Sports fans are always looking for the next shiny new thing. It’s why the trade period has become so popular and speculation on player movement begins barely after the season has started – if it even takes that long.
At 8.40am on November 24 last year, the AFL’s official website posted a column by draft guru Callum Twomey titled “ten to watch in the 2019 NAB AFL Draft”. It came less than 18 hours after the Bulldogs selected Will Hayes as the final selection in the 2018 draft.
It makes sense. The unknown is more exciting than the known. If you’re a Carlton or Fremantle fan, that unknown brings with it hope. I get it.
The problem with this kind of fandom is that we can often miss what’s right in front of us.
The end is nigh for a bunch of modern greats. Luke Hodge, Shaun Burgoyne and Aaron Sandilands are all likely in their final seasons – and who knows how many games Gary Ablett has left.
But it’s not just great players in their twilight that we should be appreciating.
Lance Franklin has played 290 games and booted 917 goals. Only seven players in the history of the VFL/AFL have booted more goals than that. We’re already in legendary territory with Buddy and while I’m sure we’d all love for him to wheel onto that left boot and embarrass defenders for another decade, the end is probably closer than we’d like to admit.
Joel Selwood has already played 272 games, and the way he plays them I’m sure his body feels like it’s been at least 50 more than that. The same goes for Sydney’s Josh Kennedy and his 227 games. Scott Pendlebury’s 277 games won’t have been made any easier by his basketball background. The best days have passed for each of them. That’s not to say they can’t still be stars, just that they might not shine as bright or as often as they once did.
Scott Pendlebury of the Magpies, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
The brilliant Robbie Gary will turn 31 not long after the season starts. The Josh Kennedy in the west is already 31 and after missing almost half of last season is fighting to be fit for Round 1 and to add to his outstanding 562 goals.
There is sadly a finite number of “holy s***” Eddie Betts moments in our future.
Not all the greats get to go out on their terms or notch a triple-century. Chris Judd’s career came to an end after 277 matches. Matthew Lloyd looked like he would cruise to 1000 goals, and yet he had to “settle” for 926 in 270 games.
Embrace the now. Celebrate the greatness of the greats. Not just with the veterans, either.
Marcus Bontempelli has improved subtly but not significantly since 2016, but many good judges still expect the 23-year-old Bulldog to take his game to another level.
In the meantime, The Roar experts just voted him a top ten player in the competition for the third straight year. Enjoy it, Dogs fans, you haven’t had many players this good.
Patrick Cripps might become the best player in the competition in the next three months. Or maybe he won’t. Carlton fans – and football fans, for that matter – shouldn’t get any less joy from watching him bulldoze overmatched opponents.
Enjoy the ascent, Brisbane fans, before the excitement is replaced by expectance. The first part is much more fun – ask Melbourne fans.
Sport is unpredictable and can be cruel. Coming off a record-breaking, Brownlow Medal-winning season, Tom Mitchell suffered a nasty broken leg that has wiped out one season and will almost certainly impact at least one other.
It’s fine to keep an eye on the future, but don’t let it stop you from enjoying the now, because what you’re waiting for might never arrive and what you’re taking for granted might be over before you know it.
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