These Cats are running out of lives

The excitement surrounding the return of football for 2011 overshadowed a very significant development in Melbourne’s AFL circles.

Last Thursday, Richmond unveiled the Fighting Tiger Fund. It is a scheme aimed at reducing a debt coach Damien Hardwick said had “crippled” the foundation club.

According to the Tigers they need $6 million and they require it by yesterday. They want $4.5 million to reduce debts and raise another $1.5 million to invest in the future of the club.

By way of investment, Hardwick suggested the cash could be used to pay players more or entice other club’s stars to Punt Road.

Richmond chief executive Brendan Gale painted a bleak picture concerning the club’s lack of cash.

“The brutal fact is, that right now, our debt position means we are unlikely to deliver the critical resources required to win premierships,” Gale said

Haven’t we heard all of this before from Tigerland? Indeed, the cash call has come more than once over the past 25 years. And the club has only got itself to blame. But it could also be the greatest obstacle in fixing the situation.

Tainted flags aren't black and white

Football is a team game. Matches can’t be won by individuals. However, a single person can greatly influence a contest.

It is all about the one percenters in the AFL and WAFL these days. Take the smother by Daniel Chick that set up West Coast’s match-winning goal in the 2006 grand final. And before that there was Leo Barry’s game-saving mark for Sydney in the previous premiership triumph.

When it comes to close matches – and the results of both of those big AFL days in September 2005 and 2006 were less than a kick – a single act can be the difference between elation and despair.

But what about if one of those significant efforts was produced by a player who has allegedly broken the rules to play?

It has become a trend in modern sport to talk about tainted premierships. Some have even suggested records should include an asterisk against particular champions because of the doubts about the condition of some of the personnel that were prominent in the success.

Victorian-based AFL critic Robert Walls wrote in The West Australian in 2007 that the Eagles’ premiership cup from the previous year was tainted because of the drug scandals, spearheaded by Ben Cousins, which had enveloped the WA club.

The same question was posed to Swan Districts this week following the revelation premiership player Travis Casserly had registered a positive drug test arising from last year’s WAFL grand final.