There was once a time when an AFL team ran out onto the field made up of a hodgepodge of different heights and body shapes.
Players of varying athletic ability were able to play at the highest level as long as they had the talent, determination and football nous to compete.
The ruckman usually stood out, towering above all except perhaps for his second, if there was one, and the four key position players.
The rovers and forward pockets were harder to notice, while the rest of team was more often than not made up of flankers and ruck rover types.
Modern AFL teams now have a sameness that is not only a concern for those talented but less athletic young players, but also the supporters who could once identify with a player of similar physique.
Any bloke with a bulging waistline, sitting on the couch with beer in hand, would get a burst of adrenaline watching the galloping gasometer Mick Nolan bounce his way towards goal in the seventies? As would those who looked up to anyone taller than average height, or couldn’t run to save their lives, cheering on the likes of Greg Williams and Tony Shaw in the eighties and early nineties.
During the telecast of a game involving Carlton earlier this season the commentators were discussing first year midfielder Patrick Cripps. One made the point that Cripps, at 194cm, was a good deal taller than Carlton team of the century ruckman John Nicholls, who stood at only 189cm.
Of course Cripps is by no means the exception, he is now the rule. Collingwood Skipper Scott Pendlebury is listed most weeks in the Magpies line up as rover, or to be more precise, the third follower. At 191cm he towers over 1990 premiership captain Tony Shaw, who during his illustrious 313 game career as a rover/forward pocket was listed at a mere 170cm.
Jordan Lewis (186), Luke Shuey (183), Andrew Swallow (183), Luke Parker (183) and Josh Caddy (186) were all listed in the same position in Round 20.
Standing at 190cm, Fremantle midfielder and Brownlow Medal favourite Nat Fyfe is considered by many to be the quintessential modern day footballer. Tall, fast, agile, as good above his head as he is at ground level, and a superb athlete.
And therein the issue lies. Recruiters are now looking to draft athletes rather than footballers, believing they can teach these natural athletes the skills of the game.
While young and talented footballers around the country may be earmarked early as being potential AFL players in the future, as they rise through the ranks it is just as much their athletic ability as any football skills that keeps them in the forefront of recruiters’ minds.
Indeed the annual draft combine not only analyses the football skills of potential draftees, but also their athletic ability. Players who may not have made as much of an impression as others in under 18s competitions throughout the season are looked at in a new light should they excel at the combine.
While there is no doubting the amazing prowess of the modern footballer, one has to wonder how long this trend will continue, and where it will eventually lead.
Would Tony Lockett – arguably the greatest full forward of all time, and the games’ leading goal kicker – even get drafted today? Plugger was not the most disciplined of players, nor was he renowned for his fitness, but he once kicked 12 goals in a game from only 14 possessions – which surpasses the efforts of Cyril Rioli last week, who has been acclaimed for his 12-disposal game on the weekend which yielded five goals.
Rioli is one of the few players left in the AFL under six feet tall, and is arguably the most exciting player in the competition. Other little men, such as Eddie Betts, Hayden Ballantyne, Jarryd Blair, Lachie Neal, Paul Puopolo and Brent Harvey, are loved by their respective clubs’ supporters for their willingness to take on the comparative giants around them.
In Round 14 this year the AFL’s new shortest player, Caleb Daniel, came on for his first game early in the third quarter against Carlton. It took him less than half a game to become a cult figure among Bulldogs supporters due to his tenacity and willingness to contest with players almost twice his size.
Unfortunately players of Daniel’s stature are getting rarer. Those that do make it more often than not enter the AFL system through the rookie draft after toiling away and proving themselves in second-tier competitions. Seldom are they picked up in the national draft, and if they are it is unusual to see one in the first or second rounds.
There are many football pundits that lament the loss of characters in the game, questioning if the players are becoming too homogenised. It would be a tragedy if this homogenisation spread to the game itself, leading to a situation where the only possible way to identify individual players in the future would be by the number on the back of their guernseys.
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