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!
Bayman
Guest
On this issue I tend to agree with Sheek and Stephen. The game in the 60s, 70s, 80s was different than today. Man on man, no zoning, just about everything was a contest of some sort. Today the expectation is that if the players perform to requirement the opposition should not touch the footy from full back to goal. Footy today has become like basketball. The only time a player gets run into is when his teammate screws up and misses the target - and if you're watching closely, it happens a lot. Either that or the ball is delivered "behind" the player causing him to go back into traffic with a turnover the possible outcome. Certainly, old replays make the game look cluttered and stop-start. I watched a replay last year of the1961 GF and couldn't believe the number of drop kicks which ran along the ground. Mind you, I grew up watching the SANFL in those days, and a bit of WAFL, and the kicking in those games was typically far superior to the VFL. Better grounds, better skills. The VFL, however, provided greater pressure on the player largely because the of the greater muscle required in the Victorian game. That and the fact the tackler got to his target more quickly, typically, than in the SANFL or the WAFL. So today's game is cleaner and the ball moves faster but given the extra space most players have to kick the ball I still cannot understand why so many miss their target by so much. And it's critical. Not just in turnovers and goals scored against but in injuries. Essendon's Hille last year required a knee reconstruction for no other reason than a teammate could not him him from 30-40 metres away in the clear with nobody anywhere near either the kicker or the target, Hille. Forced to jump straight up and reach one handed for the ball he came down on his stiff leg and that was that. Reconstruction. And Hille is a pretty big target! Frankly, I don't think I would miss that big a target even now and I haven't played footy for thirty years. So while the game is quicker today, and the skills seem better today, we still have a lot of guys who butcher the footy, and their teammates.
Stephen
Guest
Different styles of play and resources. Lots of players in the 70s and 80s (let alone earlier eras) were amateurs and had a second job. High-marking in the 70s and 80s is certainly the equal of today. Umpiring was superior too-particularly in relation to bouncing the ball and throwing it in. As you recognize, there were fantastic spearhead forwards like Roach, Dunstall, Peter Hudson, Peter McKenna, Stephen Kernahan, Tony Lockett, etc. There were also many outstanding tap ruckmen, ruck rovers and rovers. You've also got to factor in the way games now look, which is partly the consequence of the improvements in filming sport (technology, etc.), rather than the way it is played. Use of zones and kicking sideways and backwards, resembling basketball or soccer, something you can see in many games today, is hardly inspiring stuff. Having said that, the AFL draft has certainly enabled poor teams to come closer to others, so perhaps we don't have as many easy-beat teams as there were in the 1970s (Melbourne, Fitzroy, South Melbourne, etc.). Respect the past, enjoy the present!
Redb
Roar Guru
Completely agree. I recently watched a replay of the 1984 GF and the standard was nowhere near today.
sheek
Guest
It's a mistake to look back & make retrospective judgements. What you need to realise is that whatever you were watching in 1979, or 87, or 64, or 96, or whatever, was state of the art, the cutting edge. We think what we're watching now is cutting edge, but looking back from 2020, or 2030, it might all be passe. What's important to remember is how the game made us feel at the time. And the champion players who inspired us back then, are still champion players today, even if everything seems so dated.
Republican
Guest
The criteria for good? I believe anything that has been gained in the modern era we have more than lost in spirit, tribalism, tradition, history, commnunity etc. There is little substance in the game at the elite level these days. I witnessed some Aust Country Footy Championship fixtures last weekend in Canberra, along with the chosen few. It left anything I had seen in recent years at the elite AFL tier for dead quite frankly. Cheers
Phil Zammit
Roar Rookie
Another factor to consider if you watch a lot of old footage is that the generally there was only one or two games being telecast; which one would assume would tend to be the match of the round. Unlike today where all games are telecast, thus there are some shocking games in past eras that would never see the light of day again. I would love to see what games from the late 1890's and early 1900's would have been like...and how much the game has truly changed...