Management company run by premiership hero fined
Updated ,first published
Summary of football news from today’s AFL Briefing:
- Norm Smith medalist Bobby Hill appeared at Collingwood’s KGM Centre.
- Defiant Ross Lyon said St Kilda were “chasing perfection” and defended his much-hyped team’s slow start to the year.
Phoenix Management, the player agency run by Essendon first-year hero Scott Lucas, has been fined $3000 for breaching rules on the approach of young players in the AFL’s transition system.
The AFL Players Association’s Agents Accreditation Board found the company was pursuing a player whose status on the agent portal was set to “no approach at this time”, which breached three clauses of the regulations that agents must comply with when approaching a player.
Phoenix is also managed by player manager Winston Rous; He manages stars such as Carlton’s Sam Walsh, Hawthorn captain James Sicily and Sydney forward Tom Papley.
“The AFLPA and AAB remind all current and future Accredited Representatives, as well as the parents and legal guardians of potential AFL and AFLW players, that these matters are taken seriously,” the AFLPA said in a statement.
“The regulations quite deliberately regulate how and when accredited managers can approach young players on the talent pipeline to discuss their representation.
“The regulations exist to protect the rights and welfare of these players as children, to allow them to focus on other key priorities, including schooling and education, and to help them freely decide on their representation when they are ready.”
Phoenix will donate the fine to the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
-Andrew Wu
Bobby Hill returns to Collingwood to reconnect with players and coaches
Peter Ryan
Norm Smith medalist Bobby Hill appeared at Collingwood’s KGM Center as part of his return trip to the Magpies.
The 26-year-old did not train but received a warm welcome as he reconnected with coaches, team-mates and club officials in the first step towards training and playing again.
Hill, who has four years left on his contract, has recently been working with a personal trainer and is expected to train further on Saturday.
There are no set expectations or timelines for when he will be deemed ready to return to play.
He was not considered for selection in last year’s finals series and played only one game as a substitute after June last season. Collingwood officially gave Hill leave in early January to deal with personal issues.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae told SEN last month that the Pies would wait for the right time before reintroducing Hill into the structure of a club-based training programme.
“Bobby is working on himself right now. We’re hoping he’ll be on the show in the short or medium term. We’ll see how that goes,” McRae said.
“We will continue to love and support him, and we will include him in the environment that will enable him to progress towards high performance at the right time.”
The small forward has been a critical player at Collingwood since joining the club in 2023 following four years with the Giants.
He scored 33 goals in his first season and scored four in the grand final; The Magpies earned the win in McRae’s second season as manager.
Collingwood has a bye this week.
‘Football is abnormal’: Lyon shuts down ‘algorithm’ on Saints
“Well, that’s none of our business,” Lyon replied. “That’s why AFL football is abnormal. It’s not the way you do it. You’re not being scrutinized, you choose AFL football, you choose stress, you choose anxiety, you choose to be in the arena. I’m happy to be in the arena.”
“I know what will happen but you have to write your own story and traditionally both players [De Koning and Wanganeen-Milera] I wrote some really strong AFL stories.
“That’s why the AFL is high performance and abnormal. If you want normal, you step on the other side of this microphone, the other side of the fence, on the ground and chase mediocrity in your life. These guys are chasing perfection and with that comes a lot of criticism from an on-field standpoint.”
Lyon said he was focusing on improving the team’s ability to keep the ball under control through turnovers, adding that “that’s what really hurt us” and admitting the Saints were “inconsistent in some areas.”
The coach said St Kilda’s foundation was strong and answered questions about whether it would take some time for the Saints to develop energy and chemistry as a group.
“There seems to be a lot of noise, but [it] “It doesn’t show up in my algorithm,” he said.
“I heard the media department tell me there’s a lot of noise, so I can fine-tune my algorithm to feed me that stuff.”
Asked if the 2-0 start had added more pressure to his role, Lyon said: “No less than when you signed up to be an AFL coach.
“Having noise and rhetoric does not increase the pressure. The biggest pressure is internal to performance.”
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports journalist and Formula 1 writer for The Age.Connect via email.
