I say this because I can recall in the old VFL as long ago as the mid 1970s that coaches like Barass were already starting to play funny buggers with team selections. The public had an expectation that if someone was named at full back or on the wing – that they would line up in the said position – within a couple of metres of where one would expect it to be.

Amongst public outcries, and fines levied, Barass did whatever suited him because at the end of the day, he was there to win a game of footy, not appease the public, and most certainly not provide valuable info to his opposite number.

Similarly in the World game, to this very day, if a manager names a starting XI, and say they are going to play 4-5-1, or 4-3-3 or whatever the hell it is, we have a general expectation that that is precisely what would happen.

Can you all see what a quaint notion that is?!

Why on Earth should anyone outside of the dressing room 5 minutes before a game have the slightest notion what the manager is intending?? Least of all, his opposite number.

Not only that, any manager sticking to strict formations, and players sticking to specific positions is managing a team playing in the past.

The modern game is evolving and you can see it on the field if you look hard enough. Formations are becoming looser and looser, it is far more accurate to talk of a basic framework within which a game plan is founded. Players will have a variety of instructions and expectations placed on them, depending on timing, where the ball is, who has it, what side, how many foward or back, general tempo at any given moment of the match, etc.

You know you are viewing a game in the modern era when players appear to be bobbing up all over the place, yet there remains a structure and logic that is not that easy to immediately assess.

Thankfully, Ernie Merrick is such a manager, and that’s why the Victory is on top of the HAL and favourites to take out the double for the second time in the HAL’s short history.