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Former Adelaide Oval curator Les Burdett lashes AFL for denying Sheffield Shield final; North Melbourne Kangaroos to challenge ban handed to Jackson Archer


“It’s from everyone. I believe that mindset shift that happened on the night stems from player leadership, coach leadership and the decisions that were made on the night. Because you can’t go from being 41 points up in this great mindset, to then all of a sudden going into threat mindset where you literally cannot play. Which is what happened.

“It’s not all the coaches’ fault because in the end it’s the players that are making the decisions on-field.

“You do need your leadership group to step up in those moments and show the rest of the group, ‘hey, this is the direction we’re going’. And I believe they got that wrong on the night.

“Everyone went in the direction of, ’oh, this isn’t the plan, we’re not supposed to be losing this game. Panic, panic, panic. And it comes from the narrative of potentially … what’s happened in the past [30 years, during the down patches since Carlton’s last premiership].”

She also highlighted the “small forward problem” at Carlton.

“We’re seeing the prevalence of small forwards in our game that are changing the way the game is played and I don’t think they’ve got that … a small forward that can kick 30 goals now.”

Ex-curator lashes AFL over Adelaide Oval call

Daniel Brettig
AFL safety fears about Adelaide Oval’s capacity to host two footy fixtures either side of the Sheffield Shield final have been called out as “fictitious” and “bullshit” by the oval’s former curator Les Burdett.

Last week the AFL shot down a proposal for the Shield final to be played in between rounds two and three of the league season, stating the risks of injury to players and relocation of the games were too high.

A bid by CA and SACA to stage the Sheffield Shield final at the Adelaide Oval has failed.

A bid by CA and SACA to stage the Sheffield Shield final at the Adelaide Oval has failed.Credit: Getty Images

That decision followed the refusal of a request to the South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas to waive the multimillion-dollar cost of “Footy Express” bus services to and from AFL matches during the year, in return for making the ground available to cricket that week.

Burdett, who mentored the current Adelaide Oval curator Damien Hough and remains in demand as a turf consultant in Australia and overseas, declared over the weekend that the AFL’s concerns were baseless.

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“None. None,” he said on FiveAA radio in Adelaide when asked what risks there were for football. “You probably need 24 hours of continual torrential rain, that’s not going to happen in Adelaide, and it’s just overkill. I just think the AFL are trying to find excuses.

“For Damien to say that he can deliver, and I know he can deliver, and I know what equipment and great support he’s got with his staff, he’d deliver it easily. I love my footy, but I love my cricket, and you’re depriving South Australians from watching our cricket team play in a grand final on Adelaide Oval when it’s doable.”

The AFL had pointed to advice from “independent turf experts” to outline the case for not having the Shield final at Adelaide Oval.

“It’s fictitious what the AFL are coming up with, and this so-called expert, I know most of the guys in Australia, I still pitch-advise Cricket Australia and I still link to these people, I’d like to know who it is,” Burdett said. “I couldn’t sit back and listen to the bullshit.

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“If the outfield gets wet, hoo-haa, you’re irrigated anyway. The outfield of Adelaide Oval is designed to take six inches of rain in one hour, 150 millimetres of rain in an hour. We’re never going to get that in Adelaide, but that’s the way they design it.”

The decision to bring football back to Adelaide Oval was a contentious one. Burdett was heavily involved in making the case for drop-in pitches as a potential improvement on what had gone before.

“The whole idea of doing it is so you can play football one day and cricket the next. That was the selling point,” he said. “With drop-in pitches you get more bums on seats, and there’s no transition period where you waste time to rejuvenate your pitches for cricket, or autumn where you soften them for football season.

“It’s all doable, and the reason the drop-in pitches came to life was so you can use the ground more. Here’s an opportunity to use the ground more and they’re saying no.”

Kangaroos to challenge Archer suspension

AAP
North Melbourne has confirmed they will go to the tribunal to challenge the three-match suspension handed to defender Jackson Archer after his collision with the Western Bulldogs’ Luke Cleary.

Luke Cleary was stretchered off the ground at Marvel Stadium.

Luke Cleary was stretchered off the ground at Marvel Stadium.Credit: Getty Images

Dogs defender Cleary was knocked out when Archer’s knee made contact with his head in a contest in Saturday night’s match at Marvel Stadium.

Play was stopped and Cleary received medical attention before being taken to hospital.

The 23-year-old was back at Whitten Oval in good spirits on Monday but will miss the Bulldogs’ AFL/VFL centenary celebration match against Collingwood on Friday night under concussion protocols.

The match review officer graded Archer’s actions as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, resulting in a three-game suspension.

North Melbourne on Monday confirmed they will challenge the penalty at the tribunal.

If it stands, Archer will miss games against Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

The Roos found moral support from within the Bulldogs camp on Monday, when Bob Murphy – a former club captain who has returned to Whitten Oval in a leadership and cultural capacity this year – said he did not believe Archer should be suspended.

“My initial thought was it was just one of those unfortunate accidents,” Murphy said.

“We get the luxury of looking at it in slow motion, and it’s whether the tribunal thinks he had another option, and they might deem that he did.

“There’s definitely no malice and it’s one of those ones where you don’t want to see players miss footy for those sort of things, but it may end up that way.”

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt said he would be “really fearful for the game itself” if Archer was banned over the collision.

“You can’t legislate accidents out of the game,” Riewoldt said on Triple M.

“We don’t want concussions, that point has been made, that’s why players that are now bracing and protecting themselves are getting suspended.

“Jackson Archer is lucky not to have a broken leg. It’s a violent collision.

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“North has to appeal this decision. I would be sad if he doesn’t get off this.”

It will be a busy week for the tribunal, with Hawthorn to challenge defender Jack Scrimshaw’s three-match ban for a high hit on Essendon’s Jordan Ridley, and Richmond fighting Tom Lynch’s one-match suspension for rough conduct on Carlton’s Tom De Koning.

Sydney, on the other hand, have accepted Justin McInerney’s three-match ban for the bump that concussed Brisbane’s Brandon Starcevich.


“It’s from everyone. I believe that mindset shift that happened on the night stems from player leadership, coach leadership and the decisions that were made on the night. Because you can’t go from being 41 points up in this great mindset, to then all of a sudden going into threat mindset where you literally cannot play. Which is what happened.

“It’s not all the coaches’ fault because in the end it’s the players that are making the decisions on-field.

“You do need your leadership group to step up in those moments and show the rest of the group, ‘hey, this is the direction we’re going’. And I believe they got that wrong on the night.

“Everyone went in the direction of, ’oh, this isn’t the plan, we’re not supposed to be losing this game. Panic, panic, panic. And it comes from the narrative of potentially … what’s happened in the past [30 years, during the down patches since Carlton’s last premiership].”

She also highlighted the “small forward problem” at Carlton.

“We’re seeing the prevalence of small forwards in our game that are changing the way the game is played and I don’t think they’ve got that … a small forward that can kick 30 goals now.”

Ex-curator lashes AFL over Adelaide Oval call

Daniel Brettig
AFL safety fears about Adelaide Oval’s capacity to host two footy fixtures either side of the Sheffield Shield final have been called out as “fictitious” and “bullshit” by the oval’s former curator Les Burdett.

Last week the AFL shot down a proposal for the Shield final to be played in between rounds two and three of the league season, stating the risks of injury to players and relocation of the games were too high.

A bid by CA and SACA to stage the Sheffield Shield final at the Adelaide Oval has failed.

A bid by CA and SACA to stage the Sheffield Shield final at the Adelaide Oval has failed.Credit: Getty Images

That decision followed the refusal of a request to the South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas to waive the multimillion-dollar cost of “Footy Express” bus services to and from AFL matches during the year, in return for making the ground available to cricket that week.

Burdett, who mentored the current Adelaide Oval curator Damien Hough and remains in demand as a turf consultant in Australia and overseas, declared over the weekend that the AFL’s concerns were baseless.

Loading

“None. None,” he said on FiveAA radio in Adelaide when asked what risks there were for football. “You probably need 24 hours of continual torrential rain, that’s not going to happen in Adelaide, and it’s just overkill. I just think the AFL are trying to find excuses.

“For Damien to say that he can deliver, and I know he can deliver, and I know what equipment and great support he’s got with his staff, he’d deliver it easily. I love my footy, but I love my cricket, and you’re depriving South Australians from watching our cricket team play in a grand final on Adelaide Oval when it’s doable.”

The AFL had pointed to advice from “independent turf experts” to outline the case for not having the Shield final at Adelaide Oval.

“It’s fictitious what the AFL are coming up with, and this so-called expert, I know most of the guys in Australia, I still pitch-advise Cricket Australia and I still link to these people, I’d like to know who it is,” Burdett said. “I couldn’t sit back and listen to the bullshit.

Loading

“If the outfield gets wet, hoo-haa, you’re irrigated anyway. The outfield of Adelaide Oval is designed to take six inches of rain in one hour, 150 millimetres of rain in an hour. We’re never going to get that in Adelaide, but that’s the way they design it.”

The decision to bring football back to Adelaide Oval was a contentious one. Burdett was heavily involved in making the case for drop-in pitches as a potential improvement on what had gone before.

“The whole idea of doing it is so you can play football one day and cricket the next. That was the selling point,” he said. “With drop-in pitches you get more bums on seats, and there’s no transition period where you waste time to rejuvenate your pitches for cricket, or autumn where you soften them for football season.

“It’s all doable, and the reason the drop-in pitches came to life was so you can use the ground more. Here’s an opportunity to use the ground more and they’re saying no.”

Kangaroos to challenge Archer suspension

AAP
North Melbourne has confirmed they will go to the tribunal to challenge the three-match suspension handed to defender Jackson Archer after his collision with the Western Bulldogs’ Luke Cleary.

Luke Cleary was stretchered off the ground at Marvel Stadium.

Luke Cleary was stretchered off the ground at Marvel Stadium.Credit: Getty Images

Dogs defender Cleary was knocked out when Archer’s knee made contact with his head in a contest in Saturday night’s match at Marvel Stadium.

Play was stopped and Cleary received medical attention before being taken to hospital.

The 23-year-old was back at Whitten Oval in good spirits on Monday but will miss the Bulldogs’ AFL/VFL centenary celebration match against Collingwood on Friday night under concussion protocols.

The match review officer graded Archer’s actions as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, resulting in a three-game suspension.

North Melbourne on Monday confirmed they will challenge the penalty at the tribunal.

If it stands, Archer will miss games against Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

The Roos found moral support from within the Bulldogs camp on Monday, when Bob Murphy – a former club captain who has returned to Whitten Oval in a leadership and cultural capacity this year – said he did not believe Archer should be suspended.

“My initial thought was it was just one of those unfortunate accidents,” Murphy said.

“We get the luxury of looking at it in slow motion, and it’s whether the tribunal thinks he had another option, and they might deem that he did.

“There’s definitely no malice and it’s one of those ones where you don’t want to see players miss footy for those sort of things, but it may end up that way.”

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt said he would be “really fearful for the game itself” if Archer was banned over the collision.

“You can’t legislate accidents out of the game,” Riewoldt said on Triple M.

“We don’t want concussions, that point has been made, that’s why players that are now bracing and protecting themselves are getting suspended.

“Jackson Archer is lucky not to have a broken leg. It’s a violent collision.

Loading

“North has to appeal this decision. I would be sad if he doesn’t get off this.”

It will be a busy week for the tribunal, with Hawthorn to challenge defender Jack Scrimshaw’s three-match ban for a high hit on Essendon’s Jordan Ridley, and Richmond fighting Tom Lynch’s one-match suspension for rough conduct on Carlton’s Tom De Koning.

Sydney, on the other hand, have accepted Justin McInerney’s three-match ban for the bump that concussed Brisbane’s Brandon Starcevich.

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