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FORMER Brisbane Lions champion Nigel Lappin’s go to his home set Chiltern on Saturday was a knockout.

It upright was not the tender the Swans were expecting

• PICTURE GALLERY: Tigers ruffle Swans' feathers

A huge populace turned out to watch Lappin and the Swans take on Tallangatta league rival Barnawartha, but the ex-AFL star's go to footy was cut short in the third word when he was knocked out during a marking contest.

Coach Dane O'Neill said Lappin remained on the sidelines to play the Swans after his concussion.

"It was a pretty big build up and the boys were pretty excited to be out there with him," O'Neill said.

"Throughout the game he had a tittle of cramping, but he pulled up OK."

Lappin played 279 games for Brisbane before demure in 2008 to take up an assistant coaching position through Geelong.

He managed one goal on Saturday with his second attempt hitting the post.

Heavy rain made playing conditions difficult for as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but teams, but the Tigers used it to their advantage to claim victory 6.11 (47) to 3.12 (30).

"The ground was pretty ripped up and we probably didn't make the most of it," O'Neill, also Lappin's cousin, said.

"It was a fairly scrappy game and Barny got the better of us."

But the Swans disposition were raised at their sportsmen's fundraiser on Saturday night.

Lappin recovered to make his speech by the side of five-time world boxing champion Lester Ellis and Footscray team of the century vice-captain Doug Hawkins.

"It was a great night with a great turnout. We probably had end for end 250 people there," O'Neill said.

It's back to function for the Swans, recovering after last season's single win.

"It'll have existence difficult, but we hope we'll come into existence suddenly playing four quarters and gain the victory a few more," O'Neill said.

However, O'Neill said it was unlikely Lappin would play any more games for the Swans.

"I reckon it was a one-off, but it was great," he said.

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IN THE second part of our special course on by what mode our game is run, ROSLYN LANIGAN speaks to country footy’s top dog about why central direction hubs are the way of the future.

Glenn Scott is a staunch supporter of central administration hubs for country Victorian footy leagues.

READ MORE
• Football Geelong's growth spurt

It comes of the same kind with no surprise.

As chief executive of the Victorian Country Football League, Scott’s job is undoubtedly made easier by any reduction in the number of administrators he and his staff have to do business with.

But Scott is indestructible stone central executive department "hubs" get ready massive benefits not only to the VCFL, but to the leagues themselves.

"If you take the personalities in a puzzle of it and just look at it strategically, it makes sense," Scott told The Weekly Times.

"If you have everything the leagues in a feature region under one umbrella – all the football and netball – you have the ability to concisely control all the happenings in that locality."

Since the Geelong and Bellarine leagues united under the Football Geelong banner in 2000, eight more hubs have been note up in rural parts Victorian footy circles.

Scott said Football Geelong remained the market leader, and was the "ultimate model" for new or developing hubs.

"Some (hubs) are as simple as a senior league looking after the administration concerning one or two younger leagues in the area, where Football Geelong has the added feature of being all run under one governance," he said.

"Over the highest three to four years, we’ve had seven or eight hubs at different points of their evolution, and we see 12-14 hubs as being the ideal scenario.

"We remain very committed to that being the long-term vision of the best way to manage country footy."

Scott said the benefits of hubs included the standardising of procedures and processes and a streamlined approach to media and sponsorship opportunities.

The proof is in the pudding.

Football Geelong now generates $250,000 in annual sponsorship, during the time that the Ballarat Central Administration Hub has increased sponsorship of the Maryborough Castlemaine and Lexton Plains leagues from less than $5000 to more than $30,000 in just a couple of years.

Scott said another greater advantage of hubs was a united approach to dealings with local councils and other stakeholders.

"I strongly believe councils would especially distribute cards with one professional deputation rather than have five or six different people knocking on their means of access," he said.

"I would venture to say that sponsors would feel the same.

"It certainly improves the overall professionalism of country football."

Scott said the VCFL planned to boost the amount of funding available to of the present day and developing hubs.

"We’ve let it just evolve to the point that it has, but from here on in we’ll be adding further encouragement for leagues to join, or form, a hub.

"We put on’t want leagues not coming together because one league feels like they haven’t got the circulating medium to cozen it."

Scott earmarked the Mildura and Warrnambool areas as in posse locations for renovated hubs.

In Mildura, a hub could include the Sunraysia and Millewa leagues, along with the Sunraysia junior league and umpires association.

The Hampden and Warrnambool and District leagues could annex forces in Warrnambool, Scott said, but those leagues have long rejected the suggestion of shared administration.

"In some areas, there’s a philosophical difference in the management of individual leagues," Scott said.

"We’ve not wanted anyone to entertain an idea of the VCFL was forcing an administration hub on them.

"We’re still not in a puzzle to round up and corral leagues, but some people need to consider whether their union should remain autonomous or whether football in their area is better served by a more streamlined version of dispensation."

Scott said a "degree of trust" was required when leagues were considering joining a hub.

"People have to obtain over the distrust they’ve had in the past, and that can remain a sticking point," he aforesaid.

"But for the long-term interests of footy, we’d rather make unerring every choose league is heading in the right direction, and hubs help us do that."

         REGIONAL HUBS

HORSHAM
• Western Vic Footy
• Wimmera Football League
• Horsham & District Football League
• Wimmera Netball Association
• Horsham & District Netball Association

BALLARAT
• Ballarat Central Administration Hub
• Ballarat Football League
• Lexton Plains Football League
• Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League
• Ballarat Junior Football League

HAMILTON
• Western Border
• Western Border Football League
• Hamilton Junior Football League
• Portland Junior Football Association
• Coleraine/Casterton Junior Football Association

BENDIGO
• Central Vic Footy
• Bendigo Football League
• Loddon Valley Football League
• Heathcote District Football League
• Bendigo Junior Football League
• Castlemaine & District Junior Football League
• Kyneton Junior Football League

GEELONG
• Football Geelong
• Geelong Football League
• Bellarine Football League
• Colac & District Football League
• Eastern Colts Little League
• Geelong Junior Football League

WANGARATTA
• North East Footy
• Ovens & King Football League
• Upper Murray Football League
• Wangaratta & District Junior Football League
• North East Umpires Board

WOORI YALLOCK
• Yarra Valley
• Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League
• Dandenong Ranges Junior Football League      

SOMERVILLE
• Mornington Peninsula Nepean
• MPNFL Nepean band
• MPNFL Peninsula league
• MPFNL Casey Cardinia league

BAIRNSDALE
• Football Netball East Gippsland
• East Gippsland Football League
• Bairnsdale District Junior Football Association

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EXCLUSIVE: FORMER Footscray tagger and Brownlow medallist Tony Liberatore has signed through Trentham in the Maryborough-Castlemaine District league.

The Weekly Times understands Liberatore will play with the Saints to the time when at smallest the end of this season.

A clearance for Liberatore from the Western Region Football League to Trentham is “pending'', according to the Maryborough-Castlemaine league's website.

Liberatore played 283 games for Footscray from 1986-2002 and was named on the interchange in the Dogs' team of the century.

At just 163cm, he is the shortest player to have won a Brownlow Medal.

Liberatore coached the Sunbury Lions to an elimination final in the Ballarat Football League in 2008, before taking on the top job at the West Footscray Roosters last year.

He was appointed midfield coach at TAC Cup team Western Jets late last year, but resigned from the role in November, under the jurisdiction the preseason began.

More to get to.

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IT’S official: red meat - and lots of it - is the food of champions.

Private chef to the Geelong Football Club, Adrian Millman, revealed the secret to good fortune for the top-of-the-table club was a protein-based nutriment high in beef.

"The players eat a sort of protein, especially during recovery and after training," Mr Millman said.

The club has done away with fancy nutriment plans and reverted to "simple fare".

Typically, fillet and porterhouse steaks of 250-300g are served at lunch and dinner.

Mr Millman sources all his produce fresh and makes his own hash, soups and casseroles to minimise waste.

"You get nutrition from the bones in soups and some lesser cuts can be very high in protein," he said.

The experienced chef prepares three meals a day, six days a week for the players and officials who eat unitedly before and after training - a team building habit that has helped instil a sense of family around the club.

"You know what they judge: a champion team will perpetually beat a team of champions," Mr Millman said.

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IT’S been 20 years since Campbells Creek defeated the now-defunct Primrose 100.34 (634) to 3.0 (18) in a win that earned the Magpies a write-up in the Guinness Book of Records.

On Saturday, the club celebrated the anniversary of that momentous 100-goal match at its game against Maryborough Rovers at Campbells Creek Reserve.

Ballarat umpire Daryl Devereaux, who blew the whistle in the 1990 match, returned to umpire the game, with players and supporters from that era looking in continuance.

The Magpies fell 90 goals insufficient of their 1990 record, going down to the Rovers 10.11 (71) to 25.11 (161).

Despite the loss, the club is happy to sit sixth on the Maryborough Castlemaine league ladder.

It hasn't been an easy two decades, with the club forced into privacy in 2007 due to a stern player shortage.

While the Magpies came out of recess the following season, they won just one game that year and could not more completely that total in 2009.

But president Don Browne-Kerr said things were looking up according to the club this year.

"We've had six wins, we're playing up the top and we're hoping to make finals," Browne-Kerr said.

"We've got huge numbers now. I think there's about 100 players on our list."

Browne-Kerr said 2010 was the third year of the club's five-year comeback plan, which the Magpies are hoping will culminate with a flag.

Although the club holds the 100-goal record, they have won just one premiership, in 1953.

Browne-Kerr reported the team was a "bit disappointed" by Saturday's waste, limit had had five of their good in the highest degree players out through injury.

But reunion celebrations at the club that adversity helped ease the woe."We stayed at the clubrooms and left around 1am," Browne-Kerr aforesaid.

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