In 1992, Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs) defender Tony Campbell set a new trend in Australian Rules Football. Campbell brought his love of American Football into AFL by wearing gloves in a home and away match.
It was initially seen as a novelty, something “only cheats wear”.
However, it is a trend that lasted well over a decade, and is still followed by a small selection of players in the ‘top flight’.
At the time, Campbell felt it helped him take pack marks (or Contested Marks as they are now known), which was a common feature of the game in the 1990s.
Eddie McGuire once called a Collingwood game in the early 2000’s, where Anthony Rocca could not convert any set shots for goal. Rocca wore gloves on both hands that night. McGuire then yelled out of the commentary box “TAKE THE GLOVE OFF!!”
It could be debated that THAT was the moment the glove trend partially died, as it caused the ball to stick to Rocca’s hand as he dropped it onto his foot.
Gloves have been used in the AFL for various purposes. In 2009, the Western Bulldogs used gloves in a Darwin game to enhance ball handling in the dewy steamy conditions. Given the Bulldogs won the game by 93 points, it can be said this tactic worked.
On the other hand gloves could be used to mask injury, indirectly provoking opponents into rough conduct. Who could forget the night Matthew Lloyd came back from an injured hand versus the Western Bulldogs in 2002?
This was the night Bulldogs tough man Steven Kretiuk began striking at Lloyd’s hand with the sole purpose of re-injuring the Bombers’ spearhead.
The only thing protecting Lloyd was a glove with padding inside to prevent further injury. The glove was seen to spark Kretiuk into a frenzied attack as it emphasised that the injury had not healed.
It was a controversial moment in the game, however, the glove assisted Lloyd to recover from his injury.
Today, only a handful of players such as Travis Cloke (Collingwood) and Quentin Lynch (West Coast) use one glove for the same purpose as Campbell.
Lynch removes his when having set shots for goal, signalling to the crowd that he is serious about kicking a goal. The crowd respond with either gasps or cheers.
There is still a case for the use of gloves in the AFL.
Have a look at the two main targets in the Collingwood forward line – Cloke, and Chris Dawes. Both Cloke and Dawes use one glove and are in the top four in contested marks in 2011 with twelve (first) and eight marks (equal third) respectively, making it very difficult for any defence to overcome.
Sydney’s Adam Goodes is sitting second on the contested marks list with 10 and is a career long user of the ‘novelty’.
The glove is unnoticed in today’s football. However it is has been proven to be a very effective piece of equipment for nearly two decades. If the glove can contribute to better performance, then it should keep its place in AFL footy.
It must be remembered that a player still needs the ability to take an overhead mark and have strong hands when holding the football, but most of all, the ability to hit a target, and kick the Sherrin through the big sticks.
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