Meister der Farbe » Uganda, and the A side is about to embark

Jaeger bombs out Gold Coast have all but surrendered retaining much-hyped youngster Jaeger OMeara.The out-of-contract star is on the cusp of making a return to senior ranks as he overcomes a serious patella tendon injury, sustained at the beginning of the 2015 season.But ESPN understands OMearas teammates firmly believe the 22-year-old wont play for the Suns next year, with lucrative deals on offer from Victorian clubs.OMeara, who won the 2013 Rising Star Award, has delayed contract talks until he has made a successful return at AFL level.He has played two time-restricted matches for the Suns NEAFL side in recent weeks.The club hopes OMeara will play his first match since August 31, 2014 against?Fremantle at Metricon Stadium in Round 18.Beveridge the new Jagger? Victorian amateur club St Bedes/Mentone will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its 2006 C-Grade VAFA premiership next month, and front and centre in those celebrations will be the AFLs coach of the moment, Luke Beveridge.Beveridge, who has transformed the down-at-heel Western Bulldogs into legitimate premiership contenders over the past two years, took St Bedes/Mentone to three straight VAFA flags, from C-Grade to A-Grade in 2006-2008, a feat that had never been achieved in the leagues 124-year history.That run of success helped get his name noticed among AFL clubs and Collingwood took a punt on him in 2009, as a development coach under Mick Malthouse.ESPN learned this week, ahead of the Tigers 2006 flag party, that the St Bedes squad connected straight away with Beveridge - and some of his novel motivational techniques - and understood he had a rare gift to communicate with, and unify, a team.Luke Wintle,?who captained the club during Beveridges reign at the Tigers, said he wasnt surprised by his ascension from suburban coach to premier AFL tactician.Hes a lateral thinker. Hed often step away from routine and come up with different ways to inspire the group each week, Wintle told ESPN.One time he was strutting around like Mick Jagger. The boys would be in stitches but there was always method to his madness.He just wanted us to be more confident and play with some flare out on the field.As injuries threatened to derail the Bulldogs season, Wintle believes Beveridges commitment to his players has maintained the clubs standing in the top four.Bevos as invested in his best players as he is with the fringe players, he said.He gets the best out of everyone and then equips the group to allow them to be self-driven.Beveridge had a taste as a coach at league level during his stints at Collingwood and Hawthorn, and Wintle believed that experience was enough to make him hungry to lead his own side.Before that, I dont think he ever set out to be a senior AFL coach, he said. He certainly had the qualities required to be at the elite level, but I dont think it was a burning ambition of his.?Im not surprised that the Bulldogs have made remarkable strides since he took over. Hes a remarkable communicator and unifier of men.Port Adelaide issues Pokemon warning? The Pokemon craze has got so out of hand that Port Adelaide officials have been forced to issue a warning to fans, instructing them not to hunt Pokemon Go characters which may have ventured on to Alberton Oval during training sessions - or even practice matches.The Port website on Wednesday warned: Our footy department just has one request: Please dont walk onto Alberton during the middle of a training drill or game, no matter how important it is to get the Charizard that suddenly appears ... ?This is how crazy the phenomenon has become, and it seems AFL players are not immune from the games addictive charms.(For the uninitiated, Pokemon Go is a free app that allows users to play a virtual reality version of the popular 1990s Nintendo game, hunting and catching Pokemon - bizarre fictional creatures - that appear on their phone camera).But having issued their warning, the Port Adelaide media team then proceeded to tell supporters where to find the virtual monsters at the club.While youre getting all nostalgic with the latest Poke-craze to take over the world (and probably having your parents and millennials rolling their eyes at your bliss), portadelaidefc.com.au has put together a complete guide to the monsters roaming around Alberton, the website said. In one walk we picked up Geodude, Ponyta, Rapidash, Sandshrew, Mankey, Zubat, Growlithe.GWS forward Jeremy Cameron and St Kildas Maverick Weller outed themselves this week as huge Pokemon Go fans, joining the likes of Alex Rance, Jack Viney and Matt White among the AFLs confessed addicts.Cameron tweeted on Wednesday: Going for a walk with the missus to catch some Pokemon.Weller, meanwhile was unhappy with Melbournes rain, tweeting to teammate Blake Acres on Tuesday: This weather no good to go catch your Pokemon ay.Before Saturdays win against GWS, Collingwood even tweeted that it had caught a wild Squirtle in the Giants race at Spotless Stadium.If Richmonds players look slightly distracted over the coming weeks, perhaps the Pokemon Go craze can be blamed. After the game on Saturday night, there is a group of us (at Richmond) who have our own team, All-Australian defender Rance told the AFL Exchange podcast this week.(We played) it last night, it was pretty embarrassing. I walked down to the oval and it shows grass rustling on the screen and next thing you know - boom, a Pokemon jumps out at you.That rustling sound you hear is Phonse Kyne, Norm Smith and Allan Jeans all rolling their graves.Graham punts sneaky Tiger officials Western Bulldogs football operations boss Ben Graham was fired up on the interchange bench as Richmond threatened to snatch an unlikely victory?on Saturday night.But it wasnt what was unfolding on the field at Etihad Stadium that made the former Geelong captain see red.With uncertainty surrounding the severity of midfielder Tom Liberatores rib injury, sneaky Richmond officials standing in the umpires race tried to peer over at the coachs whiteboard lying on the Bulldogs bench.Graham was quick to spot the daring spies and angrily gestured for them to move on.The NFL punting pioneer later approached an Etihad Stadium staffer urging him to be more vigilant.Little did the Tigers employees know that Liberatore, son of 1990 Brownlow medallist Tony, had been taken by ambulance to hospital.The Western Bulldogs didnt return calls from ESPN to confirm whether a formal complaint to the AFL or Etihad Stadium was made.?Cowan replacement could be a Shaw thing Melbourne have been the pacesetter when it comes to womens football and were deservedly awarded a place in the new national womens competition, which kicks off in February next year.Sadly for the Demons, the coach who has put in so many of the hard yards with them, Michelle Cowan, will remain in Perth and will coach Fremantles womens team.Cowan had been commuting from Perth to work in player development with the Demons and to coach their womens team.So its back to square one for the Demons, but one coach they should be looking for is working just a few kilometres down the road, absent from the AFL scene but achieving huge success all the same.That would be Robert Shaw, the firebrand former Fitzroy and Adelaide coach, whose last full-time involvement was as Fremantles football manager when Mark Harvey was coach.Shaw has turned Brighton Grammar into a football powerhouse, winner of the last two APS premierships and on top of the ladder with three games to play this year.Melbournes Jayden Hunt is one of his success stories, along with Christian Salem and GWSs Josh Kelly. Andrew McGrath, Brightons captain this year, is shaping as a high draft pick at the end of the year.ESPN understands Shaw, who dabbles with some analysis on the Essendon website and appears weekly on SEN 1116, is keen to get back into the AFL system, and his work with Brighton Grammar shows his mastery at teaching and coaching which would be a key requirement in the fledgling competition.Paul Roos has expressed some interest in coaching Melbournes womens team next year and the job is surely his if he wants it. It would be a marketing boon for the new competition.But his former coach at Fitzroy still has a point to prove in footy and is itching for the chance to become involved in the AFL once more. And he has the runs on the board.Poppys remembrance day Some guys have all the luck.Paul Puopolo arrived at Hawthorn in 2010 as an unheralded small forward, having had a successful if hardly glittering career at SA club, Norwood.Less than six years later, Poppy has played in three AFL premierships and become a mainstay in one of the great teams of all time.To underline his good fortune (and good play), Puopolo last week notched up his 100th victory with the Hawks in just his 126th AFL appearance. That puts him at No.10 on the all-time list of players who have reached 100 wins in double-quick time.Geelong and Collingwood forward Travis Varcoe tops the list, needing just 113 appearances to rack up his 100 wins; his captain at Geelong, Joel Selwood, is not far behind on 118.Spare a thought then for a couple of current AFL players who drew the short straw on draft day and ended up at clubs that have struggled to achieve success. Ruckman Jonathan Giles is one such player. After stints at the fledgling GWS, then Essendon, the now West Coast Eagle has tasted victory in just six of his 49 games, at the paltry rate of 10.9 percent.RANDOM STATS OF THE WEEK: Fewest days to 100 games:? 1463 - Wayne Schimmelbusch (NM) 1476 - Luke Breust (Haw) 1483 - Glenn Jakovich (WC) 1485 - Sam Gibson (NM)300 - Two Scotts reach the 300-game milestone this weekend: Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson and field umpire Scott Jeffery. Thompson is set to become the 75th player in VFL/AFL history to bring up the triple ton (and the fourth this season after Nick Riewoldt, Shaun Burgoyne and Drew Petrie). Jeffery, a Tasmanian, becomes the 20th field umpire to reach the milestone.Most goals kicked outside Victoria: 500 - Matthew Pavlich (Frem) 445 - Jonathan Brown (Bris) 405 - Tony Lockett (StK, Syd) 404 - Warren Tredrea (Port)Scarpe Nike Italia .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Air Jordan 1 Outlet .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. http://www.scontatescarpenikeoutlet.it/italia-yeezy-700-offerte.html . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Air Max 90 Scontate . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. Vans Italia . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City.Steve Tikolo still remembers it well. After Kenyas defeat in the semi-final of the 2003 World Cup, Michael Holding told me that the ICC had earmarked Kenya to be the next Test-playing country, he said recently. It would have been a glorious reward for Kenyas golden generation, a side that announced themselves to the world when they bundled out West Indies for 93 in the 1996 World Cup, and beat India in two ODIs before the glories of 2003.It never happened. Instead, Kenya were doomed to be the Icarus of Associate cricket, flying closer than anyone else to the sun and then falling to oblivion.Just when they needed help most, they were shunned by the myopia of the Full Members: Kenya played only five ODIs against Test nations from the 2003 World Cup to the end of 2005. Yet theirs was a self-imposed demise too.Our cricket management let us down big time, Tikolo reflected, calling corruption an open secret. The malaise extended to the team: Maurice Odumbe was banned for five years after being found guilty of associating with a known bookmaker.With a tiny playing base, and a poorly run team, Kenya collapsed. They made little impact at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, and by 2013 they were forced to summon Tikolo, their one-time batting titan, out of retirement at the age of 42. Damningly, he was still among Kenyas best players when they lost ODI status in early 2014. Failure to qualify for the current edition of the Intercontinental Cup, the ICCs first-class competition for the top eight Associates, soon followed. Years of High Performance Programme seemed to have left no legacy at all - either on the team or the infrastructure in Kenya.Now, though, there is a little hope. On Friday the Nairobi Gymkhana ground hosts Kenyas opening match against Hong Kong in the World Cricket League Championship. It will be Kenyas first home game in an ICC-run tournament for four years and, it is hoped, a seminal point in the nations cricketing recovery.There is palpable excitement with cricket returning, says Rakep Patel, the skipper. He sees the matches as an opportunity to change the narrative around Kenyan cricket. Its been all doom and gloom in recent times with stories that Kenya cricket is dead.Much has been said about how Pakistan have been impeded by not being able to play a home Test since 2009, but consider the magnitude of Kenyas challenge: trying to grow a niche sport in the country without being able to play at home. That is why Cricket Kenya has worked with the government and security forces to bring international cricket back to the country. Perhaps the governments commitment represents renewed interest in helping what was once the nations most successful sports team.The return home comes at a time when there are tentative signs of the team improving too. They are definitely a team and country on the up, says Andy Hobbs, the ICCs acting Head of Global Development.Kenya performed respectably in the World T20 qualifiers last year, winning three of their five completed games. In the World Cricket League Championship, they have won three of their six games, including beating Namibia away twice last year. No one would pretend these results are remotely spectacular, but at least there is the sense that Kenya have halted their descent. And these results have been achieved with a team far younger than the one that lost ODI status two years ago.Irfan Karim, the teams leading batsman, who had a successful stint for Leicestershire 2nd XI last year, says that the team must improve their mental strength and game awareness.There are glimpses that youth development has improved, as Cricket Kenya has piloted programmes to grow the sport beyond its heartlands in Mombasa and Nairobbi.dddddddddddd The board is working on improving the education of coaches. In December, a new Under-19 tournament will launch, putting the most talented youngsters into three teams. According to the ICC census, there are now 3495 junior players in the country, up from 1100 in 2009.But, as ever with ICC census figures, some are sceptical. Three thousand five hundred youngsters? Its a joke, says Aasif Karim. If we had 5% of those figures, I would be happy. Those figures are totally fabricated.His son Irfan is rather more diplomatic. Better facilities, academies and higher-qualified coaches need to be put in place for there to be progress, he says. Increasing participation levels is not as easy as it sounds. Poverty is a problem in Kenya and some families are more focused on where their next meal is coming from. Without the basic needs fulfilled, cricket or sport becomes a non-existent thought. This is where the government needs to intervene and provide support in whatever way possible.Cricket Kenya also urgently needs to improve the domestic structure. Kenyas golden team learned the game playing alongside the likes of Sanjay Manjrekar, Kiran More, Sandeep Patil and Mark Ramprakash for clubs in Nairobi. Now, club cricket standards are very low, laments Aasif Karim. There may be only five quality matches a year. At times, club teams even fail to raise 11 players.On the bright side, Cricket Kenya is now run far better than in the years after 2003. Ten years ago their focus was very much on the national team, whereas now theres a very strong focus on the whole cricket system - on education, domestic leagues, grassroots, development and womens cricket, Hobbs reflects. Theyve got some really good people in there, and theres not been the underlying challenges there have been in the past.Jackie Janmohamed, the chairperson of Cricket Kenya and an eminent lawyer, has helped to improve governance of the game, yet her work remains unfinished. The system is corrupt. It needs a complete jolt, says Aasif Karim. The foundations are non-existent. Its time Kenyan cricket must accept that we are really down. We keep on denying it. Karim rues how Tom Tikolo, who resigned as Cricket Kenya chief executive in 2009 after $10,000 in cash was left unaccounted for, has returned to the game, as Chairman of Nairobi Provincial Association.At least administrators are now organising far more matches outside the ICC structure, even if the opposition are a salutary reminder of how far Kenya have fallen. They won a quadrangular series in September, albeit against Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Uganda, and the A side is about to embark on a quadrangular series in Uganda.Kenya have also benefited from Cricket South Africa taking a more active role developing the game in the continent. The national side performed reasonably in both their appearances in the Africa T20 Cup, winning one of their three games in 2015 and 2016.At a time when Afghanistan and Ireland can glimpse a tantalising future, Kenyan ambitions are altogether more modest. Theyre a country of huge potential, as they showed in 2003, says Hobbs. If they continue to remain stable off the pitch I see no reason why they couldnt be regularly in the top echelons of Associate cricket, in the top four.After the halycon age of 1996 to 2003, becoming a leading Associate side in ODIs once again, and regularly qualifying for the World T20, hardly sounds like a lofty aspiration. But after all that Kenyan cricket has been through since, it would be a triumph. Perhaps Associate crickets Icarus might yet come back to life. ' ' '