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Opinion

Forget State of Origin, it's time the AFL looked at young vs old

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Expert
28th July, 2022
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It’s time for some competitiveness within the footballing generations that currently play in the AFL.

Yearly, there’s some form of discourse around the need for State of Origin to return but let’s face it, if they could figure out a way to do it, we wouldn’t have been waiting this long for it.

Instead, let’s try for a different sort of hypothetical that could fill a bye week without providing the repetitiveness of an Origin series discussion.

Pitting the league’s young stars against the wily veterans is an interesting exercise.

We have the unbridled enthusiasm of youth with great potential, against the intelligence and understanding of the older guys.

We’d take the selection seriously too, or at least, more objectively than an All-Australian squad may be picked in any given year by members of the media.

Yes, the 2022 Generational Cup is nearing and we have some ground rules to go by.

This is a 21 and under team, playing against a 30 and older team – we’ll call them the u/21s and the o/30s.

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Hypothetically, this is being played in the bye week. We’re adopting the approach that players aren’t overly keen on a week’s rest and therefore if they’re fit and selected, they play.

The contest will be played yearly and as such, players will be selected on that season’s form, rather than through reputation or potential.

It means for the 2022 game, there isn’t room for the likes of Jason Horne-Francis, Josh Ward, Nik Cox and Logan McDonald in the younger team – we’re rewarding form. Selection is being taken seriously and the players want to be here.

Similarly, don’t be outraged by the absences of Dustin Martin, Nat Fyfe, Patrick Dangerfield and Jeremy McGovern for the veterans – they haven’t done enough to warrant being picked and unlike some other teams, we aren’t being blinded by the past.

Also, final selections would be submitted after the final match of the home-and-away season, so whoever is still 21, or reaches 30 on August 21 this season is able to sneak into their teams – Jamie Elliott must feel lucky.

So, who wins this year’s Generational Cup? We’ll go through line-by-line to figure it out.

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U/21 HF: Zak Butters – Jamarra Ugle-Hagan – Errol Gulden
U/21 FF: Mitch Georgiades – Riley Thilthorpe – Kysaiah Pickett

O/30 HB: Brodie Smith – Robbie Tarrant – Mitch Duncan
O/30 FB: Jeremy Howe – Steven May – Dylan Grimes

Immediately, we see a large difference between the two teams. The inexperienced team likely struggles offensively with their talls– Thilthorpe’s last month of football playing as a forward/ruck has been good and Georgiades has been a good marking option, but they combine for less than a goal a game.

Ugle-Hagan’s had his breakout performance, but looks unsuited this early in his career to be a main target, really thriving since Josh Bruce returned.

No, the youngsters’ offence will be dictated by the skill, pressure and preciseness of ball use, in order to get a score on the board. Pickett’s pressure is important, ranked sixth in the league for tackles inside 50 while kicking 28 goals so far, while Butters and Gulden are rotational high half-forwards that can push through the midfield but crucially, are rated above average for goal assists and their use inside 50.

Brodie Smith of the Crows in action

(Photo by Matt Turner/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The defensive mix for the veterans though is evidently flexible and versatile. No key defender has been as good as May this year while in the seven matches since Richmond’s bye, Robbie Tarrant has lost just five of 25 one-on-one contests.

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Grimes and Howe can play tall or small and the latter’s intercepting is as good as ever, while Smith’s launches off half-back goes nicely with Duncan’s tendency to run with the ball.

There shouldn’t be an issue in locking down the u/21’s talls, but we have seen in 2022 that Howe and Grimes have made key errors when under pressure at the end of games, while the forward flankers of the youth are too dangerous for Smith and Duncan to constantly peel off.

Still, you’d have to give the win here to the oldies.

WINNERS: O/30s

U/21 C: Bailey Smith – Jai Newcombe – Nic Martin
U/21 R: Luke Jackson – Caleb Serong – Noah Anderson (c)

O/30 C: Andrew Gaff – Jarryd Lyons – Steele Sidebottom
O/30 R: Max Gawn (c) – Tom Liberatore – Travis Boak

It’s a classic contest of wily, experienced heads that are clearance specialists with traditional wingmen who have been league leaders for a long time, against the bullocking, throw-the-ball-on-the-boot types for young ones.

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The master versus apprentice battle in the ruck is a fascinating battle in itself. Gawn is a perfect ruckman for the list of inside midfielders starting on the ground – they’re the types that get to the ball first and work well in tight spaces. If you’ve ever seen Liberatore or Lyons get brought to ground without disposing of the ball first, it’s an absolute rarity.

With Jackson though, the athleticism and subsequent spread from the contest is really beneficial to the midfield group. Anderson and Newcombe are tough ball-winners and are surprisingly great exponents of the metres gained statistic – rarely is the long-kicking clean, but it gets the ball inside 50 and giving the likes of Thilthorpe and Georgiades one-on-ones is probably their best chance of hitting the scoreboard.

Bailey Smith of the Bulldogs looks dejected after a loss.

Bailey Smith of the Bulldogs. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Where things get most interesting here are the points of difference. Lyons, Liberatore and Boak extract the ball, can defend clearance situations well and run to the right spots offensively. Yet there’s no real acceleration from the contest, while Gaff and Sidebottom rarely get too close to the stoppages, meaning the inside guys are on their own.

In having Smith, a capable centre bounce player himself, and the hard-working Nic Martin, who’s rated elite in his position in over 10 categories including score involvements, intercepts, rebounds and clearances, it’s a much more compact, functioning unit for the u/21s.

There isn’t a whole lot of scoreboard impact across these lines outside of Liberatore’s accurate set shots, but the simplicity and flexibility of each young midfielder edges the battle their way here.

WINNERS: U/21s

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U/21 HB: Jordan Clark – Josh Gibcus – Nick Daicos (vc)
U/21 FB: Heath Chapman – Sam De Koning – Hayden Young

O/30 HF: Luke Breust – Lance Franklin – Jamie Cripps
O/30 FF: Jamie Elliott – Tom Hawkins – Taylor Walker

We have incredible firepower lining up against elite intercepting and ball use in a complete clash of contrasting styles.

There isn’t a lot of dour defending going on for the unders, De Koning is very good and Gibcus has shown good signs, but the marking and quite frankly, bullying ability of the o/30s talls is going to be far too overwhelming.

Trying to shut down Breust, Cripps and Elliott, all of whom are elite goal-scorers and can push higher up the ground and provide big numbers in score involvements will be difficult with the players in this defence.

Nick Daicos handballs.

Nick Daicos handballs whilst being tackled by Dean Kent. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

On the flip side though, we have half the Docker defence who already have a rapport and offer something different each – Clark is speedy and can run through the midfield, which creates the separation that the overs can’t compete with.

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Young is an elite interceptor who happens to be one of the league’s best kicks, while Chapman is the perfect matchup for Elliott with his incredible ground-level work as a taller player.

Then, there’s the wildcard, Nick Daicos. He can play anywhere but for this team, it’s likely the class and poise off half-back that’s necessary. If we’re thinking tactically, having Daicos as the general and using Nic Martin’s height and work rate as an extra number in the back half would be entirely beneficial to restrict one-on-ones.

The transition game will be pretty much untouched for the u/21s, given they can move the ball precisely and with speed. With so many rotational pieces, attacking chains should be easy enough to put together even with a weaker forward line, but there are genuine concerns in trying to stop Hawkins, Franklin and Walker.

It’s likely one of them get off the hook at least with an undersized defence and they can all kick big bags.

WINNERS: O/30s

U/21 Int: Chad Warner – Tom Green – Cody Weightman – Sam Berry
U/21 Emg: Matt Rowell – Lachie Ash – Jake Soligo – Jake Bowey

O/30 Int: Scott Pendlebury – Mark Blicavs – Joel Selwood (vc) – Charlie Dixon
O/30 Emg: Dyson Heppell – Dayne Zorko – Jack Redden – Isaac Smith

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It’s clear that there’s more versatility in the rest of the squad for the overs. Blicavs is a midfielder who can ruck and play a key defensive role, Dixon has emerged as a ruck/forward, while Pendlebury and Selwood are leaders who play their roles perfectly.

The depth and excitement provided by Warner is huge for the unders, Green will fight hard against veterans with strong acumen, Berry is a tackling machine who won’t make it easy to escape from stoppages, and Weightman is ultimately, the unders’ version of Elliott.

Whether you value positional versatility against midfield variety is in the eye of the beholder, but it’s hard to pass judgement on benches.

Pick your subs from the emergency lists, they’re all worth of mention in this sort of piece.

Who wins the generational cup?

The unders have the advantage of speed and a really good fitness base. Having someone like Nic Martin emerge and be willing to work hard defensively helps create space through the middle, where having so many good midfielders can work.

Gulden and Butters push higher up and create space inside forward 50, where the hope is that the taller players can bring the ball down to dangerous finishers Pickett and Weightman.

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While the over 30s have the more established clearance players, the emergence of Berry and Warner gives the younger team adequate pressure and acceleration to get the ball forward, which is the main goal of AFL in 2022.

Clearly though, the over 30s team is far better set through the spine with the talls at their disposal. What they lack in speed, they make up for in poise and reading of the play. If they u/21s are moving the ball too quickly, Pendlebury and Blicavs can line up on the defensive side of the centre circle and slow the pace down.

Scott Pendlebury of the Magpies celebrates a win

Scott Pendlebury (Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

While there’s no point of difference in the midfield in terms of a burst, each player has develop great spatial awareness in knowing where to go once the ball spreads from the contest.

It makes up for a lack of physical quickness, because they’re more tactically minded and are already positioned in ways to open up a young team that relies predominately on Nick Daicos for their level-headedness.

When you initially think of a contest between young and old, we tend lean towards the former. Whether it’s due to the allure of potential or the general disdain the AFL seemingly has for its elder statesmen as important players for their teams, we look far more favourably on the unknown, rather than the reliable commodity.

Lining up these teams on a line-by-line basis, it seems like it’s far harder to support them in practice. It isn’t a blowout and it’s a great testament to the constantly improving standards set by new players entering the AFL but for now, the veterans are in control.

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FINAL RESULT: Over 30s by 19 points

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