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Football fans hear it constantly, the AFL is a business. Players say it. Coaches say it. Administrators say it. The clubs say it. This is not just sport, this is business.
Somewhat sadly that has never proven to be more true than at finals time, where business trumps what makes finals great – passion.
Two years ago Hawthorn suffered a heartbreaking grand final loss. A year later they went into half-time of another grand final with one hand on the premiership. Instead of using the passion and the hurt of heartbreak to power to victory, they conceded four straight goals after and were forced to the canvas to rally past Fremantle.
They got their wind back and their premiership, but it should not have been that tough.
Last year Fremantle were the team that suffered the heartbreak of grand final agony. Near 12 months later and they were six quarters away from getting back to gaining retribution.
Instead they were sensationally out fought by a team that was more passionate. Port Adelaide had the desire and Fremantle had another early finals exit.
In both these two examples it has been a coach and a team’s decision to continue to talk about process and structure that hurt the club when it mattered most. Both Hawthorn in 2013 and Fremantle in 2014 tried to stick to their structure and were upstaged by a team that simply wanted it more and was more passionate.
Coaches and teams want premierships to be about structure and process, and as much as they can get you to finals it is something else that has to drive a team in the finals. Passion.
In the modern game players seem desensitised to the emotion that sport brings. Think back to recent finals losses. While veterans still continue to take it hard, there is none of that same emotion from the youth. It appears to them that this is not the earth-shaking heartache that fans feel. To them this is their job and in every job you have good and bad days. A finals loss is simply a bad day.
What is to blame for this lack of emotion and passion? Coaches, structure, role and process. All great buzz words that help to make a machine run. But in the game of Australian Rules, finals is more than buzz words. It is about actions. It is about doing. It is about passion.
To the four teams left standing. Harness passion. It is what wins premierships.
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