HAWTHORN premiership ruckman Brent Renouf has been suspended by the club and hit with a fine for damaging two cars.
The incident happened at about 1am (AEDT) Sunday after he had been drinking at the Geebung Polo Club in Hawthorn.
The 20-year-old has agreed to pay for repairs to the two cars and any associated costs for the owners.
The Hawks' leadership group and club management met on Monday and decided to suspend Renouf for the first two games of next season's NAB Cup and also fined him $5,000.
Police said Renouf was expected to be charged on summons with criminal damage.
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HAWTHORN has become the first Melbourne-based club to reach the 30,000 member mark before Christmas.
The Hawks already have 30,087 members paid up for the 2009 season, an increase of 57 per cent on last season, of which 22 per cent are new members, meaning the Hawks are closing in on last season's record membership of 41,686
Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett was particularly pleased with the membership growth in Tasmania.
"The team has shown over the last few seasons that there are exciting times ahead for the Club and it is encouraging that so many supporters have backed the Club as financial members," he said.
"Tasmanians continue to get behind the Club with 3,753 members already signed up for the 2009 season (2008 total: 4,200), of which 29 per cent are new members to the Hawks."
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FREMANTLE star Matthew Pavlich will remain as captain of the club for the 2009 season.
Pavlich, who has captained the Dockers for the past two seasons, will be supported by a leadership group consisting of Luke McPharlin, ruckman Aaron Sandilands, defender Antoni Grover and midfielder Des Headland.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said all five members of the leadership group will play an important role in helping the club climb up the ladder next season.
"The five players in the new leadership group have, collectively, played more than 700 AFL games and we will be calling on that experience, both on and off the field in 2009, to lead what is now one of the youngest playing lists in the AFL," Harvey said.
"Each is a consummate professional and they are all committed to taking the Fremantle Football Club forward in the coming years. They realise the importance of their roles within the leadership group and will be entrusted with assisting the coaching staff in helping the 14 new draftees at the club develop both as footballers and good citizens."
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WEST COAST has appointed former Fremantle defender Anthony Jones as its assistant strength and conidtioning coach.
Jones will also join inaugural West Coast Eagles squad member John Gastev as a match day runner in 2009.
High performance manager Glenn Stewart said Jones, who will commence his role early next year, had a lot to offer the club.
"The best thing about having Anthony on board is that he not only has a significant amount of AFL football experience, but he also has qualifications in strength and conditioning, with a Bachelor of Science majoring in sports science," said Stewart.
"We're in a fortunate situation that we're able to put someone on who has the skills to develop the physical capacity of the players, already with the experience of being at an AFL club, having been with Fremantle for nine years.
"Anthony's combination of skills is quite unique and is a decided advantage for us."
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HAWTHORN premiership ruckman Brent Renouf has been interviewed by police over damage to two parked vehicles on Saturday night.
Renouf, who admitted to being under the influence of alcohol, accepted full responsibility for the incident, which occurred at the Geebung Polo Club.
A second Hawthorn player was a bystander to the incident and has been cleared of any involvement.
Renouf will pay for all damages incurred and will meet with coaching staff and the leadership group to determine any internal sanctions.
Hawthorn general manager of football operations Mark Evan said Renouf was remorseful for his actions.
"Brent understands that he made some poor choices in relation to alcohol and social behavior," he said in a statement.
"Hawthorn football club players and staff take their social and community responsibility very seriously and no one is more disappointed than the player himself at his actions."
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FREMANTLE has appointed inaugral Dockers captain and former coach Ben Allan as its vice-president.
Allan, who has served on the Fremantle board of directors since 2005 as a member-elected director, said he was looking forward to the challenge of being vice-president.
"Being vice-president of the Fremantle Football Club is a big responsibility and one that I take very seriously," Allan said.
"I was humbled by the support of my fellow board members and I see it as a privilege to take on the role. It will certainly be a challenge to emulate the fantastic work done by former vice-president Mel Ashton but it is a challenge I am very much looking forward to."
Allan played 47 matches for Fremantle between 1995 and 1997 as well as 98 for Hawthorn between 1990 and 1994.
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THE AFL and the Melbourne Cricket Club have come to an agreement to provide Melbourne with a $2 million support package for next season.
The MCC will provide $1 million in funding support for the Demons after the AFL announced an increase in the Annual Special Distribution funding from $250,000 to $1 million on Monday.
Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab said the financial support from the MCC and the AFL was 'vital to the future of the club'.
"The relationships we have with the AFL and the MCC are critical to the future of our football club and this funding is vital to the future of the club," he said.
"Our eventual goal is to get to the stage where we are not reliant on this support and – with the support of our members and supporters – we think we can achieve that in the future."
"Since Jim Stynes and the new board took over, we have continued to press ahead in our campaign to tackle debt and build our revenue base. Our members and supporters have shown fantastic support for the club by contributing $3 million to our debt demolition rally and to secure $2 million in funding from the AFL and MCC at Christmas time puts us in a good position to get on with the job in 2009."
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CARLTON coach Brett Ratten will remain at the club until at least the end of the 2011 season after signing a contract extension.
Ratten, who played 255 games for the Blues between 1990-2003, took the helm late in 2007 and coached his first full season this year.
The Blues finished 11th with 10 wins and 12 losses but with an impressive squad led by captain Chris Judd, Carlton are tipped to make their first finals appearance since 2001 next season.
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THE 2009 NAB Cup match between West Coast and Collingwood will be played at Subiaco on Saturday 7 February.
The AFL announced on Tuesday that the match was moved from Sahara Park in Cape Town because of the world economic crisis.
A match will now be scheduled in South Africa in the lead up to the 2010 season.
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NEW Richmond recruit Ben Cousins has defended his gangland associations as 'sincere friendships'.
Cousins was named in court by police as an associate of Angelo Venditti, who is charged with ordering the contract killing of Paul Kallipolitis during Melbourne's underground war in 2002.
Speaking at his first press conference as a Tiger on Wednesday, Cousins admitted he knew Venditti.
"Through the hard times I have found people love to link me with other people who have found themselves in hard times," he said.
"But what doesn't get reported is a lot of those relationships and associations that I have with those people have been borne out of sincere friendship and a common thread that we have found ourselves in hard times."
"I was hopefully looking forward to today being about putting the past in the past and moving on and hopefully it won't be long before things get spoken about me are more related to football and less about stuff like that."
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COLLINGWOOD has appointed defender Nick Maxwell as its new captain.
Maxwell will be the club's third skipper in as many seasons after the retired Scott Burns spent only one year in the job following Nathan Buckley's retirement at the end of 2007.
Ruckman Josh Fraser and impressive young midfielder Scot Pendlebury will serve as vice-captains while Shane O'Bree and fellow midfielder Dane Swan will be deputy vice-captains.
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BEN Cousins says he is determined to repay the faith that Richmond has shown in him by leading a clean life.
Speaking at a press conference at Punt Road on Wednesday the day after the Tigers selected the confessed drug addict with pick six in the pre-season draft, Cousins said he is 'very grateful' to Richmond for being given a chance to add to his glittering 238-game career.
"It's fantastic, I am very grateful to (coach) Terry Wallace and the Richmond Football Club for putting their faith in me," Cousins said.
"The last 12 months have been very humbling for me but to be given another opportunity is fantastic."
"And it's now very much up to me to fit in the playing group."
The 2005 Brownlow medallist admitted he isn't 'out of the woods yet' but said he felt that he is getting his life back on track.
"I am very proud of the efforts I have put into my rehab over the last 12 months and I am more confident than ever I can contribute on and off the field and try and get the best out of myself without using drugs," he said.
"In the early part of my career (at West Coast) I probably resented the expectations on me to be a role model and it didn't sit well because I was leading a double-life," he said.
"But now I feel I am able to better relate to kids because of the hard things I have been through."
"I am not out of the woods yet, I am a drug addict and I can't dust myself off and automatically say it's left in the past."
The 30-year-old also said he was confident that his body could cope with the rigours of AFL football.
"I understand I'm 30 and I've had 12 months off ... I put a lot of time and work into my body," he said.
"I'm confident it's going to hold up but I guess the rigours of AFL football, you never know how it's going to hold up until you get into it."
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