I look at the Scrabble board. To put it mildly, I’m in a bit of a pickle.
The letters I have aren’t particularly helpful, a combination of Zs and Xs that make me want to yell a bunch of Fs.
I still have one more letter to pull out of the bag, though. Out it comes, and out comes a sigh of relief, because it’ll all be OK now.
Nestled between my thumb and index finger is a blank tile.
It can go anywhere, be anything, and do the job (for the most part) just as effectively.
Such is the appeal of the utility or, to put it into contemporary AFL terminology, ‘the prototype player’.
When Jason Holmes runs out for St Kilda tonight, he’ll be the first American-born-and-bred person to play in the AFL.
But he certainly won’t be the first of his kind.
Indeed, it can be argued Matthew Pavlich (and Anthony Koutoufides before him) provided the first glimpse of what a prototype player is capable of. Selected as a key forward in the 1999 National Draft, Pavlich has been named All Australian six times in five different positions.
Take 12 kilograms and 20 centimetres off Pavlich and you’ll get his headband-sporting teammate, Nat Fyfe. His body type represents the future of Australian Rules. He’s 88 kilograms, 6”2, and on track to win a Brownlow Medal as a midfielder in 2015. However, perhaps as a piece of poetic justice, Fyfe could take Pavlich’s spot up forward this week as the Fremantle skipper misses with achilles soreness.
The most daunting thing about these players, and a key reason for their increasing demand, is they don’t appear to have any discernible weaknesses.
Fyfe’s kicking efficiency has been a point of contention, but it’s something that he has the power to rectify himself, not something able to be continually exploited by the opposition until the end of his career. A player like Ben Cousins may’ve had more running power, but at 5”8 and 10kg lighter than Fyfe he was able to be held in traffic and denied (though certainly not all the time) his bursting ability.
Cousins playing the role of a key forward would have several coaches smirking, but Fyfe’s body-type has those same coaches sweating.
Speaking of coaches sweating, there’s perhaps no greater task (or should I say hurdle) in the competition right now than matching up on Mark Blicavs, perhaps the ultimate blank tile. This is a player who, in 2012, was a steeplechaser who hadn’t played Australian rules football since he was 14.
He finished 2012 having played four games in the VFL, then committed to learning the ways of the game over the off-season.
He debuted the year after, and has now played over 50 games of Aussie Rules. In this time, he has been a ruckman, midfielder, forward, wingman, and gathered 27 touches in Round 6 playing against one of the game’s best in Scott Pendlebury.
Once on the fringes of the AFL, the prototype player is now squarely in its centre, their attributes and potential showcasing the future of the game.
Jason Holmes will not set the world alight against Geelong on Saturday night. But his flame will flicker. And, as he gathers a better understanding of the game he plays and the players he plays it with, he’ll become one of a horde of blank tiles that look destined to take over the board that is the AFL.
David Zita
Roar Pro
Thanks Gecko, always nice to read constructive comments for a change.
David Zita
Roar Pro
Precisely.
Edgar Slosh
Roar Guru
Give the fella a break, he's just graduated from the Basil Zempelis school for bias. How else will he get his man love out there for all the world to see
Edgar Slosh
Roar Guru
The prototype player changes from week to week. There's never one definitive type. You need to look back in time to discover who the best players are. Its not about physique or size, its about how a player can read the play, anticipation, footy smarts. If all else fails just listen to Bruce and Dennis, they seem to know who it is
Gecko
Guest
David you've made a pretty standard observation so I'm surprised so many people are getting stuck into you. There's undeniably an increasing use of athletes in football ahead of the less athletic. It's been a gradual change that began at least 20 years ago, with Irish recruits starting to do well. On the other hand, as long as there's congestion, there'll always be room for quick-thinking non-athletes like Sam Mitchell. Though nowadays every player has to be an endurance athlete, at least they don't have to be all the same body shape (like basketballers or thick-necked rugby players). I'm glad little Caleb Daniel can get a game for Footscray and skinny Jeff Garlett can still get a game for Melbourne.
Locky
Guest
the game evolves, as do the players considered best of that specific time, that's all the article was saying.
jax
Guest
Headline should have read - I love Fyfe and dislike Cousins! You tagged this article as Fyfe / Cousins - not a mention of a prototype player etc in your tags? You were trying to find an angle so that you can say 'Fyfe is better than Cuz' - why didn't you just say so? Oh that's right, that's what you just did only very poorly. Your intent is so obvious in the copy and the tags just confirm it. Fyfe needs to have a very good 4-5 years before you can start comparing him to Cuz.
Ben Drever
Guest
Nat Fyfe is 190cm I didn't relise Pavlich was the same size as Sandilands considering his 20cm taller then Fyfe
Michael Huston
Guest
But wait - two years ago the best player in the competition was a short, stumpy midfielder... Oh, that's right, Fyfe's the flavor of the month. The "ideal player" is a forever-evolving concept that changes as new players come in. Look at the trend of players considered best in the game at a time: Voss/Buckley > Goodes > Judd > Franklin > Ablett > Fyfe.. There's absolutely no consistency. No sooner than Fyfe's won his Brownlow (or maybe a second) will a new star emerge whose either small and nimble or gigantic and powerful. And who says everyone wants a Fyfe or a Kennedy or a Priddis? I'd say the tiny Sam Mitchell is just as benefitial to Hawthorn as Fyfe is to Fremantle. I'd say the stocky and stumpy Dane Swan has been just as benefitial to Collingwood as Fyfe is to Fremantle. I'd say Buddy Franklin has been just as influential to the Swans as Fyfe is to Fremantle. I'd say the smaller Gary Ablett has been just as significant for Geelong and the Suns as Fyfe has been to Fremantle. My point is, there's only one Fyfe, just like there's only one Mitchell, and one Franklin, and one Swan, and one Ablett. So considering all those players have been genuine stars on premiership winning teams, and Fyfe is the bloke sitting in one of only four teams to have never won a premiership, I'd say having a 'Fyfe' is not that crucial. Sure, it's good to have, who wouldn't want him? But I'd take a premiership-winning team anyday over having the best player in the competition on my team.