The Northern Territory news Fri 13 Aug 2021
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2021-08-13
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.
News Corp Australia
Darwin
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https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/846513
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/846580
40 SPORT FRIDAY AUGUST 13 2021 NTNE01Z01MA - V1 Racist social media posts distressed Melbournes Kysaiah Pickett. Picture: Getty Images GOODWIN FEELS FOR PICKETT MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin has revealed livewire forward Kysaiah Pickett was visibly distressed in the wake of being targeted by racist social media posts on Monday. The latest in a long line of ugly incidents moved Carlton veteran Eddie Betts to declare enough was enough and for all 18 clubs to join the fight to end racism. Melbourne condemned the attack on Pickett and referred it to the AFL integrity unit. Goodwin said it had been an incredibly upsetting time as he added his voice to the anti-racism fight. Seeing Kozzie postgame, being able to give him a hug and see the visible stress he was under makes it incredibly upsetting. We need to make a stand, Goodwin said on Thursday. We saw Eddie Betts the other night, and its got to stop. It just has to stop. What I took from Eddie that, as non-Indigenous people, we need to take up the fight. Its my responsibility and everyones responsibility to continue to educate and get people to understand this needs to stop. Kozzie has had a tough couple of days, hes struggled. Hes in a good mindset around things now, and hes got a lot of support around him from us as a footy club. But we will continue to fight for the Indigenous population because this needs to stop. Pickett is set to play against Adelaide this week but they will be without forward Tom McDonald as he continues to recover from back spasms. RUSSELL GOULD WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says his team must move on pretty quickly from Josh Bruces seasonending knee injury as they plot a finals campaign without the key forward. The Bulldogs were dealt a major blow when their leading goalscorer injured his anterior cruciate ligament in the dying seconds of last Sundays loss to Essendon at Marvel Stadium. Beveridge described Bruces injury as devastating but said the second-placed Bulldogs had to put the setback behind them to focus on the finals campaign ahead. Its devastating for Josh but we have got to move on pretty quickly because there is a lot at stake but we will find a way, Beveridge (pictured) said on Thursday. He is pretty philosophical about it all. He has processed the disappointment and he wants to get on with it, he wanted to have the surgery ASAP and get on the front foot with it so he can come back as quickly as possible, which is a great attitude to have. And thats the attitude that weve all got to have. Yes, we havent got Josh for the remaining elements of the season but as we have always done, weve just got to find a way to make sure we fulfil the critical roles and put together a blend that will help us win against Hawthorn. Bruce was scheduled to have surgery on his knee on Thursday. The former Saint had kicked 48 goals for the season before his injury, placing him equal-second on the league goalkicking table. Asked how the Bulldogs attack would shape up without Bruce, Beveridge gave little away. Youll have to wait and see, he said. While the Bulldogs plan a finals assault without Bruce, ruckman Stefan Martin (groin/ hip) is edging closer to a return but Beveridge conceded it could be risky to bring him back for his first game in a final. Martin has not played since round 12. Bulldogs must deal with loss of Bruce REBECCA WILLIAMS THE AFL has finally embraced an 18-team AFLW competition for the 2022-23 season. The league announced on Thursday the remaining four clubs Essendon, Port Adelaide, Sydney and Hawthorn would join the competition next year. The four teams lodged detailed submissions, which were assessed by the AFL Commis sion at its two-day meeting last week. And while there will be significant concerns about the dilution of talent in coming seasons, the reality is the league cannot continue holding out sides such as Hawthorn, which have battled for years to gain entry to the AFLW. To accelerate the growth of the NAB AFLW competition and to allow for greater op portunities for AFLW players, it is paramount that we engage all 18 AFL clubs and their supporter bases, AFL chief Gillon McLachlan said on Thursday. The decision to expand the competition again, after the AFLW was expanded from eight teams to 10 teams in 2019 and then to 14 teams in 2020, comes as the number of women and girls playing football has grown to more than 600,000 nationally. With an additional four clubs entering the competition in season seven, we will grow to 540 AFLW players across all 18 clubs, the largest employer of female athletes in the country, presenting further opportunities for women and girls involved in womens football pathways, from Auskick to the elite competition. It has been often said that clubs havent felt whole if they didnt have an AFLW team, and I am proud to say that our competition will now be complete with the addition of the new four clubs. The entry into the competition is based on the clubs delivering on the key criteria within their submission, especially across resourcing, facilities, corporate support and investment into their AFLW program. The league fast-tracking an 18-team competition will allow greater opportunities for women footballers across Australia to reach the elite level and eventually grow the talent pool. This years competition will start in December with clubs already worrying about the state of the upcoming season. The official pre-season starts in coming weeks, with some clubs including GWS having a number of players who do not live in the state. AFL signs off on 18-team AFLW comp as final four clubs get nod JON RALPH THE AFL could delay a call on scrapping its pre-finals bye until the days before round 23 as it canvasses the player union on a decision to fasttrack the finals series. But Victorian clubs including Geelong and Melbourne are likely to push back against being relocated interstate to play at neutral venues for finals if they are handing over home-ground advantage. AFL chief Gillon McLachlan admitted on Thursday the timeline for the entire finals series was up in the air as Covid-19 case numbers from various states were assessed. But there is strong support from clubs for the league marching through a pre-finals bye that has proved unpopular with teams who win a qualifying final and end up playing only one game in three weeks. McLachlan said he did not have an answer on how the finals would play out or what impact scrapping the bye would have on the grand final but the league had raised the issue in conversations with key stakeholders. He said the league had got great mileage from keeping the game going. Theres an understanding to say, Listen, we can deal with it if we can get the best outcome for that balance of integrity and crowds and getting the best finals series away we can, then we can delay it to pretty close to coming to round 23, McLachlan said. So thats the feedback at the moment earlier the better, but I think we understand were waiting every day and looking what happens in Victoria and in other states. I mean, Queensland has opened up a bit. ROUND 22 Friday GWS v Richmond Marvel Stadium, 7.50pm Saturday Hawthorn v West. Bulldogs UTAS Stadium, 1.45pm Port Adelaide v Carlton Adelaide Oval, 4.35pm Geelong v St Kilda GMHBA Stadium, 4.35pm Brisbane v Collingwood The Gabba, 7.25pm North Melbourne v Sydney, Marvel Stadium, 7.40pm Sunday Melbourne v Adelaide MCG, 2.10pm Gold Coast v Essendon, GMHBA Stadium, 3.20pm Fremantle v West Coast, Optus Stadium, 5.10pm * All times AEST. Bye-bye to rest round in review JON RALPH So I think our clubs now understand, our supporters now do, that every day seems to count in this environment and theyre giving us that leeway. The AFL has ticked off the last venues for round 22, sending Collingwood to Queensland to tackle Brisbane and keeping Gold Coast in Victoria for its clash with Essendon. In a boost for the Bombers finals chances, they have avoided a trip to Metricon Stadium on Sunday and will instead play the Suns at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong. Collingwood players and officials went into hard quarantine on Thursday in preparation for Saturdays clash with Brisbane at the Gabba. The AFLs bid to scrap the bye would be to allow it to push forward into finals with favourable conditions because venues like the Gabba, Optus Stadium in Perth and Adelaide Oval continue to allow fans.