Fremantle Dockers CEO Simon Garlick calls for AFL to introduce Wild Card tournament to add spice to season
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Fremantle Dockers CEO Simon Garlick calls for AFL to introduce Wild Card tournament to add spice to season
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The Australian
5 hours ago
- The Australian
Gold Coast Suns smash Lions in historic 66-point QClash win
Gold Coast have thrown a spanner in the top-eight mix with a crushing defeat of their crosstown rivals Brisbane. Get the reaction and details here. Suns coach Damien Hardwick says Gold Coast's record-breaking 66-point QClash victory over Brisbane will instill a new-found confidence in a side that is starting to understand it can become an AFL force. The Suns reached 12 wins for the first time in a season courtesy of its 20.10 (130) to 9.10 (64) win over the Lions in front of 20,833 fans in wet conditions at People First Stadium on Saturday. The winning margin exceeded the previous 64-point record set in 2015. Gold Coast have come out of a three-game stretch against teams in the top four – Collingwood, Adelaide and Brisbane - with a 2-1 record. It lifted the side to seventh on the ladder ahead of a run home that includes a clash against just one team currently inside the top eight. 'It's an interesting one. I speak about narratives a little bit. To change it you've got to win some games, especially against really good footy clubs and the last three weeks we've played three of the best,' Hardwick said. 'Two-one against those there. What it probably does is instil a bit of confidence in what may be. We're proud of the response, it was disappointing last week (against Adelaide). The guys got to work and did the job.' Lions coach Chris Fagan is confident his premiership side will respond from the club's worst QClash loss to take it up to AFL flag contenders Collingwood next week. 'It is hard to stay up every week, there's no doubt about that,' Fagan said. 'That's part and parcel of the challenge. How you reflect on it really is how you react next week and how you play next week. We've got a pretty hard game, Collingwood at the MCG. 'I'm confident our group will respond, they normally do. Those who have followed the Lions wouldn't have seen a performance like that too often in the past six years.' Efficiency going inside the forward 50m is paramount against the competition's best and Gold Coast were clinical. The Suns booted 10.3 in the first half to take a 27-point lead into the main break. Gold Coast had an even spread of contributors across the ground and had 10 different goal kickers, Matt Rowell earning the Marcus Ashcroft Medal for best on ground with 37 disposals and 15 clearances. The club's win against Collingwood was considered the biggest in its history and a second straight win at home, this time against last year's grand final winners, has sent a statement to the rest of the league that the Gold Coast are a real threat. Adding to Brisbane's woes was a hamstring injury suffered by Conor McKenna who was subbed out at halftime. — Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) July 26, 2025 BATTLE OF THE MIDFIELD It was a battle of an established premiership midfield against a young and improving centre brigade that has already taken multiple scalps in 2025. The Suns midfield took a step forward in the QClash, gaining an ascendency at centre bounces and stoppages that limited Brisbane's opportunities to create opportunities while laying the platform for the club's forwards to build scoreboard pressure. Jarrod Witts won the battle in the ruck while Gold Coast won the clearances 52-40. DAVIES DELIVERS A personal best performance from Alex Davies in his first AFL game of the season has reignited a career at the crossroads. Davies had 30 disposals, seven clearances and 10 tackles, dominating against the AFL's premier midfield contingent. His physical presence at stoppages complimented teammate and fellow midfield bull Matt Rowell perfectly and laid the platform for Anderson to take the game away from Brisbane. The 23-year-old was once considered a top 10 pick before being taken by the Suns as part of its academy concessions in 2020. He has only played 33 games, struggling to cement a spot in Gold Coast's midfield, and reports this week suggested he was open to a move at the end of this year despite being contracted at the Suns until the end of 2026. His performance against Brisbane could spark his career at the Suns or at least improve his asking price for rival clubs. SCOREBOARD SUNS: 5.1 10.3 15.6 20.10 (130) LIONS 2.3 4.6 5.8 9.10 (64) BEST: Suns: Rowell, Anderson, Witts, Long, Fiorini, Collins, Humphrey Lions: Neale, McCluggage, Dunkley, Bailey GOALS: Suns: Long 4, Humphrey 3, Farrar 3, Ainsworth 3, King 2, Anderson , Holman, Fiorini, Budarick, Read. Lions: Rayner 3, Neale, Ah Chee, McCluggage, Hipwood, Bailey. INJURIES: Suns: N/A Lions: Conor McKenna (hamstring) CROWD: 20,833 at People First Stadium. BOSWELL'S BEST: 3: Rowell 2: Anderson 1: Long Tom Boswell Queensland Local Sport Editor/Gold Coast Bulletin Sport Editor Tom Boswell is News Corp's Queensland Local Sport Editor/Gold Coast Bulletin Sport Editor, as well as writing for CODE Sports. With over a decade of experience in sports journalism Boswell has worked from the grassroots right up to the elite level. He spent over six years covering the AFL extensively and is now managing the company's regional and local sports journalists across Qld. AFL Port Adelaide got a lot wrong in the 98-point defeat their crosstown rivals — but one moment stood out as lazy and disrespectful. See all the R20 likes and dislikes in The Lowdown. AFL Rowan Marshall has revealed more about St Kilda's celebrations after their history-making win over the Demons, plus what it was like setting up the matchwinning play.
The Australian
5 hours ago
- The Australian
Simon Goodwin declines AFL probe into death threat after Saints loss
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin opted against the AFL taking any further action after the league's Integrity Unit investigated an online threat made in the wake of the Demons last quarter capitulation against St Kilda on Sunday. Two goals in the final 60 seconds to Saint Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, including one after the siren, sealed the biggest three-quarter-time comeback in AFL history and consigned the Demons to a famous defeat. As he was conducting his post-match press conference, a post from an anonymous account on X included an image of a ute in a car park and a chilling caption. 'I'm currently waiting outside Simon Goodwin's car: Don't fret, Melbourne fans you won't need to worry any further,' the post read. It came after a Collingwood member was banned from the AFL, and MCG, for five years after posting a message on the ground's anti-social behaviour hotline about Carlton coach Michael Voss. Simon Goodwin has received a chilling death threat. Image: X/Getty Melbourne made the AFL Integrity Unit aware of the post but confirmed on Monday there would be no further action, confirming the car in the photo did not belong to Goodwin and it wasn't taken in the Marvel Stadium car park. 'The AFL Integrity Unit has investigated the reported tweet regarding Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin post-game,' the league said in a statement. 'The image posted was not Goodwin's car, nor was it from Marvel Stadium. 'Goodwin has been consulted and does not wish to take the matter further, and there is currently no further action from Victoria Police. 'The AFL is currently working with the platform 'X' to help identify the owner of the account.' Melbourne captain Max Gawn defended Goodwin, who is now in the spotlight after the loss, and said the players were to blame to the chaotic finish. He also said Goodwin, the 2021 premiership winning coach who is contracted for another season, had hit support. 'He's my favourite coach and he's a premiership coach, Gawn said. 'I find him extremely smart tactically and, in the end, he's had us 50-points up against St Kilda, a team that we were down by 50 [points] in Alice Springs. He's in it with us, but the last quarter is not solely on him,' Gawn said.
7NEWS
9 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Steven May's ban upheld after failing to overturn rough conduct suspension at AFL appeals board
Star defender Steven May will still miss Melbourne's next two games after the Demons' bid to overturn his rough conduct suspension was rejected by the AFL appeals board. May was initially handed a three-match ban by the tribunal for rough conduct over the high-speed collision in the Demons' July 19 loss to Carlton that left Blues forward Francis Evans with concussion, a broken nose and a missing tooth. The All Australian defender maintained the ball was always his focus. May, who missed the Demons' demoralising loss to St Kilda on Sunday with his own concussion, will be suspended for games against West Coast and the Western Bulldogs. He was not involved in Monday night's appeal hearing. The Demons appealed on the basis the tribunal made an error of law and that no tribunal acting reasonably could have come to the decision it did. Melbourne's case, which was presented over more than an hour, hinged on the contention that no reasonable tribunal would expect a player to anticipate the trajectory of the ball's bounce. Melbourne noted after a handball went over Evans' head, the ball bounced four times. The first three bounces went away from the Carlton player, before the fourth took the ball into his hands, when May made contact. Jack Rush, acting for the Demons, contended the tribunal had put a 'sense of perfection on the reasonable player' in expecting May to anticipate the ball's trajectory. Melbourne also contended that the tribunal noting Evans had made a movement to avoid contact, while not taking into account May had extended his left leg in an attempt to also slow down, was 'the height of procedural unfairness' and demonstrated 'unreasonableness'. AFL representative Nick Pane quickly contended the tribunal's finding was not unreasonable before the appeals board of Stephen Jurica, Wayne Henwood and chair Will Houghton deliberated for 14 minutes. In rejecting Melbourne's appeal, Houghton said the board was satisfied May understood the case being put forward against him and he had every opportunity to put forward his own case. He concluded there was no lack of procedural fairness and no unreasonableness in the tribunal's decision. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin had said on Sunday that May was 'devastated and shattered' by the tribunal's decision, having believed he had done the right thing in attacking the ball. Goodwin also predicted the case would shape the way players approach contests in future. He believed players would adapt with the more information they get from the AFL about how they are required to act in certain scenarios. Collingwood forward Brody Mihocek has avoided suspension for pushing Richmond's Nick Vlastuin into two oncoming players. The incident, in the second quarter of Sunday's match at the MCG, was graded low impact, careless conduct and body contact and Mihocek can accept a $1500 fine for rough conduct.
