ESSENDON has received a significant off-season boost with skipper Dyson Heppell extending his contract with the Bombers. The new deal means the star midfielder extends his stay through to at least the end of 2022 at the club. “I am incredibly proud to be able to wear the Essendon jumper and play for...

ADELAIDE Crows star Erin Phillips hopes she’ll be ready to run out with her team in Round 1 next year, after suffering a potentially career-ending knee injury in this season’s grand final. The dual premiership captain underwent knee reconstruction surgery in the off-season, after tearing her left ACL in the Crows’ win against...

FREMANTLE skipper Nat Fyfe says he’ll leave more of the bash and crash stuff to his teammates as he attempts to protect his battered body. Fyfe is in the final stages of recovery from his fourth shoulder surgery. All up in his decorated 173-game career Fyfe has undergone 17 operations – a consequence...

WESTERN Bulldogs will enter a new AFL era under the leadership of Marcus Bontempelli after the star midfielder was announced as Easton Wood’s successor. The 24-year-old Bontempelli will have Lachie Hunter as his deputy in a six-man leadership group, which also includes Wood, Jason Johannisen, Mitch Wallis and new addition Josh...

GUN midfielder Lachie Whitfield says Greater Western Sydney’s recent run of long-term signings of key players enticed him to ink his own seven-year deal with the club. Whitfield joined the Giants as pick No.1 in the 2012 AFL draft and has gone on to play 133 games in his seven seasons...