It’s testament to the quality of the 2016 season that a round containing the Hawthorn-Adelaide cliffhanger could be considered its least compelling to date. Even so, amidst the mismatches and late blowouts, quality football abounded, reinforcing the view that this year is shaping as a modern marker.
The reduction in the interchange cap, the deliberate out of bounds interpretation and a willingness of coaches to adopt the “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality towards Hawthorn, have all contributed to a faster, more open variant.
A consequence of this development is the premium it has placed on skills. Ball movement is the buzz phrase of the competition, usually in sentences near words like ‘clean’ and ‘efficient’. It stands to reason that achieving this requires proficiency in basic football skills and an ability to put them to use at speed and under duress. It’s no coincidence commentators have been salivating over “pure footy”.
The reduction in stoppages (the lowest since 2008) and an emphasis on keeping the ball in play rewards players with fast hands and accurate feet over those of grunt and industry. As spectators we are reaping the benefit with consistently thrilling footy.
Adelaide typify this joie de vivre, rebounding with such purpose off half-back that their opponents – even the mighty Hawks – are rarely more vulnerable than when they themselves are on the attack. Western Bulldogs are into their second season of perpetual motion with an apparently neverending cast of canny midfielders as comfortable on the inside as they are out.
Unbeaten North Melbourne have been well stocked for inside ball winners for a number of years but have lacked sufficient class on the outside to advance beyond a preliminary final. It’s no coincidence this polish has arrived with both Nick Dal Santo and Daniel Wells enjoying an extended run together for the first time since the former moved from St Kilda. Wells leads the competition for goal assists and no Kangaroo has more disposals than Dal Santo.
Melbourne showed that their young brigade, led by Jack Viney, has the blend of skill and grunt to thrive in this hothouse environment. Paul Roos gave an insight into his evolving coaching mindset on Melbourne radio, first remarking how attacking transition now rivals winning contested ball for importance, and then explaining how much work Simon Goodwin and Brendan McCartney have put into improving the Demons’ basic skills.
Much of this season’s shift is observable and intuitive but perhaps not yet quantifiable. Amongst the data one might use as supporting evidence, no specific metric does justice to the mixture of disposal efficiency, speed of ball movement and, most nebulously of all, the balance between risk and reward. If such a measurement emerges and requires a name, it could be called the Clarkson. When the chips were down on Friday night Hawthorn changed gear, as they have often in recent years. As the risk/reward ratio increased, so did Hawthorn’s skills. The clarity of thought, leadership and above all competency required to execute such feats of escapology, repeatedly, In the closing minutes of exhausting contests, has become a hallmark of Hawthorn’s greatness.
Unsurprisingly, the sides with the poorest skill execution are towards the foot of the ladder. This includes pre-season fancies Port Adelaide and Fremantle. Both rank in the bottom three for disposal efficiency and in the top five for total clangers.
As the game has evolved rapidly, so perhaps should our appraisals of players and lists. An AFL standard footballer last year may no longer be so this, not through a drop-off in that player’s capabilities but for how applicable they are to the changing football landscape.
By extension, there are ramifications for list management. Less so in the example of Fremantle, towards the end of its current premiership window, but what of Collingwood, Richmond or Port Adelaide, clubs that might have reasonably been expected to grow into flag tilts only to find the players they recruited were selected for a now redundant purpose?
The Pies are an apposite example here because Nathan Buckley considered this issue on the eve of taking the reins in 2012. In conversation with James Hird and Paul Roos the subject of recruitment ended in controversial territory with the suggestion some potential draftees – notably indigenous footballers – may struggle to find clubs for fears their aerobic capabilities may not be suited to the game as it was at that time.
The argument followed that a potential consequence of introducing an interchange cap would only widen that expectation gap. It’s possible the opening five weeks of the season points to the opposite being the case. It is the pure footballers and their clean skills that are deciding games, over and above the bigger bodies willing themselves to contest after contest. It remains to be seen if this continues into September and beyond but the potential for skill to rival or surpass athleticism for consideration at AFL match committees is very much to this column’s liking.
