Look back 10 or even five years and you’d be forgiven for labelling the 30-plus brigade in the AFL past their best, apart from the rule destroyers like Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey, Duncan Fletcher and Adam Goodes.
Even this year I have made comments about my beloved Collingwood Magpies and their senior stars, and thought that in another three seasons (when they’re over 30) they would be not at their best. Yes, still in the 22, but not career best.
The general ‘prime’ age is between 24 to 30, give or take one or two years either side depending on the player. Or so I once thought.
While watching the Hawthorn’s victory in the 2015 grand final, the one thing that stood out was the influence that Jordan Lewis, Jarryd Roughead and in particular the skipper Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell had; sure it was a complete team effort but no one can deny the mark these four had stamped on the game.
Only Roughead (28) is under 30 in that group of four. That is big; the pressure of the grand final; exquisite disposal to break the web and Hodge’s on-field leadership – it speaks volumes.
In this year’s top four we have three ageing lists that many consider will still figure in September next year, Hawthorn, North, Fremantle throw in a Sydney and that’s half of the top eight with what is considered “senior” lists.
You may have the opinion that Sydney and Freo (and Hawthorn for some) are past their best and the window is closing but the general consensus is that they’ll all be fighting for it come September 2016.
Five years ago it would look like these lists would be too old to be in contention but I’d personally like to see the current Hawks seniors play the second youngest flag team in history, inside a goal either way I reckon!
But enough on the premiers, the reason I mention these 30+ players from the grand final is that it got me thinking of the other 30+ players around the comp this year, or more to the point how many there are producing quality footy regularly.
I’ll start with the All Australian skipper in Bob Murphy (33) running around with likes of Matty Boyd (33) and Will Minson (30). You can’t say he’s had a bad year; certainly not someone who looks past their best.
How about Corey Enright, Stevie Johnson, and Andrew Mackie – sure they may not be there next season but to say they were playing at career low this season well you’d be laughed at, and maybe punched in the face depending on who’s in earshot.
Dane Swan (31 and 17 Brownlow votes this year) looked like he was done last year, but has had a very consistent year. Adam Goodes, Jarryd McVeigh, Rhys and Heath Shaw, David Mundy, Scott Thompson, Brent Reilly. Of course I cannot go past Boomer Harvey, even though he is and always was an exception to the rule; but it seems more and more that what was once the exception is now becoming the rule.
The point here is that it seems the prime age is now widening past 30 into 32, 33 and sometimes 34 and maybe 35+ for the exceptions like Boomer, Fletch and Goodes.
Gone are the days of a ten-year wow factor career for the league’s seat fillers. Nowadays it’s not uncommon for 15, 16, 17 seasons of quality service to their respective clubs. Ten years ago there were players in the 15th and 16th seasons but now those twilight years are of more influence, impact and presence.
I wrote a two part article earlier in the year on the young lists in the comp at the moment and how their immediate to medium/long-term future would look; at that point I did not see a window for the men from the Holden centre in three seasons from now based on the fact that their current senior group will be 30+.
Given the performances this year of the current 30+ players in the comp well I’ll eat my words with a good dose of humble sauce, It’s hard to imagine that a player like Scott Pendlebury will be past his best at 30 along with Goldsack, Varcoe, Cloke (delivery to the big bloke will get better with experience for the young team), Toovey, Greenwood etc.
Take that into consideration and think of the lists like the Dogs, Giants and GC – could we see in 10 years from now teams with 10,12, more! 30 year-oldline up for the first bounce week in week out? Could you imagine the quality of footy! Could it make the current Hawthorn efficiency and Footscray’s visual spectacle minimum standard by then?
Based on what we’ve seen certainly this year from the proven elders, I for one am excited to see more and more 30 year-olds and then some A graders still dishing out performances in the very memorable calibre! And I’ll still be able to see and hear.
New York Hawk
Guest
Hodge has had only two seasons with less than 20 games played (and one was 19) since 2004. His first three were injury-ridden due to OP and poor preparation as he took time to adjust to AFL standards. So it took until he was 20, not his 30s to string together many games together. He was younger than Judd and Ball, and debuted when he was 17 in 2002.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Better be. North's Dad's Army are banking on it.
Tricky
Guest
Note to all, "Duncan" Fletcher I did not write, this is an edit from the Roar.
paulywalnuts
Guest
Player management has evolved to a staggering degree over the last decade or so. The amount of data collected on each player in the list and the degree to which this analysed is mind-boggling, and players are kept to within very strict parameters as to their physical output. Accordingly, the entire list is managed from the first pre-season session to the final game, and individual players can be managed precisely according to their age, playing style, medical history etc. Much was made of Hodge not training on the Tuesday before the GF but I doubt if he gets much out of a jog in the first half of a week anyway. There are other factors obviously but this I'd say the biggest. Now if we could only shave about 20 minutes or so off the ridiculously long match time it will help even further.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
I wonder how much the rotation policy helps the older players manage their bodies through the season. I think team management philosophies play a big part too. When an older player may have a dip in form or a series of injuries for an extended period, the trigger may have been pulled a lot quicker than in the past and not allowed a player to regain form/fitness as part of a natural course (perhaps related to the larger number of players required across the league, but it allowed footy depts to see the value of older players and that they can come out the other side).
WhereIsGene
Guest
Good article, its something I've also noticed in the last 2 or 3 years. Reasons I can think of may include. 1. Advances in "sports sciene" and injury recovery. 2. 18 team comp diminished talent pool, more important to keep old stars around. 3. More congestion allowing teams to 'hide' older players who lack legspeed in certain positions.
Michael Huston
Guest
You're first specific example of those experienced Hawks players probably isn't the best, because of course they're going to stand up in their third or fourth or fifth grand final against a West Coast team that's fairly young and inexperienced. I actually don't actually read into the 'prime age' thing. You have Nat Fyfe and Dan Hannebery, both 24, who are freaks. You have Scott Pendlebury and Joel Selwood, both 27, who have been ultra consistent superstars for nearing a decade. You have Sam Mitchell and Gary Ablett, both of whom arguably reached career best form in their 30's. And you have Brent Harvey and Adam Goodes, who have also been brilliant in their mid-30's. Age seems to have little to do with it. If you're a brilliant player, you're a brilliant player. It also has to do with form and injuries. Chris Judd, who is still the best player this century IMO, peaked really in his early 20's as a dominant youngster. And it was injuries that prevented him from continuing his greatness once he hit 30. But on the flip side, look at someone like Luke Hodge. He'd been somewhat injury-proned during his earlier years, and really only was able to string together consecutive injury-free seasons in his 30's, and he's now in arguably career-best form. If you have the talent, and the form/health to be able to shake out a few great seasons, age won't stop you.