The challenge of digesting the incredible events of Saturday afternoon, returning to normality and routine and getting up for next Saturday’s grand final replay will be massive.
There’s no doubt an advantage can be claimed by whoever handles it better this week. It is an unprecedented situation for the clubs and these modern professional footballers. It’s unchartered territory in the modern era.
Straight after the final siren yesterday, instinct took over. Players lay dejected on the MCG turf. Nobody knew how to react.
Speaking to Channel Seven straight after the game, Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell admitted he didn’t know how he’d address his teammates.
Maxwell instinctively also labelled the replay an “absolute joke”, while St Kilda defender Brendon Goddard appeared in shock when he described it as a “weird feeling”.
At the post-game press conference, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse could not describe the emotions he was feeling, while St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said he was experiencing a range of emotions such as numbness, anger, frustration and relief.
The responses were evidently varied. It was difficult to know what to make of it and how to handle it. And that’s the challenge from now.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire was feeling positive when he labelled the replay “another adventure”. He added: “It’s good it tests their professionalism.”
“It’s a challenge, that’s what things are all about. Seriously you can lie down and complain, but the fact of the matter is the Collingwood Football Club has the chance to win the premiership 2.30pm next Saturday MCG, we’ll be here!
“Let’s get out and play and last man standing wins the flag. That’s what football is all about, it’s fantastic.”
McGuire makes a lot of sense, but Eddie, of course, did not go through what the players and coaches did this past week and on Saturday.
And both Malthouse and Lyon admitted alot this week would depend on how the players reacted and “got themselves up”.
Interestingly, Maxwell and Goddard both labelled the yesterday’s match a “war” when speaking to Channel Seven on the ground after the siren yesterday.
Former grand finalists and premiership players often speak about grand final week and the build-up to the decider. There’s no doubt a lot of blood, sweat and tears goes into the week, let alone the match, and a weary Goddard revealed an interesting and honest insight yesterday.
“The build-up during the week, you put some much effort into it, there’s no tomorrow,” Goddard said. “It was war today and it’s not too often you come back and fight a war a week later, but we’re up for it. We’re here until the last second.”
An exhausted Maxwell said: “Guys come here for a win or loss and that’s what we should be leaving with.” Before adding: “We’ll use the hurt we’re feeling now, we let a lead go and we come back next week.”
Sure they’ll both be back next week but in what condition. They’ll both still be desperate to win, but the mental and physical challenges will be large.
How the two clubs handle this unusual week will play a big role in deciding the 2010 premier.
It will be a true test to determine a genuine champion team and hopefully by 5.30pm next Saturday we’ll know who that team is… hopefully.
JVGO
Guest
Richard, Quoting anachronistic texts in support of an argument is well....anachronistic. Anyone who thinks that modern day war is anyting like professional sports is kidding themselves.
Sticky Bee
Guest
Just another case of the Colliwobbles!! Collingwood really let the game slip away from half way through the third quarter. Take nothing away from the Saints though they never gave up and just kept on coming. Lenny Hayes, what a legend.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
Ahhh - “The Art of War”, book du jour for all the kiddies in the public service and more productive corporate business life, siezed on for a time as the only modern mantra. I came across that mindset about a decade back, in a consulting role focused on improving profitability for a large public sector business group. All the graduates, gripping their fake degrees in Being a Good Clerk, had read The Art of War - didn't understand it but they had learned phrases by rote, alright! I asked them what they had read from Peter Ritchie (McDonalds Australia, zero to 5,000 stores) and Robert Strange McNamara (Ford Motor Company) and they'd never heard of them! When master coach Jack Gibson visited the USA in the '60s to learn about successful sporting teams he sought out Vince Lombardi, not General Douglas MacArthur or Eisenhower.
Jimmy Drama
Guest
Removing the replay rule would in no way jeopardise our "unique Australian game". It's simply an archaic rule with no purpose. Change it now!!!!!!
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Those soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are mere pawns of world powers pursuing policies that make little sense, where civilians are in greater danger than they were before those wars that are said to be about protecting them. It's unfortunate, and my personal preference would have been that we never had entered those wars - but we as a country too are a mere pawn in global politics. What next? Ban Pat Benatar for singing "Love is a Battlefield"? A silly argument. The metaphor between Australian Football and war has existed since day one (as it also has in the case of rugby). The winner of an Australian Football game will be the team that can score highest in "sacrificial acts" (the language used behind closed doors by the coaching staff). Anti-AFL people have trouble discerning what such acts are, but in truth, they aren't interested, so it doesn't matter. That's just the way it is - take it or leave it.
Richard
Roar Guru
What the Americans think is neither here nor there. Blimey, noone's more inclined to hyperbole than the Yanks. Give us a break.
Chris
Guest
Why was my comment, which related to freedom of expression pulled from this site? It was posted briefly then pulled. It was in no way controversial and was on topic! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
JVGO
Guest
Mick, you have stated it a lot better than I could have.
JVGO
Guest
Look the initial comment by the Collingwood footballer is not so much an issue, it was just a dumb comment and fairly innocuous in the Oz context. I would not have raised that at all except that this poster has referenced it in his article and hence further validated it as some definitive description of the nature of the contest, which I would argue that it was not. 'Go to war' to me is clearly different from the usage of to battle or to fight and other terms which have common everyday usages beyond the military context. Kurt I would stand by my contention that Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or even Brett Favre (who is notorious for putting his foot in his mouth) would get away with using the Collingwood captain's words without some form of censure in the US media. You ought to be honest with yourself also. Of course I doubt Americans would have been offended as I imagine there were very few watching anyway, and they are generally fairly tolerant of the foibles of their friends down under.
Richard
Roar Guru
This conversation seems to have gone up a siding with the debate about war references. But in any case , war references have been used in sport and business contexts for millenia. The Chinese expression "Shang chang ru zhan chang" literally translates as: "The marketplace is a battlefield". The lessons in the ancient chinese text written by Sun Tsu, "The Art of War",are commonly applied to business. Sport invokes the same tribal passions, prejudices, fervour, excitement, hope and dread as war, only thankfully (hopefully) without the awful consequences. War is not precious, it's not sacred either. In fact war until just a hundred years ago was a sport, played by the wealthy and powerful, using the downtrodden and dispossed as pawns. War is evil. But it does tie in to deep seated drives and emotions within human beings which are much better satisfied by sport. The reference to war in sport is entirely appropriate.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
People make too much of a big deal about a footballer briefly mentioning the word "war" one minute after the siren of a grand final.. From the earliest days of the game, as far back as 1858-59, the city fathers were proclaiming that this was a game that would produce fine soldiers. And they were proven to be correct.
Doug
Guest
The physical demands of League and Aussie rules are different. So the physical conditioning that Karmichael Hunt has done for his career up until now will not equip him to play Aussie rules straight away. I would guess any footy player swapping to league would have a similar problem. In a couple of months KH will probably be doing just fine.
Doug
Guest
:-D
Doug
Guest
I agree any sporting organization describing their sport as war is offensive and obnoxious. AFL has been particularly bad this year. I like Aussie rules but it turns my stomach every time I hear some player or commentator bang on about going to "war". Sport is a pleasant pastime, war is not.
Chris
Guest
Jeez, and all I wanted to talk about was the physical nature of AFL, the whole "war" thing seemed a benign reference to me. But as it's become the topic, I would suggest that whatever conflict a country enters into, it does so to protect a cultural status quo that it values. A very small part of that status quo is for sportsman and commentators to be free to use such references regardless of whether it's the most sensitive option. I understand that sensitivities are also important and deserve consideration, but this particular example would appear to be a case of being culturally thin skinned to the point where a basic liberty to expression is encroached. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Kurt
Roar Pro
This is a pretty inane post. Living in the US I can confirm that sport here is littered with analogies to war & conflict, to suggest that no American footballer would make such a comment is straight out dishonesty and JVGO knows it.
Stephen
Guest
What about the use of the term 'battle' in sport? The term 'war' by AFL players, if hyperbolic, was just used metaphorically and is not a good reason to take offence. I lived in the USA and regularly heard sports commentators talk about rival teams 'resuming hostilities'. No reasonable person would infer that this was an insensitive reference in the light of the many hostilities (not just those in which the USA is involved) in today's world.
Stephen
Guest
And that dodgy rendition of the national anthem? Hope not.
Stephen
Guest
People have overreacted-three times in more than one hundred years is hardly anything to make regular plans for!
Stephen
Guest
Agree: Nice try at provocation JVGO :)