HighstakesforPiesgame · BRUMBIES AS THEY TAKE ON THE QUEENSLAND REDS IN A PRE-SEASON SUPER RUGBY...

52 NT NEWS. Saturday, January 29, 2011. www.ntnews.com.au

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STAND AS ONE WITH THE CA TECHNOLOGIES

BRUMBIES AS THEY TAKE ON THE

QUEENSLAND REDS IN A PRE-SEASON

SUPER RUGBY TRIAL GAME.

Date: 4 February 2011

Time: Main Game kick-off 7.40pm

Venue: Austar Rugby Park, 71 Abala Road

MARARRA NT

Tickets: Darwin Entertainment Centre,

93 Mitchell Street Darwin,

box offi ce 08 8980 3333 or online at

www.darwinentertainment.com.au

Proudly sponsored by

FRIDAY 4 FEBRUARY

KICK-OFF 7.40PM

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AFL kicking goals for Qld

THE AFLwill donate 15 per cent of all gate takingsfrom the openingweek of NAB Cup action to theQueensland and Victorian flood appeals. But plans fora special All-Star or State-of-Originmatch have beenshelved because of scheduling difficulties. Instead,the AFLwill contribute $3 for every adult ticket soldin amove aimed at raising another $500,000 forgrass roots sporting clubs affected by the disaster.AFL players and clubs have already given $650,000.

Dees pick Green as captain

MELBOURNE has appointed its most experiencedplayer Brad Green as the new captain of the AFL club.Green, 29, was the Demons’ best and fairest winnerlast season and has played 220 games and kicked294 goals sincemaking his debut in 2000. Melbournenamed three vice-captains in Aaron Davey, BrentMoloney and Jared Rivers, with youngsters NathanJones and Jack Grimes also in the leadership group.Green said it was a huge honour.

O’Brien signswith Pies

COLLINGWOOD defender Harry O’Brien is hopefulfellow Pies Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury –whoare being pursued by GreaterWestern Sydney –willsoon follow him in extending their contracts.O’Brien yesterday signed a one-year extension. He isconfident Swan and Pendleburywill also re-sign.‘‘I think we all want to stay together and I think it’sonly amatter of time before they put pen to paper sohopefully they’re not too far away,’’ OBrien said.

High stakes for Pies game

Clever Palmerston playmaker Kirsten Hunter returns from a hamstring injury for the clash with Darwin today

By JESS WEBSTER

One thingweneed

tomake surewe

don’t do is drop our

intensity

PALMERSTON boss RussellJeffrey says his players haveno excuses for a loss todayagainst Darwin at GardensOval.

Jeffrey concedes the Buffa-loes are a dangerous side butis confident the Pies canbounce back after a heart-breaking three-point loss tothe Bombers last week.

‘‘It did deflate the boys. Itwas a painful loss, any closeone is, and it was such an im-portant game,’’ he said.

‘‘But I can honestly say byMonday the boys had boun-ced back and they had start-ed to refocus on the Buffsgame, so we certainly haveno excuses this week.

‘‘On their day Darwin cancertainly shake anybody andwe’re no different. They tookus to the cleaners a fewweeks ago so we are verywary of them.

‘‘Mathematically we knowwe are still in the race. As faras we are concerned we’redefinitely aiming to playfinals still.’’

Palmerston sits four pointsbehind fifth-placed Waratahsand will have to overcomethe Buffaloes without theservices of strong-markingforward Paul Wheatley, whobagged five goals againstTiwi last week. But clever

playmaker Kirsten Hunterreturns from a hamstring in-jury and with spearhead Dar-ren Ewing benefiting fromsome run into his legs, thePies are hopeful of using thesmaller oval at Gardens totheir advantage.

‘‘We’ve been screaming outall year (for a strong forwardtarget) and it’s been our Ac-hilles up forward but we feelas though we are fixingthat,’’ Jeffrey said.

‘‘We have really beenworking on winning thehard ball before Christmasand we feel like it’s comingtogether, but one thing weneed to make sure we don’tdo is drop our intensity be-cause that’s been a winnerfor us.’’

Darryl White and ShaunWilson — late withdrawalsfrom the Buffs side againstDistricts — have been namedin their squad along withImam Muhklis.

Eagles will ease back RobertsWANDERERS coach Paul Motlopwants clever forward Relton Ro-berts to work his way back intothe Eagles lineup.

The former AFL Tiger has beenconspicuous by his absence froma Wanderers side aiming for atop-three finish and a serious tiltat the 2010-11 NTFL crown.

Motlop, however, said theNgukurr-born goalkicker wasback at training and looking tohelp the club win its first seniorflag since 1993.

‘‘We’re expecting Relton backin the senior side in a couple ofweeks,’’ Motlop said.

‘‘Obviously, he’s an importantplayer for us, but it’s also import-

ant he earns his spot like everyother player who has done thehard yards.

‘‘We’ve got a bit of depth nowand Relton probably needs to geta bit of fitness back before we finda spot for him.’’

Motlop said a combination ofwet and muddy grounds in thepast month and some tough op-position had blunted his side’s ab-ility to move the ball quickly.

‘‘It’s been heavy going for uswith the rain that’s been aroundand not being a big side, it hasn’thelped us.

‘‘We need a dry ground to playour best footy on but I guess youcan say that about all the clubs.’’

Motlop is convinced thisseason’s Eagles can do some ma-jor damage in the finals. ‘‘We’rethird, only percentage away fromsecond and if we can beat Dis-tricts and Saints do the rightthing by us against the Tiwiswe’re right back in it,’’ he said.

Wanderers go into tomorrow’s4pm game at Gardens Oval with-out prolific ball winner JamesMcNamee and tough defendersTyler Dittloff and Nick Wark.

The return of champion mid-fielder Shannon Motlop, Sturt’sJosh Cubillo and hard-runningflanker Owen Henry will help off-set those losses.

—GREYMORRIS

Match is a family affair for DaveyBy GREY MORRIS

MELBOURNE vice-captainAaron Davey wants to make nextweek’s Indigenous All-Stars gamea big family reunion.

One of three vice-captains un-der new Demons skipper BradGreen, Davey will play his fourthAll-Stars match in Alice Springs.

But reuniting with youngerbrother Alwyn at Traeger Park inAlice Springs in a giant celebrat-ion of indigenous football is moreimportant to the player theycall Flash.

‘‘I haven’t played in the same

side as Alwyn since 2003 whenPalmerston lost a grand final to StMarys, so getting a handball fromhim will be a nice change,’’ theDemons star said.

‘‘Our mum will be there watch-ing us, which is even better,and I’m sure Alwyn will want todo well to make her happy andproud of us.

‘‘She is a very special lady, isour mum, and she has alwaysbeen there for us over a lotof years.’’

Meanwhile, Davey and theAFL’s indigenous players will beengaged in a community camp in

Sydney from tomorrow. The30-man All-Stars squad for AliceSprings is expected to be namedon Tuesday.

‘‘I’ve certainly put my hand upto play alongside all the otherAboriginal players at Mel-bourne,’’ Davey said.

‘‘Liam is in his home country infront of his Walpiri people andAussie (Austin Wonaeamirri)will want to play for sure.’’

Port Adelaide and former Wan-derers forward Daniel Motlopwill play an unprecedented fifthAll-Stars game if he gets a jumperin Alice Springs.