An Eagle retirement, draft talk and Crow colours are among the AFL items making news in Australia's daily newspapers on Thursday, 24 November 2005.Herald Sun: Hawthorn will decide its national draft strategy today, but it seems set to "go big" with one of East Fremantle pair Patrick Ryder and Josh Kennedy with pick three.Carlton midfielder Nick Stevens last night admitted he returned to pre-season training at least 3-4 kilos overweight because of injury.West Coast goalsneak Phil Matera has retired from AFL football because of chronic injury.Daniel Grollo, head of Australia's biggest private construction firm, is being wooed to join the Carlton Football Club board.Former Brownlow medallist Shane Woewodin is among 40 players delisted by their clubs to nominate for Saturday's national draft.The Australian: Veteran small forward Phil Matera announced his retirement yesterday.Saturday's national draft could result in the smallest intake of teenage talent on record as AFL clubs look increasingly to the rookie draft and recycled players to bolster playing lists.The Adelaide Advertiser: Adelaide will join Collingwood in becoming an AFL trailblazer next season, yesterday announcing it will don innovative adidas Clima Cool fabric and ForMotion guernseys as part of its new three-jumper set.Port Adelaide is being punished for its slow start to last season - with Brendon Lade describing pre-season training as "one of our hardest for a long time".Carlton defender David Teague has signalled his intention to play a greater leadership role next season with the club hoping to discover a new batch of talent via Saturday's AFL national draft.The Age:Brilliant young East Fremantle forward Mitchell Clark is so focused on getting drafted on Saturday that his first thought when told he had contracted the potentially deadly meningococcal disease was that it could prevent him from playing football at the elite level.The West Australian: Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse claims Phil Matera's shock retirement yesterday is further proof that air travel from WA shortens players careers by more than a year.