FOOTY couch potatoes across Victoria rejoiced at the news Better Homes and Gardens will make way for a live telecast of Friday night's Collingwood-Carlton blockbuster.
And it seems 'Norms' and 'Normas' everywhere will soon have far greater cause for celebration, with The Age reporting the AFL is close to finalising a new TV rights deal that will secure live Friday night football every week from 2012-16.
Age chief football writer Caroline Wilson said Channel Seven was close to agreeing to abandon the delayed telecasts that have allowed it to run Better Homes and Gardens, a ratings juggernaut, in the prime 7.30pm Friday timeslot.
If it does so, Wilson said the AFL will agree to push the starting times for Friday night matches back 10 minutes, to 7.50pm.
Wilson said under the new rights deal Foxtel's sports channels would televise seven games a round including five exclusively. It would also telecast the first two weeks of the finals simultaneously with the free-to-air networks and possibly the preliminary finals.
Wilson said the AFL looked likely to reap up to $1 billion in the new rights deal. While Channels Seven and Ten remain the front-runners to secure the free-to-air rights, Channel Nine is not out of the running, she said.
We doubt most footy fans care who wins the 2012-16 TV rights. All they care about is that the victorious networks don't treat them with contempt.
Good genes and dedication equal greatness
This weekend, two of the best key-position players of the past decade reach significant milestones.
Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich will surpass Shane Parker as his club's games record-holder when he runs out to play his 239th game, against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium this Sunday.
On Sunday, St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt will play his 200th game, against Essendon at Etihad Stadium.
Both Pavlich and Riewoldt are blessed with a rare combination of height, strength, power, speed and talent.
But just as rare have been the dedication and work-rate they have added to their physical gifts.
Former Fremantle fitness coach Ben Tarbox told The West Australian the latter qualities had carried Pavlich to Freo's games record.
"Genetically he is very lucky but… I have rarely met anyone who is so good on and off the field," Tarbox said.
"He's always one of the best at training. He was one of the best at coming back to pre-season in good condition."
The same can be said of Riewoldt. Speaking to the AFL Record for an upcoming feature on Riewoldt's 200th game, former teammate Max Hudghton said Riewoldt set the tone for all he did on the field with his attitude to training.
"I always say the best trainers become the best players," Hudghton said of Riewoldt.
Media Watch takes its hat off to both players. With such single-minded attitudes, they deserve everything they get from the game.
Stars now returning in the VFL
First, it was two star Cats, skipper Cameron Ling and midfielder/forward Paul Chapman, and Hawk skipper Luke Hodge.
This weekend, Adelaide Crows forward Kurt Tippett may become the latest key player to return from injury via his state-league side, The Advertiser reports.
Where players of this quality once came straight back into the AFL after a short-term injury, it seems the reduction of the interchange bench from four players to three players and a substitute this year has made sides reluctant to carry underdone players, no matter how good they are.
The Advertiser said while Tippett had trained without discomfort on Monday the Crows were considering whether to err on the side of caution and insist he return from an ankle injury in the SANFL this Friday night.
"One of the things that… all clubs are finding is that with the limited interchange you take a big risk taking a player into a game who is not 100 per cent (fit) and (doesn't) have the ability to perform strongly," Crows assistant coach Mark Bickley told Adelaide's daily paper.
McKenna happy to stay in his box
In the wake of his side's demoralising start to its AFL life, Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna was criticised for lingering in the coach's box after the final siren rather than going down onto the ground to support his players.
But McKenna told The Courier Mail the 20 minutes he spent in the box after the game had enabled him to discuss the game with his assistants and gather his thoughts, so when he addressed his players he did so without emotion.
In the meantime, his players had been able to start their recovery process, McKenna said.
McKenna said he planned to follow the same ploy all season. It's good to see a rookie coach have the confidence to back his methods.
In short
Former Fremantle utility Daniel Gilmore has issued a claim with the AFL Grievance Tribunal alleging he was incorrectly passed fit to play by Freo club doctors after a heavy knock to the head in 2008, the Herald Sun reports.
Gilmore has reportedly since suffered migraines, dizziness and lethargy.
Former Adelaide captain Mark Ricciuto has backed the AFL's tougher new concussion guidelines, telling The Advertiser he was concerned about whether the concussions he had suffered during his playing career would affect him in retirement.
Not for the first time, Cyril Rioli has been compared to Gary Ablett jnr, with The Age's Michael Gleeson saying the Hawk speedster was set to emulate Ablett's highly successful move from the forward line into the midfield.
GWS won't waver from its youth-based recruiting philosophy despite the Gold Coast Suns' inauspicious entry into the AFL last Saturday night, Giants chief executive Dale Holmes told The Age.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
