r/AFL

So this is it - Round 11, Part 2 of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, one of the more eventful weekends of the season is upon us, as 90,000+ fans prepare to celebrate boundary umpire Ian Burrows in his 450th game, Harley Reid in his 50th game, and some geriatric Collingwood player that thinks he's Goldfinger is playing his league record 433rd game.

Amazing scenes as Scott Pendlebury becomes the 14th different player to hold the league's games record, as Brent Harvey's claim to history survived just under a decade, which is a decent run when you consider there's been extremes like Michael Tuck holding it for just under 26 years (1990-2016), Dick Reynolds held it for 20 years (1950-70), while John Rantall held the record of 336 games for just over 4 months in 1980 until Kevin Bartlett took it from him, and John Nicholls passed Ted Whitten in Round 9, 1974 and retired on 328 games... Big Nick was caught by Kevin Murray in Round 18 of that year.

Anyway, apparently there's some other important games on this weekend:

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• The day after the AFL decided to murder the Tasmania-Hawthorn contract, the Hawks play the Crows on a Thursday night in Launceston, and in this the 25th anniversary year of AFL games in Launceston, it's worth noting that these 2 teams were the first to play a game at York Park - May 6, 2001.

• In a game that will sit as the rampaging favourite to be the worst game played in 2026, we have the DREAMTIME SPOONBOWL between Richmond and Essendon as the Channel 7 game on Friday night... somehow this game will find a way to top the shitmix that was Round 18 of last year.

• In the other DOUBLEHEADER AFTER DARK, Freo/Walyalup host St Kilda/Euro-Yroke at Optus, another chapter in the utterly weird history between the teams, as the Dockers go for a club record 10th consecutive win.

• North Melbourne host the Gold Coast at Marvel on Saturday afternoon, as the Suns go from playing in Darwin to playing in a place with absolutely no atmosphere at all... in fact, it's their first game south of Tweed Heads since ANZAC Day.

• One of the great contests of the season as Geelong host the Sydney Swans in Sleepy Hollow, and oddly enough this'll only be the second time in the last 6 years that the teams have played at GMHBA, although it appears the AFL didn't want to send the Swans back after what the Cats did to them in 2023.

• Collingwood host West Coast in the Scott Pendlebury game at the MCG, and it's great to see the Eagles will also join in the ceremonies and wear gold numbers for Harley's 50th game.

• The Yartapuulti Pear host Carlton at the Adelaide Oval, and after being one of the greatest 3-7 teams in AFL history, can the Pear become the greatest 3-8 team in AFL history?

• GWS host Brisbane at the Showground, and the Giants have a fairly decent record against Brisbane of late, as this'll be the first time since 2020 that the teams have played a home & away game at the Showground, because the last meeting there was the rather memorable 2024 Semi Final... the Giants were only 44 points up in that game.

• And an early finish to the round has the Western Bulldogs hosting Melbourne at Marvel, a rivalry that was brewing along pretty well as recently as 4 years ago, but it's now just waiting for someone to light a cigarette near a powder keg again.

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I HOPE ALL OF THESE PLAYERS ARE WEARING GOLD NUMBERS

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• Scott Pendlebury's 433rd game, passing Brent Harvey on 432 games for the VFL/AFL record... it also means Collingwood have reclaimed that record after Gordon Coventry's 306 games was passed by Jack Dyer in Round 10, 1949.

• A win on Friday night would mark Fremantle's 10th consecutive win, the first time the Dockers will have achieved a double-digit win streak after falling twice before (2006 & 2015).

• 200 games for Dan Houston (168 for Port, 32nd for Collingwood) and Jayden Short ... Houston you have a problem because you picked the wrong damn game for your milestone

• 150 games for Zak Butters , Harry McKay and whenever the hell Jack Bowes plays again

• Dion Prestia's 150th game for Richmond

• Jordan Dawson's 100th game for Adelaide

• Fremantle's 100th game at Optus Stadium (60 wins, 1 draw and 38 defeats)

• Sam Flanders , Hayden McLean and Tom Powell are all due to play their 100th game, although none of them will play this week

• 50 games for Harley Reid , Neil Erasmus and Colby McKercher

Another random one - Geelong and Essendon are now level on the same amount of all-time wins (1430)

- Talks are underway to have Paul Curtis sign a "Roo for life" long term deal at North Melbourne

- Ethan Matthews (GWS academy tied) is a chance of fetching a top 10 bid in the draft

- Collingwood will be looking for a ruckman/tall forward in the upcoming mid-season draft due to the ACL injury for Oscar Steene

- Some more mid-season draft rumours: Jaxon Artemis is still expected to get to the Tigers

- Port Adelaide has interest in Alex Van Wyk

- Melbourne has interest in Xavier Bamert and Flynn Riley

- GWS is showing interest in Alex Mirkov

- Nic Staropoli and Tom McGuane are also earning interest from around the league

- Ben King's 2 year deal at Gold Coast which he's expected to sign does include a 6 year player option add on

- Toby Greene (GWS) is certainly considering moving back to Victoria, with Geelong the main club interested

- Zach Merrett is earning $650,000 a year at Essendon, likely the best value player on that salary.

- There's a 6 club queue for Lachie Neale (BRI). Collingwood, Adelaide, St Kilda, Brisbane, West Coast, Fremantle. He'd have to accept a lower salary and different role to join Freo

- Zac Bailey is "torn" on what to do in terms of accepting a lower deal at Brisbane to stay or move elsewhere (see title)

- Bailey McDonald (HAW) is getting a lot of interest from around the league

- It would require 2 first round picks as a starting point to make Gold Coast even consider trading Bailey Humphrey

- Darcy Wilson is likely to stay at St Kilda, Cal believes offers for him from other clubs are around the 800-850k a year mark

- Jordon Butts is likely to stay at Adelaide on a 4 year deal

- Bayley Fritsch, Tom Sparrow and Kade Chandler are all on the verge of re-signing at Melbourne

- Jed Walter has a 2 year offer on the table from the Suns, he's still expected to look at a move however

- Zane Duursma, Riley Hardeman and George Wardlaw are all expected to stay at North Melbourne, Wil Dawson is less certain however

https://preview.redd.it/4gh1mm1pz72h1.png?width=4264&format=png&auto=webp&s=c6d3ef76ef9ae6cf3c733b781b6c6b141a1d9885

There is a bit of AFLW fixture chatter leaking out – Hawthorn to play at Dingley, Fremantle home games at Cockburn, a Spud Game double header…

But the real news is buried in the cricket chat. The Melbourne Renegades have not yet signed up to play at Marvel this Summer. Looks like they would prefer to play their games at the MCG and Geelong (and of course Chennai).

With them gone, Marvel can next year host concerts in December and the good women of football can get a chance to have their Grand Final in a proper stadium!

It is time to step up. Let’s make sure it happens!

https://sen.com.au/news/2026/04/28/bbl-or-16-melbourne-renegades-considering-move-away-from-marvel-stadium-tom-morris

Geelong coach Chris Scott and Cats football boss Andrew Mackie enjoyed a boutique Sydney stay with a club sponsor who has since been accused of masterminding a $14.5 million fraud, with complimentary hotel upgrades requested for the trio by an-ex-Crown casino supremo.

A leaked email reveals that former Crown Towers chief Peter Crinis arranged the accommodation and free upgrades for Mr Scott, Mr Mackie and former Crown VIP and accused fraudster Sy Giang Nguyen at the Oxford House hotel in Paddington in 2023.

Asking his personal assistant to make the group booking, Mr Crinis instructed her to seek an “upgrade to best suite you have” for Mr Scott, an “upgrade if possible” for Mr Mackie and “the same upgrade to suite 201” for Mr Nguyen on the night of April 10, 2023.

At the time Mr Crinis was running the Public Hospitality Group, which owns the hotel.

Asked about the trip, Geelong sources confirmed Mr Scott and Mr Mackie went to Sydney “for list management/recruitment purposes” which “included a meeting with a player manager”, adding “Mr Nguyen had no involvement in this” and “travel/accom for club staff was paid by the club”.

The club did not explain why Mr Crinis arranged the accommodation and upgrades, or why Mr Nguyen was on the same booking.

Across two decades, regional IT worker Mr Nguyen was given unfettered access to a $4000-a-night Villa at Crown where he hosted dozens of lavish parties for Melbourne powerbrokers, glamorous women and sports figures – many from Geelong.

Mr Nguyen was banned from Crown in 2022 for “reputational issues”, according to casino sources.

Mr Nguyen was close to numerous Cats premiership stars including Joel Selwood, Gary Ablett Jr, Matthew Scarlett, Harry Taylor, Mr Mackie and former premiership coach Mark Thompson.

Mr Nguyen was photographed in happy snaps with Ablett Jr at the dual Brownlow medallists buck’s party and Thompson has confirmed their friendship to the Herald Sun, calling him “a great little guy”.

The alleged fraudster was also a member of the high-priced and exclusive Coaches Club coterie group, which included AFL commission chairman Craig Drummond, who was Geelong president from January 2021 to December 2024.

Mr Nguyen is reported to have paid more than $3300 towards luxury accommodation in Munich for Selwood and Mitch Duncan in 2018.

And he reportedly offered to pay for suites at Crown Towers for several emerging Cats players for the club’s best and fairest event in 2019, while organising free upgrades and access to the exclusive Crystal Club lounge for established Cats stars including Selwood, Tom Hawkins, Tom Stewart and Patrick Dangerfield.

The AFL investigated Geelong’s compliance with league salary cap and football department soft cap rules last year, fining the club $77,550 ($40,000 of which was suspended) over a failure to declare gifts from club sponsors and associates.

The investigation considered the club’s financial arrangements between 2019 and 2024 – which takes in the key period of Mr Nguyen’s alleged fraud – but the league has refused to answer questions on the shadowy high-flyer’s association with the Cats.

Rival clubs have expressed dismay at the limited nature of the AFL’s salary cap probe and questioned whether it considered Mr Nguyen’s 20-year link with Geelong, which included during four premierships between 2007-2022.

One club president told the Herald Sun: “The AFL has let them get away with it, while the Cats lord it over everyone”.

Mr Nguyen was arrested by Victoria Police financial crime squad detectives just eight months after the Sydney trip with Mr Scott and Mr Mackie, with an investigation into his alleged theft of millions of dollars from one of the nation’s biggest disability providers ongoing.

In the email sent from Mr Crinis to his personal assistant five days before they were due to stay at the hotel, he requested that she book three suites with upgrades at Oxford House for the trio.

Mr Scott was booked to stay for two nights – at a nightly rate of $299 including breakfast – while Mr Mackie and Mr Nguyen had rooms reserved for just one night.

The trip followed the traditional Easter Monday clash at the MCG, in which Geelong had dominated Hawthorn to claim an 82 point victory.

Mr Scott and Mr Mackie did not respond to questions about the trip or the extent of their past dealings with Mr Nguyen.

It is not suggested Mr Scott, Mr Mackie or Mr Crinis had any knowledge of Mr Nguyen’s alleged frauds.

Mr Crinis became a trusted confidante of Melbourne elites and megarich-visitors during his 25-year stint at Crown Melbourne. He was also a regular at the A-list parties hosted by Mr Nguyen.

A hunt for millions of dollars of funds allegedly embezzled by Mr Nguyen and his co-accused, the late Keith Greenwood, from NDIS charity GenU has led investigators to Crown, the Cats and high-profile horse racing syndicates.

The Herald Sun revealed in March that former Melbourne Football Club chief executive Paul Guerra and Mr Nguyen co-owned several race horses, with a handful of other movers and shakers.

Mr Guerra was sacked by the Demons last month and replaced by former Geelong CEO Brian Cook, who was ultimately responsible for managing Nguyen’s substantial donations to the Cats.

Mr Crinis – who was also a co-owner of racehorses with Mr Nguyen – was recently let go from his position at property developer Gurner, as revealed by the Herald Sun.

Links between Geelong players and officials and Mr Nguyen date back to the early 2000s.

An internationally acclaimed athlete said Mr Nguyen had a remarkably close relationship with many key figures at the Cats.

“He was basically treated by Geelong as their unofficial #1 ticket holder. He had access to the rooms, all the players knew him. He ran the roost at Geelong and got access to whatever he wanted,” the athlete said.

Mr Nguyen is accused in an ongoing civil trial of defrauding $14.5m from GenU while he lived a high-roller lifestyle.

Police are yet to lay any criminal charges.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/the-integrity-unit-episode-1-leaked-email-links-cats-coaches-hotel-stay-with-accused-fraudster/news-story/ba2c9fe65753146e36573cf4e21d5b83

mine definately would cyril rioli
i always used to thjink he was really building into an dominating force and then he cut it short.

it would have been awesom to see him a 300 game player

Paywall bypass if needed

https://archive.is/20260518091023/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/brighton-grammar-school-student-exposed-as-troll-who-told-afl-star-to-end-your-life/news-story/79216305bb082bf873713eb980e3f247