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Seven untold stories of the off-season (Part 2)

Roar Guru
11th November, 2014
31

An entertaining six weeks has passed since the last untold stories of the off-season were told. In that time a premier was crowned, coaches were sacked, free agency was held and trades were won and lost.

Well won and lost as much as you can win and lose a trade in October.

Still, in these past six weeks as much as the AFL has been able to keep itself in the news, there are still stories that have not been told.

1. Brisbane didn’t really address their needs
It is easy to get romantic about Brisbane’s plight of 12 months prior and speak about how far they have come in a short space of time, but in reality their trade week moves didn’t really help the club progress towards building a premiership side, despite the glowing reports they received.

The big name inclusions of Dayne Beams and Allen Christensen may help with selling a bright future, but the losses of Joel Patfull, Jonathan Brown, Jack Crisp and pick five in this year’s draft hurt greater for a team that wants to build towards a premiership.

Brisbane already had an outstanding midfield group with the likes of Jack Redden, Pearce Hanley, Tom Rockliff and Daniel Rich complemented by young players in James Aish, Lewis Taylor and Sam Mayes.

The one area they did not need to improve was in the midfield, yet that was the area it addressed when the more pressing concerns are in key position stocks and defensive role players.

Brisbane now has an outstanding midfield and strong attacking options but games, finals and premierships are won with defence and bigs. Brisbane has lost more than it gained in those pivotal areas.

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2. Three coaches out, three clubs take a step back
Phil Walsh for Brenton Sanderson, Rodney Eade for Guy McKenna, Unknown for Brendan McCartney. Not an inspiring name among that group of coaches.

And in part that is the problem for Adelaide, Gold Coast and Western Bulldogs. They have made massive changes to the fabric of their club for what on the surface is limited improvement.

It is easy to look at Sanderson, McKenna and McCartney and say that they did not make finals over the past two years and have a number of key faults, but all humans and coaches have faults. In fact all players have faults. Sometimes the coach has to call a player on their faults. If club administration are going to continually listen to player power be prepared for a different game that is seen on-field.

To play devil’s advocate, Walsh has never coached before and has had questions about his people management skills in the past, Eade has never coached a premiership team and is now nearly 20 years removed from his sole grand final appearance, and as for the unknown commodity at Western, that is a job fraught with career danger.

In retrospect these three coaches were gone because of their inability to manage relationships, and two of the three appointments have not addressed the key concerns. Hard to see lasting impact at any of Adelaide, Gold Coast and Western.

3. The myth of Saturday blockbusters
Despite the AFL’s belief that they would give blockbusters back to the fans on Saturday afternoon it is hard to find blockbusters on the traditional home of football of Saturday afternoon.

Carlton versus Essendon, Richmond versus Geelong, Hawthorn versus Essendon, Collingwood versus Carlton and Collingwood versus Richmond are about the only five games on a Saturday afternoon next year that would be billed as blockbusters.

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When you compare 2014 and 2015 really there is not a great deal of difference for Melbourne on a Saturday afternoon. In 2014 there were 14 Saturday afternoon games in Melbourne compared to 17 in 2015. While last season there were four blockbuster Saturday matches as opposed to five next season.

If there is one thing that Gillon McLachlan is mastering it is spin. He may claim to be a man of the people and working for the average fan, but the reality is there is a lot more spin being widely reported then actual proof and results.

4. Opposing days break are vastly under-appreciated
Six day breaks are tough – that much appears to be agreed in AFL circles. But what is being vastly undersold is what the difference in days preparation means.

Fremantle and West Coast, as the two clubs with the greatest travel burden, are quick to point out the six-day breaks they need to make, but if they delved deeper they would see they have been further shortchanged by the AFL and its fixture department.

Consider these factors for West Coast; they will play Carlton in Round 2 on a six-day break, while Carlton will have an eight-day break. They play Richmond in Round 12 on a six-day break while Richmond will have 14 days between games. On another five occasions they will have a short week while their opponents have at least a seven-day break.

The competition is becoming tougher because of the travel component and it is about time the AFL considered the preparation of both teams as opposed to days break.

Teams can manage six-day breaks. What is unfair is when one team has an additional two days or has an additional day and does not have a travel component included. Tough breaks for both Fremantle and West Coast again in 2015.

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5. Anzac Monday public holiday
The AFL missed a real chance to offer an olive branch to staunch Anzac supporters with April 25, 2015. Instead of overloading a day of remembrance with football as they chose to do, the opportunity was there to use the public holiday Monday as a way to take the pressure and spotlight off the AFL and putting it back on remembrance.

The AFL should have, as it did last year, limited itself to three games on Anzac day – the traditional MCG clash, a New Zealand clash and the Len Hall memorial. Both the Port Adelaide versus Hawthorn and Gold Coast versus GWS matches could have been played as a blockbuster double-header on the public holiday Monday.

Look at Good Friday and you understand that football fans dislike a public holiday passing without football being played. Two games on the Monday would have allowed the AFL to show respect to the memory and legacy of Australia’s bravest and finest.

6. The have nots need to be different
It was easy to come away from free agency and trade period and say that the rich got richer and the best got better. However, clubs that are maybe not in as strong a financial position or have got developing talent as opposed to proven talent need to look at free agency and trade periods differently.

The strong clubs are staying strong by rejuvenating their lists, however the reality for clubs like Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney and Fremantle who have been perennial contenders is that the bite is going to come. Rejuvenation works for a point, but eventually current strategies will not work.

As clubs like St Kilda and Gold Coast have done, being able to build talent and recruit more and more developing talent while maintaining and not losing that developing talent is the key to success. It may be hard to see right now, but in a decade it may be an AFL world where St Kilda and Gold Coast dominate, and fans wonder how they can be stopped.

For Hawthorn and Geelong it is never as good as you think. For St Kilda and Gold Coast it is never as bad as you think. For all clubs the truth is somewhere in the middle. Just don’t finish in the middle of the ladder.

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7. Media perception is king
The AFL is putting fans first. Free agency was a necessity in a modern competition like AFL. Free agency is a crucial time of the year. The draft is one of the most important days of the year. All media promoted theories. Players work hardest in pre-season. The off-season gets shorter every year.

All 100 per cent incorrect.

As the AFL continues to own media and push its own media contingency in Australia, what is real and what is AFL agenda begins to blur. Disillusionment with the game and the competition continues to grow. Perhaps the AFL media is responsible.

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