ST KILDA Saints coach Ross Lyon said yesterday the rationale for taking the team to Perth three days before tomorrow night's crucial match against Fremantle came from Sydney's blueprint for tackling trips West. "It is based on … what I experienced last year with the Swans, with the two qualifying finals," Lyon said. "We came over in this type of time frame, settled the legs and settled the players in and had an opportunity to train on the ground. We had reasonable results, ran well, so as a club, St Kilda have not got a great record over here … so we just thought we would try a different method." While the Saints have been criticised for the style of their 28-point loss to Hawthorn last Saturday night, criticism of Fremantle's underachieving start has rendered Perth's first Friday night game of the year vital. But Lyon said while many close observers of the Dockers consider them under huge pressure, he sees it differently. "I don't know how vulnerable they are. They are a club that has got a lot of talent, they have won their last two home games," Lyon said, "They are a team that has got the dominant ruckman in the competition, elite midfielders and elite forwards in Chris Tarrant and Matthew Pavlich."

Still work to do, says Eade

WESTERN BULLDOGS Coach Rodney Eade is pleased with the signs the Bulldogs are showing heading into the match against Sydney, but he's not getting carried away with Magpies coach Mick Malthouse's assessment of the Dogs as a top-three team. "As coaches, sometimes we have agendas when we say things about other teams and maybe he's trying to put the heat on us a little bit," Eade said yesterday. "I don't think Mick is that forthcoming in praise of other teams, so I think it was probably just to put a bit of pressure on us, that's fine.' We've made the finals once in the last six years and I've said publicly we've got a lot of work to do … with the evenness of the competition, you need to be able to do things consistently." And that goes for everyone, he said, from round-eight Rising Star nominee Shaun Higgins to former Lion and Brownlow medallist Jason Akermanis. "He (Higgins) only played five games last year but he's been very good. He's had a couple of down games, a couple of down halves, so from our point of view, we're just hoping for consistency."
MARTIN BOULTON

Black wants origin back

BRISBANE LIONS As maroon fever hit Brisbane last night, Lions co-captain Simon Black has added his voice to the chorus of players clamouring for the return of state-of-origin football. Black, who plays his 200th game for the Brisbane Lions against Collingwood on Saturday night, said most of the players in the AFL wanted to see the return of a state-based competition. "I'd love the state of origin to come back, I think if you ask most of the players in the AFL these days, they'd really love it, (even if) it was just a one-off," said Black, originally recruited to the Lions from East Fremantle. A three-time All-Australian and club champion, Black has won virtually every individual honour available in a glittering career, including the 2002 Brownlow and 2003 Norm Smith medals.
ANDREW STAFFORD

No leak from drug agency

DRUGS An Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation has found no evidence of a leak, despite an AFL club being forewarned of supposedly random drug tests. The AFL and ASADA were embarrassed last month when an anonymous caller to an Adelaide radio station correctly predicted when drug tests would be conducted on Port Adelaide players. But ASADA said yesterday an investigation was conducted and there was no evidence of confidential information being released. "ASADA's examination involved thoroughly reviewing the evidence and taking statements either directly or indirectly from all concerned individuals and found no evidence that any person in ASADA released confidential information to a third party," authority chairman Richard Ings said.

Injuries faked for frees: claim

FREMANTLE His players have been reported 14 times this year, seven have missed games — the latest being Dockers vice-captain Josh Carr. But Fremantle coach Chris Connolly yesterday tried to deflect attention from his club's growing disciplinary crisis by accusing the rest of the AFL of staging for free kicks by feigning injury. The Dockers coach claimed there was a growing trend within the AFL to exaggerate injury to try and gain a free kick or a 50-metre penalty. "I have seen a lot more of that this year, and I guess if it continues to happen, the AFL will need to address it," Connolly said. "A player going down like he has been shot by someone in the crowd and then within 30 seconds being as hard at the next contest as they had ever been … it doesn't put a good message."

Pioneers applauded

PORT ADELAIDE That Port Adelaide's Daniel Motlop can honestly say he has never been racially vilified on the football field is a strong indicator of how far the game has progressed for the AFL's fleet of indigenous players. Ahead of the indigenous heritage round, Motlop and his counterparts at Adelaide spoke happily of the recognition they now received, and paid tribute to the paths first uncovered by Michael McLean, Gavin Wanganeen, Michael Long and others. The round will be particularly significant for the Power, given that Wanganeen, the Burgoyne brothers, Che Cockatoo-Collins, Shane Bond and now Motlop have had a significant impact on the early history of the club, including the 2004 premiership. "They've got a good background with indigenous players, served the club well, Gavin, Shane Bond, Che Cockatoo-Collins, they're just off the top of my head, so hopefully we can carry that tradition on," Motlop said yesterday. "Michael Long and guys like Michael McLean handled that (racial) stuff pretty well and it's all been stamped out — I've never actually experienced any on the footy field so it's a credit to them, Long, McLean and Nicky Winmar, all those names."
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