Is the game making players soft?
Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:13 pmIs the game making our players soft?
Modern day football is played out mid-week by the plethora of coaches and assistant coaches and in the media training rooms more so than ever before. Each week coaches prepare players in the game style they wish to adopt against this weeks opposition.
The modern day footballer is “trained” on what to do in each and every conceivable situation he may, or indeed may not find himself in on the field .No doubt, he will also find himself in many moments in time on the ground that any number of coaches could never prepare them for.
Modern football is so structured, each player is given a specific task to do within that structure. You hear of terms ( as much as I dislike many ) like quarter-back, out side runner, in and under, go to and many many more. So my question is, for these ‘out side runners’, are they,through no fault of their own being made ‘soft’ by the game? Indeed if they are it is also the fault of the coaching staff who ask them to play that role. We hear of players who don’t play within the structure being dragged to the bench, or worse still being sent back to play in the lower league until such time that they ‘conform’ to the structure.
With the structure of the modern game players are drilled from Monday to Friday on when to be in certain spots, what to do when they get there and how to react when it all unfolds, all while playing with 35 other men on the field with an oblong shaped ball in all sorts of weather conditions.
Of late, players like Danyle Pearce of Port Adelaide have been labelled as soft ( as a Port fan I find it hard to argue ), but is it Danyle’s fault, or is it the role he gets asked to play? ( I think Danyle could try a lot harder than he does and I am not putting him in the same class as the next few players I am about to mention, he was my starting point)
In all reality, does Pearce play much of a different role to a Dane Swan of Collingwood and a James Bartel of Geelong? Neither of these players tend to spend much time getting ‘down and dirty’ like a Shane O’Bree or Joel Selwood in the same game and the same jumper.
More often than not all these three find themselves with the ball being shoveled out to them and find themselves in space to use the skills they have,both of mind and body. Does this make them soft? Not so.
To cross the line and play AFL football you need courage, strength in mind and body yet we still hear players being labelled as soft.
For mine I think the game is making some players soft while also making it difficult for those of us who love the game to see players play with flair and natural ability. No wonder we gaze upon Leon Davis when he does the extra ordinary, Daniel Motlop and his freakish skills, we go to see these players play, we pay good money for it, yet the game is not letting them play the game.
Mathew Knights is a breathe of fresh air in my opinion, not just for Bomber fans but for football fans in general. I only hope his willingness to let his team play with the flair it does is not hindered by structure and zones and footballers are once again allowed to play without the fear of being labeled as soft for doing exactly what their coach has requested of them.
Modern day football is played out mid-week by the plethora of coaches and assistant coaches and in the media training rooms more so than ever before. Each week coaches prepare players in the game style they wish to adopt against this weeks opposition.
The modern day footballer is “trained” on what to do in each and every conceivable situation he may, or indeed may not find himself in on the field .No doubt, he will also find himself in many moments in time on the ground that any number of coaches could never prepare them for.
Modern football is so structured, each player is given a specific task to do within that structure. You hear of terms ( as much as I dislike many ) like quarter-back, out side runner, in and under, go to and many many more. So my question is, for these ‘out side runners’, are they,through no fault of their own being made ‘soft’ by the game? Indeed if they are it is also the fault of the coaching staff who ask them to play that role. We hear of players who don’t play within the structure being dragged to the bench, or worse still being sent back to play in the lower league until such time that they ‘conform’ to the structure.
With the structure of the modern game players are drilled from Monday to Friday on when to be in certain spots, what to do when they get there and how to react when it all unfolds, all while playing with 35 other men on the field with an oblong shaped ball in all sorts of weather conditions.
Of late, players like Danyle Pearce of Port Adelaide have been labelled as soft ( as a Port fan I find it hard to argue ), but is it Danyle’s fault, or is it the role he gets asked to play? ( I think Danyle could try a lot harder than he does and I am not putting him in the same class as the next few players I am about to mention, he was my starting point)
In all reality, does Pearce play much of a different role to a Dane Swan of Collingwood and a James Bartel of Geelong? Neither of these players tend to spend much time getting ‘down and dirty’ like a Shane O’Bree or Joel Selwood in the same game and the same jumper.
More often than not all these three find themselves with the ball being shoveled out to them and find themselves in space to use the skills they have,both of mind and body. Does this make them soft? Not so.
To cross the line and play AFL football you need courage, strength in mind and body yet we still hear players being labelled as soft.
For mine I think the game is making some players soft while also making it difficult for those of us who love the game to see players play with flair and natural ability. No wonder we gaze upon Leon Davis when he does the extra ordinary, Daniel Motlop and his freakish skills, we go to see these players play, we pay good money for it, yet the game is not letting them play the game.
Mathew Knights is a breathe of fresh air in my opinion, not just for Bomber fans but for football fans in general. I only hope his willingness to let his team play with the flair it does is not hindered by structure and zones and footballers are once again allowed to play without the fear of being labeled as soft for doing exactly what their coach has requested of them.
