AFL Record, Round 17 2009 by The Slattery Media Group

YOUR FREE COUPON BOOK INSIDE

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE AFL L GAME GA GAM G AM AME

ROUND 17, 2009, JULY 24-26, $4 (INC. GST)

It’s a footy fan’s world

Why we love the game

Michael Voss

From playing to coaching

Lake Brian

The Dog who does things a little diﬀerently AR17 p01 Cover.indd 1

22/7/09 4:05:36 PM

COR0444B_AFL.pdf

Page

10/07/09,

1:49

Meet Echo. Echo lives in a shelter. She was the loser in a divorce. Echo isn’t used to her new home, the cement feels strange on her paws. When people walk past, she runs to the front of her cage and smiles. Then they move on. And Echo doesn’t understand where they went. When you buy Pedigree® you help us help dogs like Echo find loving homes. Help us help dogs.

®R Regi egi e eg g ste s red d Tr T ade de ema mar m arrk © M a Ma ars rrs, s 2 20 009 09. 0 9C CO OR04 R0 04 444 44B 4 4B 4 B

The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive®

We’re for dogs.®

pedigreeadoptiondrive.com.au

70 FANTASTIC FANS: They are

passionate, colourful and loud – but most of all, they are loyal.

ROUND 17, JULY 24-26, 2009 F E AT U R E S

Brian Lake

A Dog with plenty of determination.

Michael Voss

Part three of our ‘Coaches on Coaching’ series.

It’s a fan’s world

Honouring the fans, the game’s lifeblood. REGULARS

Backchat

Have your say about the football world.

The Bounce

Views, news, ﬁrst person, facts, data, culture.

Matchday

Stats, history and line-ups.

Dream Team

Advice from Mr Fantasy, our Dream Team expert.

60 82 84 86

AFL Army Award Answer Man NAB AFL Rising Star Talking Point

Detailing the life of a tagger. THIS WEEK’S COVER Brian Lake, the man who holds the Bulldogs’ backline together. Go to slatterymedia. com/images to order prints of this cover.

WHEN IT COMES TO LOW FARES, WE’LL TAKE ON ANYONE! Check out the ﬁxture in the match day section to see when your team is playing their next interstate game! To follow your team around the country visit jetstar.com now.

Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd ABN 33 069 720 243.

AR17 p03 Contents.indd 3

JET3746/AFL17C

22/7/09 4:13:30 PM

feedback

backchat HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE FOOTBALL WORLD ORL RL R LD LD

Gracious winner Like Roger of Tailem Bend who wrote last week, I enjoyed the proﬁle of Campbell Brown (AFL Record, round 15). I’d like to add another observation. At the end of the 2008 Grand Final, his ﬁrst move after the siren was to commiserate with a vanquished Geelong opponent. Given the emotional high of that moment and the fact that, as far as I could see, he was the only Hawk player to do so, Campbell Brown rose considerably in the estimation of this non-Hawthorn supporter by that gesture.

HUMBLE HAWK:

Campbell Brown was quick to commiserate with opponents after last season’s Grand Final triumph.

PETER FULLER, WARRANWOOD, VIC, VIA EMAIL

Who pays? The distribution of gate receipts has recently been a matter of discussion. Most Victorian clubs sell a membership category that has away game admission rights. If a member attends one of their club’s away games using this category of membership, does their club have to pay the general admission amount to the home club? Some people have told me this is the case. However, others have said the clubs keep every cent of the membership, irrespective

AFL CHIEF BROADCASTING & COMMERCIAL OFFICER Gillon McLachlan AFL CONSUMER PRODUCTS MANAGER Scott Munn AFL RECORD MANAGING EDITOR Geoﬀ Slattery AFL RECORD EDITOR Peter Di Sisto

of which games the member attends. Can you explain what is the actual case? IRWIN HIRSH, PRAHRAN, VIC, VIA EMAIL

Patrick Keane from the AFL provided this response:

Where a club member has a package that entitles them to away-game entry, their club will pay an amount into the matchreturn ﬁgures for each away match that person attends as part of their membership package.

PRODUCTION EDITOR Michael Lovett WRITERS Nick Bowen, Ben Collins, Jim Main, Peter Ryan, Callum Twomey, Andrew Wallace SUB-EDITORS Gary Hancock, Howard Kotton STATISTICIAN Cameron Sinclair CREATIVE DIRECTOR Andrew Hutchison DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Sam Russell

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your feedback on n the Record and matters relating to the game, the clubs and the players. The best letter each round will receive a copyy of the AFL Record Season n Guide 2009. Email aﬂrecordeditor@ slatterymedia.com or write to AFL Record, Slattery Media Group, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, VIC, 3008.

DESIGNERS Jarrod Witcombe, Alison Wright PHOTO EDITORS Melanie Tanusetiawa, Bridget Allen PRODUCTION MANAGERS Troy Davis, Cameron Spark PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Stephen Lording DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Adele Morton COMMERCIAL MANAGER Alison Hurbert-Burns

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Nathan Hill AFL CLUB ACCOUNT MANAGER Anthony Palmer ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATOR Deanne Horkings Advertising (03) 9627 2600 PHOTOGRAPHY Sean Garnsworthy, Michael Willson, Lachlan Cunningham AFL Photos (03) 9627 2600 aﬂphotos.com.au

EDITOR’S LET TER

Luck of the draw Last weekend’s draw between North Melbourne and Richmond, the first of the season, saw some keen observers call for a review of the system governing how games are decided. They argue that the draw, or tie, is outdated and that extra time should be played when home and away games end with scores level, such is the case in all finals except the Grand Final. (In finals, two five-minute periods are added when scores are tied after the final siren; a drawn Grand Final would be replayed the following week.) In a survey of fans across the country (see story on fans starting on page 70), a number cited the “empty feeling” they had after a draw as one of the things they found frustrating about watching the game. One can understand the sentiment, but it’s a parochial one that ignores the value of a system that still rewards both teams for their efforts. A draw can alter the direction of a finals race – in recent years, several teams have made the finals because of the two points they collected after a draw. Would fans of those teams have felt empty then? As quirky as some claim the concept of a draw to be, it will always have its place. PETER DI SISTO

PRINTED BY PMP Print ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO The Editor, AFL Record, Ground Floor, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, Victoria, 3008. P: (03) 9627 2600 F: (03) 9627 2650 E: peterd@slatterymedia.com AFL RECORD, VOL. 98, ROUND 17, 2009 Copyright. ACN No. 004 155 211. ISSN 1444-2973, Print Post approved PP320258/00109

4 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p04 Backchat.indd 4

22/7/09 5:10:24 PM

HBCAFLREC170709.pdf

Page

8/7/09,

5:27

147930_P01_NAU.pdf

Page

7/15/09,

12:00

UPGRADE REWARDS /// get rewarded when you upgrade to the latest technology

TIMe MaCHINe

50"

Pause, Record And Replay Tv Shows With Lg’s Built-In ‘Time Machine’ DvR!

YOUR UPGRADE

reward

3699

250

Lg (50”) 127cm Full High deﬁnition plasma Television with 250gB Built-In Hard drive. Twin HD tuners, 1920 x 1080p resolution, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 600Hz sub ﬁeld drive, built-in 250GB ‘Time Machine’ DVR, 4x HDMI. 50PS80ED

WHAT IS TIME MACHINE T.V. by LG?

Pause, record and replay live TV shows with LG’s built-in ‘Time Machine’ DVR! The 250GB hard drive temporarily stores the show you are watching, enabling you to time shift your viewing and re-visit a scene or simply take a break whenever it suits you. And thanks to its huge capacity, you can even store entire seasons of shows or sporting events, all inside the television! The perfect wall-mountable TV solution for those who want to watch their favourite shows whenever it suits them!

BONUS DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION DURING JULY *2 AUSTRALIA’S #1 DIGITAL PRODUCTS RETAILER for your nearest store call

THE FULL HD SPEcIALIST www.harveynorman.com.au

Harvey Norman® stores are operated by independent franchisees. Product offers end 26/07/09. 147930_NAU *1. Upgrade Rewards are paid in form of Harvey Norman® gift voucher. Harvey Norman® gift voucher only available with advertised products over $250. Excludes Miele. Gift voucher is not redeemable for cash and cannot be used in the transaction in which it is issued. Gift voucher expires 24 months from date of issue. *2. Bonus delivery must be within a 25km radius of the Harvey Norman® store from which television is purchased and at a time convenient to the store. Installation is standard desktop installation only.Terms and conditions apply. See in store for details.

the bounce VIEWS NEWS FIRST PERSON FACTS DATA CULTURE

If you can give them a week oﬀ, you’ve got an opportunity to get it right for the rest of the season DR PETER BRUKNER

TAKING A BREATHER:

Geelong is making sure its star players, including Paul Chapman (centre), will be right for ﬁnals.

P L AY E R M A N AG E M E N T

Saints, Cats have an advantage over the others The top two teams have the luxury of rotating players in and out of the side.

he gap St Kilda and Geelong have opened on the rest of the competition has not only virtually assured both of a top-two finish, it could also give them a significant advantage in this year’s finals. Yes, the home ground advantage a top-two finish will give in the first week of the finals will be negated should the current third- and fourth-placed sides, the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood, finish in the top four.

But the almost unassailable hold the Saints and Cats have had on the top two spots since both started the season with 13 straight wins, gives them the luxury of being able to rest players with niggling injuries in the knowledge any consequent loss will not affect their ladder position. Geelong, in particular, seems to have taken advantage of this. After their hard-fought sixpoint loss to St Kilda in round 14, the Cats omitted seven injured players – Gary Ablett, James

NICK BOW EN

Kelly, Cameron Ling, Andrew Mackie, Darren Milburn, Matthew Scarlett and Travis Varcoe – for their round 15 game against the Brisbane Lions. All bar Kelly returned for the round 16 game against Melbourne, but Jimmy Bartel and Tom Harley missed that match with injury. The Saints have taken a different approach. Coach Ross Lyon has declared he won’t rest players, but Luke Ball was omitted and Michael Gardiner was a late withdrawal (corked

right calf) from the team that played Adelaide last Sunday. Ball ended up with a weekend’s rest, the Saints’ VFL affiliate Sandringham having a bye. Sports physician Dr Peter Brukner says the situation St Kilda and Geelong find themselves in could give them a significant advantage over other finalists. “At this time of the year, a lot of people can be playing with minor injuries that can impact upon their performance a little bit, but not enough to drop them,” Brukner says. “But if you can give them a week off, you’ve got the opportunity to get it right for the rest of the season. “Other players will be fatigued, both physically and mentally, so they can give them an opportunity to rest. It’s CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE

AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au 7

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 7

22/7/09 5:13:05 PM

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

something I’m sure other clubs would like to do if they could.” Melbourne’s athletic development coach Bohdan Babijczuk agrees being able to rest players may give St Kilda and Geelong an edge in the ﬁnals, but says the Cats, in particular, will beneﬁt. “Geelong is in a different position to St Kilda because they’ve been up for about three years and had far bigger loads of hard games over that time, which is physically and mentally draining,” he says.

DESPERATE DOGS:

Bulldog midﬁelders such as Matthew Boyd had more experience and strength than their Essendon counterparts.

What the Cats are doing now may just help them enough to get over the line in September BOHDAN BABIJCZUK

“When you keep making the finals, it comes at a cost. You are playing a longer season and then have a later start to the next pre-season. Hawthorn paid for it initially this season, but Geelong has managed it very well again.” “And what they’re doing now may just help them enough to get over the line in September.” Babijczuk says the Saints have not had to deal with the pressure of being the competition benchmark for as long as Geelong and have not endured the same long finals campaigns, so their players do not need a rest as much. “With St Kilda, there’s probably the thought that if you’re going really well, you don’t want to change a winning formula,” he says. “But it’s deeper than that. They’re probably on top of their cycle and, unlike Geelong, their players probably need intense games and hard work to get ready for September.” The Saints and Cats are not about to start dropping games just because they can – consider Geelong coach Mark Thompson’s displeasure when his depleted side lost to the Lions by 43 points. But both have one eye on the bigger picture – the finals – and will do anything necessary to enter September fully fit and in form.

NEWS TRACKER

GAME S T YLE

Fast Dogs also have brute strength C A L LU M T WOMEY

t had been talked up as the round 16 game to watch. Essendon and the Western Bulldogs were set to take fast-running football to a new level. Under the roof at Docklands, the ﬂeet-footed youngsters from Windy Hill faced the quick but more seasoned Bulldogs. In the end, however, despite several brilliant running passages, the anticipated clash was far from the 25-goal apiece shoot-out Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade suggested it could be. Instead it was the Bulldogs’ more experienced, hardened players who overpowered the Bombers

across the ground. Bulldogs midfielders Ryan Griffen, Daniel Cross, Matthew Boyd and 2008 Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney have played close to 500 matches combined; Bombers Jobe Watson, Andrew Lovett, Jason Winderlich and Andrew Welsh less than 400. Moreover, the Dogs’ contingent weighs an average four kilograms more than their rivals. Pace wasn’t the issue. Boyd said one of the Bulldogs’ aims was to use their body strength to close down Essendon’s run. “We knew how quick they were and if they got the loose-ball out, we were going to be in trouble, so to be able to put pressure on their less-experienced bodies was something we identified and it worked pretty well,” he said. “In the past, we have been a free-flowing, really attacking and skilful side but I think in the past year or so, we’ve added a hard edge, and that’s what you need to do to compete with the best in the competition. “Geelong and St Kilda have

that strength and we are getting better and harder every week.” In the third quarter, the Dogs kept Essendon to two goals and kicked six themselves. They were savage at the

In the last year or so, we’ve added a hard edge, and that’s what you need to do to compete with the best in the competition stoppages, with ruck duo Ben Hudson and Will Minson leading the way, and the physical presence of Griffen, Cross, Boyd and Cooney making an impact. Up forward, Mitch Hahn was also able to use his considerable body advantage over his four opponents to boot five goals. Boyd said it was pleasing to have a strong target to kick to. “When we saw Mitch was getting that advantage, it made it easy for the midfielders,” Boyd said. “To be able to get five goals

Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams this week signed a two-year contract extension.

8 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 8

22/7/09 5:13:17 PM

was reward for all the team things he does.” As the Dogs strived to secure a top-four berth, Boyd said improvement would come in “the hardness, the tackling, and the covering off”. Clearly, pace is a just one advantage this group has. Its strength around contests might be even more signiﬁcant in September.

COURAGEOUS: Swan defender Ted Richards suﬀered a punctured lung in a heavy collision against the Blues.

DEFENSIVE PRESSURE

Saints’ squeeze continues NICK BOW EN

MEDICAL ROOM

Richards on the mend NICK BOW EN

ate in the game against Carlton last week, Sydney Swans defender Ted Richards suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs and internal bleeding in his chest after courageously backing into the path of Blues full-forward Brendan Fevola. Richards was in a stable condition when he walked from the ground with the assistance of trainers, but was immediately taken by ambulance to hospital. Swans club doctor Nathan Gibbs said a chest tube (or drain) had been inserted into Richards’ lung to reinﬂate it, with the lung returning to two-thirds of its normal size within 10 minutes. Dr Gibbs said Richards was due to be released from hospital earlier this week and was expected to travel back

to Sydney by road. Explaining the injury, sports physician Dr Peter Brukner says the lining of Richards’ lung would have been punctured by his fractured ribs. “You then get air going into the cavity of the lung, but not the lung itself, which compresses the lung so it can’t expand fully,” Brukner says. “You get a reduced lung area with a whole lot of air in the cavity that’s just sitting there. The chest tube is then put into that cavity area to allow the air there to escape and that allows the lung to re-expand. “Once the drain is taken out, it still takes the lung a while to heal. It will heal naturally itself, but it remains vulnerable in that

time and it’s standard that you don’t fly for a week or so after such an injury. “It’s a pretty significant injury and (Richards) would have been a pretty sick boy for most of this week.” Brukner says a punctured lung normally sidelines a player for about six weeks so, in the unlikely event the Swans make the finals, Richards is a chance to return then. Fortunately, when he does return, he will be at no greater risk of suffering a similar injury than any other player.

Quote of the week I wish you could sometimes One of the lines of the last round, from quick-witted Richmond forward Matthew Richardson, in response to a facetious question by commentator Anthony Hudson on whether the rules allowed a player to handball a goal. Hudson was commenting on the rapid-ﬁre handball used by Geelong against Melbourne.

NEWS TRACKER

Richardson, recovering from om injury, is working as a commentator mmentator for Channel Ten as part off a broader role for the network. His goalkicking technique has long been a matter of discussion, although hiss 60 per cent career accuracy remains ains one of ards with the better marks for forwards more than 700 goals.

he St Kilda-Adelaide clash last weekend shaped as a fascinating contest on a number of levels. With the Saints unbeaten this season and the Crows on a seven-game winning streak, it pitted two of the competition’s in-form sides against each other. But, more intriguingly, it was a match-up of two of the League’s best defensive teams, the Saints are No. 1 for least points conceded (averaging 61.3 a game) and the Crows are No. 3 (81.4). Both teams had got there on the back of similar game-plans, choking opposition sides with their defensive pressure all over the ground. However, as evenly matched as the teams appeared before the game, the Saints proved they were the defensive masters, restricting the Crows to just 33 inside 50s, keeping them goalless in the third quarter and holding holdi them to their lowest score sco of the year (48 points). Two-time North Melbourne Melb premiership coach Denis Den Pagan says the St Kilda team has h no peer defensively – now, and perhaps, ever. “St Kilda applies its defensive d p mechanisms, forward pressure and midﬁeld press pressure better than any other side I’ve seen seen,” he says. “May “Maybe the Melbour side Melbourne of the ’5 ’50s was go in very good that re regard, but it w would be har hard to see them t topp topping the Sai Saints.”

Malcolm Blight has joined the board of the new Gold ld Coast club. AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au 9

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 9

22/7/09 5:13:30 PM

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS S > FIRST PERSON > FACTS S > DATA > CULTURE

PERSIS TENCE

Davenport’s

tough regime pays oﬀ A NDR EW WA L L ACE

irst it was Josh Mahoney. Then came David Rodan. Now it’s Jason Davenport. Port Adelaide’s remarkable ability to identify and derive value from players rejected by other AFL clubs has continued in 2009, with former Cat Davenport outstanding against West Coast last week. Following the success of Mahoney, let go by both Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs only to play in Port’s 2004 premiership, and ex-Tiger Rodan, now an exciting game-breaker, Davenport is another ray of hope for players pursuing alternate pathways to the elite level. An outstanding junior basketballer from Warragul in eastern Victoria, Davenport did not play competitive football until the age of 16. In 2006, Davenport’s lightning speed and impact for Geelong’s VFL team caught the attention

of the AFL Cats, who offered him a place on its 2007 rookie list. He was upgraded to the senior list (without having played at AFL level), but failed to break into the powerful Cats’ team in 2008. His quest to become an AFL player looked over when he received h ll from f l a phone call Geelong while on a post-season holiday in Toronto. “The club felt there wasn’t space on the list for me, and wanted to bring in some younger blood,” the 23-year-old says. “It was hard to take at the time, but the quicker I accepted it, the better my opportunity to gain a second chance.”

There were time trials, ﬁve-on-ﬁve games and lots of drills. I think they tested me out a bit more than the other boys just to see how I’d go JASON DAVENPORT

Fortunately, manager Liam Pickering arranged a three-day trial with Port Adelaide in November – one last chance Davenport was determined to seize. “I came with nothing to lose and trained my heart out,” Davenport says.

REWARD FOR EFFORT:

A tough pre-season helped Jason Davenport secure a spot on Port Adelaide’s list.

“I trained and went straight to bed each night. There were time trials, ﬁve-on-ﬁve games and lots of drills – I think they tested me out a bit more than the other boys just to see how I’d go.” His efforts paid off, with Port picking him up with selection 78 in last year’s NAB AFL Draft. Still close friends with several Geelong players, including Gary Ablett, Davenport returned to Skilled Stadium in round 13 this year, collecting 21 possessions and kicking two goals in his third AFL game. Davenport, who racked up

another 26 touches and two goals against the Eagles last week, praises the teaching ability of coach Mark Williams and is focused on further honing his skills, particularly his kicking. “I’ve learned along the way that you need to work your attributes to your advantage as well, so using my ﬁtness and speed to get out in space allows me to be a bit more at ease with my kicking,” Davenport says. “No one has ever been a perfect kick or not missed a target through their whole career, so you can always keep improving.”

NUMBERS GAME

Will history repeat for ‘sleeping giant’?

here is an element of familiarity about this weekend’s Hawthorn-Geelong blockbuster at the MCG. Exactly 12 months ago in the corresponding round, the same teams met at the same venue, and the result was season-deﬁning. The Hawks lost – by 11 points in a thriller against the reigning premier – but they had announced their arrival as a genuine premiership threat. History shows they delivered

NEWS TRACKER

on their promise in September. Hawthorn has a chance to make a similar statement against the Cats this weekend. Admittedly, the Hawks are coming from a lot further back this time, and a gallant loss simply won’t do – they need to win tough games like this if they are to qualify for the ﬁ nals, let alone go backto-back. Incentive, or lack thereof, could play a huge role in the contest, because the Cats don’t necessarily ‘need’ to win

RECENT HISTORY – CATS V HAWKS

GEELONG

HAWTHORN

Rd 17, 2008

12.16 (88)

11.11 (77)

Grand Final, 2008

11.23 (89)

18.7 (115)

Rd 1, 2009

15.21 (111)

16.7 (103)

Total

38.60 (288)

45.25 (295)

Scoring shots

Accuracy

38.8%

64.3%

SINCE THE START OF 2000, HAWTHORN AND GEELONG HAVE MET AT THE MCG FIVE TIMES, WITH THE HAWKS WINNING THREE.

– they have second place all but sewn up. Following the Hawks’ demolition of Collingwood last

week, many people were asking if the sleeping giant has ﬁnally awoken from its slumber. We’ll soon ﬁnd out.

St Kilda loses forward Justin Koschitzke (one match) and defender Zac Dawson (two matches) to suspension.

10 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 10

22/7/09 5:13:43 PM

T H E A RM W R E ST LE O N T H E B I G S C R EEN W H E RE YO U D E C I D E W H O W I N S VOTE NOW F OR THE CHANC E TO WI N A 20 09 TOYOTA A FL GRA N D FI N A L EX P E R I E N C E

THOMAS

LING

COX

TEXT ‘MAGPIES’

TEXT ‘CATS’

TEXT ‘EAGLES’

JOHNSON TEXT ‘BULLDOGS’

RICHARDSON

TEXT ‘TIGERS’

MURPHY TEXT ‘BLUES’

ROUGHEAD TEXT ‘HAWKS’

PAVLICH TEXT ‘FREO’

BALL TEXT ‘SAINTS’

McVEIGH TEXT ‘BOMBERS’

AND IN A ONE-OFF COMEBACK SPECIAL - HISTORY REPEATS - THE SHOWDOWN REMATCH!

RICCIUTO TEXT ‘ROO’

WANGANEEN TEXT ‘WANGAS’

TEXT YOUR TEAM NAME TO 0448 300 4 0 0 Wa nt the chance to win premium re s e r ve d s e at s to t h e 20 09 Toyota A FL Gran d Fi n a l , i n cl u d i n g f li g hts and acco mmo datio n? Jus t te x t you r te am n am e ab ove to 04 48 3 00 4 00 an d h e l p y o u r hero w i n the Telstra ‘ Te xt o f Stre n gt h’. Eve r y te x t give s t h e m m ore p owe r to win a n d pu t s y o u i n the draw to sco re tickets to th e ‘ B ig On e ’. So don’t le t t h e b oys down . Star t te x t i n g n ow. P R O U D PA R T N E R O F T H E A F L T E L S T R A (a) Promotion is from 9am AEST 23/7/09 to 11pm AEST 28/7/09. (b) Entry open to Australian residents over 18, excluding employees of the Promoter and any other companies associated with the Promotion and their immediate family. (c) To enter, (i) view www.afl.com.au, a current copy of AFL Record magazine or in stadium ’Big Screen’ advertising for the Promotion, (ii) identify the relevant team name or code word for the team you support; and (iii) SMS the team name or code word to 0448 300 400. (d) Winner receives from the Promoter a 2009 AFL Grand Final Experience package for 2 people worth up to $5,000 RRP. (f) Winners notified by phone and SMS 30/7/09 and details published in The Australian 6/8/09. (g) Promoter is Telstra Corporation Limited ABN 33 051 775 556. (h) Full terms and conditions available at www.telstra.com/beinvolved. AFL Authorisation Code: GFAFL09/85. NSW Permit No. LTPS/09/06311, ACT Permit No. TP 09/02683. Standard SMS charges apply.

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

T I G E R S - R O O S D R AW

Caretakers emerge with honours shared TOM MINE A R

ast round’s North Melbourne-Richmond match (the season’s first draw) was a rare meeting of teams coached by caretakers – Jade Rawlings at the Tigers and Darren Crocker at the Roos. Both have expressed a desire to become the full-time coaches in 2010 and have approached their roles with honesty, enthusiasm and great endeavour. This match-up of two similar teams provided each an opportunity to display their strategic match-day approaches. Richmond’s impressive first half vindicated Rawlings’ decision to field a younger team, rather than calling upon more experienced hands Joel Bowden and Nathan Brown. The Tigers looked dangerous. Jayden Post provided a strong presence across half-forward while fellow youngster Tyrone Vickery pushed deep. Mitch Morton won plenty of the ball further afield, allowing Jack Riewoldt and Robin Nahas to find space and boot five goals between them. Rawlings also altered the roles of Chris Newman and Richard Tambling; Newman pushed into the midfield and Tambling given an attacking role across half-back. They were two of Richmond’s best on the day. After building an impressive lead, the Tigers could not hold on; their ball movement became more laborious, leading to only two goals in the second half, and they let North skipper Brent Harvey get away. Crocker was under siege early, with the frenetic approach of the

NEWS TRACKER

Richmond midfielders putting his team under pressure. He moved Josh Gibson from deep in defence, giving him a run-with role on Brett Deledio, while Brady Rawlings lined up in the back pocket on Nahas. They were risky moves that didn’t quite pan out – Deledio was damaging and Rawlings struggled to match Nahas for pace, conceding two early goals. North started with a towering forward set-up, but it lacked the agility to compete at ground level against Richmond’s more nimble defenders. Crocker and his team responded strongly – Gibson returned to defence, Rawlings went to Deledio and Leigh Harding combined with Harvey to bring some pace to the forward line, the pair kicking five goals and almost lifting the Kangaroos to victory. Although both coaches were understandably frustrated by the final result, they would have taken plenty from the experience. Go to page 22 for a snapshot of drawn matches.

S WA N S H A L L O F FA M E

Elevated status J IM M A IN

ydney Swans fans whooped, hollered and even stomped their feet as the club’s inaugural Hall of Fame inductees were announced at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium last weekend. Of the 1500 players who have represented South Melbourne nce and/or the Sydney Swans since 74, the club was founded in 1874, h just 23 were honoured, with n three – Bob Pratt, Bob Skilton and Paul Kelly – designated with ‘Bloods Legend’ status. As each inductee was identiﬁed, the 1300 guests rose to their feet in hailing the immortals. all Those inducted into the Hall of Fame were chosen from ﬁvee eras. Peter Burns was the sole

LEGEND: Paul Kelly, pictured with host Craig Willis,

achieved ‘Bloods Legend’ status in the Hall of Fame.

What the night highlighted was the unusual circumstances this club has faced RICHARD COLLESS

representative from pre-1897, three players were chosen from 1897-1914, six from 1919-45, six from 1946-81 and seven from those who have played or coached since 1982. With such a wealth of talent from which to choose the inaugural inductees, Swan chairman Richard Colless said: “For me, what the night highlighted was the unusual circumstances which this club has faced, its extraordinary power of survival and the unbelievable number of champion players we have produced.” All living inductees except champion full-forward Tony Lockett were present; Lockett had a prior international motorcycling commitment. Inductees spoke with pride of wearing the red and white, with 83-year-old former champion rover and winger Billy Williams

(a triple best and fairest winner in 124 games from 1945-51) drawing rapturous applause with his heartfelt, “I love the Swans”. Williams told of how he coped with the ferocity of the infamous 1945 ‘Bloodbath’ Grand Final when the Swans lost to Carlton in a torrid affair. “I wanted to jump the fence to be with the fans,” he said. Fred Goldsmith, who won the 1955 Brownlow Medal, told of how he was working as a ﬁreman at an East Melbourne station when he took a call from a radio station to tell him he was leading the count. He was given the option of ﬁnishing his shift or going home to celebrate with family and friends. He went home and was mobbed by neighbours and well-wishers. Peter Bedford, the 1970 Brownlow medallist, told guests he gave up a promising cricket career for football when he learned that the MCG gatekeeper earned more than Bedford’s $7 a day playing for Victoria. Jim Main is a member of the Swans Hall of Fame selection committee.

Sydney Swans Hall Of Fame: Inaugural Inductees Pre-1897

1897-1918

1919-45

1946-81

1982-

Bob Pratt

Bob Skilton

Paul Kelly

Herb Howson Howso

Roy Cazaly

Billy Williams

Tony Lockett

Bruce Sloss

Mark Tandy

Fred Goldsmith

Barry Round

Laurie Nash

John Rantall

Mark Browning

J. Herbie Matthews

Peter Bedford

Dennis Carroll

Jack Bisset

Ron Clegg

Gerard Healy

Peter Burns Vic Belcher

(Legend)

Greg Williams

Brisbane Lions forward Daniel Bradshaw is expected to miss three games with a minor hamstring tear.

12 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 12

22/7/09 5:13:55 PM

We’ve kicked a few goals over the years JELD-WEN is the name behind the St Kilda Football Club. And we’re also the name behind iconic brands like Stegbar and Corinthian – leaders in door, window and showerscreen manufacture, supply and installation. Great club, great brands. jeld-wen.com.au

M A J O R PA R T N E R

DISEGNO STE2928

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE M I L E S T O N E S – R O U N D 17 ROLE MODEL:

Luke Murray is helping to establish Richmond’s new indigenous facility.

COMMUNITY

A mission to provide

AFL Life Membership Matthew Lloyd Essendon

opportunity

200 games

MICH A EL LOV ET T

Josh Carr Port Adelaide

uke Murray is preparing for the busiest 18 months of his life. And by late next year, there will be no happier person at Richmond – unless the Tigers win a premiership. For more than a year, Murray, the 37-year-old brother of Essendon’s Nathan Lovett-Murray, has been a man on a mission. As Richmond’s full-time indigenous engagement coordinator, he has been out in the community selling his pet project – the Australian Institute for Indigenous Learning and Skills Development based at Punt Rd. It’s quite a mouthful – it will be given an indigenous name at a later date – but it will provide a learning facility like no other in the indigenous community. Construction will start soon and it is expected to be ﬁnished late next year, with courses to start in 2011. Murray’s job is to establish those courses for indigenous youth and he is working around the clock to build educational and vocational programs, as well as establishing key relationships in the indigenous community. “I’m not the sort of person who takes no for an answer,” he said.

150 games

“It’s going to be a long 18 months but I know we will get there.” The institute will be part of Richmond’s $20 million redevelopment at Punt Rd that will feature state-of-the art football and community facilities. The Federal Government has contributed $6.75 million for the construction of the institute. One of the main drivers behind the facility was Richard Tambling, who according to Murray, saw an opportunity for the club to further connect with the indigenous community. “Richard emphasised these key words – build self-esteem. And that’s what this facility is all about,” Murray said. One of the programs Murray plans to run is ‘Real Camps’, where young indigenous students can broaden their education in an AFL club environment. “We will run three- and four-day camps where kids aged 13-15 can come in and learn about a range of subjects

like art, dance, ﬁlm, sport and nutrition,” Murray said. “We want to emphasise the importance of staying in school and avoiding anti-social behaviour.” The institute will also prepare participants for university study and help them develop job skills for potential employment opportunities or to operate their own business. The institute has formed key partnerships with Worawa Aboriginal College at Healesville and the Fitzroy Stars Football Club, which reformed last year in the Northern Football League in Melbourne. AFL SportsReady has also assisted with network support and potential employment options for future graduates. The connection between AFL SportsReady and the Murray family started when Nathan Lovett-Murray completed a traineeship at Victorian Aboriginal Youth Sport and

Alan Didak Collingwood Sam Mitchell Hawthorn Chris Newman Richmond

100 games Jarryd Roughead Hawthorn Matt Maguire St Kilda Brad Sewell Hawthorn

50 games Travis Varcoe Geelong Lindsay Thomas North Melbourne The list includes those not necessarily selected but on the verge of milestones.

Recreation. Lovett-Murray is now making his mark in the indigenous community and last year created Payback Records to assist promising indigenous musicians. For further information about the AFL Sportsready’s Indigenous Employment Program, visit aﬂsportsready.com.au

<G67 I=: <D6CC6 ;dg bdgZ ^c[dgbVi^dc dc i]Z \gZVi gVc\Z d[ <dVccV egdYjXih VkV^aVWaZ! ]ZVY id i]Z lZWh^iZ lll#\gVWi]Z\dVccV#Xdb#Vj

;DG 68=:H 6C9 E6>CH

6alVnh gZVY i]Z aVWZa# JhZ dcan Vh Y^gZXiZY# >[ hnbeidbh eZgh^hi Xdchjai ndjg ]ZVai]XVgZ egd[Zhh^dcVa#

ASMI/16689-07/09

6kV^aVWaZ [gdb aZVY^c\ e]VgbVX^Zh VcY hjeZgbVg`Zih#

14 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 14

22/7/09 5:30:50 PM

AVI0026_AFL_Record.pdf

Page

23/6/09,

11:49

WILL YOU HANDLE YOUR ALCOHOL?

OR WILL ALCOHOL HANDLE YOU? alcohol.vic.gov.au

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

C O AC H I N G

Age shall not weary them

EXPERIENCE COUNTS: After a lifetime in football, age should be irrelevant if Kevin Sheedy wants to coach again.

GEOFF SL AT TERY

hat’s this I keep reading about football brains having a use-by date; or more to the point, why Kevin Sheedy, Denis Pagan – and to a lesser extent, Mick Malthouse – are discounted when it comes to AFL coaching jobs? The lowest point in this ‘debate’ came three weeks ago, when the front page of The Age sports section featured a photo of Kevin Sheedy with the caption ‘Out of date, out of touch, out of the question’. Where does such ‘wisdom’ come from? Sheedy will be 62 on Christmas Eve. He has spent a lifetime in football, never on the fringes, but always at the focal point of change. I interviewed him the day he was appointed coach of Essendon, on a spring day at the end of 1980, a year he had spent as a skills coach at Richmond. During his formative years as a coach, we crossed paths many times, as reporters and coaches did in those days – those were the days when press conferences were in corridors, if you were lucky. A ‘Minder’ was a television show, not a media manipulator. During all those years including his ﬁrst day, Sheedy was a sponge, hardly answering a question without another question; he learned from every moment of his existence. A quarter of a century later, after all those years in charge of Essendon, he was a different person; half of him drew from his questioner, the other half gave back. With one exception – when he was entering completely new territory after his appointment as coach of the Australian team, in 2005, at the age of 57. He dropped into the AFL Record ofﬁce, and with a foolscap pad

NEWS TRACKER

in hand (a constant Sheedy companion), he ripped my brains of every skerrick of knowledge I had about the Australia-Ireland experience (he knew that I had toured Ireland twice with the AFL team). His brain was as agile, alert, and as much a vacuum cleaner as it had been 25 years earlier. At the end of 2007, I asked him to write the foreword to the official history of Australian Football (The Australian Game Of Football, 2008). He came into the office with a hand-written sheet of paper, something he had written out on a flight back from Perth. On that sheet, he had written the most poetic analysis of the game he loved – from his earliest days to the deepest future. He wrote two sentences that will live much longer than Sheedy. The first was about his broad view that our game can be a wonderful link to indigenous Australia: “Let us hope we can continue to show the way in Australian Football – to make our game the architecture in human relationships.” A sublime thought – ‘the architecture in human relationships’.

These three men have achieved great things for many years. They have learnt every lesson the game – and coaching – can oﬀer, to this point At the end of his essay, he wrote what was to become something of a catchcry for the AFL Commission. It was simple, direct, and typical of Sheedy’s life and times: “Don’t fence me in,” he wrote, “The Future is now.” It was not proscriptive, it was an invitation to consider potential, and ﬁnd its best course. Some time later I asked an AFL Commissioner what he thought of Sheedy’s foreword. He said: “Wonderful. Did someone write it for him?” I told Sheedy of this response. He laughed the laugh one produces when humour is not the driver. “Hah,” he said. “Just a plumber-coach, hey?” During these past couple of years, we at the AFL Record have been privileged to have a growing relationship with Sheedy’s contemporary, Denis Pagan. Pagan, who will turn 62 in September, has contributed many essays to the Record on the game, its evolution, its currency, its potential, its future. He, like Sheedy, has been

marked as ‘past it’, a point of view he despises. We’ve had many chats about the game and the way his approach has changed through the years. Like Sheedy, he deﬁnes coaching today as more of a CEO role (setting the agenda, surrounding yourself with talent, ﬁlling gaps in your capacity and encouraging the next generation, all while maximising your experience) than what it once was – a handson, haranguing micro-manager. Pagan reads and listens to the opinion-makers driving nails into his coaching ambitions, and wonders aloud, and sadly: “How can they make these calls without knowing how it really works?” How can they, indeed? Now to Malthouse, who appears to have been discounted for a rapid reappointment at Collingwood because of the ‘Buckley factor’ (a case, it seems, of having your cake and eating it too, not unreasonable in these unique circumstances).

North Melbourne captain Brent Harvey has dismissed talk of extra time being introduced when games end in a draw.

16 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 16

22/7/09 5:29:58 PM

The Slattery Media Group, publishers of the AFL Record for the AFL, is this year publishing a book on Collingwood’s year of challenge, 2009. With Collingwood’s generous support, we have a writer (Peter Ryan) in the club, covering every moment of the club’s toil to seek its 15th premiership. I have been privy to all the drafts of this book as it has developed. I have read about the way Malthouse, who turned 56 last Saturday (he’s seven months younger than I am) humbly engages the whole club in the way he coaches. I have read of the way he gave his lieutenants, Mark Neeld, Blake Caracella, Paul Hudson and Brad Scott, opportunities to coach the Magpies in the NAB Cup pre-season, and of the positivity of their responses. I have read of the way he conducts meetings, allowing insights and perspectives to form a total opinion, rather than driving home his opinion. I can ‘feel’ in every chapter the respect the players and club have for the coach. There’s a common factor in all this. These three men have achieved great things for many years. They have learnt every lesson the game – and coaching – can offer, to this point. They remain as alert as ever for anything new. They seek adventure and the thrill of the new, tempered by the balance

W H E N T H E Y ’ R E N O T P L AY I N G . . .

Player

What would you spend your last $100 on?

Whose number did you wear as a kid?

Brendon Goddard (St Kilda)

ound A round of golf

Ca a y Carlton’s Anthony Ko o Koutouﬁ des (43)

Nick Stevens (Carlton)

obably Probably ocolate chocolate

Co o ds Collingwood’s Da a ane (42) Darren Millane

Two And A Half Men

David Mundy (Fremantle)

Watermelon W

Ge Geel Geelong’s Ga ary Ablett snr (5 5) Gary (5)

H I Met How You Y Your Motherr

Brett Burton (Adelaide)

L ollies Lollies

Co oll d’s Collingwood’s Pe ete Daicoss (35 5) Peter (35)

T The Sim S Simpsons

of experience. They toss to the garbage what is old or has been proven to fail. And they draw youth around them – players and coaches – via a sense of calmness, perspective, common sense, and firm direction while maintaining understanding, and opportunity for all. That last point defines all modern leadership, whether in coaching, business, religion, politics or family. While enthusiasm remains, and crossfertilisation and respect exists, age will always be irrelevant. Geoff Slattery is CEO of The Slattery Media Group.

Favourite ‘can’t miss’ TV show

Run’s House

They’re still going Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Catholic Church, is 82; Bart Cummings, Melbourne Cup genius, is 81; Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, is 78; Silvio Berlusconi (right), Prime Minister of Italy, is 72; Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United since 1986, is 67; Quentin Bryce, Australia’s Governor-General is 66; Phil Jackson, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, NBA champions in 2009, is 63; Mike Sheahan,

the doyen of AFL commentators, is 62; Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain, is 58; Mike Fitzpatrick, chairman of the AFL Commission, is 56, and Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, is 51. Jock McHale, the game’s longestserving coach, was 67 when he retired in 1949. The oldest premiership coach is Allan Jeans, who was 56 when he coached Hawthorn’s 1989 champion team.

PREPARE FOR EVERY GAME.

HEAR IT LIKE YOU’RE IN IT. 3AW is football. Get the complete run-down on Sports Today with Gerard Healy and Dwayne Russell from 6pm Monday to Thursday on 3AW 693.

AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au 17

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 17

22/7/09 5:14:41 PM

PRO POWER COMPRESSION BENEFITS • Engineered gradient compression for enhanced circulation • Prevents odour through anti-microbial treatment • Controls body temperature • Reduces chafing through flat seam construction and positioning • Keeps you dry through moisture management wicking Proudly worn by the following AFL clubs:

Reebok Compression items are available at the following locations: VIC: Tiger Den Ph 03 9426 4419, Sportsmart Moorabbin Ph 03 9553 3011, Mildura Sports Centre Ph 03 5022 2212 | SA: Sportslocker Prospect ph 08 8269 5444 | WA: Jim Kidd Stores. Or call 1300 364 964 for further stockists in your area.

5009_REE1424_FOOTY_REC_AD.indd 1

8/7/09 3:22:03 PM

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

thebounce

T R AC K I N G A P O T E N T I A L D R A F T E E

Meticulous planning has Nash on track The AFL Record is this year following TAC Cup player Jonno Nash as he works towards being drafted by an AFL club. STEP UP: Jonno

Nash has played one VFL game this year.

At the start of the past few seasons, Jonno Nash and the regional manager at the Sandringham Dragons, Wayne Oswald, have sat down and written a set of goals for the season ahead. Usually, they are fitness-based targets, but the list often includes football aims. This season, Nash has steadily been ticking off goals in pursuit of the small g one: being drafted the major o by an AFL club. c Oswald ssays Nash’s ability to to the season plan his approach ap to his has been fundamental fu form. strong form “He’s an intelligent boy brings that to his footy. and he brin good, well-planned He’s got goo good processes for goals and g says. goals,” Oswald Osw “At Sandringham, we talk Sand improving about consistency, cons and making your weaknesses, weakn better and I think your strengths streng that’s what has impressed me with Jonno this year. “He’s rea really worked on his weaknesses. He spent the weaknesse on his fitness, summer working w which has really helped him. “I think at a our level, as a 19-year-old, he’s one step below 19-year-old rookie, and training two an AFL rook is not enough. nights per week w committed himself heavily to He’s commi has worked really hard.” that and ha Along with wi his Dragons commitments, Nash also training com

I was able to see how professionally the AFL players prepare for games. Leigh Fisher was meticulous in his preparation JONNO NASH ON HIS VFL EXPERIENCE

trains once a week with VFL club Sandringham. In round 11, following the Dragons’ 88-point thumping of the Oakleigh Chargers, Nash was given the chance to play for the Zebras (St Kilda’s aﬃliate) as part of the ‘23rd man’ rule that allows 19-year-old TAC Cup players to be selected in the VFL. Despite less than a quarter of game time, Nash took much from the experience. “I knew it was going to be a huge step-up from TAC Cup and it was, especially how quick it was,” Nash says. “I was relatively calm because I was playing with Tom Lynch (a former Dragons teammate drafted by the Saints last year) and he’s a good mate of mine, but during the warm-up I was able to see how professionally the AFL players prepare for games. “(St Kilda’s) Leigh Fisher, in particular, was pretty meticulous in his preparation, so it was a good experience.” Having had a taste at VFL level, Nash dropped back to

the Dragons and continued the solid form he has displayed all season, collecting 36 possessions in his team’s 13-point loss to TAC Cup leader Geelong. The effort boosted his confidence and, in round 14, he amassed a career-best 40 touches against the Dandenong Stingrays. Nash was also named his team’s best player in last week’s loss to the Eastern Ranges. With five games remaining, Nash is looking to end the season strongly. In between matches, he has been helping the club during his university holidays with some administrative work. And recently on the Sunday afternoon Channel Nine television show TAC Cup: Future Stars (screened only in Victoria), he beat Collingwood great Peter Daicos in a goalkicking competition. It may not have been on his original list of goals, but he’ll take it. “Just watching him in the warm-up was helpful – he’s still got it,” he says of Daicos. “He was kicking low, flat torpedoes from the boundary line and getting them in, so I think I got him at a good time. It’s all a bit of fun and I’ll take it any day.” CALLUM TWOMEY

FEEL EVERY BUMP.

HEAR IT LIKE YOU’RE IN IT. 3AW is football. Tune in to four quarters of all-star broadcast with Rex Hunt, Dennis Cometti, Tony Leonard and Shane Healy at 3AW 693.

AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au 19

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 19

22/7/09 5:14:58 PM

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

COACH-IN-WAITING:

CHALLENGES

Often, new surrounds are better

Nathan Buckley coached Vic Country at the recent NAB AFL Under-16 Championships.

The two most recent premiership coaches, Mark Thompson and Alastair Clarkson, never played for the clubs at which they are now exalted ﬁgures

ASHLEY BROW NE

ollingwood fans are watching with increasing anxiety as several clubs searching for a coach court one of their favourite sons, Nathan Buckley. Given recent AFL history (and considering what generally happens internationally), Magpie tragics might take some comfort that some separation between the Magpies and Buckley might not necessarily be such a bad thing. Take away John Worsfold leading West Coast to the flag in 2006 and you have to go back to Carlton under Alex Jesaulenko in 1979 to find the last club legend to coach the team he played for to a flag. Perhaps Paul Roos, who finished with the Sydney Swans as a player before coaching the Swans to the flag in 2005, also counts, but in the eyes of many, Roos achieved his status as a playing great with Fitzroy. Most of the premiership coaches of the past 30 years won at clubs other than those they played for. David Parkin (Carlton) and Leigh Matthews (Collingwood and Brisbane Lions) were both Hawthorn premiership captains before winning multiple flags as coaches. (Parkin was also

a Hawthorn premiership coach, in 1978.) Allan Jeans won three flags at Hawthorn and never played for the club. Kevin Sheedy was a Richmond icon before winning four flags as Essendon coach. The two most recent premiership coaches, Mark Thompson (Geelong) and Alastair Clarkson (Hawthorn), never played for the clubs at which they are now exalted figures. In that respect, Australian Football most

resembles soccer, whose most successful coaches and managers played the game at a high level. At Manchester United, often cited by AFL clubs as a model of optimum operation, Sir Alex Ferguson has been at the helm for 23 years and is an iconic Old Trafford ﬁgure, yet he plied his trade as a player and start-up manager in Scotland. Some of those who starred at United under Sir Alex, such as Bryan Robson and Steve

Bruce, went on to manage in the English Premier League, willingly cutting their ties with the Red Devils in order to do so. Some of the other managers to have had success in the EPL in recent years, including Arsene Wenger (at Arsenal) and Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), also had no playing afﬁliations with those clubs. Across the Atlantic, the doyen of professional modern CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE

WE CAN HELP YOU BUILD A WINNING TEAM!

Ph: (03) 9662 9199 121 DRUMMOND STREET, CARLTON, VIC 3053 www.claytonshuttleworth.com.au

IAN CLAYTON Former AFL Senior Umpire

“When Experience Counts”

SHANE CLAYTON Kangaroos Premiership Player

Experience is something that cannot be bought, learnt or invented, only accumulated

20 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 20

22/7/09 5:15:16 PM

Caricatures by Weg

CMY

Reference the back of pack for randomization of cards.

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

sports coaches is Phil Jackson, winner of six National Basketball Association titles with the Chicago Bulls and four with the Los Angeles Lakers, the most recent of which was last month. Jackson played with the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets. The same goes with the National Football League, where coaching is such a specialised craft that few players go on to become head coaches. Even fewer coach the teams they once played for, and fans rarely hanker for their team to be turned over to a decorated former player. Interestingly, Buckley recently returned from a visit to the famous University of Notre Dame in the United States where he met with the head football coach, Charlie Weis. Weis’ appointment as coach in December, 2004, was considered a coup for Notre Dame, as he had built an impressive CV and reputation as an assistant coach with the multiple Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots in the NFL. Yet, after a few disappointing seasons, Notre Dame alumni

It’s a draw!

A snapshot of tied games in League history.

1897

The year of the ﬁrst draw. It happened in round seven at the Brunswick Street Oval, with Fitzroy and South Melbourne both kicking 5.13 (43).

LEGEND: Alex Jesaulenko was the

last club legend to coach the side he played with to a premiership – in 1979.

across the country are calling for him to be replaced, without any regard for the fact Weis is one of them, having graduated there in 1978. Buckley and Weis reportedly discussed much in their time together. We can only wonder whether the topic of coaching your old team was on their agenda. Ashley Browne is the editor of The Australian Jewish News.

The number of drawn Grand Finals – 1948 (Essendon and Melbourne) and 1977 (Collingwood and North Melbourne). Melbourne and North Melbourne won the respective replays.

The lowest ﬁnal score in a draw. You need to go way back to round nine, 1898, at Princes Park, when Carlton kicked 4.4 to Melbourne’s 3.10.

142 THE NUMBER OF DRAWN MATCHES

Fremantle is the only club yet to play in a draw.

Note: the Dockers drew with St Kilda in Launceston in 2006, but several days later the AFL Commission changed the result of the match and awarded the Dockers the four points for a win. The AFL investigation found the Saints had kicked a behind to tie the scores after the siren.

132

The number of draws Carlton and Essendon have each played in, the most in history.

The highest score in a draw. It happened in round two, 1993, when Essendon ﬁnished with 20.12 to Carlton’s 19.18.

Kick goals with KPMG

In today’s challenging business environment, KPMG’s professional advisers can help you achieve improved business performance. With our range of audit, tax and advisory services across Australia and around the world, we have

the global network and local know how to support your business goals. Talk to a KPMG professional adviser today. kpmg.com.au

22 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 22

22/7/09 5:15:26 PM

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

A N A LY S I S

THE GODFATHER OF STATS

Ted Hopkins

Founder of Champion Data and Carlton premiership player

A new breed of player and statistics A new player breed has emerged that is sure to be cloned by coaches and become a feature of the future footy scene. So far there is only one of its kind in existence, but The Godfather expects that will soon change. This new breed is called the Dane Swan and can easily be identiﬁed by a wildly tattooed right arm. The Dane Swan is the ultimate oﬀensive weapon. It can appear anywhere, wreak havoc on the opposition, vanish suddenly then miraculously reappear to continue the cycle. It also heads to the interchange bench more often than any other player and leads the competition’s disposal count. To weigh this new breed’s impact on the game, The

Godfather has had to move away from the traditional statistics to the next generation of statistical measures. Even traditional statistics reveal a breed like no other, with an exceptional ability to play both inside and outside. The Dane Swan ranks third for total contested possessions and first for uncontested possessions. Remarkable, yes, but does it do any good for the team? This is where the new statistics come in. For example, mple, score involvements nts measure the number off unique times a player hass a hand in his team’s scoring ring g chain from start to finish. Swan’s number of unique score involvements nts is predictably ably high – 141, which is equal first with Geelong’s Steve Johnson, followed ollowed

by St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt with 136. But you also have to consider the percentage of score involvements a player contributes to his team’s total scoring to measure both his inﬂuence and eﬃciency. Of the top-10 score-involvement players, Swan contributes to 33 per cent of his side’s scoring, behind only Lion Jonathan Brown and Hawk Lance Franklin (34 per cent). Another measure m highlighting worth is run-and-kick Swan’s wort metres and retention rates; the team that can gain more distance than its opponent in run-and-kick metres, while run-and maintaining higher relative maintain team retention rates, will usually win. usu Swan ranks second ffor total distance gained with 7848 g

metres, a ﬁgure bettered only by Saint Leigh Montagna (7968). However, both players’ eﬀective disposal rates are below the competition average of 65 per cent retained; Swan at 58 per cent and Montagna 60 per cent. The Godfather thinks in Swan’s case it’s because he runs so damn fast trying to spot up a Magpie forward-50 target.

The Dane Swan genetics Comp rank 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 4th 6th

Statistics category Interchange rotations and disposals Loose-ball gets Marks Score involvements Run-and-kick metres Inside-50 entries Hard-ball gets Handball receives

MOVING PICTURES: It would be hard to miss Dane Swan.

24 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 24

22/7/09 5:15:40 PM

STC_CAN13 (EX-USER)

thebounce

VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE

A dogﬁght beckons as rivalry builds

his weekend’s Rivalry Round showcases some of the most intense rivalries in football. Among them, CarltonCollingwood, EssendonRichmond, the Perth ‘derby’ and the Adelaide ‘showdown’. However, the most meaningful game of the round will be contested by two success-starved teams whose rivalry is still in its relative infancy but could peak at the business end of this season. St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs have claimed just one nd have premiership apiece and rarely been finalists at the same time. They have met in just two ls win by finals, both semi-finals the Bulldogs, in 1961 and 1992. It wouldn’t surprisee if these urites – two sentimental favourites the ‘second’ teams of many fans rand Final. – met in this year’s Grand ngly not the With Geelong seemingly erhaps that’s power it once was (perhaps ), the search part of the Cats’ plan), for challengers to the Saints has pen, and the been thrown wide open, repared as Bulldogs appear as prepared hemselves any team to elevate themselves to the big time. However, the odds are stacked ogs heavily against the Dogs engineering an upset win. aints The reality is the Saints are undefeated after 16 rounds and are two games ear and 30.83 per cent clear long of second-placed Geelong d 41.08 … and five games and per cent ahead of the Bulldogs. It’s hard to imagine a wider ween first statistical divide between BEST OF ENEMIES: Ryan Griffen (left) and ulldog teammates Farren Ray were once Bulldog ed to each other. – now they will be opposed

NEWS TRACKER

and third. St Kilda also boasts a phenomenal record at Docklands, having won its past 17 matches there (their last five in 2008 and all 12 this year) by an average of 42 points. In perfect conditions under the roof, the Saints have conceded 10 or more goals in just seven of these 17 matches. Five opponents have managed no more than six majors. Statistically speaking, the Saints-Bulldogs stoush pits the best defence against the best attack. (The Saints are also third-best offensively, while the Dogs are fifth defensively.) d The pacy and precise Dogs rarely struggle to score, in the stingiest of but will run into defences this w week. However, eve reason to be they have every optimistic abo about their chances, rec given their record against the th past two years. Saints over the f Their past four encounters, all at Docklan Docklands, have resulted in just one wi win to St Kilda, two to the Dogs, and a tie (in the o this period first game of rou 18, 2007). back in round The Saints’ Sai victory was in their most recent clash, in round six by 28 points. They kicked 14.20, 14. so the margin was flatteri attering to the Bulldogs. But the Do Dogs appeared toothless at the time – it was thi successive loss – their third and are a vastly improved unit. They were also the r most recent team to beat Kil at Docklands, St Kilda albei way back in albeit roun 11 last year. round

Collingwood and Carlton to play for the Richard Pratt Cup, named after the late Carlton president, to raise awareness of prostate cancer.

26 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 26

22/7/09 5:31:24 PM

A L O O K AT T H E O T H E R R I VA L R I E S

HERO HARMES: WAYNE HARMES’ DESPERATE DIVE IN THE 1979 GRAND FINAL HELPED THE BLUES TO A NARROW WIN.

Carlton v Collingwood The white-collar Blues and blue-collar Magpies have forged the longest-standing rivalry in League history. They have contested six Grand Finals (for ﬁve Carlton ﬂags and one to Collingwood), including famous Blues triumphs such as their remarkable comeback in 1970 and the controversial 1979 win marked by Wayne Harmes’ boundary-line knock-on.

Geelong v Hawthorn It goes way back to the early 1960s when the Cats were ﬁrst branded a “handbag” team and thought the Hawks were dirty. In 1989, they staged one of the best home-and-away matches ever, and then one of the greatest Grand Finals. And then there was last year’s Grand Final.

OLD RIVALS: HAWTHORN AND GEELONG BATTLE IT OUT IN THE 1989 GRAND FINAL.

Fremantle v West Coast The West Australian derby has captured the imagination of the local football public since the ﬁrst clash back in 1995. The Eagles lead 18-11, but Fremantle has won six of the past seven. Tempers often ﬂare – in 2000, Docker Dale Kickett’s roughhouse tactics earned him a nine-match ban FINALS SCENE-SETTER:

This week’s Bulldogs-St Kilda clash will be every bit as important as past games between the two clubs. Bulldog Steve Wallis featured in this game in 1992.

St Kilda boasts a phenomenal record at Docklands, having won its past 17 matches there (their last five in 2008 and all 12 this year) by an average of 42 points Predicting the likely trend of the match is almost like plotting a race-map for horses. The Saints tend to start strongly and taper towards the end of games, while the opposite is the case with the Bulldogs, who have been sluggish starters and fast finishers. Like any blockbuster, the contest abounds with intriguing match-ups all over the field. The midfield battle alone is a mouth-watering prospect. It’s the Bulldogs’ strongest department, with Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen, Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross and Shaun Higgins comprising a great mix of runners, but they will be hard-pressed containing Leigh NEWS TRACKER

Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, Lenny Hayes, Brendon Goddard and Dog-turned-Saint Farren Ray, whose terriﬁc progress adds another dimension to the rivalry. Last October, the Dogs traded Ray for draft pick 31, which they used to secure big man Jordan Roughead, the cousin of Hawthorn’s Jarryd. Ray, 23, has been a star in his debut season for St Kilda. After averaging 15.1 disposals in ﬁve seasons and 75 games with the Bulldogs, he has averaged 22.5 this year. In the Saints’ 57-point win over Adelaide last week, he amassed a career-best 39 touches. Ray will be as keen as any Saint to keep their unbeaten record this year intact. BEN COL LINS

Brisbane Lions v North Melbourne Two preliminary ﬁnals, in 1996 and 1999, both won by the Kangaroos, who went on to win premierships in both instances. Perhaps the ﬁrst sign of tension between the camps emerged as they squabbled over the signature of Nathan Buckley in the early 1990s. IT’S OURS: WAYNE CAREY CELEBRATES THE 1999 PREMIERSHIP.

Melbourne v Sydney Swans This rivalry is more about the constant quest for bragging rights between the two cities, which stretches back to early settlement. However, the Demons and Swans have still clashed in two finals: the 1936 preliminary final won by the Swans (then South Melbourne), and the 1987 first semi-final won by Melbourne. Essendon v Richmond The Essendon-Richmond angst traces back to the days when League legends Jack Dyer and Dick Reynolds were coaching the clubs. From 1941-44, they clashed in six finals, including two Grand Finals, for a flag apiece. At half-time of a match in 1974, players and officials became embroiled in an all-in brawl known as ‘The Battle of Windy Hill’. They now play the annual Dreamtime at the ’G game to celebrate the contribution of indigenous players.

BATTLE OF SA: ADELAIDE AND PORT ADELAIDE GO HEAD-TO-HEAD AGAIN.

Adelaide v Port Adelaide The showdowns between these clubs ignite football passions like no other in South Australia. After a 2002 clash, the players took the grudge oﬀ the ﬁeld, engaging in a fracas at the local Ramsgate Hotel. Port Adelaide holds a 14-12 advantage after winning the past two.

Geelong has recommended that the new grandstand at Skilled Stadium be named the Premiership Stand. AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au 27

AR17 p07-24 Bounce.indd 27

22/7/09 5:33:02 PM

NEW â&#x20AC;˘ Marathon Safety Jogger

Available at:

And leading work wear retailers

BRIAN LAKE

Bulldog star Brian Lake is a breed of his own, a man full of contradictions. Whether it be as a dashing defender, club prankster or doting dad, he has always done things a little diﬀerently. NICK BOW EN

rian Lake sometimes mess seems m me seeems to ersonalities. er so onalities. be fighting split p personalities. otbal o tballeer, for for Take Lake the footballer, thee ti time, me, example. Most off th l-b -ba back ck k fo fforr he’s a rock at full-back ld dogs, d og gs, one o e on the Western Bulldogs, tin ting ng d down ow wn n of the best in the game at shutting the elite power forwards. thee pas the past p st Just ask Lake’s opponents in th ncce ce three rounds – Hawthorn’s Lance Franklin, Collingwood’s John Anthony and Essendon skipperr Matthew Lloyd – all of whom hee comprehensively beat, holding Franklin and Anthony goalless and Lloyd to just two. Every now and then, though, Lake will make a poor decision streaming out of defence, his “brain fade” leading to a turnover and a rise in Bulldogs sssur ssure. re. coach Rodney Eade’s blood pressure. ion on Then there’s Lake’s preparation for a game. On one hand, he who can who ca an describes himself as someone wh a tthe he overanalyse the game, saying at d sstu study udy dy his hs start of his AFL career he would w e himself wo him h mse selff opponents so closely he often wore On th thee ot othe other, her, out mentally before matches. On i g off ing of during du d urin ng he admits to occasionally nodding n the th he talk tal alk k team meetings, especially when f nsivve group fensive fe fens gro g oup up switches from the Bulldogs’ defensive sion iions. ns. to the midfield or forward divisions. m turre mat He is someone who had to mature me a s me quickly when, at 21, he became on on tep-dad to his partner Shannon arrs ago. ago a o. O’Malley’s son, Bailee, six years AF A AFL FL FL RECORD RE RECOR R ECOR CO OR RD visit viissiitt afl vvis aflrecord.com.au reec record rrec ec ord orrd or d.co c om co m.a .au 61 61

AR17 p61-64 Brian Lake.indd 61

22/7/09 3:36:41 PM

CONTENTED DOG: Life is treating Brian Lake well on both sides of the fence. He is starring for the Dogs and is about to become a father again.

The way I am, I can be serious when I need to be, but you’ve got to lighten things up every now and then BRIAN LAKE

But he also admits to being a serial pest at the Bulldogs, often pulling unsuspecting teammates’ underarm hair, when they’re standing hands on hips at training. Confused? Well, there was also Lake’s much-publicised decision ahead of his son Cohen’s birth in December 2007 to change his surname from Harris (his mother Chesel’s maiden name) to his family name (which his mother adopted after marrying his father, Brian, when Lake was about 11). So who is the real Brian Lake? Speak to Lake and you soon realise he’s in no doubt himself. Keenly self-aware, through trial and error, Lake has discovered what makes him perform at his best as a footballer and what makes him happy as a person. “The thing I’ve learned now is, during the week, not putting so much pressure on yourself,” he says. “Footy clubs can be very robotic places at times. But the way I am, I can be serious when I need to be, but you’ve got to lighten things up every now and then. “And on the track, I just like to do little things to be annoying to keep people normal at stages.” Likewise, his personal life with Shannon, Bailee, 8, and Cohen, 18 months, provides a welcome counterbalance to football. “If I’d played a bad game and the coach had got into me a little bit, I used to bring that home with me a fair bit,” he says. “But now when I get home and see the little fellas run up to me, it’s amazing how quickly I can go from being grumpy and stressed out to OK.” In this way, the seemingly contradictory parts of Lake’s game, preparation and life come together as a balanced whole. All different but each complementary. The AFL Record spoke with Lake over the phone last week and, when he greeted me, the sound of children excitedly shrieking rang out in the background. Lake, on a day off from the Bulldogs, was working at the Altona North indoor children’s play centre, Kidz PlayShak, he co-owns with teammates Adam Cooney and Nathan Eagleton.

62 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p61-64 Brian Lake.indd 62

22/7/09 3:37:33 PM

Lake was busy with paperwork, but says he also often helps out making hot chips and coffees. As days off go, there are more relaxing ways to spend your time, but Lake is used to having a lot on his plate. And his life is only going to get more hectic in the months to come, revealing he and Shannon are expecting another child in September, and will get married on new year’s eve. After some gentle prodding, Lake says ultrasounds have revealed they have a 99.9 per cent chance of having a girl. After two boys, he says, “Shannon still doesn’t believe it”. “It’s going to be full-on during the ﬁnals.” It will be, but you sense Lake will take it in his stride, just another welcome diversion from football.

I was absolutely buggered. With sleep apnoea you might get 10 hours’ sleep but you only get really get two or three good hours BRIAN LAKE

Besides, Lake tends to respond to a challenge. Just consider his on-field performances this year, where, in one of the game’s most unforgiving positions, he has excelled. And, again, it has been getting the right balance that’s been the secret to his success. Incredibly tough to beat on the lead and in one-on-one contests, Lake is also regularly prepared to back his attacking instincts when the occasion calls for it, flying for marks rather than spoiling, and running off his man when the Dogs have the ball. Compared to the competition’s other elite full-backs such as Ben Rutten, Simon Prestigiacomo and Darren Glass, it is these attacking instincts that set him apart. Lake is ninth in the League for contested marks (27), with no other defender in the top 25, while he is equal 12th in rebound 50s with 56, ahead of another attacking full-back, Geelong’s Matthew Scarlett (equal 24th, 48). But, despite the flair he brings to full-back, Lake is very much the team player when talk turns to his form,

NO SPARING A SPRAY:

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has delivered the odd ‘rocket’ to Brian Lake.

Bark worse than his bite As good a relationship as Brian Lake and Rodney Eade have, they have provided some of the most compelling theatre of recent seasons. On several occasions at on-ﬁeld breaks in recent seasons, the Western Bulldogs coach has made a beeline for his star full-back and vented his frustration in a demonstrative – and public – way. But talk to Lake and it’s soon obvious he’s quickly able to put such dressing downs behind him, saying the fact Eade occasionally blasts him in front of his teammates just shows his coach knows how to motivate him. “What a good coach does is know people’s personalities and how they accept feedback and what gets them going,” Lake says. “Some guys are probably a little more sensitive and need a talk behind closed doors. He

preferring to give credit to his teammates up the ground for their defensive pressure. When I suggest he is a strong chance of being selected in the All-Australian team, Lake says he has not thought about it. But, as good as Lake has been this year, he very nearly didn’t make it to the AFL. Despite participating in the 2000 AFL Draft camp in Canberra after playing for South Australia in that year’s National

knows I can accept feedback in the way he gives it out. “It’s probably more for the team as well at stages. I’m just the guinea pig, who he expresses a lot of his feelings through to get the other guys up and going.” Lake says the most memorable spray he received from Eade occurred at half-time in a game against the Sydney Swans three years ago. “He just mentioned something to me at half-time, walked away, took two steps and must have realised something else,” he says, laughing. “Then he’s come back for seconds and had another go, then he’s walked oﬀ, did what he had to do, talked to the other coaches, and come back and had another go. “So that was three I copped at half-time, which I think is still a record.” NICK BOWEN

AFL Under-18 Championships, Lake’s name was not called out in the subsequent national, pre-season or rookie drafts. Though he did not get any direct feedback from clubs on why he was overlooked, Lake understands there was a perception he was lazy. This perception was reinforced the following year, when playing for Woodville-West Torrens – alternating between the Eagles’

under-19 and reserves sides – he would sometimes miss training, having fallen asleep at home after earlier working from 5.30am-1pm in a meat factory. Again, it looked like he lacked discipline, but Lake discovered he had a good excuse – he was suffering from sleep apnoea. Sleep apnoea is a disorder characterised by disrupted breathing during sleep, which leaves sufferers feeling lethargic. “I was absolutely buggered. With sleep apnoea you might get 10 hours’ sleep but you only really get two or three good hours,” he says. Lake’s condition was caused by swollen tonsils and adenoids (the lymph nodes located in the throat behind the nose) and, fortunately, surgery to remove both solved the problem. Better still, the Bulldogs’ then-recruiting manager Scott Clayton had been monitoring Lake’s progress with Woodville-West Torrens, and once alerted to Lake’s struggles with sleep apnoea, convinced the Bulldogs to claim him with the No. 71 pick in the 2001 National Draft. Not that this was the last hurdle Lake had to clear on his way to an AFL career. With the Bulldogs light on for tall defenders – Matthew Croft was nearing the end of his career and Luke Penny was traded to St Kilda at the end of 2002 – Lake, who as a tall and mobile junior had been used in a variety of roles, was asked to fill one position he had never played before – full-back. Typically, he did not shy away from the challenge. In his first season at the Bulldogs, 2002, when playing with VFL affiliate Werribee, Lake put his hand up to play on the AFL’s greatest goalkicker of all time, Tony Lockett. Lockett was playing with Port Melbourne as part of an ill-fated comeback with the Sydney Swans after two years in retirement. While Lockett kicked four goals, Lake’s form was encouraging. “I guess I showed signs then of being able to play in that position. Some of the one-on-one contests I did OK, so that cemented me in that spot,” Lake says. “It was nerve-racking but it was a good test because, if I wanted to AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 63

AR17 p61-64 Brian Lake.indd 63

22/7/09 3:37:50 PM

play AFL, that was what I had to expect every week.” Lake eventually made his AFL debut in round 21 that year against Carlton, a game that turned out to be coach Terry Wallace’s last in charge at the Bulldogs. Wallace announced his resignation soon after that match, and Peter Rohde took over as coach. While Rohde’s reign at the Dogs from 2003-04 was inauspicious – the Dogs ﬁnished 16th in 2003 and 14th in 2004, winning eight of their 44 games – Lake’s progression in defence was impressive. As tough as those seasons were, Lake played 13 games in 2003 and 17 in 2004, and by the time Eade took over as Bulldogs coach in 2005, he had established himself at full-back. It was the start of a fruitful, if occasionally volatile, coach-player relationship, with Lake on the end of several withering sprays from Eade in recent seasons (see breakout previous page). Lake has nothing but praise for Eade, though, crediting him with his reinvention as an attacking defender. “My ﬁrst couple of years were all about defence. As soon as the ball came in your area, you had to just punch it away and do the basics,” he says. “With ‘Rocket’ (Eade) coming in, I had to change my game. Being able to back yourself in and, instead

FAC T F I L E

LOOKING AHEAD:

Brian Lake

Brian Lake will be a key player for the Bulldogs in September.

Born: February 27, 1982 Recruited from: Woodville-West Torrens Debut: Round 21, 2002, v Carlton Height: 195cm Weight: 104kg Games: 138 Goals: 14 Player honours: best and fairest 2007 Brownlow Medal: career votes 4 Draft history: 2001 National Draft, 5th round selection, No. 71 overall

We’re not far from the top sides. With them, their pressure is right up there every single quarter of every single game BRIAN LAKE

of spoiling the ball, marking it and moving it on quickly – it can be such an attacking move. “If you watch a lot of defenders, Matthew Scarlett is probably the prime example, all the attack starts from the half-back line and even the full-back line.” After football and family, Lake does not have time for much else, although he likes the occasional game of golf, watching cricket and even took Bailee to the recent World Wrestling Entertainment ‘Raw’ event in Melbourne – “I’m still a bit of a kid sometimes”.

While still in his prime and just 27, Lake has started working with an AFL Players’ Association career counsellor to plot his career after football. He thinks he will stay involved in the game, but will return to Adelaide to be closer to family and friends. For now, though, Lake is focused on the Bulldogs’ ﬁnals campaign. After ﬁnishing third last year, the Bulldogs are sitting in the same ladder position, and Lake says they need to lift their defensive pressure to beat this year’s frontrunners St Kilda and

Geelong. “We’re not far from the top sides,” he says. “With them, their pressure is right up there every single quarter of every single game. “Our pressure was right up in round 14 against Hawthorn and, if we play like that against the top sides, we’ll win. “But if we’re inconsistent in our pressure, and produce a ﬁrst quarter like we did against Collingwood the next week, we won’t win those games.” If the Bulldogs are to seriously challenge the Saints and Cats, Lake must play a key role. But, as long as he maintains his mix of defence, ﬂair and occasional brain snaps, dedication, ability to switch off and sense of humour, along with his contented family life away from football, you can bet he’ll play his part.

Exclusive Rivalry Round

Dining Offer

Holiday Inn invites you and your guest to enjoy one complimentary main course meal when another main course meal of equal or greater value is purchased. Please present this voucher in the restaurant to redeem offer.

For locations and bookings visit holidayinn.com.au/afl or call 1300 666 704.

buy 1 get 1 free

The Official Hotel Group Of The AFL Valid until 30 September, 2009. Excludes Holiday Inn Burswood, Rooty Hill and Old Sydney. Offer not valid in conjuction with other promotional offers.

64 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p61-64 Brian Lake.indd 64

22/7/09 3:38:06 PM

QSP0108/IE. Qantas Airways Limited ABN 16 009 661 901

Inflight entertainment ≥

Ofﬁcial airline of

Like you, we’re great fans and supporters of the 2009 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. That’s why we’re proud to do our part to help the big men ﬂy. That’s the spirit. The Spirit of Australia. qantas.com

QSP0108_255x205_IE.indd 1

7/4/09 10:05:35 AM

PAN0171_AFL_FP.pdf

Page

16/7/09,

5:28

If you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t got a 600Hz Viera, hope for a slow game

When a game moves as fast as the AFL, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d better be watching it on a Panasonic Viera plasma. With 600Hz sub field drive* to reduce motion blur, the game will look as sharp and clear as it does from your seat.

*600Hz sub field drive is available on V, G & X Series Plasma.

COACHES ON COACHING – PART 3

NEW CHALLENGE: Michael Voss

has made a fairly seamless transition from player to coach by setting clear goals and plans.

The transition from player to

hroughout my playing days, coaching wasn’t a burning ambition until I came towards the end of my career. But the closer the end came, the stronger my ambition became. Coaching appealed to my competitive spirit, something my mentor Leigh Matthews described as “a black hole that you will never ﬁll”. Throughout this transition period, it was evident I needed to give greater thought to coaching and gather further information.

The one fundamental for any coach is to develop your own philosophies and game style. This involves compiling information from what you know, what you’ve learnt, what you’ve seen, what others have done, what mistakes have been made by you and others, and what your own strong beliefs are. You should also constantly look and learn – from mentors, books, tapes, courses, former coaches, current coaches, teams, business practices, academic models and other codes – capturing and formulating the relevant

A coaching career is a natural progression for many players after their playing days are over. In the third part of the AFL Record’s coaching series, ﬁrst-year Brisbane Lions mentor Michael Voss explains the challenges of going from being one of the boys to being the boss. information that can be understood, communicated and acted on. All this knowledge should be captured progressively rather than at one time. It’s also an endless process, some of these ideas form before you start, others will form as you go. As a coach, the people you lead will be inﬂuenced by your character traits and leadership attributes, namely your beliefs, values, ethics, knowledge and skills. Given this, you better know yourself well. So ensure that the philosophies you take on are yours. Everyone, and I

mean everyone, approaches coaching in their own unique way – their view of the world shapes their decision-making as a coach and what they believe are the right decisions. Once you’ve formulated the basis of your coaching philosophies, you get some genuine outcomes on how you want to run your club, what you think will be successful and how you will get the best out of your players. When I retired as a player and contemplated the next phase of my life, there was no better time to reﬂect on my current strengths and weaknesses, AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au 67

AR17 p67-68 Voss - Coaching.indd 67

22/7/09 3:35:51 PM

COACHES ON COACHING – PART 3

and honestly assess what skills and capabilities I did and didn’t have. I also sought out others for honest feedback. I had to be prepared to hear about my shortcomings, but this helped me identify the skills I thought I needed to develop to step into coaching. I could then set a plan and time frame in which to do this. As time progressed, this plan was adjusted to meet any changing expectations or achievements. During this time, I was also determined to get away from the football club environment. To look at our sport and others from a different viewpoint. After living a very rigid lifestyle as an AFL player for 15 years, doing this gave me the freedom to develop at my own pace, without being locked into the day-to-day routine of a club environment. That said, no amount of planning could have prepared me when I ﬁnally came to coach. The position of head coach is highly complex and has a unique skill set, so working in any other job, be it as an assistant or as a media commentator, is certainly not adequate preparation on its own. Setting expectations early is critical as a coach. It sets the platform for how the players treat you and how you treat them. It was even more important for me given my history with some players that I had played premierships with and, unashamedly, called my mates. However, you must retain your professional integrity. No doubt my relationship with these players has changed. The important part to remember is that the people involved have not changed, you just have a new role and title. But parties must appreciate the new relationship and respect each other’s positions. Utilise any past relationship with your players as a positive but be aware of its challenges. I enjoy the rapport I have with the players, which would normally be earnt over a long period of time. I can conﬁde in them, seek their opinions and I know they will be honest.

IMPRESSIVE START: Michael Voss has the Lions in ﬁfth place with a 10-6 win-loss record in just his ﬁrst year as senior coach.

Changing from one leadership style to another requires patience as new training methods, reporting procedures, game-plans and system, and team dynamics are introduced Our aim is to set the best football program possible, and the more the players buy into this, the more successful we will be. As a player, I enjoyed being one of the boys and mucking around, and that hasn’t changed much as a coach. I don’t mind a joke and I’ve got some pretty bad ones at that. But I’ve always been intense and never lose sight of the job that has to be done. I’ll be very complimentary when we achieve our goals and I’ll have a crack at people when I don’t think we have lived up to expectations. No doubt, the ﬁrst big assignment I had as Brisbane Lions coach was delisting my former premiership teammate Robert Copeland. That was particularly tough because Robbie had always done everything that was asked of him and maximised his capabilities as an individual. He probably would have been a worthwhile player for us this year, but, as a club, we wanted to go in a different direction and try some other players in his role. I thought it was relevant to suggest to Robbie that he might only play eight or nine games this year if he was lucky, and I didn’t think it was fair to take him on on that basis, given his desire to play a more prominent role. The transition from player to coach does take time, as

does the transition from one leader to the next. Taking over from Leigh Matthews, who as a threetime Lions premiership coach was obviously a club legend, has taken time, especially after his 10-year reign. hip Changing from one leadership style to another requires patience as new training methods, reporting procedures, game-plans and system, and team dynamics are introduced. Whether it was changes to our playing leadership structure or pre-season training, a fair bit has changed at the Lions in a short period of time. Having a committed group of coaches and service group is critical for a coach. The team of people responsible for preparing our players work feverishly behind the scenes to ensure each maximises their capability. Balancing this teams’ skills, experience and characteristics with your own helps shape your performance and the environment you surround the players with. I thought it was important I had some experienced assistants who I could bounce ideas off, which was why I appointed (former Carlton coach) Wayne Brittain and Craig Brittain (who coached in the QAFL). Each assistant coach will have their own philosophy, and there may be plenty of things they

Start developing your own coachin g philosophies as so on as possible, building your kn owledge from as many sources as possible. Do a complete an alysis of your skills and develo p a plan to acqu ire the skills you vie w as fundamenta l for a coach. Putting your own stamp on a club takes time; let it evolve naturally . When appointing your assistant coaches, their sk ill sets should complement your own. It’s OK to be one of the boys at tim es, provided you don’t lose sight of the job that has to be done. You should set as ide downtime ever y week to make su re you stay fresh and can cope with th e demands of the job.

2 3 4 5 6

would do differently if they were senior coach. But it’s absolutely crucial when they come into the club they take on the head coach’s philosophies and, wherever possible, speak in the same language to the players, so they get a consistent message. The more time you spend thrashing out ideas with your assistants and getting to know them, the more you entrust them with responsibilities. And, on an ongoing basis, that’s what you want to be able to do. I knew coaching would be very demanding and require an extremely high work ethic, and it’s been what I expected and more. The one thing that has struck me, though, is that you’re thinking the whole time. As a player you get to tune off, but as a coach you don’t. And that’s probably a skill I haven’t mastered yet. As a new coach, I’m trying to give myself some downtime and a mental rest at times. And I assume this won’t change anytime soon. AS TOLD TO NICK BOWEN

68 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p67-68 Voss - Coaching.indd 68

22/7/09 5:17:19 PM

速

www.cadbury.com.au

Official Confectionery Partner of the AFL Cadbury, Ellipse Device, Dairy Milk, the Glass and a Half Device, Boost, Cherry Ripe, Crunchie, Picnic, Flake and the Colour Purple are Cadbury group trademarks used under license.

It’s a

FANS world Being a true fan means much more than simply following a team. Fandom is about ritual and superstition and family ties. It’s about colour and passion and really barracking. JOHN HARMS

e love our footy in Australia. And that’s the phrase we use: our footy. Because it is our footy. Footy is of us. Footy is in us. And we are of footy. Footy means so much to so many Australians: men and women; boys and girls; native-born Australians and immigrants; rich and poor; people from the city and the country, from all faiths, from across the political spectrum. It is more than just an interest or a pastime, an activity or an enterprise. Footy fans have two passions. These passions are not merely entwined or mixed. One is of the other. One tends to be subconscious, the other conscious. The subconscious passion is our love for the game itself, for what footy is, for the way footy is played. This is an ever-present passion. We afﬁ rm it consciously from time to time, but generally it remains within. The more conscious passion is the love we have for our own footy club. This is a passion we express – visibly, obviously, freely, spiritedly, shamelessly. Our club is part of who we are. It provides us with hope.

HAIL THE HAWKS:

Hawthorn fans celebrate after the Hawks upset Geelong in the 2008 Grand Final. PHOTO: GREG FORD/AFL PHOTOS

70 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p70-80 Fans.indd 70

22/7/09 4:49:02 PM

AFL RECORD visit aďŹ&#x201A;record.com.au 71

AR17 p70-80 Fans.indd 71

22/7/09 4:31:36 PM

BOMBER BLOODNUT:

This Essendon fan has obviously had a few hair-raising experiences.

PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/AFL PHOTOS

And, ever-faithful, incident 29 years we give our love ago). And to show and our loyalty we’re a finals Who hasn’t seen contender (even to our club. a groomsman, Together, the though we’re hope and the love still two games earpiece in, at a drive us. We feel out of the eight). winter wedding? compelled to go Whether they play to the footy to see well and thrash a our team play, not so sluggish opponent, or much out of duty but out get home in a thriller in of sheer affection. We must a no-holds-barred contest, go to the game or see them victory brings joy. on television, or hear the radio It is defeat, however, which is call, or watch a computer screen more illustrative. Defeat brings in an internet café at the other upset and misery and sorrow. end of the world, or ring a family Defeat affects us deeply; so member for a progress report. deeply as to indicate that our We don’t just need to know football team (and football itself) the result, we need to follow the has significant meaning for progress of the game, and to be us. The grief that accompanies part of the game. Who hasn’t loss is genuine. It takes time to seen a groomsman, earpiece in, recover; in finals and Grand at a winter wedding? Or heard a Finals, the whole summer. And too-loud cheer from the woman we wait for the new season. in 24F of the Boeing 737 as the Those born in a football Swans put one through? Or had state grow up with footy. Many their phone call terminated with embrace it, some tolerate it, some the words, “Gotta go, the footy’s actively reject it. Many who come about to start”? to Australia from other lands We so want the boys to win. find themselves drawn to it. It To beat the opponent (the ones has something that appeals to we’ve had no time for since that the outsider.

The depth of feeling for football is displayed by many. They organise their lives around football. They plan holidays to coincide with their club’s special out-of-state ﬁxtures, read every word written about their boys, ring talkback radio stations to restore the reputation of their teams or players (see story page 76), contribute to websites and fanzines, involving themselves in half-joking-but-quite-serious

discussions on blogs (that go on for days). They send earnest letters to the coach, assessing players’ performances and suggesting changes to personnel and strategy. They attend training, seeking autographs. They paint their homes in club colours, buy club number plates for their car and name their pets (and their children) after players. They own vinyls and CDs of footballers singing songs.

FA N S A C R O S S T H E C O U N T R Y

Proud and passionate Over the past few weeks, the AFL Record photographed dozens of AFL fans at grounds across the country, with reporters Andrew Wallace and Callum Twomey interviewing many of them about their connection to the game and their clubs, what they love about watching football, and their supporting

ASHLEIGH (GABBA)

KIRK (AURORA STADIUM)

DEAN (DOCKLANDS)

HEATHER (DOCKLANDS)

LAIN (SUBIACO)

GEORGIA-ROSE (SCG)

EMILY (SKILLED STADIUM)

OLLY (MCG)

STUART (DOCKLANDS)

JASON (SCG)

ANDREW (AAMI STADIUM)

LACHLAN (GABBA)

‘habits’ (see page 80 for a summary of their responses). Immediately obvious when we started studying the photographs was the passion many of the fans have for their teams, and the game itself. Their allegiances are clear for all to see. The game’s broad appeal is perfectly

AMY (TIO STADIUM)

JASMINE (SUBIACO)

KEYLEIGH (SUBIACO)

ALASTAIR (DOCKLANDS)

BAILEY (SKILLED STADIUM)

MARTYN (DOCKLANDS)

KAREN (DOCKLANDS)

JAMIE (SKILLED STADIUM)

reﬂected in our spread of fan photographs; it includes males and females of all ages, from small children only just learning what it’s all about to wiser, more seasoned fans who have just about seen it all. They have one thing in common, as our interviews conﬁrmed: a genuine passion for the game.

BROOKE (MCG)

BAILEY (AAMI STADIUM)

NUNO (TIO STADIUM)

ALYSHA (DOCKLANDS)

JOANNE (DOCKLANDS)

ELMA & GAIL (AURORA STADIUM)

NEIL (SUBIACO)

DARREN (SUBIACO)

PETER (TIO STADIUM)

JULIE (SUBIACO)

DARYL (DOCKLANDS)

MERV (SCG)

TOM (SKILLED STADIUM)

MATHEW (AURORA STADIUM)

NATALIE (SUBIACO)

72 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p70-80 Fans.indd 72

22/7/09 4:44:20 PM

ROUND 17, JULY 24-26

N A H R YOU

D N A P DS U

T U O SH

PUT

A THE P

SS IO

O THIS R

AN S M N OF F

AKES

ES G I R L A R IV

HOUT S R U ’S O UND IT OXTEL

D SU N HER AL ff a 12-month o Receive 15% LUS a bonus nP subscriptio all. Go to tb o fo Sherrin offer om.au/footy .c n u s ld hera apply.)

ECORD AFL R ion includes it Round 17 ed f great o ll fu t u o ft li a avings. s d n offers a

F iQ2 or FOXTEL FOXTEL iQ subscribers. w offer for ne ffer for o 2 iQ L E T X o FO scribers wh b u s existing . m o o ir lt Mu upgrade to

RE FL STO THE A any AFL Store in Spend $50 bonus team a e iv e c and re at $19.99). d e lu a (v c ap

G OWLIN AMF B of f two full-price s % on 0 iti 2 cond any AMF Receive TE K (Terms and shoe hire at TICKE games and e when you mention cket via ti 17 d un e ro nu to th Bu y a COL A bowling ve ound. .au to go in COCA- inking a coke at ticketek.comAFL prize pack. dr Rivalry R d te FL A ot r sp fo an r et es G ch TE R draw fo apply.) und 17 mat Toyota TMAS conditions selected ro (Terms and TICKE in 2009 via w et to ck ti ce 17 an d NAL your ch s. AFL Buy a roun com.au to go NATIO Final ticket FL09/81 US E U M r. AFL Grand GFA RT S M ticketmaste to win a great e: O od m P C eu n S io Authorisat the draw l Sports Mus der) to na io in at N d un Free age. ildren (15 an AY INN ticket pack entr y for ch entr y for adults on HOLID ry main course when ce ri G ta C -p and half y at the M Complimen course of equal or 17 match da n any round entr y ticket or club/ another mai is purchased at any e (valid match hip card required). greater valu tel restaurant – see rs ho IDE AFL membe Holiday Inn Record for voucher. ADE L A PORT er Megastore or round 17 AFL D ow Visit the P GWOO re.com.au to COLLIN and in-store wermegasto ited edition po e 1. lin t on us f e lim to Aug 30% of IDE purchase th Football. from July 17 ADE L A more and go into merchandise e Creed or th 0 e ve 5 $ id Li la nd de A Spe DO N win a signed ON D ESSE N D of fers to relive the draw to guernsey. RICHM am poster t DV ea gr nd o ou s. R Tw te ie 9 or 0 ct 0 vi 2 Rivalry n ee d do Fr IONS cial Richmon great Essen AN E L ATS ith any of ﬁ t purchase. w C G N BRISB 10 in the Brisbane uc $ G E E LO s Foot y Full On Reebok prod nu outlet at Spend over eceive a bo when you purchase any Gabba ceive R or p ho S re AFL ot y match and Chrome Fo nsey online the round 17 ie valued at $19.95. clash guer store. t ul ad an an long Cats a bonus be or in the Gee

TAIL E D L L FU Rivalry Round_205x275.indd 1

REAT

E RY SL ATT G ROUP IA D E M t when you 5% discoun Receive a 2 Skills of Australian th purchase bo Pencil O’Reilly at any d Football an (voucher in round 17 ore Borders st d). or ec R AFL OTOS P AFL H t on all images at n ou 20% disc e round 17 om.au – se aﬂphotos.c r promo code. fo AFL Record COAST W E ST S EAG LE st Eagles ﬂag Coa Free West hase over $50 rc with any pu am store. te at the WCE E RN W E ST OG S D L L 09 BU to win a 20 aw dr e Go in th guernsey ed am fr d more. signed an end $50 or when you sp

ound r y r l a v m.au/ri o c . ﬂ a T S , VI S I

15/7/09 4:49:01 PM

Some join the For them, victory ‘official’ cheer is not a joy, but a squad, which has relief. A loss is Not all fans a president and unacceptable have this faith. treasurer and and cause for a For some, important subdifferent type of victory is an groups, like the upset: an angry banner-making expectation condemnation committee. Each of the team’s week, they oversee performance. the making of the Sometimes that anger work of art the players burst is directed, very publicly, through in a matter of seconds at the players, the coach and, as they enter the arena. They when all that angst has run dry, write the verse that doesn’t quite the club administration. scan, rhymes (sort of) and is All of us feel this frustration at likely to have a spelling mistake times. Our clubs make a promise and a floating apostrophe. to us, that they will do their Each club’s cheer squad sits best, just as players make that behind the goal with flags promise to the coach before each and signs and floggers. This match. Fans are disappointed is the family section of the with a loss but they are more cheer squad where traditional disappointed when that promise barracking occurs, orchestrated is broken. They want players to by the official leaders, earnestly confess their sins – to admit they instigating chants like “Carlton didn’t put in – and beg to seek … clap-clap-clap … Carlton … redemption the following week. clap-clap-clap”. Often the leaders’ Fans are forgiving when effort role is superfluous, because the is clear. chant has started spontaneously, There are, of course, degrees ignited by the stirring goal in the of fandom. For many fans, hope that it will inspire a famous football is very important, but comeback. At these moments, thoughtful and sensible people supporters around the entire who lead normal lives and value ground will find themselves their public image battle to following the lead. keep the depth of their feeling Not all fans have this faith. For to themselves. They try to keep some, victory is an expectation. things in perspective yet still turn

DOCKERS AT THE DOUBLE: There is no doubting the allegiance of these two

young Fremantle fans.

up to games and follow footy very closely. They are still more than capable of the spontaneous act of support but they tend to internalise their support, until those moments when impulse takes over. Their one failing is to have the club song as the ringtone on their mobile phone. All fans have similar stories. Many of us inherited the team of our families, the team followed loyally for generations. We learnt to follow as well. We learnt to barrack. We learnt to read footy: in newspapers and footy magazines, in books and the Record. We talked footy. We kept scrap-books. We bought bubble gum and traded the footy cards

that came in the wrap. We had posters on the wall. Importantly we – boys and girls – also learnt to play. We kicked balloons around the lounge room, and graduated to brown plastic footies that were ridiculously hard at the ends so that the drop punt was out of the question. When we were poor, we had sock footies and rolled up bits of newspaper held together with sticking tape, and whatever else we could fashion. These days, kids have mini-footies in club colours. And then we’d get a real football and try to keep it perfect for as long as we could. But that was impossible. We’d play kick

FA N S A C R O S S T H E C O U N T R Y

MARGARET (DOCKLANDS)

TYSON, JASON & BRODIE (SUBIACO)

RONNIE (SUBIACO)

MITCHELL (DOCKLANDS)

MATTHEW (SKILLED STADIUM)

CHERIE (AAMI STADIUM)

LAURA (DOCKLANDS)

BRANDON (DOCKLANDS)

AMY (MCG)

GAIL (SUBIACO)

MANDI (SCG)

JOHN (AAMI STADIUM)

WILLIAM (AURORA STADIUM)

CHLOE (GABBA)

visit aﬂ.com.au

NAB AFL Tipping - Win $20,000 The ofﬁcial tipping competition of the AFL The round 16 winner was Scott Jones of Carindale in Queensland. The celebrity round winner was former Hawthorn champion and NAB AFL Auskick ambassador Robert DiPierdomenico. There are fantastic cash prizes to be won every week – join in the fun now at aﬂ.com.au

74 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au NAB_Tipping_60x179_Rd 17.indd 1

AR17 p70-80 Fans.indd 74

20/7/09 11:11:52 AM

22/7/09 4:32:02 PM

GEELONG CATS vs HAWTHORN – REMATCH

The beyondblue Cup:

tackling depression together Every year, Hawthorn Football Club and Geelong Cats battle for the beyondblue Cup to raise awareness of depression and anxiety. Over a million people in Australia live with depression. If it’s not you, maybe it’s someone you know. Find out about depression/ anxiety, what to do about it and how to help someone at www.beyondblue.org.au or phone the beyondblue info line on 1300 22 4636. Right: Geelong Cats Captain Tom Harley with the beyondblue Cup following the Cats’ victory over the Hawks at the MCG on 25 July 2008. Far right: Hawthorn’s Luke Hodge with the beyondblue Cup following the Hawks’ round 4 victory over the Geelong Cats in 2007 at Aurora Stadium in Launceston. Photos: Slattery Media Group

to kick for hours until the leather was scuffed and misshapen and brown and you had to take the nugget to it. Eventually, a bit of the stitching would break and a bubble of the bladder would pop through. We played with friends in the backyard, in the park, and down at the local oval. We played at school and joined clubs. We practised set shots from impossible angles, and kicked “don’t-tell-me” goals. We wanted to be footballers, to be like our heroes. Playing is important no matter what the level because it makes us realise how talented top-level footballers are. The remarkable is remarkable because try as we do, we just can’t do it. And so our regard for the best is appropriate. When we realised we weren’t going to make it into the big league, we played with local sides or were content to watch from the terraces. But that never eroded footy’s signiﬁcance. We just came to understand our place in it. Footy remains part of our identity. Family memories are often footy memories. Some of our happiest times

M A K I N G W AV E S

‘Let’s go to Jim from Hawthorn ...’ Radio talkback regulars. Listen enough and you’ll get to know the names, predict when they might come on and what they’ll say. In Victoria, there’s Bernie from Ballarat and Sarah from St Albans. In South Australia, Santo from Albert Park, Johnny from Augusta and Malcolm from Highbury are well known. West Australian listeners would be familiar with Pete from Rockingham, Don from Spearwood and Russell from Calista. The man with the familiar “Jim from Hawthorn” call name is 57-year-old Jim Caddle, a passionate Hawks fan with a distinctive Scottish accent. He’s been calling Melbourne radio stations for about ﬁve years, defending the honour of his team, and agitating supporters of the other 15 clubs. Caddle, who calls in several times a week, was hooked on footy (and the Hawks) after attending his ﬁrst game in 1988, with the game’s physicality and regular scoring and the inclusiveness of clubs such as Hawthorn winning him over. A chef at an exclusive Melbourne hotel who loves to sit in the MCG’s Olympic Stand with a bunch of “other old fogies”, Caddle enjoys the on-air exchange of banter with opposition fans – he has a running ‘feud’ with Geelong supporter Brad from Eltham – and calls in “win or lose”, often ending his calls with words of advice for fans of the team the Hawks are playing. “We’re simply expressing our love of the game.” PETER DI SISTO

FA N S A C R O S S T H E C O U N T R Y

ANDREW (GABBA)

SARAH (DOCKLANDS)

SIAN (SCG)

TRISH (MCG)

JOSHUA (AURORA STADIUM)

TERANCE (SUBIACO)

ISABELLA (DOCKLANDS)

TOM & TONY (SCG)

ASHLEIGH (SKILLED STADIUM)

DEANNE (DOCKLANDS)

BETTINA (SUBIACO)

JO (TIO STADIUM)

JOHN (AAMI STADIUM)

SARAH (MCG)

COURAGE, INITIATIVE AND TEAMWORK ON AND OFF THE FIELD. Voting is now open in the 2009 AFL Army Award. Get online at afl.com.au or SMS ‘Courage’ to 13 19 01 and pick the play of the round and you could have the chance to win an awesome Army experience for you and a mate.

Authorised under VIC Permit number 09/1090, NSW LTPS/09/2684, ACT TP09/1133, SA T09/690. Entries close 7/9/09. See afl.com.au for full terms and conditions. AFL Authorisation Code: GFAFL09/29

GPY&R MDFA2794

Courage, initiative and teamwork are values the AFL and the Army proudly share. Get involved and help recognise the player you think best embodies these values in the 2009 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

76 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au MDFA2794_80x179.indd 1

AR17 p70-80 Fans.indd 76

5/5/09 12:13:07 PM

22/7/09 4:29:44 PM

“‰”, “Play “Play PlayStat Stat ation” at ion”,, “ ion” ”,, a and nd “ n ” ar are tr t adem dem marks ar or regi ark re egi gis ster ste ster t ed te d trade trade rad d m mark mar ar ark rks off So Son S y Co Compu mp m mput pu p put uter ut er Ent er ntertain nter nte tain ta ain ain nme ment ment e en ntt Inc Inc c. “ ” is is a regi eg egis e gistere t d tr te ter tradem ade ad dema arrk o ark off Sony on Corp orporat orat ora o ra a ion. HARRY HARRY POTTE POTTE OTTER R charac arracters ters,, names ters names e and all rela rel ted ind indi n ic ndi cia cia i are e trad ra ademar ema em mar m arks of an nd © Wa Warn arn ner er Bros. ros ro os s Ent ntterta erta ainme inme nm nt nt Inc. nc. Ha Harry Harr arry Po Potter tter Pub P Pu lish lis ishing ing ng g Righ Rig gh g hts © JKR KR.. WB W IE E LOGO, OG G W WB SHIELD: SHIE LD: ™ & © W Warner er B Bro ros. s. E Enter nte nter tertain tain ainment me t Inc ment Inc.. (s s09)) H HAR HARR ARRY POTTE ARR AR TTER TER ER AND AN ND THE HE EH HAL HA AL ALFF-BL F-BL BLOOD PRI PRIN PRIN RINCE E So oft oftw ft ftw tware tw ar © 20 2009 09 Ele lectroni lec lect ron roni oni niic Ar A tts Inc. Arts nc EA and d the he E EA A lo ogo o are e trade trade em mark ark ks s or regis regis stere tered d ttradem ade d arks ark of Elec E tron El ron on niic Arts ts Inc. Inc nc. All Al rig ghts hts rese reserved re eserve rved d. Al A l ot other he h er e trad trademar radema emar e em m mar arks ks k s are e tthe he e pro rop rop rope operty ope rtyy of of their he hei h e eir eiir ir res re respect pective pective ve e ow ow owne wne ne ners rs s pspin spinyour your ou o u hand ha ands.co s.co s co om SPS2 SPS 047/ 04 047 47/ 47 47/ 7/AFL /AFL AFL FL

pspinyourhands.com m

AM 10:24 20/7/09, 1 Page SPS2047_AFL_FPC.pdf

YOUR MAGIC. YOUR ADVENTURE. YOUR SPECIAL EDITION VIBRANT BLUE PSP.

YOUR WHOLE WORLD IN YOUR HANDS

Enter a world of magic: explore Harry’s world and choose how you want to play the story of the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™ videogame.

w At Selected Retailers Special Edition Vibrant Blue PSP Pack. Available Now

www.harrypotter.ea.com com m

are going to the Collingwood you’ll be footy together, or finding somewhere Fans love watching football else to live. So I’ve on television been a Magpie footy because together while supporter we love the eating stew with ever since.” rhythm of the white bread and Footy is so footy weekend Worcestershire important to real sauce. Love for fans that, to make footy is amplified sense of it, they find because it is tied up themselves thinking as in love for family. if their team plays for them Which is why the question alone. Hence they (we) believe of (football) mixed marriages that our behaviour can affect the is so delicate. And why it is result. We have lucky caps, lucky extremely difficult when a places to sit, lucky food to take son comes to his Melbourne to the footy. As kids, we posed father and tells him he is going tests, “If I can kick this between to barrack for Essendon. And the apricot and the peach trees, why, for generations, you have Geelong will win on Saturday.” heard people explaining their Sitting in church after a Geelong love for a club, “My mother was loss, “If I can hold my breath a wonderful woman, but she for a minute, Geelong will win said if you don’t barrack for next Saturday.”

Fans love footy because we love the rhythm of the footy weekend: Friday night footy with that sense that it’s all ahead of us. We’ve read the papers in the morning and seen the teams, we’ve put in our tips, we’ve tweaked our dream teams – the day’s tasks are completed. We have our Friday night footy food and sit down to watch the game. Saturday morning is for junior footy, and footy previews, and getting to the game of our own club, to play, to support. We watch Glasshouse Mountains play Kenmore while listening to St Kilda versus Freo on radio. And then watch the Lions play Richmond that night on television, staying up late to check the ofﬁcial AFL stats on the net, because Simon Black

was our Dream Team skipper this week. And just when we thought we were all footied out, we ﬁnd ourselves watching the early Sunday game, the Swans and the Doggies, before wandering over to Hawthorne Park to see the ﬁnal quarter of Morningside and Mt Gravatt. Swap Queensland for Victoria or Tasmania, or South Australia, or Western Australia, or the Territory – it’s all the same. We just don’t tire of it. We love it too much. We are fans through and through. Football always has been, and still is, our game. The administrators administrate but the fans rule. And always will. This is an edited version of an essay published in The Australian Game of Football in 2008.

FA N S A C R O S S T H E C O U N T R Y

JOSH & LINDA (SUBIACO)

DOMINIC (SCG)

LEANNE (GABBA)

BECK (DOCKLANDS)

ANNABELLE (AAMI STADIUM)

CARD ZONE AUSTR ALIA’S TR AD I N G CARD SH O P 2008 SELECT AFL PINNACLE CARDS Factory Box (36 Packs)

Case (16 Boxes + Case Card)

$175

ROBERT (MCG)

Holofoil Team Sets: Coll, Geel $25 Carl, Ess, Rich, W. Bulldogs, St K $20 N. Melb, Haw $18 Other Teams: $15 2. All-Australian Team (22): 1 : 8 packs From $8 each or $150 set

3. 2008 Medal Winners(5): 1 : 36 $25 $50 $10 $9 $8

SUBSET: 1. Holofoil Parallel Set (195): 1 : pack Full Set (195) $245

78 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au CardZoneRD16_AD_halfpage2.indd 1

AR17 p70-80 Fans.indd 78

WILL (DOCKLANDS)

BRADY & TILDA (SUBIACO)

PAUL (SKILLED STADIUM)

CHRIS (SUBIACO)

MARCUS (AAMI STADIUM)

MC1: Adam Cooney $25 MC2: Lance Franklin $25 MC3: Luke Hodge $20 MC4: Rhys Palmer $20 MC5: Gary Ablett $25 4. 2008 AFL Premiership Predictors: (16) 1 : 36 packs Call for availability. 5. Draft Pick Signatures (16): 1 : 36 packs.

400 personally signed cards each. 1: box. DP1: Jack Watts (Melb) $130 DP2: Nick Naitanui (WCE) $90 DP3: Stephen Hill (Frem) $65 DP4: Hamish Hartlett (Port) $45 DPG5: Michael Hurley (Ess) $55 DPG6: Chris Yarran (Carl) $55 DPG7: Daniel Rich (Bris) $90 DPG8: Tyrone Vickery (Rich) $55 DPG9: Jack Ziebell (N. Melb $50 DPG10: Phil Davis (Adel) $45 DPG11: Steele Sidebottom (Coll) $55 DPG12: Lewis Johnston (Syd) $45 DPG13: Tom Lynch (St K) $45 DPG14: Ayce Cordy (WB) $45 DPG15: Mitchell Brown (Geel) $45 DPG16: Ryan Schoenmakers (Haw) $45 6. Double Trouble (10): 1 : 72

DT7: McLeod/Porplyzia DT8: Lucas/Lloyd DT9: Pavlich/Sandilands

$45 $55 $45

MADISON (MCG)

L ED IM IT ITE IO D N

MAIL ORDER: send to CARD ZONE, 262-266 Victoria Street, North Melbourne, VIC 3051 (Opposite Vic Market) OPEN: Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm and Sunday, 10am-12pm PH: (03) 9326 9588 FAX: (03) 9326 7511 EMAIL: stevewang@cardzone.com.au WEB SITE: www.cardzone.com.au

$2750

AFL Pinnacle Album (No Page) AFL Pinnacle Base Set: (195): Base Team Sets: Coll, Geel Carl, Ess, St K, Rich, W. Bulldogs Other Teams:

WILL (SKILLED STADIUM)

DT10: Harvey/McIntosh DT11: Miller/Davey DT12: Motlop/Salopek DT13: Morton/Richardson DT14: Goodes/Hall DT15: Cox /LeCras DT16: Johnson/Griffen 7. Rookie Sensation Signatures (4): 1 : 144 packs

$50 $45 $45 $55 $50 $50 $55

RSS1: Aaron Joseph $60 RSS2: Dayne Beams $60 RSS3: David Zaharakis $60 RSS4: Liam Picken $60 8. Captain Signature Redemtion (7): 60 cards each Jonathan Brown, Chris Judd, Matthew Lloyd, Matthew Pavlich, Sam Mitchell, Brent Harvey, Nick Riewoldt. Not available. 9. 300 Game Case Card (2):

Dustin Fletcher, Doug Hawkins

$75 ea

14/7/09 2:36:03 PM

22/7/09 4:43:04 PM

A new species

of television is born

SamSung

Introducing the next evolution in television, the new Samsung LED range. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never seen anything like it. Visit samsung.com/tv to find out more.

W H AT YO U ’ R E T H I N K I N G

P L E D G I N G YO U R S U P P O R T

AFL fans: a summary of your views

Club membership hits new mark

The top-ﬁve things people love about going to the football:

The AFL this week released the final club membership figures for 2009, with a record 586,748 fans registered as members, a 2.2 per cent increase on last year’s total. “On behalf of the AFL, I wish to thank every single person across Australia who supports our game and who makes the commitment to join an AFL club,” AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said. “The last 12 months have been an extremely difficult period for so many families across the country in the current economic climate and we are grateful they continue to look towards Australian football as a primary source of enjoyment. “Our game’s health is entirely dependent on the support of the community, both for the AFL game and

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The atmosphere (cited by 70 per cent of fans) Watching their teams win (53 per cent) The crowd (35 per cent) Watching goals being kicked (25 per cent) Supporting their club (20 per cent)

Other reasons cited: the excitement (19 per cent), the experience, the ﬁrst bounce and watching players celebrate (10 per cent), good value, teamwork, watching their idols, the noise, interacting with the club mascots, enjoying a nice day out, value-for-money, seeing the players run through the banner, singing the club song after a win and analysing the tactics (5 per cent).

50-50

Fans were split on where they prefer to watch games from: the wing or behind the goals.

72%

Of the fans surveyed say they attend about 11 matches a year (excluding ﬁnals), or all their clubs’ home games.

14%

Say they go to the football around four or ﬁve times a season, with about 24 per cent attending between one and three games a year.

78% 84%

Of fans stay to the end, regardless of how their teams are going.

83%

Say they usually cheer loudly or in an animated style.

Of fans wear a scarf to games.

The things fans are annoyed by: ■

■ ■

Abusive/rude supporters (cited by 50 per cent of fans) When their team loses (32 per cent) Fans who criticise their own players (24 per cent)

Fans tend to most remember: ■

■ ■

Their ﬁrst game (cited by 60 per cent of fans) Grand Finals (30 per cent) When a player achieves a special milestone (10 per cent)

for community and regional football across the country, and the AFL is humbled by the passion and the dedication of football fans across the land.” Eight clubs including Hawthorn (up 26.7 per cent), Richmond (20 per cent), Brisbane Lions (9.4 per cent), Collingwood (8.2 per cent) and Carlton (7.7 per cent) enjoyed increases, with the Hawks now the No. 1 membership club in the League. Adelaide has the most adult members (35,665), West Coast the most members in the ‘concession’ category (5961) and Hawthorn the most juniors (14,375). Some 45 per cent of club members have a reserved seat. Fremantle, with 91 per cent of its members having their own seat, leads this category.

Club

Adults

Concessions

Juniors

Total Members

Adelaide

35,665

5069

5738

46,472

Brisbane Lions

18,055

2726

4092

24,873

Carlton

27,497

4003

10,908

42,408 45,972

Collingwood

32,388

4369

9215

Essendon

27,337

4215

8860

40,412

Fremantle

30,017

3631

5558

39,206

Geelong Cats

24,351

5497

7312

37,160

Hawthorn

33,833

4288

14,375

52,496 28,340

North Melbourne

17,734

3226

7380

Melbourne

23,541

2236

5729

31,506

Port Adelaide

24,105

2159

4341

30,605

Richmond

23,146

4322

9513

36,981

St Kilda

21,667

3806

6433

31,906

Sydney Swans

19,862

3187

3220

26,269

West Coast Eagles

33,648

5961

4318

43,927

Western Bulldogs

17,952

3875

6388

410,798

62,570

113,380

Totals

28,215 586,748

WATCH BEFORE THE GAME SATURDAY NIGHTS ON TEN

beforethegame.com.au LADDER ANDY DAVE LEHMO SAM MICK STRAUCHANIE

94 92 87 86 81 38

TIPSTERS

MICK Collingwood Geelong Cats Fremantle Brisbane Lions St Kilda Sydney Swans Essendon Port Adelaide

LEHMO Collingwood Hawthorn Fremantle Brisbane Lions St Kilda Sydney Swans Essendon Adelaide

DAVE Carlton Geelong Cats West Coast Eagles Brisbane Lions Western Bulldogs Sydney Swans Essendon Adelaide

STRAUCHANIE Carlton Hawthorn West Coast Eagles North Melbourne Western Bulldogs Melbourne Richmond Port Adelaide

SAM Collingwood Geelong Cats West Coast Eagles Brisbane Lions St Kilda Sydney Swans Essendon Adelaide

ANDY Carlton is week Geelong Cats special guest West Coast Eagles appearance by Brisbane Lions St Kilda LEON DAVIS Sydney Swans & CAMERON Essendon Adelaide LING

80 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au b4thgame_RD17.indd 1

AR17 p70-80 Fans.indd 80

22/7/09 11:58:50 AM

22/7/09 5:21:47 PM

Relive the game over a meal in the city. After the final siren, head into the city and relive every kick, tackle and goal over a meal or a beer. With so many great pubs, bars and restaurants, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find the perfect place to talk footy. And next week, why not kick off with a drink or bite to eat in the city before the game? For ideas on where to go, visit thatsmelbourne.com.au

COM0050/C

time on Answer man

AFL history guru Col Hutchinson answers your queries.

In round 15, the Dockers recorded their lowest score of 1.7 (13). How many times has each club scored only one goal in a game? FRASER GLASGOW, SCARBOROUGH, WA

CH: Of the 71 cases,

WRITE TO ANSWER MAN The Slattery Media Group 140 Harbour Esplanade Docklands, 3008 or email michaell@slatterymedia.com

NIGHTMARE: The scoreboard painted a grim picture for Fremantle in round 15 when it kicked just one goal, but the Dockers are well behind Carlton and St Kilda, who have achieved the dubious feat 17 times each.

P L AY E R I N F O R M AT I O N S E A R C H

Are you, or do you know, a descendant of former Carlton player Henry James Costan McPetrie? Born in Glasgow, Scotland, McPetrie played originally with West Beach, a St Kilda district club, before joining the Saints’ VFA team in 1895. After spending a year with Richmond City, he represented Carlton in its

p8 4

NAME GAME

Worth his salt

One-goal wonders

Carlton and St Kilda have featured 17 times, South Melbourne/Sydney nine, Essendon eight, Melbourne six, Collingwood and Fitzroy three, Geelong and Richmond two, and Fremantle, Hawthorn, West Coast and Western Bulldogs one. Adelaide, Brisbane, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide have avoided the ‘honour’. There have been just 11 examples since the 1927 Grand Final, when Collingwood 2.13 (25) defeated Richmond 1.7 (13) in extremely wet conditions.

NAB AF RISINGL STAR

first five matches at League level in 1897 as a half-forward fl anker/forward pocket. His most outstanding performance was in round two against South Melbourne at the Lake Oval when he booted both his career goals. He passed

away on November 1, 1937, at Castlemaine, aged about 61. If you have any information regarding McPetrie, including his date of birth, height and weight, call Col Hutchinson on (03) 9643 1929 or email col.hutchinson@aﬂ.com.au.

Port Adelaide’s Nick Salter (pictured) has a surname which has two possible origins. It could be an occupational name dating back to the 13th century. A salter was someone who extracted and/or sold salt – a very valuable commodity before comparatively modern times because it was used, before refrigeration, for preserving food, especially meat. In Roman times, soldiers were paid a salarium (“salt money”) with which to purchase salt – the origin of our word “salary”, as in “salary cap”. Salter could also be an occupational name for someone who played upon the psaltery (ultimately from the Greek psallein, “to pluck a stringed instrument”). A psaltery was a stringed instrument of the harp family. Salter, who has played three games for the Power since his debut last year, is the only player with this surname to have played League football. KEVAN CARROLL

82 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p82 Ask Col.indd 82

22/7/09 3:35:09 PM

timeon

NAB AFL RISING STAR

Coping with the hype Talented Eagle Chris Masten has had to overcome osteitis pubis and unrealistic expectations to make his mark with the Eagles in his second season. A NDR EW WA L L ACE

f Melbourne’s Jack Watts were seeking advice on dealing with great expectations, he could do worse than call West Coast’s Chris Masten, this week’s NAB AFL Rising Star nominee. Chosen at No. 3 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, Masten is lumped with the pressure of being the primary compensation in the trade of former Eagle superstar Chris Judd to Carlton. It is a heavy load to bear in a two-team, football-crazed city such as Perth, but the 20-year-old has learned to switch off when the negativity starts. “They say it’s a little ﬁshbowl over here, so you’re held pretty accountable,” Masten said. “You try not to listen a lot to the media, because people tend to bag you. A player like Chris Judd is one of the best ever, so it has been a little bit hard, but I’m just trying to be my own person and play good footy.” An under-18 All-Australian and West Australian captain, Masten is surprised at the amount of speculation concerning the likes of himself and Watts so early in their AFL careers. “Jack comes into the AFL system having just turned 18 and is trying to play a key-position role, so he’s got quite a bit of developing to do,” Masten said. “I’m a little bit similar – I’m quite light and I need to put a bit of weight on, and it’s really difﬁcult when you come in and it’s boys against men. I don’t really know where these expectations come from; they’re a bit ridiculous.” Escalating the problem is the

NAB AFL Rising Star nominees

EAGER EAGLE: Chris Masten ﬁres

oﬀ one of his 38 possessions against Port Adelaide last week.

Round 1 – Daniel Rich (BL) Round 2 – David Zaharakis (Ess) Round 3 – Patrick Dangerﬁeld (Adel) Round 4 – Jaxson Barham (Coll) Round 5 – Garry Moss (Haw) Round 6 – Stephen Hill (Frem) Round 7 – Jack Ziebell (NM) Round 8 – Jarryn Geary (StK) Round 9 – Andy Otten (Adel) Round 10 – Taylor Walker (Adel) Round 11 – Brad Dick (Coll) Round 12 – Aaron Joseph (Carl) Round 13 – Tayte Pears (Ess) Round 14 – Jack Grimes (Melb) Round 15 – Liam Jurrah (Melb) Round 16 – Chris Masten (WCE) FA S T FAC T S

Masten was an AIS-AFL Academy member alongside Bryce Gibbs (Carlton), Matthew Kreuzer (Carlton) and Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn) in 2005.

Chris Judd is one of the best ever, so it has been a little bit hard, but I’m just trying to be my own person and play good footy fact that only those in the inner sanctum know the entire truth of the situation. While questions have been asked of Masten’s kicking skills, it is worth noting the youngster has only just overcome a serious bout of osteitis pubis, with the full recovery from the surgery he undertook in 2008 expected to take up to two years.

“I’ve actually lost quite a bit of distance and power,” he said. “The main reason is that I haven’t been able to do a full pre-season, or any leg weights, or anything like that. “Especially late in games, I become quite fatigued and it feels like I’m kicking a sandbag, basically.” However, having averaged over 20 touches in 15 games in 2009 – including his stellar 38-possession effort against Port Adelaide last week – the outlook seems bright for Masten and the legions of Eagles fans waiting for the club’s next star midﬁelder to emerge.

2 Wears the same pair

of blue Speedos for every AFL game.

Is the sixth West Australian after Daniel Rich (Brisbane Lions), Garry Moss (Hawthorn), Stephen Hill (Fremantle), Brad Dick (Collingwood) and Tayte Pears (Essendon) to be nominated for the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star award.

Each week throughout the home and away season, a panel of judges will select the nominee for the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star. At the completion of the season, one outstanding player will be chosen as the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star winner. He will receive an investment folio, a dedicated personal banker, a financial planner and the Ron Evans Medal, all courtesy of the NAB. The NAB Rising Star award is the final stage of the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program, which supports grassroots players and football communities and helps young Australians fulfil their dream of playing in the AFL.

84 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p84 Rising Star.indd 84

22/7/09 4:03:06 PM

timeon

TALKING POINT

The lot of a tagger All we seek is close attention – and another scalp. THE PH A N TOM TAGGER*

hen my name is mentioned by supporters, even those from my own club, they often grimace like they’re last meal is repeating on them. They disdainfully refer to me as a ‘tagger’. Ever since political correctness went wild, I’ve much preferred the term ‘selfsacrificial nullification specialist’. My preparation, and anxiety, begins months before the AFL season even starts. Each October, when the fixture is released, I immediately pencil in the names of potential opponents. Where once they included Buckley, Hird, Voss, etc., now I’m pitted against current greats like Judd, Ablett and Cooney. The most recent addition to my list is Collingwood star Alan Didak. I watched Didak’s duel with his Hawthorn minder, Ben McGlynn, with great interest. Under close attention, Didak lost the plot. I rubbed my hands together. “A-ha!” I exclaimed. “There’s the chink in the armour.” Yep, McGlynn did us taggers (for brevity, I’ll use that insidious term) a great service in showing us which buttons to push. Before that, we didn’t even know where the buttons were! Better get used to it, ‘Dids’. Every team will niggle you now because they know you can be sucked in. McGlynn didn’t seem to do anything over-the-top or untoward, either; he just bumped and baited Didak – and beat him at his own game, winning 18 touches to 17 and even sneaking forward to kick a goal. Such an enterprising approach to tagging was not the norm when I started in the AFL in the mid-1990s. Back then, many taggers got away with having limited ability because they didn’t have to worry about getting the ball. In those less-civilised times, some even resorted to

ME AND MY SHADOW:

Alan Didak (rear) had Ben McGlynn for close company last week.

I watched Didak’s duel with Ben McGlynn with great interest. Under close attention, Didak lost the plot. I rubbed my hands together. “A-ha!” I exclaimed. “There’s a chink in the armour” dubious tactics to get the job done (punching, pinching, squirrel gripping, ankle-tapping, scratching, etc.) and it gave the rest of us a bad name. Like many taggers, I’ve been bagged as a blight on the game – a talentless hack. Although I couldn’t hit a barn with my helicopter drop-punts, I disagree. I’m highly skilled, but in different areas.

I didn’t want this to be my lot. I wanted to be a glamour player: a line-breaking midﬁelder, or a high-leaping forward. But very early I realised I would go further trying to be more meticulous than miraculous. As a result, I’m exceptional in my preparation, work ethic, knowledge of the opposition, discipline, concentration, teamorientation, hardness, courage,

communication, endurance, body positioning ... to name a few. I reckon if certain gifted under-performers added some of my qualities to their repertoire, they’d be world-beaters. The best way to stop the actual world-beaters is to win the ball yourself. But as Clint Eastwood’s fictional character Dirty Harry observed, “A man’s gotta know his limitations”, so I focus on negating. To this end, I’ve trained myself to sprint without having to pump my arms – so I can keep them around my opponent’s waist. As much as I study their play, I also study their personal lives to glean any information I might be able to use against them at the most opportune moment. But you have to pick your mark because, like the nursery rhyme, words don’t hurt some players. In fact, the more you question their gender or bag their girlfriend, the better they play. Ironically, sometimes I’m the one who loses the plot when they say I’m “nothing but a tagger”. I always try to antagonise them into a wrestle, because then they’re doing my job for me. Thankfully, my manager was savvy enough to have it written into my contract that I’m exempt from paying wrestling fines – the club picks up the tab! Tagging is a stressful occupation – not only is my opponent capable of winning the games off his own boot, but his teammates are hell-bent on taking me out. But it’s very rewarding, too. When I win my duel, I’m praised and maybe even steal a Brownlow vote (even though I haven’t touched the ball 10 times). And when I fail, the general consensus is my teammates didn’t help enough – and don’t I let them know it! *A fictitious account of a lonely existence.

86 AFL RECORD visit aﬂrecord.com.au

AR17 p86 Column.indd 86

22/7/09 3:34:38 PM

TOY8704_FOOT.pdf

Page

29/6/09,

5:10

LET’S USE OUR ENERGY TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT. PLANT A TREE FOR TREE DAY. Perhaps you’re a Prius person. If you are, you’ll certainly know that Toyota has a long history of caring for the

James Hird

environment. With innovations like hybrid technology, we’ve been lowering emissions and increasing fuel efficiency for over a decade. Hybrid technology will soon be available for Camry. It’s just one more way we can help, along with our continuing sponsorship of National Tree Day. It’s everyone’s chance to help create a better tomorrow, so on Sunday 2nd August, do your bit and plant a tree.

TOY8704/FOOT

toyota.com.au/treeday