AFL Record, Round 1, 2011 by The Slattery Media Group

THE ART OF LEADERSHIP ROUND 1, 2011 MARCH 24-27 $5 (INC. GST)

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE TH HE AFL AFL FL GAME GA G AME

P24 inside

THE REBUILDING OF COLLINGWOOD

P82

DARREN MILBURN: AGE IS NOT AN ISSUE

Injury-free, Dean Cox sets his sights on teaching and playing ямБnals again

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round 1, march 24-27, 2011

CONTENTS NO HANGOVER:

Dale Thomas and his Collingwood teammates are up to the challenge of defending their crown.

BRING IT ON

Collingwood is now the hunted after its 2010 premiership triumph. PETER RYAN discovers the Magpies plan to stay ahead of the pack through sheer hard work.

featuresregulars 28 Captains’ call

Meet the men who will lead your club in 2011.

82 Darren Milburn

A veteran Cat gets another life and he’s loving it.

88 Dean Cox West Coast’s star star ruckman is ﬁ t and ready to ﬁre again. gain.

Backchat

The Bounce

37 Matchday 62 Dream Team 96 Answer Man 98 Kids’ Corner 100 NAB AFL Rising Star Why David Swallow ﬁ ts the bill.

102 Talking Point

T Hopkins on who will win Ted tthe premiership.

THIS WEEK’S COVER The AFL’s captains gathered in Melbourne recently, spending a day getting to know each other and discussing the season ahead. Turn to page 28 for a report on the new breed of AFL club leaders.

we would like to welcome 17 more captains to the air. Virgin Blue. The official airline and proud sponsor of the AFL virginblue.com.au

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EDITOR’S LETTER

New wave of leaders

» Success in pursuits such SOLIDARITY: The Roos are set to

ﬁre, according to a reader.

Time running out for Saints

North sold short again

As a St Kilda supporter, I’m extremely proud of all Ross Lyon and the boys have achieved in the past two seasons. Three Grand Final appearances is a great effort in anyone’s book. And with just a tad more luck in either year, we’d be proudly showing off our second – or even third – premiership cup. But I can’t help but feel we’re running out of chances – and quickly. Lenny Hayes is now 31 and Nick Riewoldt is 28, and both are unlikely to get any better. So the time is now, Sainters. Let’s ﬁnish the job we started in ’09. MURRAY JOHNS, CHELTENHAM, VIC.

GENERAL MANAGER, COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS Darren Birch AFL CORPORATE BUSINESS MANAGER Richard Simkiss AFL RECORD MANAGING EDITOR Geoﬀ Slattery AFL RECORD EDITOR Peter Di Sisto

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What a surprise hardly anyone has picked North Melbourne to finish in the top eight this year. Nearly everyone in the media is so fixated with North’s finances they think the team itself is made of similarly slim pickings. But North has quietly been building such a talented and well-balanced list that soon a lot of people are going to be left with egg on their faces. MICHAEL WARREN, HENLEY BEACH, SA.

It’s time, Tigers

As a long-suffering Richmond supporter, I reckon I’ve put up with my share of football pain

over the years. With a young side, I’m not expecting miracles in 2011. But I do expect to see improvement. Too many times we’ve promised so much at the start of a season and gone backwards. Please, not this year. ROGER CLARINGBOLD, PORT FAIRY, VIC.

HAVE YOUR SAY

The best letter each round will receive the 2011 AFL Record Season Guide. Email aﬂrecordeditor@ slatterymedia.com or write to AFL Record, Slattery Media Group, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, VIC, 3008.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR PRODUCTION EDITOR Andrew Hutchison Michael Lovett WRITERS DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Nick Bowen, Ashley Browne, Sam Russell Ben Collins, Paul Daﬀ ey, George DESIGNERS Farrugia, Katrina Gill, Ted Hopkins, Alison Wright, Daniel Frawley Ian Kenins, Glenn McFarlane, Murray Middleton, Jason Phelan, Peter Ryan, PHOTO EDITORS Nathan Schmook, Callum Twomey, Natalie Boccassini, Ginny Pike Andrew Wallace, Miles Wilkes PRODUCTION MANAGER Troy Davis SUB-EDITORS Gary Hancock, Howard Kotton, PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Michael Stevens Stephen Lording STATISTICIAN DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Callum Senior Cameron Sinclair

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as sport or business requires a range of elements, but it’s unlikely any organisation can prosper without strong leadership. On the eve of the competition’s 115th season, Ashley Browne spent time with the AFL club captains, seeking what it is that makes a good leader and how the new captains are likely to handle their roles. His story starting on page 28 also explains how clubs are taking a new approach to appointing skippers. Leadership is a theme of several of the feature stories in this edition, with West Coast champion Dean Cox talking about his desire to teach young prospect Nic Naitanui about the art of ruckwork – and lead the Eagles back to the fi nals. Next weekend will be a historic one for the AFL when its 17th club, the Gold Coast Suns, plays their fi rst home and away match, against Carlton at the Gabba. Look for the commemorative edition of the AFL Record featuring Gold Coast players on the cover, a round-table interview with club leaders, including coach Guy McKenna and captain Gary Ablett, as they prepare for their debut, plus profiles and head shots of every player on the club list. 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. 100, ROUND 1, 2011 Copyright. ACN No. 004 155 211. ISSN 1444-2973, Print Post approved PP320258/00109

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JONATHAN BROWN

The Lions skipper is leaner and ﬁtter than ever.

CARLTON 1981-82

Ken Hunter’s take on the Blues’ back-to-back ﬂ ags.

2001 DRAFT

A look at the ‘super draft’ 10 years on.

Moving to the backline, I knew there were a lot of ﬂaws in my defensive game

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David Astbury, p10

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THE

ON GUARD: Collingwood

players trek through the Arizona mountains.

PHOTO: COLLINGWOODFC.COM.AU

Taking the pre-season to new heights IAN KENINS

hen Collingwood’s Des Tuddenham showed up for pre-season training in 1962, his debut season with the club, it was January and conditioning involved a few laps of a local park before a 30-minute kick-to-kick session. Last November, little more than six weeks after parading the 2010 premiership cup around the MCG, Collingwood players were hiking up mountains in sub-zero temperatures in

Arizona, preparing for a season still ﬁve months away. Changes to pre-season training reﬂect the AFL’s evolution into professionalism. Tuddenham was one of a few training trendsetters who ran through the summer months under the guidance of professional trainers such as John Toleman. At the end of the 1969 season, Tuddenham was joined by ruckman teammate Len Thompson. For several days a week, the pair would

sprint every second furlong (about 200m) around Caulﬁ eld racetrack. Thompson went from being a player at the crossroads to winning the Brownlow Medal in 1972. Tuddenham crossed over to Essendon in 1972 as playing-coach, introducing weights and boxing sessions to the pre-season schedule. “I knew we’d beat Footscray in that ﬁrst round because we’d run away from them,” he said. The Bombers did, by 61 points, and

went on to play in the ﬁnals after a dismal 1971 season. Pre-season training camps are not new. In the early 1960s, Geelong players were put through a weekend regime devised by legendary ﬁ tness trainer Percy Cerutty. Former Geelong rover Bill Goggin remembers Cerutty sending players on endurance runs along beaches and sprints up sand dunes, as well as educating the team on related topics. AFL RECORD

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NEWSTRACKER Western Bulldog Ryan Hargrave has been placed on the club’s long-term injury list.

“He’d explain to us the importance of a good diet, and going as hard as we possibly could to get above the pain. It wasn’t a shock to my system, but it was to some others,” said Goggin, who was also an accomplished amateur runner. Goggin said hiring Cerutty was coach Bob Davis’ idea. “Before that, we used to get to training in early March for two nights a week and play five practice matches of ‘Probables’ versus ‘Possibles’ and that was it. Percy’s training made us fitter and stronger and gave us an edge.” And results, with Geelong taking out the 1963 premiership. When Goggin became coach of Footscray in 1975, he introduced pre-season camps in Anglesea on Victoria’s south-west coast. “We’d leave on a Friday and get back on Sunday. Players had to work at their jobs back then,” he said. Goggin also made weight training compulsory, although to do so, the players had to use a gym in a neighbouring suburb as the club had no such facilities then. Goggin, who coached Geelong from 1980-82, said coaches in the 1970s were largely responsible for devising pre-season programs. “We never had a fitness person as such, but we had a visiting advisor in the 1980s,” he said. Geelong was one of several clubs that held camps at the Cerberus naval base on Victoria’s south coast. “We probably thought we trained hard but, compared to now, probably not,” Goggin said. Geelong football manager and former Richmond forward and ruckman Neil Balme is under no illusions pre-season training is now taken a lot more seriously. “I started in January 1969 and we went to the Gold Coast for a little bit of training,” he said. “I was only 17 at the time and didn’t drink, but the older guys would have had a few beers.” By the early 1970s, Richmond players met just once before a year’s end to be given what Balme said was a pretty simplistic schedule outlining running requirements. Realising he needed to do more, Balme joined the likes 8

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ON YOUR MARKS:

Hawthorn’s Jarryd Roughead goes through his paces in preparation for the 2011 season.

of Tuddenham and Thompson Balme was football manager “and even a few recalcitrant at Collingwood from 1998-2006 types like Sam Kekovich and and said the arrival of fi tness Barry Goodingham (from North advisor David Buttifant was Melbourne)” under the tutelage “a revelation”. of Toleman at Caulfield. The former Richmond Balme also admitted that, player with a PhD in exercise as a coach (of Norwood and physiology introduced Woodville-West Torrens in the high-altitude training at SANFL and Collingwood Melbourne in in 2005. the AFL), he The twoplaced greater week camp at emphasis on the Northern pre-season Arizona training than University he did as a facility player, with exposes one proviso. “I players was a believer to harsh in specificity. conditions Blokes hate (-35 Celsius DAVID BUTTIFANT training when and 150km there’s no footy winds), “so we involved and have to pay a you need to practise with the pretty strong diligence to what ball,” he said. we do, exposing them to those Balme said pre-season conditions,” Buttifant said. training developed even further “You can de-saturate at when he coached Melbourne 2000m (above sea level) and, (from 1993-97). “It was much when your oxygen levels start more individual driven with to drop below 15 per cent, you personal programs for each can get quite sick. We have to player,” he said. monitor players beforehand

We have to monitor players beforehand and tweak the program to suit individuals

and tweak the program to suit individuals.” During the camp, players take part in normal skills training, speed, agility and weights programs, mountain bike riding, and a nine-hour trek to the base of the nearby Grand Canyon and a 3850m hike to the summit of Mt Humphrey. Buttifant said high-altitude training increases red blood cells that carry greater oxygen, improving strength and performance. “That means players don’t need to work as hard, which accelerates their training responses and effects. “The training model is prioritised to have players fi ring on all cylinders in the latter part of the season,” he said. Buttifant was reluctant to explain exactly how that works, only adding, “What we ultimately look at is performance characteristics. A two-to-fi ve per cent change at the elite level of sport is very signifi cant.” Increased fitness is not the only rationale for these expensive exercises. Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans said the club’s recruits came back from the 2011 pre-season camp in New Zealand “feeling like they’d been around forever. It really accelerates their transition into the group”. Coaches cite the rise of young players demonstrating leadership skills. Three AFL clubs trained pre-season in New Zealand’s adventure capital Queenstown, with players tackling daredevil pursuits such as bungy jumping, the purpose being to confront fear or, with other exercises, pain. Heath Shaw described Collingwood’s 2011 pre-season camp as being twice as hard as previous years to prove the players were still committed to the cause of winning fl ags. Neil Balme said: “The camps have nothing to do with fitness. Some clubs just like to take the players out of their normal environment. Plus the (new) environment leads to different experiential things, which is mental training as much as anything else. But does that help you play footy – who knows?”

NEWSTRACKER Josh Drummond, Mitch Clark and Tom Rockliff added to the Lions’ leadership group, joining Jonathan Brown, Daniel Merrett and J ed Adcock.

LIGHTER, STRONGER

Lean Brown ready to take on fresh challenge KATRINA GILL

t’s a brave man who tells burly Brisbane Lions skipper Jonathan Brown he needs to lose weight, but that’s what Brett Burton did when he was appointed the club’s physical performance manager in September. It wasn’t Burton’s indiscreet way of telling Brown he had overindulged during his post-season break, but rather a recommendation based on a simple – and as it turns out, common – theory about the AFL’s new substitute rule. Exactly how the new rule he game will affect the game mysttery. remains a mystery. ell the th he Will it spell econ nd end of the second Willit, it, ruckman? Will hopees, as the AFL hopes, leess contribute too less will congestion? Orr will havve the changes have the oppositee effect and encourage f the return of flooding latee in quarters because da players need rest? Nobody ure,, knows for sure, but one thingg iss ayerrs certain – players are going to mee on spend less time on ngee the interchange bench and n more time on s the groundthis this season. Applying aidee one of Adelaide Craiig’s coach Neil Craig’s yings, “A favourite sayings, s fat blowfly iss a slow nlyyin in blowfly” – only

reverse – former Crow Burton devised a training program designed to help his players lose weight and improve their running capacity. “Aerobically, the players are going to need to be better this season because of the rule change and the less weight you carry around, the easier it is for you to run around,” Burton said. “This pre-season we’ve adopted a high-intensity, game-specific training program to help with that (weight loss) and our weights program has changed, too.” The trend is a shift away from the old-school belief that bigger is better, and is apparent across the competition. At Fremantle, Kepler Bradley dropped 3kg in preparation for another season as the club’s second ruckman, while Melbourne’s Stefan Martin shed 7kg in his bid to be more mobile. Midfielders have also caught on; Port Adelaide star Robbie Gray losing 2kg. Brown dropped 4kg since the start of pre-season training (he’s officially listed in the 2011 AFL RecordSeasonGuid Season Guidee at 104kg Record t heyear yearrabout but will start the 100k g), but any defender defee 100kg), in thii the competition thinking he be aa pushover pushover should s will be think again. st “He’s still very strong ... all his strength measures tha a indicate that,” Burton said. sa a “Bee a key “Being forr forward, he’s rrequired to put a lot of pressure on n in the forw w forward line t keep to try to the ball in in n there. “We’ve tried triee to get “We’ve leaner for forr that him leaner b role and also because ha to he’s going to have more time tim m on the spend more ress of that ground as a result rotatio o one less rotation.” STREAM-LINED LION:

Brisbane skipper Jonathan Brown has dropped four kilograms over the pre-season, but will be no pushover for opponents.

Clubs turn to video as a training tool » As recently as 10 years ago,

AFL clubs would train without anyone filming the session from behind the goals. Perhaps a football department staffer would be operating a hand-held camera on the wing, but certainly not all the time. Now, behind-the-goal footage is a key teaching tool and it is rare for an AFL club to put players through their paces without the camera rolling from above. Fremantle, with 33 players in its first-to-fourth-year academy group, operates up to three cameras for every training session, with some focusing on structures, including defensive zones, and others honing in on specific players. Assistant coach Simon Lloyd, who manages the club’s development academy, believes a combination of new technology and the introduction of intricate game-plans has made the video revolution both possible and necessary. “It’s gone up 10-fold,” Lloyd says of the use of video in training since he arrived at Fremantle at the end of 2009. “It’s as much an education tool for the players as anything. “You’re trying to create a learning environment and video is a great tool for that. It’s almost like an apprenticeship or a university course in a way.” Following a typical training session at Fremantle Oval, footage is cut, coded based on different match situations – “when we have the ball, when they have the ball and when it’s in dispute” – and then made available for players to view, either independently or alongside a coach. “If we train in the morning, it will be ready that afternoon to look at, and if we train in the evening, it’s there the following day,” Lloyd says. Clubs are also embracing real-time teaching through video, with West Coast setting

up a suite on the boundary line at its training sessions where footage is relayed immediately for players to view. It is the behind-the-goals perspective that is a key for coaches. Fremantle commissioned a crane and a staffer to capture the desired footage of its NAB Challenge clash with the Western Bulldogs in Bunbury this pre-season, while one AFL club has previously investigated building a second coach’s box behind the goals. Lloyd is an ardent fan of technology as a teaching tool – particularly behind-the-goals footage – but even he is wary of taking a good thing too far. “You don’t want paralysis by analysis, but you want to get the key messages across,” he says. “We don’t want every coach sitting in front of the computer breaking down the game. “With new technology, yes, it’s important to embrace it, but it’s also important to make sure you’re addressing the needs of the player and their learning preferences.” Lloyd recounts a story about Hawthorn goalkicking hero Peter Hudson, who was asked to help a player with his set-shot kicking. Hudson instructed the player to meet him at Glenferrie Oval early in the morning and proceeded to teach him based on where his footsteps were left in the morning dew. “It’s come a long way since then, but that is innovative and he (Hudson) was very much about that straight-line principle,” Lloyd says. “He could tell whether that player was running in a straight line towards his target or actually veering. “There’s an argument to say that is a great teaching tool, and the benefi ts might be equivalent to sitting down in a suite going through vision. There are benefits to both.” NATHAN SCHMOOK

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NEWSTRACKER Melbourne to expand ‘Read and Write Like A Demon’, its literacy program for primary school children.

TRACKING A PRE-SEASON

David Astbury: A Tiger on the rise

BULKING UP: David Astbury

has built up to 92kg, without aﬀecting his pace.

David Astbury had a promising start to his career in 2010, playing 17 games and looking assured at the top level. But the young Richmond defender wasn’t satisﬁ ed. The Tigers allowed the AFL Record’s C A L L U M T W O M E Y to track Astbury over the pre-season as he worked to take his game to the next level.

avid Astbury had a successful pre-season. He managed his body well enough to avoid injury, and progressively ticked off personal goals – he wanted to get bigger, faster and learn his craft as a defender – before round one of the season. His was a summer without glitch. By monitoring Astbury’s pre-season, we were given an insight into how a typical summer campaign unfolds: it is tough, relentless and tightly managed, often to the minute. Astbury was able to cope. Last year, he started his career as a forward, but by the end of the season had cemented a spot as a tall defender. His hands are strong, his skills are better than good and, most importantly, he’s smart. That third quality is evident when we meet either in person, at the club or over lunch, or speak on the phone, to gauge his latest developments. Astbury, who turned just 20 last month and is studying for an engineering degree at Swinburne University, is careful to not get ahead of himself. He knows now the challenge is translating the work he did during pre-season by making an impact on the ﬁ eld. Noticeably, the training has changed Astbury physically.

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The biggest challenge was the mental battle of feeling I was falling behind in the rehab group DAVID ASTBURY

I had caught up with him last August, but by December, the next time we met, his body shape had changed signifi cantly. The laid-back demeanour and the blond hair remain, with fringe inclined from left to right – a trait that earned him the nickname ‘Swoop’ at the club after teammate Brett Deledio noticed Astbury’s fringe swoops across his forehead – but he’s built up remarkably. Coach Damien Hardwick says he is looking forward to seeing how Astbury copes as a key defender, and Astbury spent every day of the pre-season – 148 – working towards that aim. When he runs out against Carlton for the first match of the season in his first game in the No. 12 jumper, the rest of us

will get a glimpse of how far he has progressed. “I can’t wait,” he says.

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, R,, 2010

OCT

NOV

Sixty-seven days after Astbury ury played his last game of 2010, he was back at Punt Road Oval at the first training session of the 2011 campaign. Football never stops, so they say, but for more than two months Astbury was able to reflect on his fi rst season at AFL level. Reflection at top-level sport, however, can be dangerous if not handled well. For Astbury, and the other fi rstto-third year Tigers, the next challenge awaited. He knew what he wanted – and needed – to do.

Astbury’s fi rst month of training, from October 27 through to the end of November, was limited due to a hip arthroscopy, which meant his work on the track was restricted mainly to straight-line running. “There was a fair bit of a volume I had to get into my legs before I could start training with the main group,” he says. The workload is nevertheless strenuous. Astbury is at the club every day, and on Richmond’s main training days – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – he spends more than nine hours at the club. Every day, bar Wednesdays, the players do weights, and on weekends cross-training, including swimming or bike riding, are instituted partly to help break the monotony. With a focus on power-based running, strength, jumping and foot skills, Astbury is “pretty happy” with how his pre-season is going. “Last year, my playing weight was about 85-86kg and at the moment I’m fl uctuating between 91-92kg, so if I hang on to a lot of that weight and still move freely, I’ll be tracking well,” Astbury says when we meet at a St Kilda café. Astbury’s November was also marked by a key moment on an individual level, when Tigers icon Matthew Richardson announced to a packed gymnasium at Richmond’s Punt Road headquarters that Astbury had been chosen to take over the No. 12 jumper Richardson wore until he retired at the end of 2009. Humbled, Astbury told the crowd he has “an obligation now to represent the number as best I can”. The month’s block of training ended overseas, with the club holding a fi ve-day camp in Wellington, New Zealand. Players were split into six groups, doing daily challenges such as canoeing, cycling and even farming activities, something Astbury should have excelled at considering he grew up on a wheat farm in Tatyoon, a tiny country town in Victoria’s west. “My group actually won that challenge,” he says with a laugh.

NEWSTRACKER Jeanne Pratt, wife of the late Richard Pratt, joins the Carlton board.

DECEMBER R

DEC

After the New wZealan Zealand trip, the first week of December was used to get the players back into the routine of training and, the following two weeks, Astbury says, “were the two biggest loading weeks of the pre-season so far”. Through this period, the formula for the main training days is a 60-80-minute skills session followed by a 20-minute conditioning set. He manages to keep up with training, despite the hip setback. “The biggest challenge was the mental battle of feeling I was falling behind being in the rehab group after the hip operation, but since I’ve come back, it’s been really pleasing,” he says. Richmond uses its sessions with dual intentions: within its match simulation it embeds all its fitness work. No session is done without the game style as priority, and players spend most of December doing game-related drills. Emphasis is placed on efficient movement of the ball from one end of the ground to the other.

Christmas with his parents and “On the flipside,” Astbury says, three sisters. He spends several “when we haven’t got the ball, nights over the New Year period we’ve put a big focus on turning in Noosa. it over as early as we can.” He needs the break to recover In setting his sights on from the tough becoming a two-week key position block, but still defender, spends about Astbury has 45 minutes been learning each day his craft by keeping partnering in shape. Coleman Two months medallist Jack down, and Riewoldt. Astbury has “Jack went worked out a to Ireland and simple way thought he was of getting a bit behind DAVID ASTBURY through the when he got in pain barrier: the gym, so he “I never look to the end of the asked me if we could pair up and session because I know it’s just we’ve done that,” he says. p got to finish at some point.” “And when we’re doing marking, he’s always got JAN JANUARY, 20111 pointers on how to manoeuvre your opponent or lose them in Richmond returns n sfrom from itssi t a contest.” break on January 5 with a set of The players finish their time-trials, and though Astbury football commitments on starts the day with an ear December 21, and after infection, he ranks among the spending 2010 living with a host best of the taller players. family in Coburg in Melbourne’s He has improved his overall northern suburbs, Astbury heads fitness and strength, in line back to Tatyoon to celebrate with his aims at the start of the

Moving to the backline, I knew there were a lot of ﬂaws in my defensive game

pre-season. In a live chat on richmondfc.com.au, the Tigers’ elite performance manager Matt Hornsby says Astbury had put on more weight than any player at the club. “He’s really improved his strength and size, with the ambition of becoming a key position player,” Hornsby says. Astbury is pleased when the club ofﬁcially lists him at 92kg, especially since his speed hasn’t suffered. “It was a big goal of mine to get above 90kg consistently, and putting on weight in my legs has helped me, but I don’t think I’ve lost anything as a result of the extra weight,” he says. Astbury’s improvement is underlined in late January when he is asked to play a role in the club’s leadership group this year. Although not an ofﬁ cial member of the six-man team, captain Chris Newman requests Astbury sits in meetings after the youngster receives positive feedback from his peers. “We did the voting and I sat outside the group of six after getting a few votes from the guys,” Astbury says. “Newman said I’ll be able to sit in and

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NEWSTRACKER Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis named Hawthorn’s vice-captains for this year.

partake in particular meetings and get involved with the group, so it’s something I’m really looking forward to.” With the club scheduled to play the Aboriginal All-Stars in Darwin on February 5, Astbury says the last two weeks of January are the toughest of the pre-season campaign to date, but remaining enthusiastic about the season to come is easy. “In those last two weeks, we spent more time than any stage of the pre-season on the track and had a lot of running sessions,” he says. “The lead-up to Christmas is just a battle of getting through to the break, but once you get back to the club, you get yourself primed to play.” F

Diet and sleep were keys

HUMBLED:

David Astbury was thrilled to receive the No. 12 jumper from retired Tiger great Matthew Richardson.

» In aiming to put on weight,

David Astbury’s diet was loaded with carbohydrates. On a normal day during pre-season, Astbury would have six meals, plus four protein shakes. On rotation, his meals alss would consist of: » Pasta » Sandwiches » Rice dishes His sleeping patterns ns were also pivotal. Astbury would rise at 6.30am every day, having gone to bed before 10pm. Generally, he was exhausted after training and was able to get at least eight hours of sleep each night, keeping him fresh for the next day’s session.

FEBRUARY-MARCH H

MAR

Even though inclement weather weather leads to the All-Stars match being cancelled, Richmond gets back into game mode in February. During the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge series, training is structured with a focus on games, the sessions tapering off as matches approach. Astbury continues his build-up to round one with an impressive ﬁ rst-round NAB Cup effort against Collingwood and Carlton. He is particularly impressive against the Blues, when he picks up 12 touches in the 40-minute game. It’s something he wants to continue.

“Moving to the backline, I knew there were a lot of fl aws in my defensive game that I needed to iron out, and that has been a big focus for me over the pre-season,” Astbury says. “But now I’ve started to improve defensively, the coaches think I have the tools to play a more attacking role, so I’m hoping to get a lot more possessions this year. “I have to find a bit more of a balance.” With an eye on fi tness management, it’s rare players

take part in all pre-season ﬁxtures. Astbury plays in three of Richmond’s four hit-outs, having a well-earned rest for the Port Adelaide contest in Alice Springs. A unique aspect of Richmond’s pre-season is its head-to-head training with Hawthorn. The clubs’ younger players squared off at the Hawks’ Waverley Park headquarters in February. Astbury says the session was more about ﬁ ne-tuning

plans than playing full-on practice matches. “We did set-ups at stoppages and then they (the Hawks) tried theirs and then we’d just play it out. The coaches gave us different scenarios, like what to do when we turn the footy over in the back half and what to do to move the ball out, while they had to try and shut us down,” Astbury says. “It was about seeing how our plans held up against theirs.”

When they’re not playing... PLAYER

Favourite TV show:Who inspires you:Coach’s favourite saying:Best book read:

Nick Dal Santo St Kilda

Sons of AnarchyFamily

Jordan Russell Carlton

EntourageMy grandpa“Big ticket item.”

Matthew Hayden’s autobiography

Andrew Embley West Coast

Any of the cooking shows

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

Brent Moloney Melbourne

EntourageJim Stynes“Let’s go after ’em.”Roy Keane’s autobiography

AFL RECORD

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“ Nick, any chance of you defending?”

My wife“Wake up, ‘Kerry’!”

Robbie Williams’ biography

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z O f o t s e B & the THE BALL THE CROWD ROARED AS OF THE NET. ROCKETED INTO THE BACK

E GROUND, SPECKY COLLAPSED ON TH ILIATED. FEELING USELESS AND HUM

OUT OF HIS HE HAD NEVER FELT SO ELD . . . DEPTH ON A SPORTING FI This trip to Ireland is no holiday and Specky will have to dig deep to face the biggest challenge of his life!

I wish Specky would hurry up and get drafted. The Tigers would love to have him… Matthew Richardson

speckymagee.com.au

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NEWSTRACKER Fremantle places young midﬁ elder Anthony Morabito on long-term injury list. N

OPENING ROUND HEROES

Stars from day one MILES WILKES

here have been some notable round-one efforts from players making their debuts. Two of the most remarkable were by Essendon’s John Coleman in 1949 and Richmond’s Royce Hart in 1967. Coleman, aged 20, kicked 12 goals in his first match. The heading of The Age’s back page the following day said it all: ‘Coleman Essendon Star’. “Seldom, if ever, has a fullforward made such a sensational beginning. Everything points to him being the best full-forward since the era of Coventry, Vallence, Mohr, Pratt and Todd,” wrote Percy Beames. “Coleman kicked 12.2 from 15 shots. Some were from 60 yards out, and acute angles. His unusually fast leads, clean marking and accurate kicking were the attributes of a future champion full-forward. At the end of the game, hundreds of small boys stormed the ground and thronged around Coleman for his autograph,” he said. Coleman was the VFL’s leading goalkicker in his debut season and won the Bombers’ best and fairest award. Hart was 19 in his fi rst League match and kicked three goals. The Age’s Greg Hobbs was glowing in his review of the new Richmond forward. “The fine debut of full-forward Royce Hart must have been very encouraging for the Tigers. Hart is an outstanding mark – he took 10 on Saturday. He looks to have a big career ahead,” he wrote. When interviewed after the match, Hart said: “My fi rst League game, my life’s ambition, came as a pleasant surprise. I didn’t get hammered as much as I expected, although there was one clash in the last quarter. “Last year, I watched the seniors playing and I thought I would never be with them. But there I was and I wanted the ball to come to me quickly. I had confidence in my own ability for two reasons –

BALL MAGNET:

Fremantle’s Paul Hasleby had 30 disposals in his ﬁ rst AFL game in 2000.

experience with Richmond under-19s and reserves and body-building exercises.” Hart was the missing component for the Tigers. Richmond had not made the finals for 20 years, yet in his fi rst season, it won the premiership. Hart was the Tigers’ leading goalkicker that year, with 55. His three goals in the Grand Final were kicked after he took contested marks, a trait that became a feature of his game. Others to make great debuts in round one matches include St Kilda’s Carl Ditterich in 1963, Footscray’s Gary Dempsey and Fitzroy’s John Murphy (1967), Carlton’s Peter Bosustow (1981), Hawthorn’s John Platten (1986) and Fremantle’s Paul Hasleby (2000). Ditterich was 17 and fi nished best on ground against the powerhouse Melbourne. “(The game) was all a blur, really, and I was pretty lucky that Melbourne weren’t overblessed with big, strong, tall blokes; I suppose really I just had a purple patch that day,” he said. “I didn’t have a lot of skill, football-wise, but I had a lot of endurance, could run, and had a lot of pace for a big man, so I could almost be an on-baller to a degree.”

Most 18-year-old ruckmen would have been intimidated if their ﬁrst-up task was to take on the team that won the previous year’s premiership. Luckily for Dempsey, his task was made easier as Ditterich (who had missed the 1966 Grand Final) was out due to suspension and Alan Morrow had retired. This left two relatively inexperienced ruckmen in Des Kennedy and Geoff Cayzer for Dempsey to combat. Dempsey, however, was not starting League football as a thin, beanpole ruckman. “I was never worried about playing footy. I was a farmer’s son and was already physically strong due to working on the farm,” Dempsey said recently. Footscray lost but Dempsey kicked one goal and was the dominant ruckman. He was well on his way to becoming a genuine star, his toughness, durability, strength and exceptional marking ability coming to the fore. Murphy, 17, made his debut against Carlton, the club his son Marc now plays for. He was among the Lions’ best. “Even though I was a youngster, I was physically and mentally ready to play, as the year

before I had played first grade for Heidelberg against men in the Diamond Valley League,” he said. Murphy remembers his call-up to senior action. “I was at a mate’s place on the Thursday night and they called my name on League Teams. In those days, you weren’t told if you made the team after training. I remember I ran home to tell the old man after I found out,” he said. Murphy went on to win six best and fairest awards for Fitzroy and South Melbourne. Bosustow was already a WAFL star when he came to Carlton aged 23. Richmond was the defending premier, but its defence was made to look pedestrian against Bosustow’s magic. He kicked two goals and had a role in six others in his fi rst match. Platten was also 23 when he played his first VFL match, against Carlton, the team that had almost secured his services. He was rated best on ground in his debut match, with 24 possessions, one goal and two Brownlow Medal votes. “Digging in under packs appears to be his speciality. Had he dug any deeper yesterday he may have provided Carlton with a most welcome hole in which to bury itself,” Garry Linnell wrote in The Age. Hasleby, at 18, had 30 disposals (a game-high) in his debut match, against Geelong, and went in to win the AFL Rising Star award that season.

» The national anthem will be played before the start of each game this round as part of the AFL’s push to place greater emphasis on the opening round. The eight ‘home’ teams will introduce a club legend, who will carry the match football to the middle of the ground. Highlights of each legend’s career will be shown on scoreboards, with emphasis also placed on the ﬁ rst siren to signify the start of play.

AFL RECORD

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NEWSTRACKER Matches between the Brisbane Lions and the Gold Coast Suns will be known as the ‘Queensland Clash’.

SHARING THE LOAD

The role of the forward IAN KENINS

SUBBED OFF:

Essendon’s Travis Colyer wears the red substitute’s vest in the NAB Cup.

New substitute rule facing close scrutiny » The new substitute rule is

likely to evoke just as much debate and discussion as Collingwood’s credentials to defend its 2010 title. Its merit or otherwise has already been played out in the pre-season, with some coaches declaring it a backward step. Others say it is the coaches who have led to the introduction of the rule, citing the fact interchange rotations have virtually doubled from 58 a game (per club) in 2007 to 117 in 2010. Last year, several clubs neared 160 rotations a match. As outlined in the NAB Cup AFL Record, the AFL believes the risk of collision injuries and “high-intensity” running injuries is dramatically increased by the high number of rotations, hence the reason for introducing the rule. When the new rule was announced last October, AFL general manager of football operations Adrian Anderson said: “The use of interchange facilitates defensive tactics and has created more congestion, more stoppages, more defensive pressure and has contributed to a drop in disposal eﬃciency. “The interchange was originally designed to help teams when they had an injury, but was increasingly a disadvantage to a team with an injury, because it was unable to rotate their players as much as the opposition.” Clubs will be allowed to introduce a substitute at any time, on the provision that the

AFL RECORD

replaced player cannot return to the ﬁ eld. The substitute player will be announced 90 minutes before each game and he will wear a green vest; the player being replaced will don a red vest. The new rule could revive memories of the old 19th and 20th man system, which was dispensed with in favour of the interchange system in 1978. There have been famous instances of players sitting out entire games on the bench. They include Angus Abbey and Jack Nuttall in Footscray’s only premiership in 1954, and Collingwood’s Ken Smale in the Magpies’ upset win over Melbourne in 1958. In an interview with Peter Ryan in the 2008 Grand Final AFL Record, Smale said: “My immediate reaction was heartbreaking really, to think you couldn’t get on the ground but you get over it. I had to be thankful; really appreciative of the run I had while I was there.” It was Smale’s last game for the Magpies. There were specialist 19th and 20th men in the 1970s, such as North Melbourne’s Bill Nettlefold, who was a noted performer on wet grounds. Others included Essendon’s Stephen Robins and Collingwood and Melbourne little man Henry Coles. Now, we could be about to add another group – specialist substitutes.

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MICHAEL LOVETT

oaches have long stated their desire for an even spread of goalscoring options, rather than having to rely on one player. Richmond’s Damien Hardwick reiterated this recently when he said the Tigers needed someone to support last year’s Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt. In the late 1960s and early-70s, a golden era for full-forwards, spearheads kicked centuries as frequently as models change clothes at fashion launches. The likes of Peter Hudson, Peter McKenna, Doug Wade, Alex Jesaulenko and Geoff Blethyn were the stars of the show and goalsquares were their catwalks. But only once in those years – 1971 – did the League’s leading goalkicker also taste premiership glory. That was when Hawthorn legend Peter Hudson kicked 140 goals in home and away matches. The year before, he kicked 146, but that wasn’t even enough to lift the Hawks into the fi nals. In the 114 seasons of League competition, the leading goalkickers have been members amson onjust just23 23 of premiership teams 20 per per occasions (aroundd 20 cent of the time). e ears, In the past 50 years, that figure drops too w with about 12 per cent, with only seven leadingg goalkickers playing in premiership teams (Tony Modra was out injured when Adelaide won in 1997). g ge Geelong’s George Maloney topped h the 1932 table with 109 goals, 71 moree than Richmond premiership duo Doug Strang and atts Jack Titus. The Cats missed the fi nals.

In 1953, John Coleman steered through a League-high 96 majors, but the Bombers were eliminated in the first week of the finals. Bob Rose helped Collingwood to that year’s fl ag with a team-best 29 goals. Brian Kekovich’s 53 goals in 1968 and Rex Hunt’s 54 for Richmond the following year were nowhere near those respective years’ goalkicking leaders (Geelong’s Doug Wade with 125 and Hudson with 122). But it was Kekovich and Hunt who celebrated premierships with their Carlton and Richmond teammates those two Septembers. In 1992 and 1994, Peter Sumich’s tallies of 64 and 42 goals for the premiershipwinning West Coast were dwarfed by the Coleman Medalwinning totals of Hawthorn’s Jason Dunstall (139) and Geelong’s Gary Ablett snr (118). Brent Crosswell’s 36 goals topped North Melbourne’s tally in 1977, well below the 105 Hudson booted in his second stint with the Hawks. But Crosswell is best remembered for his dramatic fi nal-quarter dash to defence to quell a rampant Peter Moore in that season’s Grand Final replay. In the 1997 Grand Final, Adelaide triumphed when centreman Darren Jarman was shifted to the goalsquare for the last quarter and booted a match-winning fi ve goals. When Melbourne won six flags from 1955-64, not once was its lea leading goalkicker ffull-f goalkicker aafull-forward. It was the samee for for the past two premiership team premiership teams. Last year, Alan Alan Didak, a A midfield der/ elder/half-forward, was C Colli Collingwood’s lead ding sharpshooter leading w ith just ju 35 goals, with rrank ranking him 17th in th the Coleman Med Medal race. C Centre halffo orwa Cam forward Moone ey’s tally t Mooney’s of 41 the previous preeviou year was enough h to top t Geelong’s list of scorers; sccorer his total was the 12th 12th best of the season. season n. *Figures *Figuresttoo the end of each season’s season n’s home ho and away matches. matcches.

NEWSTRACKER This year’s NAB AFL Draft will be held on Thursday, November 24. NEW

HALLS OF FAME

Fitness pioneer honoured by Hawks JASON PHELAN

rendan Edwards, a member of Hawthorn’s inaugural premiership team in 1961, was one of four club greats inducted into the Hawks’ Hall of Fame last week as the club ofﬁ cially launched its 2011 campaign. Edwards was joined in the exclusive club by premiership teammate Ian Law, dual best and fairest winner Alec Albiston and W. Beau Wallace, the club’s honorary head trainer for life. Edwards amassed 33 possessions in the ’61 triumph and, in addition to his Grand Final exploits, is considered one of the pioneers of aerobic training techniques in Australian Football. His playing days were brought to a sudden end by a sickening

ion knee dislocation ugh halfway through son, the 1963 season, but he later designed and developed the gruelling tyle commando-style p, training camp, at the behest of ach legendary coach y, John Kennedy, se which gave rise to the famed ‘Kennedy’s Commandos’. . The coursess Edwards designed for the Hawks in the 1960s were the forerunners to the manding physically demanding camps still favoured by AFL coaches today. Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson followed the lead set by Edwards when he took this season’s squad to New Zealand last November for a ﬁve-day test of strength, endurance and mental toughness that included arduous

FITNESS FREAK: FITNES

Brendan Edwards in introduced aerobic training to football.

bike treks tre and white water w rafting. rafting. “I was disappointed to see the boys pushing their bikes up a 45-degree incline like it was Mount Kosciusko,” Edwards joked after vision of the camp was shown to the crowd at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre. “Bikes are meant to be ridden and players in my day would have rode up that hill.

“None of them fell out of the boats either, but when I put my blokes through the course, they’d fall into the river regularly. Peter Hudson couldn’t get more than a few paddles in before he’d fall into the river. “But I really believe in all that sort of stuff and it’s good to see they’re still doing it all these years later.” The former PE teacher has been a ﬁtness professional since his forced retirement. He has maintained a keen interest in the game over the years, including the debate over the interchange rotations and the introduction of a substitute system. “They should have more interchange players rather than less and I don’t think they should have subs at all,” was Edwards’ frank assessment. • Collingwood inducted Ron Todd, John Greening and Paul Licuria into its Hall of Fame at its season launch in Melbourne last Monday night. Todd was one of the great forwards of his era, kicking 327 goals in 76 matches for the club from 1935-39.

Great on paper. Even better on air. Fantastic commentary from the best team in footy. Your game. Your station.

AFL RECORD

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NEWSTRACKER Matthew Leppard, Brett Ritchie and Ben Ryan offered positions on the AFL senior ﬁ eld umpiring panel.

FLASHBACK TO FLAGS

YOU BEAUTY: Calton

players including Ken Sheldon (No. 5) celebrate Carlton’s 1981 premiership triumph. Inset: Ken Hunter in action for the Blues.

Hunter’s concerns were soon alleviated HOWARD KOTTON

en Hunter initially thought he had made a mistake in joining Carlton at the end of 1980 from WAFL club Claremont. The Blues were unimpressive during their practice matches and it took some reassuring words from Bruce Doull to convince him their performancess would be different once the home and away season started. “The unique part about those guys was that they played hard off the field, but when it came to the season, they were just full on,” the 53-year-old Hunter said. “We don’t live in each other’s pockets, but we enjoy each other’s company when we get together,” he said ahead of a function this weekend that will recognise Carlton’s 1981-82 premiership teams. Hunter had arrived at Carlton with another West Australian, Peter Bosustow, amid plenty of fanfare. The Blues had a new coach, Hawthorn premiership captain and coach David Parkin, and the ’79 premiership side, notably minus departed captain-coach Alex Jesaulenko and retired ruckman Peter Jones (whom Parkin replaced as coach), formed the nucleus of the team. “I was fortunate to come into a club at the time when they were playing in the fi nals every year,” Hunter said. Hunter and Bosustow had an enormous impact as the Blues went on to win their 13th premiership, defeating Collingwood by 20 points in the Grand Final. The flamboyant Bosustow won the mark and goal of the year, both against Geelong, and led the club goalkicking with 59. Hunter’s consistency and durability was recognised with a best and fairest award. 18

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IntheGrandFinalHunter In the Grand Final, Hunter “I didn’t really come to my was assigned the diffi cult task senses until after half-time and of quelling brilliant Magpie realised we were playing in a forward Peter Daicos, which Grand Final,” said Hunter, who he handled with aplomb, works as a national hospitality complementing a superb manager for Franklyn Scholar. Blues backline led by Norm Hunter’s contribution to the Smith medallist Doull, Peter Blues continued well beyond McConville and Val Perovic. those two premierships. He The 183cm Hunter weighed was a member of the team that only 76kg and earned great triumphed over Hawthorn in respect for his the ’87 Grand spectacular Final and later marking and served on the fearless attack Carlton board on the ball. for a decade. His courage Hunter will in throwing reunite with his wiry his 1981-82 frame about, premiership seemingly teammates at KEN HUNTER without fear, a function on was most Saturday night evident the in Melbourne. following year as the Blues won At the event, five players back-to-back flags for the fi rst will be inducted into the time since 1914-15. Blues’ Hall of Fame and a current In the Grand Final against Hall of Fame member will be Richmond, Hunter was knocked elevated to Legend status to out by a Jim Jess shirtfront and join Craig Bradley, Bert Deacon, spent most of the first quarter Doull, Ken Hands, Jesaulenko, on the bench. He returned Wayne Johnston, Stephen during the second term to Kernahan, John Nicholls, play a vital part in Carlton’s Stephen Silvagni and Harry 18-point triumph. ‘Soapy’ Vallence.

I didn’t really come to my senses until after half-time

PLAYER WELFARE

Concussed players won’t return » The AFL has taken its

protect-the-head concept to another level in adopting the recommendations of the AFL Medical Officers Association (AFLMOA) in relation to concussed players. Club doctors have been ordered to take a more conservative approach to the treatment of players who receive heavy knocks to the head. The most signifi cant development is that severely concussed players will be prohibited from returning to the field of play that day. This particularly relates to cases in which players have lost consciousness or memory, or are confused. The AFLMOA’s research shows that clubs average six or seven concussion injuries a season. In the days after a knock, players will now be given time to rest and recover, they will be monitored and tested, and will be returned gradually to training. The issue will be the subject of ongoing research by the AFLMOA. Adrian Anderson, the AFL’s general manager of football operations, reinforced the AFL’s commitment to making the game safer and the responsibility of setting a positive example for community football. The AFL has also issued a clarification on the new advantage rule. As it stands, the new advantage rule introduced for the 2011 season stipulates that players, rather than umpires, will determine whether there is an advantage to play on after a free kick has been awarded. Following queries from clubs and the media about what would happen if the siren sounded to end a quarter shortly after a player had taken advantage, AFL umpires manager Jeff Gieschen confirmed the ball would not be brought back, as had previously been the case.

NEWSTRACKER Ladder positions during the season will be calculated on points accumulated and percentage. The match ratio system will not be

TALENTED CROP

10 years on, super draft has lived up to its name MURRAY MIDDLETON

his is the 10th season since the so-called 2001 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;superâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; draft. That draft meeting earned its moniker because recruiters felt it was the most talented crop of players on offer since the inception of the National Draft in 1986. Many of the current superstars of the competition belong to the class of 2001. Collectively, the players selected in the 2001 National Draft (including rookies) have won 28 premierships, received 28 All-Australian nominations and collected 16 best and fairest awards, four Brownlow Medals and three Norm Smith Medals. It is the depth of talent which makes the 2001 draft unique.

Although the likes of Luke Hodge, Luke Ball and Chris Judd always seemed destined for greatness, many of the stars to emerge from this draft were picked with late selections. Dane Swan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; considered one of the best footballers in the country â&#x20AC;&#x201C; was selected by Collingwood with pick 58. Brian Lake, among the premier defenders in the AFL, was taken by the Bulldogs with pick 71. AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan considers Lake to be the biggest steal in the history of the draft. Darren Jolly slipped all the way through to the Rookie Draft, where Melbourne picked him at No. 27. He is now a dual premiership ruckman. Geelong, Hawthorn and West coast beneďŹ ted the most from the 2001 draft. Geelongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most notable selections were Jimmy Bartel (pick 8), James Kelly (17), Steve Johnson (24), Gary Ablett (40, father-son) and Max Rooke (41 in the rookie draft). All ďŹ ve played integral roles in the Catsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 2007 and 2009 premierships. The Hawks went one better. They selected Luke Hodge (No. 1), Rick Ladson (16),

Campbell Brown (32) and Sam Mitchell (36), plus Michael Osborne and Robert Campbell (picks 11 and 27 respectively kie draft). draft).This Thisswag swag in the rookie or accounts for hirdof off almost a third â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2008 8 Hawthornâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ip side. sidee. premiership yers Four players draftâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from this draft Judd (No. 3), Mark Seabyy n (22), Steven Armstrongg (25) and nsen Ashley Hansen ured (38) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; featured esâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the Eaglesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nail-biting mph 2006 triumph ey. over Sydney. sbane The Brisbane endon,, Lions, Essendon, bourn ne North Melbourne mond fared fa ared and Richmond Lion s poorly. Thee Lions hree players: pllayers: selected three m (19), (19)), Jarrad Jason Gram 5) and Wright (35) andNathan Nathan ), who played a Clarke (45), o two games games combined total of b. Brisbane Brisb bane can can be be for the club. ecauseititreached reachedthe the excused because Grand dFinals. Finals. next three Grand

used.

Aside from securing dependable defender Andrew Welsh with pick 47, Essendonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other ďŹ ve selections yielded next to nothing. Despite boasting thre boastingthree three selections in the top 30 Nor 30,,North Melbourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only notab ble notable acquisition was David Hale Halewith H w the seventh pick. The most talented player play Richmond selected dwas was Richmond selected (33)). Rod David Rodan (33). Rodanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hass been been best football has aide, with Port PortAdela Adelaide, drafted him him which drafted Tigerrs after the Tigers him. delisted him. STEAL: Brian Lake was a

bargain at pick 71 in the 2001 National Draft.

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MELBOURNEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S OWN AFL RECORD

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NEWSTRACKER AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou dedicates the 2011 season to the late Darrel Baldock, Jill Lindsay and Maurice Rioli.

SLEEPING GIANT AWAKES

Ruthless Bombers setting their sights high CALLUM TWOMEY

ssendon’s eventful off-season can be summed up by chairman David Evans’ comments at the club’s recent Hall of Fame induction function: “We will stop at nothing to return Essendon back to the top.” The period of change at the club – most notably the appointment of a new coach, changes to the coaching panel and plans for a new home base – was punctuated by a series of press conferences. Most obvious, though, was the change of focus at the Bombers. Winning, at any cost, is now the priority. Evans and new coach James Hird have driven this attitude. Hird, who was inducted as a

BOMBER HONOURED: James Hird was recently inducted as a legend of the club by former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy.

‘legend’ of the club, was just as publicly ambitious. “We want premierships, we want success, we want to be the best club in the AFL again,” he said. “At the end of this year, at the end of next year, and the year after, hopefully we would have improved enough that we can all say the Bombers are No. 1 again.” Hird captained the club when it was most recently at the top, in 2000, when the Bombers won 24 of 25 games

on the way to the premiership. Since that win, a myriad of factors, including retirements and senior players being traded due to salary cap pressures, saw the club fall down the ladder, winning only one ﬁ nal in the past seven seasons. The off-season showed the club appeared to be heading in the right direction. Essendon’s form in the NAB Cup was impressive; its focus on defence and tackling helped it reach the Grand Final.

Little Red to kick-start season

» In a bid to combine and showcase two of this nation’s greatest loves – live football and music – the AFL will be presenting four contemporary live acts before the ﬁ rst four Friday night clashes at the MCG. The ‘Live at the G’ performances will take place on a permanent stage set among the crowd in the Great Southern Stand (used by entertainers at recent Grand Finals), adding pep to the pre-game with a four-song set leading up to the ﬁrst bounce. Thanks to partners, including Music Victoria, the Melbourne Cricket Club and Cherry Rock, the talented local line-up will feature rising stars Little Red, Melbourne songstress Paris Wells, a special combined ‘super group’ and hard rockers Airbourne. Little Red will perform before this round’s Geelong-St Kilda match.

AFL RECORD

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RISING STARS: Little Red will perform at the MCG on Friday night.

With four of its ﬁ ve members raised in Kew in Melbourne’s east and schooled at the AFL breeding ground of Xavier College (which produced players such as Luke Ball, Jobe Watson and Josh Kennedy), Little Red is an ideal outﬁt to kick-start the season. The band’s catchy single Rock It was No. 2 in Triple J’s 2010 Hottest 100, with harmonic and critically acclaimed second album Midnight Remember drawing favourable comparisons to The Beatles and Beach Boys. Paris Wells, meanwhile, is no stranger to the home of football, having performed a rousing rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In right in front of the St Kilda

And, despite losing by 22 points to Collingwood, the Bombers seemed to have improved enough to suggest a return to the ﬁ nals is not beyond them this year. Despite its ambitions, the club has been quick to explain the expectations in 2011 revolve around development. That, despite a coaching panel headed by Hird and including former Essendon premiership players Mark Thompson, Sean Wellman and Dean Wallis, supporters need not expect an “overnight” turnaround, as Hird put it. The realistic ones won’t. The club has a group of good, young players to build a future on, led by key talls Michael Hurley, Patrick Ryder and Tayte Pears, but its list is young and very much a work in progress. In accepting his induction last week, Hird said the players “have set out to be ruthless, resilient, honest and selﬂ ess” in 2011. Even though it’s early in his tenure, his vision, which echoes Evans’, seems to have already resonated.

cheer squad before last year’s Grand c Final draw. F Those with an affinity for AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and old-school pub rock should R get g to the ground early for the roundfour fo Richmond-Collingwood match, with W Warrnambool collective Airbourne booked for fo a frenetic set of riff r s and rock ’n’ roll. Through the ‘Live at the G’ initiative, the AFL A hopes to attract up to 80,000 fans to the MCG in each of the fi rst four rounds, along with more than a million television viewers. Other state-based campaigns will follow throughout the season. ANDREW WALLACE

LIVE at the G RdDateGamePerformer Geelong v St Kilda

Little Red

2 Friday, April 1

St Kilda v Richmond

Paris Wells

3 Friday, April 8

Collingwood v Carlton

‘Super Group’

4 Friday, April 15

Richmond v Collingwood

Airbourne

Friday, March 25

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NEWSTRACKER Experienced development coach David Wheadon joins St Kilda after a recent stint with Geelong.

LIFE AFTER FOOTY

Herman discovers footy is about tactics, business is strategy PAUL DAFFEY

an Herman was an accountant with an interest in shares when he played at Carlton in the late 1980s. His captain at the time, Stephen Kernahan, was a ‘chalkie’ at the stock exchange in Melbourne. While the pair was changing into their footy gear before training, the talk was often about shares. Other players joined in, seeking tips and passing some on. At a club with a strong following in the corporate world, you might say it was all very Carlton. Herman, now 45, spent three years in his late teens playing amateurs for the Collegians Football Club while completing his accounting degree. He was almost 21 when he joined Carlton, about the same time he joined Arthur Andersen, which was then one of the world’s ‘big fi ve’ accounting firms. His life then involved getting to his desk in the city before 7am and leaving for footy training at 4.15pm. On many occasions, he went back to the office after training and stayed until 10pm. If the Blues had played West Coast in Perth on a Sunday and arrived back in Melbourne past midnight, he was still back at his desk before seven on Monday. “I was maintaining two full-time jobs,” he says. Herman’s dedication to work has paid off. He’s now the Australian managing director of Grant Thornton, also one of the world’s top five accounting fi rms.

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He’s also Grant Thornton’s working life. Herman agrees national leader in markets he might have made a bigger analysis and is on several impression at Carlton global committees with if he had dedicated himself to the firm, which has offi ces the game. Conversely, footy in 100 countries. It’s a rare held him back at work by month when he doesn’t travel slowing his progress towards interstate or overseas. a partnership. For this interview, Herman “My plan was to get the best is a gracious host in the out of myself, in both football boardroom on the second fl oor and business,” he says. of the Grant Thornton building Herman played 48 games over on Melbourne’s Spring Street. five seasons at Carlton without He proves his white-collar regret for his failing to cement credentials by struggling to a spot. He then played another perform the simple task of 14 games over two seasons at opening the blinds. The butler Richmond before retiring at 28. opens the blinds with a fl ick of He says it was signifi cant his wrist. Herman smiles. “Have that he was elevated at work a seat,” he says. almost as soon as his footy As a teen, career ended. Herman was Herman one of the says football hottest junior certainly footballers in greases the Melbourne. He wheels of was zoned to conversation St Kilda. The in Melbourne Saints tried business circles, to lure him to but his own Moorabbin career was but instead not prominent IAN HERMAN he played for enough to Collegians until open doors. the Saints’ hold on him expired. He’s taken some of the After joining Carlton, he was lessons from his football life honoured with Alex Jesaulenko’s into business, such as the need No. 25 guernsey. to work together as a team, but The partners at Arthur he’s found that the two pursuits Andersen were supportive of are very different. In footy his footy career. “That was nice you know your opposition. In to know,” Herman says. “But business, threats can come from within the first five months, anywhere at any time. they offered me an 18-month “I thought you could translate secondment in Chicago. what happened at footy into “Then when a partner asked business, but I was wrong,” he how I was going at Hawthorn, I says. “In footy, it’s about tactics. knew that business was fi rst and In business, it’s strategy.” football second.” Herman has a son who’s Herman made his debut with four and a two-year-old Carlton in round 11, 1987, on a daughter, with another child hday Monday on the way. Be Beyo Queen’s Birthday Beyond bourne. In his family, he e’s b against Melb Melbourne. In he’s been afteerwards,his his a mentor to C Ca the days afterwards, Carlton’s red him to go David Ellard. Ellard d. job required fo or a training He buys a Carlton Ca to Chicagoo for orcin ng membershi ip eevery year course, forcing membership iss and h h him to miss hee hopes hiss fa the next family es. co nt two games. continues his ach lin nk with the His coach link n B lue “I was at Carlton Blues. lu uck I played in those lucky s, a ha early days, handful of gam g Robert games with a as gre g Walls, was great team at ve iits peak,” supportive n’s he says. h of Herman’s

My plan was to get the best out of myself, in both football and business

MILESTONES ROUND 1

200 GAMES

Corey Enright Geelong Cats Paul Chapman Geelong Cats

Heath Scotland Carlton Craig Bolton Sydney Swans

150 GAMES

Daniel Wells North Melbourne Michael Firrito North Melbourne

100 GAMES

Shannon Byrnes Geelong Cats Mark Blake Geelong Cats Hamish McIntosh North Melbourne

Joel Patfull Brisbane Lions Brent Guerra Hawthorn

100 GAMES

Matt Thomas Port Adelaide The list includes those not necessarily selected but on the verge of milestones.

LOFTY AMBITIONS: With more than

60,000 members already signed this year and having secured its 15th premiership last season, Collingwood’s aim of being the “biggest and the best” is coming to fruition.

24 2 4

AF AFL A FL F L RECORD RE R ECO ECOR COR ORD

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INSIGHT

Rebuilding a

SUPER POWER It may have taken more than 12 years to achieve, achiev but president Eddie McGuire McGuir has meticulously oversee overseen the resurrection of Collingwood Colling as an AFL force, on and a oﬀ the ﬁeld. GLE GLENN NN McFA McFARLANE

M THE SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP/SEAN GARNSWORTHY

ost people receive small gifts for their 34th birthday. Eddie McGuire got a football club. Well, he got the green light to run one. Not just any club, mind you. It was Collingwood, one of the most famous sporting entities in the country. If McGuire hadn’t, according to some closely connected to the club, the Pies might not be here now. Or certainly not in the position they ﬁnd themselves in. It was October 1998, and McGuire had just orchestrated a bloodless coup, taking over as president of the club he had followed since he was a child wearing Peter McKenna’s

No. 6 on the back of his black and white jumper. And, on his 34th birthday of all nights, he offi cially took on the challenge of trying to restore the club to its former glory. His first task was to eradicate the worrying debt (more than $300,000) that had accumulated after its famous 14th fl ag in 1990. “At that stage, there was a very real chance the club was about to go under,” Collingwood CEO and former player Gary Pert said. “When you are in debt like that, if you don’t pull out of it, you dissolve. “Ed came in, put together a new board, got a new coach (Mick Malthouse) and they came from this low point, rebuilding the finances and also the credibility of the club.” Twelve-and-a-half years later, Collingwood is again on top of the AFL world, at the forefront of almost all measurable categories. Most importantly, it has a 15th premiership, putting it only one behind rivals Carlton and Essendon. The 15th premiership is the cream on the cake that

When you are in debt like that, if you don’t pull out of it, you dissolve COLLINGWOOD CEO GARY PERT

sees the club – strategically remodelled and re-branded over the past 12 years – lead the AFL in membership (a record of more than 58,000 in 2010 and projections of 70,000 this year) and attendances (more than 1.5 million people watched the Magpies last year, also a record). Collingwood also leads the way in turnover ($75.5 million in 2010) and website trafﬁc (an AFL-best of more than 202,000 unique visitors per month). In the two days after last year’s Grand Final win, the club sold more than $1.7 million of merchandise and memorabilia, more than its entire sales in these categories in 2009. But as important as the president has been, this

has not been a one-man resurrection. In ebbs and ﬂows, several like-minded people have played critical roles to revive Collingwood. The link is the fact McGuire handpicked almost all of them, including Malthouse as coach in late 1999, and Nathan Buckley 10 years later as an assistant coach before he takes over from Malthouse at the end of this season. Just as important was McGuire’s choice of CEOs: Greg Swann (now the Carlton CEO) and Pert, who has played a crucial role in reshaping the club. Pert unashamedly said the wellbeing of Collingwood’s two key stakeholders – the fans and the players – is now non-negotiable. AFL RECORD

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rebuilding a super power That was not necessarily the case when McGuire, then the host of the top-rating The Footy Show, came to the conclusion in 1998 that the club desperately needed an overhaul. He sensed an air of resignation and a lack of passion. Worse, the financial strength that should have come with the 1990 premiership had been whittled away and a cash crisis loomed. McGuire was forced to defend himself initially against waves of criticism about potential confl icts of interest; he was – and still is – a highly visible media performer. But the pugnacious president readied himself for the fi ght. The club’s playing list was poor heading into the new millennium and its home base at Victoria Park was literally falling down. Sponsors were increasingly wary. As McGuire recalled, recalled,in in those earlyy days, days, y , gCollingwood’s Collin gwood’s financial woes woeswould wouldwake wake him at thr ee o’clock o’clock most most three

PROUD MOMENT: Eddie McGuire

reﬂects on the 2010 premiership success with sons Joseph (left) and Alexander.

mornings as he plotted the comeback from his study. “It was probably about 18 months before I got a proper night’s sleep,” he said. Collingwood ‘won’ its second wooden spoon in McGuire’s ﬁ rst season, in 1999, but it coincided with big changes, including the club’s ﬁ nal match at Victoria Park. Although he was not there at the time, Pert understands the critical role McGuire played in changing perceptions in the corporate world. “He used all his contacts and probably a smidgen of The Footy Show to help promote that,” Pert said. “There were some big promises made off a very low base. But all the sponsors were happy because he over-delivered. “Collingwood, and to a large extent Eddie, helped establish some of those businesses businesses here. here. That’s wh whyy they are still with us.” us.”

One of the most important on to the experience they had tasks was to find a new coach to grown up with,” Pert said. “But replace club great Tony Shaw. it (Victoria Park) was falling The deal to secure Malthouse, apart and unsafe. then at West Coast, was sealed “(If we had stayed) we would over breakfast, just as a similar not have survived against other early morning clubs, discussion especially clinched the the nonMalthouseVictorian Buckley ones.” succession plan This move, 10 years later, in 2004, albeit after provided weeks of delicate state-of-thediscussions. art facilities. McGuire said: The club “(Mick) could also sent its COLLINGWOOD PRESIDENT EDDIE McGUIRE have tried to stay players on an on the bottom in annual highthose early years, altitude camp to Arizona, which and get all the draft picks like was derided at first by some, but other clubs have. But he knew has become a template. we might not have had a club if “People said we were (crazy) he had done that.” going to Arizona and now In fact, the Magpies rapidly everyone wants to go. They said cobbled together a list good we were mad when we got an enough to contest – but lose – altitude room, but no one says it the 2002 and 2003 Grand Finals, now,” McGuire said. both to the Brisbane Lions. Pert said the club spends The move from Victoria around $18 million a year Park to the Lexus Centre across (or about 24 per cent of gross from the MCG Richmond (now turnover) on its football known as the Westpac Centre) department, and plans to increase was a wrench, but it formed that by $1 million a year. part of the strategy to take the But there have been hurdles, one-time suburban club into notably a foray into hotels in the21st century. 2006 that cost the club heavily “There is no doubt that was in financial terms and – as uncomfortable for traditional McGuire admitted – turned the supporters who wanted to hold sides of his hair grey. When Swann departed for the Blues at the start of the 2007 season, McGuire looked to Pert, the former Pies defender who had started his 233-game AFL career with Fitzroy and had been building a career in the marketing/ corporate world since retiring. This started phase two of the rebranding. “We knew we needed to go to the next phase and that’s a large part of why Ed wanted

People said we were crazy going to Arizona and now everyone wants to go

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to bring me on board,” Pert said. “We wanted to create a club for the future. “I found Collingwood was a sleeping giant and we were actively holding our supporters and sponsors back because we were still operating in so many ways as a sporting club. “What we needed to do was to keep the soul of the sporting club, but bring in new and sophisticated technologies and expertise. “It was not about building a brand because the brand has always been there. It was about reinvigorating and reconnecting the brand to its core.” Collingwood worked with management group Gemba, gleaning insights from 1800 supporters, members and staff. The overwhelming message was that people wanted to be part of something that was the ‘Biggest and the Best’ while sticking to the principles espoused in the theme song – especially the words “Side by Side”. That theme, Pert said, “ripples through the DNA of everyone who has anything to do with Collingwood”. “What came through was that the centre of gravity is our supporters and our players,” Pert said. “It’s not the corporates; it’s not the amount of money we make or how much media we get. “It’s about those two key groups. A lot of the things we did before were distractions – third-party agreements or

SLOGGING IT OUT: There is no resting on their laurels for the Magpies as they

attempt to build on their premiership success of 2010.

alignments with other clubs. They were taking our time and money. “For a long time, we delivered to our supporters what we wanted to deliver. What we are trying to do now is to ask them what they want,” Pert said. Part of that strategy saw the appointment of Justin Reeves to head supporter services, and the club invested in new software and a plan to chase and retain members. There was a pledge to communicate better with them, something which started with ‘Mick’s Message’, an exclusive

email sent from Malthouse to members, and has hit new levels via new outlets including Facebook and Twitter. Pert and Reeves travelled to the United Kingdom last November to speak with sporting clubs about communicating with fans, and understanding what they want. In a recent audit by BE Brands, Collingwood was named the ﬁfth-best brand in Australia in giving customers a sense of belonging and connection. Only the Salvation Army, Hell’s Angels, Apple and Google rated higher.

But the ‘Biggest and the Best’ theme meant Collingwood had to win a premiership, as “you cannot say you are the best if you do not win premierships,” according to Pert. That was ticked off last year. The club has continued to push boundaries this year, recruiting 4000 members to appear in a television commercial that took ﬁve-and-a-half hours to shoot. “The thing we have found since the Grand Final is that connection (between members and the club) just keeps getting stronger,” Pert said. “When we run a television ad, we don’t do it about the club, or players, or Mick Malthouse. It’s all about the supporters and the Magpie Army.” That power was evident when the top-level Legends membership package (guaranteeing ability to buy a Grand Final ticket if the Magpies make it) went on sale. The category was capped at 9000 and sold out in four days, with 1000 more people on a waiting list. “We had set a three-year goal of getting to 60,000 members, and we ended up with 58,500 last year,” Pert said. “So we had to get the membership strategy team together again, and set a new target because there is so much momentum. Our immediate goal now is 70,000, and our medium-range goal in the next few years is 100,000.”

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A new breed of captain is emerging at AFL clubs – not necessarily the best player in the team, but the one best equipped to lead and inspire. ASHLEY BROWNE

ike just about everything else in football, the role of the captain has evolved enormously. For a long time, captaincy was relatively simple. The team’s best player was the skipper. He led the team out on match-days, tossed the coin and, since 1959, one lucky captain each season has hoisted the

premiership cup at the MCG in the minutes after the Grand Final. Ron Barassi, Darrel Baldock, Alex Jesaulenko, Royce Hart, Leigh Matthews, Stephen Kernahan, Wayne Carey, James Hird, Michael Voss – all icons of the game and all premiership captains. But the model has changed. Not entirely, because in 2011 there are still captains who

are the best players in their team. Jonathan Brown at the Brisbane Lions is one. Chris Judd is another. Judd was Carlton’s unofﬁ cial captain from the day in late 2007 he signed the contract to cross over from West Coast and the story is told that not long after he joined the Blues, a group of players went out for lunch. When Judd didn’t touch

There’s nothing written down about how to captain an AFL club GARY ABLETT

PHOTO: MICHAEL WILLSON/AFL PHOTOS

any of the chips that came with his meal, neither did any of those with him. Within a few weeks, Judd was formally appointed captain of the Blues. Like Judd, Gary Ablett wasn’t immediately named captain of Gold Coast on that momentous September afternoon when he swapped the blue and white hoops for the blazing red and gold. But was there ever any doubt it would eventually happen?

As part part of of last lastweek’s week’sseason season launch, the AFL got the captains together for a series of marketing and promotional activities. In between the brieﬁ ngs and the photo shoots, there was time for the 17 captains to share lunch and have a chat about the new season. The gathering also allowed the veterans of the caper to share a word of advice with the rookie skippers – there are six in 2011 – on how to go about it. One thing the new captains agreed with is that there is no manual on how to be an AFL captain. Nobody handed them a dusty manual from the club archives that explains what needs to be done. There are lots of opinions on how the job should be done, but – as Ablett noted last week – not much else. “People outside always have expectations about what you should be like as a captain but

LEADERS OF 2011: From left – Chris Newman (Richmond), Brad Green (Melbourne), Adam Goodes (Sydney Swans), Gary Ablett (Gold Coast), Darren Glass (West Coast), Luke Hodge (Hawthorn), Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda), Cameron Ling (Geelong), Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle), Nick Maxwell (Collingwood), Jonathan Brown (Brisbane Lions), Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs), Nathan van Berlo (Adelaide), Jobe Watson (Essendon), Chris Judd (Carlton), Brent Harvey (North Melbourne) and Domenic Cassisi (Port Adelaide).

I’m not going to let that affect me too much,” he said. “I’m going to lead in the way I think helps these boys and the club and that’s all that matters to me.” Ablett has done a bit of reading but reckons he learned more from watching former Geelong captain Tom Harley than from anything in a book. “You learn from getting out there and experiencing it. There’s nothing written down about how to captain an AFL club which is something I’m not sure the public understands,” he said. When Ablett leads the Suns on to the Gabba next week against

Carlton in the club’s ﬁrst AFL match, it will be his ﬁ rst game of any description for the year. Often lost when discussing captains is that they are players, too. Hand-in-hand with their duties as captain and part of a leadership group is their core responsibility as footballers and the weekly regimen around preparing to play. “You have to look after yourself,” said Brown, whose last few seasons have been punctuated by prolonged absences from the side because of injury. “Your preparation and approach to game-day is critical because, if you can’t get that right, then you’re not much good as a skipper.”

team captains

Darren Glass (West Coast)

Brent Harvey (Nth Melbourne)

AGE: 29 GAMES: 196

AGE: 32 GAMES: 301

GOALS: 8

GOALS: 344

Brad Green (Melbourne) AGE: 30 GAMES: 220

GOALS: 294

Brown said juggling playing and captaincy could be tough during form slumps and injury lay-offs. “Sometimes you need to commit a bit more time for yourself and that’s very challenging.” New Adelaide skipper Nathan van Berlo has a fi rm idea on how to manage the dual responsibilities. “When I look at the captaincy, it’s about influence and the best way to influence is to set the example around the footy club with my preparation, the way I train and the way I play. “It’s best to look after my own backyard and set the example with the way I go about my footy. That’s leadership,” he said. Van Berlo used the word “influence”, a buzzword among the AFL captains. “It can mean many things but it’s about having influence on the people around you week in and week out,” he said. The Crows are an even unit. So much so that not one 30

AFL RECORD

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Nick Maxwell (Collingwood) AGE: 27 GAMES: 140

Luke Hodge (Hawthorn) AGE: 26 GAMES: 173

GOALS: 116

Adelaide player featured in Mike Sheahan’s pre-season Top 50 list that appeared in the Herald Sun last week. Van Berlo was awarded the captaincy at West Lakes, but there were several others just as suited to the role. It is increasingly the way. The leadership group concept has been part of the AFL scene for the best part of the past decade and has spawned a new breed of AFL captain. Not necessarily the best player at the club, but the player best

GOALS: 26

suited to inspire, to lead and to play good football. Hawthorn’s Richie Vandenberg was one of the ﬁrst of this new breed of leader. When he got the job at Hawthorn in 2005, there were better players at the club, but none ready to lead. He proved to be an outstanding choice until the time Sam Mitchell and then Luke Hodge were ready to take over. Several clubs have adopted a similar philosophy with their choice of captains, including the Western Bulldogs in 2011. New Bulldogs skipper Matthew Boyd, to be absolutely clear, is a better player at his club than Vandenberg was at his. At the Bulldogs, Adam Cooney and Ryan Griffen are probably the

Chris Judd (Carlton) AGE: 27 GAMES: 198

GOALS: 179

Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda) AGE: 28 GAMES: 197

GOALS: 437

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team captains

Chris Newman (Richmond) AGE: 28 GAMES: 175

Jonathan Brown (Brisbane) AGE: 29 GAMES: 200

GOALS: 476

Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)

Nathan van Berlo (Adelaide) AGE: 24 GAMES: 116

AGE: 29 GAMES: 236 GOALS: 468

GOALS: 25

best two players, but Boyd is an accomplished midfielder who is tough and durable. Boyd’s time in the Bulldogs’ leadership group in the past few years gave him the belief he could lead formally if tapped on the shoulder. “I definitely have some confidence about what I can bring to the table and the attributes to be a good leader, but in saying that, I know there are things I’ll have to learn and I’ll be taking advice from people along the way.” Which goes back to the point Ablett made about advice. It’s footy, after all, so there will be no shortage of those offering advice – good and otherwise. Indeed, those who have walked in his shoes offer basic and homespun philosophies for the fi rst-timers. “Don’t change much,” said Matthew Pavlich, who enters his fifth season as captain of Fremantle. “It’s only a title

GOALS: 31

Jobe Watson (Essendon)

Gary Ablett (Gold Coast Suns)

AGE: 26 GAMES: 115

AGE: 26 GAMES: 192

GOALS: 44

GOALS: 262

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AFL RECORD

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team captains and you’ve been given the person you are, so don’t go job because of how you go about changing now you’re captain. it in the first place.” All we expect of you is to keep It’s the same advice given doing what you’re doing.” to Hodge by Goodes isn’t Hawthorn sure why the coach Alastair co-captains Clarkson. “One model hasn’t thing ‘Clarko’ become more said was not to widespread change what through the I do on or off AFL, but the field. I was knows it has given the job for worked a a reason, so if I treat with the change the way Swans. MATTHEW PAVLICH I do things, then “It works the other blokes at our won’t follow.” club when you share the And it’s the same philosophy responsibilities,” he said. that has worked at Sydney for “It’s not the captains many years. who are the complete faces Former coach Paul Roos was of our footy club, it’s the among the first to introduce leadership group and that’s co-captains to the AFL and it where a lot of clubs have gone. remains a core element at the They drive it, the captains are Swans after being tried and the ones who toss the coin and discarded by other clubs. make a few speeches, but the Adam Goodes continues in leadership group is what the role this year, joined by drives the club to where it Jarrad McVeigh. wants to be.” “The one bit of advice I gave Jarrad was not to change,” PHOTOS: MICHAEL WILLSON, LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM, SEAN GARNSWORTHY, said Goodes. “You’ve got the AFL PHOTOS role because of the type of

It’s only a title and you’ve been given the job because of how you go about it

AFL RECORD

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Cameron Ling (Geelong)

Matthew Boyd (W Bulldogs)

AGE: 30 GAMES: 225

AGE: 28 GAMES: 163

GOALS: 122

GOALS: 57

Domenic Cassisi (Port Adelaide)

Adam Goodes (Sydney Swans)

AGE: 28 GAMES: 171

AGE: 31 GAMES: 276

GOALS: 67

GOALS: 311

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THE CHALLENGE FOR COLLINGWOOD

Staying ahead of the pack Having reached the top of the tree in 2010, Collingwood will need to work even harder in 2011 and beyond to stay there. PETER RYAN

fter the 2010 premiership euphoria passed and holidays were taken, Collingwood vice-captain Scott Pendlebury rejoined the Magpies in Flagstaff, Arizona, to start pre-season at the club’s annual high-altitude training camp in the United States. It was hard for the midfi elder to avoid recalling the flag experience as he crossed each teammate’s path for the first time. Soon enough, however, the fond recollections would become old news and the smiles would fade. The first training session would see to that, then the next and the next, as past successes pushed further into the background. “One session we just kept running 400s non-stop,” Pendlebury said. “We would think it was the last one and all of a sudden we would have an 800. It just tested the boys but, to their credit, they all just did it and did not complain or anything.” The camp soon became a reality check, pushing the players physically and mentally, one way to ram home the fact that meeting the 2011 challenge

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ON THE RUN: Steele Sidebottom in full ﬂight.

– how to stay ahead of the pack – was now the No. 1 priority. “All the blokes knew it was going to require an enormous amount of hard work to get back there,” he said. Getting back to the ﬁ rst Saturday in October (don’t worry, you read that correctly) will be a huge job. But expectations are high, both within and outside the club. Now they have reached the peak, the Magpies intend to stay there. It’s been a gradual process to stand alongside the elite. When football manager Geoff Walsh declared at a pre-season meeting of coaches two years ago that, in 30-40 games, the club would be in contention to win a premiership, nobody present could be sure whether what was planned would transpire. That his assessment turned out to be spot on shows the leaders knew the mentality a club needs to win a premiership was being shaped. In February this year, three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse explained the change that took place. He recalled speaking to the board

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before the 2000 season, his fi rst things I would never say. Strike as coach of Collingwood. At that a light, when he said, ‘We’re time, he heard every excuse going to win a premiership and under the sun as to why the club I’m going to tell them’, I think, was bottom of the ladder. But as ‘Whoa, how can you do that?’ he listened, he knew the harsh But he does it. I used to say, reality: the culture was wrong. ‘Nick aims high, he never aims So creating the right culture at the target.’” was the first thing the club’s Not only does it underline leaders focused on. Over the important role Maxwell has time, the foundations allowed played in lifting the group, it’s newcomers to fl ourish. a revealing insight to the new “Maybe over attitude that led a period of time to the Magpies’ the culture dominant (had) shifted performance from being in 2010. competitive to Two aspects one of excuses, of their game so leadership led to that was important to dominance: direct the ship,” the pressure SCOTT PENDLEBURY Malthouse said. they constantly “Along come applied (a blokes like Nick Maxwell and characteristic that saw them Luke Ball and Shane O’Bree (now lead the competition for an assistant coach at the Gold tackles inside forward 50 Coast) and Harry O’Brien and so and create 30.5 turnovers forth and they aren’t looking for forward of centre per game) excuses. They look for why the and the stoppage work that place has got to be the best. saw them smash the rest of “That is why I take my hat the League in the inside-50 off to Nick (Maxwell). He says differential count.

We speak about wanting to be a great side

BRILLIANT: Scott Pendlebury earns the coach’s plaudits after the Grand Final.

Collingwood led the competition for time spent in its forward half and scores caused from turnovers inside 50. In fact, ‘led’ is a misnomer; the team completely redefined what was possible in that area. There was the enormous blitz early in games that saw the Magpies outscore their opponents by 318 points in first quarters. Notably, they headed to the quarter-time huddle behind only fi ve times during the season. That pressure reached its zenith in the Grand Final replay, Collingwood’s swarm rushing the opposition ball carrier and covering the would-be receiver to close all exits for the poor sap daring to take the ball off the Magpies. This was more then just the old-fashioned numbers at the ball with a modern edge. It was implemented with planning and precision so that every ‘number’ at the ball had a role to play as they rushed towards the action. Collingwood players don’t just rush to a contested ball to support. They make decisions on how the extra number can

THE ULTIMATE: The Magpies savour the premiership feeling last season.

add value. They trust their teammates to do the same. Now with one cup in the cabinet (and this year’s NAB Cup) the challenge becomes to push further. Listen to Pendlebury and you realise the team’s attitude going into 2011 is spot-on. The opportunity is too real, the prize too alluring. “It’s obviously good to win one ﬂ ag, but the position we are in now gives us a great opportunity to go back-to-back,” he said. “We speak about wanting to be a great side. Geelong has been a great side (since 2007), but they never went back-to-back. It is something that is very hard to do and we want to be able to do that.” No one inside the club imagines it will just happen, least of all the coach. “I’ve thought long and hard about this. It’s not just a matter of going, ‘You have won it last year so you should win this year’. That has never happened,” he said. Only two clubs, Adelaide (in 1997-98) and the Brisbane Lions (three straight from 2001), have won back-to-back ﬂags since

the AFL competition began in 1990. Malthouse knows history is littered with teams which moved away from the basics and could not replicate success. As basketball legend Michael Jordan once said: “Success turns we’s back into me’s.” Complacency can also set in. Malthouse saw it as a Richmond player in 1981 when the Tigers tumbled from premiers to seventh. He observed it to a lesser extent in 1993 when West Coast finished fourth after a flag, and in 1995 when the club finished sixth after a second fl ag in 1994. “Complacency. I can say that word a million times. History shows you that is the very thing … complacency is the thing that gets you,” he said. Such is the narrow gap between the top teams, it won’t take much to tip the balance away from the Magpies. In fact, they don’t have to do much wrong to slip from premiers to runners-up, or worse. Geelong’s 2008 team can vouch for that, as can a realistic appraisal of more recent history.

Had the ball bounced this way instead of that in the dying minutes of the drawn Grand Final, St Kilda, not Collingwood, ly be would likely ding the defending We’re premier. “We’re ingin a bouncingball world n’t that doesn’t necessarilyy ur bounce your way. That did bounce ourr ,” way for us,” e Malthouse said. In 2011 gs some things won’t, as own Nathan Brown testiffy. can alreadyy testify. therest resttof of He’ll miss the ecoverin ng the year recovering ee from a knee ction af fter an reconstruction after an tained at aattraining. injury sustained training. yone understands un nderstands So everyone ng a hig gh level maintaining high levelofof nce is is as asshard hard––ififnot not performance hen reaching rea aching itit in in harder – then stance..To Tothat thatend, end, the ﬁrst instance. odhas hascontinued continued to to Collingwood

tinker with the machine. “It’s got to be adjusted,” Malthouse said. “Screw it down here and loosen up there, otherwise you’re dead in the water. water. What works works works (so) I’m not going to reinvent th he the wheel, but by the same token, you have seen the wheel on a chariot compared to the wheel on the V8s running runnin garound aroun nd now. Clearly it’s the the same action, action, but but we’ve we’vve got to make sure wee do a little bit of modiﬁcation.” cation.” The defensivee press will will be reﬁned. Pendlebury i imagines i that, h that, as defensively defensively oriented football footba all evolves, clubs will put a premium on n attacking

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systems to break zones apart. Collingwood’s multiple goalkickers are one indicator it has a forward system that operates well. Its ball use is quick from defence and considered going forward. One aspect of the forward press few understand is that it can open the gap between quality teams and those struggling over time. The fact remains: good teams expend less physical energy when they implement the press well than poor ones, because they are more efﬁ cient in its application. At Collingwood, the players understand the beneﬁ ts of working for each other. “That’s just how anything works. If something is constructed well, it is going to work well (but) if there is a part missing, it is going to take more effort from everything else to hold it up,” Pendlebury said. “You have to be working hard mentally; you have to be switched on and disciplined enough to push yourself into the right spots.” To do that, Collingwood’s stars have subsumed any ego to work for the team. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the players’ attitude to rotating on and off the bench. New interchange rules that allow unlimited rotations of three players plus one substitute, a change Collingwood opposed when it was proposed, will force the Magpies to adapt what was a winning formula to new conditions. Can the relentless pressure be maintained? Malthouse said he laid down the challenge to the club’s director of sports science David Buttifant to ensure the players were prepared in the right way to achieve that even when the number of players available to rotate drops to three. The challenge for Buttifant, Malthouse said, is to get 20 per cent extra time at the same intensity per stint on t he ground out of each player. Only time will tell. Pendlebury does not see the interchange shift as a problem from a personal point of view, although he expects to be on the

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IMPACT PLAYER: The Magpies welcomed Luke Ball for what he brings on and oﬀthe ﬁeld.

ground for longer. “I think Norm Smith Medal in the replay, every player has the capacity earned All-Australian selection to just grind away anyway,” and finished second in the he said. club’s best and fairest and equal “Whether you fourth in the start rotating on Brownlow the ground Medal. from midfield to Another forward pocket example of … I would play the upside 100 per cent of down truth of the game team sport: if I was allowed the more you to. I don’t put in, the MICK MALTHOUSE think any player more you likes coming off, get out. but when it is for the Pendlebury’s modus operandi benefit of the team, you do is to focus on the process and anything.” keep improving, no matter The selfless attitude has what has happened before. brought him individual “My focus in pre-season recognition as well as a is getting fitter and getting premiership medal. Pendlebury stronger and keeping my goals was just 22 when he won the process-driven. I just make sure

Leadership was important to direct the ship

each week I’m doing the same thing, hitting the same targets and let the rest look after itself,” he said. The Magpies are taking a similarly clinical approach to the year. “I think it is very simple,” Pendlebury said. “Make sure everyone trains hard and keep to the standards we set. As soon as people get away from that, that’s when it hurts.” Collingwood knows it needs everyone to be ready to perform if and when they are required. “It is something we rely heavily on,” Pendlebury said. “People being able to play their role when called upon.” Most of the improvement, Pendlebury said, will need to come from individuals returning in better shape in 2011 then they

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were in 2010. “If everyone raises the bar, naturally the team is going to improve.” Steele Sidebottom, Dayne Beams, Brent Macaffer, Jarryd Blair, Sharrod Wellingham, Dale Thomas, Chris Dawes, Harry O’Brien and Alan Toovey – not to mention Pendlebury – are all players with their best football ahead of them. And Brad Dick proved before a shoulder injury restricted him to just two games in 2010 he will slot in well. Improvement is expected from players already in the system: John McCarthy, Simon Buckley, Cameron Wood, Ben Sinclair and Tom Young. Their continued development is essential as 13 players representing 1211 games’ experience, among them Josh Fraser, Tarkyn Lockyer, Paul Medhurst, O’Bree and Simon Prestigiacomo, have gone. It’s hard to remember a more experienced turnover from a premiership list. It’s also diffi cult to imagine two higher quality additions to a premiership team in Chris Tarrant and Andrew Krakouer. Tarrant, the 233-game prodigal son who was an All-Australian defender during his four seasons at Fremantle, and former Richmond forward Krakouer, now 28 and returning to the AFL to add to his 102 matches after a brilliant 2010 season with Swan Districts in the WAFL (he won the Sandover and Simpson medals, was his club’s best and fairest and played in a premiership), are ready to go. To say Pendlebury likes what he’s seen from Krakouer would be an understatement. “He’s got a heightened sense of awareness around contested situations and he moves effortlessly through traffi c,” he said. “He’s very clean and probably one of the best crumbing players I have ever seen. I’ve only played three games with him so it is a pretty big call, but, from what I have seen, he reads it so well.” Clearly, Pendlebury expects Krakouer to play a signifi cant role in Collingwood’s future. What Collingwood’s future holds is a little uncertain.

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SOME GRAND FINAL FAST FACTS

QUALITY PLUS: Prized recruit Andrew Krakouer has already won over his teammates with his NAB Cup form.

» Magpie Jarryd Blair was

the ninth least-experienced premiership player, in terms of games, since 1990. Game No. in Grand Final 3 Aaron Keating Adelaide, 1997 4 Richard Hadley Brisbane Lions, 2003 7 Shannon Motlop North Melbourne, 1999 8 Brent Renouf Hawthorn, 2008 9 Ben Marsh Adelaide, 1998 10 Simon Goodwin Adelaide, 1997 11 Cameron Mooney North Melbourne, 1999 11 Chad Rintoul Adelaide, 1997 12 Jarryd Blair Collingwood, 2010

» Neither Melbourne

(1948) nor North Melbourne (1977) followed up their Grand Final replay win with a premiership the following season.

» The most recent team

to lose two consecutive Grand Finals before winning a premiership the next season was Hawthorn, in 1986. The Hawks lost the 1984-85 Grand Finals. Collingwood (2002-03) and Geelong (1994-95) lost Grand Finals before dropping oﬀ the pace. Both have subsequently won a premiership.

» Essendon’s history There will be distractions, such as speculation about Malthouse’s future and overtures to players from Greater Western Sydney, but the club knows – because it has done so before – it can remain focused while the world around it swirls with speculation. One thing is almost certain: the premiership-winning 22 will not take the ﬁeld together again,

Brown’s season-ending injury shortening the odds on that football inevitability being repeated. Collingwood’s list might be younger than all but four of the 17 clubs and high hopes are bouncing around everywhere you look. But it knows it is now the hunted. And it will need to work hard to stay at the front of the pack. That is a sobering football reality.

might be instructive for St Kilda. The Bombers lost the 1947 Grand Final by one point, and then drew with Melbourne in 1948 before losing the replay. They won the next two ﬂags (1949-50). Of course, John Coleman made his debut in 1949.

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CELEBRATING 20 YEARS ON

the night the

CROWS

ARRIVED

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Adelaide’s entry to the AFL. The Crows will take on Hawthorn, the side they thrashed in their ﬁ rst outing 20 years ago, and no doubt it will bring back fond memories for their fans and the men who created history. NICK BOWEN

raham Cornes’ most vivid memory of the lead-up to Adelaide’s first game was the urge he felt to get a hammer and smash the Hawthorn coach’s box. Bruce Lindner recalls being stuck in a pre-match traffi c jam that had choked all of the routes into Football Park so badly several players were late for the Crows’ pre-match meeting. Less than an hour after that meeting, captain Chris McDermott remembers standing at the top of the players’ race and speaking to his teammates about the history they were about to create. After that he does not remember much of the night. More on that later. One of the players listening to McDermott’s address was Andrew Jarman, although he recalls being momentarily distracted by a strong aroma of hot chips doused in salt and vinegar. By the time McDermott, Jarman, Lindner and the rest of the Crows took the fi eld, Cornes’ earlier destructive urges

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... there was competition but there was limited ‘aggro’, which was pretty unique ... everyone had a sense of the bigger picture CHRIS McDERMOTT

had subsided. At that moment, Adelaide’s inaugural coach recalls seeing a full moon rising over the Adelaide Hills, its light blending into the artiﬁ cial glow of the light towers on the eastern side of the ground. But speak to anyone who played that night and all will tell you about the noise the crowd made. McDermott says it may have been louder than the Football Park crowds that bayed for Victorian blood at State of Origin games during the 1980s. Cornes agrees, saying there was something different about the crowd that night. Jarman says the roar when the Crows took the ﬁ eld was so loud it felt like the stadium was shaking.

It wasn’t too long before the Hawthorn coach’s box was shaking. Then-Hawks coach Alan Joyce says Adelaide fans banged so hard on it with their hands and feet, they nearly achieved what Cornes had envisaged doing with a hammer. Hawthorn’s acting captain that night, Gary Ayres, says the crowd was the most hostile he played in front of, even more intimidating than those at suburban Victorian strongholds such as Victoria Park, Windy Hill, Moorabbin and Princes Park. There’s little doubt the 44,902 people that ﬂocked to Football Park that night helped inspire the Crows to an 86-point win. In their ﬁrst AFL game. Against one of the premiership favourites.

But beyond such fanatical hometown support, how did a club that had been formed just five months earlier achieve this? The Crows were awarded the AFL’s 15th licence the previous October and had appointed Cornes, the long-time coach of Glenelg and South Australia’s State of Origin team, as coach. One of Cornes’ first priorities was to assemble the club’s playing list. In simple terms, the recruiting concessions awarded to Adelaide by the AFL allowed it to secure the pick of the SANFL’s talent, including up to 10 players previously drafted by, but not registered with, AFL clubs. Reluctant draftees picked up by the Crows included 1986-87 All-Australians McDermott and Jarman, who had also won the 1987 Magarey Medal, and Simon Tregenza. By 19, Tregenza had recorded consecutive second-place finishes in the Magarey Medal and won fl ags with Port Adelaide in the SANFL in 1989-90. However, the Crows missed other SANFL targets, including the player Cornes says was their No. 1 target, Jarman’s younger

PHOTO: NEWSPIX

RIGHT CALL: Even the Adelaide

banner suggested the Crows would clip the Hawks’ wings in the club’s ﬁrst AFL match in 1991.

brother Darren, who was signed by Hawthorn, and Richard Champion, who went to the Brisbane Bears after fi rst being drafted in 1988. The Crows’ concessions also allowed them to sign up to six former SANFL players listed with AFL clubs but out of contract. In that fi rst year, they enticed Tony McGuinness home from Footscray, Bruce Lindner from Geelong and Danny Hughes from Melbourne. When Cornes gathered his squad for its first training session in November that year, it numbered 75 players, but had to be whittled to 52 before the start of the season. Despite the uncertain futures many in the squad faced, McDermott says there was no in-your-face competition as you might have expected. “Certainly there was competition but there was

limited ‘aggro’, which was pretty unique,” McDermott says. “It sounds a bit (corny) but everyone had a sense of the bigger picture behind it all.” Remarkably, McDermott recalls, when the list was ﬁnalised, future captain Mark Bickley was the last player to make the cut. Soon after, McDermott, then 27, a 10-season SANFL player and Glenelg’s outgoing captain, was appointed Crows skipper, getting the nod over McGuinness. Over that pre-season, Cornes trained his players hard. Tregenza recalls the step up from SANFL training was steep. “‘Cornesy’ got us pretty ﬁ t, which was an eye-opener for some of us,” he said. The Crows’ initial training resources and facilities, though, were a far cry from those at their disposal today.

At the club’s initial training sessions, Cornes recalls having to borrow footballs from South Australia’s under-18 state side, while there was no team training gear for the players. Getting on to Football Park to train sometimes meant appeasing a groundkeeper nervous about any wear and tear to his ground, Cornes says, while the Crows administration and football department worked in portable huts outside Football Park. Despite being happy with the intensity of pre-season training, Cornes says he and the players had little idea where they sat compared to other AFL clubs, or whether the Adelaide public felt a connection with the new team. That changed when Kevin Sheedy brought his Essendon side to Adelaide to take on the Crows in their ﬁ rst inter-club practice match.

Not only did the Crows win, they did so in front of about 42,000 people at Football Park. The next day, The Sunday Mail produced a wrap-around souvenir of the game entitled ‘Heroes’. “It was just a trial game but it was the first time the club really resonated with the South Australian people and it just got better from there,” Cornes says. Adelaide went on to record wins over Geelong and St Kilda in the Foster’s Cup pre-season competition before losing in a semi-fi nal to North Melbourne, by 58 points at Waverley Park. Cornes went into round one quietly confident. However, his mood on the day of the game turned sour when it became apparent only one of the new coach’s boxes being installed at Football Park – the visitor’s – would be fi nished before the game. AFL RECORD

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adelaide crows

WELCOME: Adelaide captain Chris McDermott shakes hands with his

Hawthorn counterpart Gary Ayres as umpire Peter Cameron looks on.

PHOTO: NEWSPIX

“At about 3pm, I’m looking over at the Crows’ box and there were wires hanging everywhere,” Cornes says. “I said to the guys, ‘What’s the deal with our box? You’re going to have to work to get that done.’ And one said, ‘No, we’re going to have to leave that as it is.’ “I said, ‘You’re bloody kidding. You do the visiting Victorian coach’s box and you’re going to leave ours half done?’ “Before the game started, I just wanted to get a hammer and smash the Hawthorn coach’s box.” Cornes had regained his composure by the time he addressed his players before the game. “Graham was outstanding. He was very calm. He was excited and obviously nervous, but he was in control,” Jarman said. Cornes’ final instructions were simple, Jarman says: “Fierce at the ball and fierce at the player with the ball.” Still, Jarman was worried the Crows weren’t ready to compete with a powerhouse such as Hawthorn, and wouldn’t be for at least two years. Lindner knew better than anyone what to expect from the Hawks, having been part of the fierce Geelong-Hawthorn rivalry of the late 1980s. He tried to pass on some of his experience to his teammates but he, too, was unsure what to expect in the Crows’ fi rst game for premiership points. Their doubts were soon put to rest when the game started. Tregenza had the first kick of the match – and the Crows’ first in the AFL – after coming

in off the wing to rove ruckman Romano Negri’s tap. “I don’t think it was anything spectacular, just a grubber forward but I’ll take it,” Tregenza says. “It’s a nice piece of history to be a part of.” The then 20-year-old ﬁnished the match with 31 possessions and was named in the best players. About four minutes into the game, Adelaide kicked the ﬁ rst goal through McGuinness, after Hawks rover John Platten was penalised for holding the ball. Five minutes later, the Crows really announced their arrival. From the nine-minute to the 16-minute mark, they piled on four consecutive goals. Despite kicking against a slight breeze, they went into quarter-time with a 26-point

To be so far in front, you could actually sit back and spectate BRUCE LINDNER

lead and, more importantly, the belief they belonged at AFL level. “Going into the huddle, the boys could smell it. We felt we could win, even though we knew they’d come back at us,” Jarman says. The Hawks held their ground for the ﬁ rst half of the second quarter, a goal to Chris Wittman cancelling out an earlier goal by John Klug.

However, when the Crows rattled on the last four goals of the half – including two classy efforts from 300-game SANFL player David Marshall within three minutes – they were 51 points up at the main break. Halfway through the third term, Ayres says he knew the game was lost. “I was always conﬁdent we could turn things around, but certainly that night whatever we tried to do, they answered it with enormous pressure and goalscoring power,” he says. “They were just very, very good.” By three-quarter time, with the Crows 68 points up, Jarman was content the game was won. For Lindner, so often subjected to heart-breaking defeats by Hawthorn when at Geelong, the ﬁnal stages of the

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adelaide crows

match were sweet. “To be so far in front, you could actually sit back and spectate, take in the way the players were performing and just think, ‘This is a beautiful moment’,” he says. Lindner was much more than a spectator. As part of a forward line that was missing injured full-forward Scott Hodges, he teamed well with Klug and Peter McIntyre, with each kicking four goals. Lindner, however, got to put the exclamation mark on the victory, kicking a goal after the ﬁnal siren. At the other end of the ground, 21-year-old Nigel Smart and 200-game SANFL player Tom Warhurst shut down two of the greatest forwards of the modern era, Jason Dunstall and Dermott Brereton. Smart kept Dunstall to two goals and over another 277 games became one of the Crows’ greatest sons. Although Brereton appeared troubled by injury from midway through the match, Warhurst still kept him goalless. However, he played just one more game. Pitted against Carlton’s Stephen Kernahan the following

Adelaide v Hawthorn Round 1, March 22, 1991 Adelaide

6.211.617.1024.11 (155)

Hawthorn

2.03.36.89.15 (69)

ADELAIDE’S SELECTED SIDE B: Scott Lee, Nigel Smart, Rodney Maynard HB: Bruce Lindsay, Tom Warhurst, Robert Thompson C: Simon Tregenza, Andrew Jarman, David Marshall HF: Darren Smith, John Klug, Grantley Fielke F: Bruce Lindner, Peter McIntyre, Darel Hart R: Romano Negri, Chris McDermott, Tony McGuinness I/C: Eddie Hocking, Rod Jameson Best: Adelaide – A. Jarman, Marshall, McGuinness, Smart, Klug, Tregenza, Maynard, Warhurst. Hawthorn – Anderson, Wittman, Pritchard, Collins, Hudson. Goals: Adelaide – Lindner 4, Klug 4, McIntyre 4, Maynard 3, McGuinness 3, Smith 2, Marshall 2, Hart, A. Jarman. Hawthorn – Dunstall 2, D. Jarman 2, Morrissey 2, Anderson, P. Dear, Wittman. Umpires: P. Cameron, H. Kennedy. Crowd: 44,902 at Football Park.

week, he conceded ﬁve goals and suffered a serious knee injury late in the match. After subsequent reconstructive surgery, Cornes says, Warhurst developed a blood clot and was, for a while, gravely ill. He did not play again. When contacted by the AFL Record to be part of this feature, Warhurst graciously declined. “I suggest you call people who played a few more games,” he said modestly.

Jarman was perhaps the Crows’ biggest star that night, clearly out-pointing brother Darren on his way to 29 disposals, one goal and three Brownlow Medal votes. After the game he says he simply told Darren: “Big brother’s one zip.” Few things seemed to go wrong for the Crows that night. Perhaps Lindner best sums up why. “We had this real synergy

that night,” he says. “Everyone had confidence in their teammate, so you would make a movement that half-second in front of your opponent because you believed we would get the ball and 90 per cent of the time that night we did.” The only signifi cant thing to go wrong was when McDermott was knocked out in the fi nal quarter after being sandwiched by Brereton and Paul Dear. McDermott recovered to take part in the post-match celebrations. But only after fi rst waking up in the Crows’ rooms and wondering what he was doing in a “weird” footy jumper he did not recognise. In fairness, he had worn Glenelg’s black jumper with its yellow sash for the previous decade. Brereton was suspended for five weeks for striking, but McDermott bears no grudges. “It was all part of footy,” he says. Indeed, it seemed nothing could spoil the night for McDermott, Adelaide or Crows fans. “Because of the setting, the full moon and the way the guys played, it was like a real celebration of South Australian footy,” Cornes says.

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ONE OF THE BEST: Keen analysts of the game rate Darren Milburn one of the best defenders of his era.

darren milburn

He is almost 34, approaching his 16th season of AFL football and was written oﬀ by many after Geelong’s ﬁnals fadeout in 2010, but according to those who count at the Cats, there is still plenty of dash left in veteran defender Darren Milburn. BEN COLLINS

t’s always fraught with danger to make a pronouncement on a player so early in a season, especially when the player in question is one of the oldest in the competition. But here goes. It seems – to employ a variation on Mark Twain’s famous quote – reports of Darren Milburn’s imminent demise have been greatly exaggerated. After Geelong suffered a humiliating defeat to Collingwood in last year’s first preliminary final, knee-jerk critics announced the fall of the Cat empire, demanded a ruthless review of the game-plan and playing list, and suggested that if Geelong was to usher in another era of sustained success, tough decisions needed to be made on the likes of Milburn. After such hammerings, the first players scrutinised are often the older ones, and there was no one older than Milburn at Geelong. But if Milburn appeared slow and reactive against the Magpies’ swarm, he had plenty of mates that night, including some in the prime of their careers. Milburn isn’t much out of his own prime as a defensive general. In fact, there is an argument to suggest he is still enjoying an extended purple patch that has stretched

from the mid-2000s, which, if true, would not only make reports of his demise greatly exaggerated, but plain wrong. Since producing his self-professed worst season in 2003, Milburn has been among the competition’s most consistent performers, averaging 20.9 disposals in his past 158 games. Last year alone, he averaged a career-best 23.2 touches, not once dropping below 17. Statistics aren’t a deﬁ nitive measure of a player’s output, but they certainly add weight to the case for Milburn’s retention. As does the fact the Cats don’t yet have a readymade replacement for him. “Talk like that is certainly premature,” Geelong’s football manager Neil Balme said of speculation about Milburn’s future at the end of last season. “Look, I don’t expect his role will even change – ‘Dasher’ is still a very important player for us. “He’s a warrior who always puts himself in the ﬁ ring line and yet hardly misses a game. If you were at war, you’d want Dasher on your side. “He’s so reliable, he always gets the job done. That sort of player never goes out of fashion – the more of them you have, the more chance you are of winning. “Eventually he’ll have to be replaced by someone younger.

He’s a warrior who always puts himself in the ﬁring line GEELONG FOOTBALL MANAGER NEIL BALME

But he’s deﬁed logic so far, and he keeps playing well and getting the job done, so no one should be writing him off just yet. “As always, he’ll be measured on how he trains and plays. When we pick the team, we certainly won’t be looking at his date of birth.” Milburn is one of the quietest and most media-shy Cats, but he handled the question over his football mortality with the composure for which he is renowned. “Nobody likes hearing negative stuff about themselves,” he said, “but I try not to waste time thinking about it because you don’t have any control over it. “People outside the club don’t know what goes on in the inner sanctum anyway. It just seems people think your career’s over once you get into your 30s. But there are a lot of other sports where players are still going even into their late 30s.”

darren milburn Out of contract at the end of last season, Milburn admitted to some feelings of uncertainty, especially when coach Mark Thompson suddenly resigned. “I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to ﬁt into the equation, and then with ‘Bomber’ leaving, that probably threw it into even more turmoil,” he said. “No one wants to play on a year too long and leave on bad terms, but I was keen to play on because the body is good, I’m still highly motivated, I still felt I could offer something, and I want to help the team achieve the ultimate again this year. “But the club had the ﬁ nal say, and I’m glad they were happy for me to go again.” Milburn will be 34 on April 15. Just one Cat in the past 27 years has played to such an age, and that was the freakish Gary Ablett senior, who was 34 years and 343 days in his last game in 1996. The oldest and most experienced player on Geelong’s list for the past four seasons (since the retirement of Peter Riccardi in 2006), Milburn is also the third-oldest player in the AFL, behind Essendon’s Dustin Fletcher (36 in May) and Bulldog Barry Hall (34). Considering the great levelling culture of football clubs, it comes as no surprise to hear Milburn’s age is the subject of humour among his teammates. “There are a few guys who remind me about my age by dropping a few hints here and there,” Milburn said with a laugh. “I’m 33, but they’ll say I’m 38 or 39. “They shouldn’t say too much because they’ll get to my age

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FACT FILE

Darren Milburn Da

Bo April 15, 1977 Born: Recruited from: Re Kilmore/Calder U18 Kil Debut: Round 1, 1997, De vR Richmond Height: 189cm Weight: 91kg He Games: 278 Goals: 91 Ga Player honours: 3rd best and Pla fairest 2004; All-Australian fai 2007; premiership sides 2007, 20 2009; pre-season premiership 20 ssides 2006, 2009 sid B Brownlow Medal: Career C votes 26

GOTCHA: Milburn tackles North

Melbourne star Brent Harvey.

one day and they’ll cop the same stuff they give me, although they think that’s a long, long way off.” So who are the main culprits? “Mathew Stokes and James Kelly would probably be the main ones. But that’s all right – it’s all a bit of fun.” In 2009, Cats CEO Brian Cook told The Australian Milburn was “a great stayer – Bart Cummings would be proud of him”. It’s a description that still applies. Milburn’s 16th season could bring with it more accolades as one of the most durable and successful Cats in the club’s history. He has averaged 22 games a season for the past eight years and if he manages that again this season, he will become just the third Cat to reach 300 games, behind Ian Nankervis

(325) and Sam Newman (300). By season’s end, he might also become Geelong’s most prolific finals player. Right now he sits on 20, just one behind Garry Hocking, one of the early influences in his career. Not surprisingly, Milburn hasn’t thought about either of these potential milestones. It’s a tired cliché but, to Milburn, it really is “all about the team”. Besides, he’s always too focused on the next training session and the next game to worry about things that appear so distant on the horizon. “I’ve learned not to look too far ahead because that’s when things can go off the rails,” he said. “If you do the right things now, and do them over and over again, the future will look after itself.”

Milburn has always looked after himself physically, and the old warrior feels refreshed and ready to help the Cats mount a challenge for their third premiership in fi ve years. “It was a disappointing finish to last year – Collingwood played great footy and were the better side on the night by far,” he said. “But that’s footy – you take the lows with the highs and just keep learning and moving forward. We’ve done that and we believe we’ve put ourselves in a good position to have a crack again this year.” Milburn is, as they say, ‘fl ying’, as evidenced by the dozen touches he amassed in the opening quarter of Geelong’s fi rst NAB Cup game against North Melbourne. Watching him sweep across half-back had a Groundhog Day feel to it. It was the same during the pre-season grind, with Milburn completing all the work, remaining niggle-free and building a solid base of fi tness.

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darren milburn As much as the mechanics and the mindset remained the same, this was a different pre-season following the departures of Thompson (to an assistant coaching role at Essendon) and Gary Ablett junior (Gold Coast). “It was obviously disappointing to lose two keys members of the team, but that’s life,” he said. “We just wished them the best and focused on making ourselves better. “We’re a very experienced group, so taking a couple of people out of the equation hasn’t affected things too much. Having a few new voices around has helped, too.” The main new voice has been that of coach Chris Scott, the former Brisbane Lions hard man. Asked whether any old on-ﬁ eld grudges needed to be smoothed over with the new coach, Milburn laughed. “Nah,” he said. “There probably were a couple of little niggles along the way – the Lions terrorised everybody for a while there and he played his footy pretty tough. When the ball was there, he made sure you weren’t going to win it. And that’s the way a lot of our players go about it, too, so I think there’s a lot of mutual respect. “I’m just glad he’s on our side now, even as a coach. But I still haven’t seen him fully wound up yet, so maybe he’s saving it for round one.”

IN FULL VOICE:

Milburn believes new coach Chris Scott was an astute choice by the Cats.

It was disappointing to lose two key members, but that’s life DARREN MILBURN

Milburn believes Scott was an astute appointment. “Chris coaches the way he played,” he said. “He doesn’t compromise anything, he has a very deﬁ nite way he wants to do things, and

Milburn the magniﬁcent » It’s doubtful Darren Milburn has received such high praise from anyone outside Geelong Football Club. Ted Hopkins, a Carlton premiership hero in 1970 and later co-founder of Champion Data, regards Milburn as the game’s most underrated player, and rates his defensive union with Matthew Scarlett as the most remarkable “team within a team” of the past decade.

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“Milburn has been totally underestimated and undervalued by everyone outside his club,” Hopkins said. “He is probably the most underrated player I’ve seen. But everyone at Geelong knows how good he is – they absolutely revere him as the magniﬁ cent footballer he is. “We haven’t seen a player who is as clever or who can read the play as well when the opposition is bringing the ball towards him. His anticipation is peerless.” Hopkins’ claims are backed by

when he has something to say, he says it, and the boys listen. You’d be crazy not to.” Scott’s inclusiveness has also been refreshing. “He gets the opinions of the older boys, which is good,” he said. “We’re a similar age, too, and he’s not long out of the game, so he knows where we’re coming from.” Milburn recalls “picking up things” from the likes of Scott and Glenn Archer and trying to introduce them into his own game to make himself a better player. In turn, Milburn tries to help teammates become better players. One player to come

indisputable statistical evidence. According to Champion Data, Milburn was last year the top Cat – and fi fth in the AFL – in ‘possession gains’ (winning the ball back off the opposition). He was also second at Geelong, behind Harry Taylor, for marks from opposition kicks. Most significantly, over the past four seasons, only Bulldog Brian Lake has won more of the ball off the opposition than Milburn. Hopkins also rates Milburn highly in his attacking play, with “near-faultless” decision-making, disposal and ability to fi nd and create space. “Milburn is the archetypal

through the Milburn school of mentoring is Harry Taylor, who recently told the Herald Sun that he was motivated to perform for Milburn and Matthew Scarlett because he wasn’t sure how much longer he would have the privilege to play alongside them. “I’m a fair bit quieter than most of the other boys,” Milburn said, “so I prefer to take a guy aside for a one-on-one chat rather than talking in a group. But once I get on the ground, I’m more vocal, and I think I direct trafﬁc pretty well.” Indeed he does – and he might continue to do so for some time yet.

strong, rebounding half-back who can attack and defend equally well and is, I believe, essential, and will become even more so in the future,” he said. “And teams need defensive pillars, and they don’t come any better than Milburn and Scarlett. They represent the most influential combination of the past decade.” Milburn typically deflected such kudos. “It’s always nice when people talk about you like that,” he said, “but I wouldn’t single out anyone because we’ve had great players all over the field who have all contributed to our success.” BEN COLLINS

The City of Melbourne is a corporate partner of the 2011 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/whatson

I’ve been able to get back to playing the football I want to play DEAN COX

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Cox The voice of experience With the groin and abdominal injuries that threatened his career behind him, Eagle Dean Cox is ready to soar again. But as he enters the twilight years of his decorated career, the champion ruckman’s focus has shifted. He wants to leave a legacy at West Coast, and Nic Naitanui is central to his plans. NATHAN SCHMOOK

PHOTO: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/AFL PHOTOS

t the end of the 2008 season, West Coast’s Dean Cox was without peer. A rucking revolutionary, Cox had just been named All-Australian for the fourth straight year, won his ﬁ rst club champion award and carried an inexperienced team on his shoulders – all while playing with a fracture in his right foot. Indeed, in 2008, Cox appeared indestructible. He deﬁ ed injury to play all 22 games, spent more time in the action than he had, and developed a ground-level game that wasn’t needed when he was feeding the

ball to champions Chris Judd and Ben Cousins in the Grand Final years of 2005 and 2006. But as Cox ﬂew in 2008, West Coast was plummeting to what was, at the time, its worst season. A long, youth-driven rebuild was underway and the club ﬁ nished 15th, with compensation coming in the form of No. 2 draft pick Nic Naitanui. It was a key moment in Cox’s career, for good and for bad. The arrival of a precocious young athlete to teach and nurture was the good (it is said there were few West Coast people more excited than Cox when Naitanui arrived at the club late in November 2008).

dean cox The bad was the looming onset of crippling groin and abdominal injuries, which grounded the once unstoppable Eagle for the second half of 2009 and left him a shadow of his former self for much of last season. “It was certainly very difficult,” Cox says of the injury that first fl ared in June 2009, and ended his season in round 15 after a short fi ght. “I’d previously been able to play with some injuries and managed to get through, but when the groins start to fl are up you lose power and your agility. I just couldn’t do things on a football field that I’d done previously or that I wanted to do; things I knew I could do.” Cox started the 2010 preseason confident the careerthreatening injury was behind him, but a recurrence left him sidelined for January, February and half of March. His approach upon return was simply to do more. “On days off I’d continue to run, and that probably brought it back on, or restricted me in ways throughout the fi rst half of the year,” he says. “When I was playing in my early- and mid-20s, I’d like to do as much as I possibly could to give myself an edge over my opponents. Being surrounded by 17- and 18-year-olds, you don’t realise you’re coming to 30. You actually feel like you’re still in your mid-20s.”

MASTER AND APPRENTICE:

Dean Cox (right) has been rejuvenated by the development of rising young star Nic Naitanui (left).

FACT FILE

Dean Cox

Born: August 1, 1981 Recruited from: East Perth Debut: Round 2, 2001, v Sydney Swans Height: 203cm Weight: 106kg Games: 202 Goals: 100 Player honours: best and fairest 2008; 3rd best and fairest 2004, 2005; All-Australian 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; premiership 2006 Brownlow Medal: career votes 38

Cox, who turns 30 in August, has come out the other end. He’s feeling as fit as he ever has on the eve of the 2011 season, and it shows as he moves confi dently through the West Coast offi ce reception area at Patersons Stadium chatting with staff. He jokes regularly throughout a 30-minute interview, contrary to suggestions from a passing coach that Cox is likely to cry if it’s a This is Your Life-type exercise. “I might have cried in 2005,” he says. “But that’s it.” He’s keen to discuss a restaurant he will be opening soon in partnership with

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a handful of teammates, but it’s a faultless summer preparation, mostly, that has him so buoyed. The veteran of 202 matches is rediscovering the powerful running game that made him one of the premier ruckmen of the past decade, a tall who effectively played as an extra smaller midfi elder. “That’s been the good thing about this pre-season. I’ve been able to get back to playing the football I want to play – moving freely, confident with the ball in my hands, and happy with my positioning around the ground,” he says. “I feel as though I’m covering the ground and getting to the positions I’ve always liked to get to. At times, the footy comes to you and in other games you fi nd it tougher to generate possessions. But if I’m getting to the right position required for our football side, then I’m happy.” West Coast ruck coach Simon Eastaugh says Cox is a “rejuvenated” player on the eve of his 12th season (he did not play a match in 2000), with Naitanui’s continued development easing the burden on the Eagles’ No. 1 ruckman. “They’re two very individual styles of ruckmen and they really complement each other,” Eastaugh says. “Dean obviously leads the way with the way he plays, but he also leads the way with how he communicates with Nic and works with him on the training track.”

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dean cox

It is this focus on his protégé that distinguishes the Cox of 2011 from the peerless ruckman of 2008. Working with Naitanui has energised the senior Eagle and made him determined to leave West Coast in capable hands when his time is up. “When you first get to the club, you want to establish yourself as a player, and then make sure you’re doing everything you can to play your role for the side,” Cox says. “That hasn’t changed, but I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing Nic really progress. “I’ve spent a lot of time with him and to be able to leave the club, whenever that happens, and know he’s ready to take the game by the scruff of the neck, I’d be really happy with that.” The time will come when Naitanui is recognised as the Eagles’ No. 1 ruckman and Cox moves into a support role. The proposition doesn’t bother Cox; in fact, he says each player should think of himself as the No. 1 man when they’re out on the ground this season. “You can’t have the mentality that you’re only there to fi ll the void left by the other person,” Cox says. “Whenever (Nic’s) ready to do it himself, and I can’t play and have an impact on a game like I want to, well then it’s time to give it away.” Cox isn’t sure how much longer he’ll play, although there is a school of thought at West Coast, supported by coach John Worsfold, that he could be the club’s fi rst 300-game player. Although he laughs off that suggestion – he would need to play at least another fi ve seasons – there is clearly more this premiership hero wants to achieve in the game. Cox travelled to Melbourne for the preliminary fi nals last year and the Grand Final, an experience he didn’t enjoy as much as he would have were he playing. But it strengthen his resolve to lead West Coast back to the fi nals. “As long as I can get my body right and play the football that’ll help the side eventually play finals, whenever that may be, that’s what I want to see fi rst of all,” he says. “I went to the finals last year and I hate watching them.

HOLDING HIS GROUND:

Dean Cox, pictured battling Collingwood’s Darren Jolly, is adamant the Eagles are close to returning to ﬁnals action.

It brought back some fond memories of when we were playing in prelims and I was certainly very envious of the players. That’s what you train for – it’s what you go through early morning sessions for – to play on the MCG in finals matches.” Cox is adamant West Coast will return to the fi nals while he is still playing, and in 2011, there’s no Eagle, when fully fi t, more capable of dragging the club back up the ladder. He says a mix of the group’s established players – including Mark LeCras, Matt Priddis and Shannon Hurn, who have played in a combined seven finals – and the club’s emerging youngsters will lead West Coast back into September contention. “Last year was a disastrous one (the Eagles won only four matches and collected the club’s fi rst wooden spoon), but the boys have come back and attacked the pre-season and are really trying to rectify those

Last year was a disastrous one, but the boys are really trying to rectify those performances DEAN COX

performances,” Cox says. “We’re going to be a much tougher team to play against this year. “It’s great to say that you want to play finals, but when we do play finals we want to make sure every player knows their role and understands a game-plan that can win fi nals. “We’re all about working with each other and understanding what’s required to win fi nals. It’s not too far around the corner.”

Naitanui, Luke Shuey and Scott Selwood will also have a big say in when West Coast returns to the fi nals for the first time since 2007, and Cox is confident his protégé will flourish when he fi nally gets his chance on the big stage. Whether he’s watching from a forward pocket, the interchange bench or the grandstand, Cox says he will be a proud onlooker. “I am now when I watch him from the bench or when I’m injured,” Cox says. “To see all the young kids working so hard to develop their games until they’re fi nally ready to have a real impact in the AFL competition is great. “That’s the best part about being a senior player in a team environment; you spend a lot of time with them and to see them really flourish is what you’re after.” NATHAN SCHMOOK IS THE WA REPORTER FOR THE AFL RECORD, AND AFL.COM.AU AFL RECORD

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ALMOST THE SAVIOUR

Pride before the fall It was the moment long-suﬀering St Kilda fans thought their 44-year premiership drought was about to end.

y chest was throbbing as St Kilda’s Lenny Hayes gathered the ball on the half-forward flank and sent a hurried drop punt to the top of the goalsquare. Brendon Goddard scaled Harry O’Brien’s shoulders while former teammate Luke Ball attempted to spoil. Goddard plucked one of the marks of the season. He kicked the goal to put us six points up at the beginning of time-on in the fi nal quarter. Goddard ran towards the centre of the ground, thumping his heart with his clenched fist. It was the fi rst time all afternoon we had been in front. The tension suddenly dispersed from my limbs. We are home, I thought; we are finally home. Goddard’s mark seemed destined to sit alongside Leo Barry’s courageous pack mark for the Sydney Swans in the dying seconds of the 2005 Grand Final and Wayne Harmes’ centimetre-perfect flick for Carlton in the final quarter of the 1979 decider. It would have been fitting for a player of Goddard’s capabilities for him to be remembered as the man who broke St Kilda’s 44-year premiership drought. St Kilda has won one Grand Final and 26 wooden spoons (twice as many as any other club) in 114 seasons of football. Yet there has never been any shortage of stars for our fans to admire. Whether it was Ian Stewart’s lethal left foot, Carl Ditterich’s raw athleticism, Trevor Barker’s soaring pack marks, Tony

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Lockett’s bullocking leads, Nicky Winmar’s mesmerising torpedos, Robert Harvey’s swivelling hips or Darrel Baldock’s exquisite ball-handling. Baldock – the captain of St Kilda’s Team of the Century – passed away last month aged 72. The image of ‘The Doc’ holding the 1966 premiership cup while wearing a Collingwood jumper remains the most enduring in the club’s history. Had we beaten Geelong in the 2009 Grand Final, he was earmarked to present the silverware to Nick Riewoldt. It would have been a nice touch. Poor health prevented Baldock from attending either of the Grand Finals in 2010. It feels like the end of an era for the club. After playing in three Grand Finals in two years, I ﬁ nd it difﬁcult to envisage another serious tilt in 2011. It would be tragic if the likes of Hayes, Riewoldt and Goddard were to join the long list of Saints stars – including Harvey, Nathan Burke and Stewart Loewe – to never experience the ultimate success. There is no justice in football. Clubs make their own luck. Unfortunately for St Kilda supporters, our team appears adept at thwarting itself. St Kilda is always entertaining. In fact, half the thrill of supporting the Saints is wondering how and when something might go wrong. Our supporters are a masochistic

breed. We keep coming back for more, season after season. It is similar to the manner in which old men adore their perennially disobedient pet spaniels. My friend is a prime example of this ethos. She spent the fi nal quarter of last year’s qualifying final against Geelong with her head buried in her hands, unable to watch as the Cats mounted a gutsy comeback. When I tried to console her, she admitted there was nowhere else on this earth she would rather be than locked in a torturous pose at the MCG. Three weeks later, she attended the Grand Final. During the fi nal quarter, she became so tense she left the stadium. She sat outside, smoking cigarettes, trying to gauge the score from the intermittent roars of the crowd. A white-haired man who professed to being a fellow Saints supporter joined her. He had only agreed to attend the game at the urging of his wife. He knew his heart wasn’t up to it. He offered his hand and introduced himself. It was Carl Ditterich. The final 90 seconds were played out on the members’ wing at a frenetic pace. Scores remained level. Neither side conceded a centimetre. I found it agonising to watch, knowing

As always with St Kilda, it was great theatre

MURRAY MIDDLETON

each contest could make or break our season, and, in extreme instances, our lives. Supporters with portable radios became honorary timekeepers. Before the final boundary throw-in, a murmur spread through the crowd. Hushed, disbelieving voices relayed the news there was only seven seconds remaining. When the final siren sounded, Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly collapsed to the turf and stared at the clouds in despair. Nick Dal Santo and Scott Pendlebury joined him. Sam Gilbert clutched at his cramp-riddled left thigh. I rose from my seat and studied the bewildered faces of the supporters around me. No one knew whether to laugh or cry. A young Collingwood supporter turned around and said, ‘I fl ew all the way from Perth to see this, what do I do now?’ As always with St Kilda, it was great theatre. In the space of three hours I experienced anxiety, excitement, despair, hope, euphoria and, ultimately, numbness. I’m not sure if I can ask for any more than this. No ill-fated Grand Final replay will ever detract from the moment when Goddard soared above the pack, illuminated by the silver fl icker of cameras, while long-suffering St Kilda supporters leapt out of their seats in the background, brandishing their fi sts; a serpent of red, white and black, finally awakening. MURRAY MIDDLETON WON THE 2011 AGE SHORT STORY COMPETITION FOR THE FIELDS OF EARLY SORROW .

SO NEAR BUT SO FAR:Brendon Goddard’s soaring grab and goal to put the Saints in front in the dying stages of the drawn 2010 Grand Final will live in history as one of football’s greatest ﬁnals moments, but it was ultimately the Magpies who prevailed in the replay to continue St Kilda’s suﬀ ering. PHOTO: LACHLAN CUNNINGHAM/AFL PHOTOS

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Our AFL history guru answers your queries.

moments of the decade

col hutchinson NAME GAME

PLACE NAMES

WHOLESALE CHANGES:

Skipper Matthew Pavlich (middle) was one of 11 changes to the Dockers’ line-up in round 22 last year.

Ringing Ringi Ri ing the changes

In the round 22 match against Carlton last season, Fremantle made 11 changes to its team from the week before. Since the start of 1897, has any team made more? JACK QUARTERMAIN, SURREY HILLS, VIC.

CH: Exactly 100 years ago in

1911, due to a players’ dispute with the committee, a record total of 62 different players were used by St Kilda in senior matches during the season. On at least one occasion, members of the committee registered themselves and actually played!

The classic situation occurred, ironically against the Blues, in round 15. Twelve men were brought into the team from the week before, including 10 debutants. One of them was the legendary Roy Cazaly and seven others were making their one and only appearance at League level. Not surprisingly, the Saints lost the match by 114 points. From time to time, clubs have made many changes to the composition of teams in successive matches spanning two seasons.

GENUINE SENIOR FOOTBALLERS Living life to the full

» Before the start of the 2011

season, a total of 11,884 men had played at AFL level during 114 years of competition. According to records, at least 330 of them have lived to be at least 90 years of age. Carlton player (1919-24) and long-serving recruiting oﬃcer Newton Chandler was 103

when he passed away in 1997. In 1981, Archie Richardson, who represented St Kilda between 1898 and 1901, died in the United States, aged 101. It is believed the oldest living former player is Ken McKernan, who represented North Melbourne three times in 1934-35. He is due to blow out 100 candles on August 9.

Do you know of other senior players who are close to 90 or older, or who reached such an age before calling it a day? Should you have such information, contact Col Hutchinson on (03) 9643 1929 or col.hutchinson@aﬂ.com.au. 96

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» Family names come from a number of sources, one of them being the name of the town, region or country an early ancestor came from. This source is a common one no less on past and present League club lists than in general. A current example is the surname of Carlton rookie Ed Curnow. Curnow is a variation of the native Cornish word for Cornwall – Kernow. He is therefore etymologically related to the Cornes brothers of Port Adelaide. Their surname is a form of the adjective “Cornish”. Other examples are Krakouer (Krakow, former capital of Poland), Burgoyne (Burgundy in France) and Scotland. From the past, there are Polak (Polish), German and Dench (Danish), and Welsh, Holland, French and English, among others. Then there is the multitude of names ending in -ton, which nearly always indicates a village or town (-ton derives from Old English tun, an enclosure, which became our word “town”), some examples being Gumbleton, Bolton, Cunnington and Newton. KEVAN CARROLL

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

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PAGE BRAINS answers at bottom of page

Unscramble Banjo So Wet to discover my name

____ ______ ???

Use the picto-clues to figure out my name

____ ______ NEW!

Can you guess my NICKNAME?

_____

Silver CODE cards

and enter codes to play

CARLTON

Carlton have won the most Premierships together with Essendon and amazingly finished last for the 1st time in the 2002 season - over 100 years after they joined the competition.

OUT NOW!

AS SEEN ON TV

Answers: 1. Jobe Watson 2. Beau Waters 3. Flash

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FIVE TO FIND

Colour your footy world

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1 Which club did Gold Coast coach

Guy McKenna play for?

Here’s something to keep young footy fans busy – a set of three fantastic colouring books. Great Marks, Great Players and Great Skills feature full colour photos of some of the AFL’s greatest players (accompanied by proﬁ les and statistics) with outlined versions next to each for you to colour in.

2 Who is the new Hawthorn captain? 3 Which Brownlow medallist will

coach Collingwood next year?

4 This man won the Coleman Medal in 1990

and is now coaching the Sydney Swans.

5 I was recruited from Tasmania and this year

I’m the new Melbourne skipper.

RRP per book

The colouring books are suitable leffor forch children child ldren n aged three to seven and are available from bookshops or online atslatterymedia.com/store. re. re THIS WEEK’S ANSWERS

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: Football changed to red; Darren Jolly’s mouthguard changed to green; stripe on middle Essendon player’s sock removed; sash on Brent Stanton’s jumper changed to yellow; boot in background removed. TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE: 1. West Coast Eagles; 2. Luke Hodge; 3. Nathan Buckley; 4. John Longmire; 5. Brad Green.

Scrambled Sc S crra am mb blleed Footballer: Fo F oot otb ba all ller er: Cryptic Cr C ryyp pti tiicc Footballers: Fo F oo ottb ba alllleerrss:: BI B IG MOUTH: MO M OU UT TH H:: BIG 98 AFL L RECORD R EC RE RECO CO COR OR ORD RD visit vviis vis isit itafl afl afl flrec record.com.au re ord.com.au re

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U M TWOMEY TWOMEY David Swallow ﬁts the bill in all categories. es. C A L LLUM

f Gold Coast’s No. 1 draft pick David Swallow is to win the 2011 NAB AFL Rising Star award, he will be continuing trends that can be traced by looking at past winners. This is the 19th season of the award and its winners’ list since 1993 is full of some of the greats of the competition – and all types of players. It’s an award for everyone. Or is it? With 18 winners in the books, there is enough form to put together a Rising Star prototype. Based on averages from every winner in his Rising Star season, the Record has compiled a guide to what makes a Rising Star. Swallow, if you’re wondering, ﬁ ts comfortably in every category.

but only seven have done it in their second year. Sydney Swan Daniel Hannebery was one of those last season. Finally, the model Rising Star is a member of a middle-ranked team. Only one (Geelong’s Joel Selwood in 2007) has played in a premiership in the same year, and only one other (Cousins in 1996) has been in a side to fi nish the season in the top four. The Rising Star’s team, on average, has finished around ninth or 10th on the ladder. For the record, Swallow missed only three games playing in the VFL last year. He averaged more than one goal a game, is 186cm and 83kg, is playing his first season at AFL level and his team is widely tipped to sit outside the top eight. The numbers help explain why he is the early favourite.

PERFECT: At 186cm

and 83kg, David Swallow has a modern midﬁelder’s build.

The winners’ list since 1993 is full of some of the greats of the competition First, you’ll need to play at least 20 games. All bar ﬁ ve of the Rising Stars have played 20 games or more in the year they won, with Hawthorn key position player Nick Holland having the lowest games tally (15 in 1995). Naturally, you’ll need to get a bit of the ball, with the average possession count 17 a game for Rising Star winners. Surprisingly,

Three things you might not know about the Rising Star

The Brisbane Bears/Lions have had the most Rising Stars of any club – three (Nathan Buckley in 1993, Chris Scott in 1994, and Daniel Rich in 2009)

Fremantle’s Rhys Palmer was the most proliﬁc, averaging 23 touches a match in 2008. You’ve got to catch the eye as well, so kicking goals is a handy attribute. The Rising Stars average 12 goals a season, with Ben Cousins the standout with his haul of 30 in 1996 for West Coast.

The average Rising Star winner is 185cm and 87kg, generally a perfect combination for the modern midﬁ elder. What is somewhat surprising is that 11 of the Rising Stars have been ﬁrst-year players. We always think players eligible in their second year at AFL level have a better chance,

Seven clubs have not had a Rising Star winner (Adelaide, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Gold Coast, North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs).

Elevenof the Rising Stars were taken as ﬁrst-round draft picks, including Nathan Buckley and Michael Wilson as zone selections.

Each week throughout the home and away season, a panel of judges will select the nominee for the 2011 NAB AFL Rising Star. At the completion of the season, one outstanding player will be chosen as the 2011 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 fulfi l their dream of playing in the AFL.

100

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Applying data laterally to analyse and understand the modern game.

Why the Pies can go back-to-back

SURPRISE PACKET: Based on recorded

data, Adelaide is the team most likely to bolt from nowhere this season.

ary, my favourite butcher and a Richmond fan, is familiar with my reputation as a stats guru and recently asked the question: who will win this year’s AFL premiership? Many of the other stallholders I visited at Melbourne’s Prahran Market during the past month asked the same question. Last week I ran into Joseph, a newspaper seller, who was wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with white letters: COLLINGWOOD ARMY MARCH TO OCTOBER. On the back of the shirt, listed in chronological order, was each game the ‘Army’ will play in order to advance towards another premiership. Now it seems everywhere I go, year-round, I hear constant footy babble. Approaching round one of the home and away, it seems the song Eternal Hope is definitely in the air. I can’t recall it being so in the past, but this was before mass participation in fantasy and tipping competitions, betting options galore, salary caps, draft concessions and new franchises bopping up beyond the ‘protected’ borders of Victoria. I’m inclined to think the prolifi c pondering over premiership prospects for the coming season mirrors one of the defi ning differences between football in the Victorian Football League and what we have today in the national AFL environment. Can the data shed any light on my proposition? The answer is YES! The table here shows the premiership team’s ladder position the year before it won the flag, highlighting a significant shift in premiership 102

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chances of participating teams in the past and now. Before 1990, the two teams finishing first and second the previous year enjoyed a combined 48 per cent chance of winning the premiership (24 per cent each). Teams finishing in the top five when the VFL had a final-five system had a 91 per cent chance of winning a fl ag, with the rest of the fi eld only a nine per cent chance. Compare this to data from the AFL era. Now, the chances of the teams finishing first and second have dropped

significantly, to 14 per cent and 19 per cent respectively (33 per cent combined). The collective chances at the top end of the fi eld have dropped to 80 per cent and the lower-ranked teams now have a combined 20 per cent chance. Another feature of the two eras is that it now appears more likely under the AFL banner for a team to win coming from further back, having fi nished, for example, a long way outside the finals the previous season. If we consider the 12-clubs VFL ladders from 1949-89, only three teams won the premiership

PREMIER’S POSITION THE PREVIOUS SEASON VFL, 1898-1989AFL, 1990-2010 Premierships won%Premierships won% 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th

2426314 2426419 1516210 78314 1314524 5

5 5

0 0

0 1

0 0

N/A0 N/A0

The ﬁrst premiership used for this example is 1898, the second year of the VFL competition.

having finished outside the top five the previous season: Essendon in 1962 (seventh the previous year), Hawthorn in 1971 and Richmond in 1980 (both eighth). In just 21 AFL seasons since the first in 1990, four clubs have achieved this feat: Hawthorn in 2008 (sixth), Essendon in 1993 (eighth), and notably, Geelong in 2007 (10th) and Adelaide in 1997 (12th) In sum, under the AFL regime, the tail wags more often than it did in the VFL days. Oddly, in the AFL competition, the team finishing fifth the previous year has won the most premierships, with fi ve strikes in 21 attempts (24 per cent): Collingwood in 1990, Hawthorn in 1991, Carlton in 1995, the Brisbane Lions in 2001 and the Sydney Swans in 2005. On this basis, it would seem Fremantle is in the box seat this year. But what chance do the Dockers really have? Based on some key performance indicators, my calculations rate Fremantle as a team with some distance still to go. Last season, the Dockers’ opposition outperformed them in the important measure of invading territory (i.e. the ball was in the opposition attacking zone more often than Fremantle’s). The Dockers were also outperformed in contested situations. According to my calculations, of the rank outsiders it is Adelaide (which finished 11th last year) the most likely to bolt from nowhere. During 2010, the Magpies were so dominant in all measures that matter. This season, they would have to slip quite a bit while the rest catch up to stop them winning back-to-back fl ags. TED HOPKINS IS A CARLTON PREMIERSHIP PLAYER AND FOUNDER OF CHAMPION DATA. HIS BOOK THE STATS REVOLUTION (SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP) WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY.

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