Thursday News Headlines – March 30th, 2017

AFL

• A TROPICAL low caused by Cyclone Debbie is about to dump up to 150mm of rain on Brisbane, but the AFL is confident the Gabba clash between the Lions and Essendon will go ahead. While the deluge is set to hit the Queensland capital today, conditions are expected to dramatically improve tomorrow and Saturday.
• The AFL will not attempt to make more money from its $2.5 billion broadcast rights agreement regardless of whether it moves to a twilight grand final in 2017.
• Fremantle champion Matthew Pavlich has called for the introduction of a national AFL reserves competition as part of a radical restructure of the Australian football pathway.
• Richmond have signed United Petroleum as their official match ball partner for the next two years. United Petroleum’s logo will appear on the club’s match-day footballs until the end of 2018.
• Greater Western Sydney Giants have signed St.George Bank as a platinum partner of the club for the next two years. The bank’s logo will appear on the sleeve of the club’s polo shirts until the end of 2018.
• Hostplus, has renewed its commitment to the AFL until the end of 2018 in a partnership that now extends to AFL Women’s
• Essendon’s major sponsors have emerged from the club’s supplements saga with an enhanced reputation and strong consideration to purchase among both Bombers fans and the general public, according to new research.

Womens

• AFL WOMEN’S team lists are set to be increased in 2018 as clubs prepare for a 26-day trade and free agency period. The eight AFLW clubs have this week been advised that player lists will be extended to a total of 30 players next season — a primary list of 27 players and three rookies who will not have playing rights until upgraded.
• The latest crop of South West Football League talent in WA is set to be unveiled when six women’s teams take to the field in a momentous round robin carnival. Hands Oval will host the women’s pre-season fixtures on April 9, marking the first time women footballers have officially played under the SWFL banner.
• The Eastern Region Girls Football League in Victoria will field 87 youth girls teams in 2017 — an increase of 135 per cent from 37 sides last year.
• ADELAIDE’S AFLW partner from the north hopes to be in a position to lobby for its own team within five years. Total female participation in the Territory climbed 23 per cent last year to 13,295, including 2642 involved with clubs and 2725 in NAB AFL Auskick and other junior programs.

Soccer

• Ange Postecoglou has called for the abolition of the A-League salary cap, saying it is affecting the development of young Australian players by forcing them to move overseas too early.
• LIVERPOOL and Manchester United are SA-bound as legends of the English Premier League giants get set to face off in Adelaide. Reds stars Robbie Fowler, Luis Garcia and Vladimir Smicer, along with United treble-winners Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and Teddy Sheringham are among the ex-players confirmed for an indoor soccer tournament at Titanium Security Arena on Saturday, July 22.
• AN explosion in soccer numbers in Geelong has led to the creation of a new $2 million synthetic facility in Norlane. The G21 region has the fastest-rising rate of new soccer players in Victoria, with a lot of that growth being experienced in Geelong’s northern suburbs. It follows the official opening of a $750,000 redevelopment of the Geelong Soccer Club’s facilities at Stead Park in Corio on Saturday.

NRL

• TRIPLE M’s Matthew Johns, Mark Geyer and Gus Worland have thrown their support behind the NRL introducing a women’s competition sooner rather than later.
• Newly elected Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) president Cameron Smith is confident of brokering a deal with the NRL for a fixed percentage of the code’s revenue in their pay talks.
• The NRL will today table a financial offer to its players that sends rugby league wages soaring into the stratosphere. The average wage is expected to exceed $300,000. The minimum wage is likely to rise to $100,000 for the top-30 players at each club. Million-dollar contracts are likely to become the norm rather than the exception for the game’s elite from next season and beyond.

SuperRugby

• The Rugby Union Players’ Association believes constant speculation as to whether an Australian Super Rugby team will be cut from the competition in 2018 has “no doubt” made the option of going overseas more enticing for home-grown talent. 
• The Rugby Union Players Association has gone directly to rugby supporters in its “Stronger As Five” campaign, urging fans to sign a petition to keep five Australian Super Rugby teams.

General

• The Premier League has launched its biggest crackdown on piracy with a series of moves to combat illegal streaming, in light of fears that widespread availability of new consumer-friendly devices could fatally undermine its business model.
• Senator Nick Xenophon’s proposed bill to ban gambling ads during sports broadcasts in Australia is looking very unlikely, after a Senate Estimates Committee found the measures were not necessary because of the federal government’s reforms.
• Brands that sponsor sports teams and competitions will be able to accurately measure the value of their investment across broadcast and digital channels for the first time. New technology, which could provide a new currency for how sports sponsorship packages are valued, is being rolled out by computer vision platform GumGum in partnership with Catalyst Sports and Media.
• DRUG addicted criminals will be given football tickets as praise for being clean at a new Melbourne drug court launched today. “(Rewards might include) football tickets or a supermarket voucher but I think the most powerful thing I’ve seen in my court is when we give someone applause,” Magistrate Tony Parsons said today.