Australia rule at home in Hopman Cup
Australia win 2-1 over Czech Republic in a Group B match at Hopman Cup. The duet Molik-Luczak won the doubles match to win the series.
29-12 | 14:21 hs. Australia needed to play the doubles match to take the win over Czech Republic at Hopman Cup. Previously, Australian Alicia Molik ousted Czech Lucie Safarova 7-5, 6-2, but Tomas Berdych tied the series after routing Peter Luczak por 7-6 (7), 6-4.
In the doubles match, Alicia Molik and Peter Luczak got rid off the Czech duet Lucie Safarova and Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-3.
Group A will make their debut in Hopman Cup on Sunday, when Serbia will face Taiwan and France will face Argentina in the first round.
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Llodra ends Aussie's fairytale run in Adelaide ATP
8 hours ago
ADELAIDE, Australia (AFP) - France's Michael Llodra ended the fairytale run of 32-year-old Australian Joseph Sirianni in the semi-finals of the Australian men's hardcourt championships Saturday, winning 6-3, 7-6 (10/8).
Llodra will face third seed Jarkko Nieminen in the final following the Finn's 6-2, 6-4 win over another Frenchman, sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Sirianni was granted a wild card into the tournament after a successful run in local Challenger tournaments.
He stunned onlookers with a come-from-behind win over world number 25 Paul-Henri Mathieu in the quarter-finals but Llodra disappointed the Adelaide fans when he finally ended Sirianni's run in one hour, 38 minutes.
Llodra wouldn't rule out Sirianni's chances of making an impact on the men's tour, despite his age.
"He is running very well and has a very good backhand, so if he continues like that we're going to see more of him on tour," Llodra said.
After Llodra won the first set easily, Sirianni fought back in the second, with the set on serve until the tiebreak.
The Australian had three set points at 6-3 to keep the match alive but a combination of nerves and fatigue proved too much and Llodra eventually closed it out 10-8.
Copyright (c) 2008 AFP. All rights reserved.
Kangaroos need Gold Coast stadium
The AFL's inability to guarantee a stadium on the Gold Coast is the key obstacle standing in the way of the Kangaroos seriously considering relocating to South-East Queensland.
After an exhaustive five-hour meeting, which the AFL attended, Kangaroos board member James Brayshaw said that a stadium deal, something the AFL is confident of striking within a fortnight, is a key component of the league's proposal for the club to shift permanently from Melbourne.
Before the meeting commenced, Brayshaw was hopeful of a vote being taken by the board on the sensitive relocation issue, but this was impossible with no stadium deal being struck by the AFL on the Gold Coast just yet.
The board will now make a decision on the relocation issue by early December, rendering the AFL's initial 30-day deadline all but redundant.
"A lot of the big fat profit in this (AFL proposal) revolves around a stadium deal, they don't have that, they're open to the fact that they don't have it," said Brayshaw.
"We would need to see what that looks like before you absolutely sign off on where the deal's at."
However, Brayshaw, an advocate for the club to stay in Melbourne, said that relocating to the Gold Coast was far from a foregone conclusion, thanks largely to a "healthy" financial model, reliant on some of the club's key stakeholders, which would see the cash-strapped club generate a lot of revenue.
"We spoke about the chance to get a million-and-a-half dollars worth of sponsorship through the door within the next three months which is almost confirmed... a million dollars of that is confirmed," said Brayshaw.
"We spoke about a non-football revenue stream, a capital-raising, for a start, of eight million dollars guaranteed for the start of '08 and 10 million dollars guaranteed for the start of '09 which provides our club with close to a million dollars of clean profit, if you like, that'll be coming through."
"We spoke about a profit by the end of '09 for the next two years of four million dollars."
Despite the gaping hole in the AFL's pitch to entice the Kangaroos up north, interim chairman John Magowan described it as a very strong offer and Brayshaw congratulated the AFL's handling of the highly emotive issue.
Brayshaw also confirmed that draft concessions were part of the AFL's relocation package.
"They were certainly talking about concessions with the second draft, helping the club basically get to a stage where it's successful quickly up there," the Footy Show co-host said.
However, Magowan and Brayshaw harboured concerns for the club's members and heritage if it was to move permanently to south-east Queensland.
"I think you can roll past players out for photo opportunities as long as you like but if the club goes and lives up there it isn't the North Melbourne football club anymore," Brayshaw said.
"There's still a fairly major reduction, even if my own forecasts (are correct), in terms of our Melbourne memberships, so we lose a lot of people... there's a fair amount of damage done ultimately to the Melbourne franchise," Magowan lamented.
The Kangaroos don't expect to meet the AFL again before making a decision early next month in which time, both the AFL's pro-relocation proposal and the pro-Melbourne faction's proposal will be made public.
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
Glass to lead Eagles in troubled times
All Australian defender Darren Glass has been named as the new West Coast Eagle's skipper following Chris Judd's departure to Carlton.
Although Ben Cousins dominated the headlines out west for most of the season, Glass quietly got on about the job of leading a miserly Eagle's backline and has been rewarded with the captaincy, albeit of a troubled flock, for season 2008.
It would be hard to imagine a tougher time for a player to take over the captaincy role, as the club is about to be thoroughly investigated through two separate reviews, but Glass does not seem fazed by the pressures the top job brings with it.
"It's an absolute honour to be named captain of the West Coast Eagles. With the recent departure of senior players, we are moving into a new era at the club and I'm happy and excited to now be the leader of a young and talented playing group," Glass said.
The 26-year-old is looking forward to the reviews airing out all of the Eagles laundry, so that he and his players can focus on again being a premiership contender.
"As captain, I fully embrace the board's decision to conduct a review and I'm sure the playing group will embrace both the review and AFL investigation going forward," he said.
"The players fully embrace what we are trying to achieve and we are fully aware where we want to get to."
As for his former captain Judd, who was adamant that AFL players should not be seen as role models, Glass and the rest of the remaining Eagles fully realise the positions they hold in the community and will be aiming to act accordingly.
"It would be naive to think that we are not role models and the players are going to take that on board," he said.
Glass admits the behaviour of some players has tarnished the playing group as a whole, and is willing to help in any way he can with the investigations to improve their image.
"The playing group has done a lot of work in the past, we believe our behaviour hasn't been acceptable and we will continue working on that to get it to an acceptable standard," he said.
"There's not much point looking back, that's what the review and investigation is about. As a playing group, we just want to look forward and focus on that, as we know where we hope to get to."
Despite being one of the best defenders in the AFL for several seasons now, Glass has kept a low profile, which will now change. He is looking forward to that and cant wait to lead the new-look side.
"The captaincy will bring quite a few new responsibilities and I'm willing to embrace them all."
"The leadership structure and roles have changed significantly recently. We are the leaders of the club and try to set the best example we can."
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
Cousins in rehab after 'missing in LA'
Where in the world is Ben Cousins?" a top Hollywood celebrity gossip website demanded to know.
In rehab, the troubled AFL star's upset father finally revealed.
The saga that is Ben Cousins' life took another bizarre turn following reports the sacked West Coast Eagles star had gone missing on the mean streets of Los Angeles after failing to check in to an exclusive rehab centre.
Wild rumours followed, including speculation 29-year-old Cousins had met up with actress Cameron Diaz at an LA gym.
Cousins' whereabouts even bumped Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan off gossip website Perezhilton.com, which said: "If you see Ben, tell him to get his ass to rehab. He's probably hanging out at Britney Spears' house!"
In fact, according to father Bryan Cousins, the fallen AFL star is already back in rehab, although not yet at the exclusive $3,000 a day Summit Medical Centre in Malibu where he spent time earlier this year.
Mr Cousins made a rare appearance in Perth to accuse the media of fabricating stories about his son being missing, potentially hampering his drug rehabilitation treatment.
"As a parent, I am disappointed that it is necessary for me to make a statement today about Ben's welfare due to the ongoing fabricated stories and blatant untruths that have appeared in the media today," Mr Cousins said, choking back tears.
"The facts are these: Ben is not missing and has not been missing at any time whilst in the US.
"He is currently receiving treatment in Los Angeles at an appropriate facility, and he will be attending The Summit Medical Centre in the next few days," said the former Geelong AFL great.
"Finally, I would like to add that I have learned that rehabilitation is a complex and arduous process that requires continual review and is best dealt with in private.
"The ill-informed comments and the harassment by the media and others will not assist his rehabilitation."
Cousins, who is said to be battling addiction to cocaine as well as methamphetamines, arrived in the US for drug treatment on Saturday.
Speculation the Brownlow Medallist was missing after failing to turn up at the Summit medical centre was fuelled by photographs of him being greeted at LA by two mystery blondes.
But friend and Brownlow medallist Brad Hardie said Cousins just wanted some anonymity and would soon rejoin his "network" in the US.
Hardie said people should stop worrying.
"He's had a harrowing year, there's no two ways about that and I just think (he wants) a little bit of Ben time, little bit of down time," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"There's no doubt there's been some erratic behaviour from Ben over this year and the past couple of years.
"Just give the bloke, cut him a little slack, just give him a couple of weeks to sort himself out and let's just see how he comes back to Australia."
Cousins was sacked by the West Coast Eagles after a string of off-field incidents, the final straw being a drug related arrest in Perth two weeks ago.
A charge of drug possession was later dropped, but Cousins still faces a charge of refusing to take a driver drug test, after being pulled over in Perth for allegedly driving erratically in a club sponsor's car.
One of the top 10 earners in the AFL, Cousins' sacking has deregistered him as an AFL player and threatens his footballing career.
Cousins is seeking advice about whether he can sue over the events leading to his sacking.
When he flew out for the US last week, the midfielder was still hoping to resume his AFL career.
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou said today reports he might soon return to football were "fanciful".
However AFL Players Association head Brendon Gale said Cousins should be given yet another chance.
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
Cousins hopes to play AFL again
Dumped West Coast Eagles star Ben Cousins was still hoping to resume his AFL career as he flew out of Perth, apparently headed for more drug rehab in the United States.
Cousins, 29, was sacked by West Coast last week, a day after being charged with possessing a prohibited drug, diazepam, otherwise known as valium.
That charge was later dropped, but Cousins still faces a charge of refusing to take a driver drug test, after being pulled over in Perth for allegedly driving erratically in a club sponsor's car.
He appeared in court last Thursday, when he was granted a three-month adjournment to return to California for rehabilitation treatment.
One of the top 10 earners in the AFL, Cousins' sacking has deregistered him as an AFL player and threatens his footballing career.
He can nominate for the pre-season draft and it will then be up to the AFL Commission to decide whether to accept or reject his nomination.
League chief executive Andrew Demetriou last week said it was unlikely Cousins would play in the AFL again.
However, Geelong president Frank Costa said Cousins should be given another chance.
"(He should) get away from the environment where, unfortunately, he was tempted too much and be given a red-hot go," Costa told Network Ten.
Dressed in a T-shirt, jeans and snakeskin boots, Cousins clearly hoped this would happen as he was asked by reporters at Perth's domestic airport if he hoped to resume his footballing career.
"Absolutely," Cousins told today's media scrum.
Was he disappointed the Eagles had washed its hands of him?
"No, not at all," Cousins said.
Cousins has never tested positive for illicit drugs.
But he was suspended indefinitely from West Coast just before the 2007 season and underwent several weeks of drug rehabilitation in the US.
He returned to the game midway through the year after agreeing to stringent contract conditions, including that he not test positive to drugs or fall foul of the law.
Cousins is believed to be headed to the exclusive Summit Centre drug rehabilitation clinic in Malibu.
The Seven Network reported Cousins checked in on a flight to Los Angeles via Sydney.
"I go over to get back in contact with the network that I established when I was in rehab earlier in the year and keep training and hopefully come back to play a bit of footy," Cousins told Seven.
Earlier, he told reporters he was not sure how long he would be away.
"I haven't decided mate, I'm not sure," he said.
Asked if he would be away months, he replied: "Hopefully not. I'd like, hopefully, to be training by then".
Of his arrest he said: "Oh, that's all out of my control now. I'm just hoping to go away and let the people who are in a position to sort that out, do that".
Cousins also spoke of the recent sudden death in Perth of his friend, 41-year-old former West Coast star turned sports presenter Chris Mainwaring.
"Obviously, Chris has been a good mate of mine and I've had my own personal issues but it makes what I am going through insignificant when you look at what the Mainwaring family are going through," he said.
Costa later said Sydney was one club that could help Cousins turn his career around, given their track record of successfully integrating big-name recruits from other clubs.
"They were able to take boys from other clubs who, for whatever reason, those clubs were not having the ability to manage those boys," Costa said.
Tony Lockett, Barry Hall and Nick Davis are three high-profile players who have enjoyed successful second stanzas to their careers in Sydney after starting out at other AFL clubs.
Last Friday, police said they made a mistake when they laid the drug charge against Cousins because diazepam is prohibited only in injectable liquid form.
However, the Eagles have refused to take Cousins back following his string of off-field misdemeanours which included abandoning a car, with his now ex-girlfriend in it, in the middle of a Perth highway to flee a booze bus test last year.
Cousins' criminal lawyer Shane Brennan is seeking legal advice from a civil lawyer over whether anyone can be sued over the events that led to his client's sacking.
The midfielder would not say today whether he intended to sue.
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved.
AFL elimination finals provide intrigue
AAP - Friday September 7, 7:17 PM
Before Geelong start facing their great September expectations, Sydney and Adelaide will try to turn two promising AFL seasons into finals disaster.
Hawthorn host the Crows at Telstra Dome on Saturday afternoon and Collingwood will play the Swans later at the MCG in the two elimination finals.
The Hawks and Magpies have enjoyed strong years, but Hawthorn lost the double chance with Sunday's 72-point disaster against Sydney and Adelaide beat Collingwood last Friday night to end their top four hopes.
Collingwood should start favourites, having beaten the Swans in round 21 at the same venue.
The Swans' outstanding finals performances in the last two years, plus the Hawthorn demolition, make this an intriguing rematch.
Likewise, the finals-hardened Crows will fancy their chances, although Hawthorn have lost two in a row only once this season.
Then comes Sunday's qualifying final between the Cats and the Kangaroos.
While Geelong have dominated the season and beat the `Roos in round 20, their biggest obstacle is themselves.
The Cats have enjoyed the most dominant season since Essendon in 2000, but now they must show they have moved beyond decades of finals disappointments and win their first premiership since 1963.
Geelong recalled key midfielder Jimmy Bartel (appendix) and defender Max Rooke (hamstring) from their forced absence, but again there was no room for veteran ruckman Steven King.
King has only played five senior games this season and Mark Blake and Brad Ottens will be the Cats' ruckmen.
Geelong will be without injured key defender Matthew Egan, while the `Roos regained Michael Firrito from a heel injury for Kasey Green, who is suspended.
Along with the fates of their teams, Saturday is potentially a big day personally for three captains.
Hawthorn's Richie Vandenberg and Adelaide's Mark Ricciuto have announced their impending retirements and speculation continues about the playing future of Magpies skipper Nathan Buckley beyond this month.
Ricciuto opted for just a 10-minute training session, but coach Neil Craig said he would definitely play.
The Crows great has played two games since returning from a five-match absence due to an ankle injury.
"He'll play," Craig said after training.
"We all know that Mark has played two games now, so it was just purely to make sure he has got plenty of recovery.
"He's at the end of his career and in the end it's his call, he makes good calls on what he can and can't do.
"Most importantly for Mark in his decision making, whether he trains or not, is all about whether he's getting ready to perform - not play, perform."
Copyright @ 2007 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. All rights reserved
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