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Jake Niall

Jake Niall

Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon announces the new illicit drugs policy alongside Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains, Collingwood captain Darcy Moore, AFLPA boss James Gallagher and football operations boss Laura Kane.

Club bosses told when AFL players have serious drug issues – but coaches stay in the dark

Every AFL and AFLW player will be hair tested twice per year and the identity of players with ongoing serious drug issues will be known by the relevant club’s chief executive, president and football boss under the league’s heavily revamped illicit drug policy.

  • Jake Niall

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The Hawks and Cats have long been bitter rivals.

Which big MCG games will, and won’t, be fully ticketed?

Hawthorn confirmed late on Wednesday that they had not determined whether their blockbuster clash with Geelong – which drew more than 88,000 last Easter Monday – was fully ticketed.

  • Jake Niall
Footy fan Rodney Tingel could be the Hawk in the coal mine of ‘footyflation’.

A night in the life of a footy fan in a time of inflation

The cost of going to the footy isn’t as simple as the general admission price, which the AFL has kept down, or the membership fees. Here’s why.

  • Jake Niall
Indigenous players Ash Johnson, Willie Rioli and Alwyn Davey jnr left the AFL last year.

Revealed: The AFL’s blueprint to get Indigenous players back in the game

The AFL has set an ambitious target to increase the number of First Nations footballers in the men’s and women’s competitions, and will consider a dedicated list spot among a range of incentives to get there. 

  • Jake Niall
Zach Merrett and the Bombers leave the field after the loss against the Hawks.

The numbers that reveal the AFL’s brewing problem

After soft crowds for marquee matches in round one, there are two themes worth exploring: that they were fully ticketed, requiring even members without a reserved seat to pay to upgrade, and that fans are tiring of prolonged failure this century.

  • Jake Niall
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson.

‘This is on me, not the club’: Alastair Clarkson opens up on the Roos’ plight

In an expansive interview, the veteran four-time premiership coach outlines his goals for the struggling North Melbourne, and what would make him walk away.

  • Jake Niall
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AFL drug policy detail revealed: Players with serious issues to face extra step

AFL players under treatment for serious illicit drug issues will need to be passed fit to train and play by a new expert panel, under the heavily revised illicit drug code that is being finalised.

  • Jake Niall
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon.

After 22 years, the AFL’s absurd pretence is over. It’s about time

There will be a cohort of law-and-order types who might view the scrapping of strikes among the changes to the illicit drug policy as the mollycoddling of footballers. But it is overdue and a necessary correction.

  • Jake Niall
The AFL’s illicit drugs policy is set for a change.

AFL to abandon strikes but new drug policy makes players more accountable

The AFL will update its illicit drug policy to remove references to “strikes” that trigger automatic suspensions in a new, more rigorous version of the code.

  • Jake Niall
After a series of big moves in 2025, St Kilda are firmly in the spotlight in 2026. From left are president Andrew Bassat, star recruit Tom De Koning, and coach Ross Lyon.

‘Not going to be pushed around’: Can the Saints buy a stairway to heaven?

Whatever unfolds at St Kilda in 2026, the Saints have moved from off-Broadway to Times Square. They’ve raised the stakes dramatically.

  • Jake Niall