Every week, AFL players do remarkable things, having breakout games and creating moments that fans will remember for a very long time. But the first thing we talk about are the teams that lost and the players who didn’t play well.
Players are under media scrutiny at all times, yet we criticise them if they play a straight bat and give nothing away.
On the other hand, we also turn our noses up at players that have fun with the media, saying that they aren’t taking it seriously. Nat Fyfe, Max Gawn and Alex Rance don’t pretend to be anything they’re not, which is a quality that should be admired, but instead they get targeted because they are different.
We marvel at the stars of the past and listen intently to all their stories, but how would they have got on if everywhere they went, the entire club or pub had access to a camera to take photos or video of their antics? If they were under the same constant social media microscope as modern players?
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Players are expected to be faster, fitter, stronger, well-spoken and media savvy.
What has to be taken into account is that the majority of these players are young men. Other than their ability to play football, they aren’t any different to any regular young man anywhere in Australia. But we don’t judge Jarrod from Norwood on how well he speaks on camera, nor post videos of his Saturday nights on the news.
Like most, I read the articles about Carlton’s woes – they have to be reported. But the balance between reporting the negative and using an article to celebrate the positive needs to be evened up.
Some of the greatest players the game has seen are coming towards the end of their careers in Gary Ablett Jr and Buddy Franklin – players who, in years to come, you will tell your children and grandchildren that you got to see play.
But every week, we read about how Gary isn’t having an impact at Geelong, all while he is averaging a club-high 29.2 disposal a week. Buddy always seems to need to do more while sitting second in the Coleman race, with 42 goals, playing double and triple teamed at most contests.
We will always discus the bad, but we should spend a bit more time marvelling in the moments and the magic that these players and this game gives its fans.
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