Heard an interview the other day with Chris Connolly , and there was discussion about what drives the modern footballer. His view was that very many players didn’t really care about team success but what was in it for them. Unlike earlier eras when the money was not that great , and players wanted to be in a winning environment , many of todays players because of the high average wages where quite content to play 5 to 8 years, make enough money to buy a house and maybe 3 or 4 investment properties and basically retire and not have to work that hard once their careers were over. Thought this could apply to players such as Carlol and maggies Freeman. As clubs such as GC , Brisbane, Saints , Scum still pay 95% of Cap there are a number of players in these clubs being paid serious overs.
Obviously this doesn’t apply to everyone and I’m sure some players want success and you can argue that many Hawks and Cats players in recent times are probably driven by GF victories.
The mercenary type is a curse , unless he is a total professional.
I’d be interested in what Blitzers think of this theory .
Footy is a business both ways. I don’t blame a player for leaving. Look at goddard.
A team is very quick to rid a player when they’re not needed any longer. Why cant a player do the same? Especially when $$ come their way. I’d leave in a heartbeat. Who says you wont still have your mates when you leave a club? Again , see goddard. A player can have their cake and eat it too. The club and its supporters usually can’t. That’s why we get angry.
There’s players that bleed for their colors… Then there’s the rest of them.
I respect teams like the hawks or more sp the cats where they took paycuts to stick together. But when you’re not making finals let alone winning them makes it hard to want to stick around.
Footy is a business both ways. I don't blame a player for leaving. Look at goddard.
A team is very quick to rid a player when they’re not needed any longer. Why cant a player do the same? Especially when $$ come their way. I’d leave in a heartbeat. Who says you wont still have your mates when you leave a club? Again , see goddard. A player can have their cake and eat it too. The club and its supporters usually can’t. That’s why we get angry.
There’s players that bleed for their colors… Then there’s the rest of them.
I respect teams like the hawks or more sp the cats where they took paycuts to stick together. But when you’re not making finals let alone winning them makes it hard to want to stick around.
And that’s one of the ways EFC failed. Couldn’t keep a premiership side together and had to offload players. Sure it was the club at fault, but the players didn’t want it enough to sacrifice for it.
The whole draft process is geared towards creating players who don’t care about the club they’re at. They’re taught from a young age that they will have no choice, and to not care which team they will be playing for.
Would be devastated if this turned out to be the norm.
Footy clubs are not corporations…members are not shareholders.
The elements of passion, history, pride and whimsy cannot be discounted. Clubs need that from members to survive, and in turn members need it from clubs and definitely from players.
The best leaders are those who can inspire…to inspire you must have passion.
If we are developing a blueprint to take us forward I say lets go back…let’s look at what made great teams of the past great.
There really needs to be more incentive to develop players. Some clubs have academies, all clubs need some avenue to benefit from their work. The Indigenous idea of territories is great but there needs to be more. The VFL etc should be like academies where if you have played a certain amount of games or years you get first crack. For example we could outbid for Tippa or Coghlan this year if we wanted them. Being able to nurture players who miss out in their teens to become AFL players would help with bringing loyalty and a team culture.
Any player would realise that they have two to three years to prove themselves before either being delisted or go elsewhere. So in order for a player to succeed, they need to be played in their most suited position where their talents can be on show and the player is continually being developed.
This is where we’ve truly marked up big time since 2000.
Kepler Bradley was never a defender, but he was forced to be one.
Ted Richards was an adequate forward who wasn’t given much of an opportunity but a better defender elsewhere.
Joel Reynolds was a forward but was continually played down back.
Jobe Watson was a midfielder (and a very tall one at that), but was continually played in the forward line early in his career.
Bachar Houli was played as a forward for memory for us in the few games he played, but he left and became an instant best 22 hackman at Richmond.
Paddy Ryder was a ruck, but spent a lot of time in the backline, before shifting forward, then succeeding in the ruck.
David Myers was played off the backline yet he excelled when he was finally given a shot in the midfield.
Hurley was a defender his whole junior career and we pushed him into playing forward.
Colyer was stuck as our forward goal sneak in the few games he got. Finally, he was given midfield time and he excelled.
Hardingham was a forward. Yet was trialled far too often as a defender and he eventually failed.
Carlisle preferred defender and obviously hated playing forward.
Ambrose is a link up forward, yet we’ve forced him into the ruck.
Steinberg was drafted as a forward yet he’s been a defender all his career.
Even our B&F winner is a defender that is definitely a better hackman than a forward.
For whatever reason, our last fifteen years of developing players has meant we have midfielders who take a lot longer than the average midfielder across the league to become established midfielders, our defenders and forwards seem to be moved all over the place.
For a team that has had such little finals success in the last decade, it amazes me how often we try and make players into something they are not.
If a club plays a player in their best position where they get the most out of themselves and it also serves the club at the same time, then the player will show loyalty to the club as long as they are middle table at least and aren’t a basket case off the field. Ultimate success isn’t what makes players stay, it’s the journey to it.
At least we have a salary cap system, so that what goes around can come around.
The changing environment of the clubs, league, and media helps to breed the changing attitudes of the players who come through now. The clubs have to be run professionally, strict gameplans, rules, diets, training. The media are cutthroat, the league takes expansion, money, and business to increasing levels. It’s not just mates and camaraderie, getting out there and having a go anymore, hasn’t been for a long time. It’s do or die, get success/contracts/coin or bust.
I remember Brereton made a point once about the complete contrast between players and supporters. He said that as a player himself and his team mates never understood what the footy club ment to the supporters. After a lose the supporters would be deflated all week, and the difference between win and loss dictates your mood until the next match. Also that a lot of supporters physically hurt because their club is sometimes the only good thing in people’s lives.
Yet after a loss, the players will feel dejected for the rest of the day after a game. Then Forget about it the following day.
So while there are some players that ‘bleed’ the football club, most players are generally unaffected by the result of a performance. I think this generally more the case, then ever.
The way the draft is set up, kids just want to have fun playing footy, and get paid well to do so. The days of wanting to get to the club you support as a kid are over.
The days of wanting to get to the club you support as a kid are over.
No they’re not. Actually getting there is more difficult, but if the chance arises, that will still be one of, if not the biggest decision driver for a lot of players.
“Heard an interview the other day with Chris Connolly , and there was discussion about what drives the modern footballer. His view was that very many players didn’t really care about team success but what was in it for them.”
