Selflessness is the key to the good sides, while selfishness proves the downfall of poor sides.
SOME things never change in football, some things do. Observations from round two prove that good sides play team football, as has always been the case, while poor sides get brought down by selfish individuals. Nothing new there. But what has changed is the number of interchanges that are now occurring in games. It is soaring, but more on that later.
Premier Geelong has become the leader in selfless team football. The Cats are a delight to watch. If there was a criticism of their 99-point flogging of the Bombers, it was that they overdid the share. At Geelong, it's not the goalkicker, but the goal creator who gets the kudos. Typical was Joel Selwood. The young hard nut dispossessed an opponent running at top speed in the middle of Telstra Dome with a courageous front-on tackle. The Cats rebounded the ball with a couple of skilful transfers that led to a David Wojcinski goal. As the ball sailed through the big sticks, a dozen Cats sprinted to Selwood to show their appreciation.
Two All-Australians from last year, Cam Mooney and Steve Johnson, battled to be part of their team's goalkicking glut. Did it worry them? No. They readily and willingly gave the ball off to a teammate's advantage when a couple of years ago, they may have opted for the personal glory of kicking a low-percentage goal.
On Saturday at the MCG, Jason Akermanis had experienced a miserable first half. As his team belted the Demons, Aka had touched the ball only three times. He was playing like a busted axle. Fast forward to the second minute of the third quarter. Western Bulldogs skipper Brad Johnson ran into an open goal square. A hapless Aka stood in the way two metres in front of him. Johnson could have blasted the ball through. He didn't. He gifted Aka a goal, which helped him get on a roll, and, from that point, he had five more scoring shots and was able to leave the field feeling as if he had contributed.
Losers in Carlton, Essendon and Melbourne have different stories to tell. Blues vice-captain Nick Stevens wanted to argue an umpire's decision. It cost him a 50-metre penalty and his team a goal. Where was he last week, when the AFL told the world it had a zero-tolerance policy when it came to player abuse/aggression towards umpires? Essendon skipper Matthew Lloyd had his moments, too. He had a rare goalless day that he desperately tried to rectify by twice blazing away recklessly from the boundary line on his right foot. Centred kicks would have been the much-preferred team option. The worst act of selfishness at the weekend belongs with veteran Demon forward Russell Robertson. Time and again, he leapt recklessly in endeavours to take the mark of the year. As he landed on his back, Bulldog defenders rebounded with ridiculous ease. It's tough and frustrating playing in losing teams, but if individuals put themselves above the team, all is lost.
And what about the record number of interchanges that we are witnessing. Collingwood is changing the face and pace of the game as we know it. The pace of its match against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba last Friday night was a cracker. A record 110 interchanges meant fresh legs were continually being sent onto the field of play. This makes it near impossible to know who is playing on who. Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews said as much after the contest. For years, in my role as a commentator, I would write down the positional match-ups. Now, I hardly bother, other than for the ruck and key forwards and their opponents.
The game has changed remarkably in just a couple of years. Back then, most teams would make around 40 interchanges a game. Now it is surging towards 100. And who calls the changes? It used to be the coach. Not now. Former Magpie skipper Nathan Buckley, who is fresh out of the game, reckons it is divided into thirds. One third initiated by the coach, one third are called by the fitness staff and one third are player-instigated.
I believe it dilutes the coach's control on match days. Now he has to heavily rely on the judgement of his players and the technical data of the fitness staff.
I watched Collingwood closely on Friday night. The Pies players are accountable in the midfield, as they all try to lock onto an opponent when the opposition has the ball. They then run hard to free up and create when they have the leather. Then, when the opposition next takes possession, they will lock down on the nearest opponent, which often isn't the one they had a minute before. As a result, a Collingwood midfielder might have up to 10 different opponents through a game. So now we have players playing particular zones and not specific opponents.
And maybe, this change in the way the game is being played is the reason for Sydney coach Paul Roos shifting from the elevated coach's box to the ground-level interchange bench.
