D-Mac learning to run his own race

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CROWS development coach Alan Stewart is famous for throwing curly questions at young footballers in pre-draft meetings.

In late 2006 he wanted to test the mettle of an Oakleigh Chargers midfielder Adelaide was considering for its third round pick.

David Mackay was coming off a 28-disposal game in the Chargers' TAC Cup Grand Final win but Stewart turned the tables and drilled the then 18 year old on an earlier final where his impact hadn't been as great.

Mackay responded by saying he was a confidence player and it had been down that day. Stewart pounced.

"Alan Stewart would say if you have ability and you work as hard as you can there shouldn't be any need to have confidence all the time." Mackay said.

"When things aren't going the way you want them to (you have to move) past that and not let it affect your performance."

It was an important lesson for Mackay and one that he drew on last year after being dropped from Adelaide's line up for the first time.

Crows wingman David Mackay gets a kick away against St Kilda. Picture: Quinn Rooney.

Once considered one of the Crows' brightest prospects, a lack of form and confidence saw the 25 year old sent back to the SANFL. It hit Mackay hard.

"For all of us who play it's the biggest thing in your life at the time. You have to stay positive but it's not easy," he said.

"I wasn't getting my hands on the ball enough and I wasn't running as well as I could and having the impact on games I needed to be having."

Mackay watched vision of his games at the end of the season and realised he wasn't covering the ground as well as he had in the past.

He ramped up his workrate at training - reaching "a better level than I ever have before" - and focused on playing to his strengths.

Then in late November, senior Crows assistant Dean Bailey was diagnosed with cancer, a tragedy which had a profound effect on Mackay.

David Mackay celebrates a goal against St Kilda. Picture: George Salpigtidis.

"I worked really closely with Bails. In a way it highlighted what was important in life and even though it's a big business and such an important thing what we do, it's still just footy," Mackay said.

"I guess it put things in perspective for me. Made me think I need to enjoy what I'm doing and make the most of it.

"We're very lucky to be able to do what we do. You don't want to get to the end of your footy career and say the whole thing was a battle."

Mackay has honoured Bailey's passing with an electric start to the 2014 season.

He's averaging career bests in disposals (20.3), inside 50s (3.8) and score assists (1.5) and has re-assumed his position as one of the best ball users in the AFL.

Of the competition's top 100 ballwinners, only Jobe Watson has a better retention rate than Mackay.

"One of things I pride myself on is being able to use it well when I do get it," Mackay said.

"As a team it's probably something we haven't done that well this year and it cost us early on.

"It's really hard to play against teams that can control the ball and make you defend for long periods."

Mackay is also embarking on the dashing runs from half back that are a feature of his game when he's playing well.

His average running bounces have jumped from 0.9 to 3 per game and his teammates up field are reaping the benefit.

"That was my biggest focus going into the preseason this year was to get back running again," he said.

"So far it's been a marked improvement from last year. It needs to be a strength of my game and I'm trying to make it that again.

"We're only early in the season but I certainly feel like I'm playing much better footy than I was last year."

THE GREAT RETAINERS

AFL's best retention rates

Jobe Watson (Essendon) - 82.4%

David Mackay (Adelaide) - 82%

Cale Hooker (Essendon) - 82%

Robert Murphy (Bulldogs) - 81.5%

Joel Selwood (Geelong) - 81%

And the worst ...

David Mundy (Fremantle) - 51.8%

Bernie Vince (Melbourne) - 58.6%

Michael Rischitelli (Gold Coast) - 59.1%

Danyle Pearce (Fremantle) - 60.7%

David Swallow (Gold Coast) - 60.9%

David Mackay with girlfriend Sarah Endersbee. Source: News Limited

LIFE BALANCE PUTS D-MAC IN A GOOD PLACE

DAVID Mackay is hoping the Crows can play deep into September this season but there's another important date the following month he's also eyeing off.

The 25 year old is getting married to fiancee Sarah in October.

"The planning is all underway," Mackay said.

"I'm looking forward to that."

Mackay lives with Sarah in a house he bought at Grange a few years ago.

"We love living down here, particularly during the warmer months, with the beach so close," he said.

You sense Mackay is in a really good place in his life after a 2013 season which tested him in ways he hadn't been tested before.

Growing up in Melbourne as the son of a father and mother who worked in biochemistry and pathology at the Austin Hospital, Mackay excelled at most things he turned his hand to.

He was a house captain at Trinity Grammar, won the TAC Cup Grand Final with Oakleigh Chargers and realised his dream of playing AFL when he was selected by the Crows with pick 48 in the 2006 draft.

So losing his place in Adelaide's line-up midway through last season was a learning experience for the dashing half back - one that has left him better prepared to face life's challenges.

"There's always going to be ups and downs but when you get the down periods you just have to move on from them quickly, learn from them and not be so caught up in them and keep moving forwards and look for the positives," Mackay said.

"That's something I've tried to do."

Contracted at Adelaide for another two seasons, Mackay has shown his loyalty to the Crows the past two years.

First he knocked back a four year, $2 million offer from Melbourne to sign a new deal with Adelaide and then last year refused to be included in any potential deal to lure Jared Polec to West Lakes.

"I love being part of this group. It's a great group," Mackay said.

He's hoping his commitment will be rewarded with team success in the near future.

Adelaide has recovered from an 0-3 start to enter tomorrow's game against the Demons with a chance to move to 4-3.

"We're starting to get stronger," Mackay said.

"We're getting a few players back fit and our game style is starting to click over a bit.

"We know when we play our best footy it does measure up."

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Fans remember Senna 20 years on

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THOUSANDS of Formula One fans gathered for a commemoration on Thursday at the Imola circuit — 20 years to the day after Brazilian champion Ayrton Senna was killed here in the sport's darkest day.

Dozens of enthusiasts drove their own cars around the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit to mark the tragic anniversary of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen attended a ceremony for the man seen as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

"Our hearts sank when they told us the news," said Marco, a 31-year-old Italian Formula One fan who was at Imola as a young boy on the day of the crash.

Marco wore the same type of helmet that Senna had on that day and was taking his car around the circuit.

Hero ... Formula One Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso (C) pays tribute to Brazilian's F1 driver Ayrton Senna during a ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his death in Imola. Source: AFP

Daniela, 39, from Belo Horizonte in Brazil said: "What moves me about Senna was his humility, his enormous charisma. He is in our hearts like family".

Another Brazilian fan, 57-year-old Renato said: "His will to win was what I liked about Ayrton.

"He proved that a Brazilian could be internationally known and that was a great encouragement for us." Marco, 34, who wore a chequered flag around his shoulders, said simply: "He was the best driver ever".

A Catholic priest led a memorial service on Wednesday at the Tamburello corner where the triple world champion's Williams careered off into a concrete barrier on lap seven at 307km/h.

He was flown to Bologna hospital but was pronounced dead at 6:40pm local time on that ill-fated Sunday.

● AYRTON SENNA: HIS 10 GREATEST DRIVES

● AYRTON THE AUSSIE: SENNA IN ADELAIDE

● SAYING GOODBYE TO MY HERO, AYRTON SENNA

● BRUNO SENNA: WE DIDN'T EXPECT THE WORST

● 1994 — THE YEAR THAT CHANGED FORMULA 1

● BRABHAM RELIVES F1'S DARKEST WEEKEND

Thursday's ceremony comes after a week of commemorative events held to mark the tragic accident, which ushered in a raft of changes to improve F1 safety.

Paved the way ... Formula One Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen (L) pays tribute to Brazilian's F1 driver Ayrton Senna during a ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his death. Source: AFP

Football club Corinthians from Sao Paulo, the city where three million people turned out for Senna's funeral, paid tribute to their local hero by wearing crash helmets with the Brazilian flag colours before kick-off in a match against Nacional-AM on Wednesday.

The Senna anniversary is made all the more poignant as another great F1 driver, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, continues his fight for life after the German's skiing accident on December 29.

Ironically, it was Schumacher who went on to win the Imola race 20 years ago.

Senna's death, 24 hours after Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger was killed and two days after his fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was injured, was F1's blackest weekend.

And all this week emotional tributes have been paid to the 1988, 1990 and 1991 champion.

"He was an incredible legend," said 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton. "You like to think that one day you may be recognised as someone that was able to drive similarly to him," added the Mercedes driver.

"On my schoolbooks I didn't have pictures of girls, obviously I was too young but I had Ayrton there and the same in my room," said 2005/06 champion Alonso.

Senna's sister Viviane, said this week that her brother's legacy is alive and well through the Ayrton Senna Institute which she chairs.

Not forgotten ... A Brazilian flag is hanged on a fence to pay tribute to Brazilian's F1 driver Ayrton Senna during a ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his death in Imola. Source: AFP

She recalls a conversation she had with him weeks before his death when he told her how he wanted to contribute to a better future for Brazil by helping to open up opportunities for children.

She said: "Ayrton really wanted Brazil to work, for everyone to have a chance and from this dream the Institute was born.

"Currently, we are working with more than two million children and training some 75,000 teachers per year across around 1000 cities around the country." Senna's death prompted extensive changes, including the reform of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. Engine capacities were reduced and tethers to help prevent wheels flying off following accidents were introduced.

The HANS device to protect drivers' heads and necks were made compulsory, and run-offs were extended and improved.

As evidence that the improvements put in place worked the last F1 fatality in a grand prix was Senna.

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Prepare yourselves for Super 20

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THE wackiest spin-off to rugby's quantum leap to Super 18 in 2016 is that further expansion is now more certain than ever with potential franchises possible on the west coast of the US, in Europe or Asia.

The new-look format of four conferences, with its enlarged eight-team finals series, looks more like "Super 20 minus 2" than Super 18.

It is a super-structure with pieces missing until they are filled for 2022 and beyond as Super 20.

The five-team Australian and New Zealand conferences have a symmetry.

The two unbalanced South African-centric conferences of four teams do not but you can bet, for 2022, there will be two extra teams with dreams and big bankrolls joining the party.

If it is all a bit dizzying to take in, it is. Super Rugby is going global.

Argentina's entry to Super 18 has been rubber-stamped by Thursday's big news while rugby powerbrokers in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and even Europe could all be in the tender process to be the 18th and last team for 2016.

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There has been some serious horsetrading between countries and with broadcasters.

The Reds will play only six local derbys a year rather than the current eight but will be compensated by playing every Kiwi team each season rather than missing out on the crowd-pulling Crusaders (2013) and Chiefs (2014) because of the current draw's quirks.

Australian Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver is claiming as a big win that the Australian and New Zealand conferences will feed five of the eight teams into the finals series because the South Africans clearly wanted it capped at four.

The South Africans will still host two quarter-finals so there will be an annual lamb to the slaughter ritual of a less-fancied Australasian team flying there to battle all the odds.

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"Sadly, the least represented country in the finals since Super Rugby began has been Australia so to have three wildcards from the Australasian group into the finals is a real positive when you think of how lucrative hosting a finals game can be," Pulver added.

The regular rugby fan doesn't need to over-analyse what cross-over games mean.

There will still be 15 opponents to a robust regular season but losing a home game ever second year is a $200,000-plus hole for a team like the Reds.

A big positive is that Pulver has involved Australia's three commercial TV networks in the format discussions and is bullish that some part of Super Rugby will be on free-to-air screens in 2016.

"I'm confident there will be more Super Rugby seen on free-to-air," Pulver said.

That will be one of the code's biggest wins to take the on-field fireworks to people who have just not been able to watch Super Rugby before.

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Simon Dwyer is league’s secret shame

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EVEN if someone did ring, Simon Dwyer couldn't lift the phone with his right hand.

Put simply, it's shot. Useless. Disabled ever since that afternoon two years ago when, attempting a tackle at Campbelltown Stadium, this promising Wests Tiger ripped five nerves straight off his spinal column.

So what has been done since?

Remembering that before rugby league disabled him — before his hand swelled, shoulder routinely slipped out of joint and the pain medication gave him seizures — this young forward was among the brightest prospects in the game.

Simon Dwyer watches from the sidelines at NSW City training. Source: News Corp Australia

Not only on the cusp of NSW Origin selection, but owning a thwack which, ironing out no less than Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, was hailed on these very pages as 'Hit of the Century'.

So in the two years since the Greatest Game of All ruined him, who from the NRL has called?

"I've never been contacted by anyone at the NRL,'' Dwyer shrugs.

MCKINNON RE-SIGNS WITH KNIGHTS

Players Association, then?

"Ah, I'm not even sure what they do,'' he concedes. "Seem a waste of time. I don't even know if I have a manager anymore. I saw him at a game recently and he said 'Hi', but that was it.

"It's a little disappointing to think, if I were in any other job, insurance would cover this injury. But being a footballer ... yeah, I'm on my own."

Simon Dwyer is rugby league's secret shame.

That isn't him talking either — it's us.

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For while he was once among the most feared defenders in footy, this affable 25-year-old — a fella working as City Origin assistant in Dubbo this week because "Freddy never forgot me" — refuses to whack a game that so badly betrayed him.

Indeed, who has time?

What with the daily physiotherapy, the massages and weights. Bloke even bought his own acupuncture kit.

Which makes him the kind of bloke who doesn't covet interviews.

MCKINNON OFFERED JOB FOR LIFE BY NRL

But when cornered at City training on Thursday — still wearing the same sling he vowed two years ago would not stop his NRL return — he somewhat reluctantly agreed to open up.

Explaining not only his own battle, but the happiness at seeing Alex McKinnon — a footballer three years his junior — being so well supported by the NRL, the Newcastle Knights, indeed the entire rugby league community.

Dwyer has been wearing a sling since his injury two years ago. Source: News Corp Australia

"What Alex has suffered — terrible,'' Dwyer says almost in a whisper. "And I hope he gets all the support possible because not only does he deserve it, it's the right thing to do.

"I mean, we keep hearing how rugby league is business, so why isn't it run like one? Why aren't footballers insured?

"Cars and houses get insured, but not us. It's tough but, while you hope things change, you've just gotta get on with it."

Which is how Dwyer has been every day since that attempted tackle.

When colliding awkwardly into the hip of Canterbury prop Michael Hodgson — "my shoulder went one way, my head the other" — he ripped from his spinal cord the C5, C6, C7, C8 and T1.

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"Initially I felt frozen," Dwyer recalls. "I couldn't talk, couldn't move, couldn't feel anything from the neck down.

"There was only a weird sensation, like my legs and arms were in the air. But looking back at video since, I was just flat."

Eventually, a Wests Tigers trainer sat Dwyer up and, after relevant checks, tried to walk him from the field.

"But I was like, 'shit, I can't feel my legs','' he continues. "Eventually, all the feeling came back. Well, everywhere but my right arm."

And so in the weeks following, this tough Sydney westie underwent surgery that saw nerves taken from different parts of his body — including his left arm and diaphragm — and then redirected into his motionless limb.

Dwyer. in his playing days with Wests Tigers. Source: News Limited

Yet two years on, and living at home with his parents, he still has no movement in his fingers. Can manage just one arm curl "against gravity".

Holding a cup of water, or phone, impossible.

Still, Dwyer refuses to quit.

Right now, driving on a disabled permit, learning to write as a leftie and battling on without those pain killers that caused him "little side effects".

Like what?

"Seizures,'' he shrugs.

So what is being done?

For while the Knights may have honoured McKinnon's contract upgrade, Dwyer had his deal terminated by the Tigers — who couldn't fit him under the salary cap — and, instead, was appointed to staff on a smaller three-year agreement.

Dwyer's staff appointment with Wests Tigers runs out this year. Source: News Limited

It is a deal for which the disabled footballer has always been grateful. An agreement which, we also note, runs out this year, right?

"I'm not sure what's happening yet,'' he says. "I would love to stay in the game and really enjoy my work at Wests Tigers, doing video for the boys and statistics for (coach) Mick Potter on game day.

"The club has said they're yet to finalise things for next year so who knows?"

Dwyer is also grateful to Freddy.

The NSW Origin great who not only called him into camp in 2012, but has made this former City forward his first staffing appointment in the two years since.

"Which is incredible because some guys, they don't even have that,'' Dwyer says. "Only last week I got a call from another footballer in a similar situation.

"He's struggling and, given the extent of my injuries, wanted to know what the NRL had done. But, you know ... what could I say?"

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Vandyke could have two Sydney bases

David Vandyke is seeking to have two metropolitan Sydney training bases. Source: Melvyn Knipe / News Limited

DAVID Vandyke will become the only trainer to operate out of two Sydney metropolitan training tracks should the Racing NSW licensing committee look favourably upon an application on Friday.

Vandyke is based at Warwick Farm, but has been sounded out by Segenhoe Stud to train their horses at Randwick.

Segenhoe lease 20 boxes at the top of High Street, and completed a renovation of their set-up before Christmas.

John O'Shea was Segenhoe's trainer, but will this weekend link with Darley. Vandyke was then approached, with his Segenhoe deal just needing Racing NSW to rubber-stamp it.

The Australian Turf Club have already given Segenhoe and Vandyke their blessing.

Racing NSW deputy steward Greg Rudolph sits on the licensing committee, and confirmed the panel would meet with Vandyke.

A recommendation will then be put forward to Racing NSW supremo Peter V'Landys.

A precedence has already been set with Peter Snowden operating Darley stables from Warwick Farm and Agnes Banks. Kevin Moses also had a Randwick and Warwick Farm stable after World Youth Day.

Vandyke, however, will be the only current trainer with two metropolitan bases.

"We want to see how the logistics work with operating two stables," Rudolph said.

"We basically want to ensure it's a bone fide training establishment of David Vandyke, and he is in fact responsible for both stable complexes."

Segenhoe, whose horses carry the red and yellow colours, will continue to spread their horses among trainers, with Team Hawkes preparing Villiers Stakes winner Ninth Legion.

But it will be Vandyke who oversees the bulk of their team.

Vandyke said his foreman, Doctor Michael Robinson, would run the Randwick set-up, but he'd make several trips to HQ each week. Vandyke will continue to live and look after the western Sydney stables, where he has more than 30 in work, including Doomben Roses-bound Arabian Gold.

"The likes of Peter Moody and Chris Waller have satellite stables interstate, and Bart Cummings did it for years. This will be easier because it's only a 45-minute drive between the two locations," Vandyke said.

"Michael would look after the Randwick stable, and I'd share my time between the two. The key to any situation is having the right people involved. We've sent horses to Melbourne the past three years and won a stakes race every year, so we know how to work well as a team.

"We just really appreciate this great opportunity given to us by Segenhoe."

Should the Segenhoe-Vandyke marriage by consummated, it will cap what has been a tremendous couple of months for Vandyke, who achieved Group success during the Sydney autumn with Arabian Gold.

Expect Vandyke's good friend Blake Shinn to re-unite with Arabian Gold during the Brisbane winter.

Vandyke said he worked in the original stables where Segenhoe is now based. He was with Les Bridge when the stable ran second to the late, great Tommy Smith.

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Bright, Morris win snowsports awards

Silver medallist Torah Bright during the medal ceremony for the Snowboard Ladies' Halfpipeat the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Picture: Quinn Rooney Source: Getty Images

AUSTRALIA'S two silver medallists from the Sochi Winter Olympics, Torah Bright and David Morris, have been named joint winners of the 2014 snowsports athlete of the year award.

Snowboarder Bright and aerials skier David Morris took the top award from a final group that included Sochi bronze medallist Lydia Lassila, World Cup halfpipe crystal globe winner Scotty James and winner of the Lake Louise snowboard cross World Cup event, Jarryd Hughes.

Moguls skier Britt Cox, who was also in the running for the senior award after finishing fifth at the Sochi Games, was named junior athlete of the year for a fourth successive time.

Men's freestyle skiing aerials silver medallist David Morris celebrates as gold medal winner Anton Kushnir of Belarus, right, waits to step on to the podium. Picture: Charlie Riedel Source: AFP

Veteran aerialist Lassila, who became the first woman to attempt a quadruple twisting triple somersault in competition on her way to winning bronze in Sochi following her gold in Vancouver, was recognised with the outstanding achievement award.

Morris was in attendance at Ski and Snowboard Australia's annual awards night to collect his award, while Bright, who took silver in the halfpipe to go with her Vancouver gold, has returned to her Utah base.

"It is a privilege to receive the award that has been won by so many well performed athletes in the past," said Morris, who was rewarded in Sochi for his consistent jumping throughout the event.

"Torah is a legend of winter sports, so to have my name next to hers on the honour board is fantastic.

"It's great to receive the recognition for doing my job. I managed to pull it off on the day, win the medal, and now this is another of the rewards."

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