THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE M MA AG GAZ GA AZ AZ ZIN IN IN INE NE E OF OF THE TH T HE AFL AFL GAME
ROUND 15, 2009 JULY 10-12 $4 (INC. GST)
No regrets for young Eagle Campbell Brown A dierent side of the Hawthorn defender
Coaches on Coaching NEW SERIES
Mick Malthouse on the art of defence
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ROUND 15, JULY 10-12, 2009 F E AT U R E S
59
Mark LeCras
From the fringes to an established Eagle.
64
Campbell Brown
There’s another side to the popular Hawk.
72
Mick Malthouse
The first in a new series, ‘Coaches on Coaching’. REGULARS
4
Backchat
Have your say about the football world.
7
The Bounce
Views, news, first person, facts, data, culture.
27
Matchday
Stats, history and line-ups.
55
Dream Team
Advice from Mr Fantasy, our Dream Team expert.
74 78 ATTACKING MODE:
Hawk Campbell Brown takes his football seriously but has a lighter side off the field.
64
80 82
Answer Man Testing your knowledge NAB AFL Rising Star Talking Point
Calling for the spin doctor when your team loses. THIS WEEK’S COVER The digital image of Mark LeCras was created by Melanie Tanusetiawan. Go to images.slatterymedia. com to order prints of this image.
DON’T MISS THE BIG AWAY GAME ACTION! Check out the fixture in the match day section to see when your team is playing their next interstate game! To follow your team around the country visit jetstar.com now.
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feedback
backchat HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE FOOTBALL WORLD
A deserving Dog Congratulations to Nathan Eagleton on his 250th game. The story on him in last week’s AFL Record was a great read. He has been through a lot in his career – his heart scare (he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat) at Port Adelaide, the unexpected trade to the Western Bulldogs and his struggles to get a senior game in 2002-03 – so it’s nice to see him hit a major milestone in such good form. Let’s hope with the Dogs he can get the premiership he missed out on at Port. ARTHUR, YARRAVILLE, VIC
Saluting Stynes As a Melbourne supporter, I was extremely relieved our boys were able to honour Jimmy Stynes with a win against West Coast last week. Jimmy, the news you’d been diagnosed with cancer was a shock, but I’m sure you’ll attack it head-on like every other challenge that’s been thrown your way. PAUL, CRANBOURNE, VIC
Crows are coming Everyone in Victoria is saying the Western Bulldogs and
AFL CHIEF BROADCASTING & COMMERCIAL OFFICER Gillon McLachlan AFL CONSUMER PRODUCTS MANAGER Scott Munn AFL RECORD MANAGING EDITOR Geoff Slattery AFL RECORD EDITOR Peter Di Sisto
GREAT SURVIVOR: Nathan Eagleton
overcame many set-backs to reach the 250-game milestone.
Collingwood are the only sides capable of challenging St Kilda and Geelong, but don’t forget Adelaide. With Kurt Tippett, we’ve finally got a key forward we can rely on, and with our midfield, we’ll give anyone a run for their money. WAYNE, NORWOOD, SA
PRODUCTION EDITOR Michael Lovett WRITERS Nick Bowen, Ben Collins, Jim Main, Peter Ryan, Callum Twomey, Andrew Wallace SUB-EDITORS Gary Hancock, Howard Kotton STATISTICIAN Cameron Sinclair CREATIVE DIRECTOR Andrew Hutchison DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Sam Russell
HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your feedback on n the Record and matters relating to the game, the clubs and the players. The best letter each round will receive a copyy of the AFL Record Season Guide n Guid de 2009. Email aflrecordeditor@ slatterymedia.com or write to AFL Record, Slattery Media Group, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, VIC, 3008.
DESIGNERS Jarrod Witcombe, Alison Wright PHOTO EDITORS Natalie Boccassini, Melanie Tanusetiawan PRODUCTION MANAGERS Troy Davis, Cameron Spark PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Stephen Lording DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Adele Morton COMMERCIAL MANAGER Alison Hurbert-Burns
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Nathan Hill AFL CLUB ACCOUNT MANAGER Anthony Palmer ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATOR Deanne Horkings Advertising (03) 9627 2600 PHOTOGRAPHY Sean Garnsworthy, Michael Willson, Lachlan Cunningham AFL Photos (03) 9627 2600 aflphotos.com.au
EDITOR’S LET TER
Fighting it out to the end As Hawthorn was heading to its third consecutive loss (and eighth for the season) against the Western Bulldogs last weekend, television commentator and former player and coach Robert Walls matter-of-factly suggested the Hawks ought to abandon their season. Struggling with injuries and with key players down on form, Walls argued Hawthorn would be better served starting its 2010 campaign immediately, by not selecting underdone players and ordering others struggling with injuries to rest or be sent for surgery. It’s an intriguing line to push, especially considering there are still eight rounds to be played – more than one-third of the season – and only two games separating 10th and 11th (the Sydney Swans and the Hawks) and sixth (the Brisbane Lions). Coaches pride themselves on their preparation and desire to always play competitively, regardless of the circumstances. The concept of giving up – as Walls suggests the Hawks should do – is indeed an alien one. In return for their loyalty – and financial commitment vvia membership – club members ought to expect genuine commitment at every outing, not an early white flag. PETER DI SISTO
PRINTED BY PMP Print ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO The Editor, AFL Record, Ground Floor, 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, Victoria, 3008. P: (03) 9627 2600 F: (03) 9627 2650 E: peterd@slatterymedia.com AFL RECORD, VOL. 98, ROUND 15, 2009 Copyright. ACN No. 004 155 211. ISSN 1444-2973, Print Post approved PP320258/00109
4 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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the bounce VIEWS NEWS FIRST PERSON FACTS DATA CULTURE
NEW STRUCTURE: Nathan
Melbourne’s efficient forward play appeared to catch West Coast players off their guard
Jones featured in a smaller Melbourne forward set-up against the Eagles.
GAME-PLAN
Revamped forward set-ups short-circuit rivals Mobile small forward structures featuring multiple scoring options are becoming more dangerous than traditional key-position set-ups. TOM MINE A R
C
learances, contested possessions and inside 50s are among the most highly valued statistics in the modern game. Yet Melbourne – the bottom team, no less – recorded its second win of the season while ‘losing’ to West Coast in all three categories last weekend. The Demons made up for that anomaly by laying an incredible 89 tackles, evidence of a spirited group keen to mirror the style of a former Melbourne warrior and
current president Jim Stynes. But heart alone did not secure a memorable victory; it was a surprisingly dynamic forward line that won the day. With tall forwards Jack Watts and Brad Miller on the sidelines, the Demons stacked their front half with smaller players who offered pace and a touch of class. Matthew Bate, Colin Sylvia and Brad Green presented across half-forward, Russell Robertson pushed deeper, Ricky Petterd was aggressive in a defensive role on David Wirrpanda and Liam Jurrah floated dangerously. Although not physically
dominant, this versatile forward structure overpowered the zoning Eagles. The Demons shared the ball with precision by foot through the front half of the ground, leading into space and isolating West Coast’s defenders, creating good scoring opportunities almost at will. Their rapid ball movement was complemented by tremendous skill – long goals by Sylvia, Green and Nathan Jones among the best of the round. The effort belied Melbourne’s position on the ladder. The Demons’ final total of
17.10 featured five multiple goalkickers, the tallest of whom was Bate at 192cm, and contrasted strongly with West Coast’s reliance on Josh Kennedy. Melbourne’s efficient forward play appeared to catch West Coast players off their guard, as his taller defenders struggled against their fleetfooted opponents. In what was admittedly not the highest-quality contest, this point of difference provided a fascinating statement about the game today – multiple scoring options are often more CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE
AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 7
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thebounce
VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE
dangerous than dominant keyposition forwards. Yes, the giants still control the Coleman Medal race, but even 42 goals apiece to Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead hasn’t pushed Hawthorn higher than 11th. Three top-four teams – Collingwood, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs – have consistently won without relying on a key-position forward. Such tactics have evolved with the onset of zone system defending, which often allows multiple defenders to help out at every contest. As a result, teams are
forward lines are most ominous when structured with multiple attacking options possessing pace, vision, quality disposal and a willingness to share the ball. A key forward-centric set-up is increasingly seen as predictable and one-dimensional. Stack the forward line, go small and let defenders pick their poison.
Despite the re-emergence of Travis Cloke, it was Collingwood’s similarly mobile forward structure that troubled Essendon
NICK BOW EN
not bombing away to big forwards, instead sharing the ball in forward lines comprised of skilled, midfield types who are continually leading and creating space. The Western Bulldogs have been doing this for years, and were at their dangerous best against Hawthorn, with Shaun Higgins, Brad Johnson and Scott Welsh each kicking and assisting in multiple goals. Despite the re-emergence of Travis Cloke, it was Collingwood’s similarly mobile forward structure that troubled Essendon and set up a resounding win. The Saints have bucked the trend in 2009, with a more traditional structure making them the third-highest scoring team in the League, but much of their attack stems from their vaunted, pressuring defence. With many coaches lacking the personnel to copy such a game style, they are adapting to the modern game with impressive tactical nous. Fans love to see the big men fly, and while that’s definitely part of the game, times are changing. As Melbourne proved last weekend, modern
NEWS TRACKER
STANDING TALL: St Kilda
defender Sam Fisher spoils dangerous Cat Paul Chapman.
DEFENSIVE PRESSURE
Saints were ready for assault
M
ost in football argue that premiership sides are built around a strong defence. And it was defence that St Kilda was primarily relying on as it entered last round’s much-hyped clash with Geelong, both teams going into the game unbeaten. The Saints, this year’s standout defensive team, had conceded an average of 58.8 points a game in the first 13 rounds (almost 19 points fewer than the next best side, Geelong), thanks to a game-plan built around putting defensive pressure on its opponents all over the field. In the Cats, the Saints were pitted against 2009’s heaviest-scoring team and the competition’s benchmark of the past three years, so their defence would be tested like never before. But St Kilda backman Sam Fisher said it was a challenge his side relished. “That’s what you play for – to test yourself against the best team in the competition,” Fisher said. “These big games also help you get ready for the finals.” Significantly, Fisher said the Saints’ defensive pressure and intensity in the first quarter, when they kicked the first five goals of the game, was instrumental in their six-point win. “Our tackling, pressure and
Our tackling, pressure and ferocity at the ball in the first 10 minutes was good and that’s what set us up SAM FISHER ferocity at the ball in the first 10 minutes was good and that’s what set us up,” he said. “The plan was to put them under as much pressure as possible. They’re a very skilful side so, if they get time and space, they’re definitely going to hurt you.” But the Cats are such a good team, and have such a deep rotation of class midfielders, they are almost impossible to keep down for an entire match. St Kilda knew this, Fisher said, and had expected Geelong to hit back hard in the third and final quarters. Again, the Saints put their faith in their defensive
pressure and structures, which enabled them to withstand all the Cats could throw at them – if only just. “We’re confident in our game style and believe if we stick to it, we’ll get the right result,” Fisher said. Another important part in St Kilda’s unbeaten start to the season has been the development of some of its young defenders. With veteran Max Hudghton sidelined for all but three games this season, Zac Dawson, 23, has slotted seamlessly into the Saints’ defence as a mobile key defender, while versatile tall Sam Gilbert, 22, has continued
Last round’s St Kilda-Geelong match drew an average national audience of 964,000 on Channel Seven.
8 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE his impressive progression. “We’ve had a steady back six most of this year and it gives you confidence when you see those young guys coming through in a big game,” Fisher said. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE SAINTS-CATS MATCH – see page 10
PARTY TIME: The Blues made
a flying start to 2009 when they thrashed Richmond in round one.
➡
REWIND
Tigers have ground to make up MICH A EL LOV ET T
U
ntil last weekend’s match between tearaway leaders St Kilda and Geelong, it was the most hyped match of the season. Cast your mind back more than three months to round one. Carlton and Richmond, with no finals appearances and five wooden spoons between them since 2001, were due to square off in what was then the must-see match of 2009. It just so happened it was the opening match of a new season – a season that would, at long last, bring bucket loads of hope to long-suffering
supporters of both clubs. The Tigers had finished 2008 strongly, winning eight of their last 11 games to slot into ninth place, just half a game from finals action. Carlton, too, was surging and its 10-12 win-loss record was a fair achievement in Brett Ratten’s first full season as senior coach. The Blues took some handy scalps in the run home, including
eventual preliminary finalists the Western Bulldogs, and they thumped the previous year’s grand finalist Port Adelaide. The two teams came together in round one with the added attraction of Ben Cousins making his return to the AFL and, as fate would have it, he would be playing against his former West Coast teammate and now-Blues captain Chris Judd But the hype quickly turned
thebounce
into horror for the Tigers as Carlton cruised to an 83-point win. Cousins also strained his hamstring, sidelining him for the next five games. So what have we learned some 13 rounds later, as they prepare to play on Saturday afternoon at the MCG, their 203rd meeting since 1908? If the two sides were supposed to be neck-and-neck at the start of the year, that is no longer the case. The Blues have pushed ahead despite the odd setback (such as a disappointing round 13 loss to Essendon) and are challenging for a finals position. They have won 36 of their 56 quarters this year; Richmond only 18 of 56, the second worst record in the AFL behind North Melbourne (15). Interestingly, both teams have taken a hard line with players some would consider walk-up starters in their best 22. Joel Bowden, Mark Coughlan and Jordan McMahon are marking time with Richmond’s VFL affiliate, the Coburg Tigers, while Nick Stevens and Heath Scotland are doing likewise for the Blues at the Northern Bullants. But clearly the Tigers have had other issues, and now have to resolve their coaching situation. They have some ground to make up on their old rivals.
P R O L I F I C F O R WA R D S
Franklin streak ends
I
n recent times, it has appeared almost unfathomable that Hawthorn superstar Lance Franklin could go through a whole match without kicking a goal. But in last week’s game against the Western Bulldogss at Docklands (see story on page 24), the unthinkable became reality. On a terrible he night for both Franklin and the Hawks, he managed just one behind from four kicks. It was the first time in more than three years that
NEWS TRACKER
Franklin had been kept goalless. In the intervening 71 games, he had averaged 3.6 goals and 6.2 scoring shots a game. BEN COLLINS
GOALLESS: Lance
Franklin failed to score a goal for the first time since 200 2006.
GOALS IN MOST CONSECUTIVE MATCHES Matches Player
Club
Span
120
Peter McKenna
Collingwood
Rd 1, 1968-Rd 3, 1974
114
Tony Lockett
St Kilda/Syd
Rd 9, 1993-Rd 12, 2002
98
Gordon Coventry Collingwood
Rd 1, 1932-Rd 11, 1937
97
Dick Lee
Collingwood
Rd 9, 1910-Rd 9, 1918
80
Bill Mohr
St Kilda
Rd 9, 1933-Rd 6, 1938
79
Mark Jackson
Melb/St K/Geel
Rd 1, 1981-Rd 12, 1985
78
Jack Moriarty
Fitzroy
FIN, 1924-Rd 13, 1929
72
Jason Dunstall
Hawthorn
Rd 8, 1987-Rd 8, 1990
71
Lance Franklin
Hawthorn
Rd 12, 2006-Rd 13, 2009 Rd 16, 1999-Rd 22, 2002
70
Matthew Lloyd
Essendon
69
Gary Ablett snr
Geelong
Rd 19, 1992-PF, 1995
64
John Coleman
Essendon
Rd 1, 1949-Rd 9, 1952
64
Bob Pratt
South Melbourne Rd 16, 1932-Rd 5, 1936
61
Peter Hudson
Hawthorn
Rd 8, 1969-Rd 2, 1974
Carlton elevates Greg Bentley to senior list, with Jarrad Waite on long-term injury list. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 9
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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE
W H AT W E L E A R N E D
MILES TONES – ROUND 15 FROM THE SOUTH
Saints, Cats showed us plenty
A
s thrilling as it was, last Sunday’s St Kilda-Geelong match might just be a precursor to a far more important match in September. Although the Saints got the points, both remain odds-on to finish the season one-two on the ladder, and every chance to meet in the Grand Final. What did last week’s game tell us?
back into the game, proving they can stand up against a genuine challenger in a high-stakes game. No team can keep a midfield consisting of Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Joel Selwood, Joel Corey and Paul Chapman down for an entire match.
Forward lines St Kilda confirmed it
has a clear advantage in forward power. While both teams have handy crumbers, Saints key forwards Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke clearly trump Cats Cameron Mooney and Tom Hawkins.
Courage galore Both sides have ticker.
Michael Gardiner While many questioned the
Saints’ judgment when they traded for the injury-plagued ruckman at the end of 2006, the former Eagle remains a potential match-winner, a point he rammed home with his four goals and pack-crunching speccie (above).
Relentless Saints As the competition’s new
benchmark for defensive pressure, the Saints tackled and corralled the Cats at every opportunity, especially in the first quarter, stifling their normal free-flowing play. They maintained this pressure long enough to win last Sunday, but can they do the same in September?
Cool Cats Although the Saints put them
on the backfoot early, the Cats backed their high-risk, high-possession game-plan and, inevitably, worked their way
NEWS TRACKER
The Cats’ ability to fight back from five goals down in the first quarter and the Saints’ ability to withstand several Geelong challenges proved that. As did several courageous marks running back with the flight of the ball taken by Riewoldt and Bartel. But the Saints seem better able to hold their nerve when kicking for goal, with Mooney’s apparent reluctance to take set shots a worry for the Cats.
Mongrel punts As skilled as both teams are,
Sunday showed a mongrel punt can also get the job done. First, there was Paul Chapman’s mis-hit torpedo goal from 70m that bounced through mid-way through the last quarter, then, just minutes later, Stephen Milne’s wobbly 45m set shot.
The bald facts Two bald heads are
better than one. Ablett and Chapman proved that when both were instrumental in the Cats’ comeback. Hard to distinguish from a distance, at times, the Saints must have felt they were trying to stop someone capable of being in two places at once. NICK BOWEN
Most games together - 290
New Tassie league working well
Tyson Edwards & Andrew McLeod Adelaide EDWARDS (ABOVE) AND McLEOD FIRST PLAYED TOGETHER FOR THE CROWS IN ROUND 11 OF 1995. KEVIN BARTLETT AND FRANCIS BOURKE PLAYED IN THE SAME RICHMOND TEAM 289 TIMES.
HOWA R D KOT TON
F
ootball in Tasmania is on the rise, according to AFL Tasmania general manager Scott Wade. The new state league has been launched successfully in its first season and Tasmania continues to produce high-quality youngsters capable of playing in the AFL. In last year’s NAB AFL Draft, four Tasmanians were selected – Liam Jones (pick No. 32, Western Bulldogs), Mitch Robinson (No. 40, Carlton) and Aaron Cornelius and Bart McCulloch (Nos. 57 and 69, Brisbane Lions). Geelong also selected North Hobart’s Tom Allwright in the rookie draft. Importantly, the state is well represented at the AIS-AFL Academy, with six of the 30 players in the 2008-09 intake. “We’re punching above our weight at that level,” Wade said. “Three (drafted) players is about our average, which the AFL is happy with. The last few years we’ve been getting four or five, but it would be nice to keep developing to the point where we get at least half a dozen.” Wade, who played 12 games with Hawthorn from 1981-83, is happy with the Hawks’ deal that makes the Apple Isle their second home. Hawthorn has been playing ‘home’ games in Launceston since 2001 (with four this season) and is looking to extend its playing arrangement with the Tasmanian Government, which is also the club’s major sponsor. As a passionate Tasmanian football person, Wade would love to see a permanent AFL team based in the state one day. “It would be great to be a part of the national competition,” Wade said. “There are a number of ways where Tasmania might have its own team one day, but
250 games Simon Goodwin Adelaide
AFL 200 Club Paul Hasleby Fremantle
150 games Corey Jones North Melbourne Shaun Ryan Field umpire
100 consecutive games Jude Bolton Sydney Swans
100 games Matt Maguire St Kilda
50 games The list includes those not necessarily selected but on the verge of milestones.
Mark LeCras West Coast Andrew McQualter St Kilda
no one is quite sure what the future is going to bring. “If a Melbourne-based team determined that it wanted to relocate to another market, then that opens up another opportunity.” Wade said the new Tasmanian league was more representative of the state, with five teams from Hobart (Clarence, Glenorchy, Hobart, Lauderdale, North Hobart), three from Launceston (Launceston, South Launceston, North Launceston) and two from the state’s north-west (Burnie, Devonport). There are plans to expand the competition to 12, including new teams from northern and southern Tasmania.
Melbourne president Jim Stynes recovering after surgery on July 3 to remove cancerous growth.
10 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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PARTNERSHIP:
Blacktown mayor Charlie Lowles (left) with AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou.
E X PA N S I O N
Group to mount case for 18th club A NDR EW WA L L ACE
T
he process to establish an AFL club in western Sydney is officially underway, with AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou last week announcing the formation of a community advisory group to assist with building a case for the 18th League licence. The AFL Commission has set a range of criteria to ensure an AFL team in western Sydney will be a viable and ultimately successful entity in the rapidly growing region.
The advisory group will consider the proposed club’s capacity to establish a strong base of fans and members, build solid sponsor support in greater and western Sydney, connect with the local community, and develop a unique identity with its team
name, values, colours, jumper and logo. Members of the group include Jim Marsden (senior partner of a south-west Sydney legal firm), John Webster (former Melbourne Storm director), Jan Thomas (office of development director, Western Sydney University),
Ross Howarth and Gabrielle Trainor (former members of the AFL NSW/ACT Commission), Christine Cawsey and Lila Mularczyk (deputy presidents, NSW High School Principals’ Council), David Smith (DNA Media and Marketing director), Gus Seebeck (sports marketing and publicity manager at Network Ten), Greg De Moore (psychiatrist, historian and author of Tom Wills’ biography) and Nareen Young (CEO of the Diversity Council of Australia). Following the official opening of the $27.5 million training and practice-game facility at Blacktown Olympic Park for this year’s NAB AFL Under-16 Championships, the community advisory group and the AFL will work towards finding a playing venue for the new club, securing player concessions, and identifying the best people to form the club’s board and executive.
O N T H E P E R I P H E RY
What drives the runners A NDR EW WA L L ACE
I
t was one of the more astonishing scenes of the season. In the fi nal quarter of last week’s Port AdelaideBrisbane Lions match at AAMI Stadium, Power veteran Josh Carr, on the receiving end of an inexplicable headbutt from Lion Jared Brennan (for which Brennan was subsequently suspended), clutched his head as blood flowed from a cut above his eye. Next to Carr, a bald-headed figure clad in florescent yellow, apparently unconcerned by Carr’s medical plight, exuberantly celebrated the ensuing 50m penalty (which led to a Dean Brogan goal and sealed a Port win). That figure was notorious Port Adelaide runner David Arnfield, who earlier this season received a four-match ban from the AFL for a number of infractions in a game against Adelaide. Arnfield, who started running for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL and was with the Power when they joined the AFL in 1997, is known for his in-your-face approach, often getting involved in incidents to rile opposition players.
NEWS TRACKER
MESSAGE ON THE WAY: Former Tiger Duncan Kellaway is now a runner for the Cats.
His actions often surprise – even infuriate – observers. Due to perceived breaches, including excessive on-field coaching, blocking of space and interfering with opposition players, the AFL recently tightened the regulations relating to runners. But Essendon premiership player John Barnes, who also ran into trouble with authorities in his five-year running stint for the Bombers from 2003-07, is quick to defend
runners, explaining what drives them. “A runner is basically an extension of the coach,” Barnes said. “I used to go to the team meetings, knew exactly what the game-plan was and who was playing on who. If blokes weren’t switched on, you’d freshen up their memory when you’re out there. “The pressures and the stresses the coaches are under are pretty much the same for the runner. If you can’t get your message across, you haven’t done your job.” Runners were introduced at League level in 1955 (one per club); their uniforms consisted of football boots, cricket trousers, white long-sleeved shirts and club ties. Before that, the likes of Melbourne coach Norm Smith were using trainers to pass on up to 40 messages a game, an illegal practice at the time. The AFL allowed a second runner per team in the mid-1990s and, in recent years, a number of retired players, including former Collingwood captain Tony Shaw, the late Hawthorn and Brisbane Bears utility Robert Dickson, Essendon’s Adam Ramanauskas and David Calthorpe, former Richmond defender Duncan Kellaway and ex-Hawthorn captain Richard Vandenberg have had stints in the position. “People who bag runners wouldn’t have a clue, unless they try it for themselves,” Barnes said.
Adelaide forward Brett Burton says he’s ready to return from a serious knee injury.
12 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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We’ve kicked a few goals over the years JELD-WEN is the name behind the St Kilda Football Club. And we’re also the name behind iconic brands like Stegbar and Corinthian – leaders in door, window and showerscreen manufacture, supply and installation. Great club, great brands. jeld-wen.com.au
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thebounce
END OF AN ERA NEW DIRECTION
Hall ends Sydney career
Swans have a younger look
The football future of power
forward Barry Hall is in limbo following his announcement on Tuesday that he had played his last game for the Sydney Swans. Hall’s final game for the Swans was in round 13 against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. Hall kicked four goals but was later suspended for two matches for striking the Crows’ Ben Rutten. It was the 32-year-old’s 250th game – he played 88 with St Kilda from 1995-2001 and 162 with Sydney from 2002. The Swans’ 2005 premiership co-captain said he was unsure whether he would seek to join another AFL club next year or whether he might turn to his first sporting love, boxing. “The decision I have made is not just about me. It is about this football club, my teammates, my family, my partner and my close friends,” Hall said. “I am forever indebted to this club. I have no doubt I wouldn’t be even playing the game if it wasn’t for the club and, despite what has happened, I still think I am walking away from the club a better person than when I walked in.”
J IM M A IN
T
FINEST MOMENT: Barry Hall was
co-captain of the Swans’ droughtbreaking 2005 premiership win.
Coach Paul Roos said: “It is definitely a sad day for the Sydney Swans Football Club; one of the greatest-ever players has decided to retire, but I also think it must be a time for
celebration, to reflect on what has been an outstanding career.” Hall attracted plenty of attention in recent years for on-field misdemeanours and was suspended for seven games last year for striking West Coast’s Brent Staker. JIM MAIN
he Sydney Swans are starting to shed their image as an ageing side with little or no young talent. The Swans last week defeated North Melbourne at the SCG with one of their least experienced teams since Paul Roos took over as coach late in the 2002 season. The side included seven players with less than 40 games’ experience, including three who had played less than 10 matches each. Of these, Kieren Jack is the most experienced. He was playing his 39th game, followed by Heath Grundy (38th), Craig Bird (32nd), Ed Barlow (18th), Patrick Veszpremi (eighth), Nick Smith (fifth) and Ryan Brabazon (third). More importantly, they all were big contributors in the Swans’ victory. In particular, Grundy racked up 26 possessions in defence, while Bird kicked two vital goals in a tight final quarter. CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE
PREPARE FOR EVERY GAME.
HEAR IT LIKE YOU’RE IN IT. 3AW is football. Get the complete run-down on Sports Today with Gerard Healy and Dwayne Russell from 6pm Monday to Thursday on 3AW 693.
AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 15
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Roos promised at the start of the season to introduce more youngsters, but many of those earmarked for selection have been injured. Lewis Johnston (broken foot), Irishman Brendan Murphy (shoulder), Brett Meredith (broken arm), Daniel Currie (foot) and Heath Campbell (knee reconstruction) have been sidelined for long periods.
Michael O’Loughlin recently confirmed he would retire at the end of the season, with several others nearing the end of their tenures at the club
Increasing oxygen flow the aim of chamber treatment DR JODI R ICH A R DSON
T
he widely publicised use of a hyperbaric chamber by Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola for a bruised heel earlier in the season highlighted the extent AFL clubs will go to get their players back on the field as quickly as possible. The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is another example of how football’s medical and sports science experts are providing players with the best injury treatments available. The treatment is not new in football but like any medical therapy, scientific research has improved both protocols for its use and its technology over the years. A person undergoing hyperbaric
atmospheric pressure, with 100 per cent oxygen during hyperbaric oxygen treatment for sports injuries, oxygen dissolves in blood plasma, increasing the overall amount of oxygen carried by the blood. This increases the likelihood of enough oxygen reaching the injury site, with the hope of enhancing healing. When using this form of treatment, high standards of safety are vital, including control of the pressurisation and preventing the oxygen from igniting. Originally used for treating carbon monoxide poisoning and divers suffering decompression sickness (known as ‘the bends’), hyperbaric medicine is constantly evolving and is now a popular addition to the treatment of some common football injuries. One of the earliest cases of hyperbaric oxygen treatment in football was for an ankle injury sustained by Carlton midfielder Fraser Brown in the 1995 preliminary final against North Melbourne. It was considered a radical treatment for football at the time, but Brown doesn’t recall RECOVERY it having a huge effect on his MECHANISM: a typical recovery other than reducing hyperbaric chamber. some of the swelling. “I think it was more
ILLUSTRATION: GUY SHIELD/THE SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
Last year, the Swans introduced Bird, Smith, Veszpremi, Brabazon, Jesse White and Matt O’Dwyer, with Meredith and Canadian Mike Pyke debuting this season. Veteran forwards Michael O’Loughlin and Barry Hall recently announced their retirements, with several others nearing the end of their tenures at the club. The Swans play Essendon at the SCG this weekend for the Marn Grook Trophy. The clubs have competed for this trophy, named after the Aboriginal term for “game ball”, since 2002.
MEDICAL ROOM
treatment will sit in a large pressurised chamber wearing what is known as an oxygen hood, a transparent helmet that is sealed at the neck. One hundred per cent oxygen is pumped into the hood for the player to breathe while relaxing in the chamber. The normal concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere is about 21 per cent; the remainder is about 78 per cent nitrogen and small amounts of other gases. Oxygen plays a key role in the healing of an injury but, under some circumstances, adequate oxygen may not reach the injury site to support the healing process, a state known as hypoxia. At atmospheric pressure, oxygen is predominantly carried by red blood cells. At nearly three times
N AT I O N A L C H A M P I O N S H I P S
WA dominates under-18 team A NDR EW WA L L ACE
A
record nine West Australians were picked in the All-Australian team at the end of this year’s NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. It was a fitting reward for the state that dominated Division One and was undefeated in its five games played across the country, including the final round at Docklands on July 1. Attracting attention during the championships were Vic Metro’s Tom Scully, who is being slated by many
NEWS TRACKER
2009 UNDER-18 ALL-AUSTRALIAN TEAM B Andrew Hooper (Vic C) Blayne Wilson (WA) Bradley Sheppard (WA) HB Josh Toy (Vic M) Daniel Talia (Vic M) David Swallow (WA) C: Anthony Morabito (WA) Dustin Martin (Vic C) Mitchell Duncan (WA) HF Kane Lucas (WA) Jack Darling (WA) Gary Rohan (Vic C) F Brandon Matera (WA) Matthew Panos (SA) Ben Cunnington (Vic C) R James Craig (SA) Jack Trengove (SA) Tom Scully (Vic M) I/C Luke Tapscott (SA), Ryan Harwood (Tas), Dylan McNeil (NSW/ACT), Travis Colyer (WA) Coach Andrew Lockyer (WA) Assistant coach Brenton Phillips (SA)
as this year’s No. 1 pick in the NAB AFL Draft, and Vic Country’s pocket dynamo Andrew Hooper and Western Australia’s David Swallow (brother of North Melbourne’s Andrew), who shared the Larke Medal for the best player in Division One. Dylan McNeil from NSW/ACT – recipient of the Harrison Medal for the best player in
Division Two – and Tasmania’s Ryan Harwood also slotted into the All-Australian squad. As an indicator of the prospects of those selected in the team, it is worth noting that 15 youngsters from the 2008 team have already debuted at AFL level, including North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell and Daniel Rich from the Brisbane Lions.
Skipper Sam Mitchell insists making the finals is still the Hawks’ focus.
16 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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propaganda to convince the coach (that Brown would be OK to play in the Grand Final). I put on the oxygen suit and spent about an hour in a pressurised chamber in the trauma unit of the Alfred Hospital every morning in the week leading up to the game.” Brown said his ankle was heavily taped and he received local painkilling injections before training and before the Grand Final to help him get through. He said he felt claustrophobic with a hood over his head and sharing a pressurised chamber a bit bigger than a station wagon with other hospital patients including a couple of divers. He experienced the common side effect of increased pressure in his ears, similar to that felt when taking off or landing in a pressurised plane. Brown also described how the experience made him nauseous enough on a couple of occasions to have to leave the chamber and end the session. This is also a common side effect of the treatment. Brown said the best advantage from the treatment was the psychological edge it gave him about his ankle’s rehabilitation. Research has shown that use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is beneficial in the treatment of burns, ulcers, crush injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning, air embolism and decompression sickness, to name a few ailments.
W H E N T H E Y ’ R E N O T P L AY I N G . . .
Player
If I had to describe ibe myself in one word, ord, it would be:
Daniel Giansiracusa (Western Bulldogs)
Competitive
Jarred Moore (Sydney Swans)
Short
arlow Teammates Ed Barlow and Paul Bevan – jju em just watching them m h makes me laugh
King Kings of Leon
Alipate Carlile (Port Adelaide)
Happyy
M Marlon M Motlop’s da dancing
C wn Chris Brown
Justin Sherman (Brisbane Lions)
Outgoing
W What makes y laugh? you
Lindsay Gilbee’s look-alikes
C dians Comedians R Russell Brand a and Carl Barron – very funny guys
Players want to feel like no stone has been left unturned when it comes to treating an injury ADELAIDE’S PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE MANAGER, STEPHEN SCHWERDT
Football clubs are interested in the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and its potential for the treatment of muscle, tendon and ligament injuries as it is considered to reduce swelling, prevent infection, reduce pain and promote healing. Though the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for sports injuries makes it attractive, its value is not supported by published research. However, in sports such as
Favourite band or musician:
football, if there is a treatment that may help a player such as Fevola get back on the field faster, many clubs will jump at it. Cost tends not to be a great consideration under these circumstances and, even if the treatment provides only a placebo effect, for some injuries that could be considered a success. Former Adelaide player Stephen Schwerdt, now the club’s physical performance manager, explained that the psychological
Arctic Monkeys
Matchbox 20
aspects of this type of treatment cannot be underestimated. “Players want to feel like no stone has been left unturned when it comes to treating an injury,” he said. Schwerdt said the Crows take a straight-forward approach to injury rehabilitation: they will try anything as long as it is not going to do any harm. He said it is difficult to know exactly how effective a treatment like hyperbaric oxygen therapy is in rehabilitating an injury. “There are so many variables that contribute to helping heal an injury,” he said. “Though CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE
FEEL EVERY BUMP.
HEAR IT LIKE YOU’RE IN IT. 3AW is football. Tune in to four quarters of all-star broadcast with Rex Hunt, Dennis Cometti, Tony Leonard and Shane Healy at 3AW 693.
AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 17
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VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE
we haven’t used it in a long time, we take a common sense approach to the use of hyperbaric oxygen. “If it increases the amount of oxygen getting to an injury, it is likely to help, and the psychological aspects of the treatment are important.â€? Decisions about injury treatment in the AFL are typically not dependent on a cost-beneďŹ t consideration, as they would be in amateur sports. In Melbourne, an initial consultation, in addition to three 90-minute hyperbaric treatments at a private clinic, costs about $500. Multiple treatments are used for sports injuries, with Fevola reportedly having spent two hours a day for four days on his heel injury. Time out of football is costly for the player and club, so clubs will usually throw everything they’ve got at a player to bring him back as fast as possible.
THINGS WE LOVED FROM ROUND 14
Fremantle at Subiaco. But with Carlton’s ďŹ nals hopes rapidly evaporating, skipper Chris Judd produced a herculean eort to drag his side over the line. However, it didn’t exactly douse the belief that Carlton can’t win hard games without Judd playing a prominent role.
Veszpremi’s goal celebration Famous American college
football coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant told his players: “When you get in the end-zone, act like you’ve been there before.â€? Wonder what he would have made of the antics of Sydney Swans youngster Patrick Veszpremi last week. After slotting a crucial goal in the third term against North Melbourne at the SCG – with a superb snap near the boundary on his non-preferred left foot – the 19-year-old could not contain his exuberance. Veszpremi charged towards the fence and gesticulated wildly in an unadulterated display of joy that was lapped up by the Swans faithful. In Veszpremi’s defence, it was just his second game back – and ďŹ rst goal – after missing the opening rounds with a serious ďŹ nger injury, and he was surprised to kick truly. Teammate Michael O’Loughlin, no stranger to emotional
Dr Jodi Richardson completed her PhD at Monash University, investigating hamstring muscle training and its application to hamstring injury prevention in Australian Football. She specialises in communicating the science of sport. &2 3PORTSENTRAL PDF 0-
The Josh whitewash EXCITING:
Young Swan Patrick Veszpremi.
celebrations himself, joked that he thought the youngster was going to jump the fence and take his jumper o. Maybe next time ‌
Carlton’s comeback If we knew the Blues were
coming, as their pre-season campaign boldly announced, then we were almost as certain where they were going when they slumped to six goals down early in the second quarter against
If you believe the party
line toed by all at Collingwood, including the man himself, Josh Fraser’s sensational game against Essendon last week had nothing to do with redemption after he was heavily criticised for his performance on Anzac Day. However, Fraser’s inuence and intensity was so profound it was diďŹƒcult not to make such a correlation. His dominance of ruck duels was particularly telling. Entering the match with a season average of 18 hit-outs, he had 35 against the Bombers, with many ďŹ nding a teammate. BEN COLLINS
On-line Sport has a New Home Indulge your passion for AFL and all sport at sportsentral.com, Australia’s newest comprehensive all sport website. It’s got the who, why, where, when, and how of sport. And its right there at your fingertips.
� Breaking Footy News � Local and International Sport � AFL NRL EPL NFL and more � SEN TV and SEN Podcasts � Fixtures and Scores Melbourne’s Home of Footy
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18 AFL RECORD visit arecord.com.au
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AVI0026_AFL_Record.pdf
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WILL YOU HANDLE YOUR ALCOHOL?
OR WILL ALCOHOL HANDLE YOU? alcohol.vic.gov.au
thebounce
VIEWS > NEWS > FIRST PERSON > FACTS > DATA > CULTURE
A N A LY S I S
THE GODFATHER OF STATS
Ted Hopkins
Founder of Champion Data and Carlton premiership player
Like Wayne Carey, big time After watching the epic
St Kilda-Geelong match last week, The Godfather wants to make a big-time statement: Geelong’s Steve Johnson is as important to his team’s fortunes as Wayne Carey was to North Melbourne in his prime. Because ‘Stevie J’ was a late withdrawal, it is difficult to assess each team’s chances should they meet on Grand Final day. What would have happened had Saint Nick Riewoldt been out and Johnson in? In their different ways, these two are so good. ‘Rooey’ flies and dominates at centre half-forward, performing miraculous match-winning stunts. Johnson can also do some miraculous things, but much of the damage he inflicts goes under the radar. He is silky, but also has enormous strike
power. As skilful as Collingwood great Peter Daicos, he can also claim Chris Judd’s work rate. Before round 14, when Johnson and Riewoldt had each played all 13 games, Johnson had posted 352 scoreboard impact points, second in the competition behind Brisbane Lions captain Jonathan Brown (355) with Riewoldt fourth (342). Carlton’s Brendan Fevola was third with 343. (Scoreboard impact credits the total points an individual player contributes to his team’s total score. It includes goals and behinds and score assists, which are awarded to the player who directly sets up a teammate’s score.) But a more comprehensive picture of Johnson’s overall impact is gained by accounting for score involvements and inside-50 kicks. (Score involvements include the total number of times a player has a hand in a team’s start-to-
finish scoring chains, including scoreboard impact events.) Score involvements put Johnson well ahead of anyone. In the first 13 rounds, he had an exceptional 141; Collingwood’s Dane Swan was second (112) and Riewoldt third (111). Johnson’s quota represented 35 per cent of Geelong’s scoring chains, with Swan having had a hand in 32 per cent of Collingwood’s and Riewoldt 31 per cent of St Kilda’s. Score involvements highlight just how hard and effectively Johnson works up the field, in addition to his lethal contributions closer to the sticks. And importantly, his inside-50 kicks demonstrate what a killer he is delivering the ball from the attacking midfield into the forward 50 zone. To the end of round 13, he had 61 inside-50 kicks, third best in the League. There is plenty of evidence to
suggest his influence is on a level near or matching Carey’s. Hence, it was not surprising to see Johnson sitting in the grandstand at the start of last week’s game. Exactly, thought The Godfather, save him for another day!
STEVE JOHNSON v NICK RIEWOLDT TO END OF ROUND 13 Scoreboard impact
Johnson Riewoldt
352 points 342 points Score involvements No.
Johnson Riewoldt
141
% of team’s total scores 35
111
31
Inside-50 kicks
61
% of time team retains ball 62
41
44
No.
Johnson Riewoldt
20 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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MLK0983_FR_5W
MLK0983_FR_5W.pdf
Everyone’s favourite number this footy season. Public transport is the easiest way to get to AFL matches. Buy a 5 x Weekend Daily Metcard before you travel and you’ll save time and money on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, go to metlinkmelbourne.com.au or call 131 638. a better way
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R E A D I N G M AT T E R FA M I LY T I E S
Th D The Danihers: ih The story of football’s favourite family Adam McNicol, Allen & Unwin, 360 Pages, $49.99 (RRP)
w McNicol recounting with Terry’s response to his hefty T 11-week suspension after his involvement in incidents in the 1990 Grand Final including tthe infamous wild brawl, Neale’s venture into coaching at Melbourne and Anthony’s pain at missing the 1993 Grand Final with injury. Not surprisingly, the book features customary ttales of boys growing up in the country. Their stories are told with a hint of humour and a ‘she’ll be right’ matter-of-fact style typical of the boys from Ungarie. CALLUM TWOMEY
It was Edna Daniher who
got the ball rolling. At an Essendon function in 1985, the mother of 11 put the question to coach Kevin Sheedy: “Do you think my boys might ever play together?” Known for his unconventional thinking, an idea was born inside Sheedy’s head. In 1990 that dream was realised when Terry, Neale, Anthony and Chris Daniher made football history by becoming the first quartet of brothers to play in the same AFL team. Their paths to that point and beyond, however, were as diverse as their upbringing was similar and in a new book, The Danihers, each of their stories is told. Drawing on personal anecdotes from friends, family and, of course, teammates, author Adam McNicol pieces together the respective accounts of all four. From Terry’s premiership glory, Neale’s injury woes, Anthony’s experience as a member of a relocated club (the Swans) before he joined the Bombers, to Chris’ early struggles at Essendon, readers are treated to indepth and honest insights into one of football’s most famous families. The brothers faced unique challenges,
NEWS TRACKER
The Man in i White: i 100 years of umpiring with the VFL and the AFL Sue Harvey (ed) Jojo Publishing, 378 Pages $89.99 (RRP) The Man in White is a
well-documented and informative record of the AFL Umpires’ Association, providing an historical overview of its formation and insight and background stories about umpiring, including the skills required to succeed in the profession. The book is extensively researched and includes anecdotes about life as an umpire through the generations. It concludes with an extensive section detailing achievers and those honoured for their contributions to umpiring and the game generally. RICHARD THWAITES
Ross, the quiet town with a colourful legacy PAU L DA FFEY
H
awthorn’s Mitch Thorp is known to have a swagger. Even in these injury-stricken times when he’s battling yet another mishap that makes it difficult for him to strike a blow in the Hawks’ lineup – he has been ruled out for the rest of the season with foot and shoulder injuries – he’s known to have confidence, a certain way about him, like a bronco rider who rides his luck. Thorp’s hometown, Ross in Tasmania, is the bronco home of the Apple Isle; its rodeo is one of the largest in the southern states. But it’s in producing footballers that the town packs a kick. Two of the most colourful – and exquisitely skilled – VFL players of the 1970s, Brent Crosswell and Craig Davis, are cousins from the Ross region. Thorp is their nephew. You can see where he gets his boldness. The town of Ross is a gorgeous former coach stop between Hobart and Launceston. The most prominent early buildings occupy the four corners of the main crossroad: the pub, the town hall, the former jail and the Catholic church. The nearby sandstone bridge, built by convicts in 1836, is the third oldest bridge still standing in Australia. To a mainlander, Ross has the feel of an old English village. A day spent tracing Ross’ footy spirit starts just off the crossroads, where Darrell Crosswell, Brent’s dad, lives alone. Just after Word War II, Darrell played with Ross Football Club with his brothers Kevin, who goes by the nickname ‘Starkie’, and Neville.
A few years later, Darrell and Starkie transferred to Launceston Football Club to play in Northern Tasmania’s strongest competition with their cousin Lance Crosswell. Darrell and Lance (known as ‘Squatter’) were later named in Launceston’s team of the century. When Darrell went to Melbourne for his honeymoon, he played in a practice match with Carlton and impressed enough to be asked to stay. He told the Blues he had to get back to his butcher shop in Tasmania. Now 83, Darrell is short for a centre half-back, but he has an upright bearing. His pencil-thin moustache suggests a touch of style, and he’s loath to tell the mainland journalist too much about his footy career. “Make it a bit low key,” he says. “Build up young Thorp.” Darrell also is reluctant to trumpet his son Brent’s career, but his admiration is clear. Of the half-dozen photos on the shelf above his television, the only footy pic is one of Brent in a navy jumper with a big V. Darrell admits that “nearly all the Crosswells could play”, but footy was never given any more prominence than heading into the scrub with a gun and a dog. “The Crosswells are bush people,” he says. Lance’s Squatter nickname was derived from his rabbit-catching forays. When Mitch Thorp returns to Ross, it’s a reflection of his bloodlines that he grabs the family’s black Labrador and his fishing rod and heads to the Macquarie River. After an interview that winds up not long after it started, Darrell says he’s considering taking his gun into the bush the next day to go hunting – if his sore back allows. In the meantime, he’s going to have a few beers and watch that night’s AFL game on the television. “Go and see Bob,” he says. “He likes talking about this stuff.” Bob ‘Boofa’ Davis is the father of Craig and the grandfather of 2005 Sydney Swans premiership star Nick. When he greets you at his modest home on the outskirts
Western Bulldogs launch online interactive frequently asked questions service.
22 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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ROSS PHOTOS: MARK DAFFEY
FOOTBALL FAMILY: Darrell Crosswell (left) is the father of Brent (inset) while Bob ‘Boofa’ Davis (below) is the father of former VFL star Craig Davis and grandfather of Sydney premiership hero Nick Davis.
of Ross, it’s with an openness that’s almost startling. Boofa likes people. He also likes footy, but it wasn’t always that way. He started playing only when he returned from the war in 1946, aged 23. In no time he was the best follower in the Tasmanian Midlands. Boofa stopped playing in 1950, only to be lured out of retirement halfway through the next season NEWS TRACKER
b by Darrell, his brother-in-law, to p play at Launceston. The pair played in L Launceston’s 1951 premiership t team. Darrell won the best a fairest award that season, and a Boofa won it the next. and T The Ross connection has served L Launceston very well. At 86, Boofa lives alone in the house that he paid for by selling rabbit pelts when he returned from war. His living room features a couple of chairs around a table and an old armchair in front of a telly. Framed posters of the 2000 Collingwood team and Sydney’s 2005 team hang on his wall. Boofa used to go to Melbourne and Sydney to watch Nick play, but now he
contents himself with watching games from his armchair. “I’m too old to go skipping about,” he says. “I’m retired.” Boofa makes special mention that his son Steve was a good footballer, a talented centre half-forward, at Ross and several clubs in the north of the state. But it’s his stories about Craig, the younger son, that add an extra twinkle to his eyes. In 1973, when Craig was an 18-year-old in his first season at Carlton, Bob and his wife Bev chanced across a spot just outside Launceston where they could listen to radio broadcasts from Melbourne. On Saturdays thereafter, Bob and Bev parked by the side of the road and listened to the
footy on the car radio. “We sat there all day,” Boofa says. The Ross Recreation Reserve is just near Boofa’s house. It is where Michael Holding, during his brief stint as a Tasmanian bowler, once sent down a short ball that shot over the wicketkeeper’s head and bounced just inside the fence. During a footy match at the ground in 2008, the umpires walked off because the club’s recruits from Hobart’s Risdon prison were too unruly. Peter and Mandy Thorp, Mitch’s parents, peruse the photos on the clubroom walls while waiting for the photographer to case out the ground. Peter is affable and burly. At 185cm, he’s short for a ruckman, but that didn’t stop him winning nine best and fairest awards in his 10 years with Ross. Mandy is bright and friendly. It’s noticeable that she and her husband share the talking. One is as comfortable as the other when chatting about family and footy. Mandy grew up in Ross watching the local team play every Saturday. One of her ancestors, Keith Roberts, was captain of the Tasmanian CON T IN U ED NE X T PAGE
First-year Demon James Strauss ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 23
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F I R S T- H A L F B L I T Z
New marks set by Dogs, Hawks NICK BOW EN
L PROUD HERITAGE: Peter and Mandy Thorp inside the Ross clubrooms. Their son Mitch (left) has played two games for the Hawks.
Football League team in 1929. His picture is on a wall of the Ross clubrooms, near the photo of Darrell Crosswell. Mandy’s grandmother was Pearl Crosswell. Peter Thorp was a teenage ruckman in the senior team at North Hobart when he was shot in the lung during a hunting accident. When he was ready to play footy again, he joined a mate who was playing at Ross. He and Mandy met at a footy club function. Their wedding day coincided with the opening game of the 1987 season, against Woodsdale. Thorp played the first half, as did his brother and his best man. At half-time, the trio showered NEWS TRACKER
and dashed off to the Anglican church for the nuptials. When Thorp is asked whether he considered not playing on his wedding day, he says he would have been in trouble from his wife-to-be if he failed to pull on the boots. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” Mandy says. People throughout Tasmania still stir Thorp about the fact he got three votes from the umpires that day – for two quarters of footy. Thorp’s name is not the only one on the Ross honour board to be credited with multiple awards. Ken Harding, a rover in the 1960s and ’70s, won 11 best and fairest awards, and everyone in Ross says he could surely have played in Melbourne. As Thorp runs his eye down the honour board’s list of presidents, he says, “Landowner, land-owner, land-owner …” Then he comes to T. R. Crosswell, president in the late 1940s, and C. G. Crosswell, president in the late ’60s. “The Crosswells are about the only ones up here who weren’t land-owners. They were butchers.”
Randall Crosswell, a ruckrover, finished second in the club award in almost every year Thorp won it, while Tom Crosswell played at centre half-forward in those teams. “Tom was fiery,” Thorp says. On the night before this interview, Thorp and Crosswell watched the footy together on television. Thorp manages a farm for a large land-owner just outside Ross. Away from work, he likes to go fishing and hunting but most of his spare time is spent watching footy with his wife. Besides Mitch, the couple have Beau, 18, and Cody, 16, both of whom are chances to be drafted. Last year, Peter and Mandy drove about 1000km a week to take the younger boys to training in Launceston and matches throughout the state. In talking footy to people in Ross, few seem to think it’s remarkable that Brent Crosswell played in two premierships at Carlton and two at North Melbourne, or that Craig Davis once kicked 87 goals in a season at Collingwood. They shrug and suggest there’s plenty more around Ross who could have made their mark in Victoria, if only they’d crossed Bass Strait. If only they’d been so bold.
ast week’s match-up between two of 2008’s top teams, premier Hawthorn and preliminary finalist the Western Bulldogs, was expected to be a hard-fought contest. Although the Hawks have been struggling with injury and poor form in recent weeks, they are a proud side with a strong competitive streak. But that counted for nothing when the Bulldogs unleashed an extraordinary first-half blitz, kicking 13.10 to 0.4.
The Bulldogs’ 84-point lead at half-time was: ■ ■
■
the club’s greatest of all time; the third greatest half-time margin at Docklands; and the greatest half-time margin against Hawthorn.
Hawthorn’s half-time score of four points was: ■ ■
■
■
the lowest at Docklands; the first time a team has been held goalless at Docklands Stadium in a half; and the club’s lowest first-half score since round 15, 1950. Hawk Lance Franklin’s one disposal in the first half was the equal lowest of his career.
The Dogs lost their previous match to the Hawks by 51 points, with last round’s win representing a 139-point turnaround.
Sydney Swans football manager Andrew Ireland backs draft concessions given to the Gold Coast.
24 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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C O M PA R I S O N
Bulldogs 3rd
Ladder position
4th
Wins/losses
9/5
130.4
Percentage Winning streak
118.4 5
1-3
Against the top-eight
2-5
32
Quarters won
32
56%
Time in front
57%
47.5
Ave. winning margin
42.2
1
Wins under 10 points
0
6
Wins over 40 points
4
26.5
Ave. losing margin
35
0
Losses under 10 points
2
1
Losses over 40 points
113.1
Ave. points for
86.8
Ave. points against
11
100+ points for
2 98.9 83.5 6
15 157 v Rich
Highest score
o 169 v Freo
776 v St K
Lowest score
40 v St K
13 133 – Carl
Highest against
128 – St K
Po Adel 44 – Port
Lowest against
60 – Melb
58.4% 7 396.2 1.1
Scoring accuracy Players with 15+ goals Disposals ave. Kick-to-handball ratio
53.1% 6 378.4 1.3
75.3%
Disp. efficiency
118.3
Contested disp ave.
274.4
Uncontested disp ave.
254.7
23.5
Disp. per goal
26.4
74.9% 117.1
13.7
Disp. per scoring shot
14
11
Players ave. 20+ disp.
7
102.1
Marks ave.
101
10.5
Contested marks ave.
10.2
60.6
Tackles ave.
60.3
30
Players used
36
25 yrs, 3 341 days FAST AND FURIOUS:
Magpies
10/4 6
Matthew Boyd is a key to the Bulldogs’ relentless play-on game style.
V
8
*Ave. age *Players 23 or younger
0 days 24 yrs, 190 12
123.9
*Ave. career games
103.27
5.8
*Ave. career finals
5.2
105.3
*Ave. career goals
71.4
BALL-MAGNET:
Dane Swan has been a prolific possession-winner in the much-improved Magpie midfield.
* BASED ON ROUND 14 TEAMS.
Best of the rest Last week’s top-of-the-table
St Kilda-Geelong match at Docklands is the toughest of acts to follow, but the Western Bulldogs-Collingwood game at the same venue is a massive contest in its own right. In an encounter between the two teams regarded ‘the best of the rest’ after 14 rounds, the third-placed Bulldogs are slight
NEWS TRACKER
favourites to end the Magpies’ six-game winning streak. It’s a clash of contrasting styles: the Bulldogs’ fast and furious play-on game through the corridor being at odds with the Magpies’ wide, long-kicking style that directs play through taller key targets. Both teams are close to peak form, but particularly
the Bulldogs, who slaughtered reigning premier Hawthorn by 88 points last week, putting the result beyond doubt before quarter-time. However, the Pies were much tougher opposition in the teams’ most recent clash, in round 13 last year, when they came within 10 points of causing an upset despite losing key forwards Anthony Rocca and Ben Reid during the match.
The midfield battle will be intriguing. In the past, the Pies have struggled to contain the likes of Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen, Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd, but are better placed with a more diverse midfield comprising Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury, Alan Didak and Leon Davis. BEN COLLINS • The two teams will compete for the Robert Rose Cup, with the Bob Rose/Charlie Sutton Medal being awarded to the player deemed to have demonstrated the qualities that Sutton and Rose became renowned for – toughness, skill, courage, leadership, teamwork and sportsmanship.
Veteran Roo Corey Jones says caretaker coach Darren Crocker has refreshed North Melbourne. AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 25
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MARK LeCRAS
No regrets for young
Eagle No many players would describe missing selection in a Not premiership team as a blessing in disguise. But such is West pr Coast youngster Mark LeCras’ positive nature, he says it was Co the defining moment in his blossoming career. NICK BOW EN th
M
ark LeCras says being left out of the West Coast Eagles’ 2006 premiership team was the be thing that’s happened to him best in football. Back then, LeCras had just turned 20 and, in his second season, had pla played six AFL games. But while he was raw, he had ob obvious talent, and when the Ea Eagles recalled him for the final ho and away game against home Ri Richmond, he starred, kicking 5.4 an taking 10 marks. and While he was by no means an est established senior player and West Co was then one of the most Coast set settled and powerful sides in the Le League, his performance made him almost impossible to drop for the Eagles’ first qualifying final ag against the Sydney Swans the fol following week. Suddenly, LeCras had a golden op opportunity to cement a spot
in a team that was favourite for the premiership. But, as it so often does, reality stepped in and played spoilsport. In a thrilling final – one of four played by West Coast and Sydney from 2005-06 that were decided by a combined 10 points – the Swans not only upset the Eagles on their home ground by one point, but also shattered LeCras’ hopes of remaining involved in the finals campaign. It was a typical finals contest – its speed and intensity clearly a couple of notches up on a home and away match – and LeCras floundered, unable to make an impact. At night’s end, he’d had two possessions and kicked a behind. “It was probably one of the toughest games of footy I’ve played in,” LeCras says. “Compared to a home and away game, it was so quick, the intensity was so much higher and it was a lot more physical. I suppose that made me realise how much of a step up finals footy is.” AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 59
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LeCras fully expected his subsequent demotion for the semi-final against the Western Bulldogs the following week and, while disappointed at the time, in hindsight says it helped fast-track his football development. “It definitely made me work harder,” LeCras says. “It also made me watch the players who were around me a lot more – guys like (Ben) Cousins, (Chris) Judd, (Daniel) Kerr and (Dean) Cox – and think about what they were doing that I wasn’t doing, and how I could better myself to get into the side. “Looking back, I had the best possible environment to learn in and, missing out on the rest of the finals, even on the Grand Final, was the best thing that ever happened to me.” Big call. The chance to play in a premiership may only come along once in a player’s career. Something that has been rammed home to LeCras during the Eagles’ slide down the ladder in the past two seasons. Still he is steadfast in his belief, explaining simply that he is a positive person. As such, he does not dwell on an opportunity missed, but on the lessons he learned watching from the sidelines. As positive as LeCras is, he is equally down to earth. When we met at the Parkview Hotel, on the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD, he had been delayed in a team meeting, but was no more than five minutes late.
I had the best possible environment to learn in and, missing out on the rest of the finals, even on the Grand Final, was the best thing MARK LeCRAS
Still, after introducing himself, he apologised for keeping me waiting. On an unpredictable winter’s day that gave Melbourne showers one moment and sunshine the next, LeCras again showed his positive nature by wearing green cargo shorts, a sleeveless grey hoodie complete with Puma logo, a white T-shirt, green runners with Puma’s trademark streak in yellow, and white anklet socks. He had arrived with the Eagles the night before, but their round 14 clash against Melbourne was not until the next day. It is the life of a footballer who plays for a non-Victorian team. Travelling interstate, on average, every second week, players such as LeCras must come to regard hotels as second homes. Adjourning to a lounge area on the ground floor, LeCras waited patiently while I tried to get an uncooperative tape recorder to work. Leaning forward in his chair, he regularly rubbed his leg, not it seemed to warm himself, but more the action of someone with
ON THE MARK: With a near-
perfect kicking technique, Mark LeCras has booted 103 goals in his 49-game career.
pent-up nervous energy, who struggles to sit still. Which is hardly surprising. After all, training and team meetings aside, all the travelling footballer does is wait. Wait for the one reason they’ve come all that way – an 80-minute match with time-on – to get under way. It’s something LeCras accepts as a fact of life, certainly nothing
to complain about. Besides, he is just happy to be back to full fitness this season. Missing half of last year with a groin injury, when his side was struggling following the departures of former skippers Judd and Cousins at the end of 2007, was frustrating. More so given his injury woes came in the wake of a
OFF THE FIELD
Hooked on fishing Fishing is in Mark LeCras’ blood. His father, Peter, is a cray fisherman in Cervantes, a town on Western Australia’s Coral Coast, where LeCras’ lifelong love of fishing began. “I was always down at the beach fishing with Dad and, when I left school, I did a little bit of cray fishing with him for about six months,” LeCras says. “It’s a hobby I’ve always done, with my mates and grandad.” Now that he’s an AFL footballer, LeCras rarely goes cray fishing anymore –
dropping the pots off overnight and going back to collect them the next day is “pretty taxing” – but he goes fishing about twice a month, depending on the weather, and gets up to Cervantes whenever the Eagles have a break in training. Fishing mainly from the shore but occasionally on a boat, LeCras’ fishing buddies sometimes include Eagles teammates Adam Hunter, Beau Waters, Shannon Hurn and Matt Priddis. His other regular fishing spots include Scarborough and Shark Bay, while he is always on the lookout for the latest fishing rods, tackle
and gadgets, admitting his fishing gear is his “most valued possession”. In good news for Eagles fans, LeCras says his fishing complements his football, offering him a much-needed escape from the weekly pressures. And, as passionate and committed as he is about his football and the Eagles, you sense he’s just as passionate, if not more so, about his hobby. “It’s something I’ve always done and it’s something I’ll always do,” he says. “I look forward to going fishing all the time. It’s awesome.”
60 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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breakthrough 2007 season, when he established himself as a regular on the Eagles’ forward line, playing 19 games (including two finals) and kicking 36 goals. Restricted to 11 games in 2008, LeCras has rebounded strongly this year and, despite missing a match, sits equal sixth on the AFL’s goalkicking with 37 – 17 ahead of the next best Eagle, Ben McKinley. It is a remarkable effort for someone 182cm tall. The five men ahead of him – Jonathan Brown, Brendan Fevola, Nick Riewoldt, Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin – are all power forwards, men whose physical presence almost demands their teams direct their attacks through them whenever possible. Still, with key forwards Josh Kennedy and Ashley Hansen missing 14 games between them this season, LeCras has held the West Coast forward line together, with his hard leading, strong hands and accurate kicking. With an excellent career conversion rate of 68 per cent, LeCras has improved his goalkicking accuracy to 71 per cent this year, the ninth best in the League. While happy with his form, LeCras says he can improve. “I tend to get most of my goals on the lead and I probably need to add a few more snapped goals to my game,” he says. Still, it seems his future may not lie in the forward line – at least not if West Coast’s midfield coach Scott Burns has anything to do with it. Burns says LeCras has the potential to make as big an impact in the midfield as Geelong’s Gary Ablett and Alan Didak did when they switched from forward roles. “Since arriving at West Coast late last year, there’s one player in particular that has struck me with his potential … Mark LeCras,” Burns wrote on westcoasteagles.com.au earlier this season, praising LeCras’ clean hands, skills and work ethic on the training track. “He’s very much in the mould of a Didak or Ablett. Those guys played a lot of half-forward flank and forward pocket early in their careers and, because
LEADING EAGLE: Mark LeCras
is a difficult player to stop, particularly on the lead.
they were so good at it, you didn’t want to take them out of that area. “But they’re eventually going to get out of there, because they’re too good.” While in no hurry to venture outside the forward line, LeCras
concedes playing in the midfield holds some attraction. He has played there for West Perth in the WAFL. And it was also on a wing that he played most of his junior football, while growing up in Cervantes on Western Australia’s Coral Coast (about a two-and-a-
half-hour drive north of Perth). In Cervantes, LeCras developed a love of the water that persists to this day. With his father, Peter, a commercial cray fisherman, LeCras has long been a passionate fisherman (see page 60), while – before his injury AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 61
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woes of last season – he enjoyed the occasional surf, too. He comes from a family with a good football pedigree. Though LeCras says his father jokingly refers to himself as a football “scrubber”, he played about 70 WAFL games with East Fremantle at half-back and was a member of its 1979 premiership side, which included future VFL/AFL players Ken Judge, Brian Peake, Rod Lester-Smith, Andrew Purser and Tony Buhagiar. LeCras’ elder brother Brent (now 27 and playing with West Perth) played six AFL games for North Melbourne from 2005-06, and LeCras says his football development was fast-tracked by their regular “backyard battles”. “We were pretty competitive even though there was a fiveyear age gap. He didn’t really take it easy on me. I had some cricket wickets thrown at me a few times,” LeCras says, laughing. Though his commitment to football and his club cannot be questioned, LeCras is not consumed by the game like some. He is not interested in a coaching career after his playing
We (elder brother Brent) were pretty competitive even though there is a five-year age gap. He didn’t really take it easy on me MARK LeCRAS
days are over: “The most I’d do would probably be helping out some kids or something like that,” he says. He is not interested in a media career either, despite his pin-up boy status with many Eagles fans, especially the female supporters. When told we did not need to arrange a photo shoot to run with this story, he was visibly relieved. The life he envisages post-football will be low-key. “I’ll probably just be in a normal job (he has completed a plumbing apprenticeship) and go fishing on the weekends.” But, for now, he is focused on helping the young Eagles climb back up the ladder. While West Coast is going through tough times, LeCras again sees the positives. “One of the things about sitting where we are on the
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ladder is that we’re blooding a lot more young kids,” he says. “Watching them come through and grow in confidence, we’re only going to get better, which is really exciting.” LeCras nominates Nick Naitanui, Chris Masten, Eric Mackenzie, Mitch Brown and Tom Swift as some of the Eagles’ most exciting youngsters, saying: “I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the next couple of years.” Asked when he thinks West Coast will return to the finals, LeCras is hopeful it will happen as soon as next year. Whether it’s then or later, and whether he’s still in the forward line or has moved into the midfield, it seems a safe bet LeCras will be one of the Eagles’ key players, putting the lessons he learned from the club’s last batch of premiership stars into practice. And if he can help lead West Coast to its fourth AFL premiership, the Eagles will be just as thankful as LeCras they left him out of their 2006 premiership side.
Mark LeCras Born: August 30, 1986 Recruited from: West Perth Debut: Round 10, 2005, v Port Adelaide Height: 182cm Weight: 81kg Games: 49 Goals: 103 Player honours: NAB AFL Rising Star nominee 2006, 2007
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CAMPBELL BROWN
Campbell Brown takes his football very seriously but, away from the field, the Hawthorn premiership defender is the life of the party and a prankster at heart. C A LLU M T WOMEY ampbell Brown was a mischievous kid. A prankster, he loved a laugh and never took himself too seriously. He shared a healthy and strong relationship with his family, and had an appetite for all kinds of sport. He was good company and enjoyed having fun. Now 25, it’s fair to say Brown – a Hawthorn mainstay – has not changed a lot. Brown’s favourite movie growing up was 1991 cult film Point Break, starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. In it, Swayze’s character is the leader of a gang of surfers-turned-bank robbers known as the ‘Ex-Presidents’, whose
C
trademark disguises are masks of former US presidents. Eight years old when the movie was released, Brown was instantly hooked. “It was one of my favourite movies and, when we went on a family holiday to America, I bought the Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan masks, like the ones from the movie,” Campbell says with a laugh. “Back home, we used to put them on and go water bombing people and nick-knocking on doors.” Proving that the kid within Brown still exists, he promptly adds, “and we still do it a little bit today, me and Brent Guerra and the guys.” Despite this flashback to his youth, Brown is one of the senior members
of the Hawthorn squad and played an integral role in its rapid development over the past few seasons, culminating in the 2008 premiership win over Geelong. Brown’s ability to line up as a key defender one week and a creative forward the next has been a feature of his game for some time, and was a defining aspect of the Hawks’ play last season. Tenth in the club’s 2008 best and fairest award and selected for Australia in the International Rules Series against Ireland (he was second in the best and fairest in 2007 and also played for his country in 2006), Brown ranked fourth for the Hawks in contested marks, short kicks and rebounds from 50.
64 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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POSTER BOY:
Campbell Brown has inherited his father Mal’s zest for life, and plays the same brand of uncompromising football.
AFL RECORD visit arecord.com.au 65
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This season, like most Hawks, he is down on those numbers, but Brown says he revels in the weekly tests he is given. “I love playing the game and I love the different challenges,” he says. “If you’re playing back, you’re playing on a good opponent and it’s you versus him. If you’re up forward, you’re trying to create goals, and play on instinct. “The challenge is something I really thrive on, along with just winning. I absolutely hate losing. I’m a bit of a bad sport when we lose.” After playing through an ankle injury early this season, Brown has been one of the Hawks’ most consistent players as they struggle to match their efforts of 2008, holding up a backline that has been decimated by injuries to Stephen Gilham, Trent Croad and Luke Hodge. Speaking recently to the AFL Record in between a weights session and a massage, Brown concedes every remaining game is crucial if Hawthorn is to reach the finals. He also acknowledges that being the team that every other is hunting in 2009 has taken a toll on the Hawks, which was clearly evident in their 88-point drubbing at the hands of the Western Bulldogs last week. “Opposition teams have been working pretty hard to break down the cluster (the rolling zone defence introduced by Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson
last season) and we’ve found that difficult this year,” he says. “Last year, we had to work really hard to get the results we did, and we might have gone into this season thinking it was just going to happen. But if you take your foot off the pedal for one minute, other sides go past you. You can’t rest on your laurels at all in this competition.” Noticeably absent in most games this season is the intensity that became a trademark of the Hawks’ football last year. In their 26-point Grand Final win over Geelong, Brown says the team had focused on “putting everything on the line” in the first quarter and breaking out to an early lead. With Hawthorn holding only a three-point advantage at the main break, however, the game was still in the balance. “We went in at half-time pretty even and I was thinking, ‘How are we going to run out this second half?’” he says. “I’ve never been so tired after a half of footy. I didn’t know if I could play the way I had in the first GLORY DAYS: Campbell mpbell Brown miership cup. with the 2008 premiership
The challenge is something I really thrive on, along with just winning. I hate losing. I’m a bit of a bad sport when we lose CAMPBELL BROWN
half, but it’s such a big stage and the adrenaline’s pumping so you just find a way. “As soon as the final siren went, I had tears in my eyes because of the whole journey we’d been through, right from when I first got drafted to when ‘Schwabby’ (former coach Peter Schwab) got sacked and we were struggling to win a game. Then ‘Clarko’ (Clarkson) came. We rebuilt and so much hard work went into it. The moment got the better of me, I think.” Renowned for his rugged and ruthless attack on the contest and the ball, Brown is as popular for his demeanour as anything else. In winning or losing, he
reacts like a supporter might – delighted in victory and livid in defeat. Emotion is an endearing quality in the modern AFL environment, and Brown has it in spades. “Raw emotion is a fantastic thing,” he says. “I think the public loves it, but clubs try to get you not to be as emotional because it’s looked on as a bad thing. I think the more characters in the game the better and the more emotion the better.” A 134-game veteran, Brown is well-versed in talking about characters of the game. Besides playing alongside competition pin-up boy Lance Franklin, Brown has also been fielding questions about his colourful father Mal since he arrived at Hawthorn in 2001. Mal Brown was a WAFL star with East Perth in the 1960s and ’70s and played 14 VFL games for Richmond in 1974. But he is best remembered for sparking a wild brawl in a 1972 Australian Club Championships game between East Perth and Carlton, when he took on several Blues players, breaking Trevor Keogh’s jaw. Recently, while a panelist on The Footy Show, Brown joked it was the only playing footage he’s ever seen of his ‘old man’. “He’s been an enormous support,” Brown says. “When I was a bit younger growing up through the under-14s, 15s and 16s, he was pretty hard on me.
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“I think he knew what it takes to get to the highest level. “But since I was drafted, he’s probably taken a step back, but he still goes to every game and hasn’t missed one yet, and is always there to give me advice on what I could do better and how I could improve.” Brown is the youngest of three children, with his older brother Tim and sister Philippa living in Perth. He admits that as a child he was a handful for his parents, especially his mum, Kay. “I think I caused them a fair bit of trouble. Dad was just as bad because he encouraged me to do everything. I was doing cartwheels down the kitchen table in the middle of dinner and knocking glasses off the table and plates were going everywhere, and Mum would be screaming,” he says with a giggle. Perhaps the giggle is an indication Brown recognises he has not completely put such rascally habits behind him. During his teenage years, Brown was obsessed with Billy Birmingham’s 12th Man CDs, on which the comedian mockingly imitated sports commentators such as Richie Benaud and Ray Warren. Listening to these CDs time and time again ignited Brown’s interest in commentating and the sports media. Last year, after teammate Shane Crawford had pushed the idea to Triple M management on his behalf, Brown called a game for the station.
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FAC T F I L E
Campbell Brown Born: August 28, 1983 Recruited from: Hawthorn Citizens/Oakleigh U18 Debut: Round 11, 2002 Height: 177cm Weight: 83kg Games: 134 Goals: 55 Player Honours: 2nd best and fairest 2007; All-Australian 2007; International Rules Series 2006, 2008; NAB AFL Rising Star nominee 2002; premiership side 2008
SWITCHED ON:
Campbell Brown has his mind focused each time he takes the field.
I don’t like taking myself too seriously. It’s a high-pressure game but I think you’ve still got to enjoy what you do, and have a few jokes. CAMPBELL BROWN
In conjunction with his Footy Show appearances, Brown has established himself as a confident media performer – with an opinion. Recently, he even criticised his team following its loss to West Coast, suggesting it needed to get back to its hard approach of last season. “What better way to earn a living when you’ve finished footy then to go in and commentate,” he says. “I try and call it as I see it a little bit, and that
doesn’t happen as much in this environment, because everything can be turned into a headline if you’re too honest.” Brown and Crawford have also joined forces in the horse racing industry, owning one horse together (George’s Boy) and sharing another two with leading trainers. He is into his eighth year studying sports management at Deakin University as part of a bachelor of commerce degree. He had hoped to finish the course at end of this year but his recent exams “didn’t go so well”, so his studies may be extended for another year. Brown has a long-time girlfriend, Jess, and lives close to his parents in Melbourne’s inner east, but the 2007 All-Australian doesn’t pop into the family home for dinner much.
However, his parents are willing babysitters of his ‘Maltypoo’ pet dog (a cross between a Maltese and a poodle) when he is away from home. But as much as he has grown, as a person and as a footballer, there’s still a lot of the kid who grew up in Perth in Brown, the kid who had posters on his bedroom walls of his childhood heroes – whom his dad said he would refer to as “Mr Ablett”, “Mr Dunstall” and “Mr Lockett”. The same kid who just hated losing. The same kid with the big wide grin. “I don’t like taking myself too seriously,” he says. “It’s a high-pressure game but I think you’ve still got to enjoy what you do, and have a few jokes. “Obviously, I take it seriously when I have to and really switch on when the time is right, but if I was serious all the time, I reckon I’d be worse for it.”
COURAGE, INITIATIVE AND TEAMWORK ON AND OFF THE FIELD. Voting is now open in the 2009 AFL Army Award. Get online at afl.com.au or SMS ‘Courage’ to 13 19 01 and pick the play of the round and you could have the chance to win an awesome Army experience for you and a mate.
Authorised under VIC Permit number 09/1090, NSW LTPS/09/2684, ACT TP09/1133, SA T09/690. Entries close 7/9/09. See afl.com.au for full terms and conditions. AFL Authorisation Code: GFAFL09/29
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Courage, initiative and teamwork are values the AFL and the Army proudly share. Get involved and help recognise the player you think best embodies these values in the 2009 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
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COACHES ON COACHING
Pulling the The role of an AFL club coach continues to evolve. As an introduction to a new AFL Record series, Coaches on Coaching, Peter Di Sisto reports on what is required of the modern coach. And in the first of the series starting on page 72, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse shares some of his thoughts on the importance of defence.
T
he role of the football club coach has evolved as much as the game he directs. Once a part-timer, as were his players, he has always been the club’s general of on-field matters. But more and more his role has evolved – he has become a director of coaches, a marketer and spin-doctor, and an expert in human relations. Coaching, ultimately, defined by its capacity to teach and lead – and a winning record – is nevertheless rooted in contradictions. To be a leader, the coach, at some stage, must have been a follower, for most coaches base their philosophies, systems and techniques on the work of a mentor, his own coach. Even when he has risen to a position of power and authority, he will continue to look above him and around him for inspiration and wisdom, for new ways to get ahead. To learn to win, he must know how not to lose. To encourage effort and performance, he must sometimes prod the minds of a collective of men from different backgrounds, and vastly different ages and interests, all with different needs and different ways of reacting, but he must know exactly which
‘JOCK’ McHALE
NORM SMITH
buttons to push and when to push them. But he must be aware not to make it too complicated. A simple game can be made difficult to unravel when tactics become complex. The coach handles the stresses of the moment in a multitude of ways. He can be cool one second and blowing heat a minute later, for no apparent reason. He can be calm and logical on-screen, but totally irrational off it. He can, in his real life, be a true gentleman, a man’s man, but in football he must also be stone cold ruthless if he wants to survive long-term. He demands loyalty, but understands that time passes all players by. He must be ruthless enough to kill a player’s career
in an instant, without an ounce of emotion, even though that same player had previously pledged his allegiance, and once might have bled for his coach. The coach must constantly manage his list, and personal relationships can have no value when the list is decided. He pushes his players for honesty of effort, but then sometimes has to resort to deceit when asked by the media to explain their lack of effort, for it is better, at least publicly, for a coach to protect, than to expose. And in his darkest periods, when doubt begins to seep in, the coach must remain confident, resolute and true to his vision. Doubt has no place in coaching. Since the Victorian Football League (VFL) was formed in
1897, just 321 men have coached at least one of the 13,504 home-and-away and finals matches played at the highest level to round 14 of this season. Of those, only 48 – less than 15 per cent – have led their clubs to at least one of the 112 premierships, the ultimate definer of success. In any league anywhere in the country, you can expect the same ratio of winners to triers. A totally successful coach is a rarity. We all know only too well the names of the game’s coaching legends; they are metaphorical giants, their status elevated by a combination of fact, myth, and true and tall tales. Fifteen of them have been inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, among them the likes of James Joseph ‘Jock’ McHale, Norm Smith, John Kennedy, Allan Jeans, Tom Hafey and David Parkin, who flourished in the VFL; Jack Oatey, Fos Williams and John ‘Jack’ Cahill in the South Australian National Football League, and Phillip Matson, Jack Sheedy and Haydn Bunton jnr in the West Australian Football League. They took their clubs to premierships, but they also took them to higher places, along the way helping build strong and respected institutions (or adding new layers to already
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JOHN KENNEDY
ALLAN JEANS
TOM HAFEY
JOHN CAHILL
solid bases others had formed), shaping people for life in football and afterwards, and setting boundaries for how they should act and react. And when their work was done, they left their clubs with lasting legacies, cultural markings based on unwavering principles and solid systems. Decades later (even after some have long passed), their influence at club level and across the broader realm of the industry is still profound. The football coach as we know him today might still adhere to some of the basics instituted by the code’s first known coaches and those who have followed, but he now does a job so much broader, so much more challenging, and so much more scrutinised. In pure football terms, the modern football coach is still a disciplinarian and an organiser, and he also must stay true to the classic coaching requirements of teaching, encouraging and setting examples. And winning, it seems, has never been more important than it is today, as it drives so many other critical outcomes at club level: sponsorship, corporate support and positive media exposure. But the modern football coach with the ideal set-up is no longer a one-man operator like so many of the past greats had to be. Today, he is a CEO of a vast operation, a leader responsible for setting in place and managing the right system or program, with experts (his assistants) filling roles at every level.
Where once the football coach would operate only with an assistant (usually the coach of the reserves) and with the support of a trusted football secretary/manager fronting a small group, he now has at his disposal a large group of broadly skilled and broadly minded individuals, including pure football coaches responsible for basic skill development; coaches responsible only for matters
And while he remains the all-powerful football leader and the face of the club, the modern coach has also become a multi-tasker. He is, at any given time, a human resources manager, a marketer, a corporate speaker required to engage in regular schmoozing, and a savvy media operator. He is aware of commercial opportunities for club and himself, and understands the implications on commercial matters when the football side of the business goes bad. The modern coach knows, above all else, that ultimate success means he needs as many good players as possible; he can never have enough, no matter how innovative his strategies might be. And he still has to be aware, like those who came before him, of what other factors can help him succeed, and what will eventually edge him closer to what all coaches face: the end of his tenure. The smart ones know which questions to ask themselves, and they know today’s breed of players – the so-called Generation-Y group, an ambitious bunch raised in prosperous times and wanting instant gratification – need to be handled differently. What might have worked for Jock McHale or Fos Williams or Jack Sheedy might well be alien concepts in today’s world. Can they really relate to what I am saying? Can I keep fudging the truth? Are they listening? Is there really any value in belittling players? Am I way
too serious for this group? Is what I have set up here actually enjoyable, considering the amount of time I expect players to spend here? Am I ignoring specific players merely because I do not rate them? Am I giving too much attention to my favourites? Did what I say to the media offend any of them? Have I adequately explained why I dropped a specific player? Would I rather deal with a player of sound character instead of a so-called flawed genius? Is my language appropriate? Am I trying too hard to be seen as one of them? Is my game-plan too complicated? Is there really any value in ‘punishment’ training? The most successful coaches, the ones who make their mark over a long period, do so partly because they will their clubs, via their personalities and the rules and systems they institute, to move in an agreed direction, to travel knowing that a path is likely to be bumpy, to understand that the journey will ultimately be rewarding. To achieve success, the coach must take care of what he can control and absolutely insist his systems are understood and implemented; he must remain mentally on top of the things he cannot control, and he must be prepared for all circumstances, especially when his methods come under scrutiny, internally or externally. In the end, though, it always comes back to winning, the only thing that matters.
The football coach as we know him today ... does a job so much broader, so much more challenging, and so much more scrutinised relating to the team’s defenders (or forwards or midfielders) and the strategies they should adopt; experts in physical training and preparation at the highest level, using the latest equipment and techniques, as well as skill acquisition specialists, psychologists, recruiters and scouts, nutritionists, information technology boffins monitoring the latest in computer-generated data, and lifestyle mentors for young players. The modern coach in the optimum set-up prepares an agenda for his hand-picked experts to follow, a blueprint based on the old and the new, and sometimes what is just around the corner. He still has ultimate power, but he cedes some too, for he has to. He cannot manage it all.
This is an edited version of an essay published in The Australian Game of Football in 2008.
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COACHES ON COACHING
The art of To be a successful team, you must have a strong defence. As Collingwood mentor Mick Malthouse explains in the first of an AFL Record series on coaching, history has shown this to be an indisputable fact.
A
s a coach, you need evidence to reinforce your message in everything you do because players will inevitably question your methods. But defence is an easy sell because the evidence is patently clear: premiership teams have strong defensive mechanisms. It’s not something you dream up and players think: ‘What’s he talking about?’ It’s historical fact – you only need to take a cursory glance at premiership sides to work that out – and coaches must acknowledge history. Of course, defence is not a modern phenomenon. As much as defensive methods have changed and been given increasing emphasis, it’s very much a case of everything has changed but nothing has changed. Defence is as old as the game itself. Although Australian Football has been going 150 years, very few people would make this observation: you don’t kick to your goals, you kick to the opposition’s goals. You’re trying to penetrate each other’s defences. The original rules of the game state it clearly. Even back then, defence was part of the grand plan. If you don’t believe me, watch field umpires when they pay free kicks: they don’t point to the end you’re kicking to, they point to the other end, your actual goals – the one you are defending. The game was designed around the protection of your own goals. People assume that my coaching philosophies stem from the fact I was a backman from the Allan Jeans era of defence,
but the fact is it doesn’t matter what your playing background is, most coaches come around to that way of thinking anyway. For instance, Leigh Matthews kicked 900-odd goals (915) and was probably the best rover/ forward-pocket player of all time, but Leigh would be the first to acknowledge that to be successful, you need to be good enough defensively to limit the opposition’s scoring, as well as kick goals yourself. I’m not saying you need to be the best defensive side because there are numerous other things you must do extremely well to be successful, but you need to understand its importance.
Defenders save games; forwards win games. Whether defenders also win games will always be a matter of conjecture If you examine other ball sports like soccer, rugby union, rugby league, gridiron, hockey and polo, the single most talked-about issue is how to defend the ball. That doesn’t mean you’re ignoring offensive play – you need good scorers, too. Defenders save games; forwards win games. Whether defenders also win games will always be a matter of conjecture. The point is: a good team has a balance of offense and defence. A classic example was the contrasting careers of two champion goalkickers – Tony Lockett and Jason Dunstall. Lockett kicked the record number of goals but didn’t win a premiership with St Kilda or
Sydney, while Dunstall kicked almost as many goals for Hawthorn and was a member of four premiership sides. It’s little wonder the Hawks were so successful for so long when you consider that in addition to a superb forward line, they also boasted defenders the calibre of Gary Ayres, Chris Langford and Chris Mew. It’s no coincidence that St Kilda and Geelong have been the two top sides this season. Although many people associate their success with Nick Riewoldt’s form and the brilliance of Gary Ablett and Steve Johnson, the reality is they have been the hardest teams to score against. If you were writing a script on how to win a premiership, the first thing you’d want settled is your back six. Of course, that doesn’t always happen. Last year, for example, we had Simon Prestigiacomo for only two games. Similarly, Hawthorn would be a better side with Trent Croad at centre half-back. Although the basics of backline play have remained familiar – ie. you want to stop your opponent and clear the ball from the danger area – numerous factors have combined to change the general style of play from defence. For instance, we rarely play on boggy grounds now; playing surfaces are first-class, which enables players to run on top of the ground and show their wares. Once upon a time, when you kicked in from full-back, you’d kick long and wide to the side of the ground that was favoured by the wind, or the side that was boggiest.
FAC T F I L E
Mick Malthouse Born: August 17, 1953 Coaching career: Footscray (1984-89), West Coast (1990-99), Collingwood (2000-) Games: 602 (Footscray 135, West Coast 243, Collingwood 224) Record: 337 wins, 261 losses, 4 draws Winning percentage: 56 Finals: 40 Premierships: 2 (West Coast 1992, 1994)
Now teams try to take the ball down the middle where possible, and the opposition try to guard against it so they don’t concede ‘coast-to-coast’ goals. This has been brought about by a change in tactics rather than a change in mentality, because you still want to stop sides. There is a far more defensive mindset at stoppages these days. Long gone are the days of rovers such as Bobby Skilton running free one way and Billy Goggin running free the other at a centre bounce and just allowing the best ruckman to put the ball in their path for a clean takeaway. We don’t want the Chris Judds and Gary Abletts running free. You want your ruckman to ensure the ball goes to areas where the opposition can least hurt you, while still being as offensive as possible yourself. It’s about finding that balance. We expect good offensive play from our backmen, but if you give too much room to a Brendan Fevola or a ‘Buddy’
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WORDS OF WISDOM: Master coach Mick Malthouse is from the school that firmly believes a strong defence is the key to a team’s success.
Franklin, they’ll kick eight or 10 goals. Therefore, the first priority is always to beat your direct opponent. You generally find that the back six are a team within a team because they rely heavily on one another and share the pain of a goal scored against them. In the forward line, mistakes don’t appear to be as costly because they don’t necessarily result in goals to the opposition, whereas turnovers in the backline often result in shots at goal. In many ways, it’s tougher now for backmen than ever before. In light of rule changes relating to hands-in-the-back and chopping-the-arms, I joke with my forwards about how easy they’ve got it compared to backmen. But that’s a backman’s lot: they have to contend with having a low profile, high pressure and having their mistakes magnified. The rushed-behind rule has also forced a change in mindset because players have
to think more before they act. But that’s why they are full-time footballers: they have to practise their art. And anyway, players are like kids: they are very resilient and they adjust very quickly to anything that’s thrown at them. It’s important to adjust quickly to situations on the field – not only in contests, but also with match-ups. In my day, the rover changed with the forward pocket two or three times a quarter and the key forwards generally stayed in position, but at times these days, the opposition can rotate between the midfield, bench and forward line, which makes it crucial to get the match-ups right. Fortunately for us, our captain, Nick Maxwell, plays in defence, and we also have the experience of players such as Prestigiacomo. We don’t give our backmen carte blanche to make changes as they see fit, but we have faith
KEYS TO C ACHING 1 Coaching is not a poO pu If it
larity
contest. were, I would in our back six, particularly n’t be doing it. A s 2 yo u cl im in our captain, who discusses b hi a leader, you gher up the ladder as potential changes and become mor more insula e r and you ha isolated, match-ups with our defensive ve to make more sacrifi ce s. coach, Mark Neeld, in the 3 Development is the N week leading up to the o. 1 word in coaching. match. We trust Nick to If 4 you want your side implement those changes as to be hungry bring in hung , ry people. they arise. St 5 ud y th e I think most backlines opposition co ach first and you’ll get a fair would operate in a similar side will play indication of how his . way, where they empower 6 It’s unfair to judge a co a designated player to ach purely on win/loss ratio s make those alterations. doesn’t nece because the best team ssarily have Otherwise, we just send a the best coac Source: The h. Great PlayerChampions: Conversa runner out to do it. s & Co aches of Au tion with by Ben Colli str al ns, Slattery Leadership is Media Grouian Football, p, 2006. paramount, especially in the back half. For decades, genuine playmakers have been swung to the backline and added ball-getting players who became another dimension to their team. almost uncontrollable when you gave them any space. In the ’70s, Keith Greig They made the back half their and Francis Bourke were own, amassing midfield stats and wonderful wingmen, and delivering so well. You couldn’t captains, who made terrific say they didn’t defend well – they transitions to defenders. More were great defenders because modern examples include they usually had the ball. Gavin Wanganeen and Andrew AS TOLD TO BEN COLLINS McLeod, both wonderful AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au 73
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time on Answer man
AFL history guru Col Hutchinson answers your queries.
Cats set the pace
BIG WINNERS: Geelong, pictured in action in 1908
and after a win this season (inset), have recorded the most 10-goal victories in history.
Which club has won the most matches by at least 60 points and which one has lost the most by 60 or more? SIMON HALL, NORTH ADELAIDE, SA
CH: Geelong has won 198 of its
2203 matches from round one, 1897, until round 14, 2009, by such margins. Eighty-one of them have been achieved since the start of 1989. The Cats are closely followed by Collingwood (194 wins by 60 points or more in 2209 encounters), Carlton (193 in 2279) and Essendon (192 in 2246). During the same period, St Kilda has lost 245 of its 2158 games by such margins, including just 47 in the past 21 seasons. North Melbourne, which joined the competition in 1925, has lost 165 of its 1750 appearances by the same range, followed by Melbourne (160 of 2190), South Melbourne-Sydney (153 of 2202) and Hawthorn (151 of 1749).
WRITE TO ANSWER MAN The Slattery Media Group 140 Harbour Esplanade Docklands, 3008 or email michaell@slatterymedia.com m
P L AY E R I N F O R M AT I O N S E A R C H
Are you, or do you know, a descendant of former South Melbourne player Herbert James Bruton? Bruton played the first of his two matches as a full-forward in the opening round of 1904, after being recruited from Tallangatta in north-eastern Victoria. He died on November 18, 1926, at
Drummoyne, NSW. The only other Bruton to play at AFL level has been Nick, who came From Diggers Rest to represent the Western Bulldogs twice in 2003.
Should you have any information regarding Bruton, including his date of birth and height and weight, contact Col Hutchinson on (03) 9643 1929 or col.hutchinson@afl.com.au.
NAB AF RISINGL STAR
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NAME GAME
The beginnings of Moss There are a couple of possible origins of the name Moss. Firstly, it could have been a name given to someone who lived near a peat bog (mos in Old English) or it could be a “habitation” name (when a person is named after the place he lives in) – mos forming part of some old place names. “Moss” itself, then, did not originally mean what we mean by that word. Only later was it used to indicate the class of plants characteristic of a peat-bog environment. Secondly, Moss could have originated from the given name Moses (meaning “born of …” – e.g., the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose – “born of Thoth”). Just two players named Moss have played AFL/VFL football, Essendon’s Graham Moss won the 1976 Brownlow Medal, while Hawk Garry Moss (pictured) – no relation – has played eight games this year. Adelaide rookie James Moss is yet to play a senior game. KEVAN CARROLL
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NAB AFL Tipping - Win $20,000 The official tipping competition of the AFL The round 14 weekly winner was Theo Tasiopoulos, a Collingwood supporter from Victoria. The round 14 celebrity competition winner was AFL Coaches’ Association CEO Danny Frawley. There are fantastic cash prizes to be won every week – join in the fun now at afl.com.au
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How is Australia the ‘sporting nation’ but also one of the world’s most overweight countries?
Which Australian city has produced the most successful AFL players? With such a small population how are Australians so good at sport? Your thoughts will help define a unique record of the Australian Spirit in 2009. Don’t miss out on the chance to have your say and be a part of history. SMS your answer to 1999 8889* or go to allofaus.com.au and tell Australia what you think. *Maximum SMS cost is 55 cents (including GST)
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COLLECTABLES WITH RICK MILNE
Badges of honour A weekly look at collectables, bles, memorabilia and all footy things sstored in boxes and garages. RICK’S RARITY
I have four small badges from the 1950s, of Collingwood’s Bob Rose, Essendon’s Dick Reynolds, Fitzroy as the Gorillas and one featuring the Castlemaine Football Club. Value?
TRUE COLOURS:
These badges from the 1950s featuring VFL and VFA stars and country and Tasmanian clubs are worth $20 each.
PETER, CHELTENHAM, VIA EMAIL.
RM: These were free with
coupons from the Argus and Australasian Post and featured VFL and VFA stars as well as logos for country and Tasmanian clubs. They are worth $20 each. I went to a swap meet many years ago and, on entry, was given a swap card featuring Footscray’s Tony McGuinness and I was wondering whether it has any value.
If you want “rare”, these fit the bill as they are the only ones known to exist. They are football cards issued by the American Tobacco Company in about 1895. This South Australian card from S tthe series advertises Dollars cigars on the reverse side and features a player named Jack McGaffin, who played with West Adelaide and Norwood before playing in the VFA with Fitzroy and, later, South Adelaide. This series is so A rare r it is diffi d ccultt to vvalue. u
ALLAN, VIA EMAIL
I was given a set of Hawthorn football cards, including those featuring Robert DiPierdomenico, Dermott Brereton, Jason Dunstall and Gary Ayres. Any value?
RM: The fellow who ran these
shows printed and gave away many of these cards. To my knowledge, this is the only one he produced that featured a footballer and it would be worth at least $50.
LES, VIA EMAIL
RM: These were released
for the 20th anniversary of Hawthorn’s 1988-89 flags. You can still buy this great set from the club at $20.
I have a copy of the book 100 Years of Footy, with a foreword by Mike Sheahan. Does it have any value? LISA, VIA EMAIL
I have early Fremantle cards, with players featured including Jess Sinclair and Stuart Anderson. All the featured players have
RM: This book is a great
record of our game and was issued by the Herald Sun. It sells for about $25.
retired, so I was wondering if this increased the value. PETER, BUSSELTOWN, WA
RM: Not really. Quite a few
of these cards made it to the eastern states and are worth about $8 each. HANDY HINT
If you want to have a photo signed by your favourite player, ask him if he would sign on the front so that you can frame the photo and still see the autograph.
CONTACT RICK MILNE mrpp@iprimus.com.au or drop him a line: 5 Cooraminta St, Brunswick, Vic, 3056 or call (03) 9387 4131. One query per reader.
WATCH BEFORE THE GAME SATURDAY NIGHTS ON TEN
beforethegame.com.au LADDER ANDY DAVE LEHMO SAM MICK STRAUCHANIE
82 81 76 75 71 35
TIPSTERS
MICK Western Bulldogs Essendon Carlton Geelong Cats Adelaide Hawthorn Port Adelaide St Kilda
76 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au b4thgame_RD15.indd 1
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LEHMO Western Bulldogs Essendon Carlton Geelong Cats Adelaide Hawthorn Port Adelaide St Kilda
DAVE Western Bulldogs Essendon Carlton Geelong Cats Adelaide Hawthorn Port Adelaide St Kilda
STRAUCHANIE Western Bulldogs Sydney Swans Richmond Brisbane Lions Fremantle North Melbourne Melbourne West Coast Eagles
SAM Western Bulldogs Essendon Carlton Geelong Cats Adelaide Hawthorn Port Adelaide St Kilda
ANDY Western Bulldogs Essendon Carlton Brisbane Lions Adelaide Hawthorn Port Adelaide St Kilda
8/7/09 9:08:38 AM
8/7/09 3:23:54 PM
New skills book out now Including tips from the stars of the AFL
Only $24.95 from all good bookstores or visit skillsofaustralianfootball.com.au Skills-Record-FullPageColour_inner.indd 1
8/7/09 9:40:49 AM
timeon
KNOWLEDGE AC R O S S
DOWN
1 4
Writers who cover the game (5)
1
Given name of 1967 St Kilda Brownlow Medal winner (4)
Used by a ruckman to deliver the ball from ruck duel (4)
2
6
Abbreviation for one part of players’ game figures (4)
Nationality, but also former Blue, Des ....... (7)
3
This twin is a former St Kilda and Collingwood defender (5, 7)
4
Ex-Demon Guy ...... (6)
5
Sometimes applied after blood flows (8)
7
Geelong’s Neil, once a Victorian Cabinet Minister (7)
8
Parkin-ese for bigger players (5)
9 A lower limb (3) 10 Young Blue sacked in 2004 for unusual indiscretion (6)
11
Former Fremantle captain, came from ‘Roos (4)
13
Field umpires signal this to timekeepers (4-2)
14 Former West Coast skipper, now with the Tigers (7)
12 Burly West Coast forward (7, 5)
16 Carlton’s Rod ...... invariably wore a helmet (6)
15 Given name of Richmond’s ‘Flea’ (4)
17
Blond Eagle won a Norm Smith Medal (4, 4)
18 One across hope their stories go on
20 22 25 26 28 29
Bald Eagle, plays out west (8)
19 Raucously delivered after wins (4)
The G-train (6)
21
31 32 33 34
The game’s ruling body (3)
The Roos’ Leigh ....... (7) Necessary for success (6)
Former Swan/Bulldog; Rex Hunt called him ‘The Breath’ (7)
23 ‘Mopsy’ ....... played in North’s first premiership side (7)
.... ‘Knuckles’ Kerley (4) ‘Crackers’ ...... – the former Demon, Kangaroo and Bomber (6)
24 Irish Jim ...... (6) 25 Given name of Swans forward who plays fair (5)
Red part of Melbourne’s guernsey (4) Tiger Jim ...., known as ‘The Ghost’ (4) General of the Tigers’ 1980 premiership (3)
the front .... (4)
27 Colloquialism for brawl (4) 30 The day before a game (3)
Scrambled footballer I show crest (Hawthorn) Cryptic footballers
THIS WEEK’S ANSWERS
1. At Carlton, Browne, confused, loses direction and becomes a defender. 2. Don has my French fries. 3. Reportedly top Docker. 4. Hawk spills oil in Rhode Island. 5. Hodge, say, in first side at Geelong. 6. Graduate initially takes engineering at Melbourne. 7. Inexperienced Tiger detailed for Kangaroo. 8. Member grabs loot distributed at Port Adelaide. 9. Tiger has cold symptom lasting a night initially.
might guess this Bomber (cryptic question No. 2).
10.Saint has endless agreement.
CRYPTIC FOOTBALLERS: 1. Bower 2. Monfries 3. Peake 4. Rioli 5. Hawkins 6. Bate 7. Greenwood 8. Motlop 9. Coughlan 10. Hayes SCRAMBLED FOOTBALLER: Whitecross
CLUE: Think of French fries and you
78 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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NAB AFL RISING STAR
He’s alright, Jack Melbourne youngster Jack Grimes’ NAB AFL Rising Star nomination confirmed what supporters already knew.
T
here’s a reason why more than 58,000 Dream Team players across the country have Melbourne youngster Jack Grimes in their sides. That is, he’s damn good. Statistics can often tell fibs, but there was no porky pie among the 20-year-old’s 29 touches, 16 marks and five tackles in the back half against West Coast last week. Not only did the effort earn Grimes an incredible 143 Dream Team points – a score usually reserved for superstars such as Gary Ablett – but most importantly it helped the Demons to an inspirational win dedicated to ailing president Jim Stynes. Further acknowledgement of Grimes’ performance and progression came Monday morning, when he was named the round 14 nominee for the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star Award. A former captain of the Northern Knights and Vic Metro at under-18 level, Grimes was delighted with the recognition. “When you see some of the other guys who have been nominated this year, there are some pretty good players there,” he said. “You look at Daniel Rich and how good a year he’s having – it’s a pretty big honour.” In eight matches since breaking into the team following an injury-interrupted 2008 and start to 2009, the under-18 AllAustralian has shown why he was so highly rated as a junior, averaging almost 21 possessions
BALL MAGNET:
Jack Grimes is racking up big numbers for the Demons.
A NDR EW WA LL ACE
NAB AFL Rising Star nominees Round 1 – Daniel Rich (BL) Round 2 – David Zaharakis (Ess) Round 3 – Patrick Dangerfield (Adel) Round 4 – Jaxson Barham (Coll) Round 5 – Garry Moss (Haw) Round 6 – Stephen Hill (Frem) Round 7 – Jack Ziebell (NM) Round 8 – Jarryn Geary (StK) Round 9 – Andy Otten (Adel) Round 10 – Taylor Walker (Adel) Round 11 – Brad Dick (Coll) Round 12 – Aaron Joseph (Carl) Round 13 – Tayte Pears (Ess) Round 14 – Jack Grimes (Melb)
HIGH FIVE
Grimes is the third oldest in a family of eight children.
1
in roles off a wing and as a high half-back. The extended run at AFL level comes as a big relief to the No. 14 pick in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, who was frustrated by his lack of progress in his first season at AFL level last year. “When I got drafted I was recovering from a stress fracture in my back,” Grimes said. “I did some of the pre-season and then it flared up again, so I missed a fair bit of footy.” Extensive rehabilitation work on his core stability, including swimming, cycling and rowing,
had Grimes primed for this season and, aside from an unrelated setback leading into round one, he has not looked back. “It’s been good just to string a few games together – the last few years have been off and on with injuries so I haven’t really been able to settle in,” he said. “The first thing I found in the AFL was that the ball moves around a lot quicker and your mind is going a million miles an hour for the whole game. But I think I’ve adjusted and I’m starting to feel a lot more confident.”
2 The biggest influence
on his junior career was father Steve. 3 Recorded an outstanding beep test score of 15.1 at the 2007 NAB AFL Draft Camp. Due to a terrible
4 performance at the NAB AFL Under-16 Championships, never listens to his iPod before a game anymore. Supported Melbourne as 5 a child, with his favourite player being David Schwarz.
Each week throughout the home and away season, a panel of judges will select the nominee for the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star. At the completion of the season, one outstanding player will be chosen as the 2009 NAB AFL Rising Star winner. He will receive an investment folio, a dedicated personal banker, a financial planner and the Ron Evans Medal, all courtesy of the NAB. The NAB Rising Star award is the final stage of the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program, which supports grassroots players and football communities and helps young Australians fulfil their dream of playing in the AFL.
80 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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TALKING POINT
Everyone’s a winner Just like coaches, rabid supporters are masters at putting a positive spin on any situation. A NDR EW WA L L ACE
W
For those unfamiliar with the fine art of supporter spin, the following is a list of lines to deliver should your team struggle this weekend: Adelaide: “We’re tapering our fitness before the finals.”
Brisbane Lions: “How come Ablett never gets pinged?”
Carlton: “They still know we’re coming.”
Collingwood: “We won’t even play at Docklands in September.” Essendon: “Why wasn’t it at ANZ Stadium?”
ILLUSTRATION: GUY SHIELD/THE SLATTERY MEDIA GROUP
hether it means bringing a basketball to a weekly press conference, deflecting hard questions with talk of Martians and marshmallows or conducting a television interview armed to the teeth with selective statistics, AFL coaches are king when it comes to spin. Even in the most trying of circumstances, following devastating losses or the inexplicable loss of form, these main men can throw positive light on the gloom of any negative result. They might, for example, point out how inexperienced their team was, especially relative to the opposition. Or they could hint at their side’s dominance in a particular phase or statistical category of the game, ignoring the reality of the only statistic that matters: the final score. Interestingly, this style of master spinning and message-managing has started to have a flow-on effect, with the clubs’ generally partisan legions of fans quick to follow, in their own way of course. Just as junior footballers mimic the actions of AFL players on the field, supporters often copy the coaches and weave a web of diversion when defending their beloved. In the aftermath of last week’s St Kilda-Geelong match, apparently unconcerned Cats fans were quick to offer their musings, both to their brethren and others prepared to listen (or simply in the wrong place at the wrong time). Rather than ponder the struggles of young key forward Tom Hawkins, the apparent lack of confidence Cam Mooney has when it comes to kicking for goal from close range, the impressive firepower of Nick Riewoldt and
Fremantle: “Another six-day break … when will the AFL get the fixture right?” Geelong: “The pressure’s well and truly on St Kilda now.” Hawthorn: “We’ve become the hunted this year.”
Melbourne: “How many Sunday games do we play?”
North Melbourne: “We’re a chance to steal 15th spot here.”
Port Adelaide: “Lack of game time at the MCG is hurting us.”
Richmond: “Bring on Kevin Sheedy.”
Supporters often copy the coaches and weave a web of diversion when defending their beloved Justin Koschitzke up front for the Saints, or the slightest prospect of another upset in the Grand Final (should the Cats in fact make it that far), the Geelong masses chose a different outlook. “To tell you the truth, I’m relieved,” said one Cats fan. “It’s the loss we had to have,” he continued, drawing straight from something that could well have been titled The Official Book of Spin for Politicians. Not sure if Geelong defender Harry Taylor, crunched in a desperate effort to prevent Saint Michael Gardiner from clutching the mark that led to the match-winning goal, or coach Mark Thompson – as agitated as
any coach would be after losing a close game – would necessarily agree, but there you have it. “I’m not worried one bit,” sprouted another Skilled Stadium regular. “No Steve Johnson, no Brad Ottens; bring them back and it’s a different story. The Saints have played their cards too early.” (Remind me to fold next time I have a winning hand on a big pot.) By this stage of the season, the type of spin-doctoring done by supporters of the 16 clubs has been pretty much established, with the clubs’ position on the ladder (or luck with injury, etc) often the inspiration. A North Melbourne fan applied
St Kilda: “Best to get that loss out of the way.” Sydney Swans: “Maybe Barry Hall’s decision had the boys thinking too much.”
West Coast: “How good is Naitanui?”
Western Bulldogs: “The win over Hawthorn took it out of us.”
some clever reverse psychology to a Sydney Swans die-hard regarding the Kangaroos’ round 14 loss at the SCG. “You guys just shot yourselves in the foot,” he said, incredulously. “We’ll keep playing the kids, finish low, and snaffle the next Daniel Rich at the draft.” Remember, the reality of the situation is secondary when it comes to the spin revolution.
82 AFL RECORD visit aflrecord.com.au
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