Sunday, October 2

Eade to be Buckley's mentor at Magpies Sydney


IMAGERY and perception. Those words may not tell the full story, yet they help shape many questions.


What was going through the minds of Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley, as they stood slightly apart, watching the Geelong players being feted on stage on Saturday?


For Mick, was it the cold realisation hit that his career had fluttered to the earth like the blue-and-white ticker tape around him?

And for Bucks, was it the immediacy of the loss, or was he already thinking about next year?


A premiership for your thoughts.

Amid the jubilation of the Cats, the visual disappointment - or was it coldness? - of Buckley and Malthouse standing on the Southern Stand wing will be an image for the ages.

And what about them?

It is said they aren't best friends and that the succession plan had driven a wedge so sharp and deep their relationship had deteriorated to strictly professional. And problematic at that.


They didn't appear to exchange words or warmth in the post-script. At the post-match dinner, Malthouse made only passing reference to the new coach.


At the Collingwood family day yesterday, however, Malthouse acknowledged that the club was in good hands and that "Nathan and the player group will make it even better again".


Perception is reality and so are the thoughts of people close to the Malthouse-Buckley relationship; that Malthouse imposed himself over Buckley and that Buckley despised Malthouse's treatment.


Suffice to say, when Malthouse announced he wouldn't be at Collingwood next year, Buckley wasn't about to use a Chinese burn to convince him to stay.


That it is all over, that the cold war between the two ended without ultimate victory, will clearly demand reference in Collingwood's booklet of history.

The journey this season grew increasingly about Malthouse.

A great of the AFL, he has earned the accolades, but there is a query about the fact the countdown to Saturday became as much about Collingwood as it did Malthouse.

Even as late as Sunday week ago, Malthouse announced on Channel 7 the Grand Final would be his last game as coach.


The role for Eade will partly incorporate functions that Malthouse would otherwise have performed had he stayed at Collingwood - overseeing high-performance strategies, innovations and development - but, unlike Malthouse, Eade will have a role on match day in the box. There may also be some element of opposition analysis.
Collingwood has already appointed Ben Hart to the club as defensive coach, while Scott Watters, who was defensive coach this year, will move to become midfield coach should he not succeed in his bid for the St Kilda position.
Malthouse made the surprising announcement in his post-match press conference that he would not be at Collingwood next year. Malthouse reached a decision with president Eddie McGuire and the club executive about six weeks ago that he would leave after the finals.
He yesterday bid farewell to the crowd of about 1000 who turned out at Gosch's Paddock, saying the club was well positioned to win the flag next year.
''Rest assured this football club can only get better because of yesterday,'' Malthouse said.
''I think you look at the age of our players Chris Tarrant is our oldest player and he is as fit as he was five years ago. 
He had a fantastic year. Next oldest is Leon Davis, All-Australian this year, Ben Johnson, who had a pretty good year. They are our three oldest players.''
Leigh Brown is the only player confirmed to be leaving the club after announcing his retirement. Brown has indicated an interest in coaching and will speak with several clubs in the coming weeks.
The 30-year-old small defender has indicated an interest to return to family in Western Australia, but yesterday said he would ''definitely like to stay'' at Collingwood.

Manly Sea Eagles captain Jamie Lyon rules himself out of Four Nations tour Herald Sun


Hasler was already a Manly icon. Last night he became a legend as he led the club to its eighth premiership and second under his tenure. What next? Hasler has another year remaining on his contract but has been the subject of a massive offer from the Bulldogs.


After last night's game he indicated he would honour his contract and stay for next season. Beyond that, who knows? The Sea Eagles are locked in talks with their coach and insist he is going nowhere. The Bulldogs have a big fat cheque that says otherwise.


"I haven't given it a thought to tell you the truth. The only thing I have been concentrating on is this moment, this grand final," Hasler said. "I am at Manly for next season. Now that this grand final is over we will continue some discussions."


Given what happened at ANZ Stadium, Manly would be well advised to shell out whatever it takes to keep its coach. Hasler is worth every cent. Wayne Bennett may be the game's reigning super-coach but Hasler is closing fast.


"We were in a shambles before he turned up," backrower Anthony Watmough said.


"This club wouldn't be the same without him. I don't really know much about the coaches history at Manly, but he has to be one of the greatest.


"He has done such a great job over the years he has been here. How could you walk away from something you built? Give him $2 million a year."


Hasler won his first premiership in 2008, re-built his team and won a second only three years later. He did it with a new set of halves, two 20-somethings who were among the club's best performers last night.


"Tim Sheens knows I don't want to play so I don't think he'd pick people that don't want to be here. They have Chris Lawrence, Michael Jennings, Willie Tonga, Brent Tate, plenty of other centres who want to be there. I am looking forward to a rest."


After producing his best grand final display with a performance that included seven tackle busts, Lyon revealed he had played most of the year with a series of niggling injuries.


"It is just great to get the win," Lyon said.


"And I am glad it is over. I have had a few bumps and bruises and have been carrying a few injuries. I am definitely glad it is all over."


Lyon said he was feeling "old" but was adamant he had at least another two years of football to play. He is contracted with the Sea Eagles until the end of 2013.


"Yeah, I am feeling it in my body," he said.


"But I have another two years after this year and I am hopeful I will get through."


Lyon was happy with his display, leading the way as the Sea Eagles fought off a spirited charge home from the Warriors. He made 13 runs for 88m, while making 13 tackles in a five star performance.


"I have some bad grand final memories," he said.


"2001 (when he played for the Eels against the Knights) was bad but in 2007 I had a shocker. It took me a couple of months to get over that and even my missus said I was terrible so it scared me a bit."

Labour adverts slam Liberals' migrant boat stance


The radio advertisements will be played on high-rating AM and FM stations down the east coast and feature a man and a woman questioning why the Coalition would oppose offshore processing. The campaign will run into the next parliamentary sitting week, beginning on October 11, when a vote is expected on the government's amendments to the Migration Act, which seek to put the controversial Malaysian solution and offshore processing beyond legal doubt.


But the opposition was sceptical last night about the impact the campaign would have, saying the public had come to distrust the government on the issue of border protection. "Two weeks of spin on radio won't make up for years of policy failure," opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said.


"After all their failure, Labor still don't understand that you can't spin the boats away. You need proven policy."


Labor is emboldened by internal research showing the majority of voters believe the opposition should support the government's amendments.


t could then resurrect its deal to send up to 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in return for 4000 confirmed refugees. Mr Abbott wants an amendment that would restrict offshore processing to countries that have signed UN refugee conventions - which Malaysia has not.


Labor believes there is confusion in the community over Mr Abbott's stance.
The advertising campaign, authorised by ALP national secretary George Wright, capitalises on this and will run on capital city commercial stations over the next few weeks.


The Government is desperate to stem a flow of boats that has begun since the High Court effectively scuttled its Malaysian policy.


On Saturday, the fourth boat in about a week sailed into Australian waters. It was carrying 70 people.


The four boats held about 320 asylum seekers.

Bikini babes bust the record


The world record for the largest bikini parade was broken today in the City of the Gold Coast, Australia
The event was organised by a local newspaper, the Gold Coast Bulletin.
The bikini-clad women started the parade at a Gold Coast shopping mall, after which the women paraded for the required distance of 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) along Surfers Paradise beach.
Officials from the Guinness Book of World Records were there to confirm that with 357 women in the procession, a new record had been set.
The previous record was set by the Cayman Islands in June 2010 with 331 participants.


In all, 357 women wore bikinis to strut their stuff in a parade from Cavill Avenue on to the Surfers Paradise beach.


Four had to be disqualified for being overdressed.


The feat smashed the previous record of 331 set in the Cayman Islands last year.


Surfers Paradise councillor Susie Douglas said it was fitting the Gold Coast held the record.


"We have beautiful beaches ... we've got a great foreshore and got healthy young women and a sense of fun," she said.

Bushfire threatens south of Gladstone


Authorities were stretched to the limit on Sunday as they worked to contain about 50 bush and grass fires across the state.


More than a dozen crews, two water bombing helicopters and a plane were sent to the scene of a large bushfire, south of Gladstone, which was surrounding a chemical plant.


But Assistant Commissioner Neil Gallant says with nightfall, winds have dropped.


"We've scaled back a few of the fires, thankfully as night has fallen, the winds have dropped off and the humidity has risen so the fires are not moving as quickly," he said.


"At this stage we're confident we've got a handle on them.


"Some of the fires are contained but not all of them.


"Hopefully tomorrow we'll just have crews patrolling those containment lines."


Assistant Commissioner Gallant says extra officers from Brisbane and Mackay in north Queensland have been sent to Central Queensland to help their tired colleagues.


"At the moment, we're just trying to release as many crews as we can to try and combat fatigue, a lot of the crews have been going fairly solid since yesterday morning," he said.


He says despite conditions having eased, residents still need to remain alert.


"At this stage they still need to be aware that there are fires in their area, conditions are still volatile and people who live in rural areas or on the fringe of urban areas people need to be aware that a fire could start tomorrow and endanger their property," he said.


The challenge for us yesterday was the intensity of the wind as it was coming through and we're expecting more winds today," he said.
"The humidity's picking up a little bit because the wind's changing, so we're going to have an interesting week given the wind changes.
"We're hoping it will ease a little bit by tomorrow."
Assistant Fire Commissioner in central Queensland Neil Gallant said a team of fire crews from Mackay and specialist staff from Brisbane will go to Rockhampton this afternoon to assist with 12 fires in the region.
"The record wet season that we had at the start of the year has meant that there's been enormous vegetation growth and unfortunately now that's drying out, so any fire that starts has plenty of fuel," he said.
"We're certainly looking ahead because a lot of our crews are fatigued, the volunteers in the rural service have contributed many of their hours to helping out."


It comes as Brisbanites feel the chill with below average springtime temperatures.
While the thermometer doesn't normally drop below 15.8 degrees in October, it's been down to 11 degrees in the past few days with those cold mornings set to stick around for at least the next week.
The cold, dry weather is responsible for some bushfires which are also being fuelled by extra vegetation from the January floods.
There are currently over 30 fires burning around the South Burnett and Burrum Heads area.

Backpacker's death in Italy linked to deep vein thrombosis


Died on Contiki tour ... Madelaine Crawley, the 23-year-old from Pottsville who attended Kingscliff High School, who died suddenly in Rome. Source: The Daily Telegraph
TWEED Coast backpacker Madelaine Crawley may have died from complications from Deep Vein Thrombosis, according to preliminary medical tests in Italy.
The attractive 23-year-old, who had been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime on a Contiki tour through Europe, was found motionless in her bed the morning after a party at Contiki's Seven Hills camping ground in Rome on Thursday.
She had suffered massive cardiac arrest and was rushed to hospital but could not be revived.
Initial media reports from Italian newspapers claimed she may have died after consuming a deadly cocktail of alcohol and drugs, but Madelaine's uncle Bruce Melville this afternoon said doctors believe DVT, a condition involving blood clots in veins after extended periods of air travel, was the most likely cause.
Untreated, DVT, often nicknamed economy class syndrome, claims the life of about three per cent of patients, with the risk of clots travelling to major organs such as lungs or the heart.


23-year-old, who had been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime on a Contiki tour through Europe, was found motionless in her bed the morning after a party at Contiki's camping ground in Rome on Thursday.


The Tweed Coast resort worker suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed to hospital but could not be revived.


Initial media reports in Italian newspapers claimed she may have died after consuming a cocktail of alcohol and drugs.


But Madelaine's uncle Bruce Melville yesterday said doctors believed DVT, a condition that caused blood clots in veins after extended periods of air travel, was the most likely trigger for the massive heart attack.

Manly channels anger into victory


Most of the Manly players have been given Premiers t-shirts to wear. Just heard through the referees microphone an official say to Glenn Stewart, "mate, you have got to wear it".
Shaun Johnson says more success lies ahead for the Warriors: "The club is in pretty good stead and to have all three teams in the grand final is something special".
Glenn Stewart is the Clive Churchill Medallist. Stewart just shook hands with David Gallop and the pair spoke briefly.
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Des Hasler just said of Brett Stewart: "I think he has finally got closure". Glenn and Brett Stewart are the first brothers to score in a grand final.
Des Hasler just said: "We were deserved winners tonight. Full credit to the Warriors but I can't fault these guys."
Captain Jamie Lyon scores a deserved try off a Glenn Stewart pass to secure Manly's second premiership in four years. Michael Robertson kicks the goal from wide out in his last game for the club with players and officials running on to celebrate. MANLY 24 WARRIORS 10. Those with betting tickets for Manly to win by 13+ will be happy.
Locke just threw a forward pass in his own in-goal. Dropout. Manly have won.
Locke loses ball running off his own line.
Hot potato play by the Warriors but Manly hang on. They just want this game to end. Warriors are coming home strong but time will probably beat them.
Manly are now trying to wind down the clock. DCE deliberately kicked the ball dead.
Cherry-Evans kick straight down Locke's throat. Warriors up to halfway after four tackles.
Manly are off the hook now but this game isn't over. Watmough down injured now. He wouldn't be wasting time would he?
That passage of play was unbelievable. Johnson's kick and regather was freakish, Vatuvei no-look pass, Lewis Brown grubber and Cherry-Evans trapped in-goal.


Manly winger Will Hopoate came closest to handing his side the early advantage, but his effort was a reflection of the tight contest; his hip touched the white line as he planted the ball. Warriors five-eighth James Maloney showed a more direct route, but his opposite Foran stopped him.
No side really deserved to take the lead but Manly's interchange prop George Rose was probably grateful the Warriors' only reward for his elbow on Aaron Heremaia was two points. He came down heavily on the hooker and the Warriors were awarded the penalty, Rose being put on report.
But the Warriors dropped their guard. Fullback Stewart, running off the inside hip of Cherry-Evans, danced through to score the game's first try, half an hour into the match. Had the half ended that way, with a 6-2 advantage to the Sea Eagles, the Warriors would have felt good about themselves. But six seconds before the break, Cherry-Evans scored.
It came not long after Manly back-rower Anthony Watmough produced a play-the-ball which was many kinds of wrong; the Warriors might have found themselves deep in the Manly quarter but instead found themselves defending for their lives. Having said that, the Sea Eagles began the play deep inside their own half; Glenn Stewart grubbered for winger Michael Robertson.
Suddenly the brilliance of the play was followed by another tinge of controversy. Cherry-Evans prevented Heremaia from getting a clean shot on his opposite number Matt Ballin, who eagerly took the ball from Robertson. Ballin was tackled short, but the Warriors found themselves short - Cherry-Evans took advantage to score.
Manly took that momentum into the second half. The Sea Eagles skipped upfield with relative ease every time they touched the ball.
The Warriors were their own worst enemies. Winger Krisnan Inu did superbly to jink his way out of his quarter but lost possession when he was finally brought down. Inu was fortunate Foran was ruled to have knocked on after fumbling a grubber by the Manly five-eighth with 25 minutes remaining.
By this stage, it was becoming less a matter of if, and more a case of when Manly would clinch the contest. It took another two minutes, and it was some play. Hopoate was being man-handled into touch when he flung the ball in-field to find Glenn Stewart who scored the try. This was an occasion when the man with the assist should get most of the credit.
The Warriors took a while to be woken last night. After 62 minutes, Johnson sent Manu Vatuvei over. And just seven minutes later, Johnson helped set up Elijah Taylor's try.
But Manly, through skipper Jamie Lyon, responded. Manly's known to have a heck of a chip on its shoulder - but when the chips are down, it's also a heck of a team.

Pilot did not see fair ride


THE pilot of a light plane that crashed into a ferris wheel on NSW's mid-north coast says he didn't see the fairground ride before his aircraft slammed into it.


"I just went to take off, do a go-around and I didn't even see the ferris wheel there," pilot Paul Cox said.


The aircraft became stuck on the ride, 10m in the air, for about 90 minutes.


The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Recreational Aviation Australia are conducting separate investigations into the accident.


The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Recreational Aviation Australia are conducting separate investigations into the accident, which happened on Saturday morning at a fairground in the township of Old Bar, near Taree.
Amazingly, neither Mr Cox, his 32-year-old male passenger, nor any of the children on the ferris wheel were hurt.
Amber Arndell was among those on the ride.
''When I turned around there was just this big plane right behind me,'' the 13-year-old said. ''I was so scared.''
The president of the Old Bar Beach Festival, Cozette Leonard, said the pilot clipped a tree before hitting the ferris wheel.
''He hit a tree, wobbled, pulled out to sea and that's when he crashed into the ferris wheel,'' Ms Leonard said.
''It's just a miracle. It could've been worse.''