24 NT NEWS. Friday, February 7, 2014. www.ntnews.com.au

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SANFL thwart Crows’ state jumper bidAFL

ByMICHELANGELORUCCI

ADELAIDE’S uneasy pos-ition at AFL House has costthe Crows another victory inthe off-field Showdown withPort Adelaide at the newAdelaide Oval.

Five months after beingdenied home rights to thefirst AFL derby at the re-developed Oval, the Crowslast night had their plansto wear a replica South

Australian state jumper inthe March 29 clash with thePower blocked by the AFL.

AFL intervention came asthe debate raged on theCrows’ right to wear the statejumper. The Crows last nighthighlighted they had bothSANFL and AFL approval towear the state jumper untilpublic opinion forced a reth-ink at AFL House in Mel-bourne yesterday.

The AFL-forced backflipfrom the SANFL last night

will inflame tensions betweenthe Crows and the AFL. Thesehave been high since October2012 when Adelaide was in-vestigated — and later heav-ily punished — for salary capand draft tampering clausesin Kurt Tippett’s secret con-tracts at West Lakes.

Adelaide chief executiveSteven Trigg last night res-ponded saying: ‘‘We view thisas a lost opportunity to cele-brate our origins with ourloyal supporter group.

‘‘And our disappointmentwill no doubt be shared by themany faithful Crows fans ex-cited about the 2014 season.

‘‘We respect the SANFL’sdecision as the owner of theintellectual property (of thejumper) — and this is a decis-ion deserving of respect.’’

SANFL chief executiveLeigh Whicker received thebrunt of AFL concern yester-day. He said the considerabledebate at different levelswithin the footy community

demanded a rethink to ensurefootball’s return to AdelaideOval was not overshadowedby controversy.

‘‘We understood the Ade-laide Football Club’s desire towear the guernsey in supportof their heritage and birthfrom all SANFL clubs,’’Whicker said.

‘‘The league has since had achange of heart and doesn’twant any public discussion todetract from football’s returnto Adelaide Oval.’’

Tigers call dibs onHale’s hearty skills

Coach Damian Hale has impressed so much he has been re-appointed at Nightcliff Tigers for an expanded a four-year tenure

NTFL

ByGREYMORRIS

Damian has also

changed the culture

of the footy club

DAMIAN Hale’s coachingtenure at NTFL club Night-cliff has been stretched tofour years.

A three-time premiershipcoach at St Marys, Hale wasre-appointed by the Tigers’committee on Wednesdaynight until the end of the2015-16 season.

The Premier League Tigersare primed for a shot at thisseason’s qualifying final.

‘‘We just felt Damian wasfully committed to the cluband we had to show him oursupport,’’ Tigers presidentMark Kelly said.

‘‘His work with the PremierLeague side is only part ofwhat is a 12-month job.

‘‘The development squad,our juniors and his work inthe Kununurra region of WAand Katherine with the BigRiver Hawks is of enormousbenefit to the footy club.

‘‘Damian has also changedthe culture of the footy club toone of wanting success andpursuing it, which can onlybe good for everyone associ-ated with Nightcliff.’’

Hale was surprised whenhe got a phone call from theclub informing him of thecontract extension.

‘‘We haven’t spoken toomuch about it because wedidn’t want to detract fromfinals preparations,’’ he said.

‘‘But obviously I’m prettyhappy with the arrangementand it’s all go-ahead fromhere, including making animpression in the finals.’’

Hale reckons the 2013-14Tigers are peaking at theright time.

‘‘It’s all about winning nowand the players know that,’’he said. ‘‘A big workrate,diligency and consistency iswhat needs to happen.

‘‘Fingers crossed the clubcan bring home a few flags.’’

Magpiescan dareto thinkof finals

Dean Rioli

THERE was a time in the2013-14 NTFL season whenfirst-year Palmerstoncoach Dean Rioli thoughthis side would struggle towin a game.

The Magpies lost theirfirst six games as a lack ofexperience and class sawthem plummet to the bot-tom of the ladder.

But nine rounds laterRioli’s side is staring atfifth place on the ladderand the very real possi-bility of a finals berth.

‘‘I’ve got to admit I was abit worried because it wasa look and learn period forme and the players duringthe pre-season and thoseearly rounds,’’ he said.

‘‘But then things startedto fall into place, theplayers started to takesome ownership andwe started to play somegood footy.

‘‘From a situation wherewe didn’t have SammyAutio, Matt Dennis andCameron Cloke, webegan to get them back inthe side.

‘‘The same thing hap-pened with Alwyn Daveyand (Aaron) Lonergan andthe help they were able togive Pierce Liddle in themiddle of the ground.

‘‘With all that experi-ence and ball-getting abil-ity the results started tocome.’’ Riolisaid the re-cruitment ofDennis hadbeen a bigwin for theclub. ‘‘Thisbloke, all 195cm of him,was an on-baller and wing-man down south whereyou can play him in theruck and in key forwardpositions up here.

‘‘He can take a mark,run and use the footy verywell so he’s been a big win-ner for us all round.’’

While confident the sidethat takes on Wanderers atGardens Oval tomorrow is‘‘probably’’ the strongestthe Magpies have fieldedall season, Rioli is wary ofthe confident Eagles.

‘‘I was an assistantcoach at Wanderers lastseason and know howclose they are as a footyclub,’’ he said.

‘‘There is a brotherhoodat Wanderers you rarelysee in football and it’ssomething I’d love to intro-duce at Palmerston.

‘‘Any other side thatmade 14 changes wouldstruggle for continuity butnot Wanderers, they cameout and beat Southern Dis-tricts easily because oftheir belief and trust ineach other.

‘‘If we can beat Wan-derers and the Tiwis beatWaratahs we’re in thefive and that’s all we’reworried about.

‘‘Next week and the Fri-day night game againstNightcliff is another day,right now it’s one week ata time for us.’’

—GREYMORRIS