listed players across the country would have read Rohan Connolly's report in The Age with glee on Friday.

With their minimum wage currently at $35,400, rookie-listed players stand to receive a 43 per cent pay rise, the newspaper reported.

League football operations manager Adrian Anderson told The Age the minimum rookie wage was too low and needed to be lifted to "closer to a third-round draft pick".

"I think it should be something closer to $50,000," Anderson said.

The current set of numbers, as laid out by Connolly, are baffling.

"While a rookie who does not play AFL football currently earns little more than the minimum wage, a first-round draft pick who plays more than a dozen games can expect to earn more than $100,000," Connolly wrote.

"This year, a third-round draft pick earns a base salary of $51,000, plus $2900 for each match they play. All first-round selections are entitled to a base of $59,200 next year, plus $2900 a match. Second-round selections receive a base pay of $53,800."

In short

Port Adelaide defender Alipate Carlile says he won't sign a new deal with the club until he has consulted with his family in country Victoria, The Adelaide Advertiser reports, with the temptation to return home set to factor in his decision. "I've still got that lure, like Jackson (Trengove) as well, where we've got family back home," Carlile said. "I'm just going to duck back and see the family in the next couple of weeks and run everything by them." Carlile, 24, said he had not received a formal offer from GWS and "there hasn't been anything promised".

West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has revealed to The West Australian that he has fears for where his life would be without football. Naitanui this week became an AFL multicultural ambassador and he said helping kids from different backgrounds was something he wanted to do because of his experiences growing up. "It's kind of scary to think of where I'd be (without football)," he told reporter Steve Butler. 

NAB AFL Rising Star favourite Dyson Heppell may appear calm and assured on the football field, but, as the young Bomber told The Herald Sun, he does get the jitters. "I definitely get nervous, especially before the first few games I was very toey," he told reporter Sam Edmund. "The older blokes were always pretty laid-back so I would pretend I was all cruisy … I've learnt to control them (the nerves) a bit more now."