CLUBS SHOULD DEVISE THEIR OWN FINES - BOMBER
Mark Heenan and AAP 4 May 2005

"THERE YOU GO... I'VE SAID IT". GEELONG coach Mark Thompson believes clubs should be allowed to impose their own fines against the AFL and the umpires.

Geelong was fined $5,000 by the AFL, after 'Bomber' approached the umpires and made comments at half time during its round five clash against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. “I wish the clubs could actually give some people (umpires) suspended sentences because there would be a few handed around” Thompson said.

Thompson didn’t rule out the possibility of confronting the umpires again, if one of his players was affected. “I would certainly come out on the footy oval and just stare at someone.”

As the Cats prepare to face St. Kilda, with whom they’ve built up a ‘great rivalry’ in recent years, Thompson says it’s a bonus that Saints forward Fraser Gehrig isn’t playing, after his suspension was cut back to one week for his ‘tummy tap’ on Jason Cloke. “After he (Gehrig) kicked eight last week and he’s back into form, it’s a bonus for us,” he said.

“I thought the tribunal was pretty fair, Ronnie Burns got a couple of weeks for stomach punches a couple of years of ago, two weeks was pretty severe and one week was about right. It’s good for them (St.Kilda) two weeks down to one is fair and it is good he is not playing against Geelong.”

Much of St.Kilda’s hopes rest on the shoulders of Nick Riewoldt, who is expected to return from a collarbone injury he injured in round one against Brisbane at the GABBA. “He’s a great player and it’s his first week back from a shoulder injury and I know that those injuries (can be) a serious risk if he damages it again, but they wouldn’t put him out (on the field) unless he was ready.”

And with Aaron Hamill set to a miss week with a corked shin, the game could be decided by the league’s premier small forwards in Gary Ablett and Paul Chapman and St.Kilda pair Stephen Milne and Brent Guerra could well decide the game

Thompson says he won’t be forced to make any changes, following its thirty-five point win over the Western Bulldogs last Sunday at Skilled, but is prepared to play the ‘waiting game’ until the Saints’ finalises its team. “I think we will probably wait to see what St.Kilda does a little bit before we finalise our squad.”

Geelong has won four out of their last six games against St.Kilda, by an average winning margin of thirty-seven points. But Geelong has not beaten the Saints at the Telstra Dome since 2002, when the Cats escaped with a 1-point thriller, despite leading by more than six goals at three-quarter time.