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After watching every round one game of AFL, I’m penning a simple love letter to the return of elite level Australians Rules football; even if the Melbourne Football club made hearts race with anger, rather than affection.
The standards of the game continue to rise and highlight the unique combination of skill, mental toughness and physical attrition.
Everything that is good about sport was on display over the weekend’s matches. We saw the underdog fighting spirit from Brisbane and Port, two teams that won but seven games between them in 2011.
We had the high drama of the match between Essendon and North being decided by a shot after the siren. And the fierce brutality of Geelong and Fremantle attacking each other as if a premiership was on the line will not soon be forgotten by anyone lucky enough to see it.
This is not to mention the sizzling talents of Carlton’s Chris Yarran kicking what could be the goal of the decade thus far, or the pulsating Friday night clash between Hawthorn and Collingwood, the two premiership favourites, in a game that was to set the standard for the year ahead until it was topped 24 hours later in the west.
I defy anyone to watch a replay of Fremantle’s defeat of Geelong and say they don’t like AFL football. If you know anyone who says they don’t watch the sport, get them a copy and I’ll guarantee an immediate convert. All others live a life of emptiness, for which I feel a great sorrow.
Most of the players who took the field on Saturday night at Patersons Stadium will have woken up on Sunday morning thinking they had been involved in a particularly violent car crash the day before. Ross Lyon was on debut as Fremantle coach, and his team produced a flint-hard display that was the hallmark of his St Kilda days. When Geelong players with the silk of James Kelly, Steve Johnson and Matthew Scarlett produce a combined 21 critical errors between them, you know the pressure has been fierce.
The Cats were sparked into action after conceding the first five goals, but only novice football watchers thought that this mighty team was done with after the early onslaught.
The will of Joel Selwood and James Bartel came to the fore as they inspired a comeback through unrelenting contested possession, although these champions were often matched and exceeded by Dockers Nat Fyfe and Aaron Sandilands, each themselves vying for best on ground honours.
This title may actually have gone to Hayden Ballantyne, who was more concerned with collecting enemies than possessions, but did each at a spectacular rate. Scarlett was one of the former, and while his left hook to the serial pest’s chin wasn’t vicious, the mere throwing of it spoke volumes about the animosity between the two teams, and the importance of this particular opening round fixture.
Fremantle was the deserving victor, and a statement was made that will resonate through the competition. To beat the premier team of the last five years at their own game will boost their confidence to untold levels, and stamps them as a force to be reckoned with in 2012.
So while Fremantle were the biggest winner from the weekend, Melbourne were the biggest loser, and not in the feel-good way espoused by the TV show of the same name.
Among the many heartfelt eulogies in honour of Jim Stynes there was always a constant theme, and the same words kept popping up, both about the man and the footballer. Courageous. Fierce. Honest. Strong. Resilient. Determined. All of which were tied together with an unwavering self-belief.
How sad, pathetic, and downright atrocious that the Melbourne Football Club could show not a single one of those traits on the field on Saturday afternoon at the MCG. And as for Demons? Fairies would be more apt.
As any AFL or even suburban league coach will tell you, there is no compensation on a football field for effort. It is the single fundamental upon which everything else is built. If you don’t have it, then the most advanced game-plan is as useful as a Ben Cousins sponsored anti-drug seminar. Without effort, a team’s core values are as solid as ashes in the wind.
Many questions were asked about the leadership value of Melbourne’s experienced players when coach Mark Neeld named Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes as co-captains for 2012, despite neither having played more than 40 games. That Neeld had correctly identified an underlying weakness in this group is now beyond dispute. This was highlighted by the fact that in the Brisbane loss, a first gamer led the categories of kicks, handballs, total disposals, goals and the all-important contested possession.
James Magner can hold his head high when reflecting on the spirit of Jim Stynes, but very few of his teammates can do the same.
The mirrors in the Melbourne rooms could not have gotten much of a workout after the game, for too many could not have held the eye of the man looking back without cowering in shame.
In a quick mention of other matches, Carlton showed they’re on track for a top four finish with a convincing display against a defensively sloppy Tiger outfit, Collingwood impressed with an inexperienced side in defeat against a Cyril and Buddy-inspired Hawthorn, Adelaide and Gold Coast showed enough to say they’ve both improved as expected, while no one could split North and Essendon before their game and still can’t after it. West Coast defied the question marks over their scoring ability to record a round-high 21 goals, and Port were all heart in defying a seasoned St Kilda side in the closing stages of another tight match.
But the main positive out of round one, and there were many, was Fremantle, while the main negative, was Melbourne. The Dockers risked body and bone in a gut-wrenching pursuit of victory, while the Demons did anything but.