Just how good were our past champions in comparison to today’s stars?
I was fortunate enough (or unfortunate depending on your opinion) to stumble on the last quarter of the 1981 VFL Grand Final between Carlton and Collingwood last week when flicking through the channels.
Now, given that this was the last quarter of a long season I thought it was best to give these players some leeway in terms of what was being dished up on the TV.
The heavy legs and different style of football aside, viewing this game raised some serious questions in my memory. Just how good was footy 30 years ago?
I grew up through the 70s and 80s and was fortunate enough to see some of the all time greats both live and on TV. Quinlan, Bartlett, Matthews, Brereton, Watson, Daniher, Glendenning, Blight, the list goes on.
Some were simply sublime in skill and football nous, and there is little doubt that several would have tested the sands of time in any era, but this game alarmed me.
Now growing up as a Hawthorn supporter I can never complain about the entertainment served up to me in the 80s, but remember having a great admiration for Carlton through the late 70s early 80s because they were simply the best.
They just kept winning.
The Dominator (Wayne Johnston) and the Buzz (Peter Bosustow) were players you loved to hate but would love to have on your team.
But even they were some of the few who managed to actually play the game properly in this footage.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a football purist who also loves today’s game, but this was ordinary. Plenty of contests but not many players getting the ball.
Thank god for a player like Greg Williams, who came along and showed others how you actually get it and give it.
I watched this game for a good 3-4 minutes where not one player had a clean possession or indeed hit a target.
The umpire bounced the ball every time it became stationary whether the there was a pack or not and the rest of the time the ball was paddled out of bounds or simply fisted forward in desperation.
Undoubtedly, this article appears as a swipe at a bygone era, but if it is not an advertisement for the state our great game is in now I don’t know what is.
Many will argue that last years grand final was equally as dire, but at least it rained most of the day in 2009.
The champs like Blight, Keith Grieg and even Bob Skilton would have no doubt survived in today’s game because they were just that good. It’s hard to say about other players because it is so difficult to compare eras with different training regimes and facilities, and of course the social impact now.
I bet Jim Buckley couldn’t wait for a beer and fag when the siren went.
Football of the past was tough and at times enthralling, but it had its shockers, just as today’s does. That football circa 2010 has become an entertainment industry in itself, and explains where we are up to.
I know which game I’d rather watch!
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