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AFL wrap: Beau Waters to retire

Feb 19, 2015
Jared Petrenko playing for the Crows. Photo: Michael Errey/InDaily

Jared Petrenko playing for the Crows. Photo: Michael Errey/InDaily

With the AFL pre-season in the home straight, here’s our wrap of the latest footy news.

Eagle Waters retires

West Coast defender Beau Waters has announced his AFL retirement, with a debilitating shoulder injury proving too hard to overcome.

Waters, 28, hasn’t played for more than 18 months due to a series of complications and setbacks to his reconstructed right shoulder.

The premiership defender was on track to return to playing duties during the upcoming NAB Challenge series, but a knock to the shoulder at training last week put those plans on hold.

Waters met with coach Adam Simpson on Wednesday night to discuss his future, before advising teammates on Thursday morning about his decision to retire.

Serious groin, elbow, and shoulder injuries limited Waters to just 120 games over a career spanning 11 years.

His participation in West Coast’s 2006 premiership triumph and an All-Australian guernsey in 2012 were his career highlights.

Bombers sorry for SANFL recruiting blunder

Essendon have apologised for the roughshod manner in which they tried to recruit top-up players from the SANFL.

After agreeing to speak to the clubs concerned in the first instance, the Bombers contacted potential recruits for their makeshift NAB Challenge side directly.

Yesterday, the club went as far as to announce that former Crow Jared Petrenko and delisted Demon Mitch Clisby had verbally agreed to temporary contracts – to the anger of the pair’s SANFL sides, Woodville-West Torrens and North Adelaide.

Eagles face early injury woes

West Coast are set to be without star duo Jack Darling and Scott Selwood for their AFL season opener against the Western Bulldogs on April 4.

Darling’s recovery from a stress fracture in his right foot has been slower than expected, while Selwood is yet to overcome an ankle injury that plagued him last year.

Players boss calls for better pay

AFL Players Association boss Paul Marsh has criticised the absence of his members from Australian sport’s top 50 earners.

But AFL legend Leigh Matthews disagrees sharply with Marsh’s comments.

Marsh went on Twitter a day after BRW released its annual sport rich list.

Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett was the only AFL player at No.47.

“An indictment on AFL that only 1 player makes top 50 highest earners in Australian sport despite being biggest sport,” Marsh posted on Tuesday.

But Matthews was unimpressed, also posting on Twitter.

“A domestic sport like the AFL would be bankrupted very quickly if we had more than an occasional player in Aus top 50 sports earners,” the multiple premiership player and coach said.

Marsh has expanded on his opinion, telling the AFL website that the game needs to attract the best talent.

“From our perspective, the players should be higher up that list,” he said.

McCartin could play against ‘Dons

St Kilda will unveil AFL No.1 draft pick Paddy McCartin at Saturday’s intraclub match and he could play in the much-discussed Essendon game.

Coach Alan Richardson is rapt with how the key forward has coped with his first pre-season, saying his only hiccup had been a skin infection before Christmas.

The Saints have confirmed McCartin will line up in Saturday’s game at their Seaford headquarters.

Richardson is unsure whether he will blood him in their opening NAB Challenge game against the Bombers on March 7 in Morwell.

Essendon will field a team heavy with top-up players as they await the verdict from the AFL anti-doping tribunal hearing into their 2012 supplements scandal.

“He’s preparing really well – if he was sitting here, he’d certainly be putting his hand up,” Richardson told SEN.

– AAP

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