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Salary cap limited Blues manoeuvres

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 27 Oktober 2012 | 23.53

Mick Malthouse. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: Herald Sun

NEW Carlton coach Mick Malthouse said the Blues' hands were tied by the salary cap but has also taken a swipe at free agents.

Carlton was virtually invisible in the past month, only involved in one trade during the entire trade/free agency period completed yesterday, trading departing Jordan Russell to Malthouse's old club Collingwood for pick 71.

"Our salary cap is topped up and the player list is contracted so there wasn't a lot of maneuverability," Malthouse said.

"Disappointing? Maybe but at the end of the day you don't trade for the sake of trading.

"The bigger names, (Brendon) Goddard and so forth, they have changed over in the free agency period.

"Is Gary Ablett out there? No, it is more mix and match - too many ruckmen, not enough flanks or vice versa so you swap over.

"We spoke from the word go we probably wouldn't be doing much trading and it has turned out we've done none. Our salary cap is where it is and our players are contracted so there was not much we can do."

Malthouse refused to be drawn on the controversy surrounding Adelaide and its former key forward Kurt Tippett.

With no trade completed yesterday, Tippett may be forced to enter the national or pre-season draft.

Despite crying out for a big-bodied key forward, Malthouse said there was no way Tippett would be in the navy blue next season.

"We can't get him," he said in Hobart yesterday promoting his daughter Christi Malthouse's book A Football Life.

"If he's in the draft he's not going to get through to Carlton and if he did our salary cap is restrictive."

This year saw the introduction of free agency that allowed some players easier access to the club of their choice, but the former Footscray, West Coast and Collingwood coach was not impressed.

"I don't like it at all," he said.

"It helps the top clubs and doesn't do any favours at all for the bottom clubs."


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Darkest secrets back to haunt Crows

Adelaide Crows chief executive Steven Trigg arrives at the club's administration offices Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

STEVEN Trigg stepped off a flight from Croatia to return to the Adelaide Football Club last Friday with the Crows' darkest secret unravelling.

It became the blackest day in the AFL club's 22-year history.

The Crows' side deal with defecting forward Kurt Tippett - one that threatens to cost Trigg his job - was becoming known around the AFL. Lawyers were reading it - and not only those of Tippett's agitated father, Tony.

A rival AFL club, Gold Coast, had a copy of the infamous deal spelt out in 2009 in an email letter between former Crows football operations manager John Reid and Tippett's Brisbane-based manager Peter Blucher.

Having been jilted by Tippett - who had sat in the Gold Coast offices a year earlier contemplating a move to the Suns before this year choosing Sydney - the Gold Coast executives handed the letter to their lawyers.

The key question was: Could it be passed to the AFL without reprisal to the Suns who would have to explain how they had it?

Trigg's club had committed the cardinal sin.

More than challenge the two key pillars of the AFL competition - the salary cap and draft - the Crows had foolishly put their secret deal with Tippett in writing.

It was not, as was often said, a "handshake" or "gentlemen's agreement" acknowledging Tippett would have an easy passage to the Gold Coast team on his home base in Queensland should he chose to leave the Crows.

This AFL rule-breaching side deal involved payments to Tippett outside the salary cap. It is a six-figure sum that the AFL auditors will now determine as they piece together what appears to be the biggest rort in AFL football of the past decade.

As AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has privately told a club president of the Crows-Tippett deal: "It was dumb."

More so when the illegal payments would have fitted within Adelaide's salary cap that has ranged from $8.5 million to $9.3 million in the past three years.

Trigg returned from a three-week holiday, which had taken him from Paris to Venice and Croatia, last Friday when Adelaide was finishing a deal to trade Tippett to his chosen club of Sydney for a draft pick and out-of-favour forward Jesse White.

There were two urgent tasks for Trigg.

First, he had to stop Adelaide list manager David Noble from lodging any trade for Tippett. Noble took a phone call from the club telling him to walk out of the AFL offices in Melbourne.

Trigg also had to see his club chairman Rob Chapman to reveal the full details of the secret deal with Tippett.

Trigg, whose jetlag from a 40-hour trip was minor compared to the headache he had from the Tippett letter, put the document - with all its problems - before Chapman.

Around the AFL, Gold Coast was telling others the infamous Tippett exit clause was a minor matter compared to the third-party agreements Adelaide had agreed to underwrite for Tippett.

"An hour after Steven got back, he was in my office," said Chapman. "And 90 minutes later we were before Andrew Demetriou putting the letter to the AFL."

Trigg dismisses any suggestion the mea culpa moment was forced by Tippett's father threatening to take the Crows to court for haggling on his son's move to Sydney.

"I want to make clear that our decision go to the AFL was not motivated by any threat of legal action," said Trigg in an emailed note to his club's members on Thursday night.

"A key point to stress is that this matter came to light and is being investigated by the AFL as a direct result of the initiative of the Adelaide Football Club."

The Crows stepped up before the AFL moved in, as unfolded at the club's West Lakes base yesterday when AFL investigators claimed files and computer records to deepen their scrutiny of every payment that Adelaide has made to Tippett.

Trigg stayed out of the media last weekend, despite a heavy booking list from journalists wanting the Crows chief to explain why Adelaide appeared to be scoring a poor deal from the Swans.

His remarks to The Advertiser on Monday and Tuesday sounded like riddles. To specific questions on what had happened on Friday, Trigg politely responded: "If I answer that, I'll give the whole game away."

By Wednesday, Trigg was being even more cautious with his responses by phone link to AFL investigations officer Ken Wood and integrity officer Brett Clothier. Wood, an auditor, is the AFL's long-serving salary cap watchdog. Clothier, a lawyer, joined the AFL in August 2008 when the league became concerned with the influence of increased gambling options in football.

Trigg sat in his office at West Lakes surrounded by lawyers, all on the clock at the start of an AFL investigation that is expected to cost the Crows plenty.

There could be fines, as much as $500,000. There could be the loss of draft picks, a penalty that punishes a club for years as this denies new blood for the player list.

And the members will demand blood. It is too easy to serve up Reid as the fall guy. Every senior staffer is under scrutiny, as is the board for not questioning the deal with the same vigour the media had.

Chapman says he will support Trigg to the hilt, acknowledging his outstanding record. But the pressure will mount for Trigg to resign.

Trigg was on the pathway to bigger things. Now he is tainted by a deal Demetriou rightly labels as "dumb" ... and one the Crows should have never put in writing.


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West Coast refuses to part with Brown

Mitch Brown at West Coast Eagles training at Junction Oval. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

ST KILDA has been left seething by West Coast's refusal to part with Mitch Brown, as the trade and free agency period came to an end yesterday.

The Saints appeased the Eagles by parting with Western Australian youngster Jamie Cripps plus an exchange of picks, but were fuming when the goodwill was not returned.

St Kilda head of football Chris Pelchen said the Saints acted out of compassion for Cripps' desire to return home, leaving the Saints "extremely disappointed" a similar swap for Victorian Brown was not forthcoming.

"Like Mitch Brown wanting to return home, we were compassionate that Jamie wanted to return to Western Australia," Pelchen said.

"Our preference for Jamie was to stay at the club, but he made it clear he wanted to be home with family.

"We made several offers to West Coast in the last couple of hours to try and get Mitch across the line.

"There's no doubt Mitch wanted to play with us."

A total of 35 AFL listed players found new homes this month (11 yesterday) the most since 1997.

In other developments:

- Cale Morton, the 2007 No.4 pick, was traded to the Eagles for pick No.88. The Demons will pay part of his 2013 salary as he was still contracted to the club for another year.

- Demon Jordan Gysberts traded placed with Roo Cam Pedersen, while the Dees' fire sale was completed when ruckman Stefan Martin joined teammate Brent Moloney in Brisbane.

- Key forward Lucas Cook will become Melbourne's third first round draftee to depart this post-season when he is de-listed next week.

- Farren Ray remained at St Kilda and Gold Coast failed to come up with a trade for Josh Toy.

- Justin Sherman was de-listed by the Western Bulldogs with a year to run on his contract.

- Geelong told Tom Gillies he would be de-listed as the squeeze for spots on the Cats list continues.

- North Melbourne remained hopeful it could secure Port Adelaide Ben Jacobs via the draft despite the Power's best efforts to persuade the ruckman to stay.

West Coast recruiting manager Rohan O'Brien said he was confident Brown, 23, would hold no animosity towards the club for keeping him.

"There certainly won't be any angst from our point of view and I hope Mitch is the same," O'Brien said.

"We've always had a long term view with Mitch and remains that we want him to stay for a number of years and we think he'll be a terrific player for us."

It is understood Morton's relationship with Demons coach Mark Neeld was beyond repair.

O'Brien said the Eagles rated the 22-year-old "extremely highly" and that the club is confident his outside run is perfectly suited to the wide expanses of Patersons Stadium.

But whether he slips straight in to the Eagles best 22 is "up to Cale now", O'Brien said.

"He's the same as everyone else, he'll be equal when he comes in, and if he plays well he'll get an opportunity."


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Demons to sweat it out in Kakadu

Melbourne will ramp up their pre-season with a camp in Australia's Top End. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

MELBOURNE'S pre-season training will include a Darwin training camp in December that takes in a 30km trek through the Kakadu National Park.

The Demons will stay at Robertson Barracks and train at Palmerston Football Club during the camp, which will run from December 6 to 14.

The club also hopes the Top End stint will help the players adapt to ball-handling in humid conditions, with the team to add to the three home games it has played at Darwin's TIO Stadium since 2007.

"Research shows there are benefits in training in humidity," Melbourne's football manager Josh Mahoney said.

"We think that is a great advantage to take (the team to Darwin) during pre-season and couple that up with the fact we play games in Darwin and want to further our footprint in the Darwin area."


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Dees axe another eight players

Get the first look at the AFL's future stars in this preview of draft analysis series 'Pick Me'

Melbourne will part ways with young forward Lucas Cook. Picture: Chris Scott. Source: Herald Sun

MARK Neeld's overhaul of Melbourne's playing stocks escalated today with eight Demons delisted, including senior players Matthew Bate, Ricky Petterd and Jamie Bennell.

The Demons have now cut or traded 14 of the 46 footballers from their 2012 playing list.

Jordan Gysberts (North Melbourne), Cale Morton (West Coast), Stefan Martin, Brent Moloney (Brisbane Lions) and Jared Rivers (Geelong) all found new home in the trade and free agency period.

Today's cuts also included Lucas Cook, Liam Jurrah and rookies Jai Sheahan, Leigh Williams and Kelvin Lawrence.

Cook, a first-round draft pick, is hoping to find a new home as a delisted free agent after failing to crack through for a senior debut in his two seasons at the Dees.

Lawrence quit the club mid-year, while Sheahan was axed after only one season.

Last year the Dees had the chance to secure a second-round pick for Bate from the Western Bulldogs, but they demanded their first choice - No. 17 - and the deal fell through.

The Dees also lost former captain Brad Green, who retired after 254 games.


Dees to sweat it out in Kakadu

Petterd, a 24-year-old marking forward, has attracted interest from up to five rivals. Originally from Queensland, he has kicked 55 goals in his 54 games since his AFL debut in 2007.

The Dees have already added Chris Dawes, Shannon Byrnes, David Rodan, Cam Pedersen, Jack Viney and Jesse Hogan to their 2013 list.

Hogan, 17, is not eligible to play at the top level until 2014.

MELBOURNE'S 2012 LIST

GONE (824 games):

Brad Green
Jared Rivers
Brent Moloney
Matthew Bate
Cale Morton
Stefan Martin
Jamie Bennell
Ricky Petterd
Jordan Gysberts
Lucs Cook
Jai Sheahan
Leigh Williams
Kelvin Lawrence

100-GAMERS STAYING (1652 games):

Aaron Davey
Colin Sylvia
Nathan Jones
Mark Jamer
Joel McDonald
Clint Bartram
James Frawley
 


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Hooker blocks St Kilda's Brown bid

Get the first look at the AFL's future stars in this preview of draft analysis series 'Pick Me'

Mitch Brown was nearly a Saint. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

MITCH Brown was as good as a St Kilda player on Thursday night before Cale Hooker's reluctance to leave Essendon thwarted a proposed three-way trade, according to player agent Liam Pickering.

The Saints were desperate to secure Brown in the trade period to shore up their undersized defence and tabled a three-year contract the West Coast backman wanted to accept.

But with Brown tied to the Eagles for 2013 and West Coast hesitant to trade the 23-year-old, talks between the Saints and Eagles continually broke down.

But Pickering, who manages Brown, said a bumper deal involving Jamie Cripps, Hooker and picks 25 and 26 was "done" before Hooker blocked the move.

"We actually had the deal done late on Thursday night which involved Essendon and Cale Hooker," Pickering told SEN.

"But Cale Hooker didn't want to leave the Bombers in the end, so that was the end of that deal."


Under the deal, the Bombers would've landed picks 25 and 26 for Hooker, with West Coast securing Hooker and Cripps.

The Saints would have coughed up picks 25, 26 and Cripps to secure Brown.

Ultimately, they handed over Cripps and pick 46 for picks 41 and 44 in a direct trade with the Eagles.

Hooker, from East Perth, is believed to have been offered a three-year deal from the Eagles.

But with Darren Glass, Erick McKenzie and Will Schofield already at West Coast, Hooker could have been starved of AFL opportunities, as Brown was this season.

Hooker played 17 games for the Dons this year.

"But Cale Hooker was determined to stay at the Bombers and had a year to go on his contract, so that was the first snag," Pickering said.

"West Coast were pretty up front all the way - they wanted cover for Mitch.

"They were happy to do the deal with Cale Hooker if he wanted to go back, just so they had the player there.

"But once they couldn't get the player, they were never going to do it for the pick, which was disappointing."

St Kilda list manager Ameet Bains said the Saints were "very, very close" to prying Brown east, insisting they tried everything possible.

"But unfortunately it couldn't get done," he said.

"We understand it's a business and every club needs to be happy with the trade completed, so it is what it is."

But Eagles list manager Craig Vozzo denied that, declaring the contracted Brown was never placed on the table.

"(It was) never close at all. Our priority was always to keep Mitch," Vozzo said.

"He's a contracted player, we rate him very highly and want to keep him for a long time.

"We never wavered from that."


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We couldn't let Brown go, says Woosha

KEY MAN: John Worsfold and West Coast were desperate to hold onto key defender Mitch Brown. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

WEST Coast coach John Worsfold says the club could not afford to let Mitch Brown go home because a lack of key defensive depth could have sabotaged the club's 2013 premiership tilt.

But despite West Coast insisting contracted Brown was not up for trade, it is understood the Eagles were prepared to let him go to St Kilda, as long as they could secure a replacement key defender through a three-way deal.

But Essendon backman Cale Hooker, a 24-year-old East Fremantle product who has played 66 games for the Bombers, refused to return home, scuttling Brown's wish to shift to the Saints.

Brown's manager, Liam Pickering, said yesterday he believed a three-way deal involving Brown, Hooker and Jamie Cripps was over the line on Thursday night.

Worsfold spoke to Brown, who is holidaying overseas, by telephone on Friday afternoon and said the powerful utility was "really positive" about remaining with the Eagles next season.


"He saw an opportunity to be in the starting 18 at another club, along with an attractive contract offer, but he also understood that we wouldn't let him go at the cost of our squad being massively depleted and at risk of not being able to achieve what it can achieve next year," Worsfold said.

Brown played just eight games as a fill-in key defender this season, with Darren Glass, Eric Mackenzie and Will Schofield preferred ahead of him.

But given Glass turns 32 next season and the Eagles have limited developing tall defensive options, Brown, 23, is viewed as important for the future. His upbeat attitude, despite being repeatedly dropped to the WAFL, helped him earn the Chris Mainwaring Medal as best clubman at the West Coast club champion awards three weeks ago.

The following day Brown requested a trade back to his home state of Victoria for more opportunity.

Worsfold said he hoped Brown would re-sign with the Eagles beyond next season, when his current deal expires.

"Mitch is very comfortable," Worsfold said. "He loves the club.

"We would love to have him here and play a lot of games and be a life member and hopefully a premiership player at this footy club. I'm confident if he stays he can achieve those things."

Essendon's list manager Adrian Dodoro praised Hooker's loyalty after he knocked back a deal to join West Coast.

"We got an offer late (Thursday) night for Cale and to his credit he didn't want to leave Essendon," Dodoro said.

St Kilda was seething after missing out on Brown, given they facilitated a request from Cripps to return to his home state and join the Eagles in a trade involving draft picks.

"Like Mitch Brown wanting to return home, we were compassionate that Jamie wanted to return to Western Australia. Our preference for Jamie was to stay at the club, but he made it clear he wanted to be home with family,'' Saints head of football Chris Pelchen said.

"We made several offers to West Coast in the last couple of hours to try and get Mitch across the line."


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Freo could be 'lite' Eagles with move

STANDING FIRM: Chris Lewis (second from left) and Keep Freo in Freo members Richard Utting, Peter Newman and Peter Dowding are keen for the Dockers to remain at Fremantle Oval. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: PerthNow

FREMANTLE board nominee Chris Lewis says the Dockers risk becoming "West Coast Eagles lite" if they turn their back on their heritage and set up a new training base in Cockburn.

Lewis, one of six candidates who have nominated for the member-elected board position, is one of the founders of the Keep Freo In Freo lobby group and is running on a platform to fight for the Dockers to remain at Fremantle Oval.

The corporate consultant has launched both traditional advertising and online campaigns and believes he is a strong chance of being elected.

Lewis is running against former Fremantle captain Peter Mann, sitting director Kate Grieve, real estate director John Garland, Keystart Home Loans chief financial officer John Vojkovich and Summit Fertilizers executive Murray Browne.

Online voting opens at 9am tomorrow and closes at 5pm on November 26.


The Dockers have spent several months considering whether to redevelop their traditional training base, or move to a greenfields site known as Cockburn Central West.

A decision was originally expected by the end of the recent season but The Sunday Times understands this may now not be made until early next year.

Lewis praised the direction of the club under president Steve Harris and CEO Steve Rosich, but said it was clear members wanted the Dockers to be based in Fremantle.

"It's a wonderful organisation, a great club and a great business: it's got a lot of things going for it," he said.

"The Dockers have endless potential and are just starting to get somewhere. We just need to make sure it stays on track and works alongside its members."

Lewis said the Dockers needed to understand their attachment to Fremantle gave the club an important geographic and historic link not enjoyed by their cross-town rivals.

"The Dockers do have a unique identity," he said. "The opportunity is to capitalise on that.

"One of the risks of moving away is we end up being West Coast Eagles lite.

"Just like watering down a beer, we would be watering down the strength, the passion, the heartland of the entire Dockers movement.

"I've put my hand up as a members' representative: someone who will actually get up and say things and take a strong stand on matters and pursue the Keep Freo in Freo stand."


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Saints take in heights

Former Western Bulldogs fitness trainer Bill Davoren is taking the Saints to America. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

ST KILDA expects next month's Colorado training camp to develop into an annual high-altitude staple, along the same lines as Collingwood's visits to Arizona over the past decade.

"My understanding is it's a fairly long-standing commitment to make this an annual part of the pre-season regime," St Kilda high-performance manager Bill Daveron said.

Daveron, who joined St Kilda this month, said the Saints would gather the list in the days after the November 22 national draft and head to Boulder, Colorado, for a 16-day camp.

The team will fly out on November 27 and base itself at University of Colorado.

The group will stay at a hotel on the edge of the campus that is "within jogging distance of all the training facilities" and will incorporate several hikes in its itinerary.

A former Triathlon Australia head coach whose experience with altitude training dates to 1991, Daveron said Boulder was the training base for several high-profile Australian endurance athletes, such as four-time Olympic marathon runner Benita Willis and three-time ironman triathlon world champion Craig Alexander. Davoren hoped to involve one of them in the Saints camp.


"Boulder's been a bit of a Mecca for distance runners, but also for cycling and triathlon," Davoren said.

"I'm not sure that Craig will be there, but I'm working on getting an elite athlete from the endurance field to come in, talk to them and be involved."

The Saints may also look to take in some major sport while they are in Colorado. NFL team the Denver Broncos play Tampa Bay on December 2, while NBA outfit the Denver Nuggets play Toronto the following day.

While training at 1650m will improve the players' endurance and repeat-effort capacity, the Saints' new sports science manager, former Melbourne Storm guru Simon Kearney, will also examine sleep programs and conduct blood analysis.

"We're over there for 16 days which is what you need to put together an adequate exposure and training program," Davoren said, adding the expectation was to follow up with training sessions in the club's Seaford altitude chamber throughout season 2013.

"We might try to get some people into the altitude room a couple of times a week during the season, but that varies depending on their loads and fatigue and those sorts of things."

The club's 2012 draftees and its injured players will take part in the camp. Lenny Hayes, who had corrective heart surgery last month to repair a leaky valve, will also make the trip.

"He's certainly going on the trip," Davoren said. "Look there'll certainly be some modifications around Lenny, and that will be driven by the medical team, but the aim is that he'll be taking part in a number of the activities with us.

"Any players in rehab will continue on their programs and, because the facilities are so good, if anything we'll be able to monitor them more closely."

St Kilda's pre-season begins with the young players training on the day before the Melbourne Cup, and the older players resuming on November 12.
 


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West Coast trades 'omen'

NEW FACES: Midfielder Sharrod Wellingham and fellow recruits Cale Morton and Jamie Cripps will add midfield pace at West Coast. Source: Herald Sun

WEST Coast Eagles coach John Worsfold has compared the club's trade spree to when the Eagles brought in Tyson Stenglein and Daniel Chick in the lead-up to the 2006 premiership.

The Eagles won't have a pick in the first two rounds of the national draft and will be the last team to enter the ballot when they have their first selection at 46.

It is a rare departure from West Coast's usual strategy, which has involved largely sitting on the sidelines during the trade period and preserving early draft picks.

The Eagles instead focused on bringing in running players via trades, securing Collingwood premiership midfielder Sharrod Wellingham, along with fellow West Australians Jamie Cripps (St Kilda) and Cale Morton (Melbourne).

In the lead-up to its last flag, West Coast identified a need to add strong bodies and gave up first-round draft picks to trade in Hawthorn hard nut Chick and Adelaide Crows midfielder Stenglein.


"We had a team we felt was very close and we needed to add what was missing," Worsfold said.

"This year's been a little bit of the same philosophy.  I think prior to this year we've used our draft picks pretty well, and we weren't going to have a really high pick anyway, so it's a good time for us to go down this pathway."

West Coast's willingness to sit out of the opening two rounds of the draft for the first time is a clear signal it believes its squad is capable of going all the way next year, although Worsfold shied away from the premiership mode tag.

"I don't call it premiership mode, I call it building your list and making it better," he said.

"But if we weren't in really good touch then we might have a really high draft pick and you'd want to take that draft pick.''

Worsfold signalled his intent to add speed to the midfield immediately after West Coast crashed out of the finals with a 13-point loss to Collingwood in the semi-final at the MCG.

Ironically, it was one of the players in the Magpies team who the Eagles had identified as a crucial addition.

"I'm really keen to see Sharrod fit into our midfield mix and watch him develop there," Worsfold said.

"He's got some pace and can play inside as well as outside. He's a good tackling player, so he fills a few things.

"I think he's still got some improvement to come and he's been a solid player for the past couple of years."

The Eagles lost veteran forward Quinten Lynch to Collingwood through free agency, while midfielder Koby Stevens was traded to the Western Bulldogs and half-back Lewis Stevenson to Port Adelaide.

West Coast is likely to make a couple of delistings early this week, ahead of Wednesday's first list lodgement deadline.


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