“I’ve been involved in watching footy for six decades,” veteran journalist Mike Sheahan told the football writer Elliot Cartledge in 2013, “and I maintain that the best footy of each decade is better than what came before.”
Cartledge quoted Sheahan so in Footy’s Glory Days: the Greatest Era of the Greatest Game, a book whose contention was that the halcyon days of the VFL between the late 1960s and early 1980s were the very pinnacle of the Australian game. For sheer romance and the cast of outsized characters within its pages, it’s hard to rule out his theory.
But Sheahan did hit on a point. Watching the first four rounds of this 2016 season it’s hard to imagine a time when the standard of play was higher. Yet we often cling to nostalgia and pine for the past, a sensation best indulged in regular viewings of Fox Footy’s truly excellent The Winners Rebooted.
There host Drew Morphett and a revolving cast of former stars walk us (few now look capable of breaking into a jog) through highlights from the glory days of the 70s and 80s, undoubtedly fun but as Inside 50 has come to conclude in recent weeks, a bracing reminder that romance can really cloud your judgement. Were kicking skills really that bad, even in great sides like Hawthorn’s mid-80s outfits? Was switching the play or tracking backwards literally banned?
In a recent episode of the show Terry Wallace almost grimaced as he noted the way that every passage of play he’d just witnessed seemed to go in “straight lines”. But his face said something else: ‘Geez that was awful. Can we just watch last year’s grand final please?’
Because we’re spoiled now. The rougher edges may have been rubbed off the league’s players, sure, but so have the technical imperfections that could make watching football a slog. Last round even Brisbane, St Kilda and Melbourne – league strugglers in the last few years – produced some genuinely glorious football.
And elsewhere this season we’ve seen that plenty of the game’s old-fashioned appeals remain; Max Gawn and Todd Goldstein’s ruck duel in round three was as fascinating as any of the past three decades; putting aside outliers like Matthews and Daicos, football has never been better stocked with game-changing small forwards; the cream of the league’s midfielders have never been more explosive and impactful nor the defensive rebounders more creative.
Only a month in, the 2016 season is shaping as one of the most aesthetically pleasing yet – 1990s scoring, 1970s shirtfronts but with unmistakably 21st century athleticism and skill. Last week eight sides cracked the 100-point barrier following totals of six, five and nine in the preceding weeks. That’s not a flawless barometer of excitement levels but then neither is the theory that close games are the most entertaining; across four rounds the number of fixtures where the winning margin was below three goals has been three, three, two and three.
But watching the blistering Eagles dismantle Richmond in the first half last Friday was every bit as absorbing as the Adelaide-Sydney gem the night after. The Hawthorn-St Kilda game, save for the farcical umpiring in the closing stages, was an old-fashioned nail-biter that would not have looked out of place in any era. This weekend we’ve got probably five games (Hawthorn-Adelaide, Sydney-West Coast, Gold Coast-North Melbourne, Melbourne-Richmond and Collingwood-Essendon) that could end up winning the honours as match of the round.
Much of the appeal of this first month of the season is how drastically it’s veered from the script. North Melbourne top the ladder for the first time since Pagan’s paddock, Ross Lyon’s Fremantle are disappearing off the face of the earth, recently shambolic Gold Coast sit only one narrow loss away from a perfect record, Adelaide look a completely reinvigorated side under Don Pyke, while big-talking Collingwood and Richmond have flatlined. Even winless Carlton have given plenty of fight, which is all to say that the evenness of the competition should make for a gripping final month of the home and away season.
It’s probably a little early to fully understand what role the season’s rule changes have had on the attractiveness of the footy we’ve witnessed, but it’s at least plain to see that the contrived fan engagement initiatives of 2015 aren’t needed when the product itself is this strong.
Which leads us to Monday’s Anzac Day clash, for which Essendon now can’t claim the exclusive title of underdogs given their spirited showings so far in 2016 and, conversely, Collingwood’s abject failures. A month ago you might have scheduled some gardening time on your public holiday, but now this fixture shapes as a coach-killer, a nerve-shredder and reaffirmation of everything that’s been so fun about AFL football in the last month. It’s a must-watch game.
There were patches in the last few seasons where the tactical developments ofAFL football were sending some fans off to the YouTube time machine, but right now the game has a spring in its step. Who even needs That Was The Season That Was? Or as Mike Sheahan put it, “I loved footy back then but I don’t miss it.”
Quote of the week
An hourable mention goes to Eddie McGuire for this 2009 gem, which the Pies president let fly in the wake of Nathan Buckley signing the now-infamous coaching succession plan at Collingwood – expertly exhumed by Damian Barrett this week for afl.com.au:
I use the Kennedy scenario. We got to the moon eventually, but a few rockets blew up on the launch pad as well. But that’s what happens when you go into a brave new world. It’s like anything in life, if you’re pulling together forces of nature, nitroglycerine can blow your head off or it can move mountains and it’s probably where we are.
But there can only be one winner:
Nando’s used me in a campaign seven years ago, and they went through the right channels. I see this as a bit of a kick in the face. I would have been happy to be part of their campaign had they spoken with me, but now I feel like I have been disrespected. My name is my livelihood.
- Warwick Capper on the image rights dispute he’s currently having with the the Nando’s fast food chain, for whom he’d previously appeared in advertising.
Intellectual property law may be no laughing matter, but regardless of the context it was a little hard to stifle a giggle reading the words: “Nando’s forfeited the right to negotiate the fee to use Mr Capper’s image with Warwick Capper Pty Ltd when Nando’s chose not to seek permission from Warwick Capper Pty Ltd for use of Mr Capper’s image.”
Capper is currently seeking $300,000 – a reasonable increase on the $10,000 offered by the burger chain. On the topic of Capper’s advertising work folio, Inside 50 must hereby issue a warning that the images seen in the video below may offend.
Photograph of the week
Getty photographer Michael Dodge always seems to be in Brownlow medal form, but we particularly appreciated the symbolism in his shot of Fremantle coach Ross Lyon emerging from the shadows underneath Etihad stadium last weekend. With his side winless and flailing away at the foot of the ladder, Lyon’s still seen in reassuringly familiar pose – clutching a stats sheet and striding forward alone.
Ins and outs
The match-up that excites us most this weekend is that of Swans ruckman Callum Sinclair – back into the Sydney line-up after an injury lay-off – against Nic Naitanui and the rest of his former Eagles teammates, who could be forgiven for feeling a little lost at the SCG; West Coast haven’t played at the ground since 2010. Both sides also regain a midfield star with Matt Priddis returning for the vistors and co-captain Kieren Jack back for Sydney. It’s a game that promises plenty.
Bits and bobs
It’s been a big week for biffs, bumps and brawlers in the wake of Steven May’s five-week suspension for ironing our poor Stefan Martin, but last weekend’s women’s game between Sunbury and South Morang, detailed by the Age on Thursday, really sounds like something. According to reports the game was abruptly ended in the third term amid “concussions, broken collarbones and a possible back fracture”.
“We’ve got nine girls with serious injuries … concussions, broken collarbones and a potential back fracture, all from rough play,” said South Morang assistant coach Jim Chetcuti. AFL Victoria are investigating the game and by the sounds of things, they can start down at the local medical centre