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2017’s newly-named JLT community series has been a form of light entertainment, but has merely provided an insight into the chances of many teams throughout the 2017 AFL season.
The pre-season games have played witness to a mixture of deflated performances, worrying injuries and unnecessary physicality, which have seen North Melbourne’s Ben Cunnington and Port Adelaide’s Nathan Krakouer suffer a one-match ban.
The injuries on the other hand, have meant that Gold Coast’s Sam Day and Adelaide’s Cam Ellis-Yolmen will be forced to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the season – a prospect that could’ve been prevented if the JLT community series didn’t go ahead.
In the past, the pre-season competition provided footy-hungry fanatics with an opportunity to view some much missed Aussie Rules football.
However, with the innovation of the women’s AFL series, the JLT community series is almost seen as playing a secondary role of interest to spectators during the pre-season.
Instead of an overload of footy games in the month of February and early March, the AFLW series should be the sole pre-season competition. This means that spectators will end up watching the AFLW series more and therefore the interest in the women’s game can rise over the years and provide more opportunities for the talented female players in our nation to hog the pre-season stage to themselves.
This would also mean that an expansion could happen sooner and provide more spectators with opportunities to come out to a nice and sunny suburban ground free of charge to experience some great, competitive footy in which some of the most versatile women in sport can showcase their skills to the rest of the country.
Intra-club matches are often just as important as pre-season matches, as not only do they provide a chance for players to unleash their competitive side and execute structures learnt during pre-season training, but it also provides a coveted opportunity for new teammates to adapt to each other’s sometimes unorthodox and unfamiliar playing styles.
In addition, it gives the young rookies and new recruits the ability to experience playing under the proficient leaders of their respected team colours.
Moreover, under the coach’s watchful eye, players can be monitored closely and therefore reduce their risk of sustaining a serious injury prior to the season’s commencement.
If the one intra-club match doesn’t satisfy the physical needs and fitness requirements for the players, another match against the team’s respected VFL side can often supply a different sense of competition and can provide immense benefits to both sides involved.
For the AFL side, they would be able to properly run training drills against a weaker side and gain more confidence through being able to execute the various structures outlined by their respected coaches.
In contrast, the VFL side would experience a greater challenge, and would gain an invaluable experience in being able to play in a game that outlines the physical requirements of a typical AFL game.
In perhaps what is a dimension often forgotten by many, this game will, in addition, provide a platform for teams to be able to bond with one another, creating a much-needed cohesion between AFL and VFL teams.
While this competition may be helpful for some coaches like Chris Fagan, who can get used to his new role and newly invigorated team, the competition often places a burden on coaches like Damien Hardwick, who is very reluctant to field a strong side of Tigers.
Last year’s pre-season match against Port Adelaide saw Richmond experience a disastrous run of injuries, forcing Hardwick to leave just 15 men on the ground in the last quarter of the game.
He did this in a bid to protect his key players going into Round 1 of the AFL season, hoping to avoid a series of long-term injuries.
In spite of the Tigers’ good form leading into the 2017 AFL season, Hardwick, like many other coaches, isn’t getting his hopes up. He would be aware of the fact that the JLT community series arguably, and unfortunately, fails to provide a realistic insight into the fate of teams for the year ahead.
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