Before heading to the South Sydney-St George Illawarra game last night, I received a tweet from someone I’d heard little from in two decades, one Juno Roxas.
If you are of a certain age and like a certain type of music, that name will ring a bell. Juno used to be a rock star with band Roxus, several members of which went on to form Chocolate Starfish.
Like a lot of musos, Juno loves his football. Can’t get enough of talking about it. In his case, it’s AFL but when I scrolled down his timeline, I was intrigued by this tweet.
I can see why someone would baulk at the expression ‘confidence player’. So your correspondent attempted to deconstruct the term and figure out what sportswriters really mean when they use it.
And, in a rugby league context, I began to draw up a mental list of who was a confidence player and who wasn’t.
The term refers to players who play poorly when they are down on confidence. Clearly, there is a large group of players to whom this does not apply – Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith, Corey Parker, Josh Hodgson, Simon Mannering, James Maloney, Paul Gallen, Greg Bird, James Graham, Cooper Cronk…
These fellows don’t even seem to stop and consider if they are playing well or not in any particular game. They just get on with it. But the other things these players all have in common is that they’re good. Very good. So is a ‘confidence player’ just a not-so-good player?
Is the phrase just a euphemism for an inconsistent athlete?
It can be. It can be a polite way of saying that a player could be good, has the ability to be good, but needs to get his head right. It’s a put-down that you can attribute to the target, a bit of smarmy double-think.
But it can also apply to players who wear their hearts on their sleeves. Guys who kick the dirt when they make a mistake and punch the air when they do something heroic or miraculous.
A confidence player can be an emotional player.
Jamie Soward comes to mind. For some reason, there are fans who don’t like his transparency, the fact we can see what’s going on in his head by what’s occurring on his face.
The young Wests Tigers halves, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks, would be called confidence players. If they do something that comes off, we feel they’ll try to do more.
If it doesn’t work, because of their age, we sense they will go into their shells. But age and experience doesn’t spare you from uncertainty.
But Tony ‘T-Rex’ Williams is a confidence player. He’s got that size and that skill and that strength but he seems to need to be in the right mood to use it.
The Warriors’ Tuimoala Lolohea should be a confidence player, given his age and the number of positions he is asked to play, but he’s not. His confidence seems unshakeable.
Shark Chad Townsend, on the other hand, gives you the feeling he responds well to praise. Melbourne’s Blake Green, whose career has covered a similar trajectory, also falls into this category.
‘Confidence players’ are often our favourite players because unlike the cool and calm professionals at the top of this story, we can see ourselves in them.
Vivalasvegan
Guest
Inglis... Terrifying when in the mood. So disappointing at other times. Confidence? Possibly...
R
Guest
The entire nz team is full of confidence players
Yush
Roar Rookie
Ben Barba is the definition of a confidence player
Arnold Krewanty
Guest
Head case is a better phrase, and they usually apply only to creative backs in key positions such as the halves.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Fair comment.
Old School
Roar Rookie
Darren Lockyer started throwing around "consistently inconsistent" during the Souths v Dragons coverage last night when describing one of the teams, or maybe it was both? Doesn't matter pretty much everyone shows some consistently inconsistent traits at some stage! The Burgess boys were pretty consistently inconsistent with their ball security!
Joe
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the lesson...and here I was thinking confidence player was similar to confidence trickster...where they get clubs to believe and pay exorbitant sums for something that isn't really worth that much. Couple of those players you listed would fit in that definition too.
Hammerhead
Guest
I have that CD!
jimmmy
Guest
I reckon the Warriors fit the description better . I have never seen a team who collectively drop their head as often as the Warriors do after a mistake.
Birdy
Guest
Enigma , Reminds me of good old Rex . One week he would describe Goodwin as a footballing genious and wonder how the hell he did this and that and the next week he would ask why he even bothered turning up for the game. A highlights package of Goodwin today would have every club from every code bidding for him. I think enigma describes him better, he always had heaps of confidence it was whether or not he was interested on the day.
sham
Guest
I think that there is something in this and coaches come into it. A great coach will get the best out of a 'confidence player' while another coach will not build a players confidence and he will not do as well. Some coaches probably have a negative impact. We all have different backgrounds - some people have a huge advantage as their parents will have built their confidence from birth - other people, on the other hand, will have had to have dealt with a lot of hardship in their life. Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy seem to be great 'man managers' and their players respect them. I can think of many players who would do better with a Bellamy or a Bennett as these coaches would help these players believe in themselves. I often think that mental toughness is code for confidence - it can be built.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
By this definition, the Raiders are a "confidence team."
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Same with Adam Reynolds. Watch him. If he ever makes an error, he will make the next 3 tackles in a row. Great to watch.
Neville Neville
Guest
Good old Roxus.....Had a song called 'Where are you now?'. 25 years on and finally all the sobbing and pining away for a lost love makes sense. Its Benji lamenting his lost flick pass, Brett Stewart in search of a decent hamstring and the its the Roosters looking for their next win.
Jarrod McGrouther
Roar Guru
and then there are players like Sam Burgess who drops the ball 3 times but instead of calling it a day, gets out of the line and whacks someone to get his game going, it's not hard
Agent11
Guest
The expression "confidence player" doesn't make sense but I guess it just means a player with fluctuating levels of confidence. It comes down to mental strength and attitude really. If you are having an off night and nothing is working for you then you have to find other ways to contribute to the team and get yourself back into the game trying something different.
Bunny Boy Marty
Guest
Other similar terms....Enigma and Enigmatic (used to describe Lord Ted Goodwin) -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Sailosi
Guest
Similar to the term unfulfilled potential -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Tom Rock
Expert
Shaun Johnson fits the bill pretty well this year.
Michael Keeffe
Roar Guru
Mate DCE cops it easy from Queenslanders compared to what Pearce cops from his fellow New South Welshmen.